Yoga Nidra and Awareness of Opposites
“The world is full of paradoxes and opposites. The art is to embrace the opposites, embrace the paradoxes and live with a smile“ – Sri Ravi Shankar
Part of the purpose of yoga is to create a union within the self. This aim is facilitated by the pursuit of awareness of what is and can happen in the body and mind. The practice of Yoga Nidra often starts with taking time to “arrive in the space” and then moving on to incorporate holding opposites within our awareness. The student may be encouraged to experience or imagine the body as hot then cold for example or first heavy and then light. But what is the purpose of this and how does this help us?
Yogic philosophy stipulates that every thought or emotion has an opposite such as excited vs bored or happy vs sad. If we flow between opposite states, then we can flow through life with less stuck-ness and therefore less suffering. This idea is also expressed by the Hatha Yoga Philosophy model of Ida (moon energy) and Pingala (sun energy), lines of energy that flow up either side of the spine. Both energies are opposites, Ida being passive and reflective and Pingala being active and dynamic. The philosophy stipulates that we suffer when we label things as opposites for example good or bad. In this labelling opposites we are then stuck in either line of energy rather than intertwining both lines. We label emotions and thoughts as opposite and cling to what has been labelled as good and move away from what has been labelled as bad. This encourages us to chase the good and push the bad things away repressing them, however through the practice of meditating upon opposites in our yoga practice we can create a middle path. A path that accepts what comes our way and moves us towards sushumna, our energy line that flows up the middle of the spine to create peace and balance at the centre. Interestingly opposites are also an important concept in modern psychotherapy and wellness.
Carl Jung talked about holding the tension of opposites, often when decisions in life feel diametrically opposed to one another in some way. At that point we are caught in the dualistic thinking of either/or and struggle over the moral and ethical issues of how we act in this world. Many people have a tendency to shove this struggle underground and deny its existence which only causes further suffering. Rather, we need to embrace the opposites and hold the tension until our pathway becomes clear. The key is to not move away from this tension and to actually move towards it.
Often within our yogic practices we may not fully understand the psychology behind the postures/breathing/meditations, but once we delve deeper into the philosophy behind the practice it is easier to embrace how powerful and transformational different elements of the yoga system can be. Yoga Nidra has many elements to the practice, holding opposites being one part of the process and state of Yoga Nidra. To learn more about Yoga Nidra please read further articles on this blog.
If you are interested in learning to teach Yoga Nidra, you can also find out more about our training course at the Shala School of Yoga.
