Yoga Nidra - an essential addition to your Wellness Toolkit
June 21st 2017
Yoga Nidra, commonly termed 'yogic sleep' is a transformative meditative practice which allows us to move quickly and easily into a deeply-relaxing altered state of consciousness designed to promote healing, problem-solving, creativity and deep rest. It is not sleep, rather it is a liminal, in-between space in which you are neither asleep nor awake, but in a different state of consciousness. Some people do fall asleep when practicing Yoga Nidra, if they are particularly exhausted and need sleep more desperately than a meditative practice. In fact, it would be unusual not to hear a few snores during a Yoga Nidra class, and there is nothing 'wrong' with falling asleep. If you fall asleep it was meant to be!
Yeats' beautiful description of Yoga Nidra was the following:
'...the state in which the soul, purified of all that is not it, comes into possession of its own timelessness'
The timelessness he refers to is a key characteristic of Yoga Nidra. A person may do a 15-minute Yoga Nidra practice and feel that at least an hour has passed. Vice versa, a 45-minute-practice could feel like it lasted no more than 10 minutes. It is very common for practitioners to be unable to even hazard a guess as to how long the practice was, or to recall the details of the practice.
The beauty of Yoga Nidra from a therapeutic perspective is that it is an 'adaptagenic' practice, i.e. it adapts to the needs of the practitioner on a given day. For example - if you need to energise yourself for an afternoon of important meetings ahead, it can help you do just that. If you need to cultivate some self-kindness, understanding and compassion for yourself for whatever reason, it can help you do this too. If you have a creative block you need to move through, you can set an intention for the practice that will allow you to do so. If you are unable to sleep and lying awake at night there are specific practices designed to help you wind down and fall asleep.
I have used it for all of the purposes described above, and also to manifest longer-term intentions in specific areas of my life. The intentions are always voiced (internally) in the present tense, and repeated towards the beginning and end of each practice.
In a time when we are bombarded with reams of sensory information and data to digest, and spend so much time in our heads in future-planning mode, it provides a welcome and much-needed respite to move out of our heads and reconnect with our hearts and bodies as this practice enables us to do. It counteracts all of the frantic doing, with some simple and much-needed being.
So what does a Yoga Nidra practice actually look like and consist of? It is a practice whereby the practitioners simply lie down, make themselves as comfortable as possible, and listen to the voice of the teacher delivering the Nidra, which could last anywhere between 15 and 60+ minutes. A typical Yoga Nidra practice will begin with some settling, connection to the breath and body, followed by the setting of an intention for the practice, and a rotation of consciousness around the body. Some practices may include some visualisation and pairing of opposites (i.e. imagining you are cool then warm, etc.), after which the practitioners will remind themselves of their intention and be gently brought back into the room in the final closing piece. There is a unique quality to the energy it will give you when practiced as part of a group, but practicing by yourself at home listening to a recorded practices is also hugely beneficial. I have some go-to favourites which I can recommend if you would be interested in giving it a try.
I could advocate endlessly for the powerful benefits of the Yoga Nidra practice, but for the purpose of this article I would like to focus on why it is that we so desperately need this practice in our modern, fast-paced lifestyles.
According to Manpower's 2014 Flux Report, 46% of HR decision-makers reported an increase in worker fatigue and disengagement between 2009 and 2014. More recently, over the last 12 months we have dealt with the destabilisation of the economy by Britain's decision to leave the EU, and many future unknowns to be faced as we move into a post-Brexit reality. This has created challenges for businesses, with 'flux' becoming the new normal. Today's workforce needs to be resilient, and adept at reacting quickly and gracefully to the changing and unpredictable market demands.
It is particularly in hyper-growth companies, that the inevitable under-resourcing can result in employees working longer hours leading eventually to people becoming exhausted, inefficient and disengaged. Interestingly, according to the same Manpower report, those in their 30s are best-equipped to deal with flux (having already been through enough years, quarters and cycles of ups and downs) with those in their 20s and 60s least equipped. The aforementioned point is one I believe is of massive importance to tech employers with a large percentage of employees who are millennials. By the time we've entered our 30s and (hopefully/maybe?) built our own resilience tool-kit we may forget about the years of stress and anxiety that came beforehand when every little obstacle thrown our way felt much larger and less surmountable.
There is also of course a very sensible business case for reducing stress levels in your employees. Many working hours, days and weeks are lost to stress; 'stress' being defined (by the EU) as a lack of resources and capability to do what is required of you. I had a scary moment of realisation when I read this definition a few years ago, and noted that it had been a very long time since I had not been 'stressed' in accordance with the definition. The very nature of modern living usually involves packing more than is feasible into our days, weeks, months and years. Yoga, however, thankfully has either counteracted the symptoms of stress, or given me the perspective to help me realise that there's no point in worrying about the things you can't change!
In any business, one of, if not THE most important ingredients for long-term growth is sustainability healthy, fulfilled and happy people. If the latter is achieved, and employees are provided with clear success metrics and a work environment that allows them to focus, quality productivity will occur naturally. Otherwise, productivity can be high, but at an unsustainable level, or high for the wrong reasons. If your people are working very productively without caring for their minds, bodies and souls, the productivity will be short-lived and soon wane.
For me Yoga Nidra has proven to be the perfect antidote for the flux and stress of our current times, and has been one of the most valuable and easy-to-use tools in my wellness toolkit over the last number of years. I use it first thing in the morning when I have a day ahead which requires me to have high levels of social stamina. When travelling and jet-lagged, I use it to reboot between morning meetings, afternoon meetings and evening events. I use it to help me wind down from sensory overload when I get to bed too late after such events, and I use it to anchor and come home to myself when I'm on the other side of the world in a hotel/Airbnb room, far from all of the familiar sights and sounds of home. If I am unable to sleep at night I will do back-to-back Yoga Nidra practices until I eventually drift off, content in the knowledge that although not asleep, I am at least doing a nourishing and restorative practice. This is far preferable to the worry or anxiety that creeps in when you can't sleep and know you can't afford to not have your head in the game the next day!
Having reaped such value personally from this practice, I trained in June 2016 to teach Yoga Nidra with the wonderfully inspiring Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, and have since been sharing the practice with others. I feel hugely grateful for the benefits this practice has afforded me both personally and professionally - and hope to again begin sharing it in classes over the coming months. My focus will be on teaching professionals who like me are feeling the effects of the demanding, fast-paced, unpredictable environments in which they move every day, as the Yoga Nidra practices I deliver are tailored to the need to counteract the stresses of these environments, with themes to promote creativity, focus and stamina.
If you, your team or someone you know might benefit from spending 20-minutes at lunchtime, or post-work, in a deeply restorative meditative state that provides all of the aforementioned benefits (and helps you sleep better at night!) please drop me a note via InMail to learn more. Alternatively, if you would also like to experience the benefits of integrating a physical practice of yoga poses into your day, do come along to one of our classes in the beautiful new yoga space in Yoga at FFS. I will be teaching on Monday mornings and Tuesday evenings, and you can choose from a whole host of challenging, energising and nourishing yoga classes here. Looking forward to seeing you on the mat! :-)