Yoganidra

Yoganidra means 'sleep' with awareness. Yoganidra is a state of mind in between wakefulness and dream. In normal sleep, we sleep without awareness. But in yoganidra we sleep with awareness. Yoganidra is helpful in management of stress. It relaxes body and mind and reduces tension. Yoganidra is practised in Shavasana. It consists of body awareness and breath awareness. The awareness is rotated in quick succession through all parts of the body, then it is taken to the breath and finally to the mind.

Let us practise Yoganidra by following the steps given below:

Lie supine in Shavasana. Take deep breath and feel completely relaxed.

Phase 1: Body Awareness

• Now you rotate your awareness to different parts of body.

• Rela............x the right first (big) toe, second toe, third toe, fourth toe, fifth toe , sole of foot, heel, ankles, calf muscles, knee, thigh and right hip. Similarly relax the left first (big) toe, second toe, third toe, fourth toe, fifth toe, sole of foot, heel, ankles, calf muscles, knee, thigh and left hip.

• Now rela.....x thumb of right hand, first finger, second or middle finger, third finger, fourth (little) finger of right hand, palm, back of the hand, wrist, lower arm, elbow, upper arm and right shoulder. Now rela.....x thumb of left hand, first finger, second or middle finger, third finger, fourth (little) finger of left hand, palm, back of the hand, wrist, lower arm, elbow, upper arm and left shoulder.

• Now be aware of the back and relax it. Rela..........x right buttock, left buttock, middle part of right back, middle part of left back, right shoulder blade, left shoulder blade, the spine and the whole back together.

• Now focus your attention to the front part of your body. Rela........x area above the chest, right side of chest, left side of chest, navel, right side of your abdomen, left side of abdomen, upper parts of right leg and upper part of left leg.

• Now rela.....x your neck, left side of neck, right side of neck, front side and then back side of neck, throat, chin, lower lip, upper lip, tip of the nose, the right cheek, the left cheek, the right ear, the left ear, the right eye, the left eye, the right eyelid, the left eyelid, the right eyebrow, the left eyebrow, the space between eye-brows, the right side of head, the left side of head, the back of head and top of the head. Now rela......x the whole body.

• Now relax whole body. Rela...........x. Rela..........x whole body

. Phase 2: Breath Awareness

• Now focus your attention on breath. Feel the flow of your natural breath. Do not change it. Feel the movement of nostrils with each breath. Now you focus your attention on the movements of the abdominal area during breathing. Abdomen falls and rises with each exhalation and inhalation.

Phase 3: Coming Back

To come back, become aware of your body and be aware of the time and place you are in. Move your fingers, toes, and head from one side to other side. Take your own time. Be wide awake. Slowly sit up and open your eyes very slowly.

Note:

After breath awareness a scene may be described and the practitioner is asked to visualise it in that state. Alternately, different things like floating in a swimming pool, sitting in a garden, burning candle, chirping birds, mountains, flowers, rising sun, a song, etc. can be named and the practitioner is asked to develop vision about them on thinking, feeling and emotional level. After this a resolve also can be made. For making a resolve, before the stage of body awareness, the person is asked to think about a resolve which she/he wants to pursue. This resolve is repeated three times. After this the person is asked to come back as mentioned above in the come back phase.

Remember the following points:

Do’s

• Relax all parts of body one by one.

• Focus on the part of body which is being named.

• Follow the instructions properly.

Don’ts

• Do not tense the muscles of body.

• Do not sleep.

Benefits

• It reduces anxiety and tension.

• It activates parasympathetic system and thereby helps in management of stress related problems.

• It reduces bodily tension and relaxes whole body. • It helps to reduce blood pressure.

Limitation

• In case of depression this practice should be avoided.

If you like the article follow us for more knowledge

Drop your email