You know there are those people who fall asleep fast and stay asleep, getting all the lovely benefits of that deep, restorative sleep. And then there are the rest of us. While I sometimes get to sleep deeply all the way through the night, at other times I struggle to fall asleep, or I wake up too early and find that I can’t get back to sleep. So when I heard about Yoga Nidra, or the yoga of sleep, I was instantly curious.
Scott Moore’s Practical Yoga Nidra is the perfect introduction to this form of yoga. And don’t let the word “yoga” scare you—these exercises are far more about the meditation, about breathing and centering your mind to release stress and find a relaxing place. He walks you through a 10-step process that will start you off setting an intention and moving you through a body scan, focusing on your breath, witnessing your thoughts, tapping into joy, and ending in integrating the full practice into your life.
Each step builds on the last, and each chapter (there’s a chapter for each of the ten steps) offers you a short meditation and a longer meditation that you can record and then listen to when you’re ready to go into your safe space and practice your Yoga Nidra. And if you happen to fall asleep during the meditation, there is no judgment. Moore understands that sometimes the work takes place on a deeper level, and sleep can help that.
In each chapter, as you’re learning the steps, he recommends that you keep a notebook nearby and jot some notes about how you were feeling during the meditation and what thoughts came up for you, giving you a chance to reflect on how the exercise effected you.
I really love the ideas in this book. I have already read dozens (hundreds?) of articles about how to sleep better, and it seems like they all say the same things, about electronics and lighting and reducing caffeine and all that. This is the first book I’ve seen that offered me a genuinely different idea for sleeping better, and it offers other benefits as well, like reducing stress and breathing better. I haven’t tried all the steps yet, but I have tried some, and I do feel more centered, more present. I look forward to having more time to dedicate to this practice soon.
A copy of Practical Yoga Nidra was provided to me by Rockridge Press through the Callisto Media Publisher’s Club, with many thanks.