For the past week and a half I have been diligently listening to a Yoga Nidra audio by Swami Muktibodhanana Saraswati and promised last week to continue it for a month and post my experiences online.
Previously, I have only ever had one yoga nidra session, done in an extended yoga class in Liverpool a few years back. At that time I thought it was just a nice way to relax for half an hour.
Yoga nidra is a gradual relaxation of the muscles of the body, focusing on each section of the body at a time, allowing your body to become 'one-pointed' or to attain Dharana, the 6th of Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga.
From that point you can focus the mind internally and supposedly gain insights to your internal workings.
I always thought I would end up falling asleep doing this practise but actually that didn't happen at all. I think the secret is to do it with a teacher or an audio so that someone is constantly talking you through the process so you can gently guide your mind back to its focus whenever it wanders.
Here's a few of my observations over the last week:
- I have slept well but am having very vivid dreams (I never normally remember my dreams). I'm thinking these may be able to provide me with insight so I'm going to start writing them down as I keep forgetting them (anyone who knows me knows I have a memory like a sieve!) - next week, you can hear all about whichever dream seems the most exciting - I'll even let you guess what it means! :-)
- I noticed some detoxing - I got a rash on my face which wasn't very visible but felt rough and itchy - don't worry it's gone now! This could well have had something to do with the fact we went away on holiday as well and I got to relax completely for a week.
- I feel calmer and more focused. I made a few decisions whilst I was away and have already acted on these. I'm still working as hard as always but feel 'lighter' somehow and more relaxed about things. 'What will be will be' as they say.
- I have experienced a lot of resistance to the yoga nidra. It's a really weird feeling lying, completely relaxed and suddenly feeling like you want to crawl out of your own skin. I have had this happen a few times as I've moved on to the deeper nidra track (moving from breath awareness to concentrating on feelings and sensations within the body, normally opposite feelings e.g. heaviness and lightness) and it's made me feel really uncomfortable. Fortunately I've also been reading Yoga Nidra: Awaken to Unqualified Presence Through Traditional Mind-Body Practices by Richard Miller which suggests that part of the process of yoga nidra is to accept and acknowledge these feelings when they come up without judgement. This sounds really odd but actually, the moment you release yourself in to that feeling of general horribleness, it completely subsides.
I'm not saying any of the above are common experiences and I'm sure people have had completely different experiences to my own but I wanted to make this a personal piece and share my experiences with you.
Yoga Nidra has been shown to help relieve stress and anxiety, as well as enhancing creativity and improving well-being. I'm not going to list the many references there are for that here as I am a firm believer in practical experience, hence the experiment.
An inquisitive mind is also what lead me to hypnotherapy as well. Although I didn't rate it (I had nothing really to base this judgement on at the time), part of my course in counselling incorporates a hypnotherapy diploma as a prerequisite. Since then I've seen the links between hypnotherapy and the ancient wisdom of yoga, as well as experiencing incredible results. If you're interested in knowing how hypnotherapy and yoga could help you overcome stress or anxiety as well as increasing self-confidence, say 'hi' and ask me anything!
In the meantime, I will continue practising and posting and look forward to your thoughts and comments!
N.B. Cross posted on my blog.