Yoga Nidra

Relax  ...   Revitalise ... Rejuvenate

Yoga Nidra - Guided Meditation

Why It Is So Important For Us To Practise Yoga Nidra

Benefits

In general people are always in a high state of tension and frustration. This continuous level of tension in the body, mind and emotions predisposes individuals towards psychological and psychosomatic disorders. Modern psychology as well as Yoga philosophy believes that all kinds of tension – muscular tension, emotional tension, mental tension and so on can be progressively released through the systematic and regular practice of Yoga nidra accompanied by transcendental sound meditation.

Yoga Nidra partnered with Yoga mantras helps a person to gradually come to the realisation that I, the individual soul - am not the body in which I am temporarily residing. It is a relief to know this and to spend some time meditating on this reality. The body causes us so many problems, whether it be due to the body systems breaking down, or relationships falling apart - causing mental anguish,tension, stress and emotional distress. This simple awareness   (I am not my body) helps us all to operate more from the platform of witness or observer. This distancing helps us to see stress and distress or anxiety from a third party prospective which helps to greatly minimise and reduce the effects of stress.

Muscular tension is the result of nervous and endocrine imbalances. It manifests in the form of stiffness and rigidity in the physical body. In the practice of Yoga nidra the body is progressively relaxed, which in turn releases muscular tensions.

Due to excessive activity on the mental plane, the mind always remains in a state of agitation, which results in mental tension. Throughout life the mind absorbs heaps of negative data. In the practice of Yoga nidra,the mind is relaxed,thereby releasing mental tension.

In this way, through the regular and consistent practice of Yoga nidra, tensions at the physical, emotional and mental level can be managed. “A single hour of Yoga nidra is as restful as four hours of conventional sleep”.

In Yoga nidra, intensifying the awareness of the body stimulates the brain. When awareness is directed and focused on different body parts, it not only induces physical relaxation but also clears the nerve pathways to the brain. When we use our awareness to focus, it induces a flow of Pranic energy within the neuronal circuit of the motor homunculus of the brain. This Pranic flow brings forth an experience of relaxation in the brain.

The state where the brain is completely relaxed results in mental relaxation. The practice of Yoga nidra promotes alpha dominance in the brain, which is characterised by mental relaxation.

Yoga Nidra Counteracts stress: Stress is a cognitive or emotional response made by us towards any situation, which places demands on us. When the demands of the situation exceed the ability of the individual then distress results, which usually manifests in mental and physical symptoms or abnormalities.

The practice of Yoga nidra helps to build up our ability to cope. We slowly become aware of our inherent dormant potential to stand back from the mind and simply observe. This prevents us from becoming a victim of distress. Stress-related disorders evolve gradually through four stages. In the first stage, psychological symptoms like anxiety and irritability arise due to over activation of the sympathetic nervous system. The second stage is characterised by related physical symptoms like high blood pressure, increased heart rate etc. In the third stage,abnormalities manifest clinically in the organ systems. In the last stage, severe symptoms in particular organs result which may need long-term medical management.

Yoga nidra acts both as a preventive and curative therapy in the first three stages of stress-related disease. During stress the sympathetic nervous system becomes activated due to which the organism adopts the ‘fight or flight’ mechanism. In normal circumstances, the parasympathetic system takes over after the emergency goes. But mostly it has been seen that the sympathetic system remains active most of the time resulting in the experience of distress. In Yoga nidra an attempt is made to activate the parasympathetic system, and slowly a balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems is achieved by inducing complete physical, emotional and mental relaxation. In this way the practice of Yoga nidra counteracts stress.

Yoga Nidra manages psychosomatic diseases: When the tensions, conflicts and frustrations of the mind manifest in the form of physical symptoms, those diseases are termed as psychosomatic diseases. Researches also indicate that Yoga nidra combined with Yoga sound in Meditation can be adopted as a therapeutic technique to cure psychological disorders like anxiety, hostility, insomnia  and also psychosomatic diseases like asthma, coronary heart disease, cancer, & hypertension.

The practice of Yoga nidra, muscular relaxation, breath awareness and guided meditation have been found to be a significant and effective mode of therapy for asthmatics. Asthmatic patients showed improvement in respiratory function and greater freedom of breathing after intensive training in Yoga nidra.

Yoga nidra significantly lowered levels of serum cholesterol in cardiac patients. Researches also show that the practice of Yoga nidra lowers the elevated blood pressure levels of hypertensive patients.

Yoga Nidra combined with Yoga Sound is an effective tool used in many cancer therapy groups world wide.

In the practice of Yoga nidra, the subtle bio-plasmic energy, Prana, is awakened and mobilised throughout the body. A person is asked to consciously visualise the flow of life force energy circulating within, healing the body. Slowly this conscious imagination activates the dormant self-healing capacity. This kind of healing is termed Pranic healing.

CONCLUSION

It is very clear that the practises of Yoga Sound meditation and yoga nidra have preventive, promotive and curative value. They help prevent stress and stress-related disorders by inducing deep physical, emotional and mental relaxation as well as a deep sense of spiritual well being. The practise of Yoga Nidra and Yoga meditation help train the mind to remain calm and quiet. Yoga Meditation is practised as a holistic spiritual activity. As a result of practising this timeless meditation a person experiences deep heart felt satisfaction which in turn settles the emotions, calms the mental faculties resulting in a calming and softening effect on the body.

Physicians recommend daily practise of Yoga meditation and yoga nidra in order to experience and live a focused, centred, balanced life style minimising stress on all levels while bringing about the experience of abundant spiritual joy peace and satisfaction.

In our present modern lifestyle, where psychological and psychosomatic problems are on the rise, the opportunity to add these health giving techniques - Sacred yoga sound meditation and yoga nidra serve as a real boon for mankind.