Yoga Nidra is a guided meditation practice that helps us see who we truly are.

How Yoga Nidra reveals our internal wisdom

Through guided meditation, Yoga Nidra allows the body to rest deeply while our mind remains aware. As the body rests, it becomes possible to listen to our own wisdom and guidance to support us in making changes that help us lead the lives we want to live. The amount of minimal effort required to practice yoga nidra may surprise you once you experience the power of this practice.    

Modern yoga nidra evolved from tantric yoga practices. It is a practice of pratyahara (the withdrawal of the senses), which is part of Patanjali’s eight-fold path of Ashtanga Yoga written about in the Yoga Sutras over 5,000 years ago. Yoga nidra guides us through the five bodies, or koshas, that are part of our human existence. The primary five bodies are physical (annamaya kosha), energetic (pranamaya kosha), emotions and thoughts (manomaya kosha), insight (vijanayana kosha), and bliss (anandamaya kosha).

Whether or not you believe in the possibility that there are multiple layers to the experience of our lives, consider the experience we go through when holding a yin yoga pose. If your body and mind are ready for you to relax into the pose, the first thing we likely experience is some physical sensation, perhaps noticing that our hamstrings, low back, or hips are a little tight. That’s the physical body, annamaya kosha. Then, by staying focused with our breath, we can help ourselves relax a little more. We notice what is tight, and try to use our breath to help us release some of that tension. That’s the energy body, pranamaya kosha. Sometimes feelings or memories rise up as we hold the posture. That’s manomaya kosha, the layer of emotions and insight. If we can stay detached enough to watch those memories rather than get swept away from them, sometimes we are able to gain new wisdom about those experiences in our insight layer, vijanamaya kosha. That wisdom can bring relief as we let go of what is no longer helping us grow, and we experience bliss, anandamaya kosha.

In yoga nidra, we are guided through the five koshas while the body rests, helping us go even deeper into the experience. The five koshas become very interesting when examined as tools to help us make changes to habits. Interestingly, yogis believe that the physical body, being the most grounded, is the hardest and slowest to change. If you’ve ever tried to diet or exercise without real results, perhaps this might ring true for you. It’s incredibly frustrating, and many people give up their efforts to make healthy changes far before their fragile new habits have a chance to take root.

The power of yoga nidra helps us make changes at even deeper levels, which helps our physical body naturally align with the truth we can now see and respond to by making positive choices. Once we can see our own truth, we are able to remain much more patient and open, and the changes we want to see naturally unfold in our lives.

Sankalpa: Your powerful intention

In yoga nidra, we set a “sankalpa” – a positive intention that expresses our heartfelt desire. In the nidra practice included in this manual, you will be guided through making your intention step by step as you listen. It's important to note, however, that your sankalpa is a positive, present tense statement. It’s more a reflection of the lifestyle you would like to cultivate, rather than a goal. So instead of setting a sankalpa like, “I will lose five pounds,” a positive, powerful sankalpa could be, “I make choices that align with my healthy lifestyle.”

Focusing on the positives we want to grow, rather than the negative actions we would like to leave behind, starves old habits of their energy so that they weaken and wither away. Like deep grooves in a record, old habits have a lot of energy, but we can make new grooves by choosing positive thoughts. So, rather than a statement like, “I will not eat sugar/fast food/when I’m not hungry,” etc, a sankalpa could be expressed as, “I choose foods that help me live a vibrant, energetic life.” If you notice that it’s hard for you to stick with a change you want to make, notice how much energy you spend thinking about the thing you want to change. Like most of us, it’s probably a lot - and all those thoughts feed that old habit, keeping it strong. If you can instead choose to think about a positive new habit, the power that the old habit used to have on us drains away.

It is also important to make your sankalpa a present-tense statement. This helps us recognize that the roots of the changes we want to encourage in our lives are already beginning to sprout from the seeds of our intention. However, it is also critical that you feel your sankalpa is truthful. If you need to, you can add words like “more and more” to your sankalpa to help you see that these changes are taking place, but perhaps just starting to grow. As an example, we can just add these words to the two previous sankalpas, so they become, “More and more, I choose foods that help me live a vibrant, energetic life” and “More and more, I make choices that align with my healthy lifestyle.”

After you set a sankalpa during yoga nidra, you may hear it rise up in your mind when you need it. It is there to serve you as a tool, and you can come back to it to help you strengthen your new habits.

Practicing Yoga Nidra

I guide yoga nidra practices on YouTube that you can listen to at any time. Yoga nidra can be practiced as often as you feel it would help you, and can be practiced daily. Listening to the same nidra many times is beneficial, as can help you deepen your exploration with each practice. It’s common for people to feel they fell asleep during yoga nidra, and often, if the body needs rest, they do. Sometimes it feels like we are sleeping, but our mind is working through the layers. Try to practice yoga nidra at a time when you are not too tired, but don't worry if you only have time to practice right before bed. It can still be a great help. There is no need to stress at all about “doing it right” in yoga nidra, we just do it and accept our experience. 

Nidra is a simple practice. All you need to do is lie down, get comfortable, and listen. You can put a pillow under your head or knees if you like, and as the body cools as it relaxes, people often use a light blanket for the practice. You don’t have to concentrate deeply, or even move a muscle. You don’t have to force anything. Just listen, relax, and experience whatever rises up.