Do you ever get tired throughout the day? Feel like you would just love to take a nap but you just don’t have the time? You know you’ll get into bed, lie down, and tell yourself to fall asleep for about half an hour, until 45 minutes later you’re still staring at the ceiling? Well today’s blog is all about yoga nidra which will hopefully help you in that department.
I’m pretty excited to be writing this blog because I just finished exams which means that I’m finally writing something other than an assignment and it might be read by someone other than an examiner, and that, I must say, is a beautiful feeling. Nonetheless, during the last few months of study, I have come to swear by yoga nidra. It is similar to meditation and is all about controlling your body’s relaxation response. My mom first introduced me to it in school when I was doing my final exams and dancing at the same time. I would be feeling tired, struggling to study and would be unsure if I had time to squeeze in a nap or if it was even worth it considering how long it takes to fall asleep and then wake back up and get straight back to work. Instead you can stick on a guided yoga nidra for 10, 20, 30 minutes, whatever suits, and feel genuinely refreshed afterwards.
So what actually is it?
It has been said that yoga nidra can be as restorative as sleep however, you remain conscious throughout the whole process. Personally, we use the “Yoga Nidra, Deep Relaxation Practice” App (on the Apple app store). The app has a number of options for different lengths of time but the experience usually always involves sensing the body and mindfully breathing which helps to trigger the relaxation response in your body. Yoga nidra will slow the wavelengths in your mind as you enter a sleep-like state.
What are the benefits?
Aside from being a super helpful way to reboot when you’re getting tired and struggling to focus, yoga nidra helps to train your body and mind to help you wind down easier, and when you use it at bedtime, it can help you to reach a deeper state of sleep. There have been a number of listed potential benefits associated with yoga nidra such as helping with detaching from your thoughts, releasing tension and pain, improving mood, connecting with yourself and enjoying life to the fullest.
Anyway, whatever the benefits are for you, it might be worth a try. There are a number of apps available with free versions as well if you just fancy a sample. Maybe it’s not for you, but I literally used it up to twice a day during exam time to help me get through the day. I wasn’t sleeping great with the nerves and you’d finish one exam and have to dive into study for the next one. Yoga nidra helped me to relax and refocus where trying to take a nap probably would’ve just been stressful, so I thought I had to share in case it helped anyone else!
As always, hope it helps,
Love the supernature team xo