Yoga Nidra and Better

Learn to make use of lying flat on your back and relaxing.

Yoga nidra, may be rendered in English as "yogic sleep". There are numerous traditions of yoga nidra. A neat form consists of lying flat on your back and relax as you listen in to sounds that you hear after such as gentle breathing. It is also possible to listen to lovely music while lying this, or recordings of essential teachings that are well prepared for such learning. [See Lojong mind traning].

That is about it. It is also possible to prepare recordings that guide you to relax by directing your attention to body parts, one area at a time, to get better relaxation. You do not really need guided recordings if you start from the head and work your way downwards to the toes.

It happens to some who lie and relax as suggested above, that they "doze off", more or less.

In such a well relaxed state after meditation it should be fit to affirm-and-visualise" a good goal that you think will be fine for you. Such a "commitment" is termed sankalpas. Sankalpa, or neat intents (desire-determinations) that you form ain deep states of mind, serve as positive directions.

During the practice of advanced yoga nidra, one appears to be asleep, but is aware. Hence, yoga nidra is also called a state of dynamic sleep. Normally when we sleep, we cannot make good use of this mental capacity. Yoga nidra enables the person to be conscious in a drowsy-like state and tune in to reaching good things in life. Sow positive seeds in the mind and water them by sustained attention in relaxed after-meditation states if you can, and they may get to sprout in your life. This is a yogic way of positive thinking. The awareness can go much deeper into more pleasant and deeper mind states than usual.

Yoga nidra in the form of guided visualisation technique, has been used to help soldiers from war cope with PTSD (post-traumatic stress syndrome).

Yoga nidra may work against diseases that are wholly or partly psychosomatic, by the rejuvenating effects of deep rest and peace of mind and dominant, positive thinking. At least half of the most common physical diseases are thought to be caused wholly or in part by psychosomatic influences [Hi 505]. Yoga nidra has been made use of in stress management and therapy to enhance the learning process in education, to harmonize and awaken potential, and as a meditative technique. It is said that at worst you just fall asleep during the practice.

Recollections of former experiences may be activated during deep relaxation, and symbols might likewise come to mind. Yoga nidra practice may assist real life attainments if well done.

Yoga nidra and TM

◦Transcendental Meditation is a fine meditation method that is known to bring on deep relaxation. There is much research on TM.

The TM-Sidhi programme was introduced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1975, as an extension of Transcendental Meditation. The purpose of the TM-Sidhi programme is to increase the benefits from the Transcendental Meditation technique by training the mind to think from the level of what may be called the source of the deep mind, that is, pure consciousness itself.

By learning to function in this way, the practitioner's thinking is said to become increasingly coherent so that his or her desires may be fulfilled more easily. Proponents also say the TM-Sidhi additions to the basic meditation method can lead to development of advanced human abilities. The key to such prowess is called samyama. It is described in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.

Thus, calm relaxation with added thought while resting deeply, is akin to advanced Transcendental Meditation.

Hopping and hovering in TM

Early advertisements for the TM-Sidhi program stated that its practice could lead to the development of extra-ordinary abilities such as development of the mind, empathy, compassion, invisibility, perfect health, mind-reading, extra sensory perception, walking through walls, omniscience, and so on.

Into the air somehow. Some who meditate through the TM-Sidhi programme are said to rise into the air. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who brought TM to the West, says there are three distinct stages of such Yogic Flying: 1) hopping, 2) floating, 3) flying. Since 1986, there have been public demonstrations of Yogic "Hopping" in many countries, where participants are hopping on foam mattresses while sitting crosslegged or in a seated "lotus position" [◦YouTube video of Yogic Flying A] [◦YouTube video of Yogic Flying B].

As for stage two: hovering or floating, see a front page picture in a Norwegian newspaper. I consider it a rara avis, a rarity. The "bird stage" - third stage - was reached by the Tibetan yogi Milarepa, according to his biography. And that is what Tibetan canon tells. Catholic saints have also reportedly moved in the air, and non-religious people too at times. [More]

Now, the previous three paragraphs are examples of attainments aimed at by some in deep relaxation or TM. There are other aims.

❖ Rarely happening but attested means something else than cannot be.

Some other ways of performing

Visualisation practices are a common form of spiritual exercise. In Vajrayana Buddhism, up to complex visualisations are frequently used. Besides, Judo-like visualisation has demonstrable effects, writes Buzan and Gelb [Laj 54-55, 57.].

Note: First go deep within, then visualize or affirm or both as is fit for you. Several beginner methods in Tibetan yoga and other forms of yoga employ visualisations as preparatory exercises to meditation, but that is not the subject here. And popular methods of visualisation and affirmation do not incorporate that going deep is the foundation and most important thing to go for here too, too.

Speaking of the latter: Visualization is used extensively in sports psychology. Sports visualization seeks to affect the outer world by changing one's thoughts. Visualization may also lie at the back of what is called positive thinking, which borders on affirmations if it is not it, and is frequently used by athletes to enhance their performance. Employ imagination to visualise specific behaviours or events. Example: Russian scientists compared four groups of Olympic athletes. The group with 75% of their time devoted to mental training, performed the best. [Wikipedia, s.v., "Creative visualization"]

Affirmations [Hi 522-23;] can be worth trying when the mind is calm and the body relaxed. Lojong mind training is a lot like it, but allows for deeper relaxation and deeper states of mind, and the mind may thereby get even more susceptible to suggestions to live out.

Research Link

• ◦Relax by TM and find the benefits. Official Site