We find ourselves arriving towards the end of our time together. In this piece, the penultimate post of this series, I wanted to talk about some of the stages that are found towards the end of the iRest form of Yoga Nidra that aren’t always included in other forms. Such as the 'experiencing joy' stage, the 'witnessing' stage and the 'pure awareness' stage. These stages can have different names depending on the form of nidra being offered.
Happiness as a Problem to Be Solved
Before we dive in I wanted to talk about joy generally. Our human brains are primed to problem solve for our survival, but for many of us our survival needs are no longer about life or death and this leaves our problem solving minds to run riot and continuously find new problems to solve. In many cases we have found the ultimate problem to solve and that is the problem of happiness. What if joy was not a problem to solve but instead our innate state. A state that we do not need to find, but one that is revealed to us through simply being, whether in Yoga Nidra, in connection with ourselves or with nature.
‘Living in the realms of our minds in search of the ultimate answer to becoming happier may be where are continuing to set ourselves up for seeking something that we will never find’ - Claire Thompson
This was truly a break through moment for me, when I came to see that every time I stepped into the forests undistracted and present, I felt at home, purposeful and connected without needing to do anything at all. We are a part of nature and to extract ourselves is to leave a part of us behind.
Have you ever wandered lonely through the woods? And everything there feels just as it should. You're part of the life there, you're part of something good. Have you ever wandered lonely through the woods? - Avett Brothers, Have You Ever
For me Yoga Nidra is another way of accessing the innate joy that I hold inside. All that is required is that I drop any agenda or seeking and simply rest back into the simplicity of just being.
Exploring Joy with Sensitivity
The exploration of this stage can be tricky because joy or bliss or contentment or peace - or whatever particular flavour of joy you connect to most readily when you return to your innate state of being - can be really deeply buried during times of grief, heartache, depression, numbness or any other challenging experience that life hands us. Yet approached with care it may be possible to remember our innate state of joy in spite of it all and this can be incredibly supportive for healing. Other times this offering may shut a person down to the practice, particularly if they feel they are unable to access something that is being suggested. There is such a thing as a permissive approach to Yoga Nidra and I often find that more useful when approaching stages like this. Just as we might use permissive and invitational language in a physical yoga class, we can offer permissive and invitational language when describing sensory or emotional experiences within the practice of yoga nidra.
So I approach this stage tentatively if at all. There is, of course, great benefit to explicitly mentioning these experiences because it can facilitate noticing and welcoming them in but there is also something to be said for them being implicit. In many ways it can be even more powerful to stumble upon these states of being without being guided there.
Joy as our Birthright
One of the reasons I might use it as an explicit stage is that - speaking from personal experience, and I am aware of others who feel or have felt similarly - I have historically, and sometimes still today, found actually letting the joy in challenging. I have had a rather military approach to life and feelings at points and being reminded to let the enjoyable experiences in can be a welcome reminder that life is for living and that we deserve to experience pleasure, bliss and joy. We don't need to earn it. It is our birthright and to experience true bliss and joy from within is often correlated with less of a need to seek out secondary pleasures such as caffeine, TV, social media, alcohol, drugs, unhealthy attitudes to sexuality etc.
This stage has proven to be highly effective in the treatment of PTSD. For those of us who have experienced PTSD, we know that it can lead to a life devoid of joy and to find a safe way to access this emotion and the associated sensations can be life affirming.
Studies have even shown that regularly experiencing joy produces positive health changes to the body, mind and nervous system, such as strengthening the immune system, boosting energy, diminishing pain and protecting the body from the damaging effects of stress.
‘The practice of iRest will not create joy. Joy is already inside you, waiting to be released. Joy exists independently from any other state of your mind or body. Joy exists without a reason. Joy just is. Like your ability to learn a language or to love another human being, joy is a natural capacity that’s yours at birth. That joy is your birthright explains why, even in the midst of pain and suffering, loss and grief, sadness and depression, you can still feel joy. Joy is always present, waiting to be experienced in the midst of what is, no matter what is.’ ~ Richard Miller
Witnessing and Pure Awareness
Some other stages not often offered in the traditional modalities of Yoga Nidra are the Witnessing and Pure Awareness stages.
The witnessing stage usually arrives after the opposites exploration and is an opportunity to explore moving from the subjectivity of ‘I’ to the objectivity of awareness. It can be incredibly powerful, especially when working with very strong emotions, sensations and experiences, to be able to step in and out of being the experiencer and the witness of the experience. Both in terms of learning to be more embodied if we tend to dissociate and learning to healthily detach a little if we tend to become too embroiled in our thoughts and feelings. To become the witness is not to detach from the experience permanently but rather the practice of breathing a little space, a buffer if you will, between our emotions and ourselves. It can provide an opportunity to work on broadening and widening our window of tolerance and can be incredibly useful in helping us to observe how an emotion is unfolding in terms of thoughts and sensations from a more objective position as the witness.
With some practice and over time it might begin to be possible to find the part of you that is always at ease even during times of challenge. An absolute Godsend amidst difficult times.
The pure awareness stage is usually found towards the end of the practice and offers an opportunity to experience yourself in a state of simply being. A state where nothing is expected of you and there is nothing to do. A place to dissolve into awareness. It can sometimes feel as though the body is asleep and the mind is aware, drifting in and out of conscious awareness.
Next week, our final week, we close out by covering the closing of a Yoga Nidra; including the 'existential explorations' stage, externalising (the opposite to internalising at the start), the hypnopompic state, post-hypnotic suggestion, integrating Yoga Nidra into every day life and returning back to waking consciousness.
Carly x
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More information: www.moonforestflow.com/yoganidra
Links:
Uma and Nirlipta ~ https://www.yoganidranetwork.org/
References:
The iRest Program for Healing PTSD (book)