I have not always been a Yoga Nidra expert. Surprise, surprise. We all develop our skills as the result of a lot of hard work, yes, but also, and perhaps more importantly, the decision that we will succeed.
Remember the story about the The Little Engine That Could? He doubted his ability to make it up a steep hill. He kept telling himself, "I think I can.” It wasn’t until he stopped telling himself “I think I can” and stated telling himself “I know I can” that he accomplished his destiny. He had to speak a new truth: "I know I can".
What if I told you that you are that little engine and that self-limiting beliefs could be keeping you from accomplishing your dreams? What if I told you that unlike the effort of the train trudging up a hill to accomplish his goal, the ultra-relaxing practice of Yoga Nidra, could actually help you get beyond self-imposed limits to find a better place where the real you makes your dreams a reality?
The Reality of Self-Imposed Limits
I get it—we all experience self-imposed limits from time to time. It’s part of being human. Such limits are rooted in self-limiting beliefs about the world around us. Just like the little train from the folktale, your beliefs shape your experience, whether consciously or unconsciously. If you believe the hill you are trying to climb is too steep, you’ll never make it to the top.
But the truth about the hill is that it’s just a hill. You get to decide what you believe about it. You have everything you need to make it to the top already inside you. You have the engine, the fuel, the wheels. Now you just need to align your beliefs with your inherent capacity to accomplish what you desire.
Self-imposed limits hold us back. Worse than that, they keep us from chasing our dreams and fulfilling our destiny, our purpose for being here on this earth. Self-imposed limits keep us stuck at the base of a hill, constantly churning our wheels but going nowhere. But if we change what we believe by embracing the truth of the world around us, such limits fade away.
A New State of Consciousness
Yoga Nidra is an effective and relaxing way to directly address self-limiting beliefs and self-imposed limits. As both a practice and a lifestyle, Yoga Nidra is essentially a different state of consciousness. And like Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same state of consciousness that created it.” For new practitioners, it may feel indistinguishable from a deep relaxation and guided meditation.
Yoga Nidra is not new. It is an ancient practice based in tantric techniques dating back as far as yoga. During sessions, a practitioner enters a deep state of relaxation to the point of becoming exceptionally aware of the inner world.
Becoming Aware of Oneself
It is that awareness of the inner world that opens the mind to be able to recognize self-limiting beliefs. In this practice you learn to see a limiting belief as just another object, one that can be malleable and changed. We change our beliefs all the time so why not practice a little bit of positive programming through the relaxing practice of Yoga Nidra? As a Yoga Nidra expert, I can explore my inner being. I can get to the roots of my own thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. This helps me to better recognize how my belief systems impact my reality.
The self-awareness afforded by this practice illuminates the “I think I can” mentality and opens the door to a “I know I can” mentality. This is the benefit of being both a Yoga Nidra practitioner and a teacher.
We are all like that little train at certain points in our lives. My goal with Yoga Nidra is to help you stop merely thinking you can accomplish your dreams and start knowing that you can. It is to help you identify self-limited beliefs that ultimately lead to self-imposed limits.
You can make it up that hill. You just need to believe you can do it and then make it happen. Yoga Nidra can help.