Why Nidra?
Yoga Nidra means “yogic sleep” but it’s not about falling asleep. It’s about accessing the liminal space between waking and dreaming. A space where your body deeply rests, your brain waves slow down, and your subconscious becomes more available for healing, deconditioning, reprogramming, and integration.
where change takes root.
When we’re in a constantly “on” state — active, scrolling, strategizing, staying productive — it’s hard to shift old patterns. The nervous system stays on alert, and the deeper layers of our being stay guarded.
But Nidra invites softness. Spaciousness. Safety.
Here’s why we use it in this space:
1. It brings the nervous system into repair mode.
Yoga Nidra shifts us into the parasympathetic state — also known as the “rest, digest, manifest” state. It cultivates greater feelings of safety which also helps us grow our resilience and capacity to manifest and hold our desires.
Where inflammation lowers, cortisol drops, digestion improves, and deep and profound healing and liberation become possible.
Over time, Nidra helps retrain your system to know that rest is safe. That softness is safe. And safe systems receive more easily. This is bottoms up nervous system work combined with somatic reprogramming to unclench.
It’s a deep exhale for the body and mind.
2. It opens the subconscious.
Nidra guides you into the theta and alpha brainwave states — those dreamy in between zones where your subconscious is more suggestible.
This is the sweet spot for planting new intentions. New settings. New programs.
Affirmations land more deeply. Visualizations take root. You can rewrite outdated scripts and open new neural pathways without willpower or force.
3. It supports deconditioning + manifestation.
We can’t manifest from a clenched jaw and shallow breath.
And we can’t decondition old stories while our body still thinks it’s in survival mode.
Nidra creates space for soft rewiring helping you gently dissolve the noise of “not self” conditioning and come home to a deeper sense of truth, worth, and alignment. It allows you to program in your desired future and become unavailable to old stories, beliefs and default settings that may keep you stuck in lack in some way.
4. It’s for every body.
No flexibility, poses, or background in yoga required.
Just lay down. Get cozy. Close your eyes. Let yourself be guided.
set up
You will want to lie down for the practice, placing a small rolled blanket, towel or a pillow to support your head and neck and a big pillow or bolster under your knees to raise your ankles off the floor to help downregulate your Nervous System. Take slow deep breaths through your nose.
I always cover my eyes with a handkerchief (or if I’m bring honest whatever’s close… often the sleeve of a sweater :) especially if it’s daylight out when you’re practicing.
You may want to do Nidra with headphones especially if there is a lot of noise around you that might pull you out.
You will want blankets to stay warm when needed, cozy socks. You may also experiment with a weighted blanket and how that feels, maybe just on your torso.
optional playlists for Nidras:
These are optional. You may prefer to go sans tunes. I often do. But if you like some background noise or want to experiment with deepening your experience thru different activations you can try these playlists. You can put the entire playlist on shuffle or pick one and play on a loop or find some you like and create your own.
Choose one to loop or create your own playlist from some of the songs (that are NOT deep sleep or REM as you want to stay awake - so don’t shuffle this entire playlist).
*you can toggle the volume in Spotify so you can hear me and have the playlist in the background if you prefer additional sound.
Whether you’re here to rewire old beliefs, access your inner compass, or simply learn how to rest again…
Nidra meets you where you are. And invites you to remember what’s always been yours.
This is the reprogramming that honors your rhythm.
This is rest as a reclamation.