YOGA NIDRA
My first experience with Yoga Nidra was last year. I was so shocked that it had taken me 50 years to actually experience the amazing effects from Sleep Yoga. It worked so quickly and magically for both my mind and body. I was totally hooked as my mind craved more and more sessions of restorative sleep.
I am a huge believer in that everything in life crosses our paths at exactly the right time and I came across Yoga Nidra at a huge crossroads of my life, a time where I really didn’t know where else to turn for my own health wellbeing and sanity.
2013 I was diagnosed with womb cancer and had to have a full hysterectomy, as you can imagine I was hauled into menopause state without being able to take any hormone replacement therapy.
2016 my dearest mum passed away on Boxing Day.
2018 I underwent intensive breast surgery after a routine mammogram detected lumps.
2021 my husband had heart attack and ended up needing open heart surgery where the surgeons performed a gruelling 8-hour quadruple bypass. 23 hours after surgery and with me by his side he suffered massive cardiac arrest, his heart stopped for just over 8 minutes before the medics were able to revive him, his tired heart continued stopping and starting for a total of 28 times during a 12-hour period! He was placed into an induced coma with no expectations for recovery.
Miraculously he lived after being slowly taken off life support, after a week in intensive care he was able to go to a heart ward to receive further rehabilitation.
If I thought I’d suffered enough with my nerves I was about to be proven wrong, my poor husband’s memory had been massively effected, he couldn’t walk, sit up or go to the bathroom, he was suffering with so much pain, not only from the surgery but also from the manual resuscitation, broken ribs, collar bones etc. He had been left with pneumonia from the life support machine, he had extreme pressure and pain behind his right eye, confusion and immense anger inside him. I was his carer but I was actually terrified and broken, I couldn’t even sleep with the light off. Everyone kept telling me to go to the doctors for some medication to help me through but I bluntly refused. I really didn’t cope well with the situation for the first 6 months. My body and mind were aging, the feeling of being on a rollercoaster wasn’t shifting, I wasn’t sleeping or eating properly.
I read an article about PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and immediately self-diagnosed as a sufferer. The article listed many natural therapies that helped people with PTSD so I began to investigate more. My mind was made up and I decided to try Yoga Nidra after reading this article on PTSD website https://www.ptsduk.org/using-yoga-nidra-to-reduce-ptsd-symptoms/
Needless to say, for me Yoga Nidra was my savour. I now practice restorative sleep most days and strongly encourage everyone to experience this delightful state of bliss. Above all I was back on track, strong, happy and positive after just a few sessions.
Yoga Nidra Explained
Yoga Nidra works by tapping into your autonomic nervous system, which is the system in charge of the things your body does automatically, like maintaining your heart beat, blood pressure, body temperature, digestion, and metabolism.
The autonomic nervous system is made up of two parts — the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system helps your body manage stressful or emergency situations by controlling your fight-or-flight response. An engaged sympathetic nervous system may result in:
Accelerated heart rate.
Dilated pupils
Widened airways to make breathing easier
Increased muscular strength
Sweaty palms
Slowed digestion
Sometimes, your body may get stuck in fight-or-flight mode. Practices like meditation and yoga nidra can help calm your sympathetic nervous system and allow the parasympathetic nervous system to take charge. The parasympathetic nervous system controls your body when it’s in neutral and works to conserve and restore energy.
Your brain’s activity can be measured by the frequency of your brain waves. There are five types of brain waves:
Beta brainwaves cause an awake, normal, and alert state.
SMR brainwaves create a calm, quietly alert state.
Alpha brainwaves create a relaxed and calm brain state.
Theta brainwaves cause a deeply relaxed or meditative brain state.
Delta brainwaves cause a deep, dreamless sleep.
Theta brainwaves are notably involved in meditation. They're also involved in daydreaming and some of the lighter stages of sleep. Yoga Nidra allows you to access delta brainwaves, which are responsible for the healing and restoration that happens in your body during deep sleep.
Activating delta brainwaves during Yoga Nidra allows your mind and body to rest while you're awake. Yoga Nidra also activates the pineal gland. The pineal gland is a tiny gland, about the size and shape of a pea, that sits at the top of your brain stem. It’s part of your endocrine system, which secretes hormones.
The main job of the pineal gland is to control your circadian rhythm, otherwise known as your body’s sleep/wake cycle. It does this by secreting the hormone melatonin, which is mainly known for synchronizing your circadian rhythm but also helps regulate menstrual cycles and prevent neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. By activating the pineal gland, Yoga Nidra also helps activate the release of melatonin.
