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Day 16 Tips and Tricks for Sofa Heroes: Yoga Nidra

Help ME/CFS patients rest easy with support from the OHC
Hi Everyone! It's Yoga Friyay!

Day 16 out of 30 Tips and Tricks for Sofa Heroes - We've made it half-way through! Thanks for sticking with me - your comments and feedback on all social media have been really encouraging, and thanks so much for the donors who made contributions to my JustGiving Page raising money for The Optimum Health Clinic Foundation and their efforts to bring relief to patients with ME/CFS.

Today I want to introduce to you Yoga Nidra. I thought this would be very quick but unfortunately I haven't found resources online that quite share the experience I had in a live class of Yoga Nidra. So if you have a yoga studio (and you're well enough to get out to a class) I do highly recommend signing up for an hour long Yoga Nidra class.  Yoga Nidra is designed to get you into a state of deep relaxation while you are still conscious - and the result is that when you get home and go to sleep at bedtime you sleep very deeply (I had my best sleeps after doing Yoga Nidra classes in Colorado).

I'm going to try my best to replicate a good starter practice, but the simplest instructions are:

-Roll out your yoga mat and do some light stretches to get out any niggles.
-Lie flat on the mat in savasana ("corpse pose")
-Support your neck and under your knees with a pillow,
-Use an eye mask to block out light
-Cover yourself with a blanket (if you need to be warm).

The idea is then to lie on your back, conscious/awake, for 20 minutes to an hour with a guided relaxation to send you into deep relaxation but keep you awake (if you fall asleep that's fine it just means you really needed sleep).

If you can't find a class, try these videos to set up your own practice at home.  First do light stretches with Adriene and follow up with the 20 minute guided relaxation.



Lie on the mat on your back supporting your knees and neck
Here's a Yoga Nidra Guided Meditation that I like because it has music, meaning that you have something to focus on in between the talking so you don't fall asleep.

I had very bad fibromyalgia while I was doing this practice in a class about 5 years ago and was really concerned with the discomfort - the yoga teacher was amazing at leading me through breathing me into the pain and allowing it to be as I lay there. (So I do highly recommend seeking a live class if you are able to.)

You can make adjustments as you need, but the most important thing is to use this time and space to listen to your pain, pay attention to it, and breathe into it.  You will have a much deeper, more relaxed sleep in the evening after you do.

Let me know if you try it, if you've been to a great Yoga Nidra class share it below, and let me know how you get on!

Feel better - More tomorrow!

If you feel so moved to help The OHC bring an integrated approach to more ME/CFS patients, Click Here to Donate to the Optimum Health Clinic Foundation
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