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Yoga Nidra |
Yoga nidra is a practice which can be widely applied in the modern world to improve the quality and happiness of human life. It is a simple yet profound technique and has been used in the following fields:
Relaxation: yoga nidra is the best and most permanent method of inducing deep relaxation of the entire human structure and personality.
Meditation: it is a meditative technique.
Psychological problems: yoga nidra acts directly in eradicating deep-rooted psychological complexes, neuroses, inhibitions, etc. It is an advanced psychiatric tool.
Psychosomatic ailments: yoga nidra helps to remove a vast number of ailments that are predominantly mental in cause, such as high blood pressure.
Sleep: yoga nidra induces and improves deep sleep. It is a non-chemical tranquillizer that quickly removes insomnia.
Physio-psychological rejuvenation of the entire human organism can be brought about by yoga nidra. The physical, pranic and mental levels of man are directly recharged.
Mind exploration and awakening: yoga nidra opens up the potential of the human mind and also awakens the faculty of intuition.
Learning, education and intelligence: yoga nidra is a profound educational tool. Through investigations and tests, it has been found to bring extraordinary improvements in both the absorption and retention of information from external sources as well as tapping of knowledge within one’s own mind. It heightens intelligence in all meanings of the word.
The rotation of awareness harmonizes the nervous system, balances pranic flows and renders the mind-one pointed. Yoga nidra has a vast number of other applications and can be practised by everyone, young and old, male or female. It is thoroughly scientific and tested. It requires no belief or blind acceptance of a dogma, it only requires practice.
Definition
The word yoga means inner communion; the process that leads to this state. Nidra means sleep. Thus yoga nidra can be defined as ‘yogic sleep’. It is both the name of a specific practice and a state of being. The mechanics of the practice are easy to understand and define, but the state of yoga nidra will be understood differently by different people as follows:
Sleep: to a person who is tired, exhausted and constantly worried, the state of yoga nidra will mean only one thing... a deep, refreshing sleep. Nothing more, nothing less. Many are the people who practice yoga nidra alone or attend yoga nidra classes only for one purpose: to sink into the oblivion of sleep. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, since your deep sleep will being many benefits. In yoga nidra lessons one is generally asked to remain wakeful, but if you cannot do this, do not worry... enjoy the sleep. Sometime in the future you can try to remain awake.
Psychic sleep: to other people, possibly those who have been practicing yoga nidra for an extended period of time, yoga nidra will mean a state of conscious dreaming, where one will see visions of the subconscious mind. One will seem to hover in a state midway between sleep and wakefulness. In this state one will confront subconscious problems, suppressions, fears, etc. Regular practice will slowly clean and polish the mind.
Sleepless sleep: this is the highest state of yoga nidra where one balances on the razor’s edge between introversion and extroversion. This is the path of Sushumna and corresponds to the awakening of the kundalini. This is the blissful and mystical state of ‘yoga’ that corresponds to superconsciouness. It has been described by innumerable yogis, saints, bhaktas and sages throughout history. In the great yogic scripture called Yogataravali, Shankaracharya has written: “When sankalpa (desires) and vikalpa (fancies and imaginations) are rooted out then one is influenced no more by karma. When sankalpa and vikalpa are removed by constant yogic practice the ever blissful state of yoga nidra dawns.”
We have defined three specific stated of yoga nidra. As a prsctice we can describe it as a method of inducing physical and nervous tranquility, as a method of ridding the mind of chronic tension, and of inducing inner knowledge and meditation. It nulls the rational thought processes and brings inner peace.
The layers of the mind
Yoga nidra is a method of exploring the different layers of the mind. According to certain schools of modern psychology there are three dimensions of mind: the conscious, subconscious and unconscious. The Mandukya Upanishad also classifies the mind into three layers: jagrat, swapna and sushupti. The yogic and psychology terminology can be directly related as follows:
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Jagrat:
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conscious mind, waking state
Surface thoughts and perception of outside world
Sthula (gross dimension)
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Swapna:
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subconscious mind, dream state
Individual memory and mind
Sukshma (subtle dimension)
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Sushupti:
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unconscious mind, deep conscious sleep state
Collective memory
Karana (causal dimension)
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Yoga nidra starts from the swapna state – that is, exploration of the subconscious mind. If one masters yoga nidra then the depth of perception may become deeper so that one contacts and explores the sushupti or cosmic mind. Great yogis go even further: they transcend the mind, they enter the state of superconsciouness, called turiya (the fourth dimension of being). This is the highest state of yoga nidra, which few attain. It is a state that is spontaneously experienced by yogis. It is real yoga nidra in the form of pure, illuminated consciousness. This yoga nidra is not part of prakriti (nature) but it is the manifested form of purusha (consciousness).
Om - Vande Gurunam Caranaravinde Sandarsita Svatma Sukhavabodhe
Nihsreyase Jangalikayamane Samsara Halahala Mohasantyai
Abahu Purusakaram Sankhacakrasi Dharinan Sahasra Sirasam
Svetam Pranamami Patanjali - Om
Om - I bow to the lotus feet of the Gurus, The awakening
happiness of one's own self revealed, Beyond better,
acting like the jungle physician, Pacifying delusion,
the poison of samsara, Taking the form of a man to
the shoulders, Holding a conch, a discuss, and a sword,
One thousand heads white, To Patanjali, I salute -
Om
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