Yoga NIDRA | Origins & Current MSYI Nidra Teachings

Origins of Yoga Nidra The origins of Yoga Nidra can be traced to various ancient Eastern spiritual teachings including, for example, Vedanta in such texts as the Mandukya and Taittiriya Upanishads, and the teachings of Yoga in texts such as Yogataravali and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

Various yogis have revitalized the practice of Yoga Nidra during the past half century, most notably Swami Sivananda and his disciple Satyananda Saraswati, founder of the Bihar School of Yoga, Swami Veda Bharati, a disciple of the late Swami Rama of the Himalayan Institute, and Rammurti S. Mishra (Shi Brahmananda Saraswati), among others.

MSYI has incorporated the iRest style of teaching Yoga Nidra. iRest is contemporary adaptation of Yoga Nidra that shares many basic principles and techniques with other forms of Yoga Nidra, but differs in various ways. For example, in many classical variations of Yoga Nidra, you are told what to see, feel, hear, sense, taste, smell, or think while practicing. In contrast, iRest provides techniques to help you inquire into your current, unique experience of seeing, feeling, hearing, sensing, tasting, smelling and thinking.