What Is Yoga Nidra Meditation? (Plus 13 Ways Rest Increases Creativity & Encourages Calm)
From favorite pens and computers to newsletter software and mug warmers, there’s a long list of tools that can support writers.
But what about rest?
Rest helps our bodies feel restored, energized, and in a better position to pay attention, be receptive to insight, and stay present.
So in addition to loose leaf tea, an organized Google Drive, and the notes app on my phone, I count yoga nidra as a non-negotiable tool in my own writing life.
What is Yoga Nidra?
Yoga nidra is a sleep-based, conscious relaxation and meditation technique. In sanskrit, yoga means “union” or “oneness” and nidra means “sleep,” so yoga nidra is also known as “yogic sleep.”
If you’ve ever tried (and struggled) through traditional seated meditation, you’re in for a treat. Yoga nidra requires nothing more than lying down and listening to the voice guide you. That’s it! Plus, yoga nidra is based on something your mind and body already knows how to do: sleep. Every meditation helps guide you into deeper sleep states, while your subconscious mind is invited to stay awake and aware.
So how does this differ from a regular nap? Napping shuts everything down, including awareness, but a yoga nap is resting with intentional awareness. This is a powerful distinction because not only will your physical body be restored while you practice yoga nidra, but since your subconscious mind remains awake, you’re able to do some deep work here, too, like uncover emotional patterns, release self-doubt, tap into your authentic voice, and set and plant intentions to support your creativity.
There are no poses to learn—all you do is lie down, which looks a lot like an extension of the savasana post you do at the end of a regular yoga class.
And to move you through progressive states of relaxation, each meditation combines breath work and body awareness techniques.
(It’s also believed that 45 minutes of yoga nidra feels like a 3-hour nap!)
Benefits of Yoga Nidra
In Yoga Nidra: The Art of Transformational Sleep by Kamini Desai, she writes: “Yoga nidra is not about doing more, it’s about doing less. Yoga nidra is about releasing the struggling and striving to get somewhere. It’s the art and practice of doing nothing to arrive exactly where you want to be.”
For writers, this is a wonderful reminder to stay in the present and focus on where you’re at right now.
I discovered yoga nidra around the same time I started writing my second book, and I’m so grateful I did. Between working full-time, raising a toddler, and dealing with the day-to-day, I didn’t have a lot of energy to devote to my writing. Yoga nidra helped change that. It helped me make peace with the things I needed to remove (like blogging, temporarily), gave me energy for daily writing sessions, and greater mental clarity.
GENERAL BENEFITS OF YOGA NIDRA:
More balanced concentration
Digestion activated
Melatonin, serotonin, and oxytocin released
Heart rate slows, restoring normal blood flow
Reduced worry and stress
Increased mindfulness
Deep muscle relaxation
CREATIVE BENEFITS OF YOGA NIDRA:
Access brain states where creativity can flourish
Clears up negative emotions, thoughts, and habits (e.g. self doubt, fear)
Greater confidence in your voice
Clarity surrounding your ideas
Plant project seeds and set intentions to support them
Increased productivity
Yoga Nidra and the Brain
By entering a conscious sleep state, yoga nidra helps calm the waves of your mind and triggers a relaxation response to help your brain balance the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems—the left and right sides of the brain.
When this happens, your brain activity moves from beta, a wakeful state with lots of brain activity, into alpha, a more relaxed state where serotonin—a mood-regulating hormone—is naturally released.
From alpha, you move into deep alpha and high theta—aka the dream state. This is REM sleep, where your thoughts slow down to 4 to 8 thoughts per second. Kids naturally experience theta activity in their brains, and artists spend time here, too. (All the more reason for writers to access these deeper brain states on a regular basis!) This is also the space where the structures of the brain can change, where we can release what’s not serving us, and gain more insight into our emotions.
Next up is delta, where thoughts reduce even further, organs regenerate, and the stress hormone cortisol is flushed out of our systems. But yoga nidra doesn’t stop there! The meditations take you even deeper, to a brain wave state called turiya that can’t be reached through conventional sleep.
Once all the cycles are complete, you’re gently guided back to a waking state. As you emerge from a yoga nidra nap and move about the rest of your day, you’ll notice a deeper sense of peace, calm, and even a surge of energy that can help power your writing.
When you practice yoga nidra on a regular basis, you’re doing something pretty transformative for your creativity.
When you’re more energized, you have a greater capacity to show up for your writing, your family, and your work in different ways.
A calmer, steadier version of your writing self will emerge, one who cares less about what other people are doing, and more about tending to her own stories.
Rest vs. Relaxation
From bubble baths to flipping through magazines, pedicures or lunch with girlfriends, there are myriad ways for us to slow down. And if you’re the kind of person who prioritizes self-care, what I’m about to say might come as a surprise. These activities—while relaxing—aren’t actually restful, and it’s limiting your creative potential.
In her book Daring to Rest, Karen Brody writes:
“Rest is not active. To rest is to surrender from the active, the goals, and the will to achieve something. Activities like going on a bike ride keep you focused on your outer world. Rest invites you to experience the gentle exchange between your outer world and inner world.”
Unfortunately, this means go-to self-care rituals, however well-intentioned, aren’t always restoring your body at the deepest level. (Yes, that includes reading and writing, too.) These activities might be relaxing, but since your eyes and mind stay engaged, it forces you to stay mentally active and keep your nervous system stimulated.
Yoga nidra stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system to help reduce stress and anxiety, and increase energy. From a creativity perspective, yoga nidra helps you release unhelpful patterns (raise your hand if you’ve ever experienced self-doubt!), get clarity on your projects, and bring intention to your writing practice. This kind of meditation actually guides you to the deepest brain wave states where creativity can really blossom. Just imagine all the writing you could do if you weren’t so tired all the time!
How Yoga Nidra Helped Me Write my Book
I first discovered yoga nidra at the end of 2017, shortly after I’d finished a six-month push promoting my first book, Eat This Poem. I was pretty run down and sluggish, and although I couldn’t pinpoint the exact problem, I had a nagging feeling I wasn’t showing up as my best self to anything anymore—my family, my job, and definitely not my writing.
My son had just turned two, and I was still struggling to find my footing as both a writer and a mother, so when I heard Karen Brody talking about yoga nidra on a podcast, I felt like I had nothing to lose by giving it a try. Little did I know that this curiosity would lead to leaning on yoga nidra as part of my support system as I began writing my second book.
Although lying down to practice yoga nidra took precious time away from sitting in my writing chair, it was worth it every time because over a period of a few weeks, I started to feel the fog of fatigue lift. I was more like myself again, happier, more present, and actually had energy to fuel my writing.
Here’s an example. One of my typical rules is no writing after dinner. I don’t like jumping back onto my computer after the day’s done, but with a deadline looming, I was forced to make exceptions. Thanks to yoga nidra, I was able to do a quick meditation that actually gave me enough energy to write in the evening, something I’d never had a history of doing well. So although I felt like working full-time and family life left me little time to write, I was able to find space during a time that was usually out of the question. Not only does yoga nidra help me feel well-rested in my daily routine, but the extra energy allows me to show up for the things that matter most, including my writing.
