“At the point of sleep when sleep has not yet come and external wakefulness vanishes, at this point being is revealed.” (Vigyana Bhairava Tantra)
Every Wednesday we are having an extended relaxation at the end of the yoga class. In fact it is more than a relaxation or shavasana. It is a deeply healing and potentially transformative meditative practice called yoga nidra (yogic sleep).
I guide you through a very specific process and all you need to do is to listen and notice what you experience through the practise. No need to analyse. Just observe.
We move our awareness through the physical body. We experience opposite qualities such as hot and cold, light and heavy. And we notice that we feel heavy or hot – although nothing has actually changed. And so perhaps outside of our yoga practice we can observe how we experience different situations yet respond appropriately rather than reacting. Perhaps we move into breath awareness and we have visualisations before moving out of the practice.
We also practice Sankalpa. Sankalpa can be interpreted as a seed we plant which becomes reality. It is a resolve or resolution. Now we talk a lot about affirmations and intentions. And that’s kind of what a Sankalpa is. A positive statement such as “I am” something…. perhaps healthy, at peace, becoming stronger, more confident, connecting to my Truth… It is really for our spiritual development. Usually, we repeat our Sankalpa three times as we start and finish the Yoga Nidra. And if we don’t have a Sankalpa we simple just open up and create space for one to potentially occur.
Swami Satyananda Saraswati (the linage where I did my yoga nidra training) said that ‘The purpose of Sankalpa is to influence and transform the whole life pattern, not only physically but also mentally and spiritually’
Yoga nidra is so powerful because we do relax our physical body. As well as our mind. It is excellent when suffering from insomnia as it is said we become so relaxed that 30-40 minutes of Yoga Nidra equals 4 hours of sleep. It has been shown to support people with anxiety and stress, including that which arises from physical challenges like dis-eases. But it goes even deeper. It is a practice to go deeper within one Self and to evolve our spiritual practice too.
In our Wednesday yoga classes, the yoga nidra is about 15-20 minutes but in some of our workshops or extra classes (join us for the Chill Out yoga sessions) we enjoy even longer yoga nidras.
All the classes are recorded so you can join for the whole class including the yoga asana/flow. Or forward the video until the yoga nidra.
For more details on our online yoga have a look here.
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