Our desire for happiness is the root of all desires and the main force behind distraction.

The process of Yoga Nidra addresses desire and how it acts on the body-mind and begins with a conscious decision to remain alert, awake and aware of all phenomenon that is arising throughout each session of Yoga Nidra. 

Remaining aware requires:

• interest
• motivation
• patience
• persistence
• consistent practice

These same qualities are the ones that support our ability to recognize when the mind is distracted.

When misperceptions that typically bind us in dissatisfaction and suffering are exposed,

recognition of True Nature arises.

Thoughts, images, beliefs, feelings, emotions desires, sounds, tastes, expectations..........

Yoga Nidra is a form of mindfulness training where we begin the process of reclaiming a higher functioning of the mind: we decide where to put our mind, what to do with our mind. 

We step out of past reactionary conditioning and step into ‘atha’ - right here - right now - fresh, flexible intelligence based in this present moment.

As we abide in present moment wakeful intelligence, the mind no longer habitually fights with changing thoughts.  Then attention is free to recognize the misperception of dualistic thinking.

The Sleep of the Yogi

During Yoga Nidra we intentionally enter into a state that closely approximates sleep, during which all the movements of the mind spontaneously appear. 

But unlike sleep, in which the mind unconsciously identifies with its movement, in Yoga Nidra we bear witness to the mind’s movements.  We remain aware and awake.

We don’t fall into unconscious identification with thoughts even as the body-mind enters into sleep.

This is the paradoxical process of being awake while asleep, which orients us in the recognition of True Nature and its active/passive expression of witnessing Presence in which the body-mind arises, unfolds and dissolves............

Yoga Nidra Inquiry:

Few people ever question the validity of the notions they have about the states of being:  ie: sleep and waking. 

Could it be that waking state thoughts and objects are also fabrications and projections of the mind, as empty of substance as dream images?

Today we have the opportunity to explore and discover the truth of this fact, first hand.