Yoga Nidra means “yogic sleep”. It is a guided relaxation practice in which the body sleeps while awareness stays awake. We lie down in savasana and a voice guides us step by step into a state of very deep calm.
The stages
- Preparation: find your position, cover up and let the body be still.
- Initial relaxation: feel the weight of the body and the sounds around you.
- Sankalpa: form a short, positive intention.
- Rotation of awareness: move attention quickly through different parts of the body.
- Breath awareness: observe or count the breaths.
- Opposite sensations: heaviness and lightness, cold and warmth.
- Chidakasha: observe the dark space behind the forehead.
- Visualisation: images suggested by the voice.
- Sankalpa and return: repeat the intention and come back slowly.
What it offers
It releases accumulated physical, emotional and mental tension. Many people say a thirty-minute session feels as restorative as several hours of sleep. It also helps sleep, reduces anxiety and makes us more aware of our patterns.
A tip
If you fall asleep, that’s fine: your body needed it. With practice you will learn to stay at that threshold where everything rests, yet you are there.
