to the more informed then I. Yoga nidra is Yogic sleep. does this mean it can be done at bedtime and you sleep through the night?
thanks
Brother Neil
Yes you can, but be warned you won’t sleep through the night, you’ll wake up 2-4 hours later bright and ready for the day and it is only 2am. What to do then? Get up and do work or meditate or tossing around in bed until 6am arrives and you are tired of all the activity? This is what happened to me the few times I did yoga nidra just before bed with a cd. Remember to leave out the last part where they bring you back to the waking state in yoga nidra.
Yoga nidra is best used in a yoga setup as part of your total yoga programme. 
[QUOTE=Pandara;25489]Yes you can, but be warned you won’t sleep through the night, you’ll wake up 2-4 hours later bright and ready for the day and it is only 2am. [/QUOTE]
Ooooh so then maybe I should get one of these nice cds for when those nights when I stay awake until 3am! I’ll wake up just in time for class and work!
Hooray!
Yoga nidra elicits certain brain wave patterns that are NOT identical to the sleep phase in human beings. As such, it is obviously not “sleep” in the traditional sense NOR can it easily be entered by the practitioner themselves. The mind reaches a certain point where it cannot be reached by itself and needs to move more deeply to be classified as yoga nidra. For this reason an external guide - a teacher or audio tape/dvd/cd is best.
Some very advanced yogis (read: renunciates) can achieve this state of their own accord. Others merely deceive themselves into believing they have entered such a realm “on their own” and this, obviously is fodder for the Ego.
Gordon
thanks pandara and IA for your insight
brother Neil
So, a question from the ‘uninformed but hopefully intelligent’ side:
There are states of relaxation that a person can achieve unassisted that are quite lovely and are a great way to initiate nourishing sleep, right?
Or, at least, when one attempts to sleep without deliberately relaxing first, that sleep has a better chance of being poor in quality?
Any recommendations on the CD for practicing yoga nidra?
[QUOTE=Techne;25535]So, a question from the ‘uninformed but hopefully intelligent’ side:
There are states of relaxation that a person can achieve unassisted that are quite lovely and are a great way to initiate nourishing sleep, right?
Or, at least, when one attempts to sleep without deliberately relaxing first, that sleep has a better chance of being poor in quality?[/QUOTE]
good point mr. uniformed but intelligent
[quote=Techne;25535]So, a question from the ‘uninformed but hopefully intelligent’ side:
There are states of relaxation that a person can achieve unassisted that are quite lovely and are a great way to initiate nourishing sleep, right?
Or, at least, when one attempts to sleep without deliberately relaxing first, that sleep has a better chance of being poor in quality?[/quote]
Dear Mary,
I would like to give you a quote by Swami Satyananda Saraswati on Yoga Nidra: " Yoga nidra is a more efficient and effective form of psychic and psychological rest and rejuvenation than conventional sleep. Those who adopt this practice ([I]yoga nidra)[/I] in their daily routine soon experience profound changes in their sleeping habits."
These profound changes in your sleeping habits is something that I have experienced first hand. I used to be a very restless sleeper, turning and tossing around leading to great unhappiness with my partner. When I started yoga my teacher soon introduced me to yoga nidra and after a few months my partner told me one morning that my sleep is much more calmly and that I don’t turn and toss around as much anymore. So yoga nidra can influence the quality of your normal sleep as well, but the greatest benefit is still when you practice yoga nidra under the guidance of a good teacher.
I am in process of exploring and gaining enough knowledge about yoga nidra so I can start he practice. I am also researching proper CD that will help me with the practice.
While thinking more about this I am confused and think this may not be for me.:mad: I would appreciate to know thoughs on the same?
I have a several sleep apnea condition. I sleep with a bi-pap mask to get me a continuos air flow to breathe in my sleep. I am still not comfortable wearing this mask; but really don’t have a choice. I hate to wear it, but hate myself more next day if i don’t wear it becuase i feel like crap all day for not getting the sleep needed by my mind and my body. Not getting proper and enough oxygen. So I am left with wearing it which is stil very uncomfortable and makes me feel weird even after 1 year of using it.
Now, if I do yoga nidra, it means I have to kinda concentrate on the audio, attempt to relax…I doubt I can do it while my wearing the crazy mask. Wearing the mask does not allow me to relax…at least for quite some time.
Now if I don’t wear the mask, if you are not aware of sleep apnea…I would fall asleep and stop breating…and my brain would make me wake up gasping for breath. This would wake me up from Yoga Nidra.
Your thoughts?
Hello friends, I wanted to share that I practiced my first yoga nidra session yesterday night using the CD “john104” recommended. So thanks a lot “john104”
Following was my experience:
I could not believe myself that I was so calm while listening to the CD. I found myself very relaxed most of the time. The total time listening was close to 1 hour. At some point of the session it seemed very long but later after the session I could not believe 1 hour passed so fast. Some times during the session I found it boring and so frustrating as well. But I kept on going. Like I mentioned earlier the overall experience was very relaxing and calming.
Even though i was relaxed most of the time, I didn’t find myself into “deep sleep” at all. Yes I was concious all the time. To the best of my knowledge in “yoga nidra” you will be concious but in “deep sleep” I highly doubt I got any where close to the “deep sleep” part. Or maybe I still don’t know what exactly is “deep sleep” supposed to feel like.
Will be very nice to hear your experiences as well. Also how do you define “deep sleep” ?
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. A tantrika engaged in this sadhana may also become aware of their past or future lives (refer bhumi).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.
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.
hello friends!!
yoga nidra is a powerful and blissful guided meditation.
i was introduced to this by my dad. i received a CD from him, it was Yoga Nidra guided by Swami Niranjan Anand Saraswati. (find Bihar Yoga on google)
I can upload this recording in mp3 format (45 mins) if anybody would like to have it.
Anyways, my experience was really really amazing and i have introduced yoga nidra to a couple of friends as well. I’ve found it giving amazing results and profound changes in individuals as they start realising their energy centers and start the “chakra cleansing process”.
I have always waited for the part where Guruji says, “You are now light like a feather and floating…!” … WOwww no words to describe this, my arms and legs automatically start rising until i become conscious of the movement.
I bellieve real Levitation is possible with intense dedicated practice and opening of kundalini chakras.
For now it is a simple relaxtion technique which offers a glimpse into the world of chakra meditation and is highly beneficial to everybody.
For a true activation of energy centers i would recommend doing Breathing Pranayama everyday (the basic 4-5 exercises as made famous Swami Ramdev from India). The pranayama cleanses your subtle energy centers and fills you with positivity. Doing Yoga Nidra a few hours or later in the evening after having pranayama practice will be much more successful.
Finally, I would like to discuss what i have read here about “deep sleep”. Yoga nidra is nowhere like the sleep state, it is a completely different conscious state on its own. The reason being that when you go to normal sleep you leave your mind to idle around and not focus on positivity and energy activation. You do these things guided by the Guru in Yoga Nidra. Hence, within the 45 mins of yoga nidra practice you have allowed your self to go into deep relaxation consciously whilst sending positive vibrations to your chakras (the cycles of daily bodily activities). This kind is kind of guided relaxation and meditation and not the usual sleep mode.
Wish you all the best!
Hari om tat sat
All - I am a newbie with this, but have found yoga nidra to provide very beneficial deep relaxation to soften the stress of business.
yalgaar - here is a yoga nidra CD’s I’ve enjoyed: "Relax into Greatness by Rod Stryker (there are also some MP3’s on iTunes that are good)
sonictantra - I would be interested in the MP3
InnerAthlete (or anyone else) - What are the other pratyahara type of practices that have similar benefits as yoga nidra? For instance, I was looking at the table of contents for the Bihar Yoga Trust book “Sure Ways to Self Realization” which mentions various other things such as prana vidya, antar mouna, trataka, etc, but I am not familiar with these things. I appreciate your help.
hello there guitar yogi
i shall send u the bihar yoga mp3 of yoga nidra. i also have the advanced antar mouna from bihar yoga. in this u have to sit without moving for the hour. the stillness and calmness achieved is spectacular and u will notice a boost in mental capacity and processing power of the brain as well.
however beginnering might find concentrating in advanced mouna style a bit tough, but no reason not to go for it.
shall get bak soon.
hari om tat sat
[QUOTE=sonictantra;64341]hello there guitar yogi
i shall send u the bihar yoga mp3 of yoga nidra. i also have the advanced antar mouna from bihar yoga. in this u have to sit without moving for the hour. the stillness and calmness achieved is spectacular and u will notice a boost in mental capacity and processing power of the brain as well.
however beginnering might find concentrating in advanced mouna style a bit tough, but no reason not to go for it.
shall get bak soon.
hari om tat sat[/QUOTE]
Thanks. I am happy to pay for the mp3 if you can tell me the link to buy it from.
[QUOTE=yalgaar;25590]Any recommendations on the CD for practicing yoga nidra?[/QUOTE]I have made my own and it’s on my web site for you. I have made a page especially for yoga nidra on my Art site
well nothing beats being guided by swami nirananjan anand saraswati himself
the peace, transquility and the power of his meditations are passed on to the listener 
[QUOTE=sonictantra;67412]well nothing beats being guided by swami nirananjan anand saraswati himself
the peace, transquility and the power of his meditations are passed on to the listener ;)[/QUOTE]Yes, possibly…but my Yoga Nindra mp3’s are free and I can guarantee them as excellent.
http://sellaman.50webs.com/yoga.html