“... rest is the sense of stopping, of giving up on what we have been doing or how we have been being ... the journey into the body’s un-coerced and un-bullied self ...”
Yoga nidra, literally meaning yogic sleep, is a deep restorative rest practice in which the body sleeps with full awareness. A type of sleep-based meditation, yoga nidra effortlessly guides the body and mind into rest and relaxation states. It feels like a nap, and people have described fifteen minutes to feel like an hour of sleep.
Research have quantified the benefits of yoga nidra to include:
Improved overall well-being
Lowered anxiety and depression
Lowered stress and tensions
Improved sleep and insomnia symptoms
Lowered blood pressure and cholesterol
Heightened creativity
Improved training of the mind
Our brains on yoga nidra
Our brains are constantly stimulated as we live in this 24/7 plugged-in world. We are living in a chronic ‘fight-or-flight’ state, consistently driving on gear six, literally and figuratively. Yoga nidra effortlessly powers us down to gears one and zero. During yoga nidra, the guided instructions generate deep sleep brain waves including theta and delta waves. In this deeply restorative state, our thoughts slow down, providing our brains the much-needed respite and opportunity for our bodies to regenerate.
