I came across this web site yesterday and saw this quote;
[B]WARNING.[/B] [I]Relaxation therapy is not for everyone. Some people who are very depressed or anxious or who have other types of mental health problems find that relaxation doesn’t help. It might even make them feel worse. Please check with your doctor before trying relaxation therapy.[/I]
I thought it was the silliest thing I have ever seen or read.
So with that in mind has anyone heard that Yoga Nidra might be dangerous?
How is Yoga Nidra related to the article about relaxation therapy?
[QUOTE=InnerAthlete;67935]How is Yoga Nidra related to the article about relaxation therapy?[/QUOTE]What do you mean?
Only when driving or operating other machinery!!
It may, however, be challenging and extremely uncomfortable when confronting ‘stuff’ that has slumbered peacefully. And I don’t need to remind you that it should only be practised under the supervision of a qualified teacher.
This is interesting. I just sent an email to my meditation teacher about the yoga nidra enigma. Sometimes when I practice yoga nidra, or deep meditative/restorative yoga, I get in a foul and angry mood for a day or so. Not the case with my regular ashtanga practice, in which, afterwards, I’m the sweetest person you would ever meet.
I’ll rephrase…
Why do you cite an article/source on the dangers of “relaxation therapy” as an entr? to posing a question about Yoga Nidra?
Do you consider yoga nidra to be a subset of “relaxation therapy”?
Thanks for all your replies. I don’t know if yoga nidra needs a qualified teacher to practice it with …we I suppose after practicing it for 25 years , I’m ok on my own.
I won’t try and confuse yoga nidra with relaxing exercises because both are great for me. I have just got into doing more muscle relaxation exercises and they are good too.
I’ve just put up a free download to my ‘yoga nidra’ …called [B]‘Relaxation with Music’[/B] so if you want it or listen to it go to my Youtube.
Yoga nidra is highly powerful meditation technique and helps in elimination of root cause of all negative thoughts. So if you are suffering from anxiety , Yoga Nidra will help you.
@Albert thanks for share video :).
Albert,
I looked at the link you posted and I don’t think it was saying that Yoga Nidra is dangerous. It pointed out that for some, it may not be effective or could make it worse. The website is about depression and if someone is suffering from severe depression, they should be seeking professional help, not doing yoga nidra on their own hoping for results. And of course, yoga nidra could be added as part of a treatment program, but again, under the guidance of a professional.
Thank you for the post!
[B]Philosophical and Medical Notes related to Yoga Nidra:[/B]
There is repeated emphasis on detaching one from the body and becoming an observer. As Ramdev explains, the moment you become an observer you become detached. You become buddha, you become liberated. He goes on the explain that the body is the chariot, intellect is the charioteer and the mind is the reins with which the charioteer controls the body.
This clearly makes the Mind body connection .
We are the lord of our own body and the mind. One needs to enter in yourself; this knowledge, this commitment, this feeling that i am conscious will remove y(our) tensions, (y)our sorrows. All the tensions, all the fear and all the illusions, all worries, all distress, all sorrows, will quieten/shanti. Many things, such as stress, hormonal changes, medical or emotional problems, and certain medications, can cause insomnia. While there is no solution to this complex and highly individualized problem, the practice of yoga can be helpful to you. Just resolving to do this practice can be beneficial as there is power in resolution. It leads to action.
yoga nidra in padmasana : 
Nidra (sleep) is a state and obviously not dangerous unless staying awake is the required state at any given moment. Sleep has deep and shallow patterns of brain’s disengagement with mind and memory that otherwise keep it busy. Ordinary sleep is nature’s blessing to us to deliver a fresh brain for the new day. But, modern lifestyle doesn’t allow enough deep sleep for a complete rest and the mind-memory play the ‘dream’ mischief.
Yoga allows a conscious control over mind’s disengagement and thus, brain is rejuvenated quicker in Yoga-induced sleep. It is a meditation of a slightly different variety. There could be failure to achieve nidra, but can’t think of any danger.
A lot is also been written about the inner guru using the Yoga nidra state for advanced training, starting with the disappearance of dreams and mainly out-of-body experiences. But by then one is in such able hands that there is no perceptible risk. Sage Patanjali mentions one risk. The further states are so blissful that once out of the body some seekers are reluctant to return to mortal life. But this has nothing to do with Yga nidra.
Theory without practice is useless, practice without theory is dangerous.
We must learn about the origins of yoga to see if a type of yoga is autentic or not.
The real yoga is the yoga that includes all yoga, it must be studied in all its aspects to be on track, (the study of sutras, breathing, postures, observances of life, refrained, etc… …)
Hey everyone,
Does anyone know whether there are any dangers if an uncontrolled conscious mind gives the subconscious/unconscious mind negative suggestions during yoga nidra? For example, if someone gave themselves a negative sankalpa.
tomtom, giving a negative suggestion is more likely to create a negative effect. The point of the practice is to consciously give yourself a positive suggestion. The unconscious mind cannot tell the difference between a positive or negative suggestion, it will take any suggestion you give it as true and process it accordingly.
It is a special state where you are neither asleep or awake but in-between these states. Whilst in this special state you are then able to journey to the place where you find the inner guru seated and waiting for you. You can fully ‘wake up’ during the journey, open your eyes and then immediately slip back into the in-between state instantly. Nothing is interrupted, the journey is not disrupted.
[QUOTE=Surya Deva;73306]tomtom, giving a negative suggestion is more likely to create a negative effect. The point of the practice is to consciously give yourself a positive suggestion. The unconscious mind cannot tell the difference between a positive or negative suggestion, it will take any suggestion you give it as true and process it accordingly.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the reply.
Sometimes in the early stages of yoga it’s hard to control the mind and it occasionally goes wild with all kinds of nonsense. I was wondering how sensitive the unconscious mind is, i.e. whether it is more affected other things such as the will and desire of the person who’s mind has made the suggestion. Is it possible that the mind could make a negative suggestion that’s not will not take effect due to the suggestion not being in accordance with what the person truly wants?
[QUOTE=tomtom;73304]Hey everyone,
Does anyone know whether there are any dangers if an uncontrolled conscious mind gives the subconscious/unconscious mind negative suggestions during yoga nidra? For example, if someone gave themselves a negative sankalpa.[/QUOTE]
No, there are no dangers because you are entirely conscious of your thoughts in order to deal with what you are presented with.
[QUOTE=tomtom;73308]Thanks for the reply.
Sometimes in the early stages of yoga it’s hard to control the mind and it occasionally goes wild with all kinds of nonsense. I was wondering how sensitive the unconscious mind is, i.e. whether it is more affected other things such as the will and desire of the person who’s mind has made the suggestion. Is it possible that the mind could make a negative suggestion that’s not will not take effect due to the suggestion not being in accordance with what the person truly wants?[/QUOTE]
During Yoga Nidra you are awake through all the stages of the practice. If you fall asleep, then it is no longer Yoga Nidra, it’s just regular sleep. The practices I have done begin by stating the suggestion at the beginning of the practice and then in the last stage of the practice. You repeat the suggestion three times each time. So you have full control over what suggestion you want to give the unconscious mind.
Now, it is debatable whether this really works. Hypnotherapy is strongly based on this assumption that suggestions given during a hypnotic state have more power to influence, but actual clinical studies done on it shows that its effects are no better than a placebo and some people are more open to suggestion than others. I have tried hypnosis and several hypnosis CD’s in the past, and nothing has happened.
Absolutely correct Surya, you have full control.