What to Expect in a Yoga Nidra Class

Yoga Nidra, also called psychic sleep, is a journey deep into your subconscious to promote strength, clarity, and healing. Your teacher takes you through a specific series of guided meditations to lull your body into a state of deep relaxation while your mind remains fully awake. Rather than grounding you inside your body, yoga nidra transcends the body — sometimes for deep relaxation, and other times for a wild ride through the subconscious.

For most of us, Yoga Nidra is an opportunity to detach and explore our minds. For some, it’s a valuable therapeutic tool: Military veterans with PTSD have reported a reduction in symptoms after participating in a specific Yoga Nidra program.

Experiences can vary depending on the teacher, the setting, and the class, but Yoga Nidra classes typically follow a very similar structure. You can expect most classes to last between 20 and 40 minutes, although there are exceptions.

Savasana and relaxation

At the beginning of class, you’ll start in Savasana — or whatever modification is appropriate for you, like legs up the wall, a comfortable neck pillow, or a bolster under your knees — and your instructor will help you settle into the pose and begin to relax. This sets the stage for shutting out external noise and opening your mind to the practice.

“Don’t try to be too strict and force yourself to remain absolutely motionless,” said legendary yoga teacher Satyananda Saraswati in his 1976 book “Yoga Nidra.” “In Yoga Nidra, the important thing is simply to expose yourself to the instructions of the teacher, and to view any experiences which may arise with total awareness and detachment.”

While you can’t get the most out of your nidra practice when you fall fully asleep, don’t get discouraged if you do! Part of the practice of Yoga Nidra is growing, strengthening, and removing mental blocks over time and turning inward. If you find yourself falling asleep frequently, you might try sitting or standing instead, but try it in Savasana first. If you have the opposite problem — you find yourself unable to stay still — try practicing with an eye pillow or sleeping mask.

Setting your sankalpa

The crux of Yoga Nidra is your sankalpa, or your resolve. It’s a goal expressed clearly as a short phrase or sentence. This can be a general goal, such as “I will be successful,” but it can also get more specific, like “I will quit smoking.” If you have trouble thinking of a sankalpa, start with small goals — they can be stepping stones to an overarching sankalpa in the future. You’ll be asked to express this goal silently to yourself multiple times during practice.

Rotation of consciousness

In this phase of the practice, your instructor guides you through a body scan, starting with the thumb of your right hand. It’s in a specific order that matches up with your motor homunculus — the map the brain uses to send signals to different parts of your body. Unlike many body scans, this moves quickly without lingering in any one place.

Awareness of the breath

Here, you’ll meditate with the rhythm of your own breathing. You may be asked to count down from a certain number with each inhale and exhale.

Feelings and sensations

After breathing, your teacher will guide you through a series of sensations and emotions, typically grouped in opposite pairs. The goal is to conjure these feelings as strongly as you can, but move on quickly to the next one. You may be asked to experience an intense feeling of cold followed by burning heat — or experience emotional pain followed by pleasure.

Visualization

Visualization is typically where you see a lot of variation between Yoga Nidra classes. It can be a series of images to try to view objectively in your mind, a guided journey, or both. Sometimes, a simpler visualization is a lead-in to another bigger experience. You might just bathe your body in light, or maybe you experience life as a bird. This sometimes includes chakra meditation.

The most important part of this stage is that you just roll with it. Instead of trying to self-correct your internal imagery, try to view the experience as objectively as possible: Stick with the first thing that comes to mind, even if it doesn’t make sense to you initially. If an image is unclear, try not to force it into focus.

“If you try to concentrate in Yoga Nidra,” explained Saraswati, “you will obstruct the natural flow of awareness that takes the mind deeper into the Self.”

If you find yourself overthinking it at first, don’t worry too much — just keep doing the practice.

Ending the practice

You’ll be asked to mentally state your sankalpa once more, then your instructor will bring you back to your body. You might visualize yourself as you are, practicing Yoga Nidra. Then, you bring your awareness back to sensations your body is experiencing in real time.

It’s normal to feel a little “yoga stoned” — you probably just stayed in Savasana for about half an hour — so give yourself a few minutes to come back to earth.

Yoga Nidra for Sleep
with Caley Alyssa

If you’re looking for a more restful practice, this class doesn’t get complicated. After deep physical relaxation, you’ll move through deeply anatomical visualizations, shut out external noise, and get ready for a restful night’s sleep.

Yoga Nidra for Healing
with Caley Alyssa

In this deep meditation on healing your heart, you’ll examine your emotions, bathe yourself in light, and center what brings you love and comfort.

Yoga Nidra: Clear Energy
with Caley Alyssa

Sharpen your mind with cleansing breath, then conjure a bright energy field to cleanse your consciousness of unwanted energy and clutter. This practice is designed for focus and clarity so you can face your future strength and resolve.

Psychic Sleep
with Sri Dharma Mittra

Yoga master Sri Dharma Mittra will guide you toward full body relaxation, then open your conscious mind to in-depth visualization and psychic journeys, from warm beaches to the tops of pyramids.

Nidra Flow
with Claudine LaFond

If your practice tends more toward high-energy vinyasa flows, this series is a great way to dip your toes in. Each class in the series starts with a heat-building flow to clear the body. Then, you’ll transition into Yoga Nidra, starting with a quick five-minute meditation in the first class and ending with a full 30-minute practice.

Practice all of these classes for free with a 14-day trial to Alo Moves.

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