Ever wondered what Yoga Nidra is all about or how to build your awareness and depth of knowledge about Self? Check out this guest post by meditation and Yoga Nidra instructor at 3B Yoga in Provo, Utah, Jarom Stubbs to get ready to transcend and take your awareness to the next level.
Yoga Nidra is an experience in awareness unlike anything else.
This beautiful experience is often, incorrectly, thought of as a meditation, where concentration and single pointed awareness is thought of as essential; that through practice and dedication, we will be rewarded with accomplishing a perceived goal of oneness, enlightenment, or nirvana.
In Yoga Nidra however, there is no goal. There is no practice, as practice implies improvement and growth. In Yoga Nidra you experience whatever takes place in the moment that it takes place, recognizing that this moment is perfect as it is, and doesn't need to change. Thoughts, feelings, and body sensations are all a big part of Yoga Nidra and are never viewed as undesirable or wrong.
If there were a purpose to Yoga Nidra it would be to help those who participate let go of limiting beliefs and behaviors and reach a deep understanding of what is known as, "The authentic self." The authentic self is the "you" behind the experiences, labels, descriptions, judgments, stories, etc. Consider this, If all labels and defining beliefs were taken away, who/what would be left? This that remains (without label or description) is the authentic self.
The realization of authenticity does not happen by anything you do or don't do in Yoga Nidra. It is a passive transformation that takes place as you learn and continue to see your thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and experiences as experiences and not over identifying with or internalizing them as defining characteristics of you.
You don't "find" your authentic self. It was never lost!
In Yoga Nidra, you simply "put to sleep" all faculties that block the authentic self from manifesting. Perhaps this is the meaning of "yogic sleep." Over time, the authentic self remains uncovered in and outside of Yoga Nidra.
To experience Yoga Nidra is very easy and natural, and most find benefits the very first time they attend or listen to a guided session. These benefits include, deep relaxation, clarity of mind, uplifted sense of optimism, feelings of love, safety, peace, and confidence, and decreased levels of stress and anxiety; all qualities of the authentic self.
These benefits come as a result of a systematic approach that guides your awareness through various levels of being (koshas) where you go beyond the physical, energetic, emotional, and mental faculties of the body, to experience the rawness of each moment and awaken the innermost layer or state of being; that of pure, unconditional love, joy, and bliss. In other words, your authentic self is uncovered.
Yoga Nidra is difficult to experience on your own as the thoughts of "how to do it" keep us stuck at the physical or mental level and doesn't allow for transcending the different levels of being. For most, an experienced guide is needed to act as the voice, so you can simply experience the process.