"Yoga Nidra is one of the least explored, esoteric yogic practices.

It is simple to practice yet profound in impact.

It ignites the fire that burns old karma."

Yogi Amrit Desai

The practice of Yoga Nidra or yogic sleep,  is an ancient practice; in fact, the first known reference to it was around 800 B.C.  Practicing Yoga Nidra relaxes the physical being, as well as helping you create the life you desire.

It is a simple way to create physical, mental and emotional balance in everyone's life by using easy-to-follow, step-by-step guidance.

When practiced regularly, Yoga Nidra penetrates your deepest levels through the following nine steps:

It is taught that one hour of Yoga Nidra is equal to four hours of deep, restful sleep. Practice with the intention of creating peace, health and the life that you desire.

It will be the best one hour you spend in a day.

The practice of Yoga Nidra can also be adapted for use as a
short relaxation in the workplace or as a prelude to sleep.
As interlude at work:

For the purpose of relaxation, the
essential elements of this form of Yoga Nidra are rotation of
consciousness and counting of breaths. These elements can be
easily adapted to allow for practice in the workplace or at
home if a short brake of five to twenty minutes presents itself.
Additional flexibility is provided by the breathing practice,
from which any number or combination of the four parts can
be chosen as required. The following is an example of a
practice suitable for the office or home, or wherever some
privacy can be obtained.

Lock the door, switch off the light and draw the curtains or
blinds. Make a mental note of how soon you want the practice
to finish (e.g. 10 minutes. Rely on your biological clock.)

Lie down on the floor or a couch and close your eyes.
Commence relaxing the body by lying quietly in the Shavasana
for a short time.

Let your mind wander around the environment listening to
sounds reaching you from the outside; don’t analyze or
intellectualize these sounds, just become aware of them as
something external.

Bring your attention to the body, take a deep breath and as you breathe out feel yourself letting go.

Focus your mind on the meeting points between your body and  the floor and develop these feelings for a couple of minutes.

Then rotate your consciousness quickly around the body
starting with the right thumb and moving in the same fashion
as it was done in practice (right side, left side, back, front,
major parts of the body).

Become aware of your natural breath.
Focus your attention on the breath as it moves in and out of the
nostrils (or focus on the throat, chest, or navel).

Maintain your awareness on this for some time.

Count the breaths backwards from 11 to 1 (or 27 to 1 if there is time).
If you loose the count, start again. Then stop counting and take
a long deep breath. Lie quietly for a few moments, then stretch
you body slowly. Open your eyes and get up.

This completes the practice.

Yoga Nidra on the GO

While it is possible to practice yoga nidra sitting or even standing, this is not recommended here. The distinctive  feature of this form of relaxation is systematic rotation of
consciousness around the body, and this gives best results in
prone (on the back) position. If quick mental relaxation is required and only a chair is available, for example in the
kitchen while dinner cooks or in the bus on the way home from
work, then the best is to practice awareness of the breath only.
Mental awareness of alternative nostril breathing is given below.

The procedure is similar to the above.

Once again
become as still as possible and let your body become loose.
Then check yourself quickly for particular areas of tension and
try to relax them. Are you frowning? Is your neck stiff? Are your hands and jaws clenched? Tense the muscles in your body internally and then let them relax; repeat if needed.

Focus your attention on the breath moving in and out the
nostrils and maintain your awareness of this for a few
moments. Imagine that breath moves in and out of the nostrils alternately: in through the left, out through the right, in through the right, out through the left and so on.
When you establish the pattern, start counting the breath
backwards from 27 to 1 (or whatever number you think is
appropriate for the time you have).
Continue this practice for as long as you have time, then stop
counting, become aware of your body. Before you get up take a
deep breath and stretch your body. This completes your practice.

In cases of insomnia or over-stimulation of the mind Yoga Nidra can also be used to induce  sleep.

Start by turning the lights off and getting in bed. Adopt the
shavasana position and rest your head on the pillow, making sure it’s not too high. Allow your hands to relax in the most comfortable position, perhaps palms down.
The procedure is pretty much the same as for short practice.
Start by listening to externals sounds and then become aware
of the meeting points between your body and the bed. Follow this with two or three rotations of consciousness around the body and this will normally put you to sleep.
If necessary you can continue the practice with mental
alternative nostril breathing, starting to count from 54 to 1.
The other benefits for a good sleep could be washing your feet
with tepid water and massaging the bottom of the feet with
warm oil (sesame is the best).

NEW CLASS

of Yoga Nidra is forming now in West Orange.

Small groups relaxing and peaceful...Just what you need at the end of your day.

No previous experience necessary.

 Yoga Nidra therapy
is a powerful healing tool and is ubiquitous in yoga therapy.  This is 
because it's an ultimate method of inducing profound relaxation and deep rest.  Resting the body‐mind is the fundamental basis on which true and deep healing takes  place.  Most people find it extremely difficult to rest deeply, especially when they are ill.  Many people will not even take time off from work during an illness because of commitments, or because they are so driven.  This in turn may lead to more complex and difficult to manage disease situations. 
In therapeutic situations the rest and relaxation inducing power of Yoga Nidra is used as a basis to introduce other healing processes.  In yoga therapy, we combine Yoga Nidra with an understanding of Ayurveda and tantra.  In particular, we use tantric   techniques to release energy for healing.  We access the five elements: earth, water,  fire, air, and space in different ways in order to cleanse, strengthen and rebalance  the body‐mind. 
Yoga Nidra can be applied as both a primary therapeutic tool in certain situations,  and as an adjunctive treatment for many acute and chronic physical and psychological disease conditions.

 These conditions include heart disease, high blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, 
digestive problems of all kinds, arthritis, other chronic degenerative conditions, and some  acute conditions, such as coughs and colds. 
Yoga Nidra is also particularly useful as a tool to recuperate from exhaustion, to manage stressful situations of all kinds, and to manage pre‐ and post‐surgical conditions.