Yoga Nidra @ Esprit Meraki Retreats – audio recording by Dr Margaretha Montagu
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What is Yoga Nidra?
Yoga nidra, also known as yogic sleep or conscious sleep, is an ancient yogic practice, that has been practised for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. Thirty minutes of yoga nidra is said to equal two hours of deep sleep in terms of restorative value.
Yoga nidra can be practised by anyone. It holds immense benefits for all those who struggle to let go, those who suffer from insomnia and acute or chronic anxiety. It is also useful to anyone who wants to experience a deeper sense of peace and reconnect more profoundly with their authentic selves. The practice of yoga nidra leads us into a state of harmonious, balanced being. This powerful practice is gaining popularity all over the world as more and more people experience its healing powers while ongoing research continues to prove its effectiveness.
Yoga nidra is a specific state of internal awareness. It is a conscious experience of dreamless, deep sleep where you become connected with your inner world and disconnected from the outer world. During this conscious sleep, you hover at a point where the logical, analytical focus of the mind is temporarily suspended. Using what hypnotherapists call “habituation,” yoga nidra works by using repeated stimuli to initiate a diminishing response. By bringing your attention repeatedly to sensations in the body, you become habituated, and can then become less and less aware of these sensations, until you become unaware of them altogether.
During yoga nidra practice, you rotate your awareness through the different parts of your body, relaxing each part in turn whilst remaining motionless. As you do this you will most likely experience a profound sense of physical and mental relaxation.
When you start yoga nidra, your brain is usually in an active state characterised by beta brain waves. A natural transitional follows, from beta to alpha, as you start to relax. Continuing practice stimulate your brain to start emitting delta waves, mimicking what happens when we enter a deep restful sleep.
During this practice your heart rate slows down, your breathing rate slows down, your body temperature drops and your metabolism slows down. Your body finally gets the chance to repair itself and expel toxins and other debris from your system. This is why this practice compliments intermittent fasting so well – both allow your body the time to rejuvenate itself – and this is why it is an integral part of the Detox Your Body Detox Your Mind with Intermittent Fasting retreats.
If you would like to increase your resilience in 5 minutes a day, I invite you to complete my free online mini-retreat Journal Yourself Stress-free.
You will get instant access to this retreat when you subscribe to my mailing list. You will also receive my 10 Steps to Instant Self-Confidence and Stress Relief Guide and Coping with Change CheckList and Cheat Sheet. You are also welcome to join the Retreat to ReConnect online community.
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