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Yoga Nidra Stories
Please help
. The clock is ticking. My next book, “Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief” is due at the publishers Oct. 1, 2014.
You can help by sharing your stories about your Yoga Nidra experiences down below. Your stories add a special depth like nobody else can and might be included in the book.
I’m interested in knowing things like what you like about yoga nidra? How has it helped you? What is your experience with using a resolve – a sankalpa.
Feel free to add anything else you would like to share, including what you would like to see in this book.
Thanks in advance!
Not Sleeping Soundly? Here’s Help
Have you ever felt like you were ‘half-awake or only half asleep’ all night? Me too. It’s so frustrating, especially knowing that you have a big day ahead and want to be feel sharp and well rested. Perhaps you don’t want to miss a moment of your vacation or there’s an important conference you’re excited about.
As it turns out, half of your brain can sleep while the other half stays awake, according to sleep scientist Masako Tamaki and her colleagues at Brown University and reported in Current Biology*. They found that this usually happens when sleeping the first night in a new place, like a hotel, friend’s house, or while camping. The second night is much better.
It’s our brain’s attempt to protect us by going into survival mode. What happens is that the right half your brain sleeps while the left half stays alert, standing guard. How strange is that?
Scientists measured the slow-wave activity of the brain, something that occurs during deep sleep. They measured brain activity during light sleep by first playing a tone and then a different tone was played. Surprisingly, the brain reacted to the variation in sound only on the left side of the brain – the right side stayed asleep.
Next, they played a sound loud enough to awaken someone. They found that when it was transmitted into the right ear, the subjects in the experiment woke up faster than if it was sent to the left ear. The right ear is associated with the left side of the brain.
It stands to reason that it would be the left side of the brain that stays on duty since it is known to be objective, analytical, and rational and would be more prone to be protective whereas the right side is best at intuition and abstract thinking. Could this phenomenon be at play when sleeping in an unsafe neighborhood or household? What about when having to keep an ear out for a child or sick person. More studies are needed.
Sleeping ‘half-way’ is involuntary and the brain’s way to keep you alert enough to save yourself if something bad happened and most likely associated with the flight-fight-freeze response to stress. Because of this, scientists think there’s not much you can do about it other than to accept it rather than letting it bother you. Some suggest going two nights ahead of your big day since it’s so hard to sleep that first night.
Here are my suggestions:
- Make the room feel familiar and safer to you, tricking the brain into sleeping better. Try using a familiar scent – lavender is calming and aids sleeping. If you’re used to sleeping with a fan whirling away, bring one with you. Using your own pillow makes sense too.
- Try yoga nidra. It’s a comprehensive practice done lying down to go far beyond deep relaxation and mindfulness to a place of natural peace and quiet that is tremendously restful. Along with being a special type of meditation to increase uplifting levels of awareness, it can also be practiced at bedtime as a sleep aid. Layers of stress are cleared out so they don’t follow you to bed and disturb sleeping. In fact, while not a substitute for actual sleep, one hour of yoga nidra practice is equivalent to 4 hours of sleep. This is due to the types of brain waves experienced along the way. Proven relaxation skills, specialized breathing techniques, guided imagery, and mindfulness are systematically used. Learn more about yoga nidra here
Use a yoga nidra recording. See below for recommendations. Download it to your listening device, put it on airplane mode, and listen by putting the ear buds or the device itself under your pillow. It will transmit right through your pillow and not disturb your sleep partner. - Use a mudra. They are yoga positions for the hands. Curl your fingers into a fist. On the same hand, touch the tips of the thumbs to the tips of the first finger to form a circle. Rest your hands with your palms pointing down. It helps bring on sleep and reduces stress by promoting a sense of safety and security. Learn more about mudras here.
- Breathe slowly and smoothly. To calm your nervous system, breathe in to the count of four or five and then breathe out for five to ten. When you get distracted, gently go back to focusing on your breathing.
- Use the Moon Breath to calm your bodymind and brain by combining a mudra with breathing. Bend your index and middle finger of your right hand to your palm, leaving your ring and little finger softly extended. Softly press your right thumb to your right nostril and inhale through your left nostril. Next, release your right thumb and press your ring finger to your left nostril while exhaling. In other words, in left / out right / in left / out right and so on. Learn more about this and other practices in Yoga Meditations: Timeless Mind-Body Practices for Awakening (WPA, 2005)
- Follow the guidelines for good sleep hygiene. Here’s the Mayo Clinic’s 7 tips for doing so. Read How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep – The Ultimate Guide. It’s excellent.
So even if you can’t sleep as soundly as you might like due to your brain’s insistence on staying half-awake, at least you now understand the reason why. The above suggestions may lull you to sleep, and if they don’t, you will at least make use of the time in a positive, productive way.
Sweet dreams!
Sleep Well | Yoga Nidra CD Use deep relaxation, soothing flute music & ocean waves to go to sleep. "I slept like a log." Downloads available. By Julie Lusk, Yoga Nidra Meditations author.
Reference: Current Biology Volume 26, Issue 9, p1190–1194, 9 May 2016
Resources: Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation & Stress Relief by Julie Lusk (NHP 2015)
Yoga Nidra: Guided Meditations for Relaxation & Renewal (Health Journeys 2016)
Julie Lusk, MEd, E-RYT 500, has more than 35 years of expertise in stress relief, yoga, relaxation training, guided imagery, and meditation as an international author, recording artist, and 
workshop leader. Julie is the author of Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief, Yoga Meditations, two volumes of 30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery and Inner Healing, and Desktop Yoga®. Her CDs include Wholesome Relaxation, Power of Presence, Blue Moon Rising, and many others. Learn more at WholesomeResources.com
Yoga Basics Guidebook by Julie Lusk
Get your free Yoga Basics Guidebook, an eBook by Julie Lusk. It has…
- How to Practice Yoga: Steadiness and Comfort vs. Struggle and Control
- Guidelines for the Practice of Yoga.
- General Benefits, Cautions and Contraindications of Yoga
- Yoga Guidelines for Health Conditions
- Yoga During Pregnancy: General Guidelines and Cautions
- Yoga Practice Sheet
- Basic Alignment and Selected Warm Ups to Open Joints and Warm Muscles
- Yoga Practice Sheet – Earth Series ©
- Yoga Practice Sheet – Sky Series ©
As a bonus, you will get the Wholesome Resources News. It features:
- Practical tips for improving your health through relaxation training, yoga,
meditation, and other mind/body techniques. See previously published articles here. - Info on books, CDs and other services from Julie Lusk
- Special offers, class and workshop schedules, valuable opportunities and more
- Sandy Byrd says ” Here are real practices for real life! The content is great…Practical ideas that can be implemented easily. I always love the quotes.”
- Fine Print
- Your email address is protected and never shared.
- You will not get a duplicate newsletter if you already subscribe.
- You can instantly unsubscribe anytime.
Sleep Solutions – Yoga Style
How’s Your Sleep?
Are you getting enough sleep? Are you tired of being tired? Could you be suffering from sleep deprivation? Well, you’re not alone. Most of us don’t get enough sleep. I don’t know about you, but it’s just irresistible to stay up late, even when I must get up early the next day.
Our busy lives make it so tempting to skimp on sleep. Lots of us have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Have you ever felt half-awake and half-asleep all night, here’s an explanation of why that happens with suggestions to help.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 7 hours of sleep in every 24 hours for adults. It’s nine to 12 hours for children 6 to 12 years old and teens need eight to 10 hours daily on a regular basis. Establishing good sleep hygiene habits are important to getting a full night’s sleep.
Benefits of Sleep
Getting enough sleep helps normalize mood, improves concentration, memory consolidation, and helps pain management. It improves performance and lowers the risk of having an accident. Sleep is good for your skin and your sex drive. It lowers cortisol, the stress hormone, resulting in better appetite control and weight loss. Getting enough sleep helps regulate glucose levels, supports heart-health and contributes to a healthy immunity. Recent NIH research reveals that sleep is needed to remove the daily buildup of waste and neurotoxins from the brain. Researchers are very interested in this since these neurotoxins are elevated in Alzheimer’s patients. It is thought that the glymphatic system rinses and flushes these neurotoxic molecules from the brain nightly during deep sleep. This clearing process seems to be more effective when sleeping on one’s side, according to a study conducted at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Here’s more information on side-sleeping.
Sleep Solutions – Yoga Style
The art and science of yoga has plenty to offer including postures, breathing techniques, meditation practices, and lifestyle recommendations for sleep improvement. To further ease one’s mind, yoga’s wisdom teachings are helpful for gaining a healthy perspective on everything from handling life’s ups and downs to living with more meaning and purpose. Furthermore, it addresses age-old questions like “Who am I?” and “What is my true nature?”
Students often say that they get their best sleep on the nights they attend yoga class. Having a regular personal home practice is ideal. Here are some of the many ways that yoga supports healthy sleep.
- Yoga Postures: A vigorous practice is fine early in the day. However, start winding down the evening with a practice that focuses on slow, mindful movements. Focus your attention on postures that reduce physical tension. Doing so has the added benefit of calming the mind and emotions. Good ones to try include the child pose, gentle spinal twists, legs up the wall, and shavasana. Restorative yoga works wonders as well.
- Yoga Breathing: The Triangle Breath is a favorite for balancing oneself and is described in my book, Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief (NHP, pg. 175). It is effective for increasing your energy when feeling tired, calming your nerves when feeling anxious, and promotes sound sleep. There are three parts to triangle breathing. The important thing is for the exhalation, inhalation, and the retention to be equal in duration. Therefore, adjust the rate of counting to four more quickly or more slowly depending on your lung capacity and comfort. Breathe through your nose; only use your mouth for breathing to the extent necessary.
Part 1 – Breathe out through your nose to the count of four.
Part 2 – Breathe in through your nose to the count of four.
Part 3 – Hold your breath to the count of four.
Repeat the whole process for a few minutes or until the desired effect happens.
- Yoga Nidra: Yoga nidra means “yogic sleep” and has many documented benefits for your body, mind, and spirit. It happens when your bodymind is in deep sleep but with one big difference – you remain consciously aware. How? A series of techniques are used systematically to relax physically, energetically, mentally, and emotionally. Yoga nidra awakens intuition, unconditional joy, and a timeless, spacious sense of being. Get more on the stages of yoga nidra and how to practice it here.
Yoga nidra can also be used as a natural sleep aid at bedtime. It eliminates layer after layer of tension and stress, allowing you to drift comfortably off to sleep and stay asleep. It’s like drinking a cup of comfort. More on this here.
Watch this short video on how yoga nidra helped her insomnia.
One hour of yoga nidra practice approximates four hours of sleep. This is due to the series of brain wave states experienced during yoga nidra (Saraswati 1998, Kumar 2008). Therefore, yoga nidra can help address sleep deprivation and renew your energy. The conscious experience of deep sleep is what makes it so restorative and unique. Due to the fertile brainwave states experienced, it’s also entirely possible to make positive behavior and personality changes. See the yoga nidra FAQ on setting intentions and sankalpas here. Remember, yoga nidra is not intended to be a substitute for sleep.
How to Experience Yoga Nidra:
Like all worthwhile things, regular practice yields the best results. It’s as easy as 1-2-3.
- Listen to Yoga Nidra Meditations: 24 Scripts for True Relaxation | Audible – iTunes – Amazon
- Read about it and get free audio downloads in Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief (New Harbinger, 2015).
- Experience yoga nidra on video/audio.
- Attend a virtual yoga nidra class held weekly on Zoom.
- Take a yoga nidra teacher training course and earn a certificate.
- Get yoga nidra downloads here.
- Get a book or audio below.
Sweet Dreams!
Sleep Well | Yoga Nidra CD Use deep relaxation, soothing flute music & ocean waves to go to sleep. "I slept like a log." Downloads available. By Julie Lusk, Yoga Nidra Meditations author.
Julie Lusk, MEd, E-RYT 500, has more than 35 years of expertise in stress relief, yoga, relaxation training, guided imagery, and meditation as an international author, recording artist, and workshop leader. Julie is the author of Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief, Yoga Meditations, two volumes of 30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery and Inner Healing, and Desktop Yoga®. Her audio downoads and CDs include Wholesome Relaxation, Power of Presence, Blue Moon Rising, and many others. Learn more at WholesomeResources.com
