Yoga nidra, also known as yogic sleep, is a powerful meditation technique that can help you relax deeply and reduce stress. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your yoga nidra practice.
Watch this on YouTube instead:
The best time to practice yoga nidra
First of all, there is no best time to practice yoga Nidra. You can practice in the morning, in the afternoon when you’re feeling a little bit tired or in the evening just before going to bed. And some people even use yoga nidra to fall asleep. It works really well for that.
Practice in a quiet space
Make sure that you find a quiet space. This can be your meditation room if you have one or your bedroom or any other room where you can be undisturbed by your partner, your kids your pets, or any other people and things that can disturb you. Also don’t forget to switch off your phone or put it on do not disturb so that you can really practice without being disturbed.
Download a FREE 30 minute Yoga Nidra practice for gratitude
What to practice yoga nidra on?
You can either lie down on a mat on the bed or on the floor. Make sure that you are lying on something because the floor can be cold. If you do your yoga nidra practice on the bed, especially if you practice in the afternoon, you don’t wanna give your body the thought that you are going to go to sleep, so you might want to just turn around with your feet towards the head side of the bed, and your head at the foot side of the bed. Of course if you are going to sleep, you can just lie down in your bed as normally!
Support your lower back
For more comfort, you can put a pillow underneath your knees. This will really help support and relax your lower back. Try it out and see if it makes a difference!
Stay warm
You can cover yourself with a blanket because it’s very common to get cold when you practice yoga nidra, especially if you are going to do a longer session, like 30 minutes or an hour. Especially a heavy, weighted blanket is very comforting and relaxing to the body.
Cover your eyes
You can cover your eyes either with a small towel or even better if you have an eye pillow. An eye pillow provides some extra weight on your eyes and this will be extra relaxing.
Try not to move
Try not to move during the whole practice. I’m not saying that you have to be rigid and not move at all. If you have an itch and really can’t think about anything else, do scratch it. Do move your body, but try to get yourself as comfortable as possible before you start, and then really relax into your position and really let your body melt into the bed or into the floor completely relaxing.
How to stop falling asleep during yoga nidra
If you feel like you are very tired, it’s afternoon or morning and you feel like you are gonna fall asleep and you don’t want to, you can prop your elbow up on the floor so that your hand is up, and then when you fall asleep, it will fall down and it will wake you up. That way you can stay in that zone that we want between waking and sleeping.
What position or posture to practice yoga nidra in
And finally, yoga nidra is mostly practised in savasana, which is lying flat on your back. Your legs are a little bit apart. Your feet are flopping out. Your arms are a little bit away from the body, and you turn the palms of your hands up. This is savasana. If you are very uncomfortable lying under your back, you can also do yoga nidra sitting, either sitting on a chair with your feet flat on the floor, making sure that your back is straight. You can also sit cross-legged on a meditation pillow, with your back straight. And if none of these positions work for you, you can take any position that you want as long as you can be relaxed in your meditation.
Related: 5 meditation apps tested for you
