What is your practice of rest?
I enrolled in a two-day Yoga Nidra workshop with Humankind studios here in Adelaide. I wanted to share some of my key learnings from the two days.
Prioritise Rest
Rest is vital to our survival. If we don’t stop to prioritise rest or if we put it or, your body may make you stop anyway. You (as I) may have experienced your immune system breaking down, panic attacks, anxiety or feeling overwhelmed. ‘Rest happens either way’. Either proactively plan it, or your body will force you to take it.
Busy as a badge of honor
When did we forget to prioritise rest?
We discussed, was it when the light bulb was created and we moved away from natures natural rhythms. Now we can stay up and consume content after the sun has gone down. Or was it with the industrial resolution. With assembly lines, and we decided that time is money. We have arrived at the point where being busy is a badge of honor. Either way, I am loving that there is an awareness & culture to bring back rest and leisure time.
At the beginning of the workshop, we had space for self-awareness through journal questions. Could it be helpful to answer these for yourself?
What is rest to you?
My answer. It looks like love for me. A sense of connecting with my loved ones or myself and my love of nature.
How do you feel when unrested?
Annoyed at little things. Rushed, unorganised, sluggish and tied.
How do you feel when you are fully rested?
I feel peaceful, inspired, have a higher purpose. I connect with others on this level with kindness. (I don’t know how to put that answer into words)
Let’s explore what I now understand Yoga Nidra to be and some of the benefits.
The following is how I interpreted our wonderful teacher on the day. If it is something of interest a book that was recommended was, Radiant Rest: Yoga Nidra for Deep Relaxation and Awakened Clarity. By Tracee Stanley-Newell.
Yoga Nidra can be an antidote to create the feelings we are looking for in rest. The best thing I heard on the course was the reason why I have a regular practice of ice baths. ‘We practice yoga so we know what to do when NOT practicing it.’ In other words, you can teach your body to regulate quicker and faster in stressful situations o of the mat, or away from ice bath etc.
What is Yoga Nidra.
On the following scale you can see where Nidra ts it to a Yoga practice.
Yoga Nidra can be translated to:
Yoga Nidra
Union Ni – the void
Yoke to unite Dra – to reveal
To connect Drashtu – to draw forth one's true self.
Source: Adam Whiting Humankind Yoga
It is an effortless practice. A sensory withdrawal.
It is a type of sleep so we can awaken to who we truly are. We are connecting to ourselves through the practice to reveal the void.
When our minds are settled, we are able to rest into our true nature. You are in a liminal state. The state in sleep just before you totally wake.
Said to be the fourth state - TURIYA. It is neither wakefulness, dreaming, nor deep sleep. Peace beyond words.
FIVE benefits to Yoga Nidra:
Healing
Transformation
Sankalpa – specific targeted placement of an intention into your subconscious to allow those seeds to bloom.
Cognition.
Spiritual cultivation
A note of the cognition benefit. Research was shared that individuals who, after their deep work practiced NSDR (Non-sleep deep rest) where more likely to retain the learnings and create stronger neural pathways.
Let's prepare for Yoga Nidra - Legs Up the Wall!
The recommendation before you settle into Yoga Nidra is to engage in a ritual to settle the body. This could be breathing or gentle movement. One of my favourites is legs up the wall.
I was exposed to this technique through Dr Libby at her ‘Beautiful You’ weekend in Sydney. She often talks about ‘Legs up the wall’ and to do this practice before bed. Yogis refer to it as an inversion – and inversions are restorative.
The science is that in our necks we have blood receptors. By using gravity, it stimulates a pressure response and our blood pressure and heart rate slow down, creating a sense of calmness. I remember Dr Libby saying this practice returns blood back to our heart.
Ways to make this practice more restorative and comfortable. Is popping a bolster (pillow) under your hips, a strap around your knees to help keep your legs into position (there is no e ort required in holding them in position). You can also pop wheat bags on top of the soles of your feet to give you a wonderful (what I found) grounding etc. Info here
Brain Waves
Let’s talk brain waves and which of the states below we tend to be in when practicing. In Yoga experiments with EEG, it has been shown that the Theta brainwave increase by about 11% and Alpha waves only decrease by 2%. I understood this to be a good thing and what we would like to move towards.
Gamma - highest level. Think hallucination, schizophrenia, dementia.
Betta – connected with the outer world, awareness is external. Example of a high Betta state is when you are excited or anxious. Low Betta is if you are walking the dog and listening to a podcast.
Alpha – your awareness is beginning to draw inwards. This is when you are starting to withdrawal from your senses. An example could be when you are rst starting your meditation process.
Theta – dreaming sleep. When you are in deep meditation/relaxation. It was explained that Theta is the birthplace of intuition and imagination.
Delta – external awareness is gone. You are in a deep sleep, coma state. It was explained that Delta is where the healing happens. (Recommended to check out a podcast called Radio Lab to learn more)
Here is the beauty of being taught by wonderful humans. The messages were as follows. Yoga Nidra is a skill, a practice that you develop over time. If you fall asleep, that is okay. There is inherent intelligence in your body, let it take what it currently needs. Don’t wish for it to be different, trust this. Every practice, no matter the outcome is a good practice.
Your Dharma & SanKalpa
The last session of the workshop was very close to my heart and enjoyable to see the similarities between coaching & hypnosis. Or Dan Pink refers to, as nding ‘symphony’. It has given me a deeper understanding and brength to this work. We learnt about Dharma (your duty of purpose).
Three jobs when it comes to your Dharma.
1. To figure it out.
2. Pursue it with every cell in your body and breathe in your lungs and
3. Let go of the results.
We then were introduced to your Sankalpa – your intention, your goal for the next 18 months that will help you achieve your Dharma. The word can be broken down further to, Sat (with), Kalpa (that which follows).
During Yoga Nidra in the Theta state, we can plant your Sankalp in your subconscious. Why? It is the state when you are free from all the doubt that you carry! (The not good enough that we may feel when conscious).
In writing your Sankalpa I loved that there where 2 approaches:
The one that I know & totally agree with, the contemporary approach – write your goal as if it has happened. I am or I have.
Interestingly in this session I connected with the classical approach. Writing your goal in the following statement:
I can be ready and prepared for ……
I will be ready and prepared for….
I must be ready and prepared for……
During this time, we were given the space to answer re ective questions. I would love to share my two most favourite questions of this session. You may like to answer them for yourself.
In your life what lesson are you tied of having to learn?
What is the antidote to learning the lesson?
“You create your world from your Sankalpa. You can move into a different direction. A doubtless resolution. You can wash the stains of your old mind”
What does this all me for me, I have found something I want to keep practicing. I love that peaceful/restful feeling I have after leaving a Yoga Yin/ Nidra class. I align with the scientific aspect of the practice but there is also something else that I cannot put my finger on that also draws me in too.
Either way hope you also find the tools or practice that can help bring peace and rest in this one special life.
PS a Prayer that was shared by our Yoga Nidra teacher on the day.
May this journey be mine
May I learn the precise way to nurture myself
May rest provide me with what is necessary
May rest support my endeavours
May rest always be available
May I know that I am worthy of this gift My rituals grow and change with the seasons
May I have the courage to surrender to the results
May we collectively honour the power of rest And awaken each day with novel curiosity
May we know our true power
May we connect with the light within
May we be guided by our inner teacher
May we be a blessing to the world
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