![]() ![]() ![]() Over years of studying and teaching yoga nidra, Miller has developed his own approach, finding ways to make the practice accessible to a broad range of people, even those with little or no education in yoga. And a vow arose in me to really investigate this practice.” “I had the most profound experience there was this sense of my inter-relatedness with the entire universe. “At the end of that class, they taught a modified yoga nidra-deep Savasana,” he says. More than 40 years ago, in 1970, Miller attended his first yoga class at the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco. Researchers are examining the practice’s potential to help soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder addicts struggling to get clean people with depression, cancer, and MS health care workers and married couples coping with stress and insomnia. What’s more, thanks to Miller, it’s beginning to get serious scientific attention. He’s helped introduce it on military bases and in veterans’ clinics, homeless shelters, Montessori schools, Head Start programs, hospitals, hospices, chemical dependency centers, and jails. While many prominent teachers offer classes, CDs, and books on yoga nidra, Miller is responsible for bringing the practice to a remarkable variety of nontraditional settings. “In yoga nidra, we restore our body, senses, and mind to their natural function and awaken a seventh sense that allows us to feel no separation, that only sees wholeness, tranquility, and well-being,” says Richard Miller, a San Francisco Bay Area yoga teacher and clinical psychologist who is at the forefront of the movement to teach yoga nidra and to bring it to a wider audience. As a meditation practice, it can engender a profound sense of joy and well-being. Practitioners say that it often brings immediate physical benefits, such as reduced stress and better sleep, and that it has the potential to heal psychological wounds. It is a systematic form of guided relaxation that is typically practiced for 35 to 40 minutes at a time. Yoga nidra is an ancient yogic practice that’s becoming increasingly popular as both a form of meditation and a mind-body therapy. Can you feel both ears simultaneously?” Around the room, faces relax, jaws soften, and soon snores start to rumble as the men drop deeper into relaxation. Gradually the room quiets, until the only sounds are the hum of the ventilation system and Boys’ voice: “Can you feel the inside of your mouth? Now bring your attention to your left ear. When you really meet it, it does drop away.” Charles nods, satisfied for now.Īs the men settle into relaxed positions, Boys begins to talk them through a detailed tour of their own bodies on this day and at this moment-the first step in the practice of yoga nidra. ![]() “Just ask it, ‘What do you need? What do you want?'” Boys says. “And where do you feel the tension?” she asks. “How does your body feel when it hits you?” Boys asks. Around the room, faces relax, jaws soften, and soon snores start to rumble as the men drop deeper into relaxation. A trim 52-year-old named Charles volunteers that he struggles with feelings of loneliness. She asks if anyone wants to discuss their experiences in the previous week’s session. The instructor, Kelly Boys, smiles as she surveys her students, residents at Henry Ohlhoff North, a substance abuse recovery center. Fourteen men wearing blue jeans, work boots, or running shoes roll out yoga mats and get settled on sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows-in preparation for Yoga Nidra. One cool evening in a high-ceilinged dining hall in Novato, California, an unlikely yoga class is getting underway. Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members!
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