Yoga nidra meditation

Facts about and Preparations for YogaNidra

Yoga Nidra is a type of yoga whichdeals with relaxation of each body part separately. Therefore, youare to control your body and move from one cause of stress to theother, removing them, focusing on this action rather than onbreathing. For these reasons, yoga nidra is performed from a corpseposition, by lying down as if you were sleeping. This is also why itis called sleeping yoga.

Before you start practicing thisversion of yoga, you need to know that you should separate your feetfor about 1.5 feet distance, once you lie down. As for your hands,they are not to be held on any other part of your body. Rather, theyare to be kept aside, with your palms facing up. Additionally, forthe sake of effectiveness, you can only benefit from imagining energyflowing through your body. This way, you will be more aware of yourorganism, being more capable of realizing where the problem is,thereby solving it more effectively.

Yoga Nidra: The Procedure

Before we start, we are to relax ourbody completely. This is achieved by taking several deep breaths andbefore continuing to breathe normally. Then, try and relax the toes on your left foot, each one gradually, until you manage to relaxthem all completely. Then, do the same with the other leg. A goodtechnique is to start from your big toe, and then move on to theothers. Once you achieve this, you are to move on to the soles ofyour feet, relaxing them completely. The ankle should follow and itshould be followed by the relaxation of the calf muscles. Afterwards,you are to relax your knees and the knee joints, only to gradually getto your thighs and eventually pelvis. While doing all this, keep yourmind focused upon your body's signals. Thus, be prepared to feelcold, warmth, pain, irritation or any other sensations present inyour feet once you start streaming your energy through each of thesebody parts.

The next part to relax is your abdomen.While breathing, imagine your abdominal muscles getting completelyrelaxed and regenerated. Move now to the buttocks, followed by ourback and our spine. Then, we move on to the chest, dividing it intoleft and right portions, relaxing each of these sides separately.Next, you relax your hands and arms, starting with your fingers,advancing through the elbow, forearm and, finally, the upper arm.Finally, you are to relax your head area. Start with the upper part,move on to the back of your head, then switch to your forehead beforeadvancing to the eyebrows, eyes, ears all separated into left andright. In the end, relax your nose, lips, cheeks, chin, throat andneck, finishing the process.