Conscious Rest: a state of being
If you read my wellbeing trend report, you’ll have seen me mention conscious rest as one of my predictions for the wellbeing space for 2021.
What do you imagine when you think of ‘rest’? For you, it might be putting your feet up for a few moments with a cuppa. It may be a glass of wine and a boxset, or a lazy lie-in. It might be that rest is the absence of something (work, homeschooling). For athletes, it’s a day for physical recovery. What is it for you?
Image: Sivana Spirit
Yoga is a popular way for people to move into a more mindful state. Moving in a fluid one-pose, one-breath flow can kick the body immediately into a more relaxed state. Some of the people that came to my yoga classes said it was the physical benefits of yoga that brought them to the practice but the emotional benefits that kept them coming back. The same was true for me when I started.
The ‘conscious rest’ element of the practice would be savasana - a pose which my own yoga teacher referred to as “the most challenging pose of all”. I didn’t get it at the time but the moving and doing of yoga is, surprisingly, far easier than the stillness of being.
The ancient texts though didn’t intend yoga as a physical practice. The poses were a means to an end - that was to prepare the body to sit in meditation. The quiet. The stillness. The challenge.
Conscious rest moves the body, and the brain, into a different state. A place beyond the senses and the busy-ness of the mind.
Yoga Nidra is one practice that shifts the brain waves into those of a dream-like state. This deep relaxation triggers the nervous and endocrine systems to heal and regenerate. It has been shown, in scientific trials, to be beneficial to people suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) in that it helps to shift the trauma that exists in the body and mind, specifically the distress signals emitted by the brain, momentarily. Yoga nidra has been shown to slow the brain waves from the beta wave pattern of waking consciousness into alpha, then theta and delta patterns. In delta wave patterns, the deep relaxation and deep healing occurs.
Yoga nidra is obviously no replacement for quality sleep but, it is said that, one hour of yoga nidra is the equivalent of three hours of deep sleep (though I’m not sure where this urban myth originated!).
Sidenote: If you’re wanting to try Yoga Nidra for yourself I’d recommend iRest by James Reeves - I’m in no way affiliated but this has been the best online version I’ve found so far. (James is leading a yoga nidra session on ‘stress as your friend’ which I’m going to join here).
Aside from a guided yoga nidra session, here are a few ways you can create moments of conscious rest:
Choose any passive yoga pose and immerse yourself into it fully. Use any (and many!) props to help you fully relax. The most obvious passive pose would be a supported child’s pose (with support for the knees and head) but I also like Viparita Karani (legs up the wall pose) and a reclined twist (with supported back and/or knees). Supta Baddha Konasana (reclined butterfly) with an open heart was the one that, in my early days, brought me to tears. Choose your pose and then your only job is to breathe - focusing on this alone and allowing whatever chooses to come to the surface to flow.
An oldie but a goodie - deep belly-breathing. The beauty of breathing is you can do this one any time and anywhere. Simply bringing the focus to the breath is, in itself, going to begin to calm and soothe the nervous system. The real magic is in the exhale. Slow it right down. Build gradually, and in a way that feels ease-y, but aiming to have the exhale twice the length of your inhale. Breathing in for a count of four and, after a pause, lengthening the exhale to a count of eight. Give it a try. Consciously note how you feel before and after this practice.
If you already practise yoga, cherish the savasana. So many of us (me included!) fidget our way through this final part of the practice, mentally moving back into our day, but it’s here that the magic lies. Embrace this pose - the space and the time to simply rest and be.
