Anything to share about yoga nidra ?

[Aithrobates]

I've been intrigued by it for some times now. Mostly because I hoped it is some kind of cousin of the old greek incubation, indeed it looks a lot like it.

 

What I don't understand is if it is really a modern version of an ancient practice, whatever the old name was. And so what are the old sources ?

 

After reading quite a lot this site: http://www.swamij.com/ I bought myself a copy of the Mandukya Upanisad and constated that my sanskrit was not so bad

 

I remember Peter Kingsley saying somewhere that there are references to something akin to incubation in the Mahabharata, but I'm not sure... And I read the Wiki page on yoga nidra which says the same thing.

 

Of course I could buy the book of  Satyananda Saraswati, and probably will one day, but asking here is cheaper ^^

[thelerner]

I'm a big fan of Yoga Nidra.  I collect guided meditations and they are a great form of it.  I don't know the history, the style I've used seem very modern.   I see many guided meditations from Taoist(as per Wudangtao Master Chen) to ultra modern like The Monroe institute take many ideas from it.  Particularly the body asleep, mind awake approach.

 

A very good source is here- http://www.yoganidranetwork.org/downloads .

 

Here's a link to a comprehensive article on Defining Yoga Nidra   http://www.yoganidranetwork.org/sites/default/files/downloads/files/Yoga%20Nidra%20The%20Future_0.pdf

 

Please let me know which about any other links and sources you've found.

Edited July 16, 2015 by thelerner

[the1gza]

Yoga Nidra is essentially a way of entering a state of deep delta while still conscious. According to modern standards, delta is the deepest brainwave state there is, and at that state is where the body and mind get the greatest ability to rest and heal. As such, many people who do Yoga Nidra have the opportunity to get a far better rest that those who don't, and also they can heal very rapidly. However, this would take some practice to get done, but if you can get to it, you could get the equivalent of 4 hours of restful sleep in 1 hour of Yoga Nidra.

 

On a deeper level, however, the state that Yoga Nidra puts you in is akin to having access to your "Source Code" if you will. It takes a person to a level before form, the place where the function of form is birthed. As such, this is where people's "karma" originates, which is more about what shapes your experience of reality rather than something that you are "accountable" for and must "pay" for through acts and deeds. If a person can navigate this level, which does take some skill, then they can uproot karma and also implant new karma. Think of it as being a hacker of your own personal being, implanting programs you want in your software program, and deleting ones that don't work for that software.

 

Yoga Nidra was originally a form of nyasa, in which it was used to implant various forms of power into parts of the body. The Yoga Nidra that is modern is the first level of it, and that deep state is needed in order to implant elemental letters and mantra, as well as deities. That's something you probably would not find anywhere in a book, but at the first level, if you really wanted to find that out, I pretty sure you could find access to that info. 

[Aithrobates]

Thanks.

 

When I was a teen I had that inspiration to practice any kind of meditation while lying down. I was even persuaded that it was what was prescribed, only to re-read my sources and to found it was not...

 

I built for myself some kind of practice that was: focusing on the secret, heart, and eyebrow chakras while (not) falling asleep. It resulted in lucid dreams that - as I was versed in traditional witchcraft in those days - I called trips to the Fairy Underworld. And one day I crossed the whole Fairy Realm in found myself in some kind of Void in the other side.

 

I've been doing things like that for more than 15 years. So I think in my old strange way I'm good at that.

 

Is it possible that I'm kind of karmically determined for that practice ? Or something ?

Edited July 16, 2015 by Aithrobates

[the1gza]

I wouldn't know, by my estimation since it is a skill you have, then it is a program for you. How it got there is beyond me, because I wouldn't necessarily rely on most theories of karma that are available. Those ideas are often too religiously based and conformed to an idea of sequential time, which at the level of Yoga Nidra such things have no honest credence. Conformity to a sequential time paradigm is itself a karmic program, so while karma can contain skills and proclivities, it's more about the set of "programs" that a person has in place that shape their reality experience. The way a person prioritizes associate learning, working, sleeping, eating, what is and is not possible... these are all based on karmic programs. This is why a person could do "good" deeds and never improve their personal standing, and why a person who does "evil" deeds can sit around and have many things come to them easily. For one person, certain programs are very tight in them, and for another those programs rather don't matter, or don't exist. So if karma is looked at from a programming perspective rather than a sequential and/or moralistic aspect, then things make more sense. 

Edited July 17, 2015 by the1gza

[Aithrobates]

Well that's what I'm talking about.  I do not mean any moral or religous stuff by using the word karma, just plain old causality.

 

Here's my definition of karma: When you use senses and thoughts to pass  judgments, you make distinctions, you imprint on yourself the notions that some thing are good and that you must get them, some other bad, and that you should avoid them. So you program yourself for the way you'll be thinking of and reacting to those things, by doing that you create a filter through which you'll experience things in the future, and so reinforce the imprint. That's how you cling to things and create a vicious circle of causality.

 

Of course this is far more complex than this illustrations that relies on duality (good or bad for you). Multiply the phenomena, add more dimentions to it, and you get and idea of how it works in the context of the multiplicity of apparences.

 

You can work with your senses and thoughts to take them just as they are, and avoid creating imprints, even the one stating that the state of counciousness you have while doing that is good and the mundade one is bad

 

But it is way more efficient when you have the experience of Deep Sleep where you do not have any object to pass a judgment on.

[the1gza]

Well that's what I'm talking about.  I do not mean any moral or religous stuff by using the word karma, just plain old causality.

 

Here's my definition of karma: When you use senses and thoughts to pass  judgments, you make distinctions, you imprint on yourself the notions that some thing are good and that you must get them, some other bad, and that you should avoid them. So you program yourself for the way you'll be thinking of and reacting to those things, by doing that you create a filter through which you'll experience things in the future, and so reinforce the imprint. That's how you cling to things and create a vicious circle of causality.

 

Of course this is far more complex than this illustrations that relies on duality (good or bad for you). Multiply the phenomena, add more dimentions to it, and you get and idea of how it works in the context of the multiplicity of apparences.

 

You can work with your senses and thoughts to take them just as they are, and avoid creating imprints, even the one stating that the state of counciousness you have while doing that is good and the mundade one is bad

 

But it is way more efficient when you have the experience of Deep Sleep where you do not have any object to pass a judgment on.

Well that is definitely in line with it. What I would like to add is that, from what I was taught, what karmic seeds you have are the basis upon which you make judgments. For example, when you touch a burning stove, it will be hot. Now, for many people, the judgment is that heat of that caliber is not good, it burns and hurts. However, before that even is processed, there is a karmic association to heat or even thermal energy that dictates that a greater increase of thermal presence expresses itself as heat. In a naked sense, this is not something that is intrinsic to rising and falling thermal presence, it is only experienced that way through a certain proclivity where rising thermal presence is is expressed at heat.

 

So before a person can even pass judgment, which can plant reinforcement seeds themselves, they have a basic, paradigmatic association towards thermal energy in general. So what causes people to have to walk in order to get from Point A to Point B rather than just showing up there by will, that's karma. Governance to certain laws, both generally accepted laws and "esoteric" laws, that's karma. At the level of Yoga Nidra, none of those matter, they are floating potentials. So in the level of Yoga Nidra, a person could program themselves out of dependence on paradigmatic associations that are not just created in gross thought, but at the level of what makes the paradigm what it is. So hot can be cold, one could eat a pizza and gain the nutritional vibrance they would gain from eating a salad (generic comparison, I know), or any other host of things they could want. But of course, this would sound somewhat blasphemous because most information on Yoga would not suggest using it in that fashion. This is where religious ideals come in, so it would be up to the individual just how they are willing to take what they learn.

[Aithrobates]

Thanks for the precision.

 

"Karma" after all is related to all those indo-iranian words in -kar- which mean "to work, to do", to the greek "ergos", and the germanic word whe have in english as "work". It's basic meaning is down to earth.

 

Have you read the link I provided : http://www.swamij.com/yoga-nidra.htm ? Is this good material according to you ?

 

And what about the famous Satyananda Saraswati's book ? Is it about what were're talking, or is it the less advanced version I read about here and there: relaxation and guided meditation ?

[Taoist Texts]

. Known as the "Sleeping Immortal" he is also credited with using and creating sleeping qigong methods of internal alchemical cultivation. The story goes that Chen Tuan

 

[RigdzinTrinley]

I don't know if this is of at help as I myself never read anything about yoga nidra

 

I have training in indo Tibetan Buddhism and like to "nap" using meditation instruction from that tradition

 

Means I lie on my back close my eyes and let things be - I don't alter anything of my experience

 

After 10min I'm in a deep state of rest my - body sensation can shift (like my body seems to becomes bigger or seems to turn very fast or vibrates blissfully) while my mind is fully awake and just observes how my body "shapeshifts"

 

Is that a starting point of yoga nidra?

 

I usually only nap 15-20min like that but after this time I usually (not always) have a hard time getting up or moving my arms etc.

[Aithrobates]

It looks a lot to my experience. While what I said earlier (going throught dreams to enter consciouss deep sleep) correspond to longer sessions.  I practice too "yogic naps" - I you will - that fit your description.

Edited October 29, 2015 by Aithrobates

[RigdzinTrinley]

sir, could you elaborate on the greek incubation you mentioned in the OP?

 

thank you

[Aithrobates]

It's mostly what you describe. It's a non-practice, you don't do anything special.

You just lie down and let the dream/sleep process follow its natural course. Only you keep your awareness.

 

The important point is that it is considered a travel to the world of the dead. You lie down like if you were a corpse. I think in tibetan lore you have something similar, dream and sleep states being related to specific bardos.

Edited November 4, 2015 by Aithrobates

[RigdzinTrinley]

yes the teachings say that mastering your dream state state is a prerequisite to attain liberation in the bardo of dying

 

I think yoga nidra can be a great aid for dream yoga - so there are similarities for sure

 

I go google incubation and read more about it

Edited November 5, 2015 by RigdzinTrinley

[Aithrobates]

Incubation, tibetan yoga of dream and sleep, yoga nidra, some forms of sufi dikr, etc... are - I think - just different cultural versions of the same practice.