Swami Satyananda Saraswati

YOGA NIDRA
The Art of Relaxation

PART 1

During the last hundred years or so, the way of life has changed greatly throughout the world. The social system and other systems are not longer the same as they used to be in ancient times. This has brought about a dispersion of human energies at all levels. The mind of man has lost the point of balance and harmony in every sphere of existence. We are so engrossed in material survival that we are not aware of what has been happening to us.

Within the last century or two, diseases have sprung up with new dimensions, expressions and manifestations, and this has reached a peak in the last few decades. Medical science has put an end to the plagues of the past, but we are now faced with a new epidemic of stress-related disorders caused by our inability to adapt to the highly competitive pace of modern life.

Psychosomatic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, migraine, asthma, ulcers, digestive disorders and skin diseases arise from tensions in the body and the mind. The leading cause of dead in developed countries, cancer, and heart disease, also stem from tension.

Modern medical science has been trying to tackle these problems in many ways, but frankly speaking, they have failed to deliver the necessary health to man. This is because the real problem doesn’t lie in the body; it originates in man’s changing ideals, in his way of thinking and feeling. When there is dissipation of energy, dispersion of ideals, how can you expect to experience harmony in your body and mind?

The international problem today is not hunger, poverty, drugs or fear of war. It is tension, hypertension, and total tension. If you know how to free yourself from tension, you know how to solve your problems in life. If you are able to balance your tensions, you can control your emotions, anger and passions. You can control heart disease, high blood pressure, leukemia and angina pectoris.

The threefold tensions

Whether you think too much or you don’t think at all, you accumulate tensions. If you work physically or you do not work at all, you accumulate tensions. Whether you sleep too much or not at all you accumulate tensions. Whether you take heavy protein diet, a carbohydrate diet, or a vegetarian diet, you accumulate tensions. And these tensions amass in the different layers of human personality. They accumulate in the muscular, emotional and mental systems.

In yoga we deal with the problems of tension with a wide periscope. We realize if the mind is tense, the stomach also will be tense. And if the stomach is tense, the whole circulatory system is also tense. It is a vicious circle of events. Therefore, in yoga, relaxation from tension is one of the chief concerns.

These inner tensions of the individual, contribute to collective psychological tensions which can manifest in unhappy family life, chaos and disorders in social life, aggression and warfare between communities and nations. Religions failed to give peace of mind to the individual. The yogic texts all unequivocally state that peace can only be found within, never without. Therefore, if we wish to create a more peaceful world, we must first learn how to relax and harmonize our own body and mind.

Yogis philosophy, as well as modern psychology, enumerates three basic types of tension which are responsible for all the agonies of modern life, these threefold tensions can be progressively released.

Muscular tensions are related to the body itself, the nervous system and endocrinal imbalances. These are easily removed by the deep physical relaxation attained in the state of yoga nidra.

Emotional tensions, which stem from various dualities such as love/hate, profit/loss, success/failure, happiness/unhappiness, are more difficult to erase. This is because is because we are unable to express our emotions freely and openly. Often we refuse to recognize them, so they are repressed, and the resulting tensions become more and more deeply rooted. It is not possible to relax these tensions through ordinary sleep or relaxation. A method such as yoga nidra can tranquilize the entire emotional structure of the mind.

Mental tensions are the result of excessive mental activity. The mind is a whirlpool of fantasies, confusions and oscillations. Throughout our life, the experiences registered by our consciousness are accumulated in the mental body. From time to time these explode, affecting our body, mind, behavior and reactions. When we are sad, angry or irritated, we often attribute that condition of the mind to some superficial cause. But the underlying cause behind man’s abnormal behavior lies in the accumulated tensions on the mental plane. Yoga nidra is the science of relaxation which enables each of us to dive deep down into the realms of the subconscious mind, thereby releasing and relaxing mental tensions, and establishing harmony in all facets of out being.

Resting more efficiently

Most people think that relaxation is very simple; just recline and close your eyes. Yet, excepting the scientists, nobody understands what relaxation really means. You are tired so you go to bed and think that is relaxation. But unless you are free from muscular, mental and emotional tensions, you are never relaxed. Despite a superficial sense of wellbeing, most people are full of tensions all the time. They habitually bite their nails, scratch their head, stroke their chin, or tap their feet. Or they may pace about restlessly, talk compulsively, display constant irritability, or chain smoke.

People do these things because they lack awareness of their own inner tension. They may think they are relaxed, but a closer look reveals that they are not. Even while sleeping, thoughts and worries revolve in the mind, so that the tense person wakes up feeling exhausted. In order to relax completely, the inner tensions of the body, emotions and mind must be released. Then the actual state of relaxation dawns. The practice of yoga nidra is the scientific method of removing these tensions.

Yoga nidra is a more efficient and effective form of psychic and physiological rest and rejuvenation than conventional sleep. Those who adopt this technique in their daily routine soon experience profound changes in their sleeping habits. The total systematic relaxation of a yoga nidra session is equivalent to hours of ordinary sleep without awareness. A single hour of yoga nidra is as restful as four hours of conventional sleep. This is one of the secrets of the superhuman efficiency and energy of many great yogis, past and present, who have managed to achieve so much on one short lifetime.

In fact, the capacity to sleep and dream consciously in yoga nidra is an evolutionary process which has been utilized by many exceptional people throughout history, paving the way to greater inspiration and achievement in their lives.

The officers of Napoleon, the 17^th century general and emperor of France, for example, have reported that he possessed an unfathomable and tireless source of energy and inspiration. At the very height of pitched battle, just when the outcome was in the balance, he would hand over his command to a subordinate, leaving instructions that he was not to be disturbed for twenty minutes under any circumstances. Then, retiring to his tent and stretching out upon an enormous bearskin, he would enter yoga nidra. Within seconds his loud snores would be emerging to mix with all the desperate sounds of battle. Precisely twenty minutes later he would emerge, fresh, invigorated and inspired, remount his horse and inevitably lead the French army to a decisive victory.

Secret of transformation

Through the practice of yoga nidra, we are not only relaxing, but restructuring and reforming our whole personality from within. Like the mythological phoenix, with every session we are burning the old samskaras, (impression left by a previous thoughts or actions) habits and tendencies in order to be born anew. This process is not only much quicker than other systems which work on an external basis only, but the results are also more reliable and permanent.

What is the secret of this transformation? Sermons?  No. Admonitions? No. Release of tension, relaxation and peace of mind are the secret of transformation. When a man is under tension, his behavior is influenced, and when he relaxes, he becomes natural. He knows the reality, the truth. Then he also knows how to behave, because the knowledge of truth only comes when you are free of tension.

By Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Initiated in Yoga by Swami Sivananda Saraswati

Swami Satyananda Saraswati                    Swami Sivananda Saraswati