WHAT IS THE DISTORTION OF YOGA NIDRA?INNER YOGA-31

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF YOGA NIDRA ;-----

06 FACTS;--

1-Yoga Nidra means Yogic Sleep. It is a state of conscious Deep Sleep. In Meditation, you remain in the Waking state of consciousness, and gently focus the mind, while allowing thought patterns, emotions, sensations, and images to arise and go on. However, in Yoga Nidra, you leave the Waking state, go past the Dreaming state, and go to Deep Sleep, yet remain awake. Yoga Nidra was taught by the ancient sages for the purpose of exploring the deep impressions or samskaras, which drive our actions or karma. They taught this so that sincere seekers can purify the deeper aspect of the mind-field, which is accessed in the formless state of conscious Deep Sleep.

2-Yoga Nidra has been known for thousands of years by the sages and yogis. Of the three states of consciousness of Waking, Dreaming and Deep Sleep, as expounded in the Upanishads, particularly the Mandukya Upanishad, Yoga Nidra refers to the conscious awareness of the Deep Sleep state, referred to as prajna in Mandukya Upanishad.Throughout the ancient writings of the yogis, sages, and rishis there are explanations of these three states of consciousness.When we read the ancient writings, including Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and others ;we will find these states .

3-This is the third of the four levels of consciousness of AUM mantra, relating to the state represented by the M of AUM. The four states are Waking, Dreaming, sleep, and turiya, the fourth state. The state of Yoga Nidra, conscious Deep Sleep, is beyond or subtler than the imagery and mental process of the Waking and Dreaming states. As a state of conscious Deep Sleep, Yoga Nidra is a universal principle.

4-Yoga Nidra brings an incredible calmness, quietness and clarity. Yoga Nidra is one of the deepest of all meditations, leading awareness through many levels of mental process to a state of supreme stillness and insight. The descriptions given below can be difficult to understand. With patient and thorough reading, the understanding is well worth the effort, allowing you to see the profound depth of Yoga Nidra, which is far beyond just relaxation.

5- It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes it takes thousands of words to get the inner "aha" of the meaning. Most important of all, it is the persistent practice that brings the real joy of the practice of Yoga Nidra, as with all useful practices in life and Yoga.

6-Advanced Yoga Nidra: The form of Yoga Nidra being described here; can be called Advanced Yoga Nidra. In recent years Yoga Nidra has been distorted in ways similar to Yoga itself. Unfortunately, almost any guided practice that brings a modicum (small amount) of relaxation is now called Yoga Nidra. Therefore, it is now virtually essential that we use another term, such as Authentic Yoga Nidra, Traditional Yoga Nidra, or Advanced Yoga Nidra.

WHAT IS THE DISTORTION OF YOGA NIDRA?--

The distortion of the very high practice of Yoga Nidra is so thorough in the world these days that it seems necessary to make very bright titles just to have the point noticed.

1-The fact is, that Yoga Nidra is a profoundly useful and deep practice for enlightenment (A highest level).The term "Yoga Nidra" has become so watered-down, so distorted that sincere seekers are not likely to see the extremely high value of authentic Yoga Nidra. If you read this, research yourself, do the practices, and then you'll discover the very high value of authentic, traditional Yoga Nidra.

2-Imagine that you are in the WAKING state, with all of its distractions of mind. You systematically do this and that with directing your attention. You are practicing concentration and letting go, leading you towards meditation. The thoughts and pictures of the DREAMING state start to come to the surface, even though you are still in the WAKING state. Gradually, the distractions fade away, your mind becomes focused, and you are having a nice meditation. You are deeply relaxed. You are still in the WAKING state of consciousness, which is the nature of meditation.

YOGA NIDRA:--

10 FACTS;-

1- Now, imagine that at some point you drop into the STATE of DEEP SLEEP, much like you would normally do at bedtime (when not Dreaming). However, this time, you fell all the way through the Dreaming state, and came to rest in the DEEP SLEEP state, though, paradoxically, you remained aware and alert.

This is the level UNDERNEATH both the WAKING and DREAMING states, and all of the thoughts and impressions that go along with those two states.

2-Now you are in the STATE of CONSCIOUS DEEP SLEEP. This state is the state of YOGA NIDRA . Nidra means sleep (not Dreaming), and Yoga means union, where all of those other thoughts and impressions have receded(to pull back)back into the unified field from which they arose.

One of the popular terms arising from exploration into the mind is alpha wave. Alpha and meditation are not the same. Alpha is created by relaxation. It is not a high state.

3-Yoga Nidra - Conscious Deep Sleep ;--

In Meditation, you remain in the Waking state of consciousness, and gradually allow the layers of the unconscious and subconscious to come forward, expanding the Waking state with one-pointed concentration and non-attachment to the streams of impressions flowing in the field of mind.

In Yoga Nidra, you leave the Waking state of consciousness, and go to the Deep Sleep state of consciousness, yet, paradoxically(self-contradictory way), remain fully awake. It is an extremely relaxing state in which samskaras of attachment and aversion, the driving force behind karma, are attenuated (reduce in force) in strength.

4-Transition/reverie(vision);-

Transition( the process changing from one state to another) that is experienced between the Waking and Dreaming states, such as when you sometimes wake up in the morning with a pleasant half-here and half-there feeling, is not Yoga Nidra. This reverie is often the goal of relaxation and visualization exercises, but Yoga Nidra is far deeper.

5-Yoga Nidra brings access to the to latent, or subconscious level of mind, that is underneath even the processing, fantasizing, imaging level of mind. It is the doorway to the causal level of reality, out of which springs the subtle, psychic, astral plane of reality, which in turn brings forth the gross level.

6-Expansion/Realization;-

Meditation and Yoga Nidra work together, as companion practices, through which you purify the deepest levels of the mind, and expand the conscious state to include what was previously unconscious. Finally, the expansion includes the realization of the pure consciousness that permeates all of the levels.

7-A of AUM /Waking State

In the Waking state of consciousness, all three levels are active and being used. The Conscious mind is obviously being used. The Unconscious mind is also processing, though typically out of view, much like the active microprocessor of a computer (during Meditation, this comes into view). The Subconscious is also active, in that it its data is available when needed, much like the data on the hard disk of a computer.

Note that sometimes people reverse the names for the Unconscious and Subconscious. The choice of words in not important; the meaning behind them is what counts.

8-U of AUM /Dreaming State

In the Dreaming state of consciousness, the level we call Conscious functioning has receded back into the field of mind from which it arose. Only the Unconscious processing is still there, along with the storage source of the Subconscious. The impressions from the Subconscious stir and become part of the dream process that is going on in the Unconscious level of mind.

9-M of AUM /Deep Sleep

In the Deep Sleep state of consciousness, both the Conscious and Unconscious levels have receded back into the field of mind from which they arose, where memories are stored. Only the Subconscious level is still active. At this Subconscious level the memories are in a formless form, and there are therefore no pictures or images as in the dream state. Rather, this is the level that gives birth to those images. At this level there is also no playing out of thoughts and actions in the Conscious state either. This deep stillness is the domain of Yoga Nidra, when experienced consciously rather than inertly, as in typical sleep.

10-Yoga Nidra - Conscious Deep Sleep:

Regardless of what names or terms one uses, such as Yoga Nidra, Dhyana (meditation), or Smriti (mindfulness), the practices with the three levels of Waking, Dreaming, and Deep Sleep states of consciousness are compatible, not contradictory. For the Yogi, practices are done with all three levels, regardless of what he or she might call those levels and the methods of practice. This would still be true if the name Yoga Nidra had never been used by anybody for any practice or state of consciousness......SHIVOHAM...