Yoga nidra is a form of yoga that seeks to achieve a state of consciousness somewhere between being fully asleep and being fully awake. Indeed, the word ‘nidra’ is ‘sleep’ in Sanskrit. That is why yoga nidra is often referred to as ‘yogic sleep’.
I bring all of this up because yoga nidra is sometimes recommended to people who have trouble sleeping. The practice helps people reach a deep state of relaxation so that their bodies are ready for normal, traditional sleep. Yoga nidra is not actually traditional sleep. So what is it?
A Process of Relaxation
Think of yoga nidra as a process of relaxation. It might be guided by an international yoga nidra expert like Scott Moore. But it could also be facilitated by a mobile app or an online video. Regardless, the person practicing yoga nidra goes through a multi-step process designed to achieve the state of consciousness mentioned earlier in this post.
This state of consciousness is one of the first defining factors that differentiates yoga nidra from traditional sleep. With traditional sleep, you lose conscious awareness of your environment. But with yoga nidra, you maintain that awareness even though your body is in a deeply relaxed state.
Active vs. Passive Participation
Yoga nidra is also a process that requires active participation. For starters, a practitioner goes through controlled breathing exercises designed to promote the early stages of relaxation. Breathing exercises are followed by something known as a body scan.
The body scan involves systematically moving from one body part to the next. Each body part is tensed and then released immediately thereafter. This promotes complete body relaxation throughout.
By contrast, traditional sleep is a passive experience. You close your eyes and wait until you nod off into that unconscious state of deep rest. The mind switches off and the body takes over and does what it does naturally.
A Different Kind of Rest
Perhaps the most drastic difference between yoga nidra and traditional sleep is the kind of rest a person experiences. Moore says that yoga nidra is often described as a ‘third mental state’. He also says that some yoga nidra experts believe that 30 minutes of this third mental state provide the equivalent rest of several hours of traditional sleep.
Note that Moore does not promote yoga nidra as a replacement for traditional sleep. Quite to the contrary, our bodies need traditional sleep for restorative purposes. But yoga nidra can teach a person how to relax more completely, making it easier to fall asleep when traditional sleep is the goal.
Rest, With Benefits
We know that getting enough restful sleep comes with a slew of physical, emotional, and mental benefits. Traditional sleep is critical to good overall health for that very reason. But there is a similarity between traditional sleep and yoga nidra in the sense that the latter has its own benefits to offer.
Yoga nidra can help a great deal with emotional regulation by lowering stress hormones and calming the nervous system. Its advantage over traditional sleep is that at offers a level of consciousness that allows a person to resolve mental tensions that otherwise cause stress. Those same mental tensions can interfere with traditional sleep as well.
Though yoga nidra induces a level of consciousness very close to full sleep, it doesn’t necessarily push a practitioner into the traditional sleep we are all familiar with. Yoga nidra is distinct and different from traditional sleep in the ways discussed in this post. If you have been thinking of trying it, now you know.
