My First Experience with Yoga Nidra

By adminHealth, Lifestyle

This weekend marks one month into yoga teacher training and what a weekend it was. Just as all of our intensive weekends have been, it was packed with valuable information about the philosophies of yoga, teaching techniques, and anatomy of the asanas. But the last hour of the weekend was by far the most incredible, raw, and emotional experience I have ever, EVER, had in yoga.

Our main instructor said that he had a surprise for us… which usually means someone would be put on the spot to teach a pose we had not reviewed yet or we would have a super fun anatomy quiz, but it was a good surprise! For the last 45 minutes of class we were blessed with Yoga Nidra. This type of yoga I had heard about frequently but not ever experienced, so of course I was ecstatic to try it!

Yoga Nidra, for those who do not know, is basically a prolonged Savasana with a guided meditation. When I say prolonged, I’m talking like 45-60 minutes so this is no joke. The purpose of this is to get the body to a state of relaxation that is so supremely comfortable that the brain can start to relax as well. Once the brain is suspended in this state of minimal activity, the opportunity for energy to move arises resulting in any sort of blockages to surface so that they can be released. Energy blockages can come in many shapes and forms, perhaps it is a suppressed memory, emotions that have not been dealt with, or traumatic event that has been consistently been affecting your day to day life. Whatever form it comes in, the release of these blockages are emotional, raw, and uncontrollable.

The beginning of the practice is solely focused on achieving the ultimate relaxation of the body. Relaxing the facial muscles, sinking the limbs into the floor, and allowing the body to simply become heavy. Once that has been achieved, the instructor begins to guide the students into the brain relaxation. If you have ever experienced a guided meditation you’ll have a general idea, but it typically involved bringing the awareness to the body then connecting to the energy that is already around you. Usually that energy is illustrated with some sort of radiating orb or glowing light that you imagine passes through you and fills you with warmth.

That’s when shit gets real.

There was a specific part in our practice where our instructor prompted us to imagine a gentle ocean with a radiant sunset. I could feel the remnants of warmth from the setting sun, the sand between my toes, and the faint sound of waves on the shore. It was scerene and peaceful.

Then out of nowhere, my heart felt tight as if someone was squeezing it and the sensation traveled up my chest to my throat. Cue the waterworks. Tears started flowing uncontrollably.

I remained there, unmoving, but completely overtaken by these feelings of grief, sorrow, morning, pain, and vivid flashbacks to the experiences that were the root of all of these feelings. These feelings that were surfacing were ones I thought I had worked through already.

Next thing I knew we were being guided out of this meditation, but the tears were not stopping. The level of vulnerability was terrifying. Here I was, in a room with damn near 30 people and I could not stop crying. Although it is normal, acceptable, and encouraged to experience these releases of energy fully during this process, no one ever tells you how scary it is. For a moment, I had thoughts of embarrassment, shame, and humiliation for being so open and emotional in front of people who I only know a little.

Then I became aware of what the others in the room were experiencing. I was not alone. I felt this charge that had not been there before. Everyone had experienced something different, some fell asleep, some had huge smiles, some appeared dazed, and others were like me. Red eyes, sniffles, and a little crusty from tears.

It was so beautiful. Frightening, but beautiful.

In embracing the opportunity to release these blockages that we don’t even know that we have, we are surrendering to ourselves. Our conscious mind is so shaped by culture and outside forces that we think showing emotion is bad. What we do not realize is in this assumption we are causing self suffering through suppression of emotions or energy. We unknowingly create these restrictions for ourselves simply because we don’t want to experience what is natural, what is human. Energy is meant to flow, just like a river. If we dam ourselves up we cause those blockages that hold more energy back instead of alowing it to move along its natural path.

Complete surrender, complete relaxation, complete openness is what brings awareness to the energy blockages. These festering things that restrict us in finding stillness can be dealt with if, and only if, we allow ourselves to be open. To be vulnerable. To heal.

This first experience with Yoga Nidra was so incredibly shocking. Now that it is done I feel this utter sense of relief… and exhaustion. Less than two hours ago I was experiencing this release that now I feel simply drained. But I also feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my heart, a weight that I did not know was present. So if you are looking to dive into the next level of yoga, please give this a try. Start with a guided meditation at home or find a studio that offers these classes. And be prepared for whatever comes up, and when it comes up experience it fully, openly, and unashamed. Because you are doing it for you, not for anyone else, and for that you are so incredibly brave.

Thank you friends for allowing me to share my experience, let me know what questions you have!

 

Be blessed loves,

 

Kelsey Ann

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