The ancient secrets of sound sleep and Yoga Nidra

Human mind always remains in one of the three states i.e. the state of waking, dreaming or that of deep sleep. Even during the state of dreaming, your sub conscious mind remains active and hence, you don’t get complete rest. You get complete rest and feel recharged only after a deep, dreamless sleep, wherein your whole being, including our mind, gets relaxed. Such a profound dreamless sleep has wonderful affects on all the spheres of your existence- on the physical as well as our subtle body, which consists of the mind, the intellect, the mood and the ego.

The happy or the sad, the rich or the poor, the president or the citizen, the learned or the illiterate, all experience the same peace during deep sleep. During deep sleep,

you (meaning your false ego) cease to exist. You become thoughtless. Only your true Self is remained, which is beyond all the differences that exist at the level of mind.

The crisis of sleeping disorders

In this fast-paced world, where people run ahead of time to achieve their preset goals, sound refreshing sleep has become a sought-after commodity. According to some estimates , more than 100 million Americans suffer some form of sleeping disorder. Or in other words, 2 out of every 5 Americans cannot sleep well during night.

When you become accustomed to being sleep-deprived, you start feeling tired in the mornings, feeling overwhelmed, listless or irritable. A few researchers  argue that not getting enough sleep has broad health consequences, such as raising your risk for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and even obesity. Another study showed that a bad night’s sleep was one of the top two reasons for being in a bad mood at work.

Antidotes for improving the quality of your sleep

No wonder that everyone loves sound sleep. However, you cannot guide yourself into the state of deep sleep consciously. The sages of India did a lot of research on the different states of sleep and its correlation with our health and happiness. Presented below are few recommendations from those scientists of the inner world for improving the quality of your sleep:

1. Don’t just crash on the bed after getting tired. It is a common experience that when you end up on your bed in the anxious state of mind, after keeping your mind busy throughout the day with day to day activities and thousands of associated thoughts, you are most likely to get dreams and nightmares. However, the people with calm state of mind, who are mostly focused on their own affairs, who do meditation, who have firm belief in God, who remain worriless and carefree, are more likely to sleep like a baby.

2. If you go to bed with your day to day worries and tensions, then you grow old faster. Not only that your health deteriorates, but you might feel tired and listless in the mornings. So, before going to bed set aside your worries, leave everything to the God and sleep. Saint Kabirji sang a beautiful verse:
   Hindi [Mere Chintayo Hot nahi, Hari ke chintyo hoi,

               Hari chintayo Hari kare, mai soou nishchint.]

   Translation: [My worries won’t make it happen, God worries will,

                           Let God carry out His own worries, I will sleep at ease.]

3. Don’t stuff yourself up during dinner. You should eat moderately and that too, at least two hours before going to bed. The toxic remains of the food that remains undigested in your stomach doesn’t allow you to dive into the realms of deep sleep. If the food is not digested properly at the time of going to bed, then most likely you will experience nightmares or dreams during your sleep. Empty stomach relieves you to enjoy the profound sleep.

4. Before going to bed, spend some time in silence. During this time you should pay gratitude for all the blessings in your life, remember God or do meditation. Such practice will help you calm your mind, regulate your life energy and help you to dive into deep sleep as soon as you land on the bed.

5. Avoid sleeping during the day. However, you can take a brief nap of up to thirty minutes if you feel tired. The number of hours of daily sleep is not a standard number. It differs from person to person and it depends on the quality of sleep. Usually doctors insist that for remaining healthy, you need about eight hours of sleep. However, there are Yogis in Himalayas who sleep less than two hours a day and live more than hundred years.

6. Try to regulate and calm your breathing. Do Pranayam - the breathing exercises. If your breath is regulated, the life energy is also regulated and mind is calmed before going to sleep.

Apart from these suggestions, modern doctors give certain other helpful tips for getting a sound sleep like take a warm bath before going to bed; listen to some soothing music; read some books of general interest; keep a reasonably regular sleep-awake schedule during weekdays and weekends; and exercise regularly.

Yoga-Nidra

Yogis of India devised another method that will help you to gain maximum benefits of sound sleep by spending minimum time. It not only helps you to sleep better, but also strengthens your immune system and makes you healthier. It is a method wherein you make use of your consciousness to rejuvenate each part of your body and then slowly stimulate a profound sleep. This method is popularly called as the Yoga-Nidra.

To begin with, you should sit in silence for a few moments and observe your breath or devote a few minutes in the remembrance of loving God. Lay down on the flat surface with your head and palms facing upward. Close your eyes and start concentrating on your left toe. Feel the energy, a conscious energy, a self luminous energy in your toes. Your toes are strong and beautiful. Now move slowly to the other fingers of your left foot. Feel each body part then move on to the next.

Slowly feel the bottom of your foot, ankle and then your whole left foot as whole. Feel your left lower leg, left knee, thigh, left hip and then left leg as a whole. Similarly move your awareness through the right leg starting with your right toe.

Now bring your attention to the left palm, thumb, 1st finger, 2nd finger, 3rd finger, 4th finger, all fingers, whole hand with fingers; left wrist, forearm, elbow, upper arm, left shoulder, left hand as a whole. Similarly move your awareness through the right hand starting with your right palm.

Now bring your attention to the bottom of your spine and start moving up slowly. Feel the area behind your genitals, your naval, stomach, heart center, chest, throat center. Feel sensation in your mouth, the roof of your mouth, tongue, the entire mouth as sensation as radiant energy. Feel your left ear, right ear, nose, eyes, center of your eyes, forehead and center of your head.

When you slowly reach to the center of your head, then bring back your concentration to the center of your eyes, on your Ajna chakra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajna ). Feel the same conscious energy, the self luminous wholesome energy in the center of your eyes. If your mind wanders in other thoughts, be a witness of your mind and bring it back to the same energy. Slowly, you will sink into the subtle realms of deep sleep.