According to renowned yoga master Yogi Amrit Desai, Yoga Nidra can help individuals to reshape their life. It has been used to eliminate stress; banish self-destructive unconscious fears, behavior patterns and habits; and help people to rebuild their health, relationships and professional lives. “The way Yoga Nidra works is to help you initiate shifts from the deepest core of your being and empower you to solve problems from the source within,” says Desai.

Yogi Desai will be teaching the technique during the Amrit Method® Yoga Nidra Immersion and Professional Facilitators’ Training, October 21-30, at the Amrit Yoga Institute in Salt Springs, Florida.

What Desai refers to as the “Zero Stress Yoga Nidra Zone” brings practitioners to a deeper relaxation than the average person ever experiences. The literal translation of Yoga Nidra is Yogic Sleep. It is an ancient form of meditation in which your brainwaves drop into the alpha and theta state.

He explains that the practice requires lying on the floor or bed for about 30 minutes. Then, guided by a trained professional or appropriate audio CD, the individual is led into a state of deep relaxation. Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have shown how Yoga Nidra may enhance traditional medical care and initiate natural healing without negative side-effects. Studies by Ohio State University Medical Center and numerous other research institutions have shown a direct correlation between stress and physical, mental and emotional health problems.

“Many health interventions primarily address the symptoms of disease and ignore the underlying source. It is possible to resolve many symptoms simultaneously in a single step by dismantling stress at its core, which is the approach Yoga Nidra takes,” says Desai.

Ten psychotherapists publishing research between 2000 and 2004 have confirmed that many physical illnesses are symptoms of unconscious, self-destructive behaviors and habit patterns. They explored the relationship of habit patterns adopted as compensation for stress to addictions to food, alcohol and work that in turn tend to spur obesity, heart attacks, headaches, anxiety, high blood pressure, arthritis, insomnia, pain, diabetes and depression.

The New York Times has reported that the healing and therapeutic impact of Yoga Nidra has been used by massage therapists, counselors, medical doctors and other healing professionals for 25 years. It combines the power of biofeedback, meditation, hypnosis and energetic healing and can easily be adopted in pain clinics, weight loss programs, addictions recovery, trauma and post traumatic stress disorder, and pre- and post-surgical fear management to help accelerate healing. Research studies related to Yoga Nidra and deep relaxation can be found at Amrityoga.org/yn-research.htm.

Desai is the founder of the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, and the Amrit Yoga Institute. For more information, visit AmritYoga.org.

Locally, a weekly hour-long class in Yoga Nidra (Integrative Relaxation), in the Amrit Method, is offered at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesdays at Love Yoga, 4949 Tamiami Trail N., Naples. Drop-ins are welcome. The class is taught by Peggy Sealfon, who also offers sessions to groups and organizations, as well as private sessions by physician referral. For more information, call 239-821-2266. Also visit StonewaterStudio.com/Yoga_Nidra.php.