Yoga Nidra Newsletter - I

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Health And Yoga News Letters

Understanding Deep Relaxation through Yoga nidra.

Yoga nidra has been experienced as "the" most powerful relaxation technique known to man. Yet, in yoga, it is used much more than that. The power of this technique is such that it is regularly used as a therapeutic technique to overcome pain, act on the deepest neurosis and even overcome disability in certain cases.

At its simplest level, it may be understood and practised as a way of total physical and mental relaxation. The advanced benefits can be reached with regular practice.

Although Yoga nidra is of great help to insomniacs because it stimulates sleep, it must be understood that Yoga Nidra itself is NOT sleep. At best, it can be described as “Sleep of Awareness”. In conventional “sleep”, we lose control of our senses. But if you seek the greatest benefits, you must transcend this feeling so that you can stimulate the mind in the desired manner and be in control.

If followed correctly, it has a tremendous soothing effect on the mind by freeing it from unresolved contradictions and tensions. It works on the states of mind that actually create and sustain inner conflict. Conflicts may be in the form of unresolved mental issues or even physical disability and disorders.

Yoga Nidra works very effectively on mental resolve, will power and resolutions. Many people testify to the unbelievable power and effectiveness of the resolution (“Sankalpa”) made during the practice of Yoga nidra.

Why? Because it acts at a dormant or subconscious level that we are not aware of. It is just like watering a seed planted deep down in the soil. Each time you water it, you stimulate its growth though you can’t see it. You see it only when it breaks through into the light. Similarly, yoga Nidra works at a subconscious level and you realize it only when it becomes part of your waking life.

How it works?

In Yoga Nidra, your mind is first “scientifically disconnected” from the external surroundings and even from your physical body though well-researched techniques. These are the “awareness rotation” techniques that include sound rotation, body rotation, and breath rotation.
After this has been achieved, the mind is fed with subtle vibrations through Mantra and Visualization methods which reach the deepest and remotest areas of the brain and serve to massage them creating the desired effect.

It is impossible to EXPLAIN how these techniques work. To experience the benefits, you would have to be taught by a learned Yoga master. Personal interactions work best and I would strongly advise you to go ahead - armed with this knowledge - and find a learned practitioner of yoga Nidra.

If you can’t, I would suggest that you seriously evaluate the “Beginners Yoga course” which includes a full audio section of over 90 minutes of guided Yoga Nidra by the Master Swami Gurupremananda Saraswati himself.

To know more on the course, click here

To sum up – Yoga Nidra is a superlative relaxation tool. One hour of effective yoga nidra is equivalent to over 4 hours of sleep.
But, the true purpose of yoga nidra goes well beyond deep relaxation. Yoga Nidra establishes the link between the conscious desires, the will power, the subconscious and the unconscious mind. When this happens you reap all-round powerful benefits and feel in total control of all aspects of your life.

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Health And Yoga News Letters

Understanding Deep Relaxation through Yoga nidra.

I received quite a few responses to my newsletter last week on “Yoga Nidra”. It was particularly pleasing to know that some of you were already on your way to explore its virtues.

However, the feedback also suggested that many wished for a further elaboration on the “awareness rotation" techniques.
For the benefit of these, I shall try to put as much as I can into words. If, however, youweren’t one of those inquisitive few, please ignore this issue.

Ok, where do I begin? Before I do so, let me clarify that Yoga nidra is done while lying down flat on the back (Shavasana). While this may seem obvious to some, there were many doubts on this score so that should settle it.

AIM OF THESE TECHNIQUES

The whole purpose of these “awareness rotation” techniques is to “disconnect” from the outside world and begin to relax INSIDE at the mental level. This whole process is called involution of the senses.

Initially, when you close your eyes and try to focus inwardly, your mind behaves like a naughty child. It does the direct opposite of what you instruct it to do!! So we use this mischievous tendency against itself.

SOUND ROTATION:

The first part involves the “sound rotation awareness”. In this you are asked to listen to all the sounds that you can hear and rotate your awareness from one sound to the next and so on. This is not easy – our natural tendency is to focus and analyze each sound which in turn triggers thought and memory. This must not be done. You should move from one sound to the other just witnessing it, without getting affected and moving on. With practice, the mind starts getting bored of this stupid game and disconnects itself from all sounds. This is the desired effect!!

BODY AWARENESS:

The next phase is very important. It is the rotation of body awareness and it involves two aspects. One is to disconnect the tactile senses and the other is to establish the link of mental / physical awareness. Just as you disconnected the sense of sound previously, you are now disconnected from the sense of touch by progressive guidance of the instructor.

With practice, you will notice that you cannot feel your body anymore physically – it doesn’t seem to be there. This again is the desired effect. But it will happen only if you are AWAKE and aware.

EFFECT OF BODY AWARENESS:

The rotation of body awareness stimulates different parts of the brain that control each and every body nerve. When you are aware of each part of your body, you are actually massaging the corresponding part in the brain as well. You establish the connection between the body and the mind.

This powerful technique in Yoga Nidra has in fact been responsible for several people with disabilities experiencing a certain part of the body for the first time.

BREATH AWARENESS:

From these physical and mental experiences of body awareness, you are led to a more subtle experience – that of breath or “Prana”. By lying still and “watching” the process of normal breathing in Yoga nidra, greater relaxation of body and mind is achieved. In this stage, you are made to observe your breath and its effects upon different parts of your body. When practicing this, you are not supposed to alter your breath in any way. Nor is there any effort imposed upon the natural breath – just observe what is happening….

EFFECTS OF BREATH AWARENESS:

Through these methods, you will be able to understand what really goes inside – which aspects of your personality are the causes and which are the effects of your thoughts, feelings and actions.

The breath is like the bridge between the body and mind – a link between our conscious thoughts, and feelings with the mental imagery stored in the mind.

BENEFITS:

Often during yoga nidra, repressed material from the conscious and subsconcious layers of the mind surfaces. This happens because the blocks and psychological barriers have been removed because of the induced relaxation. It is at such times that you see the solution to such “repressions” clearly. That is why people arise from Yoga Nidra feeling that a great burden has been removed from within.

As you can see, the awareness rotation techniques seek to create an environment of “enhanced relaxation”.

Once this environment is created, the next step is to increase the performance, creativity and capacity of the mind manifold through subtle vibrations of mantra and visualization techniques. The Beginners Course that I mentioned in my last newsletter, incorporates these Mantra and visualization methods in its Yoga Nidra audio CD. For your benefit, you can go there by click here

I hope that I have succeeded in throwing some more light on this mystical topic WITHOUT it appearing too far out. Hope it helps.

All the best,
Arun Goel