Yoga Nidra: Sleeping Yoga That You Didn’t Know You Needed

what is sleeping yoga - Sleep, meditation and yoga with people on floor of studio for fitness, wellness and training. Peace, zen and exercise with group of students in spiritual class for workout, health and pilates goals

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I almost choked on my iced Thai coffee on that sultry afternoon in Bangkok, Thailand when my friend mentioned that she was going to teach people “sleeping yoga” and enthusiastically invited me to come down.

Clearing my throat and blinking my eyes back into my skull I whisper shouted: “Girl! Stop! Yoga is for working out – not sleeping!”

She said with smug confidence: “It is a workout. A workout for your nervous system.” And then proceeded to regal me with tales of how this type of yoga helped with anxiety, better sleep and even smoother skin. Though I was skeptical, once she said it was equivalent to getting like four hours of sleep in under an hour, I noisily sucked down the rest of my coffee and (reluctantly and curiously) followed her to this tiny, hot studio that was surprisingly just a mere a few blocks from where we had just dined. And since she was the one that suggested the restaurant, I couldn’t help but think that this may have been her “diabolical” plan all along – get me stuffed with delicious Thai cuisine and then drag me to a sweat box to sleep it all off.

As other Yogis spilled in looking quite happy to simply “go to sleep” in a room with others, my friend took center stage in front of the class and started explaining the process of what exactly Yoga Nidra is and some of its benefits. In short, you lie down and have a rest.

We started with setting an intention for that day’s practice and then were told to just simply lie down for 35 minutes, though we did incorporate some super gentle hip opening exercises at the beginning and she played several crystal sound bowls for our benefit throughout the class.

A big part of Yoga Nidra is releasing emotional energy, so she also had us feel through different parts of our body for energy and to identify it and decide if we wanted to breathe into it and release it or hold onto it and expand it through our body (if it felt good to us). We did this by imagining the sensation as a color and expanding or contracting it as a colorful bubble of color through visualization.

I let go of some of the chronic hip pain that I tend to carry and expanded the loving energy I picked up from my heart chakra as a green colored bubble of love throughout my body. It was beautiful. For the first time ever I was free (at least momentarily) from the nagging worries that usually accompany me into Yoga classes: “Was I getting my poses right?” or if “I was gonna knock someone out behind me with my long legs.” It was freeing. As if there was no pressure “to do” anything more than just be. While I didn’t go fully into a deep sleep (you aren’t supposed to really), I did deeply relax and immediately once we were done, I felt my anxiety that was always simmering under the service lesson tremendously.

This form of yoga was a true game changer for me and I want to share with you some deeper learnings and insights that you may find helpful.

What I Learned from Yoga Nidra

My energy levels immediately increased along with my focus and my general sense of happiness which was powerful because at that time, I was underemployed and trying really hard to continue to live abroad.
My anxiety went down and I felt more calm and less anxious about the future.

I didn’t feel like I got 4 hours of sleep, but I did notice that my sleep that night and for most of the week was deeper and better and I didn’t need as much.
Speaking of sleep, I discovered that doing Yoga Nidra at bedtime when I was struggling with sleep helped fight off any insomnia.
Yoga Nidra is super helpful post a physical workout. It seemed to help with muscle recovery and kept my inflammation levels down after I would do my morning runs or a heavy workout at the gym.
I learned how to experience true peace in doing nothing. I couldn’t fathom going to a yoga class to go to “sleep” but this wasn’t sleep-sleep, it was about taking us into different brainwave states (such as Theta and Delta which is where deeper physical healing takes place) to help with rest of the mind, soul and to help us manifest what we wanted.
Speaking of manifestation, I found that when I did this type of yoga, my luck and general ability to manifest faster did seem to increase!

These were in a nutshell some of the major benefits that I found from sleep yoga and now that I’m no longer in Thailand, I think I’ll continue the practice in my new home in Mexico City.

Tell me in the comments: Do you think you’ll give Yoga Nidra a spin?

-ZYA

ZYA is a spiritual teacher and psychic medium who channels messages from the divine through words, sound and visual art. Currently based in Mexico City, you can book a reading with her at BOOKZYA.com and follow her on IG at PSYCHICZYA.

What is Sleeping Yoga? What I Learned From Yoga Nidra