Yoga nidra classes in Tenerife
Guided deep rest, lying down.
Yoga nidra is a guided practice done lying down, in which a facilitator's voice leads your attention through the body, the breath and images while you stay still. The name is Sanskrit for yogic sleep: the aim is to rest deeply while staying faintly aware. You do nothing except listen.
No classes scheduled in the next two weeks.
What Yoga nidra does for you
You get to lie down, get warm and let someone else do the steering. Many people sink into a state somewhere between awake and asleep and come out feeling as if they have had a long nap. It suits evenings, tired weeks, and anyone who finds sitting meditation hard. Plenty of people say they feel calmer and more rested afterward.
It suits you if
- you are tired and want to rest properly
- sitting still in meditation feels like a struggle
- you sleep lightly and want to try deep rest
- you like being guided rather than finding your own way
Read the full guide to Yoga nidraWhat a class is like, your first time, history and the words you will hear
What a class is like
Classes usually last 30 to 75 minutes, sometimes as the closing part of a yin or restorative class. You lie on your back with a bolster under your knees, a blanket over you and maybe an eye pillow, and you stay there the whole time. The facilitator speaks slowly through stages: settling, a short intention, moving your attention around the body, breath awareness, contrasting sensations like heavy and light, and images, before bringing you back. You don't move or talk, and there is often soft music or bowls in the background. Falling asleep happens and is fine.
Your first time
- Wear warm, loose clothes and socks, since your body cools down when you lie still.
- Arrive a few minutes early to build your nest: mat, bolster under the knees, blanket, something for your head.
- Go to the toilet before class so you can stay put.
- Tell the facilitator if lying on your back is uncomfortable; lying on your side works too.
Good to know
- You lie still with your eyes closed for a long time; if that feels uneasy, keep your eyes open or shift position whenever you need.
- Some classes use Sanskrit terms or ask you to choose a personal intention, called a sankalpa; you can keep it simple or skip it.
Where it comes from
The phrase is old. The Mahabharata describes the god Vishnu resting in yoganidra between cosmic cycles, a goddess named Yoganidra appears in the Devi Mahatmya, and medieval hatha yoga texts use the word for a deep meditative state. None of these describe a guided technique.
The guided practice is modern. It draws on Western relaxation methods of the late 19th and early 20th century, such as Edmund Jacobson's progressive muscle relaxation, and on Indian tantric practices of placing attention on parts of the body. In 1973 the French yoga writer Dennis Boyes published the first known book to use yoga nidra in this modern sense.
Swami Satyananda Saraswati, founder of the Bihar School of Yoga, made it widely known with his 1976 book Yoga Nidra, which set out stages still used today: settling, a resolve called sankalpa, rotating attention through the body, breath awareness, opposite sensations, visualization and returning. In 2014 an Australian Royal Commission examined child sexual abuse at a Satyananda Yoga ashram in New South Wales in the 1970s and 1980s, where witnesses also made allegations against Satyananda himself.
Others adapted the practice, including Swami Rama and the American psychologist Richard Miller, whose iRest program brought yoga nidra into veterans' clinics and hospitals. In Berlin you find it as evening classes, as the last part of yin and restorative classes, and paired with live sound, in German and in English.
Words you will hear
- Nidra
- Sanskrit for sleep.
- Sankalpa
- A short personal resolve or intention, repeated silently near the start and the end.
- Savasana
- Corpse pose: lying flat on your back, the position for yoga nidra.
- Rotation of consciousness
- Moving your attention quickly from body part to body part as the facilitator names them.
- Pratyahara
- Sanskrit for withdrawal of the senses: turning inward until only the voice connects you to the outside.