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Yoga, yoga nidra, Autosuggestion with Yoga Nidra, holisticonline.com holistic-online.com | Yoga, yoga nidra, Autosuggestion with Yoga Nidra, holisticonline.com holisticonline.com |
Yoga Nidra, may be rendered in English as "yogic sleep" or "sleep of the yogis". There are numerous traditions of Yoga Nidra sadhana that have been transmitted through parampara within the Indian religions. These aspects may include disciplines and traditions of dream, sleep and yoga. Fundamentally, Yoga Nidra is engaged to prepare and refine a sadhaka spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically prior to seeking sublime levels and aspects of consciousness and awareness through meditation, trance and other sadhana not constituted by sleeping and dreamwork. In some Himalayan lineages, Yoga Nidra as Yoga of Clear Light, is a sublime sadhana and transmission modality in its own right. However, general traditions of Yoga Nidra have related a version of the practice that has become synonymous with yogic relaxation and guided visualisation techniques. The true Yoga Nidra is a state of consciousness in which the yogi is in direct communion with the Divine energy, that may be understood as Dharma, pervading the whole phenomenal Universe and beyond.[citation needed] In the Vaishnava sampradayas this deified "energy" is Vishnu, the sleeping lord. This energy is beyond space and time, allowing the yogi to potentially access by grace, past, present, future and beyond.[citation needed] A tantrika engaged in this sadhana may also become aware of their past or future lives (refer bhumi).[citation needed] Through Yoga Nidra, as other sadhana, the practitioner may work through karma and samskara, cleansing the store consciousness. In some traditions, Yoga Nidra is employed to purify the unconscious mind through use of certain vows and commitments, samaya, known as sankalpas. Experienced tantrikas employ Yoga Nidra for astral travels and thoughtform projecting and in its advanced and refined practice, it may lead to samādhi and satchitananda.[citation needed] Adherents of the Yoga Nidra as guided visualisation technique, hold that half an hour of Yoga Nidra may yield the benefit of up to three hours of standard sleep, although the regular engagement of this sadhana as a sleep substitute is contraindicated as the bodymind still requires sufficient rest through standard sleep. This tradition of Yoga Nidra should not be conflated with techniques of autosuggestion and autogenous training, etcetera, though there is a palpable commonality in process if not in application.
[edit] Vishnu: the sleeping lordIn a number of texts such as the Devi Mahatmya and the Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu reclines on the nāga shesha during yoganidra. The phenomenal world is the dream of Vishnu.[citation needed] [edit] HistoryYoga Nidra refers to yogic sleep and yogic lucid dreaming.[citation needed] Yoga Nidra has been practiced as a sadhana for millennia by sadhu and rishi.[citation needed] Of the three states of consciousness of waking, dreaming and deep sleep, as expounded in the Upanishads, particularly the Mandukya Upanishad, Yoga Nidra refers specifically to the conscious awareness of the deep sleep state, referred to as "prajna" in Mandukya Upanishad.[1] This is the third of the four levels of consciousness of Omkara mantra, relating to the state represented by the M of AUM. The four states are waking, dreaming, sleep, and turiya, the fourth state. The state of Yoga Nidra, conscious deep sleep, is beyond or subtler than the imagery and mental process of the waking and non-lucid dreaming states. As a state of conscious deep sleep, Yoga Nidra is a universal principle, and is not the exclusive domain of any specific tradition.[citation needed] Yoga nidra is a meditation as well as relaxation practice, first discovered by Sw. Satyananda Saraswati when he was living with his Guru (spiritual master) Swami Shivananda in Rishikesh. From an experience an idea came to his mind that sleep is not a state of total unconsciousness. He began studing the Tantric scriptures and after practicing them he constructed a new system of relaxation that was Yoga nidra. Sw. Satyananda Saraswati (1976) explains Yoga nidra as a state of mind between wakefulness and dream. When someone practices Yoga nidra he opens the deeper phases of the mind. During the practice of Yoga nidra the consciousness is at different levels. Sometimes it is very close to the senses and at others, it is at a very remote distance. When the consciousness is at a remote distances. It is only possible to understand through the auditory channels. During Yoga nidra the consciousness is suspended for a few moments periodically, which means that it alternates between the subconscious and unconscious states. Yoga Nidra is a Secret of Transformation. Through practice of Yoga Nidra, one achieves true relaxation.Anandmurti Gurumaa categorically emphasizes on practice of Yoga Nidra. She draws attention to the fact that Yoga Nidra is a state of conscious deep sleep. During the practice of yoga nidra, one appears to be sleeping, but the consciousness is functioning at the deeper level of awareness. It is sleep with a trace of deep awareness. It is a state of mind in between wakefulness and dream. Normally when we sleep, we loose track of our self and cannot utilize this capacity of mind. Yoga nidra enables the person to be conscious in this state and nurture the seed of great will power, inspire the higher self, and enjoy the vitality of life. With constant practice of Yoga Nidra from Anandmurti Gurumaa, people have found that the technique restructures and transforms the whole personality form within. With every session of yoga nidra, one is actually burning the old samskaras, habits and tendencies in order to be born anew. This process is quicker than other systems that work on an external basis. It is the most powerful method for reshaping the personality. The practice of yogic relaxation has been found to effectively reduce tension and improve psychological well being of people suffering from anxiety. The autonomic symptoms of high anxiety such as headache, giddiness, chest pain, palpitations, sweating, abdominal pain respond exceptionally well to yoga nidra. Practicing yoga nidra successfully decreases the time required to fall asleep, thereby curing insomnia. However certain teachers and lineages do emphasize the sadhana of Yoga Nidra more than others, and have more experience with training adepts in its practice. Paramyogeshwar Sri Devpuriji[citation needed] was an early modern proponent, who passed it on to Sri Deep Narayan Mahaprabhuji[citation needed] and it was taught to his disciples since 1880.[citation needed] On his journeys to the Himalayas, Sri Devpuriji met, among others, Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, who is well known in Europe and conveyed the technique of Yoga Nidra to several Yogis and Swamis, such as Swami Satyananda Saraswati.[citation needed] Swami Rama was another proponent of the sadhana. [2] Swami Satyananda particularly began popularizing the practice about 40 years ago.[citation needed] He drew a connection to the ancient tantric practice called nyasa, whereby Sanskrit mantras are mentally placed within specific body parts, while meditating on each part (of the bodymind). With Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda's and Swami Satyananda's extensive worldwide tourings and teachings, Yoga Nidra gradually spread throughout India, Europe, Australia and the United States and is taught in the system in Satyananda Yoga and Yoga in Daily Life.[citation needed] Swami Rama's teachings on Yoga Nidra continue to be taught via his Himalayan Institute and several of his non-affiliated students. The form of the Yoga Nidra practice taught by Swami Satyananda includes eight clearly defined stages (Internalisation, Sankalpa, Rotation of Consciousness, Breath Awareness, Manifestation of Opposites, Creative Visualization, Sankalpa, Externalisation); some stages of the Yoga Nidra practice deepen pratyahara.Also, the form of the Yoga Nidra practices that are taught by Anandmurti Gurumaa includes two techniques. Both the techniques are based on creative visualization. The techniques are Yog Nidra and Yog Nidra Part 2[3].[citation needed] Pratyahara is an effect as well as a state which is induced by the withdrawal of awareness from sensory perception (refer drishti). According to some traditions, Yoga Nidra is best engaged as a guided, facilitated practice, that is, with an experienced yoga teacher who verbally delivers the instructions. [edit] Scientific evaluationRosch & Fallah (undated PDF) in a critique of Harrington & Zajonc (2003) mention Swami Rama and the Menninger Foundation and state that:
Dr. Kamakhya Kumar in 2006 awarded by Ph. D. degree by Dr. A. P J Abdul Kalam (President of India) for his work "Psycho-physiological Changes as Related to Yoga Nidra". He observed six months effects of Yoga Nidra on some Physiological, hematological and some Psychological parameters on the practitioners and he found a significant change on above mentioned parameters. One of the research published entitled "A study on the impact on stress and anxiety through Yoga nidra; Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, Vol. 7 No 3".(Published through NISCAIR) Yoga Nidra is often associated with the Breatharian movement. [edit] See also
Yoga nidra is a useful tool in getting the relaxation to the mind and body. It has been used to help soldiers from war cope with PTSD.[5] [edit] Notes
[edit] References
Kasamatsu, A. & Hirai, T. (1969). An electroencephalographic study on the Zen meditation (zazen). Psychologia, 12, 205-25. [edit] External links
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