okay okay..... sorry you guys... been 'busy'
I wanted more time so I could give more of my dedication to respond to this thread..... anyway here goes. This is going to be lengthy for I love to talk about it but it can also happen that I jump here and there to bring my point across... it is hard to type out your thoughts you know...
plus some read may not be easy to understand/accept by some, so please do read with an open mind, open heart.
Yoga Nidra, aka Yoga Sleep. I remembered my very first 'Shavasana' which was done only 10 minutes and I woke up feeling completely relaxed, energized as if I got the good 'recommended 8-hour' sleep.
As I also mentioned, there are many styles of Yoga Nidra, however usually Yoga Nidra is done on a longer period, can be as long as 1 hour which we will touch on more in a little while. 'Shavasana' which literally means dead man pose, is done mostly just 10 minutes.
In both Yoga Nidra, auto-suggestions are given. I once had a student asked me if I was hypnotizing them well I said I was actually de-hypnotizing them because they are so 'hypnotized' with their daily activities, going about their life without awareness whereas in Yoga Nidra - in short Zombified - I bring their mind to complete attention, complete awareness.
Now why is it so that you need your body to be in relaxed state and your mind active to experience complete relaxation? Well you see, in normal night sleep, we 'rest' completely both body and mind.... aha!! That is when REM occurs. And when REM occurs, your mind is not relaxed because the brain is still 'thinking' and it comes in dream forms. It is known to many that to be completely relaxed, you target the mind/brain not the body.
What happens in Yoga Nidra is that, with the auto-suggestion of a teacher/guidance, one is able to go step-by-step into deeper relaxation. These steps/guidances/suggestions given but teacher allows one to fully relax in each and every part of the body hence also relaxing the breath. And when the breath is relaxed, so is the mind. Breath is the link between mind and body. Ever noticed how your breathing is when you are angry? When your mind is in anger mode, your body tensed up - so in yoga, we can control our emotions simply by controlling the breath. To control the breath, one needs to bring awareness to it, and when one brings awareness to the breath, one is in present moment, where one is relaxed. Not caught up in the past - which may cause tensions and worries, nor future, where nothing has occured yet which again is the cause of many worries. In this awakened state is when it is best to apply/strenghten any particular areas you want to achieve reach. Be it goals in life, where you vizualize, be it even learning a new language, or simply be wanting to relax completely.
With the step by step auto-suggestions given by a teacher, the student is able to go deeper into the sub-conscious. This Yoga Nidra is so powerful that one can realized one's dreams, one can understand oneself better etc.
In the 61-points, where I call going into a journey inwards - I gave suggestions to the points of the body that makes up to 61 spots. We mostly use only 1 side of the body, (when we are using the phone, writing, eating etc.) but with the 61-points (or with any Yoga Nidra system) one is able to bring balance to the body, equalizing both the right and the left side of the body, which in short balances the right and left side of the brain - hence balancing the entire body system. We are also finding our own treasure. We are all borned with positive vibrations, but as we continue in life, we are filled with emotions such as sadness, hatred, jealousy, anger etc. These emotions would bury our treasure deeper in us. With this 61-points, you discover your true self. You bring your true self out - everything in Nature is smiling. Everything in Nature is dancing. Everything in Nature is blissful (however sadly, we human counterparts, the only species borned with brain to think are not able to use that gift so well are we?).
How I teach it is that, with every point I mention, the student will have to visualize that he/she is switching on the light of that particular spot. Imagine a room full of candles, light one candle, the room is a little brighter. Light all the candles, the room will shine brightly - that is what the purpose of this 'switching on' the lights at each point stated does - to illumnize the entire body, to make it more vibrant!!
So here are the 61-points as taught to me by my Master (note : nothing is the same or fantastic as when one gets to be in the moment and experience it first hand - this is just to give you an idea - I just hope I could do some kind of voice recording so you can get an idea of it).
I would like to add before attempting any Yoga Nidra, one has to lie down completely flat on their backs, making sure that they are symmetrical. Facing front, eyes closed soft and light. Arms free, slightly away from the body with palms facing upwards. Legs are free, apart with toes pointing out to the sides. Become aware of the breath and body and release any tensions felt in the body.....
Number 1. center of the eyebrows, turn on the lights in the center of the eyebrows
number 2. throat center, turn on the lights in the throat center
3. right shoulder joint
4. right elbow joint
5. right wrist joint
6. tip of the right thumb
7. tip of right index finger
8. tip of middle finger
9. ring finger
10. little finger
11. right wrist joint
12. right elbow joint
13. right shoulder joint
14. center of the throat
15. left shoulder joint
16. left elbow joint
17. left wrist joint
18. tip of the left thumb
19. tip of left index finger
20. tip of middle finger
21. fourth finger
22. tip of little finger
23. left wrist joint
24. left elbow joint
25. left shoulder joint
26. throat center
27. heart center
28. right nipple
(yup don't laugh
)
29. heart center
30. left nipple (don't laugh
- seriously, when I first taught this, it was hard for me to mention nipple, I had to swallow hard before I could say it!!!)
31. heart center
32. navel center
33. center of the pelvis in between the hip joint
34. right hip joint
35. right knee joint
36. right ankle joint
37. tip of right big toe
38. second toe
39. third toe
40. fourth toe
41. fifth toe
42. right ankle joint
43. right knee joint
44. right hip joint
45. center of pelvic
46. left hip joint
47. left knee joint
48. left ankle joint
49. tip of left big toe
50. second toe
51. third toe
52. fourth toe
53. fifth toe
54. left ankle
55. left knee
56. left hip joint
57. center of pelvic
58. navel center
59. heart center
60. throat center
61. center of eyebrows
.... now you may feel tingling sensations or vibrations in all the 61-points, become aware, or you may feel nothing at all which is fine too for that is awareness in itself. Just stay with the vibrancy of the 61-points in your body.
That is just the jist of what I do. In fact I did this 61-points yesterday and they felt so good that one lady came to me at the end of the class, 'Aisah, now I am so vibrant, how do you switch off the lights....' said she jokingly.
The above 61-points may seem like nothing, again you need to be in the present to experience the full effect of it. It especially helps if the teacher has a soothing melodiously voice *ahem*
As for the 'presence' that was felt was when I did an hour of Yoga Nidra. Which is completely different from the 61-points which by the way takes about 10-20 minutes.
This Yoga Nidra experience was some 2 years back when I taught Yoga Teachers Training course back in Singapore. It was at my studio. The Yoga Nidra taught then was an auto-suggestion which was made to completely free the mind of any conditions and to realize one's dreams. I was seated at my platform, and to my left was the entrance doorway. My students were all laying on their backs flat on the floor. It was a quiet evening. Everyone's eyes were closed. There were 20 of them. Of course some snored during the process. Towards the end of Yoga Nidra, I felt a Presence. During Yoga Nidra, everyone was still, no movement, no fan, no air-conditioning on. It was almost completely still. Then I felt the 'Presence' entered through the door-way, to my left and it came towards me and stopped right in front of me. It was a good presence (note that everything is an energy form, you can tell or feel if it is a good or bad energy). I felt really good with this Presence and I felt that it was there to bless me and my students. When I finally 'arouse' my students to come back to reality, those that were laying near the door asked me, 'Aisah, did someone come into the room during the Yoga Nidra?'... I smiled and I said, 'No' (actually I was pleasantly surprised for I thought it was only me who could feel it but there were at least 4 of them that felt it). I told them that there was a Presence that came to bless us. Although it gave them the creeps but those who felt the Presence felt really good about the Visit. This was the last day of my Yoga Teachers' Training course.
I had many lovely similar experiences during my meditation which was done in early dawn. Yes I felt the Presence before in my meditation, I also experienced levitation, I had 'some energy in a female form walked past by me' for not only could I feel her breeze as she walked past but I could hear the faint chinking of her anklet bells
I also smelled fragrant of sweet flowers etc. Yes the experiences was that vivid!!!
See Yoga is not just an art, any clown can do that, Yoga is also a Science of Breathing. It is knowing Life, understanding Life. Is it about awareness, it is a Journey of self-Discovery. And Yoga is not just an hour class, Yoga is a life Journey. Your every waking hour, your every sleeping motion, every breathe you inhale and exhale is yoga - awareness which brings you to unification of mind, body and spirit. How else can you change the world to be a better place if not to start with oneself. Give yourself the greatest gift ever, practise Yoga and practise Yoga from a lovely teacher. I do not mean to sound like I am preaching but seriously you guys, it was founded more than 2500 B.C. years ago - how can that go wrong?
with love and light ~ a
TWEETY BIRD, tell us of your """YOGA NIDRA""" PLEASE
Linear Mode
