Paramahansa Satyananda Saraswati develops the science of yoga nidra from the ancient techniques of tantra. First, He made his experiments with his disciples and then lot of research has been made over it. It’s an excellent practice to educate the mind and to shaping the personality.

It is used in yogic therapy for the management of all psychosomatic disorders and it is very much useful for stress management. Introduction

Yoga nidra is a practice of pratyahar which is a very powerful technique to relax the whole being consciously. People feel that they are relaxing when they collapse in an easy chair with a cup of coffee, a drink or a cigarette, and read a newspaper or switch on the television but this will never sufficient as a scientific definition of relaxation. These are only sensory diversions. True relaxation is actually an experience far beyond all this. For absolute relaxation you must remain aware.

Yoga nidra is a systematic method of inducing complete physical, mental and emotional relaxation. The term yoga nidra is derived from two Sanskrit words, yoga meaning union or one-pointed awareness, and nidra mean sleep.

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During the practice of yoga nidra, one appears to be asleep, but the consciousness is functioning at a deeper level of awareness. For this reason, yoga nidra is often referred to as psychic sleep or deep relaxation with inner awareness. In this threshold state between sleep and wakefulness, contact with the subconscious and unconscious dimensions occurs spontaneously. Stages in yoga nidra

In yoga nidra, the state of relaxation is reached by turning inwards, away from outer experiences. If the consciousness can be separated from external awareness and from sleep, it becomes very powerful and can be applied in many ways, for example, to develop the memory, increase knowledge and creativity, or transform one’s nature. It starts with preparation in which, one is exposed to the external sounds, and will leads to be internalized and not to be disturbed by the sounds. The awareness of touch or smell can also be used in preparation.

In the 2nd step there is Sankalpa, in which one chooses one’s own resolution related to the achievement in the life. It’s a great tool to fulfill that goal as it taken in the subconscious state. The whole personality will be modified slowly and gradually to fulfill that sankalpa. But the sankalpa should be a positive and simple sentence, repeated in the mother tongue. It should not aim to harm anybody and once you chose it you should not change it till it manifest in your life.

In the 3rd step, the rotation of awareness in the different body part is practiced. As one consciously moving the awareness to the different parts of the body it activate the sensory and motor homunculus in the brain. It leads to deeper relaxation in all levels. In the 4th step the awareness of breath which make the breath slow, long and rhythmic as well as enhancing the relaxation.

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In the next step comes visualization. In this state few objects are named and one needs to visualize or imagine. The objects function like the trigger points of the stored impressions of the mind to be released or making them strength less. It also increases the memory, concentration and clarity in vision. The next step is to repeat the sankalpa again like watering the seed which reaped in the sub-conscious state. Then the last step is to externalize and to finish the practice. It is also very important to be aware of the existence of the body properly before finishing.