Module 1
Beginnings
Welcome!
Thank you for registering for this online course, Yoga Nidra: Sourcing Your True Power!
The purpose of this course is to help you understand YOU, your True Self, the one that has untold power and possibilities, through the subtle yet powerful practice of Yoga Nidra.
The information in each module will build on the previous one. Here are the six modules:
Beginnings
Understanding Self and the Problems with Identification
Moving Past the Rational Mind: Don't Think Everything You Believe
Duality vs. Non-Duality: Ganesh Is My Homeboy
Limiters
"That's All Good But . . . " How to Apply Yoga Nidra to Your Daily Life
Here's how this works . . .
You have access to the Main Page which directs you to all six module of this course. You can digest the material how and when you want. And you can always go back to review the previous modules.
In each module you can listen/read/watch all of the material or just skip to the Yoga Nidra practice. To go straight through all the material, start by reading the text and/or listen to the discussion. Next, do the yoga video. Then, get comfy and listen to the Yoga Nidra practice.
Remember, you can stream the audio from the module directly or download it onto your phone or computer using Dropbox. Downloading it onto your computer is how you will make your personal audio library. If you use Dropbox, I might suggest making a unique folder for this course and download the material there. If you're curious about how to do that click the Tech Tips button for easy instructions.
Some of you have requested a CD of the recordings which I'm happy to offer (for a little bit extra to cover materials, time, and postage if you want me to mail them to you). If that's you, please email me your address, and an extra $30.
So, there will be two audio recordings per module. The first one will be a discussion about the practice and the second will be the practice itself. Like I said, you can listen to each one by either downloading them or accessing them directly from the site. I want to make the material as accessible as possible so let me know if you have any problems.
You can read the bullet-points to the discussion if you want to skip the recording but want the gist of it.
As we'll discuss in the discussion portion of this module, this practice is about awareness and a simple yet profound way of paying attention is to get into your body. That's why there is a yoga video attached to the module. This is meant to be gentle and feel good. As always, please modify (or omit) this practice as your body tells you to.
Let's get started!
Outline of Discussion
Yoga and Yoga Nidra is about simply understanding yourself. As you understand yourself through this practice, you will also understand the world and the Universe around you, that ultimately you and the Universe are one and the same. Whoa! Stay with me . . .
With this understanding, one that can only be experienced and not intellectualized, we source our True Power to be effective, open, and observant in the world because that is our True Nature. To be enlightened means to be fully aware of our True Nature. We are enlightened to the realities of ourselves and the Universe.
When we experience our True Nature we view our lives and the world more clearly; many of the things that gave us issues in the past seem to either dwindle or at least be seen with a much clearer perspective. It’s like looking at the impassable wall in front of you. When you can step back, you see that the wall is only as high as you are, and there is a door just off to the side. This vast perspective is our True Power. As we begin to understand and enact our True Power, we begin to live into our inheritance, which is a truly extraordinary life, the life that you were meant to live.
The byproducts of this understanding of Self will help you:
o Heal from trauma
o Eliminate anxiety
o Be more present, ergo better relationships, job, etc.
o Be Happy, cuz that's what you are--happiness
o Be less miffed about small shit
o Source your True Power
o Eliminate self-limiting beliefs
o Grow spiritually as you understand yourself and your place in the Universe
o Understand your innate gifts for this world and how to share them
o Become more tolerant and tolerable
o Etc.
What is Nidra? Nidra is an experience. It's also a state of mind. Explaining it or knowing the technique or philosophy around it isn’t it. You have to experience it. We all have already, Yoga Nidra is just a way of doing it regularly, deliberately, and consciously. It's not the only way, just one way I know to be exceptionally effective.
The OM symbol represents our connection to everything. It also explains our different states of mind and explains in part the Nidra state of mind. The top loop in the "3" represents our conscious mind. The bottom loop represents our dreaming mind. The tail from the "3" represents the Nidra state, the place between waking and dreaming consciousness. The swoosh on top and the dot on top represents the all-seeing eye of our own deep awareness, watching everything at once. This is the awareness we are looking to bring to the other three areas of consciousness. Yoga Nidra is one way of practicing this understanding of awareness. I know, it sounds circular.
How to get I into the Nidra state?
You can do it anywhere, whether in waking or dreaming consciousness. You can do it while you are lying down, running, driving, etc. It's really about learning to pay keen attention. There are some techniques to paying attention unique to the Yoga Nidra practice that we'll be experiencing during our practices and that will help us get into the Nidra state.Perhaps the easiest way of paying attention is by feeling the sensations of your body.
So we'll start our Yoga Nidra practice with a gentle yoga practice. You could also go on a walk or take a shower or something, anything that will help you feel embodied.
"Sometimes the truth depends upon a walk around the lake."
Wallace Stevens.
Video
Yoga Nidra Practice
Connect with each other! If you "do the Facebook," I encourage you to join the Facebook group to stay connected with your fellow students and to offer comments and questions, to have conversations with the group and see what others are saying.
Interview with Richard Miller
The following is a fantastic interview with my teacher, Dr. Richard Miller, the founder of the iRest method of Yoga Nidra. It's a wonderfully long interview (2.5hrs!) but well worth the listen. There's a video you can watch or the audio you can download. I found this interview to be immensely helpful to understand the purpose and power of Yoga Nidra.
If you want to listen to this on your smart phone go to your Podcasts app and look for Buddha At The Gas Pump. Go the feed and scroll down to episode number 354. Press download and enjoy!