At this point, you probably know the benefits of meditation, breathwork and other mindfulness tools. In addition to thes techniques, yoga nidra offers a powerful, easy-to-implement practice that involves you laying down and getting deep rest. Yoga studios usually have them on their schedules at night or you can find a weekend workshop to try it out. After you learn about all of the benefits, you’ll likely run to sign up.
According to Mindbodygreen, “yogic sleep” or yoga nidra, involves a deep state of meditation that allows your body to fall asleep while your mind falls into a relaxed theta wave state. The yoga nidra brain state falls somewhere between being asleep and being awake in the zone where rewiring your neural pathways, healing emotional and physical pain and self-exploration is possible. Giving yourself time to rest and be in this place moves you into the alpha brain wave state at first, relaxing your entire system. From here, Yoga Journal explains, you fall into the deep alpha state — the dream state. The brain starts to find itself in the high theta brain wave state at this point, where thoughts only emerge every four to eight seconds.
In this state, your body and mind can heal while feeling totally relaxed. Finally, yoga nidra guides you into the delta brain wave state where the stress hormone retreats from your body and your organs can regenerate, the outlet adds.
Yoga nidra offers the deep rest that so many people crave
Yoga nidra helps guide you into a deeper state of rest that many have yet to even experience. Rather than falling fully asleep, you maintain a sense of awareness in yoga nidra that allows your mind to get out of the way while your body heals itself. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
Indeed, Mindbodygreen explains that yoga nidra provides a level of restoration that many aren’t used to in our modern lives. By dropping into this state, your body can down-regulate its nervous system into the parasympathetic mode where it can fully rest and digest. As the practice gains popularity, yoga studios around the world have added it to their class list. “Yoga nidra has been a hidden jewel of the yoga practice for a long time but definitely is starting to reach a wider audience now. I think as ‘wellness’ as a trend continues to boom, the more esoteric and deep-rooted practices are starting to gain recognition,” yoga studio owner Chloe Kernaghan, tells the outlet.
Yoga Journal explains that most people today aren’t getting the full amount of rest in the delta-brain wave state that they need. As a result, their systems aren’t shutting down enough to fully repair themselves, leading to burnout. Furthermore, those suffering from depression rarely reach this state on their own.
The best part? All you need is a yoga nidra recording and a comfortable place to lay down to get started.
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