37. Yoga Nidra: The art of sleeping to wake up

This episode is about the power of Yoga Nidra. 

We’ll start off with an introduction to Yoga Nidra, before looking at Yoga Nidra’s relationship to yoga philosophy. We’ll then dive in to the understanding Yoga Nidra’s impact on the brain wave states, and we’ll finish with a summary of the benefits in the context of everything that we’ve just learned.

Yoga Nidra is such an underrated, powerful, impactful practice. Yoga Nidra, “yogic sleep” is a powerful practice that guides participants into a state of deep relaxation while maintaining a state of heightened awareness. Through systematic and guided meditation, Yoga Nidra leads practitioners into the realm between wakefulness and sleep, allowing them to access a vast reservoir of inner knowledge and healing potential.

Yoga Nidra is well known for being a guided relaxation; the Queen of all repose, a nap, even a substitute for sleep itself. And it *is* all of those things. 

The thing is; it’s all of those things and much, much more. 

As yoga teachers, it’s likely that we’ll attract people to the practice of Yoga Nidra through expounding on the benefit of rest and relaxation, and as such, that’s where much of our focus will lie. 

However, as yoga teachers it is important that we understand and embody the knowledge that Yoga Nidra is a secret door to liberation.

--

Yoga Nidra with Yoga Wisdom Training

Unveil the depths of yoga through the transformative power of Yoga Nidra with Yoga Wisdom.

This comprehensive training is designed for passionate yoga teachers who seek to deepen their understanding of Yoga Nidra, the art of conscious deep sleep, and explore the rich teachings of ancient yogic wisdom.

Take a look here

--
🤝 The Base
A community for yoga teachers Take a look

📚 Training for yoga teachers
300 hour yoga teacher training, starts March 25
Myofascial Release, Energetic Anatomy and Yoga, Mar 25
Yoga and The Neurobiology of Stress, June 25
Yoga Nidra with Yoga Wisdom, Sept 25
Restorative Yoga and Polyvagal Theory, Jan 26
Yoga for resilience, March 26
Teaching yoga for anxiety & stress, June 26

--

Follow @foryogateachers

Struggle with low confidence and self-doubt? Try the free Shatter Imposter Syndro...

Transcript

 [00:00:00] Hello. And welcome to For yoga teachers. This podcast has been created to help yoga teachers teach with passion, avoid burnout and earn a fair living. 

This episode is about the power of yoga nidra. Our next episode, episode 38. will be a special guided yoga nidra for yoga teachers, which will expound on the practice and the state of yoga nidra, whilst guiding you into that state. Back to this episode, we'll start off with an introduction to yoga nidra, just in case you haven't really come across it before. Then we'll look at yoga nidra's relationship to yoga philosophy. We'll then dive into an understanding of yoga nidra's impact on the brainwave states. [00:01:00] And we'll finish with a summary of the benefits of yoga nidra in the context of everything that you've just learned. In my humble opinion. Yoga nidra is one of the most underrated, powerful, impactful practices within the entire offering of yoga. I feel like I can't overstate how simple it is to do and how profound the impact can be on every aspect of your life. Graduates of our yoga nidra and yoga wisdom training know that I encourage trainees to set up -ideally a daily practice- but certainly a regular practice, and this doesn't need to be an hour a day. It can be five minutes. It could be two minutes. It could be sat on your sofa, it could be in your car. It could be in your bed. But the value from yoga nidra is 100% in the doing of it. Not in the intellectual understanding. And that's why we have our [00:02:00] guided yoga nidra for you next week. For you to enjoy as many times as you wish. 

 Yoga nidra. Yogic sleep. Is a powerful practice that guides participants into a state of deep relaxation whilst maintaining awareness. Through systematic and guided meditation, yoga nidra at leads practitioners into the realm between wakefulness and sleep; allowing them to access a vast reservoir of inner knowledge and healing potential. Yoga Nidra is well-known for being guided relaxation, the queen of all repose, a nap, even a substitute for sleep itself. 

And it is all of those things. The thing is, it is so, so much more. As yoga teachers, it's likely that we'll attract people to the [00:03:00] practice of yoga nidra through expounding on the benefits of rest and relaxation. And as such, that is where a lot of our focus as yoga teachers will lie. However, as yoga teachers, it's important that we understand and embody the knowledge, that yoga nidra is a secret door to liberation. Let me repeat that because it's so important. Yoga nidra is a secret door to liberation. 

Yoga nidra, like yoga, is a practice and a state. The practice of nidra is the practice of creating a nest, creating an environment practicing pranayama and pratyahara and getting out of your own way. And it's a practice because in theory, it's something that we can get better at. This state of yoga nidra in Uma Dinsmore-Tuli's words is a 'form of awareness'. 

Think about that for a moment. A [00:04:00] form of awareness. What does that mean to you?

 Yoga nidra. And yoga wisdom. 

Let's just take a detail for a second and think about the yoga sutras of Master Patanjali. We know that Chapter one Sutra one is Atha Yoganusasanam. Now the teachings of yoga or now the practice of yoga begins. Chapter one, Sutra two is the definition of yoga. 

Yogas chitta vritti nirodhah 

when we boil this down to something that's super accessible; for us as yoga teachers, but for our yogis too, it means yoga is stillness of the mind. What is stillness of the mind? It's no thinking. No thoughts. No deprecating self-talk. No over analyzing things that have happened in the past. No worrying about things that may or may not happen in the [00:05:00] future. That's the state of yoga; a still mind. Everything we do all the asanas, all the pranayama, all the yamas, all the niyamas, all the meditation. It's for a clear mind, a still mind and hold this thought as we continue onwards through our episode.

 Yoga and the brainwave states. 

 As I mentioned earlier in the episode, yoga nidra is mainly talked about as being a relaxing experience. And the reason that it's relaxing is because yoga nidra, activates brainwave states that are similar to those that we have in sleep. Where the thinking mind, the rational, mind, the Beta and the Gamma brainwave states. Hold that thought. We'll look at those in a minute, are quietened and we have the ability to disengage from our thoughts. Let's be honest. Even a little respite from the incessant nature of the thoughts [00:06:00] feels like a holiday, doesn't it? 

Brainwaves indicate the electrical activity in the brain in terms of frequency bands. You could understand a brainwave as being a vritti. Each brainwave state has a purpose and a particular function. One isn't better than another overall, but certain states are certainly more preferable in certain contexts. Yoga nidra guides is through the brainwave states from awake and thinking, analyzing, assessing. Into slow and relaxed brainwave states mimicking sleep. And this is what makes us feel so relaxed. 

The five major brainwave states from the highest to the lowest frequency are, 

Beta being weak and immersed in life. This brain activity makes it hard for us to hypothesize that there might be another set of brainwaves, another way of feeling, another way of thinking; [00:07:00] we're totally immersed in the doing and it's hard to imagine that there's a possibility of just being. 

Gamma also associated with the waking state and sometimes REM. But they're important for learning, memory and processing information. 

Alpha. Relaxed wakefulness. Awake, but without deliberate mental tasks, all the way through to dreaming. And as such, alpha appears to be the bridge between conscious and subconscious. 

Theta. The brainwaves are slowing now. Theta waves initiate finding solutions, gaining inspiration and retaining information. Entering the theta state consistently is associated with a thickening of the prefrontal cortex, which itself is associated with a greater ability to make conscious choices rather than habitual pre-program choices. [00:08:00] Later in the benefits of yoga nidra, we'll look at how one of these is the reduction of unhealthy habits. 

Delta. This is the lowest frequency of brainwaves. The waves, the vrittis are incredibly slow. The Delta response can have the effect of decreasing body awareness, a deeply relaxed state, but the body is still receiving and processing information. And you know this because when the instructor calls you back from the yoga nidra, you can come back. 

In summary, as we descend through the brainwave states; doing becomes being. The, 'I' sense drops away. The waves, the vrittis become more and more still. Yoga is happening. Remember the definition of yoga, according to Master Patanjali 'yoga is the stillness of the mind'. It's happening, biologically. Yoga nidra is [00:09:00] serving us by guiding us through the brainwave states towards the still mind. 

The benefits of yoga nidra. There are some huge and very wild and bold claims out there about the benefits of yoga nidra. I would imagine most of them are probably true. But here are benefits of a sustained practice, and the references for these are included in our show notes. 

Yoga nidra creates a deep restoration state, that triggers the brain to release neurotransmitters, including GABA, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins, and the hormones D H EA. Melatonin and HGH. 

 Cortisol and noradrenaline are reduced. 

 The immune system is strengthened. 

Yoga nidra creates positive changes across the following metrics, ability to manage stress. Sleep quality, [00:10:00] mental and emotional balance. Reduction of unhealthy habits. And cravings and impulsive behaviors. 

 So yoga teachers, I hope that's given you some insight into what yoga nidra is and how it works. If there's one thing to take away from this episode. It's that yoga nidra is so much more than just a relaxation. It's that secret door to liberation. But it's so easy. All you have to do is get as comfortable as possible and allow for relaxation and be guided. 

It's so simple and so profound. And in a world where everything is just happening faster and faster and faster, it really is a joy, an antidote to life. If you're interested in our yoga nidra and yoga wisdom training, we have dates booked in for September this year at Yoga Hero in Leeds; [00:11:00] all of the details are in the show notes and we'll see next week to put it into practice and as always happy, happy teaching.