More than relaxation
Join the next Yoga Nidra Journey in person here in Pōneke / Wellington at the Wellington Meditation Centre. A guided session of gentle movement, breath practice and a full structured Yoga Nidra - designed to support nervous system rest, physical, emotional and mental clarity.
WHEN: Sunday 8 November
TIME: 10.30 am - 12 pm
WHERE: Wellington Meditation Centre - 31 Hobson Crescent, Thorndon
COST: $ KOHA
During a Yoga Nidra Journey, you can expect to be led through the following:
Easeful yoga asana flow to warm up the body and activate the subtle energetic fields
Simple Breath awareness and more advanced Pranayama practices
A guided, meditative, extended 8 or 9-stage practice of Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra is a powerful tool to shift yourself into a natural state of peace and calmness, release tensions and cultivate contentment and creativity.
Suitable for all levels.
Why Yoga Nidra?
Yoga Nidra asks very little of you:
Turn up.
Lie down.
Get really comfortable.
Follow the guidance, the voice.
Swami Satyananda Saraswati of the Bihar School of Yoga developed and taught a systematic approach to Yoga Nidra, bringing traditional practices stemming from the Tantric Nyasa, into a form suited to contemporary life. This approach invites deep physical, mental and emotional relaxation while maintaining a thread of inner awareness.
As attention gradually turns away from the external world, breathing slows, muscular effort softens and the parasympathetic side of the nervous system can become more influential. The body moves away from high alert and into deep rest.
Awareness may hover along the threshold between waking and sleep. Brain activity can include patterns associated with quiet wakefulness, drowsiness and, at times, sleep. Some people remain aware throughout, while others drift in and out. Both are a natural part of the practice.
Within that deep rest, the burdens and anxieties of daily life can loosen their hold, bringing you closer to your natural sense of self.
With continued practice, Yoga Nidra can:
Ease stress and anxiety
Support better sleep and offer a practice for times when you are awake during the night
Soften physical and mental tension
Create space away from continual thinking and external demands
Deepen awareness of the body and inner experience
Offer an accessible guided practice when seated meditation feels difficult
Traditional Yoga Nidra may also include sankalpa, a short and carefully chosen statement of intention. It is introduced near the beginning of the practice and repeated towards the end, when the mind is quieter and attention less scattered.
A sankalpa can express a quality you want to live from, a direction you wish to take or something important you want to remember about yourself. It is planted like a seed during the quieter stages of Yoga Nidra, where it can take hold beyond conscious thinking and gradually find expression in how you live.
Each experience is different. You may notice stillness, imagery, drifting thoughts, sleep, insight or simply the experience of lying down and being guided. There is no particular state you need to achieve.
If you already feel at peace in your world, the practice can offer space for inspiration, creativity and deeper exploration.
With regular practice, you may discover insights, a renewed connection with your creativity and a sense of wholeness. Yoga Nidra is rest, the type of creative rest we don’t often allow ourselves.
Looking Beyond “Dysregulation”
In teaching and in conversations, I often hear people describing how tired they feel. Sometimes that tiredness runs deeper than a few early nights can ease.
The word “dysregulated” has also become familiar, both in conversation and online. It can help us describe what we’re experiencing. I do wonder, though, how it shapes the way we relate to ourselves.
When we say, “My nervous system is dysregulated,” does it sometimes make our nervous system sound like something separate from us? Something we need to manage or fix?
Perhaps we simply honour how we are feeling in any given moment, without judgment.
We are surviving in a world that is designed to have us more disconnected than connected. We need to not allow words like dysregulation, restore, reset and resilience become something we judge our living reality by.
Our nervous system is part of who we are. It is us. It works in constant conversation with our hormones, immune system, muscles, heart, lungs and metabolism. Our experiences involve all of this, as we respond to our environment, our relationships and the demands of daily life.
For me, Yoga in all its offerings, is a way to become more familiar with that relationship. Through movement, breath and stillness, we can notice how we feel and what we need. Some days there is energy to move. Other days, the need for rest asks for our attention.
There is nothing you need to achieve during a Yoga Nidra Journey. Come as you are, settle in and give yourself the time to rest.
Practice Yoga Nidra at home
Explore a FREE guided Yoga Nidra practice from Karlin on Insight Timer.
Recent Research - The Effects of Yoga Nidra
Clinical studies have shown that yoga nidra meditation is associated with positive physiological changes, including improvements in several haematological variables, red blood cell counts, blood glucose levels, and hormonal status. Two neuroimaging studies have shown that yoga nidra produces changes in endogenous dopamine release and cerebral blood flow, a further confirmation that its effects on the CNS are objectively measurable.
Read more: The Boring Art of Deep Rest
The Practice Continues
Join me each week in Poneke / Wellington for breath-led Hatha Vinyasa, yoga practices that support your suppleness, strength, balance, nervous system care and connection to your self.