Lauri Leadley, Certified Yoga Nidra Instructor

If you’re like me, your mind is a whirlwind of thoughts always going, going going. Even when you lay down to sleep it’s hard to quiet your mind. Instead, you toss and turn, waiting for that elusive sleep. If we can quiet the mind, healing energy restores. Our bodies know what to do, they just need the energy to do it. When we close our eyes, our brain waves naturally start to slow down, as we fall asleep the waves slow even more. But if we can’t escape our thoughts, sleep cannot initiate. The waves just keep crashing in. This is insomnia. It is a chronic epidemic in our world.

Sleep sufficiency is key in restoring the energy our body’s need to function physically, mentally and emotionally. Sleep is the easiest anti-aging and disease prevention treatment on the planet! I want to take a minute to share about an alternative treatment for insomnia that many people have found helpful. It’s an ancient holistic practice has been around for thousands of years called Yoga Nidra.

It’s not yoga like you think. There’re no postures. You just lie down in a supremely comfortable position. Nidra is a word for “nap” or “sleep”. Yoga means “union” or “stilling the mind”. We all walk around daily with these thoughts misidentifying our lives. Yoga Nidra allows us to disidentify with those thoughts, feelings, and emotions with a guided meditation integrating energy diffusion techniques, muscle tension, relaxation and breathing exercises.

The purpose of Yoga Nidra is to quiet the mind. The more balanced the mind, the greater peace and ease we experience. Yoga Nidra works by literally stilling the “waves” of the mind naturally entering the stages of sleep. By using our own breath and body awareness we can reach the deepest stages of sleep. Yoga Nidra reduces cortisol, which reduces stress and increases melatonin which allows us to fall asleep and stay asleep.

I truly believe there is a solution to our suffering due to lack of sleep, whether it’s from traditional medicine or alternative practices like Yoga Nidra. If you’re interested in learning more about Yoga Nidra, I invite you to join me in a session. The Aspire Health Network is the nation’s leading provider of drug rehab centers. Aspire Health See below for dates and times.