Why You Should Include Yoga Nidra In Your Stress Relief Tool Box
‘Life is more than handling stress. Its about living a joyful life with meaning and purpose.’ Julie Lusk
Its no secret that stress and anxiety levels around the globe are at an all time high. Now, more than ever we need to take responsibility for developing practices and habits that can help us shift out of overwhelm, fear, anxiety and stress and into a place of happiness, if we are to live a meaningful and purposeful life. Well, Yoga nidra may just be the thing that finally helps you do all of the above.
Ancient Roots
The origins of yoga nidra date back to 700 BC in India and even earlier in spoken forms. For some years now yoga nidra has being recognised as a valuable tool for healing and relaxation.
Yoga Nidra Has Been Found To Have Valuable Health Benefits When Practiced Over Time
Several decades of research and scientific studies have shown yoga nidra to be effective in rejuvenating the body and reducing stress and anxiety.
Yoga nidra improves the function of Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) which is responsible for controlling many bodily functions such as healing, metabolism and development. The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are part of this system. The sympathetic nervous system is connected with fight or flight and its primary function is to keep us safe. This system is not designed to be active for prolonged periods of time and when this happens, our body and its organs are put under stress and overtime can be damaging. The parasympathetic nervous system is concerned with rest and digest type activities, allowing the body to heal and repair so it can continue functioning optimally. Yoga nidra activates the parasympathetic nervous system, like other meditation techniques. We can use yoga nidra as a tool to help us develop resilience to stress, and help the parasympathetic nervous system to counteract the stress reaction with the relaxation response.
Yoga Nidra Is A Powerful Meditation Technique
Yoga nidra or yogic sleep is a powerful meditation technique and one of the easiest yoga practices to develop and maintain.
It is a form of guided meditation, usually practiced lying down (but can be done seated). During yoga nidra you will be guided to a state of deep relaxation and to a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping. This state that promotes extreme relaxation and healing. The practice of yoga nidra is known to promote physical and emotional healing, bring mental clarity and creativity resulting in a feeling of harmony and wellbeing.
Some significant health benefits yoga nidra
- Activation of the relaxation response allowing the body to heal or repair
- Increased immunity
- Lower blood pressure, improving heart health
- Decrease in pain
- Helps balances blood glucose levels
- Relief from anxiety and depression
- Enhanced clear thinking
- Increased creativity
- Increased intuition and self awareness
- Improved sleep
What to expect in a yoga nidra class
The practitioner will lie down in savasana or other comfortable position and will be guided to a state of deep relaxation by the teacher.
You will set an intention, known as a sankalpa and this is used during the meditation to work on your goal, wish or desire.
The teacher guides the student to use their breath, their awareness of their body and sensations and feelings through a visualisation technique.
The aim is to stay in a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping. You may fall asleep and that is fine as your subconscious will still listen.
After yoga nidra you can expect to feel refreshed and filled with relaxed energy. You may not remember all of the nidra when it is over and that is ok
You can’t do yoga nidra wrong and with practice it is possible to enjoy more and more of the benefits and experience improved wellbeing.
Join an in person Yoga Nidra Class with me. Check out the next course
