Yoga Nidra Teacher Training Second session notes

The seven Matrikas, mothers of creation, Brahmani, Vaishanvi, Maheshvari, Kumari, Varahi, Indrani, Chamunda

The stages of Yoga Nidra1. Preparation - Shavasana2. Preparatory Relaxation - Breath awareness3. Sankalpa - Resolution4. Rotation of Consciousness - Body scanning5. Opposites - Feelings and Sensations 6. Chakra7. Breath8. Image Visualization9. Self10. Sankalpa11. Returning

Recap of first sessionThe first three stages of yoga nidra were covered, defining:Relaxation - A response, not a commandYoga Nidra - Union with Sleep, a state and a method for getting there1. Preparation - ShavasanaThe first step is finding the posture, shavasan. To become completely comfortable, physically and mentally prepared for lying on the back for the given amount of time.2. Preparatory Relaxation - Breath awarenessWhen a cat or dog lies down to sleep, first it will walk around its self several times, preparing a bed. Then upon lying down will usually give a deep sigh, a final sign of letting go. This is the first two steps, prepar-ing our place and posture, then using the breath to let go of mental ef-fort. After preparing the body in the posture of shavasana, breath aware-ness is done for a short while, as it has a calming effect on the mind, allowing the resolution to reach deeper. Focusing on the breath is like throwing a banana to the monkey mind, to keep it occupied. Then it will become satisfied and quieten down, and be ready to listen to the inner voice of intention. If due to the situation a sankalpa is not required, this second step can also be left out, so that rotating awareness through the body becomes an extension of the first step, shavasana.3. Sankalpa - ResolutionThe articulation of what one truly desires.

PawanamuktasanaPawana - wind or air. Mukta - release or liberate.When a lot of time is spent still in front of a screen, the neural network of the body gradually weakens, making actions uncoordinated and clumsy. During long plane flights the ankles can swell with blood due to the passive seated posture. After extended periods of convalescence in bed, entire organs may begin to malfunction from the immobility. Movement keeps the whole body system flowing and is essential to its dynamism and longevity.

Pawanamuktasana bring us back into the body by doing simple ex-ercises progressively working though the entire body, starting at the point furthest away, the toes, and ending at the head. It strengthens the connections in the brain that send and receive signals to the individual parts, stimulates the blood circulation and loosens up the joints. A physical journey through the body in preparation for the mental journey in yoga nidra. Muscular tension and stiffness are obstacles to relaxation, first physical tension has to be recognised and addressed.Pawan is related to prana, so Pawanamuktasana can also be defined as the postures that free the life force or vitality. Prana is transmitted throughout the body by the nadis, which are de-fined as channels or pathways of energy, and a stimulating massage is given to them by the exercises.

Rotation of ConsciousnessIn order to prevent the conscious mind from becoming completely with-drawn, which would result in sleep, awareness is maintained by con-centrating on the auditory channel. When the senses are disconnected for some time in yoga nidra, it is the fifth stage of raja yoga known as pratyahara.There are a number of pathways in which to move awareness through the body, also known as body scanning or rotation of awareness. More attention is given to the hands and face than other parts of the body as these take up a proportionally larger area in the brain. Generally one starts with the thumb of the right hand down to the little toe of the right foot, and similarly down the left side. Then up the back and down the front. Then awareness is brought to the major limbs, legs, arms, head and torso. It is also possible to end the external rotation at the perineum, then go to internal rotation with the chakras, starting with mooladhara.

NyasaMoving the mind from one part of the body to another in a definite sequence is derived from a technique within tantric ritual practice dat-ing back to ca. 500 CE, called Nyasa, which can be translated as placing, whereby various parts of the body are touched, mentally and physically, whilst pronouncing a mantra and visualizing a specific deity. There are many kinds of nyasa, some of which are highly complex and elaborate, effectively involving inscribing a yantra on one's own body, and it is a common practice before a ritual or Puja to cleanse and prepare the various layers of the body. Bahir Matrika Nyasa (external, including the body) and Antar Matrika Nyasa (internal, including the chakras) are the main ones used.Matrikas are defined as the mothers of creation who represent the deep roots of each vibration of sound from which letters, words and language are shaped, the subtle energy that is behind thought and word. In the Gospel of John we read, “In the beginning was the Word.” In Hindu mythology, Brahma the creator, first showed himself as a sound, vibrat-ing outward, called Matrika Shakti, the inherent creative energy behind the letters that make up words. Matrika means mother, and refers to a group of goddesses who are always gathered together, mentioned as early as 1400 BCE in the Rig Veda, believed to originally personify the Seven Sisters star cluster. Matrika also stands for the sound correspond-ing to each letter of the Sanskrit alphabet which are infused with the

power of Shakti. The Matrikas are considered to be the subtle form of the letters, which combine to make syllables, which lead to sentences, and it is of these elements that mantra are composed. The power of mantra derives from the fact that the letters of the alphabet are forms of the goddess. The letters on the petals of the chakra yantras are the 50 letters of sanskrit. One can also add the instruction to mentally hear and feel the vibration of the Pranava mantra Om at each part.

Marma pointsThe 4th century work from India, the Sushruta Samhita, identifies 107 vital points of the human body. Of these 64 were classified as being lethal if accurately struck with the fist or baton. The work’s of Sushruta, often referred to as the Father of Surgery, formed the basis of the school of Ayurveda medicine, which was taught alongside various Indian mar-tial arts that had an emphasis on pressure point fighting. Marma points are positions on the body where flesh, veins, arteries, tendon, bones and joints meet. While a healer uses these points to heal, for a warrior the very same spots could be used to harm.Marma points are grouped according to the region of the body, 22 on the legs (eleven in each leg), 22 on the arms, 12 on the chest and stom-ach, 14 on the back, and 37 on the head and neck. The mind is consid-ered the 108th marma.

NeuronsA neuron is an electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits in-formation through electrical and chemical signals. These signals between neurons occur via synapses, specialized connections with other cells. Neurons can connect to each other to form neural networks. Neurons are the core components of the brain and spinal cord of the central nervous system. Specialized types of neurons include: sensory neurons which re-spond to touch, sound, light and all other stimuli affecting the cells of the sensory organs that then send signals to the spinal cord and brain, mo-tor neurons that receive signals from the brain and spinal cord to cause muscle contractions and affect glandular outputs.

HomunculusA holographic representation of the body on the brain, Latin for little man - the body within the brain, anatomi-cal divisions of the primary motor cortex (i.e., portion of the human brain responsible for the processing and integration of motor informa-tion) and the primary somatosensory cortex (i.e., portion of the human brain responsible for the processing and integration of tactile informa-tion). The functions of the brain depend on the ability of neurons to

transmit and respond to electrochemical signals with other cells.The brain is the physical mediator of consciousness, linking mind, body and emotions into one harmonious unit. The progressive movement of awareness through the parts of the body in yoga nidra not only induces physical relaxation, but also clears all the nerve pathways to the brain, both those governing the physical activity and those concerned with incoming information. At the same time, a total run through the brain surface is made, from inside out. In this way, yoga nidra relaxes the mind through relaxing the body.Somatosensory & Motor Cortices The somatosensory cortex receives all sensory input from the body. Neurons that sense feelings in our skin, pain, visual, or auditory stimuli, all send their information to the somatosensory cortex for processing.

controls the right side of the body, and the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body. Every part of the body is represented in the corti-ces, and these representations are arranged somatotopically, the foot is next to the leg which is next to the trunk which is next to the arm and the hand. The amount of brain matter devoted to any particular body part represents the amount of control that the primary motor cortex has over that body part. For example, a lot of space is required to control the complex movements of the hand and fingers, and these body parts have larger representations in the brain than the legs, whose muscle patterns are relatively simple.

Each neuron takes its information to a specific place in the somatosen-sory cortex, which gets to work on figuring out what the information means. The role of the motor cortex is to generate neural impulses that control the execution of movement and coordinate our bodily movements. Signals cross the bodys midline to activate skeletal muscles on the op-posite side of the body, meaning that the left hemisphere of the brain

OppositesAfter relaxation of the somatosensory and motor surfaces of the brain, the practice shifts to the arousal of sensations and feelings. The awaken-ing and intensification of opposite feelings is an integral part of the prac-tice of yoga nidra and comes generally after the rotation of awareness. Its purpose is to help induce deeper states of relaxation and to awaken and perhaps relive emotional knots in the mind as a means to their re-moval. The six main types of feelings utilised in the practice are: heavi-ness-lightness, heat-cold, pain-pleasure. These are suggested during the session, for example, develop the sensation of heat and then drop it at will. Or try to remember a vivid pain and relive it. Bring it from the past into the present and then drop it from the mind. Create coldness and then remove it; create heaviness and then remove it; create pleasure and then remove it.Feelings such as heaviness and heat are especially useful for induc-ing physical relaxation of the body as a preliminary to deeper states of relaxation. The physical body will literally sink heavy into the floor as the body releases chronic muscular tensions and holding patterns and as the mind begins to detach from the physical body. This letting go of the physical body happens because all the nerve pathways to the brain, both those governing the physical activity and those receiving incoming in-formation, are being cleared as awareness progressively moves through

Increased dopamine release by 65% during yoga nidraTroels W Kjaer et al, Cognitive Brain Research (2002) In the brain, dopamine functions as a neurotransmitter, a chemical re-leased by neurons to send signals to other neurons. The brain includes several distinct dopamine pathways, one of which plays a major role in reward motivated behaviour. Most types of reward increase the level of dopamine in the brain, and many addictive drugs increase dopamine neuronal activity. Other brain dopamine pathways are involved in mo-tor control and in controlling the release of various hormones. Several important diseases of the nervous system are associated with dysfunctions of the dopamine system, and some of the key medications used to treat them work by altering the effects of dopamine. Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative condition causing tremor and motor impair-ment, is caused by a loss of dopamine secreting neurons in an area of the midbrain called the substantia nigra. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is also associated with decreased dopamine activity

parts of the body in the order those areas of the body are mapped out in the cortices of the brain.Emotions, such as jealousy, anger, fear and so on, can also be awakened by remembering past experiences. These in particular are powerful in cleaning the mind of accumulated tensions. In one medieval yoga text, there is a description of samadhi as the union of opposites. We become free from extremes when we can witness these opposites with equal interest.Yoga nidra develops a detached outlook, maturity and control of emotional reactions and autonomic responses. In our day-to-day life, it would mean better management of stressful situations through in-creased perceptual awareness and enhanced emotional control.

Sensations and feelingsThe first experience to be awakened is the feeling of heaviness. Physical heaviness is a whole body sensation which accompanies deep muscu-loskeletal relaxation. For deep seated tensions and contractions within the network of muscles, the instruction of heaviness acts as a command from the brain, encouraging them to let go. After intensifying the feeling of heaviness, it is then superseded by the opposite sensation of light-ness: "awaken a sensation of lightness and weightlessness in all parts of the body, your body feels so light, it seems to be floating away from the floor". For most people, negative feelings are harder to control than positive ones. In the manifestation of opposites, we can also submit voluntar-ily to threatening emotions such as fear, sadness and anger by reliving them. While doing so, we maintain a state of deep relaxation and witness awareness to the whole process. To experience coldness without being cold, to experience pain without being in pain.

Imagination and visualizationThe vrittis are continuously active in our mind, so we need to develop objective awareness in order to see exactly what is happening around us and within us without being affected by it. Then we have to develop concentration through the process of visualization. Concentration has to be a uniform experience of one-pointedness, without creating any kind of internal reaction or tension. In order to obtain this uniform concen-tration, yoga uses the techniques of visualization and imagination. The ability to imagine, to visualize, is actually expressing the force of the mind. There are many forms of imagination. Imagination can be false or real, fantasy or awareness of something that exists in real life. We can

observe an experience which is stored within us in the form of a memo-ry from the past. It does not matter whether that experience is physical or mental. The experience of heat or cold is a physical experience. The experience of pleasure, inner satisfaction, contentment and enjoyment is an inner experience. The experience of pain, suffering and hurt is an inner experience. We can bring that experience to the surface in the form of imagination. By being able to recognise these functions and learning how the mind works, this is the foundation to seeing your true nature as separate from the mind. Once you are able to observe without reaction, you will be able to more easily differentiate the mind and all of its fluc-tuations from your true nature.

VrittisVritti means a whirlpool, a vortex or a circular activity which has no beginning and no end, and are fluctuations, or thoughts, of the mind, citta. Yoga is the means of stilling this mental activity and then once the mind is crystal-clear, we begin to perceive ourselves and the objects of the world the way they are; our perception is no longer distorted. Like the surface of a mountain lake on a clear moonlit night (our mind) when still, reflects perfectly the full moon (reality). But with even a small rip-ple, caused by a vritti, the moon’s appearance is distorted. As long as we identify with whatever the mind becomes occupied with, the Self is obscured. Patanjali lists five kinds of fluctuations, which can be painful or non-painful.Patanjali Yoga Sutras verses 2-6 of Samadhi PadaYoga citta vritti nirodhah - Yoga is the stopping of the fluctuations of the mind.Tada drastuh svarupe vastanam - Then the Self is revealed, established in its own essential nature.Vritti sarupyam itaratra - In other states there is identification with the fluctuations.Vrttayah pancatayyah klistaklistah - The fluctuations are fivefold and are painful and non-painful.Pramana viparyaya vikalpa nidra smrtayah - Right knowledge, wrong knowledge, imagination, sleep and memory.Pramana: Right knowledge, valid proof, seeing clearly, correct per-ception, something we know based on fact or observation. Three kinds,direct experience inference and trustworthy testimony. Viparyaya: Wrong knowledge, misconception, delusion, misperceptions

that lead to false conclusions, not seeing clearly Vikalpa: Imagination is an idea that we create in our minds. Other trans-lations of vikalpa are: doubt, indecision, daydreaming. Nidra: The fluctuations of the mind which is based on the absence of any content is sleep. Deep sleep, the absence of conscious thought. Nidra takes place on the basis of inertia and absence of mental activity. When any one of the other types of thought patterns is present, the mind is usually engaged or entangled in those images. When all four of them subside, or when the mind is not involved in them, there comes the state of sleep. Alternatively, when one is free from all five of them, and remains conscious, that is samadhi. In contrast to the other four kinds of vrittis we cannot consciously observe that we are in it, otherwise it would be called yoga nidra and not just nidra. Smriti: Memory is the mental retention of a conscious experience. All conscious experiences leave an impression and are stored as memory.

ShatkarmasThe hatha yoga texts introduce six purificatory practises.NetiNasal cleaning with salt water. To breathe through the nose is vital for the overall well being of the body and neti helps to keep this passage open and functioning properly.DhautiCleansing of the digestive tract and divided into four parts. 1. Antar (internal) DhautiVatsara dhauti - swallowing the air into the stomach. Varisara dhauti - shankhaprakshalana, warm salty water is drunk and evacuated through the bowels. Vahnisara dhauti - agnisara kriya, involves moving the fire in the body. 2. Danta (teeth) DhautiCleaning of the teeth with a stick, usually neem. Includes tongue, ears, sinuses and the eyes.3. Hrid (heart) DhautiVastra dhauti - A strip of wet cloth is swallowed and then taken out.Danda dhauti - inserting a stick down the throat until it reaches the stomach. Vaman dhauti or vyaghra kriya - food is vomited up after a meal. Kunjal kriya - warm saline water is drunk and then vomitted out. 4. Moola Shodhana - inserting the middle finger, or turmeric root.

BastiJala (water) Basti - cleans the colon by sucking water into the anus.Sthala (ground) Basti - one sucks air into the anus instead of water.NauliContracting and isolating the rectus abdominii muscles, which are the two long vertical muscles situated in front of the abdomen, running under the centre of the ribcage near the diaphragm to the pubic bone. The Sanskrit word nau means ship, for when nauli is perfected then the abdominal muscles create the same wavelike motion produced by a ship at sea. The best time is early in the morning before breakfast. KapalbhatiKapal means the skull or forehead, and bhati means shine or illuminate. Kapalbhati reverses the normal breathing process as the exhalation is active while inhalation is passive.Tratak Dharana or concentration is the fixing of the mind on one place, exter-nally on any object or point, or internally on any chakra or part of the body or abstract idea. Having controlled the Prana through Pranayama and the Indriyas, senses, through Pratyahara, the mind should then be fixed on something. In Dharana there is only one vritti or wave in the mind. The mind assumes the form of only one object. A perennial flow of dharana is called dhyana or meditation. If dharana is the drop, dhya-na is the river Tratak is a method of concentration that involves staring at a single point or object. The object can be either external to the body, in which case the practice is called bahir tratak (outer gazing), or the object of awareness can be internal, in which case it is called antar tratak (inner gazing).One first of all gazes at an external point or object for some time, then closes the eyes and gazes at the after-image of the same object. Almost any object can be used: A candle flame, Aum symbol, flower, black dot on a white sheet of paper, the rising and setting sun, moon, a star, nose tip, eyebrow centre, the sky, water, Ishta Devata (personal deity), a crystal, yantra or mandala, darkness, a picture or statuette. A candle is an excel-lent object for tratak, especially for beginners, as its brightness seems to fascinate, to hold one’s attention. It has an almost magnetic effect on the eyes and on one’s awareness. Furthermore, it leaves a very clear after-image when one practises inner tratak.

Nadi Shodhana - purifying the nadisIn addition to the chakras, the Tantras describe a network of subtle channels known as nadis through which the life force, prana, circulate. Nadi means current or stream. Of these, Ida, Pingala and Sushumna are considered the most important. Breathing exercises can alter the pH and pressure of the blood, enrich it with oxygen, strengthen the lungs and balance the nervous system. They can also be used to train the body’s reaction to stressful situations and dampen the production of harmful stress hormones.The breath is a mirror to the mental and emotional state, becoming fast-er and shallower in moments of excitement, stress or fear, and slower and deeper during relaxing activities and sleep. But it can also be turned around. Willfully slowing the breath induces calmness and greater men-tal clarity. The breath rate directly affects the vagus nerve, the longest of the cranial nerves, so named because it wanders like a vagrant, sending out fibres from the brainstem to the organs. The vagus nerve oversees a vast range of crucial functions, communicating nerve impulses in the parasympathetic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system governs the body’s sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (relaxation) responses, and controls the ac-tions and reactions of the body’s systems, including the cardiovascular, respiratory, and digestive systems. The purpose of the alternate nostril breathing is to balance the ida and pingala nadis, which also refers to the two hemispheres of the brain. The brain cortex is divided into two clear hemispheres, each having highly specialized functions and receive sensory information from the opposite side of the body, so that the right eye goes to the left brain and vice versa. The right hemisphere, stimulated by an open left nostril, ida, is connect-ed to creativity, introspection, music, visual and peaceful activities. The word ida means comfort, and has a lunar energy and feminine nature, with a cooling effect and pale or white in colour. It corresponds to the river Ganges.The left hemisphere, stimulated by right nostril dominance, pingala, is connected to language, logic, rational, verbal and more energetic activities. When you need to retrieve a fact, the left brain pulls it from memory. Pingala means tawny, a brownish-orange colour, and has a solar energy and masculine nature, a warming effect and red or black in colour. It corresponds to the river Yamuna.

Sushumna, meaning most gracious or joyful mind, interpenetrates the cerebrospinal axis, and in swara yoga is associated with both nostrils being open and free to the passage of air. Saraswati, Sushumna connects the base chakra to the crown chakra, making the way for the ascent of Kundalini. From Muladhara chakra, ida and pingala alternate from the right to left sides at each chakra until they reach ajna chakra where they meet again with sushumna, then continuing beyond where ida and pin-gala end in the left and right nostrils respectively.

The Siva Samhita - Chapter V - PrayagBetween the Ganges and the Yamuna, flows the Saraswati.

By bathing at their junction, the sacred triveni, Prayag, the fortunate one obtains salvation.

Ida is the Ganges and pingala is the daughter of the sun, the Jamuna. In the middle, sushumna, is the Saraswati.

The place where all three join is a most inaccessible one. They who perform mental bathing at the junction

of the white ida and the black pingala, become free from all sins, and reach eternal Brahma.

They who meditate daily on this place, receive the unfading reward. They who bathe once at this sacred place, become a pure minded Yogi.

Basic Practice of Nadi ShodhanaThe right hand is used, and the index and middle fingers are either folded to the palm or extended so they rest at the eyebrow centre. Close the right nostril with the thumb and inhale through the left nostril. Close the left nostril with the ring finger, release the thumb and exhale out of the right. Inhale through the right, close it with the thumb, open the left with the ring finger, and exhale out of the left. This is one round. The amount and variety of rounds, such as lengthening the breath and adding kumbhaka, retention, depends on the level of practice. Since the right arm will be kept lifted up during the practice, and may feel heavy, the left hand can be used to support the right arm.