Hands up who has time to lie around doing nothing…?
(Cue the tumbleweed)
That is often how some of us can feel about taking time to practice Yoga Nidra.
I understand, I fall into the trap often that I need to be “doing” things with my time, being productive and making the most of each moment by “achieving” or “accomplishing” something.
My honest feeling is that we now live in a society that has us conditioned to believe that we can’t afford to relax by doing nothing anymore.
Which is why I find characters such as Winnie the Pooh such an inspiration. With quotes such as “people say nothing is impossible but I do nothing every day” and “doing nothing often leads to the very best something”, he reminds me that I am not in as much control of my life as I believe. And that there is such a thing as trying too hard.
The final lesson I’m reminded of is that this is my life. I can only guarantee this one moment called ‘now’, I can’t guarantee I’ll be here tomorrow. I should really stop and smell the roses right now! Even if it goes against everything I’ve been taught in school and professional life.
Oh but it’s HARD to do nothing now! I’m not good at sitting still. I fidget, I reach for my phone (hello tech addiction), I sit in meditations telling myself I need to be sitting there in order to achieve something. And there I’ve fallen into the ‘doing’ trap once more!
So Yoga Nidra really works for me. It feels like a miniature holiday. A mini-mini-break.
In Yoga Nidra you lie down, get comfy and close your eyes. You’re allowed to ensure total comfort throughout which means minimal fidgeting. And then you’re guided, at first by a teacher, then when you know the practice well, just by your own consciousness.
You’re guided into a state of deep rest, of spaciousness, creativity and calm.
It’s a place like no other. Deeply restorative, both grounding and transcendental at the same time. And whether you practice just once, or regularly, you receive these benefits:
- Phenomenal relief from stress
- Better quality sleep!
- Restored energy levels
- A sense of peace and calm
- A deeper connection to your body
- A slower pace of thinking, where you are afforded the choice to respond rather than react to situations.
- Improved thought patterns
- Diminished anxiety and depression symptoms
- Treats chronic pain and post traumatic stress disorder
For about 20 minutes or longer, you’ve lived in the present moment without any distractions
You’ve stopped to smell the roses!
Sometimes revelations come. If you’re the creative type and you’re stuck on a project, Yoga Nidra can offer the space to give you insight. If you’re stuck in a difficult personal situation, again the space can offer you distance and clarity, so that you can work through it with compassion for yourself and others. If you have a big question that you can’t find the answer to, well just lie down and do nothing and see what answer comes!
Winnie the Pooh would say “sometimes when I need to go somewhere, I wait for somewhere to come to me”. The perfect illustration of how Yoga Nidra can offer a true antidote to the overachieving expectations we set upon ourselves.
Try for yourself! Here you can find a link to a free Yoga Nidra practice on Yogafurie Online.
And join me on the afternoon of March 26th for our mini retreat (click here for more information). We’ll practice plenty of Yoga Nidra to help us reflect, restore and renew our truest sense of ourselves.
