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Psychic Sleep Meditation, Yogic Dreaming, Dream Yoga, Divine Dreaming. It is an ancient practice from the Meditations from the Tantras, and it is also a state of mind, the one between waking and sleeping.
The state of mind
When you go to sleep at night, or when you wake in the morning, you lie in bed experiencing a dream. You know that you are lying in bed and you know that you are dreaming. In that state the conscious mind is alert and active, and the subconscious mind is active too, and you are aware of it. So you can experience your deep subconscious.
Normally this happens by chance, for two or three minutes, as we wake or as we fall asleep. In the practice of Yoga Nidra we aim to enter that state at will, for thirty to forty minutes, so that we can go into the subconscious while the conscious mind stays awake and aware, and explore what is there.
When we are able to reach the subconscious mind we are able to know ourselves, to know what is in there. With the conscious mind alert, tensions, fears and phobias rise to the surface of the mind and vanish, like bubbles coming to the surface of water. At the same time we are able to insert positivity, to reach the natural healing energies, to boost the immune system, to find creativity and new ideas, and to connect with the Higher Consciousness within us.
The practice
Yoga Nidra is done lying down in shavasana, or sitting in a comfortable chair. That makes it easy and enjoyable. You do not have to worry about how you are sitting, or about not moving. You lie down and you relax.
You take your awareness step by step, from the outer world of sounds and activities, through the body, the breath and the mind, into the deep subconscious. You release tension, put in positive energy, explore what is there, connect with the Higher Consciousness, and come back refreshed and recharged, in a different and uplifted mood, as if you had been on a good holiday without going anywhere.
Where it comes from
The practice of Yoga Nidra is an ancient one, from the Meditations from the Tantras. It was rediscovered by Swami Satyananda Saraswati, a direct disciple of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh. Originally it was meant only for initiated sadhaks. Swami Satyananda practised it thoroughly himself and simplified it, so that people today can do it easily and with full benefit.
It has become so popular that it is used all over the world, under many different names and for many different purposes. We are fortunate that such an easy and enjoyable practice exists, that Swami Satyananda made it available to us, and that we can learn to do it for ourselves.
Yoga Nidra is the hallmark of the Satyananda Bihar School of Yoga tradition, and the practice around which much of the teaching at this ashram is built. Read about Satyananda Yoga →
Notes on how it works
Drawn from an article by Swami Dr Shankardev on yoga nidra and the art of sleeping.
Yoga Nidra begins by going through the physical body part by part. Focusing awareness on each part in turn stimulates the region of the brain's cortex where sensation and movement are mapped, settling the brain's activity and putting disturbed circuits back in order. As physical tension goes, the body lies still more comfortably, the muscle tone relaxes, the mind relaxes with it, and sleep comes more easily.
Yoga Nidra is designed to induce pratyahara, sense withdrawal: the mind stays awake while the body sleeps. Brain activity quietens, alpha waves increase, the body relaxes and the mind stays alert. Holding awareness on the border between sleep and wakefulness allows contact with the subconscious, and a deeper understanding of the parts of the mind that create the tension behind sleeplessness.
An important part of Yoga Nidra is the sankalpa, a short resolve charged with the energy of the will. At certain points in the practice the subconscious opens, and the resolve can be planted deeply enough to flower and bear fruit. A positive resolve, held steadily, is one of the practice's most powerful parts.
Practised for insomnia, Yoga Nidra is best done on a full stomach, after lunch or dinner; for high blood pressure the opposite applies. Half an hour of Yoga Nidra is often said to equal two hours of sleep. Clinical work on relaxation in shavasana, reported by the Bombay cardiologist K. K. Datey, found that most patients improved, with headache, giddiness, irritability and sleeplessness clearing in almost all of them, and a general sense of well-being afterwards.
Learning it
Swamiji has taught Yoga Nidra for forty years, and trains teachers in it. The Foundation course is the place to start.
Five sessions, seven and a half hours: sankalpa, ishta devata and chidakash, how to get good sleep with Yoga Nidra and how to stay awake during it. Online or at the ashram.
For steady practitioners: creative visualisation, chakra and healing visualisation, facing fears, forgiveness, and creating your future.
Six nights of Yoga Nidra at the ashram, with daily asana, pranayama, chanting and ocean meditations.
A professional certification in Yoga Nidra as a therapeutic tool, combining online intensives with a two-week ashram residency and ongoing mentoring.
