PEACE BEYOND WORDS:

A PRACTICAL EXPLORATION INTO THE ROOTS OF YOGANIDRĀ

One direct look into everyday experience can be enough to expose the obviousness of our fundamental nature as essence. If we slow down for an instant and take a peek beneath the muddling complexity of the mind-made world, we may unexpectedly find ourselves in touch with this essence, as this essence, as the straightforward realization that the unquestionability of this moment, right here, right now, is really all there is, exactly as it is. 

And within this simple realization lies the peace and quiet we have consciously or unconsciously been looking for all our lives…

In fact, abiding as the essence, becoming this realization—even if temporarily—has been the goal of many techniques, old and new. Dancing. Shaking. Sweating. Purging. Focusing. Refining. Contemplating. Letting go. Different ways to remember who we truly are. Different ways to rediscover our inherent wholeness.

Enter yoga nidra.

Rooted in a vast body of knowledge, this ancient meditative practice is about unlocking the healing and blossoming potential contained in the present moment through the body’s effortless movement toward sleep. It is about facilitating utter absorption into essence—yoga—via profound, conscious relaxation—nidra. 

At the physical level, yoga nidra is an effective means to de-stress the body, promoting optimal health and well-being so that we remain centered, organically relaxed, while in the midst of the chaos brought about by modern living. 

At the psychological level, in addition to returning the mental apparatus to its natural state of quietude and clarity, yoga nidra can restructure the subconscious through the release of hindering conditionings and subsequent imprinting of more expansive, dharma-aligned patterns. 

Ultimately, yoga nidra is both instrument and purpose. As a method, yoga nidra means remaining awake to witness full dissolution into the vastness of presence. As a deeply transforming spiritual outcome, yoga nidra itself becomes the final destination: pure and unqualified being, in which every-thing under the sun emerges, unfolds, and fades away.

But what exactly are the roots of this deep practice?

Here’s a perspective. A long, long time ago some very intuitive folks found out that the body is fundamentally an organic machine, controlled by a computer—the brain, and its software—the mental apparatus. With that knowledge in hand, certain structural maps were devised and procedures based on these guidelines created to manipulate the body-brain in order to remove blockages, promote balance, resolve patterns, and allow the organism to naturally return its innate state of health, of relaxed alertness, of inner quietude. 

Some of these maps come from traditional Indian medicine and are based on energy lines that carry life-force through the body at many levels. According to these maps, there are points along these meridians that, when manipulated, can lead to truly alchemical changes in the body-brain organism. The meridians are called nadis and the points marmani (marma singular). 

This structural system has led to many of the techniques we see in yoga and tantra today. 

For example, the Mahanirvana Tantra describes the technique of Nyasa, originally a ritual—and arguably one of the predecessors of the body rotation found in modern versions of yoga nidra—that’s all about releasing and balancing energy in the body-brain organism by the activation of marmani through sound frequency.

In fact, even more therapeutic elements such as asana, pranayama, and mudra often make use of marmani to activate, expand, and lock energy within the body-brain organism for various purposes. 

But no matter the aim, no matter the immediate goal, each and every technique is invariably in service of the ultimate objective, which is completely letting go into the ease of the body-brain organism’s natural state.

Thus, most of the elements of a more traditional yogic/tantric practice are often a preparation leading to abidance in the natural state. In these practices, the body-brain needs to be cleansed, centered, its energy gathered and directed before it is ready to rest in its own innate state of well-being. That is why many people (knowing or unknowingly) say that savasana is the true peak of a yoga class. That’s where the magic is bound to happen.

A modern yoga nidra session is likely an adaptation of this type of structure; one in which independent practices have already been morphed and are presented as stages within a systematic whole. 

Another adaptation—albeit with negative consequences—could have been a “dismembering” of many of these preparatory elements for the sake of understanding, simplicity, or time management, which unfortunately led them to lose their significance, their meaning, previously evident within the structure of the practice as a whole. Although asana is the clear example here, many other elements often suffer the same fate. And as the coherent sequence of elements is dismantled, its effectiveness—as well as that of its components—is diminished. Greatly diminished.   

A Coherent Sequence

What follows is a brief outline of this Sunday’s session. If you wish to learn more about any of the practices, I have included a bibliography with suggested readings.

Body settled, mental apparatus present, energy gathered, balanced, and available. This is our main objective.

We begin in a seated position, in the beta level, the waking state. This is a state where most of the energy of attention is usually lost in thought content. In order to gather the dispersed energy so that it becomes available here and now, we will make use of a direct inquiry based on the tantric tradition of Kashmir Shaivism. This exercise gently guides us toward a natural settling into the elements of actual experience by exploring what’s undeniably here and now.   

Once we feel more grounded, more present, we are ready to remove blockages and impurities from the physical body. Kriyas are procedures that can remove these blockages and impurities at the physical or energetic levels. Here, we are using Netra Apana Kriyas, or eye movements, to establish a healthy flow of energy in the area. The eyes are often overworked, overloaded with electricity from all the visual stimuli, all the screen time, and can carry a lot of tension.

When the eyes are clear, we can move on to a purification practice called Tratak, or gazing. Tratak is one of the Shat Kriyas, the six actions for the cleansing of the tissues and channels in the body. This practice is all about increasing concentration, reducing restlessness, internalizing, and calming the mental apparatus. We can gaze externally or internally. Of the two types of Tratak, we will be practicing Bahir Tratak, external gazing. 

With the body settled and the mental apparatus calm, we can take our gathered energy and multiply it, expand it through pranayama. Preliminary practices called Purva Shwasa Kriyas prepare us for the main pranayama practice by strengthening the nervous system, creating awareness of the energy channels, and increasing lung capacity. We will practice an adaptation of Prasphutan Shwasa, or “Bud to Flower Breath.” After the kriya, we have our first experience of a marma-based exercise in Aharana Pranayama. The main objective of this practice is to allow breath and attention to emerge, removing the focus of the mental apparatus from the endless chain of thoughts and allowing it to come back to the body, its resting place. In practical terms, we let go of the anatomical dimension of breathing and become aware of the subtle energetic pulsation in marmani as attention is gently brought to them. Time permitting, we will then engage inSamikarana Pranayama, a follow-up practice designed to bring the body to a state of balance. Both Aharana Pranayamaand Samikarana Pranayama ae usually taught as preliminary exercises to a more elaborate practice, Vishoka Meditation, which is beyond the scope of this workshop. 

After having expanded our energy, our life-force, we can lock it into place with mudras, or hand gestures. A few Apana Kriyas for the fingers, hands, and wrists and we are ready for the mudras. Here we are making use of mudras as therapeutic tools to aid us in removing subtle metabolic wastes from the hand and wrist areas. We will be working with the mudras of the five vital currents in the body and will be focusing on the breath aspect that best relates to each gesture. Prana is about the intake of energy. For Prana Mudra, thumb, ring and pinky finger pads join while index and middle fingers extend. The focus while holding this mudra is on inhalation. Samana is about converting energy into nourishment. For Samana Mudra, all finger pads press together. The focus while holding this mudra is on the transition between inhalation and exhalation. Vyana is about circulation. For Vyana Mudra, thumb, index, and middle finger pads touch, ring and pinky extend. The focus while holding this mudra is on the beginning of exhalation. Udana is the upward energy. For Udana Mudra, thumb, index, middle, and ring finger pads touch, pinky extends. The focus while holding this mudra is on the exhalation. Apana is the downward energy. For Apana Mudra, thumb, middle, and ring finger pads touch, index and pinky extend. The focus while holding this mudra is on the end of exhalation. As these mudras are related to nourishment, this short practice can also be done before a meal to help food get absorbed, digested, and eliminated properly.

From mudra we move to mantra. Mantra gives the life-force a focus, a direction, much like narrowing the beam of a flashlight. Mantra is usually practiced silently. We will be practicing the natural sound of the breath, SoHam, to harmonize the organism and establish concentration. This is a well-known practice with roots in ancient texts, e.g., Yoga Shiksha Upanishad and Gheranda Samhita. SoHam also means “I am That” in Sanskrit and it’s about identifying oneself with the natural state.

This is when we have the opportunity to lie down. We are ready to enter the cave of the heart, the seat of awareness, and from here on our practice will be done from this place, from the vastness of the heart.

In physical stillness, we mentally and energetically stimulate marmani. Our first step is a relaxation exercise whose origins can also be traced to ancient texts, the Vasishtha Samhita and the Sushruta Samhit. It is called Shavayatra, which means “travelling through the corpse.” It is also known as the 61-point exercise. Another opportunity to reinforce the connection between attention and body while enhancing concentration through counting. From Shavayatra, we naturally move to Shithali Karana, a powerful body awareness-breath experience that links marmani through energetic channels sensed by the flow of life-force. The next practice is called Bahir Matrika Nyasa. This is where we activate marmanithrough sound vibration. Originally a ritual, this specific practice makes use of the Sanskrit alphabet to stimulate energetic points and areas in the body.

Finally, the senses are withdrawn to their source in the brain with a practice of Pratyahara. This exercise is done by tracing the sensory pathways from the places where the senses manifest to their source in the brain. Smell: from nose to its source in the front region of the brain. Taste: from mouth to its source in the middle of the brain. Sight: from the eyes to its source in the back of the brain. Touch: skin and inner organs to its source in the top mid region of the brain. Hearing: ears to its source in the dies of the brain. Once the senses are withdrawn, awareness naturally rests in the heart. This is when the yoga nidra bridge becomes available.

At this stage we celebrate the glory of the natural state by vibrating to the Gayatri Mantra:

oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ

tat savitur vareṇyaṃ

bhargo devasya dhīmahi

dhiyo yo naḥ prachodayāt

After a period of silence, we are awakened at the cave of the heart and start making our way back to the surface of awareness.

…

Hope this workshop (along with the texts) gives you a better idea of the origins of yoga nidra as well as the powerful effects a more structured yogic/tantric practice can have on both body and mind.  

In case we are not able to practice all stages due to time constraints, I’ll be uploading a complete version of this session in a few days to intimate mantra’s YouTube channel. 

I’ll send out certificates once the session is done in case you are looking to earn Yoga Alliance continuing education credits for this workshop. Our live session will count as 1.5 contact hours and this text plus my reading suggestion below on the history of yoga nidra will account for 0.5 non-contact hours, giving you a total of two CE credits. 

To register for this event, please click HERE

Required reading for YA hours: 

YOGANIDRĀ

An Understanding of the History and Context

By JASON BIRCH and JACQUELINE HARGREAVES

https://www.theluminescent.org/2015/01/yoganidra.html

Suggested reading:

Arora, Indu: Yoga, Ancient Heritage, Tomorrow’s Vision, Yog Sadhna, 2019

Arora, Indu: Mudra: The Sacred Secret, Yog Sadhna, 2015

Frawley, David: Ayurveda and Marma Therapy: Energy Points in Yogic Healing, Lotus, 2003

Frawley, David: Mantra Yoga and the Primal Sound: Secret of Seed (Bija) Mantras, Lotus, 2010

Rajmani, Pandit: Vishoka Meditation, Himalayan Institute, 2019

Spira, Rupert: Transparent Body, Luminous World, Sahaja, 2016