“Yoga nidra begins now”
Tell me more about yoga nidra:
Yoga nidra is a guided meditation. It is a practice of pratyahara, the withdrawal of the senses, a journey of introspection and receptivity. The emphasis of this practice is on the rotation of your awareness by traveling through the different layers of self, also called the koshas. The koshas or sheaths are often likened to Russian stacking dolls similar to these three Totoros, acorn and soot sprite.
The practice of yoga nidra also enhances your ability to creatively visualize and strengthens your imagination.
In yoga nidra we set a sankalpa. Your sankalpa is a present tense intention, an incisive resolve. Think your sankalpa with determination and conviction. Summon the words not only with the mind but also with the intention of the heart. What are you trying to attract into your life? Treat it like it already exists. This is an invocation. This is your opportunity to sew a seed deep into the threads of your subconscious.
The original scripts in which I learned this practice comes from the Yoga Nidra book by Swami Satyananada Saraswati. The lineage of yoga nidra traces its roots back to India and the ancient practice of tantra. Swami Satyananada Saraswati diverted from the tantric practice of “nyasa” meaning “to take the mind to that point”. Nyasa can be understood as a body scan with touch linked with mantra chanting. He wanted to create a practice more accessible to people who weren’t familiar with sanskrit.
Yoga Nidra – The Blissful Relaxation
Most people sleep without resolving their tensions,
This is termed Nidra.
Nidra means sleep, no matter what or why.
But Yoga Nidra means sleep after throwing off the burdens,
It is of a blissful, higher quality altogether.
When awareness is separate and distinct from the vrittis,
When waking, dream, and deep sleep pass like clouds,
Yet awareness of atma remains,
This is the experience of total relaxation.
Relaxation does not mean sleep.
Relaxation means to be blissfully happy,
It has no end.
I call bliss absolute relaxation;
sleep is a different matter.
Sleep gives only mind and sense relaxation.
Bliss relaxes the atma, the inner self;
That is why, in tantra,
Yoga Nidra is the doorway to Samadhi.
— Swami Satyanana Saraswati
Thanks to Oceane for taking these photos. You can find more of their work here