Sleep with Awareness

Even though I’ve been a practitioner of yoga for more than eight years, I knew very little about Yoga Nidra.

I asked respected South Tampa yoga instructors Laraine O’Neill and Annie Okerlin for help in breaking Yoga Nidra down for us.

O'Neill has facilitated the monthly Yoga Nidra at Yogani Studios in Hyde Park since 2002.

As O’Neill explained, yoga nidra is an example of pratyahara — the process of withdrawing the mind from the senses and turns that awareness inward. It’s the fifth limb the of eight limbs of yoga (or asta-anga) as written in the Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali.

There are four levels of meditation laid out in the Sutras: pratyahara(5), dharana (6th limb), dhyana (7th limb), and samadi (8th limb).

O’Neill explained the first five limbs of yoga. Yamas  (internal resraints), nyamas (external restraints), asanas  (the postures), pranayamas (yogic breathing) and pratyahara can be practiced interchangeable.

The last three limbs are dharana (continuous flow of non-thinking or uninterrupted attention), dhyana (mind becomes one with the object of concentration), and samadhi (the bliss state),

“There are cumulative effects from regular, sustained practice that help the practitioner move along the continuum towards samadhi (the bliss state),” O’Neill said. “This is the true ‘union,’ the very definition of the word yoga (yuj, or yolk) and the true meaning of the path of yoga occurs. Buddhists call this state nirvana. I explain this path because that is what yoga is classically is for: meditation."

Patch: I know that yoga nidra means yogic sleep, but could you expand on its importance in the world of yoga?

O’Neill: The Sanskrit word is pronounced NIH-Druh, not NEE-Dra. Taken separately, the words do mean yoga and sleep, but together the phrase means sleep with awareness. Or, sleep with growing awareness. In Yoga Nidra, the body goes to sleep but the mind remains aware. The importance of Yoga nidra, therefore is that it’s the first phase of the process towards union with Higher Self, with that true experience of non dualism, that we are all one. I feel that yoga nidra is exceedingly important to those who wish to take on the path of meditation. Meditation is vastly misunderstood. The practice of mediation is a practice that takes time. Meditation is hard, of course, but it can be broken down into steps, making it achievable. Yoga nidra is one practice of pratyahara that can send you onto the path of being a successful meditator.

 Patch: Is yoga nidra open to all levels?

 O’Neill: Yes. No skills are required. The practice is done in savasana, final relaxation pose (corpse).

 Patch: What are some of the benefits to practicing this meditative path?

O’Neill: While yoga nidra is primarily a meditative practice, it helps the body by removing deeply-held stress. The body relaxes. The muscles relax, blood pressure lowers, good mood chemicals like endorphins, serotonin are secreted.  Harmful chemicals like adrenaline and cortisol slowly stop flowing and are removed from the body. Stress is a huge killer in our society and the cause for the use of many ethical and illegal pharmaceuticals.

Patch: How long have you been teaching yoga nidra?

O’Neill: As long as I have been teaching yoga — since the spring 2002 . We were taught how to facilitate nidra during my training at Asheville School of Yoga.

Patch: What form of nidra do you teach?

O’Neill: The classic, tantric style of Swami Satyananada Saraswati, the same one that Richard Miller’s iRest program has been drawn from. The actual stages of the practice are enormously interesting to study — body-consciousness rotation, universal Archetypes, opposing Pairs, creative visualization.

I spoke to Annie Orkerlin, owner of Yogani Studios and president of The Exalted Warrior Foundation. I experienced a taste of yoga nidra during her special New Year’s Day Enchanted Power class. Enchanted it was.

I knew she recently completed her Level I training of the iRest yoga nidra program with Richard Miller, director of The Integrated Restorative Institute in California.

After 15 minutes of the session, I had never been so deep in meditation. As I began to rise up out of savasana, I was completely  blissed out. I have never felt so relaxed in my life, and I’ve practice yoga at least three times a week for the last eight.

Patch: Your New Year’s class was the first experience I had with yoga nidra; how did you first experience it?

Okerlin: I took my very first yoga nidra class with Laraine O’Neill at the old Yogani Studio.

Patch: You trained with Richard Miller learning the iRest yoga nidra method. Can you tell me more about that?

Okerlin: Well, what I love about the iRest program and why I went to train with that program is because Miller was the first person ever to do a scientific study about yoga using Military personnel at Walter Reed [Hospital]. He’s designed a yoga nidra protocol and done actual studies proving yoga nidra helps people in combat stress to begin to lighten the load they are experiencing. This is especially important with our work with The Exalted Warrior Foundation, a program that brings yoga to wounded military personnel.

Patch: So it’s a way for people, over time, to self heal inner suffering?

Okerlin: Yes, it is.

Patch: Why do you think this form of mediation, iRest in particular, resonates with people?

Okerlin: Well the iRest technique is completely secular. I think people are coming into yoga nidra needing to separate from their stuff and step back into the really authentic original witness space. O

Okerlin will complete her Level II iRest in March.

You can meet and participate in the practice of yoga nidra offered by either one of these master instructors in the next couple of months: 

O’Neill will be doing a special workshop at Asana of Brandon on Feb 20th and another one at Bella Prana of Tampa on Sunday March 6th.  She will also be back at Yogani on March 20th from 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Okerlin will be facilitating the yoga nidra for yogani on Feb 20.th from 4:30-5:30 p.m. She also will conduct yoga nidra outside of Tampa Museum of Fine Arts, at the end of the Yoga Stops Traffic Event on March 12th. More to come about this event!

Have a great time out there trying out yoga nidra.

Namaste!