Swami Satyananda Saraswati

YOGA NIDRA  
Training the Mind
PART 2

Yoga nidra means sleep with a trace of awareness. It is a state of mind in between wakefulness and dream. When you practice yoga nidra you are opening the deeper phases of your mind. At this moment, your intellectual mind is operating, but when you are able to relax, the subconscious and unconscious levels of the mind open.

If you practice yoga nidra, then the nature of your mind can be changed, diseases can be cured, and your creative genius can be restored. The subconscious and the unconscious mind are the most powerful force in human being. This simple practice of yoga nidra has the capacity of penetrating into the depths of the human mind.

The subconscious mind is a very obedient disciple, and immediately carries out the orders that you put to it. If you know how to practice yoga nidra, you can train your subconscious mind completely. Then the ordinary mind and intellect will follow suit.

The root of creativity

Yoga nidra is regarded as a tantric practice because in Tantra the evolution of mind should become spontaneous matter. You don’t have to fight with your nature, habits and limitations, because by doing so, you are creating animosity within yourself. Therefore, most people who try to correct themselves through the religious path become schizophrenic.

For the last century, psychologists have been telling us, “If you have a fault you must accept it. You cannot remove it by hatred.” Then how can we eradicate it? Go down to lower recesses of the mind and cut the root, then the three will die by itself. The unconscious mind is the base of man’s normal and abnormal behavior; the base of all that we are is in the subconscious and unconscious realms. Therefore, why keep on cutting the branches and the leaves? Yoga Nidra is a practice which will help you to dive into the depths of your mind.

Man is weak because he is depending merely on his intellect and the information of his senses. But once you open the doors of the deeper mind and you repose in yoga nidra, you are at the root of creativity.

Therefore when you practice yoga nidra, you must completely relax, because this is not a practice in concentration. If you keep following the instructions of the person who is guiding you in yoga nidra, it is possible to open the door of your personality. However; if you happen to miss a few instructions it doesn’t matter; what is important is that you keep on listening to the voice.

The state of receptivity

In daily life most people are not very receptive, but in yoga nidra the mind assumes a very receptive phase. Just as you melt iron and then cast it into a particular mold, in the same way, there is phase when the mind is melting and at that time you can cast good and creative impressions on it. Receptivity of mind can be awakened only when the dissipations are annihilated, and in yoga nidra we do this by awakening the emotional structure of the mind.

If I say that this is right and that is wrong, you may agree with me, but that is an intellectual agreement. In spite of the fact that you agree, you may not be able to implement it in your daily life. What is the obstruction? There  must be some reason why is so difficult to put our ideals in practice.

All the highest ideals of life should not remain in the scriptures; we must start to live them. Yoga nidra puts us in touch with out psychic personality in which we believe.

For instance, once I met a man who was a professional thief and hardened criminal. After speaking with him for a long time, I finally convinced him that stealing was not the right thing to do. He even came to the point of feeling that he was a sinner and I thought I had performed a miracle and converted him. After five years I returned to this village and found he was still following the same profession. Why?

Because, I had only converted his intellect, not his inner self. I then remained in that village for six months and taught yoga nidra to the children and teachers in a school. The thief also attended these sessions, and he left his profession shortly after.

Intellectual conviction is one aspect of human life. We are all intellectually convinced about good and bad, but we also have to be emotionally receptive to everything that we need to assimilate. This is only possible when the distractions are withdrawn and the mind is calm and glowing on one smooth level. Then, whatever is impressed upon the mind becomes the corrective, the destiny, the directive.

If you know a person with bad habits, instruct him in the practice of yoga nidra. Wait until he is completely relaxed, and then make some positive suggestions. During this peak period of receptivity he will listen to you. The illogical, restless mind can be disobedient, but the yoga nidra mind is absolutely obedient.

Understanding human nature

Before applying yoga nidra for a specific purpose, it is necessary to study the nature of the person you are instructing so that the material you teach doesn't cause revolt I him. Although you may suggest great and sublime things in yoga nidra, the personality of another might oppose them. At same stage in our lives, most of us revolt against established rules, canons, or political order. This is because the ideas put into our mind are contrary to our real nature.

Everyone has his own nature b birth, and you cannot change it. In yoga this nature is known as swabhava (one's own emotional responses). Habits and religions can be changed, but not the nature. This nature continues with a person throughout his life and it is responsible for all his achievements and failures. In order to understand the person's nature, you will have to study his spontaneous behavior, not his intellectual behavior. Adults have been indoctrinated so much that their behavior e very rarely natural and spontaneous. However, children are very spontaneous and because of this they can attune themselves to the practice of yoga nidra easily and thus gain maximum benefits.

Sowing the seed of change

In yoga nidra, perhaps the most effective means of training the mind is found in sankalpa, which you make for yourself during each practice. Anything in life can fail you, but not the sankalpa made during yoga nidra.

Sankalpa is a Sanskrit word which can be translated as resolve or resolution. It is an important stage of yoga nidra and a powerful method of reshaping your personality and direction in the life along positive lines. If you know what you wish to achieve in life, sankalpa can be the creator of your destiny. Whether you want to become a painter, writer, orator or spiritual leader, you can train yourself through this simple technique. But first you must have a direction.

Most of us are floundering in the darkness, like ships without rudders, sails without sheet anchors. We don't know which way we are headed because we are being led, forced and pushed by the tempest of life. Sometimes we go the right way too, but that is usually because we are pushed into it; we had no choice. Using the technique of yoga nidra, however, we have a choice in life, and that choice is created by sankalpa or resolve.

The sankalpa takes the form of a short mental statement which is impressed on the subconscious mind when it is receptive and sensitive to auto-suggestion during yoga nidra.

The sankalpa has to be made, not when you are intellectually active, but when your mind is calm and quiet. Before and after the practice of yoga nidra there is a short period dedicated to sankalpa. The resolve you make at the beginning of the practice is like sowing the seed, and the resolve at the end is like irrigating it.

Sankalpa is a determination to become something or to do something in your life. Everyone has many desires and ambitions, however, most of them get lost. Exhausted or destroyed, just as when you scatter seeds in different places, some may grow but most will not. Sankalpa is a seed which you create and then sow in the bed of your mind. When the mind is clear, the sankalpa grows very well. If you first prepare the bed with fertilizer and manure, remove the weeds and grass, and then sow the seed, the plant will grow better. In the same way, you have the mind and you have an idea. If you prepare the mind and sow the seed properly, then it will grow in your life and become a powerful directive.

Many people make intellectual resolves which rarely ring results. This is because the resolve is either not planted deeply enough, made when the mind is disturbed or when the mind is not ready to receive it. For success, the sankalpa needs to be planted with strong willpower and feeling. It should be planted when the mind is relaxed and ready to accept and absorb it. Such a state occurs during yoga nidra.

Once the seed of sankalpa is planted deep in the subconscious, it gathers the vast forces of the mind in order to bring about its fruition. This deep and powerful seed will eventually manifest itself again and again at a conscious level and bring about changes in your personality and your life. Each of us has the power to remold our own mental structure. No personality is beyond reformation, and no fear or obsession is so deep rooted that it cannot be changed. The seed of change is found in the resolve made in yoga nidra. This resolution must be backed by deeply ingrained willpower in order to be carried through. Sankalpa is a powerful technique and it should be used intelligently. Although you can use the resolve for therapeutic purposes, it should rather used for a greater purposes. Such as achieving self-realization or the state of Samadhi. If you want to transform your pattern, that can be done by the power of sankalpa made during yoga nidra. If there is a negative tendency or habit in your life and you want to correct it, this can also be done through a positive sankalpa.

Sankalpa is a very powerful instrument in the hands of man. The purpose of sankalpa is not to fulfill desires, but to create strength in the structure of the mind. You can even say that sankalpa is the force of will. A sankalpa should only be made when one understands its real purpose and meaning. In the beginning most people do not know what sankalpa is or which sankalpa they should make.  Therefore, it is better to wait until understanding develops.

Sankalpa can create a direction for your whole life if you use it wisely. But if you utilize it only for the eradication of bad habits such as smoking or drinking, then you are misusing it. The purpose of sankalpa is to influence and transform the whole life pattern, not only physically but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Then, if you are a heavy smoker or drinker, you will automatically give it up. It is for this reason that we don't recommend the use of sankalpa for eliminating bad habits. It is better to choose a sankalpa that will change your whole personality so that you become more balanced, happy and fulfilled. When sankalpa becomes the directing force, everything you do in life becomes successful.

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

Swami Satyananda Saraswati                              Swami Sivananda Saraswati