The Healing Power of Yoga Nidra: Rest, Acceptance, Creativity, Transformation

Yesterday I went to a Yoga Nidra workshop (using the Amrit method), and I was re-inspired by this simple yet profound practice, and its power to heal and transform. Growing up, my Mom and I would practice yoga, either a gentle practice that she led in her room (before yoga mats!), or via videos (often with Rodney Yee or Patricia Walden or occasionally with random teachers on library videos). I remember after savasana feeling so wonderful. I distinctly remember a time when I felt otherworldly, and after floating to my room, I looked in the mirror to see if my body was there. Everything seemed hazy, as my gaze had softened, and I felt full, bright, buoyant, and at peace internally. My outer world dissolved, and I knew everything was OK. What was this state of being? It was a huge contrast to the stress I normally felt, being in high school, trying to fit in socially, and trying to keep up with all of the requirements of school. All the pressure I put on myself was released through savasana. I later learned there is a name for this: Yoga Nidra. I am certain it has changed my life, and one of my goals in teaching yoga, is to share this practice with others.

Here are some of my notes, and reasons why I want to practice Yoga Nidra more often, and encourage others to do the same. The quote on Amrit's sight kinda says it all: "Can you be happy doing what you are doing, while you are doing it?" - Gurudev

WHAT IS YOGA NIDRA
Many yoga practicing folks may have experienced this method of deep rest, perhaps without knowing it has a name. Over the years, this is the definition that stuck: "Yoga Nidra is the state between waking and sleeping." It is a potent and precious state of being, where profound change and healing can occur. I have learned different methods for getting there, though wasn't aware of the differences until yesterday, when we discussed being guided into this state, vs. dropping in via silence. From my understanding, the Amrit method, which we practiced in this workshop, is a guided journey, where vocal instructions guide the practitioner into a deeper state of rest, possibly using small movements, progressive muscle relaxation technique (PMR), the breath, or body awareness to initially drop in, with longer spaces of silence toward the end. It is careful and exact, in that there can be awareness on the teacher's end, of what brain wave state the receiver is in, and there is an order to the instructions. This blog on the Stages of Sleep has a bit more info on those states (beta, alpha, theta, delta). There also seem to be a variety of ways the Amrit method can be mixed and matched, for each session, which I appreciate (for example in one practice we did breathing techniques at the beginning, and in one we did progressive muscle relaxation technique instead). In Judith Hanson Lasater's restorative yoga teaching, she encourages more silence, or total silence, to drop in to the state of Yoga Nidra. This has also been beautifully effective for me, where time expands and I'm floating in a sea of peace. In restorative classes I've taken, often teachers guide the students into it initially then leave space. All these methods (full guidance and total silence, or a mixture of both) are appealing to me, for different days. Some days I need the guidance to reconnect to my body and inner world. Some days I am ready for silence without instruction. I like having a few options in my healing tool bag.

SHIFTING LENSES, Inner World vs. Outer World

During the first Yoga Nidra session of the workshop (we did two, with discussion in between), there was a clear moment when my focus switched from my outer world - the whereabouts of all the other people in my life, and my agenda - to this giant inner world, suddenly bright and clear. I was reminded of the awkward eye examinations where the doctor says, "this one, or this one? A, or B? B, or C? is this one clearer, or blurry?" That whole outer world suddenly fell away when I put on the Yoga Nidra glasses, coming into a perspective that easily gets neglected. Teachers John Vosler and Renu referred to it as "the source", and reminded us that the more we connect to the source, the easier it is to get back to it. I agree. I would like to spend more time in this bright inner world, listening and tuning in. 

WHAT IS, releasing good vs. bad
Teacher Renu reminded us to look at what is. Instead of deciding what's good or what's bad, see what IS. It makes sense, yet it's amazing how often I overanalyze, add a story, and try to think things through to the point of exhaustion. She pointed out how looking at WHAT IS can take a lot of the stress of situations away. We get out of the way of what's happening, and let it move through. Same thing on the micro level of our body. John reminded us of how we so often live in fight or flight mode (a concept we work with a lot in restorative yoga), and how we need the balance of tapping into the parasympathetic nervous system. He shared an awesome story of him walking his dog, and seeing a cat ahead, relaxed and sunning itself in the sun. As soon as it sees the dog, it gets into fight or flight mode, with fur standing, back rounded, ready to act. Then very soon after the dog passes, the cat is back to sunning itself. John pointed out how that's the way the nervous system is meant to work. Often what humans do though, is keep that stress for a long time. So the "fear" energy can get stuck in our bodies, taking days/months/years/lifetimes to analyze something that happened way in the past. Yoga Nidra allows us to rest and let that energy move through. We don't have to know what it is. We can let what is be. Renu says, "Something is happening," which I love, as a way to acknowledge that changes are occurring, and we don't have to know exactly what is happening. In doing so, we can release the need to decide what's good or bad, which can further block these things, this energy, from moving through. If we need to get mad/scared/ecstatic, let it move through, and then rest, moving back to homeostasis instead of staying in stress mode.

STRESS, sleep, REST, release
Our bodies need to rest. We "sleep", and it often does not fully restore our systems because we can get so amped up during the day, or we don't sleep long enough. It's important to rest during the day as well, and not save all our rest time for the evening. Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra are ways we can let ourselves let go, and thus release stress, and thus sleep better. It is a beautiful experience to drop in, so deeply, and let our rhythms evolve. Our patterns release. We move in the direction we wanted to go anyway, without overthinking and overanalyzing it. SO often I get stuck in my head, trying to figure things out, and I see it happen all around me. People want to figure things out. I want to figure things out. Sometimes when I begin savasana, intending to get to the prized Yoga Nidra state, I'm trying to figure out my life. Eventually, that part of the brain settles in (the front brain), and I enjoy the not knowing. There is a calmness and acceptance and peace that emerges. Simply by resting in savasana and accessing Yoga Nidra. Wow.

INTEGRATION
This is also the time to integrate what has happened during the day. Physically, mentally, emotionally. On every level. Our body digests. Via the stomach, and also all the organs. Have you ever felt overwhelmed or on complete overload?? Why not rest in Yoga Nidra? There are so many reasons why I don't do it, even when I need it. I'd like to explore some of the barriers I've had to practicing Yoga Nidra, so that I can address them. It's amazing the resistance I have sometimes, to doing this simple practice. Yet, when I finally do, my world starts to make more sense. My panic and overwhelm can switch to allowance and release. Things start to make sense on a deeper level. My mind doesn't have to figure it all out. The pieces are put together for me. Some epiphanies occasionally occur. Synapses fire. (I just wanted to say that phrase.) Creative ideas come too, before or after I fall into that deepest state of rest, without even trying. In this resting state, our deepest creativity emerges. It's there all along, and we cover it up. Part of this practice is releasing the layers, or barriers, surrounding our true self, and true expression.

LOVE
There is love underneath it all. It may take awhile to get there. There is trust. There is peace. There is calm. Santosha (acceptance). "There is no need to make anything happen," is one of their reminders. I love that. It can be so hard as well. It's important to cultivate the opposite of what we normally do (for most of us, we make things happen, or think about making things happen, or worry about not making things happen). I feel more love for myself and others during and after this practice, for sure. It is a gift I can give myself, relatively simply. Yoga nidra is a great healer, and accessing our deep love can mean deep healing a well. Yoga nidra is a deep healing well.

ON SELF-LOVE
In the class, we talked about how often we beat ourselves up. Even for things like not practicing Yoga Nidra every day. Renu asked us, "How would you treat the person you love the most, or your very best friend in the world?" Then she asked us to think about how we treat ourselves. Woah. I don't know about you, but I definitely have some work to do there. (Or rather, via Yoga Nidra, some letting go.) Why do we beat ourselves up, and treat everyone better than ourselves? One of my missions with teaching yoga is to encourage self-care and self-love. Yoga Nidra is a way that we can take care of our delicates selves. Hold space for what's happening, physically and emotionally, and also not obsess over it. Through the relaxation I experience in Yoga Nidra, I am able to make decisions more from a place of self-love and acceptance, and that leads me in a direction that I want to go in anyway. It's a win-win!

YOGA NIDRA vs. MEDITATION
This was brought up briefly in the class. One of the reasons I don't practice Yoga Nidra more often, is because I also want to practice meditation daily (which I don't do, but it's on my list), and have a yoga asana practice (asana are the physical poses that fall under the branch of Hatha Yoga), and sometimes go to dance or other body awareness/ movement classes, like Feldenkrais. OMG. So how am I going to fit it all in?? Sitting is not comfortable for me past twenty minutes, whereas Yoga Nidra is much more relaxing. Yet, I believe there are benefits of both, and still want to practice both. The teachers pointed out that the benefits of Yoga Nidra, seem to be the same as meditation, and perhaps even go deeper since the body can rest. I know there are reasons why sitting is good for meditation, partly so that the mind can stay more alert, partly so that even if sitting gets uncomfortable, we can practice being with discomfort, examining the thought patterns that come with it. For now though, I am going to let myself explore Yoga Nidra a bit more, and perhaps it will inspire my meditation practice as well. I imagine I will go back and forth between the two, and I have this idea that as long as I leave time for one or the other each day, it will keep me connected to that source. Curious to know others thoughts on the reasons to practice one or the other.

FINAL WORDS
There is so much more to say about Yoga Nidra, though the practice speaks for itself, and also defies description thru words. It's important to experience it to actually understand its potential. I appreciated the dialogue and experience this workshop gave me, and was inspired to practice and share this method of healing more enthusiastically. Thank you to Renu and John for flying all the way from LA to lead the workshop (even with a 2.5 hour flight delay that could have been very stressful, but they were able to joke about it in the end, pointing out that the worst that would have happened is they wouldn't have been there when we all arrived, and another guy who was trained in this method probably would have led). Thanks to my housemate Angeles Rios for reminding me to go! The workshop was at Yoga Tree in Hayes Valley, and there is a Level 1 Immersion happening at the end of February. Eventually I'd like to create a guided Yoga Nidra audio, that I will post on http://seaweedsway.bandcamp.com (Please let me know if you're interested, as that will motivate me!) As some of you know, the studio where I normally teach, The Yoga Loft, had a fire in December. We will need help from the community to get it going again. You can sign up for the newsletter or find us on facebook to get the updates: https://www.facebook.com/loftsf It is closed until Spring or later, so that renovations can be done. In the meantime, I intend to blog a bit more about my experiences with a variety of movement, yoga, relaxation, and body awareness techniques. Thanks for reading, and may you have the time and space to explore Yoga Nidra on your own.

Photo by Jesse Stout, taken at the Yoga Loft