Nidra
The science behind sleep
In our society today about 33% of people report feeling extreme stress, 77% of people experience stress that affects their health, 73% of people experience stress that affects their mental health and 48% of people have trouble sleeping because of stress. And, the CDC asserts that 80% of our medical expenditures are stress related. Stress is fast becoming the #1 problem our society collectively faces. The reason being, is CHRONIC stress, stress that is continual and cumulative. Chronic stress creates an overproduction of cortisol which can lead to an enlarged amygdala, our fear center or anxiety engine, and keep us stuck in “activation.” This is a big problem, because our nervous systems are only designed to stay activated between 60-90 seconds before they need to complete a deactivation cycle in order to regulate and stay regulated overtime. When this process is interrupted, it burns out our allostatic load, or capacity, to hold and process stress in a healthy way. This leads to distress of the mind and dis-ease of the body and can ultimately land us in a functional freeze or chronic, hyper vigilant patterns.
And that’s where Yoga Nidra comes in…
Nidra, often referred to as the science behind sleep, is a sleep based meditation technique designed to keep you in a wake state. This allows for the benefit of meditation and relaxation to work in tandem, dropping you into your parasympathetic nervous system and delta brainwave state and allowing for the opportunity to change your relationship with stressful thoughts patterns and processes. Nidra helps you to release stress from the body so the nervous system can begin to self-regulate and it does this by pulling cortisol out of the MindBody while increasing the production of serotonin and oxytocin. Over time, this shrinks the amygdala and grows the hippocampus (serotonin is hippocampus food) helping to bring the pre-frontal cortex, aka the executive decision maker or “regulator” back on line, helping to increase balance between reaction and response.
The promise of a consistent Nidra practice is more effortlessly riding the waves of an overwhelmingly stressful situation, by moving through cycles of activation and deactivation, all while staying in your center of gravity and maintaining clarity in your decision making, fostering peace of mind. 
Ultimately, anxiety and worry become a room that you visit instead of the house that you live in. The house itself is transformed into peaceful home full of many rooms to hold your differing life experiences. And spiritually speaking, Nidra is where its at because it helps you tune out the noise and activity so you can drop back into the silence and stillness of your inner Divine Universe… bringing you back home to your Oneness with all things.
In January, 2020 I entered into, and completed, my Yoga Nidra training with the Amrit Yoga Institue through SWIHA. I’m certified in the “I AM” Yoga Nidra technique which uses a variety of breath and energy techniques to help not only reduce stress but change our relationship to it. Through the I AM technique the Mindbody is given an opportunity to experience and process stress, grief, anxiety, addiction and many more very real struggles we face today. I AM excited to share this healing modality with you.
If you want to cultivate some peace in your life, roll out your mat and practice with me.
Yoga