It is a cold winter day in Burlington Vermont a few days before christmas. Inspired by a friend’s facebook post that encouraged me to do something for others rather than buy her a gift, a vision popped into my mind.

Despite some fear and insecurity, I stood on Church st, blindfolded, open hearted and arms held wide. Next to me was a sign that read “When seen just as you are, Only love remains. I see you. Do you see me? Hug me if you do.”

Staying grounded in each moment, meeting each person, matching their energy. To let go of the stories that would come up about what I was doing and who these people were, in my mind I repeated “Only Love is Real.”  With each hug the selfishness in my heart melted a little. Observing that I could not see who was hugging me, my mind did not have the chance to put them into a box of someone I would like or dislike. Just two bodies meeting in space, not knowing who they are, allowing me to see them just as they are. Until only love remained.

This practice helped me to see how often I am making judgments about others on a subtle level. That there are those who I make an effort to give my love to, those who are just strangers that I don’t really care about and those who I don’t identify with and would rather stay away from. Not only do I make these judgments without noticing it, but these judgments limits the love that I allow to flow out into the world.

Removing the sense of sight I was left with only the sensations in my body. This allowed me to release these judgments and connect to something deeper. Something that has always been there, an intention, a motivation to love each person equally. I did not know who they were and they didn’t know who I was. But that didn’t matter, one by one they still came and I could feel them. Knowing that each person just wants to love and be loved. Each person wants to make a connection. Each person wants to feel supported in their bodies.

To do something like this requires the ability to stay grounded and connected, remaining equanimous with the various sensations that come and go. To be fully present and embodied. These are the foundational skills we explore in the Yoga of True Embodiment. In the last session using dance ,eye gazing and talking in circle we will explore this embodiment while in connection with others. To see them just as they are, until only love remains.

The method of Yoga Nidra that I teach comes from the tradition of Swami Rama. I learned it while at a 3 week intensive self transformation program at Swami Rama’s Ashram in Rishikesh. I will make no claims that this method is the true or real method of yoga nidra, there are many different forms and styles of yoga nidra that are commonly taught. I myself have practiced many other forms and have received great benefit from them, although from my own personal experience this method has been the most profound and transformative. I was actually very surprised when we started to practice it since it was so different than all the other yoga nidra experiences i have had. The emphasis here was to do some preparatory exercises that lead the practitioner into the state of deep formless sleep while remaining conscious of the journey. The experience that i had doing this practice has been the most profound of all other practice i have done to that point, including meditation.

The reason I found it so intriguing is that it created yet another bridge between Yogic and Buddhist practices. I have been following the teachings of Alan Wallace on Shamatha, Lucid dreaming and Dream Yoga ( from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition) for some time. Alan speaks of the alaya and  alaya vijnana which he translates as the substrate and the substrate conscious which is the destination of Shamatha ( concentration / calm abiding)  meditation. It is the ground state of the mind when all appearances have settled into their natural state. It has the three qualities of Bliss, Luminosity and Non conceptuality.   What he often likes to call a “stem consciousness” that is unconfigured and what is postulated that actually goes from life to life and becomes configured by the form of rebirth taken. This state is accessed in three ways, through mediation, deep sleep and at the time of death. We access this state every night when we fall deep asleep, but are unaware of it. The Tibetan practice of dream yoga has many aims but one of them is to access this state of deep sleep but remain awake and aware. I find this form of Yoga Nidra a complementary practice that provides a straight forward and simple method to achieve the same goal. Bringing the yogi to the very ground state of the mind, the most fundamental basis of who we think we are, allowing us then to break through even that to something that transcends all states of consciousness.

In brief the practice involves:

A systematic relaxation of the entire body and mind.

The Shava Yantra (Pilgrimage of the corpse ) also know as the 61 points exercise.

Shithali karana point to point spinal breathing.

Side to Side expansive and contractive breathing.

Guiding the awareness to the eyebrow center (seat of the waking state), throat (seat of the dreaming state), heart (seat of the deep sleep state) and finally the cave of the heart (seat of yoga nidra). Resting there for up to 10 minutes.

“There is a method called yoga nidra in which you can have conscious sleep. Yoga nidra is a state between sleep and samadhi.

The aspirant learns to  analyze or resolve all his desires, thoughts, and feelings through the practice of yoga nidra. He attains a state in which he consciously learns to place his mind in deep rest. Yoga nidra cannot be translated into any other language, but for the convenience of modern students it is called “yogic sleep” or “sleepless sleep.” This is a state of conscious sleep in which the student is in deep sleep and yet remains fully conscious. The yogis use this technique for both sleep and meditation. The quality of rest one receives through this method is entirely different from that which is derived through ordinary sleep.

Yoga nidra is a revitalizing exercise that gives total rest to the mind, brain, nervous system, senses, and body. Except through meditation and yoga nidra, one cannot give rest to the totality of the mind. There is no drug and no scientific or physical technique so far discovered that gives rest to the unconscious part of the mind, except the technique of yoga nidra.” Swami Rama

“Yoga Nidra brings an incredible calmness, quietness and clarity. Yoga Nidra is one of the deepest of all meditations, leading awareness through many levels of mental process to a state of supreme stillness and insight.

Yoga Nidra means Yogic Sleep. It is a state of conscious Deep Sleep. In Meditation, you remain in the Waking state of consciousness, and gently focus the mind, while allowing thought patterns, emotions, sensations, and images to arise and go on. However, in Yoga Nidra, you leave the Waking state, go past the Dreaming state, and go to Deep Sleep, yet remain awake. While Yoga Nidra is a state that is very relaxing, it is also used by Yogis to purify the Samskaras, the deep impressions that are the driving force behind Karma.

Yoga Nidra brings access to the to latent, or subconscious level of mind, that is underneath even the processing, fantasizing, imaging level of mind. It is the doorway to the causal level of reality, out of which springs the subtle, psychic, astral plane of reality, which in turn brings forth the gross level.” Swami J 

“There is a cave in the heart, the interior cave of the heart … and that cave is absolutely silent and absolutely dark.  Darkness so thick you cannot cut it with a knife. That is the one into which all senses dissolve.  Remember then that yoga nidra and laya, dissolution of the universe, are very closely linked. When there is no thought, no light, no sound, no stir, no movement, then you are there.  It feels as though that darkness is breathing.  Then in that absolute stillness you are not unconscious, you are conscious of being there.    You are not unconscious the way people are unconscious in sleep.  You are conscious in that cave, and you are observing the fact of being there without any words, without any sound, without any light, without any movement, without any memory, without any samskaras arising; then it is yoga nidra. Then out of that laya state you can create a whole universe.  You can write poetry, you can write an epic, you can have the vision of any subject in a flash.” Swami Veda Bharati

I began my meditation and yoga practice at roughly the same time about 10 years ago. As the fruits of the practice manifested in my life, I had a sense there was something deeper, something more than simply being more relaxed and flexible. Through my study and exploration of various yogic and buddhist traditions, concepts would come up like samadhi, the subtle body, bliss, chakras, meditative absorption, Insight, chitta vritti nirodhah, etc … These terms were thrown around, but as far as I could tell very few could speak of these things from direct experience. The practice more or less stopped with asana, with the occasional brief pranayama or simple meditation practice. Having experienced enormous benefit from that form of practice, something inside of me called out, wanting to know with my own experience. Is this real? Are these ancient texts and engaging mythologies from the east actually pointing to an experience that can be realized? Or are they just nice stories to believe and talk about.

When the time came for me to answer those questions for myself, I dropped everything to seek out and practice full time with those who could guide me from their own direct experience. For the last 4 years I have been blessed to find such beings and blessed with the conditions such that I could do intensive retreat and practice on a regular basis. I will make no claims that I have reached some high attainment or have come to fully realize what the traditions are pointing to. My experience continues to unfold and subtler and subtler aspects are revealed as the process of letting go occurs. Although I will say that things that were mere theory, I can no longer deny after experiencing them directly. Seeing that as the path deepens there is an awareness of the natural flow of energy in the body. Staying with this flow is such a consuming experience there is no more energy left in the mind to maintain narrow minded stories that perpetuate suffering. Resting in this experience for prolonged periods of time, the subtle body is purified as blockages are released. The mental patterns that we find ourselves stuck in, that we know are causing suffering for ourselves, others and the world, finally begin to break down. A new wisdom emerges, one that can be trusted, one that is based on the direct experience of life force energy flowing in a natural way.

This weekend is the result of a welling up from within. A calling to share this with others who are looking to take this practice to a deeper level. There are many paths and many methods, what I have to share is not some kind of ultimate truth. It is merely what I have the confidence to share based on how the process has unfolded for me. As my teachers have helped me see, this path is not magic it is technical. These practices are simple, yet subtle and require time to experience the ins and outs of them. No one can do this for us, we need to dedicate the time to practice and experience for ourselves. In this practice intensive I share essential practices in a step by step way that will guide an aspiring yogi to the freedom of true embodiment.