This week let us take time to relax and tap our subconscious mind. There are many techniques for relaxation and healing. One of the best techniques is Yoga Nidra. It is also known as Yogi Sleep. Did you know Yoga Nidra can take you to the deepest realms of relaxation by helping you stay conscious too? Yes, that’s the magic of this technique!

The use of Yoga Nidra for relaxation and healing dates back to ancient Buddhist and Hindu cultures. Its practitioners popularized it in the mid-20th century. One of the pioneers of this technique is Swami Satyananda Saraswati. He developed 8 stages of Yoga Nidra that can be followed in step-wise manner. The eight stages are:

Eight Stages of Yoga Nidra:
  • Internalization
  • Sankalpa or resolution
  • Rotation of Consciousness
  • Breath awareness
  • Manifestation of opposites
  • Creative visualization
  • Sankalpa or resolution
  • Externalization

Yoga Nidra has been found to have healing and restorative effects in many physical and mental health ailments. Some of them are:

Healing and Restorative Effects of Yoga Nidra:
  • Nervous tension
  • Weight management
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Insomnia
  • Some cases of Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Fears and phobia
  • Nausea, giddiness, palpitations, bed-wetting, migraine, etc.

So how does Yoga Nidra works? Yoga Nidra tends to deeply relax you and takes you to a journey into your subconscious mind. Our subconscious mind is one that forms 9/10th part of our functional mind. In a given day, you are bombarded with almost 100,000 stimuli from your surroundings. Out of these, only one stimulus is felt by you or is made conscious by your perceptual ability. Rest of the stimuli enters the dark chamber of your subconscious and unconscious mind.  It comprises of all that you experience in your lifetime, your thoughts, subliminal messages, thoughts, irrational desires, negative thoughts, disease-provoking conditioning thoughts, and so on. In a nutshell, though your sub-conscious mind is not always easily accessible, yet it has huge powers and potentials. So, when your subconscious mind is tapped with healthy and positive affirmations, it gets charged up more and more, it gets positively strengthened and guides you towards positive and motivating thoughts/behaviors.

Therefore, be it an intense fear or anxiety, weight issue or any physical discomfort, if your mind gets a curative affirmation through Yoga Nidra you can subsequently get cured out of these problems/symptoms. The good news is you can also do Yoga Nidra all by yourself. Here is a guide through the process of Yoga Nidra for weight management:

Step 1: Lie down on your back on a Yoga Mat or any mattress in a comfortable position. If possible, you can play a soft instrumental music during the Yoga Nidra session too. Loosen any tight clothing and ensure fresh intake of air.

Step 2: Take deep breaths, try to make your mind calm from all the other thoughts and try to focus all your attention on your body.

Step 3: Thee next step is to focus on each and every body part of yours; de-stress it and infuse a sense of positivity and curative property within. Start by focusing on your right foot. Imagine that your right foot is getting more and more calm and composed…. all the tension and disease-causing elements are getting released from that part… your foot is shedding unwanted weight… that part is now healthy and composed.

Step 4: Continue the same affirmations for all the body parts as you move from your foot to your head.

Step 5: Keep your heart as the final part to focus on. When you reach your heart chakra or your heart follows the relaxing and restorative affirmation that is mentioned above. And finally try to meditate that a white bright light is illumining your heart and your entire body. It is cleansing all the negative, disease-causing energies, shedding all your weight and making you more healthy and happy.

Step 6: Finally take deep breaths for some time. Meditate that all the positive healing energies that you gained and the way your subconscious mind got strengthened; all these healing will remain within you and cure you. And try to get up slowly.

Step 7: After getting up rub both your palms and touch them all over your body, starting from head to toe so that all the healing properties and energies remain within you and do their work with their fullest potential.

Yoga Nidra can be very effectual for weight management if done on a regular basis. If you are new to Yoga then seeking help from a Yoga instructor will also help.

Stay Healthy and Stay Happy!

Best wishes,

Sareeta