Yoga Nidra Meditation

The Sleep of the Sages
By Pierre Bonnasse

Yoga nidra is a practice that allows you to consciously explore the states of wakefulness, dream, and deep sleep as well as your own psyche by combining deep relaxation with attentive awareness. Stemming f rom Buddhist, Hindu, and Tantric philosophies, the practice centers on techniques for putting the mind and body to sleep while keeping consciousness alert.

Pierre Bonnasse, also known as Chitragupta, has studied under spiritual masters for more than 20 years and cofounded the Rishi Yoga Shala School. In Yoga Nidra Meditation: The Sleep of the Sages, he presents a step-by-step guide, offering a complete range of practices focused on the time of awakening and that of going to sleep. These practices are adaptable to any time of day or night, which works well for me because sometimes I work days and other times, nights. Bonnasse explains how yoga nidra sessions allow you to discover “that which is held on to,” making it is easier to let go and become free from all states and processes. A session can explore different states of consciousness as well as your senses, desires, and fears.

Encompassing four complete sessions as well as pointers for creating your own, Nidra Meditation shows how yoga nidra is the ideal practice for people who are dealing with stress, anxiety, and the fear of death, which Bonnasse believes is the source of all other fears. What I also love about his book is how it connects Indian and Western philosophical ideas to show how sleep can be an opportunity to practice a form of yoga that changes not only our nights but every minute of our days.

—SARAH CIRILLO