Yoga Nidra - First experience

This summer, I came to India again for 3 months and of the most random things, I joined Yoga classes held at Chilla Sports Complex, New Delhi. My motivation to join was to know Yoga and also to exercise in the morning. In some sense Yoga appealed to me as a daily stress buster as well. Gyming, swimming, etc definitely exert stress and I wanted to try something different.

I go in the morning 7-8am where our amazing Yoga instructor, Shailendra ji, mentor us as we twist and turn our body :) Our schedule mostly starts with Pranayam (breathing, meditation focused) and progresses to heavy exercises (Chakrasana, Parvatasana, etc.). In the end is my favorite one - YogaNidra - a systematic meditation that meets physical, neurological and subconscious needs which relaxes the body immensely.

YogaNidra Posture

In YogaNindra, Shailendra ji, tells us to lie down in Shavasana and then he recites a script which mainly focuses on various body parts for 10 minutes. Here is the essence:

• We focus on body parts one by one from head to toe (including finger tips, heart, throat, neck, ribs, leg, etc). After individual body parts, we focus on the complete body.
• When I say focus, I mean to observe that particular part of the body and to know it - I have never felt my body parts as an individual organ and it is very distinct outlook to just observe them as they are and to just feel them (without actually using them). I came to know that I have some pain in my little finger due to the typing I do through out the day, which I never felt otherwise
• Focusing on body parts also means not to think about them but to just feel them and observe them - their structure, stress, what's going on, etc.
• We are not supposed to go to sleep

The result of doing Shavasana surprises me and leaves me startled. I feel so relaxed and calm and I have no idea why. In fact in those 10 minutes I would keep going to sleep and coming back at an interval of 1-2 minutes. When I am in sleep in those 10 minutes, my thoughts are wandering around. It feels like I am dreaming, only I know the context of my thoughts. In dreams I have no context, all random thoughts, don't even know how they started.

Trust me, I can focus and I don't have to try hard to focus. I can stay up and awake for hours in bed if I want to. My thoughts don't stray in Yoga classes while doing earlier aasanas either. It has been so hard for me to figure out why I go to sleep with my thoughts during Yoganidra. I am also trying to figure why do I feel so relaxed after 10 minutes of just lying down.

There are various sources on internet I have been reading through to understand the same. My initial thoughts are:

• It is more about separating the consciousness from the body. In Yoganidra, body is supposed to sleep but our consciousness is still awake and we are fully aware of the surroundings
• By focusing on various body parts, due to certain brain activities, we go in deep sleep which provides great relaxation to the mind

Will update detailed findings on this in the next blog.

- Novice Yogi