Every Friday night, I go to a free meditation class at the yoga studio near my home. The class is 45 minutes long, and is the perfect way to unwind from my week. For the first few months, it was the only time in the week where I could actually relax. It is my oasis.
Usually, the meditation class is a mindfulness themed around a chakra or a feeling, such as love and kindness. Last night, the meditation class was instead a Yoga Nidra meditation. Yoga Nidra is essentially yogic sleep. It is a meditation where you float between consciousness and sleep, and is incredibly restorative. You lie in shavasana with as many pillows and blankets as you need to be comfortable, and then concentrate on relaxing each part of your body. Research shows that one hour of yoga nidra is the equivalent of four hours of sleep.
The 45 minute class flew by. I never fell asleep during class, but my body felt as if it had slept through the night. After class, I was so relaxed that I went to bed early and happily slept through the night.
Have you ever tried a Yoga Nidra class?