Ines Lopez

When I started my healing journey one of the first things I came across was meditation and the second was yoga. I started attending meditations at the London Buddhist Centre and reading books on the subject of meditation and mindfulness. The Untethered Soul still stands out as one of the best for me.

I also went to a Yoga Hatha course. That allowed me to understand how our body reflects our emotions, in particular fear since it was very hard for me to bend the body in the way that I used to do as a child. I kept those practices for a while but my diligence started to fade away once I healed myself. While they had helped me I didn’t feel a passion or love for them. A few months later I came across Yoga Nidra, in the most magical way.

I was at the top of Adam’s peak in Sri Lanka, enjoy the stillness of the daylight after all other tourists had left the space. As I was starting my way down there was a woman also starting the descend. We chatter about how beautiful this place was and I don’t remember why we got talking about yoga. I told her I had practice Hatha but I was not that much of a fan that I liked meditation more. She recommended me to look into Yoga Nidra.

The name stuck with me and my intuition told me that was something to follow through so I did. Back in London I saw there was a weekend course in about a month from the Yoga Nidra Network and I signed up. The synchronicity felt magical already. I spent one of the most amazing weekends of my life. Laying on the floor listening to meditations that were relaxing me and sometimes even transporting me places. I wasn’t in my body, I wasn’t anywhere else I was floating in some sort of peaceful limbo without worries, stress or anxiety, only peace and calm. It was the closest I had been to emotional paradise.

The teachers were facilitating different styles of Yoga Nidras so we could have different experiences. I got totally hooked. At the end of the weekend they talked about a deeper course where you get to experience even more nidras as well as learning the ins and outs of the practice and becoming certified to offer it yourself. I didn’t think twice and I went for it. I wanted to have more of this, just for me.

The second course was divided in two modules over two weekends. I was very eager for the dates to come and get to learn more. Then suddenly life delivered a surprised. My grandmother passed away less than a week before the start of the course. I travelled to Spain in deep grief. I couldn’t even understand everything that I was going through emotionally. I went back to the UK as soon as I could hoping that would settle me a bit. Before the course we had to listen to a nidra from each of the different schools so we could familiarise ourselves with different techniques. At this point I was not sure I was going to attend because I couldn’t keep my emotions under control. The last thing I wanted was being surrounded by a group of strangers. But I thought at least I should do the homework.

Nidra after nidra I was able to feel calmer within. I was still grieving but it felt different. And that little voice that told me to follow through with the tip at the top of Adam’s peak told me that I should go to the course. I am so happy I followed through. It was tough being with so many people around me those days and I probably was even more of an introvert than I usually am but it did wonders for my wellbeing. After that first module weekend I started feeling a bit like a human again, rather than a crying bomb going off every few minutes. I could feel the magic of Yoga Nidra working in me and I was so thankful.

Through the course I learned the reason why Yoga Nidra works. How by relaxing the brain in a particular order and way you are able to relax the body, which in turn gives you access to the subconscious. How it is being used to help people with PTSD and addictions. The Irest school focuses their work on that area, they even do scientific studies to show the benefits of the practice. I got all the basics taught by extremely knowledgeable and kind teachers that mixed theory with practice. It was a wonderful course.

To be able to become accredited we all had to create our own Yoga Nidra and share it with the class. I decided to create one focused on the chakras to help people cleansing them. I was very nervous to share it but my teachers created a great safe space, putting some guidelines to provide feedback so I decided to go for it. To my surprise I received great feedback from my teachers and other participants. I got my accreditation in the bag and continued my personal practice.

I shared the Nidra I created with a few friends. They gave me great feedback but I thought it was just my friends being nice. I went to a course from James Reeves and another by Rod Stryker. By that point I had experienced the three main schools of Nidra in one way or another. Turns out the one that I enjoy the most is the first one I encountered!

I kept practicing Yoga Nidra for myself. It became my go to tool when I was feeling stressed or anxious and it always worked out. In 2020 I left my office job and a few days after I joined a team of life coaches. Working with them inspired me to share meditations in my social media. The feedback was incredible and since these were not close friends like before or my kind teachers I started thinking maybe there was something there. So I started doing more meditations including them as the key feature in my content and sometimes as the content itself.

I created a course to work with the elemental energies and I used Yoga Nidra and sacred geometry as part of the tools to build that connection. The course also brings knowledge about each elemental energy in different ancient cultures and practical simple tools to connect with each element in your daily life.

I’ve also integrated Yoga Nidra, sacred geometry and shamanic journeying to connect with a power animal of each elemental energy and be able to build a totem with all the power animals.

I’ve done elemental ceremonies to explore certain feelings associated with that element through self-awareness and then release and transmute all that energy through a Yoga Nidra. The possibilities are endless. I believe Yoga Nidra is a key component of deep personal growth work. It enables you to access the subconscious and work with it in simple and effective way.

If you haven’t tried Yoga Nidra before I really recommend you give it a go. It is one of the simplest things to practice. Find a comfortable posture for you, whatever that may be. Have something to warm you up near by in case you need it, like a light blanket. Find a Yoga Nidra teacher that resonates with you. The voice, accent, tone and pace of a Nidra is key for it to work. If the facilitator is going too fast or their voice gets on your nerves you are never going to take full advantage of the practice. Find another facilitator, don’t dismiss the practice all together.

You can find a lot of free Yoga Nidras from different teachers and languages in the Yoga Nidra Network website. You can also try some of mine in my YouTube channel. I also do personalised Yoga Nidras, focusing on a particular topic.

All my meditations are without a script, this is something my teachers made a lot of emphasis on. Whilst there are hundreds of Nidra scripts out there I was always told that as facilitators we should be present in the practice. If you are reading your presence is in the paper and that is reflected in your pace, your breathing and where you make emphasis during the session. Doing a Yoga Nidra without script means the facilitator is integrating their knowledge on the practice and their intuition to deliver the best possible outcome. Sometimes I start a Yoga Nidra that I feel is going to be one way but the energy takes it some place else, which is what was needed. That is why I value so much being able to know the theory of what makes a Yoga Nidra so I can work with it and build upon it.

May you find in Yoga Nidra the magic I found.