Relax with Yoga Nidra

Introducing the unique tantric meditation technique of Yoga Nidra, popularized by Swami Satyananda Saraswati of the Bihar School of Yoga

Doctors, gurus and neighborhood do-gooders are all in the habit of prescribing relaxation as a remedy for taut nerves, work pressures and emotional upheavals. But very few know, or will tell you, how to accomplish the deceptively simple task of relaxing.

Yoga Nidra seems to have the answer. Although it finds mention in old tantric texts, it was rediscovered 20-odd years ago by Swami Satyananda Saraswati, founder of the Bihar School of Yoga (BSY) in Munger, eastern India. He translates Yoga Nidra as psychic sleep and describes it as a systematic method of inducing complete physical, mental and emotional relaxation, while maintaining awareness at the deeper levels.

Indeed, the practice is so relaxing that it becomes almost impossible to remain awake. But you come out feeling more rested than you do after a good night's sleep, and injected with large doses of gumption to tackle the day's tasks. The Swami says that prolonged suspension between wakefulness and sleep—called the hypnogogic state—in Yoga Nidra may have untold benefits that go beyond the therapeutic.

You practice Yoga Nidra while lying prone and follow the spoken instructions of a teacher. It is, of course, convenient to use the Yoga Nidra tape, or record one yourself. In the first phase of the session, you progressively relax your muscles by quickly running attention through different parts of the body. This is followed by an awakening of sensations of pairs of polar opposites, such as heaviness and lightness. The last phase is a rapid visualization of some nature images and abstract symbols.

But what is the purpose of each phase of the practice ? From neurophysiology we know that each part of the body has a different control center in the brain—curiously, small ones such as the fingers or armpits claim a large brain area. The movement of awareness through different parts of the body not only relaxes them, but also clears nerve pathways to the brain.

The alternating of opposite sensations such as heat and cold, heaviness and lightness, helps to improve the body's ability to regain balance and brings the related involuntary functions under conscious control. Visualization is a method of consciously using a symbol our image as a catalyst to provoke a reaction in the unconscious mind. But since no time is given for the conscious mind to react, you remain detached and the ego becomes temporarily inactive. This phase helps to resolve suppressed conflicts, desires, memories and sanskaras.

In each session, you also repeat a sankalpa, or resolve. It should be a short statement, phrased in positive language and in the present tense. For example, your resolve could be: "I am taking full care of my family." The resolve gets embedded deep in the subconscious and is bound to bear fruit in time. 

TECHNIQUE (An abridged transcript from the BSY's 30-minute Yoga Nidra audio cassette)
• Lie down in Savasana with the body stretched out, the head in straight line with the body, feet apart, arms besides the body and palms of the hands turned upwards. Make yourself comfortable. After this, there should be no body movement. Close your eyes and keep them closed till the end of the session. Make a promise to yourself that "I will not sleep, I will remain awake".

• Take a deep breath and as you breathe in, feel the coolness and calmness spreading throughout the body. As you breathe out, feel your cares and worries flowing out of you. Become aware of the body and relax completely. Relax your body mentally.

• Become aware of the breath as it moves between the navel and the throat. Do not try to breathe long and deep.

• Repeat your resolve mentally three times with feeling and awareness.

• We now begin to rotate the awareness from one part of the body to the next. Repeat the name of the part in your mind and simultaneously become aware of it. Try to remain alert, but do not concentrate.

• Become aware of the right side of the body. Take your awareness to the right hand thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, little finger, palm, back of the hand, wrist, arm, elbow, shoulder, armpit, waist, hip, thigh, kneecap, calf muscle, ankle, heel, sole of the foot, the top of the foot, toes.

• Now repeat the previous step but this time with the left side.

• Bring the awareness to the back. Become aware of the shoulder blades, the buttocks, the spine, the whole back together.

• Now go to the top of the head, the forehead, temples, the eyebrows, the space between the eyebrows, eyelids, eyes, ears, cheeks, nose, the tip of the nose, lips, chin, throat, right chest, left chest, navel, abdomen... the whole front. 

• The whole of the right leg, the left leg, both legs together. The whole of the right arm, the left arm, both arms.

• Do not sleep. Say to yourself : "I am awake, I am practicing yoga Nidra".

• Become aware of the meeting points between the body and the floor—the sharp meeting points.

• Now concentrate on your body, as if seeing it from the outside. Look at your body lying on the floor as an object, a reflection in an imaginary mirror.

• Now imagine a well, dark and deep. Look into it. There is a bucket on a chain, you lower it into the well. It moves into the darkness of the well. You cannot see it. Now pull the bucket up, out of the darkness, into the light.

• Ask yourself : "What am I thinking?" Do not think, but become aware of the thought process, become a witness.

• Now awaken the feeling of lightness—as if the body is made of cotton. Your body seems to be floating away from the floor. Next, awaken the feeling of heaviness, as if the body is made of lead.

• Awaken the sensation of heat, the experience of heat. The whole body is hot. Now experience bitter cold in the body.

• Try to remember the experience of pain, mental or physical. And the feeling of pleasure—relive it, make it vivid.

• Now try to visualize some images—on the level of feeling, awareness and emotion. Let each one appear like a slide on your mental screen.

• Flickering candle… flickering candle… tall palm tree, a car moving on the road, yellow clouds, blue clouds, starlit night, full moon, standing dog, reposing cat, moving elephant, racing horse, rising sun behind the mountains, setting sun behind the mountains, setting sun behind the ocean, ocean with waves, a big lake with crystal clear water, blue lotus, white lotus, pink lotus, a boat sailing on the water—see the ripples, chimney smoke rising from an old house, the dawn of the day, a yogi in deep meditation.

• Become a witness of your awareness—not the body, not the senses, not the mind. Nothing but awareness. Become aware that you are observing yourself. Look within and try to be aware of the one who is looking.

• Go into chidakasa (the space behind the forehead). In the chidakasa there is a flaming light. Find that light and you will see a golden egg in the center of that light. A small golden egg, very bright, shimmering.

• Repeat your resolve again, thrice.

• Relax all efforts, draw your mind outside and become aware of your breathing. Become aware of your surroundings, the room you are in. Lie quietly for some time and keep your eyes closed. Start moving and stretching your body. When you are sure that you are wide awake, sit up slowly and open your eyes.

 Thanks to www.LifePostitive.com .