Most of the relaxation sessions on Gillian's CDs are based on the
ancient Indian practice known as yoga nidra or psychic sleep

Yoga Nidra: Therapy of the Future

If any of you have attended a hatha yoga session you will no doubt have had an experience of yoga nidra. It is the deep relaxation practice at the end of the class. All the physical effort applied to holding yoga postures (asanas) are rewarded with a complete letting go as you lie on your back and surrender to relaxation guidance from the teacher.

In fact in the yoga tradition, the whole point of the physical effort is to enable you to move more deeply into a state of deep relaxation of body and mind.

You do not have to turn out to a yoga class however to reap the many benefits of this simple but profound practice. All you need is a warm quiet space and an audio recording of a yoga nidra. (It is best done with voice guidance otherwise you simply fall asleep or become mentally distracted.

A soothing guiding voice keeps bringing your awareness back to the letting go process. Furthermore, it is much easier to surrender to the relaxation process if you don't have to think about what you are doing.)

THE PRACTICE

So what do you actually do? In a classic yoga nidra practice you are guided into rotating your awareness throughout your body systematically letting go of tension. This is usually done several times. You begin to have delicious feelings of softness and lightness in your body. You may feel as though you are melting into the floor or floating, your body begins to feel so free of tension.

After the rotations the teacher guides you into a technique for calming your mind bringing it into a state of passive meditation. Breath awareness in your chest or belly would be one such technique. My preference is to be guided into an awareness of energy flow in my relaxed body. Soothing visualizations are also popular strategies for helping the mind to relax.

YOGA NIDRA RESOLUTION

A valuable self healing strategy in a classic yoga nidra practice is to repeat to yourself a ‘san calpa' or resolution both before you move into your deep sate of relaxation and immediately after you come out of it . This acts like a post hypnotic suggestion. It takes root in your unconscious mind while you are relaxed, to very powerful effect .

For example, I gave up smoking many years ago by selecting a date when I resolved to be free of the habit and then using this resolve in my daily nidra practice for the few weeks leading up to the selected date. It worked like a charm and I have never touched a cigarette since.

Resolutions need not be that specific. You can resolve to be kinder to someone in particular in your life or kinder in general. It is advisable however not to chop and change your resolve but rather stay with the same one until it comes to fruition. I always caution beginners to the practice not to underestimate the power of their yoga nidra resolve and to use it wisely.

RELAXATION OR MEDITATION?

Meditation is much more of a buzzword these days than relaxation. This is probably because relaxation is equated with activities like listening to music or walking in nature or simply having a quiet time. It is seen as being something you do naturally.

It does not require any special training or techniques. The deep relaxation of yoga nidra is something very different however. It is more akin to a practice of meditation than it is to conventional notions of relaxation.

So what is the difference between meditation and yoga nidra? Traditionally, yoga nidra is the practice that leads you into a state of meditation. It is about withdrawing your senses inwards to help prepare your mind for the one pointed concentration that leads to a thought free state of meditation.

We could say that many yoga nidra practices do in fact do that so they are both a relaxation and a meditation practice. In my experience however there is a significant difference between the aims of the two practices. With yoga nidra you are lying down in an attitude of openness, of letting go.

You move into a semi hypnotic state on the interface between being asleep and being awake. In meditation you are usually guided to sit with your spine as vertical as possible and you remain alert and aware.

Meditation does not come easily to busy Westerners. Meditation is about ‘being' not ‘doing'. The challenge of sitting still and silent for any length of time is a huge one, not just for our over active minds but for our tension plagued bodies.

The answer in my view is to first master the art of yoga nidra. It makes so much sense to learn to relax your body before beginning to tackle the much greater challenge of relaxing the mind with a sitting meditation practice.

THERAPY OF THE FUTURE

There is a growing awareness that our Western approach to disease places too little emphasis on prevention. This is in marked contrast to traditional Eastern approaches.

With the subtle energy model of disease, the onus is upon the health practitioner or healer to maintain your good health by stimulating and balancing the flow of life force in your body. If you get sick, you can ask for your money back!

Our Western medical experts are however beginning to appreciate the importance of diet and exercise and stress management as ways of promoting general health and well being and minimizing the need for serious medical intervention. It is widely recognized that meditation and relaxation practices are now being recommended by many doctors and counsellors.

Several counsellors I know have started to introduce yoga nidra to their clients and have been quite astounded by its healing power. In yoga nidra you become your own therapist. No costly equipment is needed, no consultation fees to worry about, and, above all, no pharmaceutical expenses or side effects.

After three decades of doing the practice myself and guiding others through it I am well placed to speak so highly of its healing powers. I would recommend it to anyone. I am convinced that it is poised to become a widely accepted psychotherapy and an invaluable aid to better health and longevity.

There are now available many scientifically based studies of its efficacy in treating stress related problems. For example, it has been shown to be an effective treatment for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), for panic attacks, insomnia and high blood pressure.

Above all however it makes you feel good and, once initial resistances are overcome, it is enjoyable to do. I happily confess to being addicted to my early afternoon practice of yoga nidra.

In its exploration of the physical realm Western science has given us all the wonders of modern technology but in the domain of psychology and spirituality we remain novices. We have paid so little attention to the mystery that is consciousness.

I have gone so far as to liken our Western civilization to the phenomenon of the ‘idiot savant'- an individual who is severely retarded but has genius in one particular ability.

In such people it is as though the energy of their brain is functioning in only one miniscule area. In a similar manner, Western culture has scientific and technological genius but is emotionally and spiritually arrested.

This is the dangerous state of affairs that we now find ourselves in. We have an unprecedented abundance of knowledge but inadequate levels of wisdom. Hopefully, sooner rather than later this imbalance will be redressed. We shall see. I certainly hope so, for all our sakes.