What is Yoga Nidra?

Yoga Nidra is Sanskrit for Yoga Sleep, or the Sleep of Union.

Wait a sec — you can do yoga in your SLEEP?!

Yes, you absolutely can.

Yoga Nidra is an ancient meditation practice that harnesses the body's biological process of sleep for multidimensional healing and soul awakening. In the sleep cycles, dis-identification from thoughts arises naturally.

Ok hold the phone, you can meditate while SLEEPING!?

Yes, you got that right. The biology of our body has built in systems to disengage from the mind. In Yoga Nidra, we practice maintaining consciousness in the sleep states so we can enter through the doorways of what lies beyond the thoughts, beyond the mind.

Yoga Nidra is meditation made easy. We all know how to go to sleep. In order to fall asleep, we must disengage from thoughts — or else we are tossing and turning all night. Ancient Yogis understood that this is a built in program for the body, so instead of trying to learn a new method, we can go off of the body’s natural programming to harness this to come into meditation.

The difference between regular sleep and Yoga Nidra, is that we are entering the sleep states consciously. Every night as we are going to sleep, we move through Hypnagogia in the brain, which is an opening into the subconscious mind. We usually only remain here for a few minutes. In Yoga Nidra, we practicing extending this state longer to be here for around 20 minutes. In this powerful space state of consciousness, we can gain access to our deepest intuition, creativity, and opportunities to release unserving patterns and plant new seeds of life affirming beliefs and progressive intentions.

Yoga Nidra isn't about doing more -- it is a path of doing less.

Doing can only happen in the waking state at the level of mind. In Yoga Nidra, we are going beyond the mind through non-doing into altered states of consciousness to release unserving patterns, integrate emotions, gain access to our intuition and innate wisdom, and facilitate healing to the body. Yoga Nidra brings us effortlessly into the deepest states of meditation — all while RESTING. Through this conscious practice of letting go and arriving exactly where we are in the present moment, we get access to the parts of ourself that we’ve been searching for all along.

Benefits of Yoga Nidra:

-Aids anxiety & depression

-Helps overcome insomnia & regulate sleep

-Balances the nervous system

-Reduces stress

-Promotes a healthy relationship with thoughts & emotions

-Aids PTSD & Trauma

-Promotes physical healing & wellbeing

-Lowers blood pressure

-Enhances learning, concentration, & memory

-Integration of life experiences

-Accessible and beneficial practice for all ages, body types, & experience levels. EVERYONE can do it!

-Spiritual practice for Awakening

Explore the infinitely expansive capacities that rest and nondoing have to provide. Practice Yoga Nidra!

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Interested in learning more about the practice of Yoga Nidra?

Join us for Yin & Yoga Nidra every Sunday evening at 6pm with Shay.

Additionally, check out our yearly Yoga Nidra Teacher Training