Hyped Up and Shattered?

Have you ever found that at the end of a long day most of which has likely been spent sitting at a desk, you feel too shattered to do anything with your evening but too hyped up and buzzing to really relax?

This sense of feeling both tired and hyped up is common and it can be difficult to know how to deal with this state. But yoga is the ideal way to re balance.

In this hyped up state our mind and body are out of balance, the mind is over active and the body is depleted of energy. This is why we can't relax. Yoga brings the body and mind into balance.

In this hyped up state our mind is active and busy yet our body is tired. How come? Well mental activity uses a lot of energy and this consumes glucose. This is what leaves us feeling depleted. Our bodies are tired through use of this energy. So the first thing we have to do is rest the body.

Yin Yoga is a great way to do this: its restorative postures work on the deeper fascia of the body, encourage breath and energy through the system and are deeply renewing. A short series of Yin postures could include the pigeon posture (raja kapotanasana) shown above, the seated forward bend (paschimottanasana) shown left. Forward bends help to calm the nervous system and simple lying and seated twists revitalise the body, energise the nervous system and move stagnant energy to re balance your body. In Yin yoga the postures are held for anywhere between five breaths and 10 minutes.

Once your body starts to relax, you can bring your mind into balance and harmony with the body through doing a simple breath awareness practice. Start by breathing deeply and focus on releasing tension on the out breath, breathing in and out through the nostrils. On each out breath, let go a little more. Then focus your awareness on the movement of breath between the throat and navel, breathing in the breath rises from navel to throat and breathing out the breath moves from throat to navel. Simply follow the movement of breath with awareness.

Finally, be aware of your 'default relaxation' habits. Many of us think that by watching TV or browsing the internet before we go to bed, we are relaxing. But beware of how much you actually reactivate the mind with these activities! Then, if your mind isn't relaxed, you sink into sleep with the brain active (beta waves dominant) instead of relaxed (alpha waves) and you don't get enough restful sleep. This is why we often wake up feeling drained and depleted, despite having 'slept well'.

To unwind a little before going to bed and help the mind get into a state of relaxation you can practice nadi shodana (alternate nostril breathing).

If you practice yoga you will have more energy to do your other tasks throughout the day. Time will expand to accommodate the practice and your life!

Opening the doors of perception with Yoga nidra

Have you ever fancied achieving a blissful state of altered consciousness without having to rely on a trip of the chemical kind? Do you want to expand the capacity of your mind? Learn without effort? Reduce your inhibitions and improve your memory? Did you know that you can reach this altered state of consciousness and achieve all this by simply lying down for 20 mins?


The literal translation of Yoga nidra is 'yogic sleep'. Yoga Nidra is an ancient tantric method which can open new capacities of mind. It relates to a deep sleep state where the mind is deeply relaxed but with a wide open awareness and it is one of the deepest of all meditations, and brings an incredible calmness, quietness and clarity.

Yoga Nidra is a practice which leads awareness through many levels of mental process to a state of supreme stillness, receptivity and insight. Like all yoga practices it is the persistant practise that brings about real transformation and joy. It can be considered a form of meditation. However, in meditation you remain in the waking state of consciousness and gently focus the mind whilst allowing thought patterns, emotions and sensations to come and go. In comparison, in Yoga Nidra you leave the waking state, go beyond the dreaming state into a state similar to deep sleep, whilst remaining awake. It is a very powerful state for your brain to be in!

Yoga nidra is typically led by a qualified and trained teacher and lasts 15 mins to half an hour. You lie on the floor your back or, for some practices, sit in a meditation posture. And mentally follow the instructions that you teacher talks you through.

The practice induces brain waves that are predominantly delta (0.5 to 3.5 cycles per sec): the state of deep stillness and profound openess. When you first try yoga nidra you will experience the profound relaxation that the practice brings about. And you will almost certainly fall asleep! In fact, if you suffer from disturbed sleep patterns yoga nidra is a great way to balance and restore sleep patterns. However, at some point your practice will deepen and you will experience a moment, like a flash, where you experience the breathtaking depths of yoga nidra.

As in many yoga practices, you need to be patient. There is no right or wrong. If you fall asleep that is fine: and probably what you need at that time! Whilst this is not the ultimate state that yoga nidra aims for, it is certainly of benefit to mental and physical health and encourages the brain to slow down from its active aroused beta state (14 to 30 cycles per sec) to a calmer alpha wave range (8 to 13 cps).

The methods that take you up the ultimate yoga nidra state are, in themselves, very relaxing and help to train the mind. Common methods include:

1. progressive relaxation
2. body awareness
3. rotation of consciousness
4. summoning of emotions and states
5. control of physical states
6. visualisation
7. chakra work
8. breath awareness
9. sankalpas (affirmations) - a powerful method of reshaping your personality and experience of the world for the better

The term 'yoga nidra' actually refers to the state of consciousness that is achieved in the ultimate practice of the technique but it is often used erroneously to refer to the various methods listed above. It is the end state not the method that is eponymous.

The overall benefits of yoga nidra include:

• total relaxation of all systems of the body
• nervous and hormonal system efficiency
• enhanced health
• the ultimate way to de-stress (yoga nidra is HUGELY beneficial for the alleviation of stress)
• elminate insomnia
• mental and emotional relaxation

Educational innovators such as Dr Georgi Lozanov, a Bulgarian psychologist and the founder-director of the institute of Suggestopedy in Sofia, are now utilizing yoga nidra to create an atmosphere in which knowledge is gained without effort. Dr Georgi Lozanov, recognizing that the state of active and relaxed awareness in students awakens the desire to learn, improves memory and reduces inhibition, has devised methods for teaching/learning of foreign languages that are three to five times faster, with the use of relaxation and music. As the class proceeds, the students effortlessly assimilate an enormous amount of knowledge, which, under conventional classroom conditions, would surely precipitate strain, tiredness and loss of concentration.

Yoga nidra is being tapped internationally as a means of improving conscious recall thereby increasing memory function. Yoga nidra is a promising technique that will revolutionize the teaching procedures in the future by enabling students to assimilate knowledge without much effort. There are students who want to learn, but their conscious mind is weak or unreceptive. Such children with learning disabilities can benefit from yoga nidra by absorbing knowledge through the subconscious mind. Such children can be taught by transmitting symbolic forms directly into his subconscious.

Yoga Nidra has also been scientifically proven to reduce the 'psychosomatic' illnesses caused by the general under currents of tension that we live with:

• diabetes
• migraines
• asthma
• ulcers
• digestive problems

Yoga nidra will help you reach a deep state of releasing, relaxing and letting go: but really its bigger benefit is an emptying of oneself into wonder.

Sue Tupling of Embodied Living is qualified to teach and practice yoga nidra and is currently in training to teach the full practice.

More reading on Yoga Nidra

1. Yoga nidra on Wikipedia

Let go and improve your relationships

Have you ever found that what you most want often comes to you just at the point when you let of wanting it so much?

Think about the time you forgot someone's name or when you misplaced your car keys. Last weekend I was attending a course and the trainer wanted to know the name of a wonderful man I had studied with recently. 'Phillip .......' I replied and could not recall his all important surname. The harder I tried, the more I knew it would not come. So I gave myself permission to let go of trying to remember. As soon as I truly let go, lo and behold, his name popped straight into my head!

A recent article in Scientific American's Mind magazine posits that relinquishing power over oneself appears to thwart overthinking and “liberate” people for more authentic relationships. We admire people who show determination and have the will power to succeed at what they do. We look up to those who have the self discipline to get up early to run 2 miles, or avoid eating chocolate or drinking too much wine. Self control is cherished and applauded and we try to install such things in our children. Too much self control and will power has a downside and relinquishing personal power can be a tonic for our times.

The article highlights some research that shows when we have less power over self control we are less inhibited, more candid and more authentic. Which works wonders in our relationships with our selves and others.

Read Try a Little Powerlessness .