Julie Lusk Talks about Yoga Nidra and the Profound Renewal It Delivers
"Yoga sages from long ago figured out a systematic way to reliably relieve tension, layer after layer, to reveal an inborn sense of unconditional peace and joy that’s within all of us."--Julie Lusk
We hope you've sampled Julie Lusk’s guided meditation audio, Yoga Nidra: Guided Meditations for Relaxation & Renewal. It's a perfect complement to the season and the sense of renewal January offers us, in the form of a brand new year.
Before Julie recorded it for us, we'd been getting steady requests for a yoga nidra offering, and knew there’d be a strong response, but the enthusiasm and demand has surprised and delighted us.
Listen to what Julie herself has to say about yoga nidra – it’s pretty compelling.
Here she is:
I was stunned the first time I experienced yoga nidra (pronounced nih-drah). I didn’t know what hit me. Never before had I felt so deeply at ease, inside and out. It cut right through the upheaval and restlessness that had been plaguing me for ages.
Without effort, I was guided to an inner place of peace that somehow felt solid, yet spacious. Right then and there, I knew that I needed more, but I was afraid it was a fluke.
It wasn’t. Each time I practiced, I discovered new levels of replenishing relaxation and renewed energy that spilled over into my daily life.
This inspired me to learn as much as possible about yoga nidra. It kicked off years of study, practice, and the desire to share it with others. Recently, I even wrote a book about it, Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief.
Yoga nidra means “yogic sleep,” and it’s generally done lying down.
It’s a comprehensive meditative practice for going far beyond deep relaxation and mindfulness to a place of natural peace and quiet that is tremendously healing for the body, mind, and spirit.
It can also be practiced at bedtime as a sleep aid. Layers of stress are cleared out so they don’t follow you to bed and disturb sleeping. In fact, while not a substitute for actual sleep, one hour of yoga nidra practice is equivalent to 4 hours of sleep. This is due to the types of brain waves experienced along the way.
The yoga nidra process makes it possible to clear out useless habits and bring about positive and permanent changes in your life by using a sankalpa during certain stages. A sankalpa is a special, self-selected resolve for setting an intention. Sample sankalpas are “I am courageous” or “I have abundance.” Other ones are “My life is worthwhile” or “I welcome happiness.” What you choose is up to you. Success is fortified by the fertile brain wave state experienced during yoga nidra and by staying with the same one from practice to practice until it becomes a reality and takes root. Consistency counts.
Yoga nidra can be used to gain mastery over physical body functions such as breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, metabolism, body temperature and brain waves. It can boost your immune system, decrease inflammation, and reduce pain. It clears the mind and helps concentration. It becomes faster and easier to bounce back from mood swings and emotional upsets. Creativity and intuition are stoked.
As with most worthwhile things, regular practice yields the best results.
By the way, Julie Lusk, M.Ed., E-RYT-500 has more than 35 years of expertise teaching and writing about stress relief, yoga, relaxation training, guided imagery, and meditation.
Enjoy!
All Best,
Belleruth
