Yoga Nidra Retreat

I attended a Yoga Nidra retreat in San Francisco, taught by Dr. Marc Halpern, founder of the California College of Ayurveda, and Dr. Andrea Deerheart, founder of Heartway.org.

The timing could not have been better. I was suffering from a bout of insomnia, triggered by never quite realigning after a trip to the East Coast, and one too many painful yoga injuries. Having had a Yoga Nidra class before, I knew that, at the very least, I’d get a good nap out of this two-day retreat.

Instead of a nap, I got bliss.

The first thing we learned is that yoga Nidra is not about deep sleep. To fall asleep is to miss the practice, so I took the vow to try and stay "awake and aware,” throughout each 45 minute session. My reward for staying awake (90% of the time) was deep relaxation—a blissful feeling throughout my body, even though my mind wandered from time to time. 

I had glimpsed this bliss state before with corpse pose, which followed a really good yoga class, but it hadn’t happened to me very often. Yoga Nidra is a shortcut to that state. The slightly drugged feeling I had hung around after I sat up. Later, I felt more energetic than before. 

What I like about the practice is that I can access energy from inside my body. Read: Substitute for stimulants or depressants, like coffee, beer, or pot. At the end of the practice, we were invited to direct our new found energy to the areas that ailed us. 

I recommend giving Yoga Nidra a try. At first, the biggest challenge is staying awake through this 45 minute session, especially if you're exhausted. But don't feel bad if you pass out. If you're tired, you need to sleep. We Vatas are prone to anxiety and insomnia, and sometimes a practice like this is just the ticket for a re-set. You can find many yoga nidra sessions on youtube. Read more about Vata sleep here.