Yoga Nidra Tonight

Tonight's Yoga Nidra theme will be about Joy & Healing with a focus on the heart chakra. I hope to see you there at 7:30pm ET. Please register here and find the most refreshing hour of your week during this busy time of year.

Taking time out for yourself:

Healing

We've all been through so much both medically and physically in the past year, here I turn our attention to a discussion of healing practices.

In Western medicine, we fix individual parts of the body or our mind on a private one-to-one basis. We get a private visit with a physician and they do a physical analysis of the problem. They may ask you a couple of questions about your mental health, but that is all. Treatment is usually limited to the one body part that you need fixed at that moment in time.

Then they give you a treatment recommendation and/or send you to a specialist. You are sent on your "merry" way forging for yourself to get all your body parts taken care of. It is a hard row navigating our Western medical-industrial complex in a quest toward healing. Still we have to do it. In addition, we can consider Eastern thinking toward healing.

In Eastern philosophy the human being is viewed as a complete entity where every part affects every other part. Not just the body and the mind, but also the spirit. Thus, healing is multidimensional journey via the five koshas that I have discussed in previous blogs. The layers are physical, energetic, awareness, intuition and bliss. We move through these five layers during Yoga Nidra practice which is why it feels so healing when you've completed a meditation.

By making the healing process holistic, we recognize that healing takes place not in just one spot such as a hip replacement with physical therapy to follow. But a hip replacement where you continue with your yoga even during the worst times in recovery. That could mean, moving other parts of your physical body as the new hip gets stronger. In addition to pain medication, focus on your breathing, become aware of all of your body parts. These are just the first 3 levels that you can control. Moving on to intuition, that is your wisdom or witnessing yourself doing things such as envisioning that you have no pain in the area. And finally feeling the bliss of what the meditative experience feels like. You are perfect just as you are. You are whole.

I do not recommend one system of healing over another. Given the opportunity to integrate both Eastern and Western traditions is a beneficial route to take in my experience.

Disclaimer: Please note that this article is my personal opinion. I do not hold any medical degrees. My views are seated in my experiences navigating Western medicine and my training as a yoga teacher. Always get the advice of a doctor before pursuing any healing treatments whether they are Eastern or Western.

Resources:

Reis, J. (2020). Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra Teacher Training LEVEL II MANUAL (unpublished).