Experiencing Yoga Nidra for the first time: Everyone should try this!

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Experiencing Yoga Nidra for the first time: Everyone should try this!

experiencing yoga nidra

When my good friend and yoga teacher Sam Biddles, AKA Yoga Wellbeing Coach, offered me a Yoga Nidra session, I jumped at the chance – even though I had no idea what it was! However, I’m never going to turn down something that’s good for my physical and emotional energy, and Sam was so enthusiastic about it, I was soon off to her studio with my yoga mat and moons and stars cushion in the back of the car.

This article is all about my experiences during my first Yoga Nidra session but if, like me, you want to know more about it, and what it can do for you personally, check out Sam’s excellent blog post here. As well as explaining the practice in simple terms that everyone can understand, Sam shares the challenges and heartache she endured over almost a decade which resulted in her suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She had no idea how to deal with it without resorting to chemical assistance, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

Yoga Nidra, also called Sleep Yoga, does not involve poses or movement

After just a few sessions of Yoga Nidra, Sam rediscovered her zest for life and vowed to train as a yoga teacher herself so she could introduce family, friends and neighbours to the benefits of all types of yoga. She spent a month of intensive training in India, and now offers a range of different yoga classes in and around Algorfa, on Spain’s Costa Blanca.

I must say my initial enthusiasm for Yoga Nidra began to evaporate a bit when Sam explained that I would spend the next hour lying on the floor, but definitely NOT going to sleep! I could see several problems with this. For a start, I live with Lupus, an autoimmune condition similar to Rheumatoid Arthritis which also affects the organs. Getting down on the floor is a challenge, staying there for an hour without discomfort was likely to be impossible, and staying awake when I was in the midst of a bad Lupus flare and chronic fatigue meant I fell asleep as soon as I sat down or lay down seemed little more than a pipe dream. It was about as likely to happen as winning the Euromillions Rollover or stunning Simon Cowell with my version of Lyin’ Eyes and snagging myself a recording contract and world tour!

Still, I’m nothing if not positive – most of the time – so I just got down there and waited to feel uncomfortable. That was the first revelation. As soon as I was settled, Sam began to guide me through the session. As she encouraged me to bring awareness to every part of my body and acknowledge it but not focus on it, I felt more and more relaxed and comfortable, as if I was sinking into a beautiful mattress, specially designed to support and caress every inch of my body. And I found no difficulty in staying conscious, because I found I really needed to hear Sam’s voice, connecting me to my very soul, and my deepest needs.

Yoga Wellbeing Coach Sam Biddles, taking a class out in Nature in Algorfa

If you know me well, or if you’ve read my book The Soul Cave, you’ll know that I, too have spent a lot of time and energy healing from my own traumas. As an energy worker, I know that there’s always something more to heal from and release, but I didn’t expect to be releasing as much as I did during the Yoga Nidra session. I experienced a vision of small, bean-shaped entities with human characteristics such as eyes, hands and arms climbing from my chest, in the area of the heart chakra. Seeing this written down, it looks scary but it really wasn’t. It was like I was giving myself permission to release what I needed to, and I was happy that it was happening.

This was followed by the most beautiful display of colours – green, purple and gold – sweeping through my body, lightening it, lifting the energy, deepening my spiritual connections. According to this article, and many experts, seeing colours during meditation is a sure sign that you are connecting at a deep level with your own energy system. Seeing shades of purple means you’re accessing your intuition and and external spiritual connections, or more simply, your connection with the Universe. Yellow shows you’re accessing your personal power and confidence, and green is linked to the heart chakra, empathy and kindness. It’s also the colour of physical, emotional and spiritual healing.

Quite simply, my Yoga Nidra session was so intense and beautiful I didn’t want it to end. Of course, every experience will be different, and mine was informed and enhanced by my psychic and energy work. That said, the benefits of deep relaxation, peace of mind and relief from physical and emotional pain are readily accessible to everyone. Yoga Nidra is also called Sleep Yoga, and although you are not actually asleep, your body is able to access that state of restorative rest where cell repair and renewal can happen, and the effects begin immediately and last for several days.

You may see many colours during a Yoga Nidra Session. Image credit Pixabay

At the end of the session, rather than needing the help of a chair or a wall to rise from my yoga mat, I was able to literally unfold gracefully to a standing position. The first thing I noticed was that I had no stiffness at all, despite spending an hour motionless on the floor with just a yoga mat, a cushion and a rolled towel behind the knees for support.

However, the most astounding thing for me was that for the first time in more than 30 years, my entire body was pain free. Since my Lupus diagnosis, I have never spent a day pain free, although most of the time it’s well managed. They say what can’t be cured must be endured, and after living with Lupus for so long, my pain threshold has increased considerably and most days pain doesn’t stop me living a happy life or impact negatively on me.

This totally pain free state continued for several days after the session, and my energy levels were higher than I’d experienced since early October, when I contracted a severe respiratory infection. Living with Lupus means even an ordinary cough or cold can wipe me out for weeks or even months, so it was a wonderful gift to enjoy these days free from pain, with high energy levels.

Yoga Nidra can help you cope with physical and emotional pain without the need for medication. Image credit Pixabay

Perhaps the greatest gift though was the intense strengthening of my spiritual connection. I’m told I’m very good at reading people’s energy and accessing higher wisdom from Spirit, and I suppose I must be, or people wouldn’t keep coming to me and recommending me to their friends. However, in the days following my Yoga Nidra session it seemed like my psychic connection switched up a gear.

The following day, at a very busy and noisy birthday party for a friend, the late father of the person I was sitting next to came through with comforting messages for his son. It turned out that the son – who I don’t know well enough to know any details of his life – had just been thinking how much his father would have enjoyed the evening. Clearly I picked up on that, and the father was able to communicate with his son through me.

Some of you might be thinking, ‘So what? You’re a psychic, it’s what you’re supposed to do!’ However, it’s very difficult in a noisy, busy setting for Spirit to come through and for people like me to communicate with them and pass on messages accurately. That manifestation, together with all the other beautiful benefits, convinces me that I want Yoga Nidra in my life from now on.

If reading this has piqued your interest in Yoga Nidra, check out the opportunities where you live. Remember to ask to see the teacher’s qualifications, to be sure your experience will be as safe and fulfilling as mine was. And if you’re local to Algorfa, contact Sam and ask about having a Yoga Nidra session in your home or in her studio. You can contact her through her Facebook Page, website for more details. Namaste.