What is yoga nidra?
Yoga Nidra is actually a sleep-based meditation technique.
I like to say it's meditation made easy.
Typically,
When we try to meditate,
We're told to sit,
We're told to focus on observing our thoughts,
Our breath,
A mantra,
Or the present moment.
And every time we get distracted,
We're told to bring our attention back.
Well,
In Yoga Nidra,
We are learning to create a distance between us and our thoughts in a similar way as meditation,
But based on the biology of sleep.
First,
A yoga nidra is guided and you are guided through a series of breaths.
Body and awareness techniques that are designed to take you down into the same brainwaves that you experience when you're asleep.
The only difference is that you are guided to maintain a gentle awareness,
Which allows you to create a subtle distance,
A gap between you and your thoughts.
The difference is in meditation,
We're more actively learning to observe our thoughts,
To observe when we're distracted and to bring ourselves back.
In Yoga Nidra,
You are resting in a space where the observation of thoughts is happening organically,
Naturally,
And effortlessly.
Not only that,
But in Yoga Nidra,
You are lying down.
You can have some height under the knees,
Padding under the head.
You're resting comfortably,
So all the discomfort and distractions in the body can be removed,
Allowing you to enter deep states of restoration,
Relaxation,
And meditation from the very first time you practice.
