Yoga Nidra Meditation: The Sleep of the SagesA practice to consciously explore wakefulness, dreaming, deep sleep, and the very structure of your emotional, mental, and energy bodies • Details the simple postures of Yoga Nidra, breathing exercises and guided meditations, and tips for maintaining awareness in the liminal state that precedes sleep • Explains how Yoga Nidra allows you to explore different states of consciousness and any blockages in the emotional, mental, and energy bodies • Includes four complete sessions as well as pointers for creating your own sessions Known as the “yoga of conscious sleep,” Yoga Nidra is an ancient Indian practice that allows you to consciously explore the states of wakefulness, dream, and deep sleep as well as your own psyche by combining deep relaxation with attentive awareness. Stemming from Hindu, Buddhist, and Tantric philosophies, the practice--which could be called the “sleep of the sages”--centers on techniques for putting the mind and body to sleep while keeping your consciousness alert. Through Yoga Nidra you can directly observe and understand specific physiological, emotional, and mental processes within yourself as well as experience moments of great inner tranquility, joy, and well-being. Providing a step-by-step guide to Yoga Nidra, Pierre Bonnasse offers a full range of practices focused on the time of awakening and that of going to sleep, yet adaptable to any time of day or night. He details the simple postures of Yoga Nidra and includes preparatory techniques that work with breath and guided meditations to help you become an attuned observer of your inner world. Offering tips for withdrawing the senses and maintaining awareness in the liminal state that precedes sleep, the author explores how all practices in this discipline begin with a phase of relaxation and observation of breathing, followed by immersion into a very subtle awareness of the physical, energy, and mental bodies. He explains how Yoga Nidra sessions allow you to discover “that which is held on to,” making it is easier to let go and become free from all states and processes. A session can explore different states of consciousness as well as your senses, desires, and fears. The higher states of more advanced sessions focus on the energy body and its components: the chakras, nadis, and pranavayu, the vital breath and autonomic functions of the body. Including four complete sessions as well as pointers for creating your own, Bonnasse shows how Yoga Nidra offers positive, stabilizing, and therapeutic effects for the body, emotions, and thoughts. It is the ideal practice for getting rid of stress, anxiety, and the fear of death the source of all other fears. Connecting Indian and Western philosophical ideas, the author shows how sleep can be an opportunity to practice a form of yoga that changes not only our nights but every minute of our days. |
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Contents
The Practice of Yoga Nidra | |
POSES | |
WITHDRAWAL OF THE SENSES | |
Exercises for the Night | |
Protocol for Yoga Nidra | |
THE COUNTDOWN | |
MERGING WITH THE HEART | |
Putting Yoga Nidra into Practice | |
An Interview | |
Endnotes | |
About the Author | |
Common terms and phrases
alert allow Anirvan appear and disappear arms awakening Bear & Company become aware Bhagavad Gita Bhairava Tantra bliss Brahman breathing exercises bring your attention concentration contemplation corpse pose death deep sleep desire dissolve dream elements empty energetic energy centers Eternal Philosophy everything exhale experience fall asleep fear feel finger fire flow fontanel goddess heart center important India inhale Inner Traditions let go light lotus Mandukya Upanishad manifestation mantra meditation mind mind’s Narayana nature night Nisargadatta Nisargadatta Maharaj nonduality nostril observe one’s oneself pause peace perceive phenomena philosophy physical body postures practice of yoga presence Ramana Maharshi reality recognize relaxation remains rise and fall sensations sense shavasana Shiva shoulder silence Sophrology sound AUM space structure subtle Swami symbol tantric taste teachings thoughts throat center toes total awareness tranquil Upanishad Veda vibration Vijnana Vishnu void wakefulness whole body witness yoga nidra yoga nidra session yogi
Bibliographic information
| Title | Yoga Nidra Meditation: The Sleep of the Sages |
| Author | Pierre Bonnasse |
| Publisher | Simon and Schuster, 2017 |
| ISBN | 1620556782, 9781620556788 |
| Length | 160 pages |
| Subjects | › Body, Mind & Spirit / Mindfulness & Meditation Health & Fitness / Yoga Philosophy / Eastern |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |