If holding meditation poses and practising complicated exercises is not your cup of tea, then we have something easier yet effective for you.
Many yoga practitioners would be surprised to know there is a yoga style that involves just relaxing on a mat. A 40-45 minute session can alleviate stress and relax your mind and body. We are talking about Yoga Nidra asana.
It is one of the most celebrated and result-oriented healing therapies that calms your mind and moves you slowly to sleep. The best part is that it is an easy and pose-free yoga practice that connects your mind and body and relieves you from ongoing anxiety.
Yoga Nidra benefits are manifold, but you need to do it the right way to reap the best results. Hence, this article will help you understand what is Yoga Nidra, how to do it, and its benefits.

What is Yoga Nidra?
Yoga Nidra, also known as Yogic Nidra, is a half-conscious state. This powerful yoga technique controls your relaxation response and works wonders for your emotional and physical healing.

Simply put, Yoga Nidra meditation is the ‘going to sleep’ stage where you rest comfortably in the savasana, giving your mind and body an extra window of deep relaxation.
This yoga sleep gradually takes you through five layers of self or Pancha Maha Kosha, and you feel relaxed and light. This effective asana gives you a sense of wholeness and helps you get rid of any body aches, sores, stress, and tiredness.
A few-minutes session can make you feel rejuvenated, and regular practice ensures an active mind and body.
How to Do Yoga Nidra?
One may think lying down and trying to sleep would be easier with no practice required. However, you need to follow a few Yoga Nidra steps to get the best results. It is a relaxation journey of complete awareness and consciousness, and you must consider a few points:
- Wear comfortable clothes and lie down on your back with your eyes closed. Take deep and slow breaths to relax.
- Connect to your life’s goal and feel the joy of accomplishing it.
- Make sure that you keep the purpose of practising this yoga at the centre.
- Focus on different parts of your body, such as your feet, stomach, shoulders, neck, face, and hands, and make yourself realise the existence of your body. Don’t let your mind wander.
- Continue taking deep and slow breaths. Embrace all your feelings and emotions.
- Don’t block negative thoughts. See the positive side of everything instead.
- Continue to focus for 20-30 minutes.
- Slowly open your eyes and get up. Don’t rush out of Yoga Nidra, take a few seconds or minutes to come back into a waking state.
Joining authentic offline or online yoga programs can be of utmost help if you find it difficult to practise Yoga Nidra.

What Are Benefits of Yoga Nidra?
Here are some of the primary advantages of Yoga Nidra meditation:
1. Reduced Stress and Anxiety
Yoga Nidra creates mental and physical activities that change brain waves to release stress. Moreover, it slows down the nervous system, allows muscles to relax, and makes you aware of your senses, being, and thoughts.
This triggers mind and body relaxation responses and improves emotional self-regulation. Hence, alleviating tension, anxiety, and any sort of stress. It also helps in relieving headaches and muscle tension.
2. Improved Sleep and Health
Do you keep rolling in your bed for hours before you can finally sleep? Practise Yoga Nidra for sleep. Yoga Nidra slows the mind’s wavelength as you enter a sleep-like state.
You start focusing on different body parts with slow and deep breathing, which triggers a relaxation response. This, in turn, balances the left and right sides of your brain and the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Yoga Nidra trains your body to go into a deep state of sleep.

3. Detached from Negative Thoughts
Hectic schedules, competitive professional life, and chaotic surroundings can lead to negative and disturbing thoughts. We try our best to keep up with the world and often ignore mental health. This gradually builds up emotional imbalance and stress.
That is where Yoga Nidra comes to the rescue, working on an inherent level to detach us from disturbing thoughts and negate their effects. With properly guided practice, we accept who we are, our beliefs, and life. As we unfold our consciousness, we eliminate negative feelings and replace them with more positive ones.
4. Better Connection with Yourself
No matter how busy you are or what challenges you are facing, Yoga Nidra allows you to prioritise your health and wellness. It creates an open space in your mind, allows a window for your mind and soul to relax, and enables you to learn from a reflective experience.
Start with an intention, be it to feel alive at the moment or let go of negative thoughts. When negative feelings start to take over, accept them, analyse your reaction, and you’ll soon start to release unwanted energy. You will feel liberated and connect better with yourself. Most online yoga courses by hellomyyoga also focus on how you can better connect with your inner self.

5. Emotional and Mental Healing
Another benefit of Yoga Nidra is that it allows you to find the right balance between your ideas, thoughts, feelings and habits. As you move into a more relaxed state of mind, you become aware of your body, mind, and emotions. What you feel in that moment speaks volume and has the power to heal you from within.
You let all the negativity go away and find peace and joy, which is essential for a happier life. It helps you deal with mental health issues in the most soothing way, and rest assured that you will feel more fulfilled.
Join the online yoga courses by hellomyyoga
Winding it Up!
We all try to break away from stress, anxiety, and tiredness. However, it’s not always easy to achieve this. Hence, many practise Yoga Nidra to deal with their worries and find peace. It is an immensely beneficial and effective way to stay focused, organise our thoughts, and adopt a positive attitude toward everything. You might not see significant results in the first session. That’s fine. Don’t give up. Try a few more times, and rest assured that you will feel the change soon.