When people join a yoga school in India, they often envision a routine that includes asanas, breathing exercises, satvik meals, early waking, and meditation. Of course, that’s what most of us know. That’s because most of us aren’t yet aware of another powerful yoga practice, i.e., Yoga Nidra or yogic sleep.
Unlike ordinary sleeping, Yoga Nidra is a guided practice in which people are taken into a state of deep relaxation. This state helps their body, mind, and soul relax, heal, and recover. In a yoga school, Yoga Nidra is not just a part of the curriculum but is used as a transformative tool along with other meditation techniques.
Role of Yoga Nidra in a Human’s Lifestyle
Yogic sleep, or Yoga Nidra, has been used for centuries by yoga gurus and practitioners. When practiced regularly, it helps people rejuvenate their bodies, minds, and spirits. This further supports better sleep, stress management, emotional healing, and improvement in productivity, concentration, and performance. Not just that, since yogic sleep is a meditative state, it also helps in enhancing the spiritual growth of an individual. Hence, it is not just a relaxation method but a lifestyle tool, offering multiple benefits to practitioners.
Now, let’s explore in-depth how this meditative practice helps yoga students, which is why yoga nidra is included in YTT programs.
6 Vital Reasons For Teaching Yoga Nidra in a Yoga School In India
- Self-Awakening
Yoga nidra is a meditative state between sleep and consciousness. Here, the students are guided to lie down into savasana and follow the guiding voice. It offers them a space where they can explore themselves deeply without engaging in physical practice. The subconscious mind of students becomes more awakened during this practice. As a result, they can work on:
- Understanding about themselves
- Releasing emotions that are long held inside
- Improving their mindfulness and presence of mind
- Reducing doubts and boosting clarity in thoughts
- Healing and Recovery
Yoga nidra is a transformative and therapeutic technique for healing.
It is a natural tendency of humans to repeat thoughts, which leads to their deepening in the minds and forming mental impressions over time. These impressions can cause negative emotions and feelings to take root, which affect the joy and contentment of humans if they continue to grow.
Yoga nidra works magically here. When students practice yogic sleep under the guidance of teachers, they become able to recognise these impressions and work upon them. Gradually, they can allow these emotions to release and no longer remain as impressions. Students feel liberated, peaceful, and rejuvenated to take up new goals and objectives.
- Stress Relief
When students come to yoga teacher training programs, they may be physically well, but not emotionally. In these programs, they might seek an escape from fear, anxiety, and stress. Besides, when they begin their challenging and intensive routine in school, their stress tends to increase. Hence, yoga nidra finds significance in the curriculum.
Yogic sleep promotes deep rest, which other meditative practices may not offer at the same intensity. During this practice, the meditative state and breath awareness help students calm the nervous system, leading to stress reduction. This way, they can handle their everyday pressure and offer balance to their lifestyles.
- Support for Asana Practice
Yoga teacher training offers holistic learning and growth for students. Hence, each component of the course complements and supports the other. In other words, yoga nidra not only provides rest and calm to students but also supports the practice of physically challenging asana postures and breathing exercises.
That’s why it is often practiced at the end of the asana and pranayama sessions. Hence, after a long and demanding session, students find it a beneficial way to relax, rejuvenate, and heal themselves. Besides, during the YTT program, students also learn to conduct yoga nidra sessions, which ultimately adds an invaluable skill to their teaching skill set.
As a result, they become polished to conduct well-rounded sessions, beginning from the asanas to relaxation.
- Chakra Balancing and Cleansing
Among the seven chakras in the human body, the Ajna chakra (Third-eye) and the Sahasrara Chakra (Crown) are the most challenging to stimulate and balance. While Ajna Chakra deals with wisdom, self-awareness, reasoning, and intellect, Sahasrara deals with intuitive knowledge, conscious awareness, and spiritual connection.
For students in a yoga school, it is crucial to balance and cleanse these chakras to be able to comprehend the YTT program and begin their journey successfully. Hence, yogic sleep becomes a helpful practice here in facilitating self-awareness, intuitive growth, and spiritual awakening in students.
- Tribute to Ancient Roots
Just like other concepts of Yoga, yoga nidra is a significant component in the classical texts of yogic studies. The books and scriptures explain the importance of this practice, which is essential for students seeking a career in yoga to learn. Only when they have experienced the benefits of yoga nidra can they teach it to others.
Besides, yoga is not only about physical training, but a lot more about self-realisation and awakening, preparing the students holistically to teach worldwide. Hence, this traditional and deep-rooted practice is an invaluable part of the course, which every aspiring yoga teacher must know profoundly.
Conclusion – 6 Vital Reasons For Teaching Yoga Nidra in a Yoga School In India
Hence, from the above exploration, yoga nidra isn’t just a traditional relaxation tool but one that transforms when adopted as a lifestyle practice. Therefore, it is a significant subject in the curriculum of yoga teacher training programs, and a yoga school in India is the perfect destination to discover its depth.
So, if you are planning to join a YTT course in India, make sure that the school you choose emphasizes Yoga nidra too, along with other meditation techniques in the syllabus. Schools like Nirvana Yoga School in Rishikesh are among those reputed institutes for profound yoga learning and training. Their alumni are touching the pinnacle of their careers, the credit for which goes to these schools, they say.
So, reach out to them today and kick-start your yoga journey the right way.