iRest is a modern adaptation of the ancient practice of yoga nidra (‘sleep of the yogi’). It’s not a physical yoga practice. There are no postures or fancy shapes. Instead, you’re simply invited to lie down (or sit if it feels better for you), get comfortable and allow yourself to be guided into a state of deep relaxation. This means that absolutely anyone and everyone can practise iRest! It appeals to many people for many different reasons including those who suffer from or struggle with insomnia or sleep deprivation, anxiety, stress, depression, pain and trauma as well as those who are curious about meditation and/or find it difficult to ‘let go’ or ‘let it be’. I’m sure most of us can associate with at least one of these!
But how does it work?
During iRest, you enter a state of receptive relaxation. The stages of the practice, including rotation of consciousness (where you travel your awareness around different parts of the body while remaining still) and awareness of breath, take the brain through different brainwave states; from beta (conscious, active) to alpha (relaxation) to theta (active in light sleep and mostly experienced briefly between drifting off and deep sleep) to delta (deep sleep). In iRest, we’re particularly interested in the theta-delta, or hypnogogic, state; that point just before you drift off to sleep where there’s an alertness of the mind and rest in the body. It's in this state that deep healing can take place as the subconscious is accessed and you can create space between the mind, sensations and experiences, all while resting in relaxation.
The great news is that you can’t do the practice wrong! The experiences you have during an iRest practice support where you are right now. Given the profound benefits of iRest Yoga Nidra, time spent in the practice is a valuable investment in you.
It’s one thing to read about iRest and understand the concepts from a theoretical point of view but it’s another thing entirely to practise it. I’d love for you to be able to join me in one of my upcoming classes or workshops so you can experience it for yourself. You can find more details on what’s coming up here and I hope to see you in class soon.
