Yoga Nidra Course program 1997-98

for Håå Course Center

meditative deep relaxation
Tantra - Nyasa - Chakra - resolution -
consciousness - research

Unique pictures of
the brain‘s activity
during Yoga Nidra
Attitude or Insight editorial by Mira
“Can you still feel of Energy, which is, amongst
frustrated and inadequate other things, based on a special
even though you may have breathing technique, her blood
meditated for many years?” pressure became almost normal.
Another woman on the
a journalist asked me
course proved to have low
recently, “or do you go blood pressure and when we
around with a permanent measured her, we saw to our
smile on your face?” great surprise that it had
That made me think of a actually risen following the
woman on one of our same exercises!
meditation courses. When An explanation for this could
Triquetra - Linda Gustavson Nameth. See also page 34.

she came home after the be that these techniques make

meditation, her children us relax and help us let go of
rushed boisterously up to her the thoughts, impressions and
and hugged her. She wanted states which are otherwise seat-
to remain in the tranquil state ed in our muscles and organs
she had reached during the and which influence the
meditation. She therefore nervous system - this process
tried to keep them at a normalises the blood pressure.
distance imagining that the When something is worry-
children would disturb her. ing us, we may feel as if we
I advised her to accept the are enclosed in a bubble.
children entirely and not try When the problem has been
to cling to any state. The resolved, or the cause of the
effect of the meditation is anxiety has been removed, then
there anyway, as we go everything feels different.
about life and allow our Suddenly we can make contact
various traits to find expression - and calms me. But if I am tired and uninspired with the people around us again and
it’s okay to react normally. and cannot get started on anything, then appreciate the small daily events.
meditation gives me renewed energy. Yoga and meditation can remove these
I am sure everyone experiences yoga A woman with very high blood pres- bubbles - regardless of whether they arise
and meditation in their own individual sure participated on a yoga and meditation from anxiety, ideals or self-indulgence -
way. It is exciting to discover and course we held in Germany a few years and prevent new ones forming. If you
explore the potential of the exercises. ago. She had tried all kinds of therapies, happen to adopt another “meditative
The fundamental effects, however, are but nothing helped. So she turned to pose”, then you end up in a new bubble
pretty much the same for all - body and yoga. She had a blood pressure device that can inhibit your awareness and
mind find their own natural balance. with her and we took her blood pressure meditation and become a burden.
When I have been very busy going full on various occasions during the course. The realisation that you don’t need to
speed ahead all day and then find it diffi- After the deep-relaxation Yoga Nidra, live by ideals and poses, that you can
cult to unwind in the evening, meditation followed by the meditation The Source depend on yourself, along with the

2

understanding that meditation does not
need props - is fundamental to our
teaching, which is inspired by the Tantric
tradition. When I went on my first yoga
course at this school, I found I could be
myself. There was nothing to live up to
and no-one tried to convince me of
anything. The result was that I was able to
relax and experience the effects of yoga.
One day two young men came to the
school. They wanted to know what yoga
was. “Do you have to believe in any-
thing?” they asked. “No,” I replied,
“yoga is like football. It is something you
do. It isn’t something you believe in.”
Maybe you get a broader perspective
on a variety of things or maybe new
values, but yoga is not something to
ascribe to; insight grows by itself. !
Meditative Deep Relaxation
Yoga Nidra and consciousness...
Yoga is probably best known as a
comfortable form of relaxation, both on a
physical and mental level, but it involves
a lot more than that. Relaxation is only
the first step.
It is easy to practice Yoga Nidra. You lie
completely motionless on your back, and
listen to the instructions given. The
technique is used by people who need an
effective relaxation. Many use the Yoga
Nidra tape or CD without having any
other knowledge of yoga or meditation.
Sometimes a person will come to me and
say: “I have tried relaxation and it does
not work for me. I just cannot relax.” It
always turns out that the person has used
a form of relaxation, where you have to
by Mira
try to imagine that you relax. So instead
of deriving benefit from the relaxation,
the person concerned gets irritated and
worried from making so much effort.
In Yoga Nidra you are never asked to
relax - and my experience is that even
those people who have previously
experienced problems relaxing, find
benefit from Yoga Nidra.
Yoga Nidra is equally popular with
school kids and senior citizens, and is
highly valued in many work places. For
beginners, it is an easy way to experience
a state of meditation.
Some years ago I taught at a school for
young people. The teachers were very
surprised when they saw the boys lying
(continued on next page)

one of modern medicine’s most advanced Swami Janakananda abroad 29

Contents
Meditative deep relaxation
A short introduction to Yoga Nidra.
The relaxed state and science
In the course of the last 30 years,
research has shown that the relaxed
state is highly beneficial for your health.
We explain a little of what this state
entails, how you achieve it and how you
ensure it becomes deep and lasting.
Pictures of the brains’s
activity during Yoga Nidra
A new chapter in research on meditation,
it was called, when the scientists
published pictures of yoga teachers doing
Yoga Nidra. The research was done with
instruments - the PET scanner at The
State University Hospital in Copenhagen.
3 Tantra and Yoga Nidra 12
Swami Janakananda writes for the first
time about the knowledge and methods in
5 Tantra which lie behind Tantric rituals and
which make Yoga Nidra so uniquely effec-
tive and deep - about Nyasa, Chakras, con-
sciousness and the resolution in Yoga Nidra.
What on earth do they use it for 24
People’s very different experiences with
Yoga Nidra ...
8 From our shop we send books, relaxation
Håå Course Center in South Sweden 26
A place with ideal conditions for getting
to know yourself and exploring your
potential through the unique methods
taught there.
Spring / Summer 1998
Lectures, seminars and weekend courses.
Programme for Ireland, France and
Iceland.
Courses in Copenhagen 30
...and other cities. Introduction evenings,
free trial classes, short intensive courses,
“drop-in”, pregnancy courses, as well as
weekly courses that run for 10 or 20
weeks and classes in English.
Yoga at Home 30
and meditation tapes, nose-cleansing
pots, ear candles, yoga mattresses, the
periodical Bindu and much
more to people all over the
world.

3
completely still on their backs with their
eyes closed for twenty minutes.
You can practise Yoga Nidra anytime you
want, to improve your concentration, get
better rest and renewed energy - and if
you sleep poorly at night, to improve
your sleep.
Listen to the instructions without
making effort or using your willpower.
Just follow the instructions with interest
and awareness, and let the rest happen by
itself.
In the beginning when you practise Yoga
Nidra, you may fall asleep - and that is
okay - even though the purpose is to stay
awake and aware. If for a moment you
don’t hear the instructions, you may have
an experience like you are deeply asleep
- but at the same time you know that you
are conscious. Generally falling asleep
completely is a transitory stage.
Gradually you become increasingly
present in the deep state.
When you practise Yoga Nidra, it is
best to lie with your head towards the
north. Your clothes should not be tight.
Do not lie on anything too soft, but pre-
ferably on an even floor, maybe on a rug,
with a light cover over you. If you are
prone to falling asleep, keep your hands
and feet uncovered or lie without a cover
altogether. If you still fall asleep, then let
4
your elbows rest on the floor with your
forearms pointing upwards. Each time
you are about to fall asleep, your arms
will drop down, and you will wake up.
The essence of Yoga Nidra, as with all
kinds of real meditation, is awareness -
consciousness resting in itself. During
Yoga Nidra thoughts, states and dreams
may surface. You may have impressions
of experiences and emotions from that
day or from earlier times in your life. All
this you experience, but you don’t cling
to any of it - and you don’t judge it (after
all, you also experience when you judge).
You let the impressions and thoughts
come and go without trying to control
them, and you reach not only a relaxed
state, but a state where the mind empties
and frees itself of all that it does not
need. You let the thoughts flow by and
disappear like clouds in the sky, making
room for inspiration again.
If for a moment you forget to follow
the instructions, then do not try to
remember what happened at that
particular place in Yoga Nidra; just
follow the now. When you get carried
away by a thought it may easily turn into
a dream that carries you into sleep.
Because you are in a deep state, it is
quite normal for this to happen. As soon
as you discover it, then return to the
instructions. In this way you get used to
staying aware in a deep state.
Yoga Nidra teaches you to consciously
experience the different states that you
are guided through, eg. heaviness and
lightness. You learn to give in to the
different emotions and states. Your mind
is being trained in this way and becomes
more flexible - and you reach a state of
deep rest.
It is important to have guidance from
an experienced teacher in a class or on a
tape/CD, especially with the long Yoga
Nidra, as the relaxation should preferably
be the same each time. In this way the
subconscious feels secure and relaxes
more easily. When you have gotten used
to the short Yoga Nidra, you can then
take yourself through the instructions
mentally, before you turn to the long and
deep Yoga Nidra.
The name Yoga Nidra actually represents
a state of consciousness, and the
technique leads you there. Both mind
and body reach the meditative state. You
gain an experience that you can use in
other contexts; among other things, it can
improve your meditation.
What is most important for all kinds of
meditation, is regularity, preferably a
daily practice. Each time you do it, it
will be easier to reach the clarity and
peace, which support physical health and
your presence in everything you do. !
The relaxed state and science
Queues and bottlenecks occur during
rush hour in our cities. At other times of
the day, the traffic is less active and
therefore flows better. It is the same with
the body and mind; when activity is
reduced, we experience a less stressed
and less blocked state than that which we
normally find ourselves in with our daily
chores.
The states of consciousness were
previously divided up into three main
categories: waking state, dream and
sleep. But over the last thirty years,
science has acquired a broader view of
our states. In the late sixties an American
doctor, Dr. Keith Wallace, had his
doctoral thesis accepted under the title
Meditation as a Fourth Major State of
Consciousness. Since then there have
been a lot of different publications and
research on altered states. One of the
major works from 1969 is still worth
reading: Altered States of Consciousness
edited by Professor Charles T. Tart, is a
collection of articles from researchers all
over the whole world.
The relaxed brain
The relaxed state soon received a
scientific classification, which is
practical, but also limiting. It was called
the Alpha state. By pasting small round
silver discs called electrodes on various
places on the scalp, the brain’s activity
could be measured. The electrodes were
connected to a machine, an
Electroencephalograph (EEG). There
was a row of pens on the EEG and each
one was connected to an electrode on the
head. The pens were attached in such a
way that each drew a line on a piece of
paper that was running through the
machine underneath. Every time an
impulse came from the electrode, the pen
moved so that the line on the paper
became a wavy line, hence the
expression brain waves. Today
everything is recorded on computer, so
that the waves can be analysed and
displayed on a screen.
The activity of the brain is divided into
four states. See the chart below.
Besides the EEG, there are other means
of measuring the relaxed and somewhat
deeper meditative state.
Skin resistance, for example, is
measured on the palm between two
electrodes. If you have a high skin
resistance, then your palm is dry and you
are relaxed. However if you become
provoked a little, within a few seconds
the skin resistance will fall due to an
imperceptible perspiration on the palm.
Skin resistance is used to measure the
reactions in the autonomous nervous
system, and can reveal when the level of
stress or anxiety increases or diminishes.
A similar method is used in lie-detectors.
Beta, 13-40 waves/sec., normal, active
Alpha, 8-13 waves /sec., relaxed
Theta, 4-8 waves /sec., dream, sleep
Delta, 1-4 waves /sec., deep sleep
by Robert Nilsson
Muscular tension decreases when you
relax, just as a tension decreases when
you keep a muscle stretched for a while
in a yoga pose. The muscular tension is
also measured by placing two electrodes
on the muscle in question.
The pulse drops during relaxation or
meditation. As does the breath rate and
frequency.
What does it mean to be
relaxed
“Not everyone believes they can
concentrate, not to mention relax. Maybe
it is true that they cannot do it just like
that, by using willpower. Some people
claim that all they need is to sit in a
chair, put their feet up and close their
eyes. However, they do not always show
an improvement if, for instance, their
blood pressure is measured.
Still, I maintain that everyone can
achieve deep relaxation through correct
and systematic guidance. And once you
can relax, you can also improve your
concentration.” (From the booklet
accompanying the CD Yoga Nidra)
Activity of the brain
The more active the brain is, the more
impulses the nerve cells fire. A
description of the four states shown on
the left, their frequency (oscillations or
waves per second) and their scientific
names are also shown there.
The EEG sinks from Beta to Alpha
when one relaxes, but it is rarely pure;
this means that there is both Alpha and
Beta concurrently.
5
It is possible to have experiences with
yoga, relaxation and the like and still fool
oneself into believing that one is relaxed,
even though one is not. I have had days
where I thought it was okay to skip my
yoga practise. When I nevertheless took
the time to do yoga, I could feel a distinct
difference in my state afterwards. It is
important not to be blinded by your ideas
of how you feel. You should also not try
to achieve a certain experience - you just
follow the technique
The relaxation response
It is easy enough to become excited or
stressed. The way the body reacts during
such a state is called the fight or flight
response; in a perilous situation the body
prepares itself for fight or flight. The
blood pressure rises and the blood flow to
the brain and muscles increases at the
expense of the internal organs. Often this
automatic reaction is completely out of
proportion compared to what has trigg-
ered it. Even just a minor daily problem
can be enough to create a stressed state.
Dr. Herbert Benson from Beth Israel
Hospital School in Boston has realised,
through his research into high blood
pressure, the significance of proper
relaxation. With his first book The
Relaxation Response he introduced this
term in relation to methods for relaxing
and lowering the blood pressure. In
contrast to the fight or flight response,
the relaxation response does not always
come by itself when it is needed.
“Just sitting quietly or, say, watching
television, is not enough to produce the
physiological changes. You need to use a
relaxation technique that will break the
train of everyday thought, and decrease
the activity of the sympathetic nervous
system.” (Dr. H. Benson)
6
By relaxation technique, we mean
something that can provide a more
effective form of relaxation than that
which can be achieved by taking a stroll
or sleeping. Through the use of a
relaxation technique, you learn to
achieve a state of rest that is deeper than
that of sleep, while you remain conscious
and experience what is happening. You
become familiar with the relaxed state.
“The advantage seems to come from
the physiology of relaxation rather than
by mere suggestion.” (Dr. P. M. Lehrer)
The relaxation technique works by itself;
you need only lie still and follow the
instructions.
Through meditation and awareness
training you will also be able to see when
the fight or flight response is about to be
triggered, and thereby become better at
choosing how to react.
What do you get from
relaxing?
“Well-being, of course,” is the answer if
you ask those who know how to use a
good relaxation, “and creativity.” Current
research is interested in more than that
though. They want to see if there are
permanent and deep physiological effects.
Recently I looked into a database
(Medline) containing reports that have
been published in recognised research
magazines. It contained more than 27,000
reports on relaxation, yoga and meditation
published over the last twenty years.
I realised, as I went through the reports,
that some of the researchers regard
meditation as an unalterable quantity.
Therefore they cannot understand why
there is a discrepancy in their research.
The fact is that the results largely depend
on which meditation technique is used.
In some meditations you learn to
withdraw the senses; in others you are
more present in your senses. There are
meditations where you learn to make
your mind one-pointed, and meditations
without a focal point, which are based on
the ability to experience the totality in
and around oneself. It should also be
added that some methods give only a
light relaxed state, while others produce
very clear changes in your general state.
Certain Tantric meditations, for example
Inner Silence, are constructed as a
developing sequence containing a whole
array of the mentioned methods - it spans
the spectrum from outer awareness to
deep inner rest in oneself.
Some researchers have documented that
relaxation techniques, sometimes
supplemented with other yoga techniques
and meditation, can be used as an
alternative or a supplement to traditional
treatment for people who suffer from
diabetes, high blood pressure, stress,
sleep disorders, chronic pain,
rheumatism, anxiety, cancer, psoriasis,
alcoholism, epilepsy, to name but a few.
The immune defence
system is strengthened by
relaxation
Perhaps the most interesting thing for
most of us is the fact that relaxation
strengthens the immune defence system.
Therefore it can help in keeping sickness
at bay by making people more resistent
to viruses. The degree of effectiveness
naturally depends on whether or not one
uses relaxation regularly.
Examples from research:
- At the Marylebone Health Centre in
London, they have been able to cut their
prescribing costs by 40% by using
methods including yoga, meditation and
relaxation.1)
- An American fighter pilot, with a six
year history of high blood pressure,
underwent various treatments (medicine,
diet, physical exercise) without results.
Following a six weeks program of yoga
and relaxation, his blood pressure was
normalised, and he regained full flight
status. And as the researchers pointed
out, relaxation also has an advantage
over medicine in that it has no side
effects, something which can be
hazardous for a fighter pilot.2)
There are numerous reports on the effect
of relaxation on high blood pressure -
yoga also works well for low blood
pressure, because the exercises normalise
the blood pressure.
- “After about ten lessons, the patient will
be able to control his own stress and high
blood pressure.”3)
- From research into HIV positive:
“These results suggest that stress
management [through relaxation and
meditation] to reduce arousal of the
nervous system and anxiety would be an
appropriate component of a treatment
regimen for HIV infection.”4)
- Of 149 diabetics, 104 were able to
reduce their intake of medication after 40
days treatment with yoga and relaxation.5)
- 11 epileptics who were resistant to
epileptic medicine meditated 20 minutes
a day. After a year, a significant
reduction in seizure frequency and
duration was measured.6)
- Of 73 patients with advanced cancer,
who had attended at least 20 sessions of
intensive meditation, 10% showed a
remarkable slowing in the growth of the
tumour and a further 10% had a less
marked reduction. 50% experienced a
greatly improved quality of life.7)
- 51 chronic pain patients whose condition
had not improved with traditional medical
care, took part in a 10 weeks meditation
and relaxation program. 50% of the
patients showed a 50% or more reduction
in pain, while a further 15% of the
patients had a reduction of 33% or more.8)
- 9 patients with asthma took part in a
residential course in yoga and relaxation.
After a week they were generally more
relaxed, and were able to breath more
easily, as the inspiratory and expiratory
muscles were more relaxed.9)
Our experience on some of our longer
courses, the 3 months course for example,
is that some students have achieved what
you might call a cure or a complete
control of asthma. Quite a few have gone
home from the course without any
symptoms.
Yoga Nidra in relation to
relaxation based on
suggestion
In connection with an extensive research
project at the university clinic in
Cologne, Germany, in the beginning of
the eighties, the brain waves of a group
of teachers from the Scandinavian Yoga
and Meditation School were measured
during Yoga Nidra. A researcher who
was more familiar with other and more
suggestive forms of relaxation, where
one imagines that one is relaxed, took
part in this research.
During Yoga Nidra one is not even
asked to relax. The word relaxation does
not appear in the instructions at all. You
experience your body, its various parts,
your breath, various states such as
heaviness and lightness, warmth and
cold... and various mental pictures and
symbols. And it is this very systematic
and fixed procedure that triggers the
relaxation.
The researchers in Cologne found that
Yoga Nidra had a more thorough effect
than the relaxations based on suggestions
or hypnosis. During Yoga Nidra the
Alpha waves covered the whole brain,
whereas they occurred only here and
there during the other relaxations.
Furthermore the level of Alpha waves
was constant throughout the entire Yoga
Nidra, while they came and went during
the other relaxations. The balance
between the EEG in the two brain halves
was better in Yoga Nidra, which means
that the two brain halves communicated
better. These results were again
confirmed in 1997 in the research you
can read about in the following article. !
1) Holistic GPs cut prescribing costs to 40% of
average. Pulse 1989 Nov 25.
2) Treatment of essential hypertension with
yoga relaxation therapy in a USAF aviator: a
case. Brownstein AH. Dembert ML.
3) In training for relaxation. Hodgkinson L.
4) Effects of a behavioral stress-management
program on anxiety, mood, self-esteem, and
T-cell count in HIV positive men. Taylor DN.
5) A study of response pattern of non-insulin
dependent diabetics to yoga therapy. Jain SC.
Uppal A. Bhatnagar SO. Talukdar B.
6) Meditation improves
clinicoelectroencephalographic measures in
drug-resistant epileptics. Deepak KK.
Manchanda SK. Maheshwari MC.
7) What can cancer patients expect from
intensive meditation? Meares A.
8) An outpatient program in behavioral medicine
for chronic pain patients. Kabat-Zinn J.
9) Study of pulmonary and autonomic functions
of asthma patients after yoga training. Khanam
AA. Sachdeva U. Guleria R. Deepak KK.
7
Pictures of the brain’s activity during Yoga Nidra
“We had not expected the meditators to be able to control their consciousness
to such an extent.” (Brain researcher Troels Kjær, The Kennedy Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark)
Researchers have for the first time
succeeded in taking pictures of the brain
during a meditative deep-relaxation, with
as short an exposure time as one minute
per photograph. The pictures were taken
by one of the most advanced medical
research instruments, the PET scanner at
The State University Hospital in Copen-
hagen. The initiators were researchers,
Dr. Hans Lou and Dr. Troels Kjær from
the Kennedy Institute in Copenhagen.
When they contacted us, they said they
wanted to measure awareness! But how
do you do that? At the Scandinavian
Yoga and Meditation School we have
previously collaborated with a number of
researchers who was examining the effect
of yoga’s breathing exercises on blood
pressure, among other things. We have
also measured participants for six
consequtive years, at Håå Course Center
to determine the effect the three months
course has on the reduction of the content
of harmful fat in the blood (cholesterol);
on the body’s hormone balance; on the
balance between the two brain halves and
on the result of awareness training, for
instance on the reduction of fear in a
normal person. To actually measure
consciousness and how the brain
functions by conscious control of aware-
ness, was, however, quite new for us.
At first we proposed that people doing
Kriya Yoga could be measured. This is a
meditation which has given very distinct
results in other measurements (one of
which we will present in the next issue of
Bindu). As, at present, it is only possible
to lie down in a PET scanner; a person
8
sitting in a meditation pose cannot be
measured.
We therefore agreed with the
researchers to measure people practising
Yoga Nidra from a tape or CD guided by
Swami Janakananda. This ensured that
all those who were measured did exactly
the same thing. We also wanted to limit it
to those who practised Kriya Yoga
regularly - they were to do Kriya Yoga in
the morning, before going to the hospital
to have brain scans.
The measurements
The subjects lay one at a time in the PET
scanner.
It takes just one minute to gather the
data of the brain scan, but there must also
be an interval of ten minutes before the
next picture can be taken. Eight pictures
were produced from the scanned material.
The pictures show which areas were
active before (one picture), during (four
pictures) and after Yoga Nidra (three
pictures).
The person lying in the PET scanner is
not disturbed by the photography, but
practises the deep Yoga Nidra without a
pause from start to finish.
At the same time the brain’s activity
was measured by an electroencephalo-
graph (EEG, see also page 5) during the
entire procedure. The EEG curve
showed, as expected, that the subjects
were in a meditative state during the
entire Yoga Nidra.
Afterwards, their brain pictures were
made to the same size, as it was
by Robert Nilsson
important that the different areas of the
brain were precisely the same size and in
the same location (Talairach space). The
data from the pictures were compared
and the mean values calculated.
Pictures were taken of a normal waking
state with closed eyes, as well as pictures
of four different practices in Yoga Nidra.
By comparing this data and eliminating
the normal activity from the activity
during Yoga Nidra, it is possible to see in
which areas of the brain the activity had
increased during Yoga Nidra.
And in order to discover what was
characteristic of the normal state, in com-
parison to the state during Yoga Nidra,
the values of the pictures taken before and
after Yoga Nidra were combined, and
then the values of the four pictures taken
during Yoga Nidra were subtracted.
Now the researchers wanted to see the
difference between the various sections of
Yoga Nidra. While the first picture was
being taken, the subject was experiencing
his/her body, in particular the various
parts of the face. The next photograph
was taken during the experience of
happiness and contentment, the third
during the experience of a summer day in
the countryside and the fourth at the end
of Yoga Nidra, during the experience of
“who am I”.
After preparing the sampled data, two
different pictures emerged: They showed
that the more “concrete” tasks, such as
the experience of the body and the
landscape, activated more or less the
 Preparation for the scanning at The State University Hospital in Copenhagen. The 21 electrodes connected to the EEG are in place on the head.
Now all that are needed are headphones for Yoga Nidra. Only the person being measured is in the room when the measurements begin.

same regions in the brain (fig. 4); while
the more “abstract” tasks, such as
happiness and who am I, activated other
regions (fig. 3).
The results
The measurements of the brain’s activity
(EEG) during Yoga Nidra indicated that
the subjects were in a deeply relaxed
state the whole time, similar to that of
sleep. The theta activity rose
significantly on all the twenty one
electrodes (11%p). The reduction of the
alpha activity (2% NS) was insignificant;
this shows that this meditative state is
altogether different from that of the
sleeping state and comprises conscious
awareness. Furthermore, the state was
constant and evenly distributed over the
entire brain for the forty five minutes the
relaxation lasted.
The research took one and a half hours
per participant. During that period, the
person lay completely still in the same
position. When the state prior to and
following Yoga Nidra - where one just
lies and rests - was compared with the
state during Yoga Nidra, the
measurements showed a significant
difference between the two states. This
confirms the importance of using a
technique if one wants to achieve results,
such as those described in this and other
articles in this periodical.
The PET scanner’s pictures show that
the subjects were not in a drowsy or
unconscious state during the relaxation,
which is something one would expect of

9
 The pictures of the brain were taken in a PET scanner (Positron Emission Tomography),
which measures the flow of blood through different parts of the brain. This is done by injecting
water with a weak radioactive trace into the blood stream.
Tomography is derived from the Greek word tomos, meaning section. In the PET scanner,
numerous 4.25 mm thick sections of the brain are registered, giving a three dimensional picture of
the brain’s activity.
When one part of the brain is particularly active, the flow of blood increases, and by comparing
several pictures it is possible to see where the brain’s activity rises under certain conditions.

a person in such a deep state. The similarity between the pictures of the force the various things that you
subjects remained in considerable control seven yoga teachers who were measured. experience. On the contrary. The EEG
of what was happening. It is clearly shows that you are completely relaxed
visible how specific regions of the brain Something that may seem paradoxical to from start to finish. You just listen to the
were activated sequentially, according to those who have no experience of instructions and experience clearly what
where the subject was in Yoga Nidra. meditation, is perhaps the fact that these happens, as a child listening to a fairy
What happens in the brain during Yoga clear results, which reveal a high degree tale - active and participating, but
Nidra or where it happens is not a matter of concentration, are brought about without effort.
of chance. entirely without effort. While you are The results confirm the experience of
There was a surprisingly significant lying in Yoga Nidra, you are not trying to the yogi: Concentration is a spontaneous
state, which comes of its own accord
when a method is used that removes
Why it is interesting - a comment by psychologist Ronny Öhrnell. whatever is hindering it.
The EEG measurements have previously only been one dimensional - skin And as the doctors said: “It proves that
resistance, blood pressure etc. - and have only shown that the state changes. That the 1.5 kg (brain mass) with the unknown
means that a perpendicular dimension has been described, for example a deepening content can control its own activity in an
of the state. On the other hand, it has not been possible to measure or substantiate astonishingly precise manner. From a
the content of that altered state. With this latest research, a horizontal dimension is holistic point of view, it indicates that the
added to the measurements of the altered state of consciousness, giving it life. What soul and body act in unity.”
occurs on the deeper levels of consciousness can now be measured and shown.
The research shows that some sensory centers in the brain are active, but that Conclusion
activity is internal. From our own experience, we know that internal experiences are Consciousness during Yoga Nidra is in a
more changeable than those we see and hear through our senses in the reality around very deep and stable state.
us. Our thoughts, our imagination and our dreams continuously take on new forms. At the same time the measurements
When we allow these centers to be involved with the inner experiences, where then show, for the first time, that one can be
do the impulses come from when we are not aware of anything from outside? From completely aware in such a deep state -
deeper planes? From the surroundings, after all? Or are they formed there, in the that one can consciously experience and
sight and touch centers? Does the language center have the same function on the control the brain’s activity simultaneously.
deeper inner plane? Or does it have other functions? This confirms that meditation is a fourth
There is a “new” world to be discovered here. It can be done by taking major state, equal to dreaming, sleeping
measurements and by combining the measurements with the account the meditator and wakefulness (see also page 5).
gives of what he or she experiences on the way. The research also confirms a lot of
what was previously described about relaxation and meditation by people who knew The results can therefore be said to be
it through their own experience - and that what you experience within, is another very important news within this field of
reality to that of the external senses, which to a degree obey different laws. research! !

10
 1. rest
This picture is based on the photographs taken prior to and following Yoga Nidra. It
illustrates the state closest to normal waking consciousness, though without being a
tired or stressed state. Those who use Yoga Nidra remark that not only do they benefit
from the deep relaxation while doing it, but that it has a definite beneficial effect on the
rest of their day.
In this picture it is the front of the brain that is responsible for the superior control
and which is active. One of its capacities is to ensure that we can function in a complex
society, as it “processes” the signals from the deeper emotional and instinctive regions
of the brain.
The brain stem and the cerebellum are also active, indicating that one is “ready for
action”.

2. meditation
This picture shows the general state during the entire Yoga Nidra. The visual centre
at the back of the head and the centre for tactile sense (sense of touch and direction)
at the top of the head are active and are in contact with the limbic system. This
implies an increased ability to visualise and, more importantly, that there is better
contact with emotions.
Some of the teachers also had distinct activity in the centre for long term memory,
which is consistent with accounts from people who meditate, that very lucid
memories can appear during or after a meditation.
It must, however, be emphasised from our side that the subjects’ experience and
their regular use of Kriya Yoga possibly intensifies the effects of Yoga Nidra.

3. abstract
This picture is created on the basis of measurements taken during the experience of
happiness and at the end of the relaxation during the experience of identity, of being
centred. During these “abstract experiences” in Yoga Nidra, the centre for speech and
language was especially active.
It must be said, however, that the pictures only show the areas where the most
activity occurs, and not the general activity in the whole brain, as is shown in picture 2.

4. concrete
It was primarily the visual and tactile
centres which were active as the subjects
went through the body’s different parts
(especially the face) and experienced a
pleasant summer day in the country.

When looking at these pictures (1, 2 and 4) one must imagine that the luminous areas
are within the brain, and not only on the surface of the cerebral cortex. In picture
number three, on the other hand, the activity is in the cortex. All active areas were
basically the same, that is symmetrical, in both brain halves.

11
Tantra and Yoga Nidra “At the point of sleep when sleep has not
yet come and external wakefulness
vanishes, at this point being is revealed.”
(Vigyana Bhairava Tantra)
- a little about the tradition behind Yoga Nidra by Swami Janakananda

Tantra is a timeless tradition with
methods for raising consciousness.
The word Tantra actually means to
expand - consciousness, knowledge of
life - and to liberate - one’s self.
The knowledge on which Tantra is
based has been in use since the matri-
archal period in prehistoric times, where
women were not repressed and mythology
was founded on fertility and feminine
energy. Tantra still contains elements
from that era. The religious aspects of
Tantra show that women dominate in the
form of goddesses - and women are equal
to men in the performance of the rituals.
To meditate or philosophise
The “real” Tantrics use methods and have
experiences - they act. They don’t
philosophise and are reluctant to write
down anything at all. If they do, then it is
only lecherous and without sense for the
deeper perspectives - wanting just a little
taste only to hurry on to something else.
It is important to safeguard the tradition,
so that the genuine methods are not lost,
misunderstood or diluted.
Intentional language in
Tantra and elsewhere
Much of what we find in Tantra is
therefore secret; it was either not written
down or, when writing was introduced,
was written in code language, which in
Sanskrit is called Sandhabhasa.
These codes, or paraphrases, may
appear as innocent stories - well, not
always innocent. They may also have a
pornographic content to scare or fascinate
the reader so he would not discover the
hidden content of the text. The real
practices, if they were written down at

solely for the purpose of inspiring others
to do something, to meditate etc., instead
of philosophising.
It is therefore important to understand
that Tantra is built upon practice and not
on theorising, where experience is for-
gotten and the understanding of terms,
mythology and wisdom becomes more
important than wisdom itself. Not every-
one understands what it means to walk the
path of self realisation. For the teacher the
object is to teach those who are receptive
and who will actually use what they
learn. However the teacher withholds his
or her knowledge from those who are
merely curious or sensation-seeking and
who, with regard to the sexual rituals, are
© Peter Appel
all, were hidden in rituals, religious or
sexual texts, or behind names or num-
bers that would have had to be swapped
with other words. They could only be
understood by someone who had already
been initiated part of the way - but even
then the practices described in the scripts
remained veiled in innuendo compared to
when one receives guidance directly
from another individual, for example,
when instructed in advanced meditation.
This was not only an Indian
phenomenon; it was also found in other
places, among them on Iceland, where it
was called Launmál (hidden language),
meaning that behind the story, lies
another story, an initiation, a practice.
The aspirant is tested
The aspirant receives various tasks over a
long period, to ensure that his or her
attitude is open and receptive. It is
important to know whether the aspirant
will misinterpret the teacher’s intentions
and actions, and if the person in question
really will abandon fear and habitual
thoughts about his or her own
limitations.
Also, the student must be prepared
gradually with various easier practices,

12
and above all, his or her patience must be
set to the test. Life in an ashram or in the
teacher’s home can provide the right
environment for this training.
A clear and well known example is
Milarepa’s relationship with his teacher
Marpa. Marpa gave the appearance of
being a drunken, unreasonable and
choleric farmer. But judging from the
result of the training he gave Milarepa,
he must have been one of the best
teachers that ever lived, at least the best
for Milarepa - Tibet’s great guru. In
short, Milarepa had to undergo a twenty
year long training, with hardships that on
occasions almost wore him out, and
frustrations - that made him run away
several times - about not being allowed
to take part in the secret doctrines, which
in all probability contained meditation
techniques along the lines of Kriya Yoga
and Inner Silence (see previous issues of
Bindu).
My teacher Paramhansa Satyananda
stayed with his teacher Swami Sivananda
for twelve years in Rishikesh. He did
mainly Karma Yoga there, which
consisted of various practical tasks in the
administration of the ashram and with its
printing press.
Later he travelled around India as a
mendicant. For a period of his wandering
years he had the possibility to withdraw
and, among other things, practise the
methods he had learnt in his daily
association with Swami Sivananda. His
teacher had also put him on the track of
things in the yoga and Tantric tradition,
which during his travels he could find,
draw forth and investigate - subsequently
he was ready to teach others himself.
Swami Satyananda was an exceptional
teacher - no one else, neither before nor
since, has elucidated the Tantric practises
to such a degree. I write in the past tense,
because he has now retired as a teacher.
Theory or practise
It is my experience that the more one
talks of, for example, meditation in
theory instead of practising it, the less
one’s mind believes it is necessary to do
it - after all you “know it all already.”
The problem is that merely “knowing”
has no effect. The body and mind have
no use for knowing, if the exercises are
not applied.
A few years ago I experienced
something interesting during a month
long Kriya Yoga course that I held.
Students come to learn the great Kriya
Yoga in silence. They have been prepared
by previous courses with various yoga
and meditation methods and with a
certain amount of theory.
Apart from a few talks and discussions
at the start of the course, I felt an urge to
just let them meditate, do yoga and to
generally be engaged with practical
things. In other words, I had no desire to
give lectures during the period of silence,
which was quite appropriate as the
students do not talk, write or read
anything. The silence helps to remove the
deeper lying tensions and
maintains a good balance in the brain
while also increasing the ability to
experience.
Nevertheless, about halfway into the
silent period, I needed to clarify a few
things and to theoretically explain a little
of how you can let go of automatic
reactions and habits in the nervous
system and in the mind. The lecture
which I gave in the evening was, I am
sure, inspiring for both the students and
myself.
The following morning the students
had a physical yoga class with another
teacher. After the class the teacher told
me that the awareness and concentration
present the other mornings was not really
there that morning. The students had
daydreamed a little and time and again it
seemed as though they had to force
themselves to follow the instructions. It
only happened that one morning during
the entire course - the rest of the time
they were quite alert.
When the silence was over, I asked
them if they could remember how they
felt the morning after the lecture. I
promptly received an explanation from
one of them and the others agreed. He
said that the interesting things they had
heard the evening before had filled his
head to such an extent, that his mind
thought his body no longer needed to do
the exercises. It was not necessary - he
knew it all already.
Concept or experience
What is theory worth, when it is not
based on experience? If theory comes
first, the intellect will block the
experience - with expectations and effort,
we can be lead in the wrong direction,
while a know-all attitude hinders the
openness to follow and receive guidance
in, for example, a meditation. It gets in
the way of sensitivity and the ability to
experience what cannot be written down.
It all quite easily becomes indoctrination.
You are told how it is, instead of
experiencing it yourself. Opinions and
concepts become something learnt by
rote and clung to, believed in, defended,
even though they are not based on
personal insight and first hand
experience.
Take a word such as meditation. It has
widely become a concept. The mind can
come up with all sorts of ideas about
what meditation is and actually avoid the
essential. “Oh, but I have my own
meditation,” and then you sit and dream a
bit. You never leave the limitations of the
mind behind. Some even get the bright
13
idea to teach on the grounds of such
notions. There are those who say that
they receive answers to all sorts of things
in their meditation. It is probably true,
but oh, they never leave their minds in
peace.
It is the same with the word relaxation,
which is used today to describe all kinds
of things, from hypnosis to music. There
are even some good musicians who call
their music “meditation.” One can only
hope that their audience can enjoy the
music without allowing themselves to be
limited by such a claim.
In the 70’s I recognised the problem
with these labels as I prepared the release
of a Yoga Nidra tape. I wanted to make it
clear what Yoga Nidra was about and
called it a “deep-relaxation”. It only took
a few months before that description was
used for every kind of possible and
impossible relaxation.
Unfortunately, the name Yoga Nidra is
also used today for relaxations that have
nothing to do with the effective
technique that stems from the Tantric
tradition and which we are discussing in
this issue of Bindu.
Apart from what can be palmed off on
us by others, the ideas that people
themselves form of meditation can really
stand in the way of reaching the relaxed
or meditative state; such as the
assumption that the mind should firstly
be controlled. The mind does not stop, so
why fight it and get frustrated?
Learn to bypass it by using a method
and allow the mind to calm down by
itself.
What does one get from meditation, if
it does not give noticeable energy and
zest for life in the day to day, and from
relaxation, if one does not come out of it
with greater clarity, calmness and
overview?
Meditation is a break from all
14
impressions, a way of emptying the
mind. It is also a search for one’s true
identity, one’s center - and for this you
need methods that ensure you don’t cheat
yourself, but really reach your innermost.
The ritual in meditation
helps you bypass the
limitations of the mind
Classical meditations from Tantra and
Zen show this alternative approach. The
Tantric meditation is contained in the
ritual. The Tantric ritual consists of
methods which continually occupy the
mind, leaving the thoughts to do as they
please and drift by in the background.
There is no need to struggle with them.
You have something else to do. And if
for a moment you become
preoccupied with a thought, then all you
need do is realise it, remember what it
was you were doing and return to your
practise.
Kriya Yoga is an example of this,
using methods that open and cleanse the
energy flows in the body, raise the level
of energy and create an absorption that is
independent of the mind’s endeavours,
expectations and ideas.
In Yoga Nidra one does not try to
relax, but rather occupy the mind with
the methods given. The relaxation is
triggered - it comes by itself.
How long can one concentrate on a
thumb for example? One second? Two?
The mind wants to go on to something
else. Therefore the restlessness of the
mind is accommodated and
consciousness is transferred to the index
finger and so on.
The mind is occupied in such a way
that it does not have time for anything
else and therefore it cannot hold any
tension.
The purpose of the
sexual ritual
“While being caressed, sweet princess,
enter the caressing as everlasting life.”
(Quotations: Vigyana Bhairava Tantra)
The famous or notorious sexual rituals
(of which I have written a variation in
my book Yoga, Tantra and Meditation in
Daily Life) is a good example of Tantric
rituals and practises having other
purposes than people normally think.
It is usually believed to be an excellent
therapy for people with sexual problems,
or is thought to help achieve greater
sexual freedom, and intensify sexual
enjoyment. Yes, it probably can - but it
has another purpose.
“At the start of sexual union, keep
attentive on the fire in the beginning,
and, so continuing, avoid the embers in
the end.”
It is a matter of capturing the mind and
the sex drive is well suited for this
purpose.
“When in such embrace your senses are
shaken as leaves, enter this shaking.”
When you are prepared through all the
various practises belonging to the ritual,
apart from bathing, eating etc., then the
desired result is inevitable.
“Even remembering union, without the
embrace, the transformation.”
The purpose is to expand
consciousness and increase the energy.
An uninterrupted
experience
“The meaning of life
life itself provides,
until we begin
to inquire ” (Grook by Piet Hein)
The mind can imagine all kinds of things,
both too much and too little, and it loves
to argue, it loves to discuss. It can prove experience is passed on from person to comprehensive that the Tantric methods
anything, but it can just as well disprove person for generations. can be compared to contemporary
it. science. In addition to methods to
When you dare to receive expand, raise and liberate human
directly - when you do not consciousness, Tantra also contains
expect sensational mathematics, astronomy, methods for
“experiences” or demand an healing and art of the highest
answer for everything - calibre. It could be said that the
then you can begin the Tantric tradition contains all
transformation. The conceivable means of
methods remain helping people through life
secret until you - and in mastering
are ready to themselves.
use them.
You learn Unfortunately, it
Kriya Yoga has become
in silence. fashionable
nowadays to
Not giving associate Tantra
out the with sexual rituals
methods to alone. They are, of
the course, a part of
uninitiated is the tradition, just
a principle as there are people
Tantrics that benefit from
have in using them - but
common they are just one
with Celtic part of the rich
druids (for Tantric tradition.
whom it was
directly
forbidden to write Nyasa
anything of what they We are now going to deal
had learnt), the Egyptian with a group of methods and
initiates and, to a certain practices that are used in the
extent, with the indigenous Tantric rituals - also the sexual
people (Aborigines) living ones, but not only there. They can
in the deserts of central also be part of what we popularly call
Australia. Contrary to the relaxation and meditation. Their purpose
Celtic and Egyptian elite, is to alter the state of your physical body
Tantra was and is part of the local and of consciousness, so that you become
culture. A timeless and living present, receptive and sensitive to what is
The treasures of Tantra are not only tradition further happening in the ritual or in the
reserved for a learned social class, but Anybody who proves to be suitable and meditation.
also form part of the living tradition in receptive can share in the Tantric These methods have a collective name:
many villages where knowledge and knowledge. A knowledge that is so Nyasa.

15
 According to the Oxford Sanskrit
English Dictionary, the word Nyasa
means: to place, to set on or in, to use, to
touch, etc.
What are touched are the body’s
various parts - what is placed, is a mantra
(sound), for example, on the appropriate
places.
It is worth noting that the dictionary
further defines Nyasa as: “Mental
consecration or allocation of various
bodily parts to guardian spirits”. This
definition is correct, as far as I can see,
but is insufficient as it stands. One could
just as well claim that all science is
religion, as theology is still counted
among the Sciences.
Apparently the “facts” elucidated in
encyclopaedias depend on who is
supplying the information; the diverse
and at times peculiar or limited
definitions of Yoga and Tantra are clear
examples of that.
The purpose of using Nyasa in Tantric
yoga, in my opinion, is to awaken
consciousness, which I hope is apparent
from the articles in this issue. With that
in mind, however, I will now quote a
definition by Agehananda Bharati:
“Literally, Nyasa is the process of
charging a part of the body, or an organ
of another living body, with a specified
power through touch.” And he continues.
“For instance, by placing the fire-mudra
[a way of holding the fingers when
touching] on the heart region uttering the
fire-mantra ‘ram’, the adept’s heart is
made into the cosmic fire...”
Nyasa can consist of “touching” the
various bodily parts by hand. It can be
performed by oneself, or by one’s partner
or teacher. But it can also be done
mentally, by thinking of the specific
areas and calling them by name - this
happens, for example, during the
16
“The little man” (motor homunculus)
shows, along the marked band across
the cerebral cortex, which regions of
the brain are linked with the various
parts of the body.
teacher’s guidance of Yoga Nidra.
Nyasa also involves the “placing” of a
mantra (sound, syllable or a combination
of the two - a phrase) on different parts
of the body. This is done mentally, or the
mantra can be said aloud.
The Sanskrit alphabet, just like runes
in their time in the Northern countries,
does not only serve as a group of letters
used to form words, but also each letter
has an inherent power, a vibration that
forms the basis of the science of mantra.
In one form of Nyasa, the letters of the
Sanskrit alphabet are distributed over the
whole body. This is called Matrika
Nyasa.
“Matrika is the source of all mantras, the
origin of all sciences and the soil from
which all the principles, all sages and all
knowledge are born.” (Laxmi Tantra)
The above mentioned methods can be
combined so that you touch your body or
that of your partner, at the same time as
you name the mantra for the place that
you touch.
Matrika Nyasa, an example of which is
given on the next page, is a different
form of Nyasa from that which is used in
Yoga Nidra. But if you have experienced
the deep Yoga Nidra you will be able to
see the similarities between one of the
larger sections of Yoga Nidra and
Matrika Nyasa.
The earth, water, fire, air and ether
(space) elements also play a role in
Nyasa. The body is divided into five
parts, each with its own element.
And as previously mentioned, the
body and its various parts can be
consecrated to one or more guardian
spirits - even to planets or holy places.
The name of the spirits or gods, of the
planet, place or element are then added to
the string of mantras and recited aloud or
repeated mentally.
Naturally Nyasa is used because it has an
effect on the body and mind - and is not
just an empty ritual. Nyasa is related to,
and possibly even predates, Shiatsu and
Acupuncture. But whereas these other
two methods are based on the physical
body and their energy points and are
mainly used for healing, Nyasa is more
than this, in that it also has methods for
“touching” and awakening the mind’s
numerous dimensions, e.g. through the
psychic chakras.
The long and deep Yoga Nidra is based
on simple and therefore very effective
variations of Nyasa, from beginning to
end.
The dimensions
Once you have followed the guidance in
the deep Yoga Nidra, while lying on your
back, you are then familiar with the way
you move your awareness through all
parts of the body; with the experience of
heaviness and lightness, warmth and
cold, pain and contentment. And with
how you get in contact with the chakras
in different ways, and experience certain
symbols, landscapes, pictures etc.
There are several dimensions to our
being. In daily life we are familiar with
the body, breath, thoughts, emotions,
moods - and with states like
wakefulness, dreaming and sleeping. But
there are other states such as the
meditative, the shamanic, the hypnotic,
the intoxicated ...
The dimensions of the human being
are described from the basis of different
backgrounds. Jung and Freud introduced
concepts such as the conscious, the
subconscious, the unconscious and
libido.
In the European occult or mystic
tradition there are concepts that to a
certain degree correspond with other
cultures’: the physical body, body
humours (as in Ajur Veda), vital energy,
the astral body and the causal body.
Similarly in Europe there is, or was, a
concept such as bliss (intense and
independent happiness).
In the Indian texts the Upanishads, we
find the following description of the
human dimensions:
The five sheaths
(from the Paingala Upanishad)
“Then the five sheaths made of food,
vital air, mind, understanding and bliss.
What is brought into being
only by the essence of food,
what grows only by the essence of food,
that which finds rest in earth
full of the essence of food,
that is the sheath made of food.
(Anna-Maya-Kosha)
That alone is the gross body.
Mâtýkâ Nyasa
Mode of doing Mâtýkâ nyâsa is as follows. With middle and third fingers place letter
A on forehead and say Að Namaë. With first, middle and third fingers put round the
mouth and say Âð Namaë. With thumb and third place letter I on right eye and say Ið
Namaë. Same fingers on left eye Ìð Namaë. Back of thumb on right ear Uð Namaë
and left ear Üm Namaë. Little finger and thumb on right nostril Ýð Namaë, on left
nostril «ð Namaë. First, second, third on right cheek Lið Namaë, on left Lìm Namaë.
Middle finger upper lip Eð Namaë. On lower lip Aim Namaë. Third finger upper
teeth Oð Namaë. Lower teeth Auð Namaë. Middle finger head Að Namaë. Third
finger on opened mouth Aë Namaë.
Then passing to the consonants, with middle, third and little fingers joined
together place on right shoulder Kað, on elbow Khað, on wrist Gað. With same
fingers place on lower parts of fingers of right hand Ghað and on tips of fingers Ñað,
in the same way on left arm place Cað, Chað, Jað, Jhað and Òað. Then on right leg
on hip-joint, knee, ankle, lower joints and tips of toes place ¥að, ¥hað, ¢að, ¢hað,
Það and on the left place Tað, Thað, Dað, Dhað and Nað. With same fingers on right
side place Pam, on left Pham, on back Bað. With thumb, middle, third and little
fingers place Bhað on navel. On belly place Mað with all the fingers. On the heart
put Yað saying Tvagâtmane Namaë with the palm of the hand. On the right shoulder
with palm put Rað saying Asýgâtmane Namaë. With palm place Lað on the hump
saying Mâðsâtmane Namaë. On left shoulder place Vað with palm saying
Medâtmane Namaë. From the heart to the right shoulder place ×að saying
Asthyâtmane Namaë. From the heart to the left shoulder Êam saying Majjâtmane
Namaë. From heart to right leg place Sað saying ×ukrâtmane Namaë. From heart to
left leg place Hað and say Prâþâtmane Namaë. From heart to belly place Lað and say
Jìvâtmane Namaë. From heart to mouth place Kêað and say Paramâtmane Namaë.
This is the Bahirñyâsa of Mâtrikâ (Tarkâlaðkâra). For those who cannot do the
prescribed Mudrâs a flower may be used.
(from Sir John Woodrofe: Mahanirvana Tantra)
The five vital airs, The understanding
along with the organs of action along with the organs of perception
constitute the sheath is the sheath made of intelligence.
made of the vital principle. (Vijnana-Maya-Kosha)
(Prana-Maya-Kosha)
These three sheaths (of life, mind and
Mind intelligence) form the subtle body.
along with the organs of perception The knowledge of one’s own form is of
is the sheath the sheath made of bliss.
made of mind. (Ananda-Maya-Kosha)
(Mano-Maya-Kosha) That is also the causal body.”
17
The purpose of Nyasa and of Yoga Nidra
is to touch and experience the various
planes, to awaken consciousness in areas
where it is normally dormant due to
tensions. It can be in such ordinary places
as organs and muscles. The tensions are
thereby released, but that is only one step
of the process. The aim is to experience
that you are not bound to just one plane of
consciousness, but that you consciously
contain them all - and that leads to the
insight, that one’s true identity is the
experiencing consciousness behind it all.
It is more than just an idea, it is
something you realise - an experience.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead extends
this experience beyond life into the realm
of death. These teachings help prepare
you for the realisation that you are
neither the fascinating nor the terrifying
planes you encounter after death, but that
they too are only experiences that you
need not get trapped in on the way.
In order to see the use of Nyasa in another
light, let us look at what we call Chakra.
Chakra,
the psychic centers
The word Chakra has in our “New Age”
been taken out of its original context and
debased. Its meaning has become limited
to the physical and, at its best, the
mental, while lacking the perspectives
and possibilities found in the Tantric
tradition, from where the term stems. To
awaken a chakra and use it consciously is
quite a different process from what is
going on today; a whole market exists
where people promote chakra cream,
chakra massage, chakra machines and I
don’t know what. Psychic sensitivity and
the prospect of more profound
18
experiences is drowned in materialism
and narrow-minded concepts. They play
with people’s expectations and notions
and have no experiences themselves.
I have written about Chakra previously,
in Bindu no. 4 in the series of articles on
Kriya Yoga, and in a chapter of my book:
Yoga, Tantra and Meditation in Daily Life.
Furthermore, I have explained a little
about it in the booklet that comes with
the CD Experience Yoga Nidra.
Energy whirls and flows
The subtle body, or energy body, consists
of numerous minor energy whirls or
points of consciousness. They are called
chakra and are evenly distributed over
the whole body (compare with Sei or Gen
points in Chinese medicine). Between
them flows Prana, the psychic energy (as
in Ki or Chi energy) in the nadis (similar
to Meridians, see also Bindu no. 4 -
“Yoga and the finer energy”).
These minor chakras are touched in
Yoga Nidra.
In the beginning of the relaxation, you
go through the body mentally at such a
pace that you have time to just touch the
places named in the guidance, but not
enough to think of anything else. By
thinking of these small chakra, the whole
body is gradually made conscious - as are
the respective areas in the cerebral cortex
(see the illustration on page 16).
In itself, the body is one big chakra - a
point of consciousness, an energy whirl.
The major chakras
The major chakras have many
dimensions. On the physical level they
are central areas in the body that are
linked to the nervous system and the
nadis. They are found at the base of the
body, above the perineum: Muladhara; in
the spine: Swadhisthana, Manipura,
Anahata, Vishuddhi; in the head: Lalana;
and in the brain: Ajna, Bindu and
Sahasrara. There are a few others, but
these are the ones most commonly used.
The various dimensions of
a chakra
A chakra is not only physical, but
consists of all the human dimensions.
A chakra can be regarded as a
microcosmic image of an individual, just
as an individual possibly is microcosmic
in comparison to the universe. That, at
any rate, is what the Hopis (in northern
Arizona) say:
“The living body of man and the living
body of the earth were constructed in the
same way. Through each ran an axis,
man’s axis being the backbone, the
vertebral column, which controlled the
equilibrium of his movements and his
functions. Along this axis were several
vibratory centers which echoed the
primordial sound of life throughout the
universe or sounded a warning if
anything went wrong.”
(Book of the Hopi, F. Waters)
Awakening
Initially the body is brought into
harmony by yoga exercises. Then
blockages in the energy flows are
removed by breathing exercises and
relaxation techniques. Yoga creates a
solid and lasting balance in the entire
organism and in the area of each chakra.
Thereafter, additional consciousness is
brought into these centers by the use of
Yoga Nidra, Kriya Yoga and other
Tantric meditations. Now begins a
 emotions and vital energy (prana) is
communicated through the major chakras.
When they are awakened, you gain
insight into different levels of your being,
and into your normally unconscious
reactions. You realise how your states
influence the outcome of your actions.

Eventually the chakras can be opened

fully - the interpretative filters of the
cosmic energy rays or vibrations are gone.
When we no longer hold back, but
allow all the chakras to communicate
freely, with energy flowing unhindered
through them, as it does through the
universe, then we enter into a greater
wholeness as true cosmic beings.

The Rainbow Dharma

by Tan Swie Hian:
“In the wilderness, the voyager told
the great white light,
‘I cannot look into you.’
The light immediately turned itself into
eight rainbows.”

Or are the above mentioned phenomena

just another way of describing how the
various regions of the brain communicate
better as a result of meditation - which
they do when you see the results of the
scientific measurements and listen to
people’s experiences. Better contact with
Muladhara Chakra. This article does not contain a complete account of the various major
chakras. Muladhara Chakra, the fundamental root chakra, is just one example. It is situated the emotions and between body and mind
above the perineum, between the sex organs and the anus. is achieved (more about that in the next
issue).
cleansing of the old attachments, habits and goes at first, until it has become
and inhibitions (vritti) rooted in our completely established, the encounter
actions and mindscape. with the contents of the various planes of Tools for raising
Then the chakras are ready for an consciousness continues. consciousness
awakening, where you are not carried The way Nyasa rouses the consciousness
away by deeply embedded patterns and “An individual’s destiny is determined by of various parts of the body and mind,
behavioural traits (samskara) that have his or her unconscious radiation,” a and combines them with mantra (sound),
been imprinted on the mind over the Danish writer, Poul Martin Møller once yantra (potent diagrams) and symbols,
years. expressed it. has much in common with the way a
During the awakening, which comes The relationship between body, mind, chakra is made conscious or awoken.

19
The individual chakra can be touched in
Nyasa in different ways. Many of them
are used in Yoga Nidra. Here are some of
them:
• Through feeling the body’s contact
areas (in the classical yoga poses, for
example);
• through tones and the finer inner
sounds (this happens in Chakra
Vajrohan, where tones are sung in
each chakra, and through inner Nada
Yoga, sound yoga - see the previous
issue of Bindu - and to a certain
degree by a particular form of Indian
music);
• mentally through the mind, which has
several dimensions, by naming the
chakras, by placing their seed mantra
there - and by the use of symbols;
• through the five elements, their
respective symbols and diagrams;
• through animal symbolism (possibly a
connection back to shamanism);
• through energy, where breathing
exercises also play a vital role in
cleansing the energy passages (Nadi).
In Nyasa, you tune into the frequency
of various energy passages by
“placing” letters or mantras on the
“lotus petals”. These petals represent
energy passages linked to each chakra;
• with “keys” in the form of diagrams
(Yantras) and symbols that create a
contact with the chakras deeper
dimensions;
• through mandala (or deities) as a seat
for (or representation of) the cosmic
energy that flows through the chakra
and keeps it open and clean;
• and by consciousness itself.
20
Where does this knowledge of these
instruments and symbols come from, one
might ask. We know that such things can
appear in our dreams, and therefore one
could answer, that perhaps they come
from that other reality, the inner one. Yes,
but they also come from the experiences
of the yogis. Descriptions of these keys
are nevertheless only signposts along the
way, to be
confirmed or rejected by one’s own
experience.
This has been about touching (Nyasa)
and a little bit about awakening, but it is
far from the whole story.
After a chakra has been cleansed and
awoken through yoga methods and
guidance, it begins to play a part in one’s
conscious life. With the awakening
follow abilities and a greater sensitivity, a
kind of sense beyond the purely physical
(see also Bindu no 4 in the article on
Kriya Yoga).
Furthermore, some people can see
when a chakra is active in another
person. My first experience of this was
when I saw a spiral shaped cone of bluish
grey energy, that projected from the
eyebrow center of a Danish yoga teacher
I knew in my youth.
Chakras in Yoga Nidra
According to Paramahansa Satyananda,
Yoga Nidra actually begins with the
experiencing of these chakras.
The chakras are also known in other
cultures, as we have seen with the Hopis
in the USA, but also by the alchemists in
Europe and the Inuits of Greenland and
Canada, to mention but a few of the more
evident examples.
In the deep Yoga Nidra, we use eight
of the major chakras to contact the
various planes of consciousness.
On my newly released CD,
“Experience Yoga Nidra” (previously on
cassette tape) I use the mantras (certain
sound syllables) connected to each
chakra. I also use visual symbols in
accordance with the traditions of India
and Europe.
When I started to produce
“Experience Yoga Nidra” while teaching
in the USA, the Indian musician Roop
Verma was inspired to record the ancient
musical symbols of the chakras. He was
the first ever to do this. This special
music has been merged with my
text and guidance during the deep
Yoga Nidra.
Chakras are often spoken of in
connection with Kundalini Yoga, a set of
methods and meditations that can be used
to harmonise and awaken the psychic
energy. (The name
Kundalini Yoga, however, is also used as
the trade mark of a contemporary
movement - although they only teach
standard yoga).
Kriya Yoga is probably the most
profound and effective form of Kundalini
Yoga. In an awesome way it can
strengthen the body’s energy field,
remove depressions, increase creativity
and open you up for a first hand
knowledge of the genuine mystical or
spiritual aspects of life.
The chakras have corresponding areas in
the brain. When they are relaxed and
harmonised during Yoga Nidra, the
release of unwanted states such as
confusion and lack of concentration
begins. People who awaken their
chakras through yoga and meditation,
open up to a previously unknown
capacity for communication, insight and
creativity.
Consciousness
The awakening of consciousness through
Nyasa releases tensions and lethargy,
thereby healing illnesses; but primarily, it
brings you into contact with all parts of
your being.
The guidance in Yoga Nidra through
the different areas of the body and mind,
does not only make the body more
conscious and more relaxed and awake,
but trains your ability to utilise the
various regions of the brain, both those
connected to the physical body and those
connected to the chakras.
From the research carried out at The
State University Hospital in Copenhagen
in the Spring of 1997 - which is
discussed in another article here in the
magazine - it appears that different
regions of the brain are activated
according to the part of Yoga Nidra with
which the mind is engaged (however, the
section of Yoga Nidra dealing with the
major chakras was not measured in this
research).
Relaxation or cleansing
I have been fortunate enough to learn a
Yoga Nidra which is in close accordance
with Nyasa as it is used in Tantra. Just to
read or study the Tantric texts tells you
little or nothing of how Nyasa can be
used, as for example in Yoga Nidra.
In the text “Laxmi Tantra”, which
gives guidance in the Tantric rituals and
sexual practises, Nyasa ends a sequence,
of which breathing exercises and the
cleansing of the five elements are a part.
This practise is called Bhutasuddhi,
cleansing of the body. Here Nyasa builds
a bridge between inner and outer
cleansing.
Does this mean that one cleanses the
body and mind by mentally “placing” a
mantra on a certain body part or merely
by thinking of that part? The answer is
yes, and furthermore by using a mudra
(position of the fingers) or by mentally
touching and thereby experiencing a part
of the body, the body is brought to life
and made conscious.
Micheline Flak teaches yoga in France.
She also leads R.Y.E., (research into
children’s use of yoga in schools) which
is described in Bindu no. 6. She made an
experiment during Yoga Nidra, first with
a group of yoga teachers on a seminar,
and later in her daily teaching.
One section of Yoga Nidra involves
going through all parts of the body, by
thinking of them or feeling them as they
are named in the guidance. You start with
the thumb of the right hand, then the
index finger and so on. In this way, you
first experience the right side of the body,
and then the left side. It is done in the
beginning of Yoga Nidra and normally
without interruption.
“When I had guided them through the
right side of the body, mentally feeling or
touching different parts of the body in the
fixed order, I stopped and asked them to
notice if there was a difference between
the right and the left side of the body.
Afterwards when we discussed it, the
students were amazed by the difference
experienced through such a simple
exercise.” (Micheline Flak)
The students remarked that they had
felt that the side of the body they had just
touched mentally was alive, light and at
ease, while the other side, which they had
not as yet gone through, was still in that
normal, slightly heavy and tired state.
From my own teaching I received the
following account from a female student,
who is now a yoga teacher.
“Many years ago I took part in a three
months course at Håå Course Center. We
had placed ourselves comfortably on the
floor and as usual we were looking
forward to a guided Yoga Nidra with
Swami Janakananda. And what a Yoga
Nidra! For some reason or other he went
through the right side of the body twice -
and skipped the left side.
The effect was soon felt! We all
experienced a sensation which could be
described quite literally as being
lopsided. It was a strange feeling of
having ‘lots of vitality’ in the right side,
whereas it was difficult to get contact
with the left. It passed, but I was
reminded of how strong an effect Yoga
Nidra really has.” (Shanti)
In contemporary western culture, the
word relaxation is used for all sorts of
things. The actual word or term
relaxation is not commonly used in
21
Sanskrit in India in connection with yoga
and Tantra. There the field of “relaxation”
comprises various techniques, which are
called by different names, the word
cleansing (suddhi) being one of them.
But the results of these methods are the
same as what we achieve through what
we term relaxation. Relaxation means to
remove tensions - the body and mind are
cleansed of tensions.
That the body and mind actually form
a whole is common knowledge today. It
is expressed by the word psychosomatic.
Tensions of the mind create tensions in
the body and vice versa; removing a
tension in the mind removes it in the body.
In Nyasa, and therefore in Yoga Nidra,
this happens without trying to relax. One
experiences the body consciously, and
that alone releases tensions.
You make a resolution,
Using a resolution in Yoga Nidra is good
and effective. It would be foolish not to
make one, when you can use it to
influence the direction of your life.
You make only one resolution in order
not to spread your energy and confuse
your mind. If you use a number of
resolutions or visualisations, you will
probably achieve some results, but
nothing deep and lasting.
For half an hour or longer, every day
or once in a while, you can allow
yourself to relax in the face of your usual
thoughts and emotions and let them flow
by. By momentarily not hooking on to
everything that crops up in the mind, you
remember who you are and doubts can
not take root. In the relaxed state, your
resolution works with an undiminished
strength.
(Read more about this in the booklet
accompanying the CD).
22
but...
For the relaxation itself to be effective,
the relaxed state should not be induced
by techniques or methods that are based
on hypnosis - one should not use
suggestions to get into an artificial and
limited state.
When you experience Yoga Nidra, you
will notice that you are never asked to
relax, or to imagine that a particular part
of the body relaxes - the word relaxation
is not used at all during the guidance.
That is not what Yoga Nidra is about.
Yoga Nidra consists of techniques that
trigger a state where one’s being is
vitalised - the result is a stable and
unbroken state of relaxation in the body
and the entire brain while practicing
Yoga Nidra. (See also the two articles by
Robert Nilsson in this issue).
Nyasa (and thus Yoga Nidra) is
fundamentally different to a lot of
modern therapies, which are only based
on hypnosis, even though they do not call
it hypnosis, but use other names and
trade marks - yes, sometimes even the
word meditation.
“Do not waste your time trying to change
people’s mentality. After you, some Hitler
might come and ruin everything
anyway,” Swami Satyananda once said to
me, when I was ready to return to Europe
to teach. He shocked me deeply by using
such a potent picture - what did he mean
by that?
What help is it to have everything
explained to you by an authority before
you have experienced it yourself? It is so
easy to be influenced by someone who
comes along with a powerful image and a
“quick” solution and allow yourself be
taken in and have the wool pulled over
your eyes. People cannot be free, unless
you teach them that through their own
practice they can achieve real
independence of influences and a
transformation of body, mind and
consciousness.
Swamiji meant, in other words, that
rather than try to change people’s outlook
and habits, I should help them so that
they themselves can acquire an overview,
insight and wisdom.
Though that does not mean they
should avoid being consistent and
steadfast.
Experience, insight and realisation are
the opposite to hypnosis. Hypnosis is like
burning incense in a room that smells in
order to hide the odour. The ability to
experience, to make conscious, is like
cleaning the room and airing it.
Personally I do not want methods that
program me, but ones that liberate me
from old programs and expand my
consciousness.
“Everything is hypnosis,” you might
say - and I can understand why you
might think so. We are influenced by all
kinds of things from cradle to grave. That
is exactly why we need tools to
occasionally empty the body and mind of
the accumulation of impressions, habits
and automatic thinking.
Liberation, after all, lies in using
insight and awareness in order to see
through one’s influences. The wise
person does not react against influences,
he does not try to stop them, instead he
experiences everything, and lets go of
what he does not need. It is on this basis
that meditation has come into being.
Myths, which we constantly create to
avoid a direct experience of life, are very
much a form of hypnosis. With hypnosis,
notions of reality often take the place of
reality itself.
Throughout human history there have
been countless examples of people
wanting to know what they should think
about reality, instead of experiencing it
for themselves. So armoured, they can
disagree with “the others”, those who
have (allowed themselves to be
influenced in having) a different world
view to themselves. Different
interpretations of reality can then clash
and, on a larger scale, create religious
and political wars.
The individual whose expectations are
not met by the promises of the latest
mythology or therapy, often end up in a
state of bitterness and frustration - and
look for the cause outside themselves.
Even the teacher who is available to help
one out of limitations is sometimes
accused. Regardless of how clever the
teacher is, he cannot be held responsible
for fulfilling the expectations of the
students - provided that he or she has not
helped to create the expectations. In the
end it is the individual him/herself and
society that are responsible for the
expectations they have and no one else is
answerable if they are not met.
Intolerance towards those who think
differently does not arise amongst
individuals who are aware and who
experience instead of theorising. My
experience is personal and I realise that
others do not necessarily need my
experience and my interpretation - they
have their own.
However we all have more or less the
same kind of organs and nervous system,
and more or less the same kind of mind.
We have learned this through both
modern science as well as the several
thousand year old tradition and
experience in yoga and Tantra - therefore
one can unearth and preserve techniques
and methods that work regardless of
which attitude to life, which nationality,
background and age one has.
We must each make a
choice...
Naturally we need to make a choice in
relation to what we want to do with our
lives, and therefore a choice of influences
and of resolutions that we want to follow.
The reverse would be to sit behind the
steering wheel of a moving car without
taking hold of it and steering. And the
higher we set our goal, the easier other
things fall into place by themselves.
“The moment one definitely commits
oneself, then Providence also moves.
All sorts of things occur to help which
would not otherwise have happened.
A whole stream of events flow from the
decision, bringing all sorts of unforeseen
incidents, meetings and material
assistance which no-one could have
foreseen.”
(W.H. Murray, inspired by Goethe)
“What ever you can do, or dream you
can; begin it. Boldness has genius, power
and magic. Begin it now.” (Goethe)
What Goethe expresses here is not a
postulate, but an observation which he
wishes to convey, which makes him a
mystic and not a priest repeating doctrine
by rote.
It is obvious that there must be a balance
between influences (one’s resolution in
Yoga Nidra) and making conscious. The
expression ‘to make conscious’ does not
mean in my language to analyse and
judge, but touch, awareness,
receptiveness, participation and - the
placing of consciousness, Nyasa.
To feel or just to think of a place, is
enough to bring life to it. To be aware of
the possibilities in life that present
themselves, to have the courage to accept
them, is to live consciously.
“A great saint, a mahatma, a yogi, a
prophet or a gyani lives on this earth like
any other human being. He thinks, enjoys
and eats like others. The great difference
between a yogi and an ordinary man is
that he has awakened a dormant faculty
in man called awareness, whereas the
ordinary man has not. He is always
aware. He is called a drastha - a seer. He
is the witnesser of events. Your aim on
the path to realising and awakening your
dormant potential should be to gradually
unfold this faculty of awareness within
you. Become a seer…”
(Paramhansa Satyananda)
Yoga Nidra
To make conscious by thinking of certain
places in a precisely determined
sequence, or by feeling these areas, or by
naming the places mentally, is probably
the easiest, the original and perhaps
therefore the most fruitful of all Nyasa
practises - by experiencing warmth and
cold, heaviness and lightness, pain and
contentment, and whatever else Yoga
Nidra consists of, like Chakras, certain
symbols and landscapes that one
remembers.
In the deep Yoga Nidra all the parts of
your being, all your potentials, are
touched, named and vitalised through
Nyasa, and it is precisely this experience
which creates well-being and clarity.
It is due to Paramhansa Satyananda’s
genius that we can use this effective
method of Yoga Nidra today, and we
must credit him for revealing Nyasa
through the Yoga Nidra relaxation in a
way through which everybody can
benefit. !
23
What on earth do they use it for…
Different people’s experiences of Yoga Nidra
From a female Norwegian
boxing champion
As an active athlete and one of Norway’s
female boxers, I used to have a recurring
problem before many matches. I was very
nervous and tense during the period just
before a fight - several days in fact before
a boxing meeting. My body behaved like
a battery which had discharged its energy.
I was really disappointed to lose fights
where I could not do my best simply
because I lacked the energy.
I understood that I had to learn to relax,
but how? My knowledge of meditation
and the positive things it can give a
person, wasn’t great either. When I
received a Yoga Nidra tape from a friend
I realised that I had nothing to lose in
trying it.
For a week prior to the next boxing
event, I used the tape every day, and I felt
that it helped me reduce the tension in my
body. Right before I had to box, I lay flat
on my back in the dressing-room and
meditated to Yoga Nidra. My coach
thought I had gone crazy, and made a
scene because I didn’t warm up the way a
boxer ought to. I then went up into the
prize ring and boxed brilliantly, not only
because I had more energy in my body,
but also because Yoga Nidra had
sharpened my concentration and cleared
my head!
Since then Yoga Nidra has become a
24
permanent companion in my daily life
and before boxing tournaments. By the
end of 1996 I had become Norwegian
champion and received the boxing
association’s cup for best female boxer.
This would have been hard to achieve,
had it not been for Yoga Nidra, which
taught me to relax and at the same time
clear my mind, so it became easier to
box in a smarter and more tactical way.
(Anita Bertelsen)
Yoga Nidra and adverse
side effects from medicine
I am schizophrenic, and Yoga Nidra
helps me greatly.
The drugs I take have numerous and
strong side effects. But even after just a
short time practicing the long Yoga
Nidra, the side effects have practically
disappeared altogether.
At the same time schizophrenia is
very much characterised by fear. But
each time I use Yoga Nidra I experience
the fear decrease little by little.
(From a person in a Hospital in Denmark,
whom shall remain anonymous)
The wedding of my
younger sister
My younger sister was lying on her bed,
as if dead, listening to a Walkman.
“Listening to a relaxation tape,” she said.
She had been on a yoga and meditation
course.
I was going to set her hair beautifully
as it was her wedding day, but now
instead I had to stop doing it and wait for
20 minutes. She seemed to think that
taking this time out was natural, and I
was expected to accept the break and
wait - but I felt the irritation rising. That
was not the way to treat me.
The break did us both good however.
If she had not put a brake on my
enthusiasm with comb, curling brush and
spray, a wig would probably have been
the only way out. Both she and I had
become calmer when she suddenly rose
and said that now we could continue.
Her hair style was fine - and she got
married.
Seven years later when I had “burned
myself out”, the wise doctor I visited told
me my workplace probably wouldn’t fall
apart if I took a stress break. He was
right. It was still there when I returned.
I rested and as I had plenty of time, I
borrowed some books about being
burned out. They all stressed the
importance of relaxation to enable the
body to get rest and gather new energy.
The claim seemed sensible, but how did
one go about it? I found it difficult to
unwind.
I went on a trial yoga lesson. We were
asked to listen to all the sounds around
us, without listening to anything in
particular. That was fantastic. I heard a
lot of things that I normally wouldn’t
have perceived, although I left with the
same set of ears as I had arrived with.
 We did some physical exercises. It
looked easy but I was very stiff. I got
hooked and went to several courses to
loosen up.
At one lesson we listened to a
relaxation tape. I bought the tape,
because I thought it might be good to
have. The need to use it proved to be
almost daily.
I told my sister about the tape. It
turned out that I had been taught by the
same yoga teacher as she and now had
bought the same tape as she listened to
on her wedding day.
Now I listen to the tape almost every day
after work. How insolent of me to just
throw myself on the bed and let everyone
and everything be for 20 minutes, while I
am lying as if dead! It is wonderful. No
one in my family has any objections to
my habit (some might call it a bad habit)
because they see the results.
Now I do yoga, relaxation and
meditation on a regular basis - and I am
happy that I am more inquisitive and
curious rather than sceptical, so that I
tried it - because it helps me.
Try and see! The tape my sister and I
listen to is the deep relaxation Yoga Nidra
guided by Swami Janakananda from the
Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation
School. (Hélén Persson, Sweden)
Yoga Nidra and Sleep
A man who recently took part in one of
our courses at Håå Course Center used to
work at his computer far into the night.
He told me that he had found a way, to a
large extent, to replace sleep with Yoga
Nidra.
Around four o’clock in the morning he
turns off his computer, takes a shower,
and places himself on a rug on the floor
and listens to the long Yoga Nidra.
Sometimes he falls asleep afterwards and
sleeps for half an hour to an hour. Then
he eats his breakfast and goes to work
fresh and rested.
This he can do without a problem three
nights a week.
For a period I practised Yoga Nidra just
before going to bed. I had felt tense when
bedtime came and wanted to improve my
sleep. Instead of going to bed like I used
to at half past ten, I began to listen to the
long Yoga Nidra. When the tape was
over at a quarter past eleven, I went to
bed and fell asleep right away. To my
surprise I woke up completely rested at
five o’clock, 45 minutes earlier than I
used to get up.
For several weeks I did Yoga Nidra at
the same time every night, and I kept
waking up at the same time every
morning.
A woman dancer, was on one of our
post natal yoga courses. She told me that
after giving birth she felt stiff and full of
aches in her muscles, just like after
training her dance exercises. But after
each class, which involves physical yoga
and Yoga Nidra, the aches in her muscles
were gone. She wondered why.
Swami Satyananda once said that an
hour of Yoga Nidra is equal to four hours
of sleep. And I have read that you need
four hours of unbroken sleep for the
muscles to relax enough to allow the
blood carry away the lactic acid that has
accumulated there. This woman never
slept that long at a stretch without being
woken by her baby, and therefore the
lactic acid remained in her muscles and
caused the pain.
Could it be that her muscles relaxed as
much during half an hour of Yoga Nidra
as they would during four hours of
unbroken sleep? (Mira)
How Yoga helped me
overcome shingles
In July, 1995 I woke one morning with a
severe pain down the side of my nose. I
thought it was the beginning of a sinus
attack so I did nasal cleansing and Nadi
Shodhana [a yogic breathing exercise].
While this relaxed me, the pain was still
intense and by that night had centred in
my right eye. My doctor diagnosed
shingles.
Unfortunately, as it was a late diagnosis,
the optic nerve had already been affected.
I was in terrible pain and, as shingles
affect the nerve endings, I suffered from
deep depression, especially at night. But
then I began to get up early each
morning, - usually between 4 - 5 am - to
do Yoga Nidra. After that I was able to
return to bed relaxed and much more
comfortable, which helped greatly.
In the afternoons I began to do 20
minutes or so of Nadi Shodhana which
relaxed my head and really helped the
pain. After a couple of weeks of this
routine I was amazed at how much better
I felt and by degrees I was able to do
simple eye exercises such as Palming,
Sideways viewing etc. After four weeks I
was told at the eye clinic that, in spite of
initial scarring of the retina, my sight was
now perfect. I had used reading glasses
for small print but I now find that I don’t
need them anymore. As I was sixty last
year I feel that this is something of a
record.
I would recommend yoga to anyone
suffering from a severe dose of shingles
such as I had, especially in the delicate
eye area.
(Dympna Dreyer, Waterford, Ireland)
25
Getting to know the silence...
Meditation and Yoga from the tantric tradition at Håå Course Center in South Sweden
Why is a group of people silent for 21
or 33 days when they learn Kriya
Yoga at Håå - and for three days when
they participate in the shorter 10-14
days holiday courses with yoga and
meditation?
What kind of silence do you
discover when you do not talk, write
or read?
Do you recognise the situation, when from
a detached position you watch a quarrel
between two colleagues, or between
children? Impartially you experience the
confusion without being part of it.
In the same way you can experience
thoughts, emotions and attitudes, rather than
letting yourself become immersed in them.
To have this experience, however, you
have to create a foundation, and that comes
about through the interplay between the
different things we learn on the courses.
When I meditate I do not try to stop or
change the flow of thoughts. I let it be,
and little by little I can experience my
personality and all that it involves. During
meditation I don’t need to defend or fight
anything in myself. On the contrary, I
discover that I can accept my habitual
pattern of thoughts, emotions and reactions.
26
by Omkarananda
When I see through the movements on
the surface of my mind, I find a
tranquillity, which allows previously
unexpressed traits of my nature to unfold.
The teachings
at Håå Course Center
When you come to Håå for 10 or 14 days,
or for one or for three months, to go
exploring with the deep reaching yoga
which is taught there - the teaching takes
place under ideal conditions.
In Håå it’s the same as being on a holi-
day in the country, but without newspapers,
TV, Walkman and mobile phone, and away
from daily worries and influences. That in
itself provides peace. It supports the
teaching in the yoga room and helps you
make your body supple, sharpen your
awareness, see through the habits of the
mind and get closer to your own center.
The courses
begin with
simple tension
releasing exer-
cises and a
cleansing pro-
cess where you
flush out the
stomach and
the intestines,
so you become
as clean as a
new born baby
inside. In order
to create a
better balance
in the brain and
strengthen the
energy, we use
breathing-,
concentration- and eye exercises. Step by
step you become familiar with the yoga
exercises and the different meditations.
Apart from yoga we spend about 1½
hours a day on practical tasks, like digging
up carrots, looking after the horses, chop-
ping wood, cleaning and cooking. (The
food is vegetarian and comes mainly from
our ecological gardening.) It is important
that you circulate the energy which you
generate in the yoga room. In this way the
process of going deep and the daily
activities enrich each other mutually.
The courses culminate with a period of
silence. On the 10 and 14 days courses
there are 3 days of silence, where the finer
steps of the meditations Antar Mauna
(Inner Silence, a seven step Tantric
meditation) and Ajapa Jap (a nine step
preliminary Kriya Yoga) are taught.
The Three Months Course is a unique
initiation into the tradition. After a
thorough preparation for 6 weeks, the
unabridged Kriya Yoga is taught - maybe
the only place in the world where it is
offered - during 33 days of silence. On
the 4-week long Kriya Yoga Course,
which demands that you have previously
taken part in a 10 or 14 days course,
there are 21 days of silence. (Order the
brochure about Håå.)
Free time is also important. You can
walk, ski or ride along the surrounding
fields and in the forests. The course
center has nine horses. Where the brook
runs into the lake we have a boat and
some canoes. The area has an unusually
rich animal and bird life. There are many
deer and if you are lucky you may see a
moose or an otter. In the Spring and
Autumn cranes, geese and swans come by.
The sauna represents an old Nordic
way of cleansing, relaxing and
acclimatising yourself. In the “Pyramid”
you float quietly in salt water. The lack
of sensory input allows the mind to come
to rest and the body to relax - by itself. “You are the inner silence, the silence on the background of what you experience,
that which happens in your mind.” (Swami Janakananda)
Like spokes joined
in the hub of a wheel
All that you participate in - yoga, Yoga Current Courses at Håå Course Center
Nidra, intestinal cleansing, breathing The Christmas Course Weekend Courses
exercises, the meditations, silence, 19 Dec. - 1 Jan. 4900 Sw.Cr. 21 - 23 November 1400/1100 Sw.Cr.
garden work, free time in the Småland Swami Janakananda Shanti et.al.
nature, and in the evenings, lectures or 16 -18 January 1400/1100 Sw.Cr.
song and dance - is part of a process that The New Year Course Síta et.al.
paradoxically provides both deep
2 - 12 Jan. 4300/3300 Sw.Cr.
tranquillity and extraordinary energy. Summer Courses '98
Jørgen Hastrup & Mette Kierkgaard
Last Christmas a student called it a
spiritual survival course. You return 14 - 24 May 4550/3550 Sw.Cr.
home with a greater presence, and an The Three Months Course '98 24 may - 6 June 4850/3850 Sw.Cr.
ability to do the tasks that are obvious 21 Jan. - 18 April 18.600 Sw.Cr. 7- 20 June 4850/3850 Sw.Cr.
and need to be done. From this, in daily Swami Janakananda, Síta et.al.
21 June - 4 July 5150/4200 Sw.Cr.
life as well as during your practice of
yoga and your meditation, grows your The Kriya Yoga Course '98 5 - 18 July 5150 Sw.Cr.
discovery of a silence in the midst of this 18 July - 16 August 8200 Sw.Cr. 30 Aug. - 12 Sept. 4850/3850 Sw.Cr.
teeming modern life. ! Swami Janakananda et.al. 8 - 18 October 4550/3550 Sw.Cr.

27
Yoga, Tantra and Meditation in Daily Life
Swami Janakananda’s book in a revised and extended edition

This book offers an alternative to the

misconception put forward by many yoga
books, that one must take on a new life-
style in order to use yoga and meditation.
Swami Janakananda describes yoga
from within, based on his own experience
- from a yogi’s point of view.
As you follow the exercises in this
book, you will realise that yoga is based
on a profound knowledge of human
nature. It is the fruit of a living tradition,
where knowledge is passed directly from teacher to student, from generation to generation. Step by step you are guided through the
subject and in a practical manner you can benefit from the different poses, breathing exercises, meditations and the Tantric sexual
yoga. (Rider Books, UK and Weiser, USA). (Yoga, Tantra et Méditation dans la Vie Quotodienne, Editions Satyanandashram, France).
“For a long time I have had a yearning to take up yoga, but have been put off by the narrow scholarly and religious approaches that
often seemed apparent. Your approach, and the convenient inclusion of tantra and kundalini was so refreshing, and just what I had
been looking for. I could thoroughly identify with everything you said; not only that, but I felt that the way in which you
communicated your knowledge and beliefs was perfect.” (V. Williamsson, London, UK.)

tradition in the North? Invent tomorrow's education, about

Read Bindu
Previous issues are still available:
No. 3: The ability to experience.
Headstand. Nose Cleansing...
No. 4: Kriya Yoga I. The effect of
yoga on the finer energy. The Source
of Energy - a Tantric meditation...
No. 5: Kriya Yoga II. Psychic energy. Six years of
scientific research on the 3-Months Courses in Håå, Sweden.
“The Pyramid” and Pratyahara.
No. 6: The twilight hour - did we have a living meditation
R.Y.E. (Research on Yoga in Education). Shoulderstand...
No. 7: Silver Jubilee issue! Read about Kriya Yoga III. Yoga
for pregnant women. Savasana.
No. 8: Harmony between the experiencer and the experienced.
On the Tantric meditation Antar Mauna (Inner Silence), its
ancestors and cousins. The Lotus Pose. Intestinal cleansing.
No. 9: Instructor or Guide? Yoga for the Back. Experience
and Knowledge - about the yoga teacher education at the
Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation School.
No. 10: Nada Yoga, meditation on the inner sounds.
Vibrations create forms. Song and dance. The Bumble bee.

28
Swami Janakananda abroad - Spring / Summer 1998
with lectures, seminars and weekend courses
Ireland - in April
Lecture
23 April 1998 at 8pm in Galway City
Attitudes behind Yoga and how we can
apply it in our daily life.
For more information contact: Swami
Shraddhamurti and Swami Chetanmurti,
Tober na bhfinn, Athenry, Co Galway
and Church yard St., Galway City,
telephone (091) 844 449.
Weekend Course
24-26 April 1998 in Athenry
To be attended by people with good
knowledge of yoga. Already booked up
(September 1997).
France - in May/June
A five day seminar:
30 May - 3 June 1998
Meditation and Self Knowledge
Swami Janakananda is well known for
his lucid approach to meditation and self
knowledge. He and Síta will guide you
through this enriching process. The
seminar is centred around the tantric
meditations Inner Silence and Ajapa Japa
and also yoga. Kirtan as well as other
ethnic chanting and dancing are also a
part of it.
Venue: Aube ashram, 2 hours drive,
south east of Paris. The ashram is
situated in a beautiful rural area, on the
edge of a peaceful village, surrounded by
rolling fields and woods. The address is:
Centre de Yoga Satyanandashram-Aube 14
16 Rue de la Cote Régnier,
10210 Chesley, France.
Arrival: the evening of 29 May - or
before 9.00 am, Saturday, 30 May.
Train station: Tonnerre. We may be able
to pick you up.
Language: the teaching is in English
with translation into French.
Fee: 2200 FF (2000 FF if in a group of
four or more), the course fee includes
meals and accommodation.
Booking and Payment details: contact
Swami Brahmatattwa or Swami Devanath
at the Aube Ashram,
phone +33 (0)325700640,
fax +33 (0)325700635. Early booking is
advised as the number of places are
limited. (Places on the seminar are still
available when printing this, Nov. 1997)
Don’t forget: your sleeping bag and a
towel...
Iceland - in July
Swami Janakananda and Síta (who is
Icelandic) will be in Reykjavík in Iceland
from 5 - 12 July, 1998 giving a lecture, a
weekend course in yoga and meditation
and an intestinal cleansing. All details not
decided at the time of printing (Nov. ‘97).
Lecture - Sunday 5 July
A path to Self Knowledge; Tantra,
yoga and meditation.
An inspiring evening with Swami
Janakananda. He is a lively lecturer,
much saught-after and is one of the
greatest meditation teachers in the world.
He teaches the full Kriya Yoga from
January to April on the yearly 3 months
course at International Håå Course
Center in South Sweden. This is his first
visit to Iceland. He welcomes questions
from the audience and ends the evening
with a meditation. The lecture begins at
8pm.
Intestinal Cleansing - Friday 10 July
Síta will lead you through this refreshing
yogic cleansing process. We use warm
salt water and four simple yoga poses to
cleanse and relax the stomach and
intestines. A 10 day diet period follows.
For more energy, for your health and well
being. From 9am - 2pm.
Weekend Course 10-12 July
Yoga and Meditation
This course offers a transforming and
rewarding experience for both those
familiar with yoga and for beginners
alike. Swami Janakananda and Síta will
teach yoga poses, breathing exercises,
simple relaxation, the meditative deep
relaxation Yoga Nidra, a concentration
technique and the meditation methods
Inner Silence (Antar Mauna) and The
Source of Energy (five steps of Ajapa
Japa).
Friday 10 July 18.30 - 22.00
Saturday 11 July 09.00 - 18.00
Sunday 12 July 09.00 - 17.00
Lunch-break approx. two hours
For detailed information booklets or
booking: Contact Síta before the middle
of June at Håå Course Center (see next
page). Contact in Iceland after the middle
of June: phone: (+354) 5627377 from
5pm - 7pm daily and some evenings.
Early booking is advised for the
courses in Reykjavík, as the number of
places are limited. (Places are still
available when printing this, Nov. 1997)
29
Yoga shop Subscription
You are welcome to support us, so
we can continue to publish Bindu.
The book: Yoga, Tantra and Nose cleansing pot
Pay 45 Sw.Cr. for one issue or 80
Meditation in Daily Life with instruction brochure:
Sw.Cr. for 2 issues + 40 Sw.Cr. post-
by Swami Janakananda Joghus, (short spout) blue, red, yellow, age (payment, see below). Further
175 Sw.Cr. + 55 Sw.Cr. postage. green or black. contributions are also welcome.
Also available in other languages. 165 Sw.Cr.+ 55 Sw.Cr. postage.
New French translation of the book! Krutis, (long spout) blue, sand, white
See also page 28. or green, 195 Sw.Cr. + 105 Sw.Cr.
The CD: Experience Yoga Nidra postage.
165 Sw.Cr. + 30 Sw.Cr. postage. The periodical:
Bindu, no. 3-10,
The tape: Experience Yoga Nidra 25 Sw.Cr. each + 20 Sw.Cr.
120 Sw.Cr. + 30 Sw.Cr. postage. postage. See also page 28.
Hopi Ear Candles: made of 100% The brochure (free):
bees wax and cotton; cleanses the ears. about the retreats at Håå International
50 Sw.Cr. + 30 Sw.Cr. postage. Course Center. (See pages 26-27).
We can only accept payment in Swedish Crowns by Eurocheque, international money order or to our postal giro account
73 86 03 - 0 in Sweden. If you send a personal cheque, please add 50 Sw.Cr. (cashing fee).
Please send money and order to: Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation School, Håå Course Center, 340 13 Hamneda, Sweden.

Publisher: Bindu,
Håa Course Center,
Håå Course Center, 340 13 Hamneda, Sweden. Tel. +46 372 55063. 340 13 Hamneda, Sweden.
Fax. +46 372 55036. Email: haa@yoga.se Circulation: 4,000 in English
Sweden Germany (Also printed in German, Swedish and Danish)
• Västmannagatan 62, 113 25 Stockholm • Egestorffstrasse 3, 30449 Hannover Printed: Håå Course Center,
by Erling Christiansen & Mark Richards
tel. +46 8 321218, fax. +46 8 314406 tel. +49 511 454163 fax. +49 511 447281 Layout: Robert Nilsson & Swami Janakananda.
email: stockholm@yoga.se email: hannover@scand-yoga.org Translation: Dani Dreyer & Robyn Taylor.
Norway Pictures: Back page “Concealed Interior” (part of
Denmark painting from 1987) and p.2 “Triquetra” (1988):
• Georgernes Verft 3, 5011 Bergen Linda Gustavson Nameth, Sweden. Both pictures
• Købmagergade 65, 1150 Copenhagen
tel. +47 5614 3310 fax. +47 5614 9738 are printed in her book “På fjärilsbänken”. Front
tel. +45 3314 1140, fax. +45 3314 1434
email: bergen@scand-yoga.org page, p. 4,24,26,27: Omkarananda. Page 9,10:
email: kbh@scand-yoga.org
• Skytterdalen 6, 1300 Sandvika, Oslo Troels Kjær, Denmark. Page 12: Peter Appel,
• Vestergade 45, 8000 Århus Finland. Page 19: „Mooladhara Chakra“,
tel. +47 6756 9555 Anandananda, Norway.
tel. +45 8619 4033, fax. +45 8619 4013
email: karuna@online.no
• Kongensgade 12 B, 3000 Elsinore Copyright © 1997 Bindu and Scandinavian Yoga
tel. +45 4921 2068 and Meditation School. All rights reserved.
Finland No part of this publication may be reproduced in
• Sukula, 30100 Forssa, Helsinki any form without written permission from the
Internet • www.scand-yoga.org tel. +358 3 4350599 publishers.

30
 w on CD!
No
Experience
Yoga Nidra
Inspiration for a richer life
with
SWAMI JANAKANANDA
1. The Wholeness of Your Nature, the
relaxation Yoga Nidra to the sounds of
Mother Earth. Composed and guided
by Swami Janakananda. 20.41
2. Travel through the Space of
Experience, a piece of music,
composed and played on a Swara-
Mandala harp by Roop Verma. 7.44
3. Discover Your Self, the deep Yoga
Nidra. The relaxation is guided by
Swami Janakananda, to the music of
Roop Verma. 45.16
With the CD there is a 20-page booklet
about Yoga Nidra, and how to get the
full benefits from the two relaxations.
“Relaxation is a state. It is best achieved through a technique that triggers it. The blood pressure
is normalised, the immune system is strengthened and the brain relaxes and cooperates better. All
the organs and senses of the body are rested in a way that sleep seldom provides. Thus the senses
are sharpened and you feel invigorated afterwards.
The more familiar you become with Yoga Nidra, the easier it is to glide into the relaxed state.
And as you come to know harmony, you are soon able to recall it instantly - in the middle of the
activities of your day.
What makes Yoga Nidra so special is that it touches all parts of your being through the
different methods it contains. After having made the body and mind thoroughly aware and
relaxed, I use, among other things, the mantras (spoken sounds) and the visual symbols of the
chakras - to awaken and harmonise these energy whirls or fields of consciousness.
On this CD Roop Verma, as the first musician, has been inspired to record the ancient music
symbols of the chakras, which you experience with my text and guidance during the deep Yoga
Nidra.” (Swami Janakananda)

31
Linda Gustavson Nameth - Concealed Interior
32