Over the years I’ve attended I have practised yoga with several excellent yoga teachers. Many of these teachers were very accomplished themselves, and very encouraging to me. But I noticed that I often found it a struggle to relax when it came time to lie down in shavasana, relax and focus the mind after the more physical yoga exercises were completed.
Bad language
Yoga Nidra is intended to be a time of deep stillness. An opportunity for the mind and body to settle and cleanse. It is a meditative time and the teacher will often talk us through it.
I’ve spent a lot of time working in human communications (as a trainer in psychology and as a hypnotherapist). And because I know about the ‘language of relaxation’ through years of studying and practising hypnosis, I find it really grates on me when I hear a yoga teacher using this language ineffectively. Yoga Nidra is such a wonderful opportunity to relax really deeply after your practice (yes, I know, it is part of your yoga practice, but you know what I mean), that to not maximize this chance seems a real pity.
Good Yoga Nidra language
Many yoga teachers frame their language of relaxation in negative terms. But the mind needs positively oriented language in order to steer towards a positive directive. Telling someone what they should not do (in order to try to get them to do the opposite) may just be counter productive. For example, telling someone ‘not to forget’ will more likely have them forgetting (because you have suggested the act of forgetting) than just simply telling them to ‘remember’. ‘Don’t make a fool of yourself’ may seem like well-intentioned advice to a friend gearing up to an important job interview, but in order to ‘not be a fool’ they have to mentally access what ‘being a fool’ means – and so can be influenced by that. Many yoga teachers talk about ‘letting go of stress or tension’ or ‘leaving worries behind’. This negatively oriented language directs attention towards stress, tension and worries. Not what is wanted at all!
Yoga Nidra and hypnosis
I decided to create a really good Yoga Nidra hypnotic download for hypnosisdownloads.com that I could listen to myself and that yoga teachers and other yoga practitioners can benefit greatly from. The language is all positively framed and there is a wealth of other hypnotic language patterns embedded in the session to make it even more powerful.
Hypnosis and effective hypnotic language – because this is the language of real motivation – can be used effectively in all teaching situations, but it is absolutely ideal during something as inherently relaxing as Yoga Nidra.
OK, I have talked myself into it. Think I’ll go and listen to it now!
Mark
Hi Mark,
I’m glad your writing about the language of Yoga nidra. I would very much like to respond to some of your thoughts about Yoga Nidra and Language.
Actually I agree with much of what you are saying about the use of positive language, and you even site a few examples.
The point I wanted to raise is that Yoga Nidra is not just a relaxation practice. It is real tool for sponataneous self development. And actually when a teacher directs you to areas of tiredness and tension, stress and worry it is too help get in touch with those aspects of your experiance, so that as you notice them you can witness them and spontaneuosly let get in touch with that tension etc.
YN is to help develop the witness quality, to become aware of , and to let go of difficult experiances
aswell as develop nice ones. it’s worth remembereing in Tantric Philosophy (YN is a Tantric Practice) There is no good or bad.
I wanted to ask if you were a Yoga teacher aswell as a psychologist/ Hynoptherapist as My understanding of Yoga Nidra is a specific skill to be understood and taught from a Yogic perspective.
Thanks for bringing up the discusion
Ameet
On the same point, i’m also very careful to use the language relax in Yoga Nidra and in face never use it, more to notice and therefore develop the witness ability.