Yoga Nidra

You will be asked to lie on your back and covered with a blanket for warmth. Once you are comfortable, your awareness will be guided towards the rhythm of your breath.

You will then be asked to think of a positive statement or ‘resolve'. This statement will be mentally repeated at both the beginning and end of the session. You will then be lead into a state of relaxation using the processes listed below.

When you rest in Yoga Nidra, the conscious mind is taken inwardly, towards an awareness of the physical body, through a process known as the rotation of consciousness.

You will be asked to move your awareness towards specific areas of your body, in sequence, and to mentally repeat, internally, that area as it is mentioned; thus inducing a complete physical and mental relaxation.

Your attention will then be brought back to your breath. You should let the breath be fluid and natural and should not try to force it or alter it in any way.

By maintaining an awareness of your breath, your attention is automatically taken inwardly; visualisations can also be used to assist you. An example of this would be counting the breaths, where you would count each inhalation and each exhalation, counting backwards from 54 to 1. This practice enables you to relax even further.

Your attention will then be guided to an awareness of feelings, emotions and sensations within your body.

The feelings and emotions that are aroused should consist of opposites, for example, you may be guided towards a feeling of heaviness, then to one of lightness, or to remember a time when you may have experienced a feeling of pleasure and then towards a memory where there was an experience of pain, thus helping to balance the two emotions or sensations within the opposite hemispheres of the brain, and enabling you to gain greater conscious control of your emotions and feelings.

An increase in willpower and drive will result from the new found control because you will begin to act consciously as opposed to unconsciously within your emotions on a day-to-day level.

The next stage of the Yoga Nidra practice is that of the visualisation or guided imagery.

Here universal symbols are used to unlock and awaken the contents of your unconscious mind, allowing it to release past traumas and associations, by generating images that bring the memory forwards from the unconscious mind and into the conscious mind; once here the feelings associated with the memory can be re-experienced from a place of peace and safety, and as the memory is brought into the conscious mind, it then dissolves and no longer influences you on an unconscious level, thus freeing you from any pain associated with it.

You will then be asked to repeat the resolve you made at the start of the practice, as before, it should be repeated 3 times, with conviction and should be worded in the present tense.

You will be left with a feeling of inner peace and calm at the end of the guided visualisation; thus leaving your unconscious mind open to receiving the positive message of your chosen resolve. The resolve will be heard within your unconscious mind and as a consequence, the seed of the resolve will be planted and will then grow and eventually manifest so as to influence your attitude and behaviour throughout your daily life.

Your attention will then be guided back to your breath thus bringing you back to full conscious awareness, gradually and gently. It is important to ensure that you are fully grounded, before coming back to a seated position.

If you are interested in experiencing a Yoga Nidra session, please do let me know and I will be happy to deliver a session tailored to suit your particular requirements.

Alternatively, or to complement any Yoga Nidra session I deliver, I recommend a Yoga Nidra CD by Muz Murray. Details of his website and personal journey with Yoga can found here. I personally practice Muz Murray's Yoga Nidra CD at least once each day and have found it to be an invaluable tool in maintaining a sense of wellbeing, warmth and vitality in my every day life.