Friday Q&A: What is Yoga Nidra?

 

Q: What is yoga nidra (yogic sleep)?

A: Well, this is a good question. A straight up translation is “the sleep of the yogi,” however, done correctly, one does not enter fully into sleep, but is guided by a teacher on a journey while resting in a restorative version of Savasana. I love this practice, as it can lead to a profound conscious rest (that means, again, you are not sleeping!) that has many physiologic, mental and emotional benefits.  Because you are listening and following the voice of a teacher while resting anywhere from 20-45 minutes, your mind is gently occupied and does not tend to revert to its typical habits of remembering, anticipating or judging. This provides a mental respite for your mind, and your body tends to more quickly shift into the rest and digest part of the nervous system, even faster than in normal sleep. Yoga nidra is being used to treat PTSD in vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, so the potential effect on anxiety, fear and worry seems obvious.

You can practice yoga nidra is the physical presence of the teacher who is guiding you (in a class or workshop) or on your own using a recording of your favorite teacher. And I hope to record a version of yoga nidra for your listening pleasure in the next few weeks. Nina will fill you in on yoga nidra’s modern roots, which may surprise some of you who have been told it is an “ancient “practice.” — Baxter

A: Yoga nidra was developed by Swami Sivananda Saraswati in the early twentieth century (based on the teachings of his guru, Swami Sivananda). Yes, the twentieth century. He wrote, “I came across many important but little known practices, which interested me greatly. After practicing them myself, I decided to construct a new system called yoga nidra which would incorporate the essence of these practices without having complicated ritualistic drawbacks.” He says the yoga nidra practice was inspired by the tantric practice of nyasa, but nyasa was performed in a sitting posture and involved the use of specific mantras which were “placed” in different parts of the body.

Swami Sivananda Saraswati’s disciple Swami Satyananda Saraswati describes the yoga nidra practice in great detail in his book Yoga Nidra. Swami The form of practice taught by Swami Satyananda includes eight stages: Internalisation, Sankalpa, Rotation of Consciousness, Breath Awareness, Manifestation of Opposites, Creative Visualization, Sankalpa and Externalisation. Contemporary teachers, such as our very own Baxter Bell, often create their own versions of yoga nidra.

So yoga nidra is not ancient after all! But that doesn’t mean it’s not a very powerful practice. Much of the yoga that we know and love was actually developed by a few brilliant Indian yogis during the early twentieth century (Desikachar, Iyengar, Jois, etc.), a very exciting and fruitful time in the long history of yoga.

In simple English, yoga nidra is a practice where you lie in some version of Savasana (Corpse pose) and allow a teacher, who is following a format devised by Swami Sivananda Saraswati, to guide you into a state of conscious relaxation that is referred to as “yogic sleep.” It doesn’t feel like being asleep and it doesn’t feel like being awake—trust me, I’ve tried it.

— Nina