What’s the difference between meditation and yoga nidra and Savasana
There are lots of Yogic practices in Yoga that we often get confused between the few. Among those, there are meditation, savasana and yoga nidra. If you are having doubt about these practices, then you are not alone. In this article, we will explain you in detail about these practices.
The first thing you need to consider is that you have to stop worrying about the thing that whether you are practising any of this Yogic practices right which might convince you to stop doing them. Even though there are differences between each of these practices, you don’t have to worry in case they start to seem similar and overlap with each other because they surely will. And it is perfectly fine. You need to keep practising them and engage in self-study in order to learn more about them, and even attend classes if possible in order to deepen your practice of these yogic practices. But again, we have seen people applying the mentality of achievement to yoga, and it doesn’t work in that particular way. There are no rewards given out for these practices. You just need to explore them and enjoy.
- Meditation
We could have put in lots of explanation from world’s leading meditation experts, but for the sake of simplicity, we will explain our own version. We are going to give the most straightforward explanations. According to us, meditation is essentially a practice of attaining awareness of your own thoughts. In order to achieve so, you need to sit, close your eyes and turn inward. You need to watch your thoughts.
This type of witness mentality is what makes the meditation a unique form. It is rather than being the inside thoughts of what you are going to cook for dinner or whether your foot is hurting. It is about watching thoughts both begin and end. One visual that we like to offer the practitioner is to imagine that he is standing still and watching a leaf blow past when the wind flows. He can also envision of a river which is flowing beneath your foot or balloon floating and rising in the sky. The thoughts come as they may, and instead of attaching to them and being carried away with them, he has to watch them leave.
Meditation is generally practised in a seated position while savasana is practised while you are lying down even though some people need to make different choices as per their comfort. According to many schools of thoughts, it is believed that keeping the spine upright during meditation is a great way to “power up” the energy of the body. In general, yogis will sit in lotus position so that in case they dozed off while they are meditating for hours, they wouldn’t be falling over. It is quite great for them, but we generally suggest that you can sit cross-legged with lots of props in order to support you like blanker under your butt and blocks under your knees.
Another essential and key difference is that when it comes to savasana, we are actually practising rest. We are essentially allowing our body to just melt into the yoga mat. In meditation, we are a little bit more intentional. We wish to be comfortable so that our body doesn’t actually disturb us but rest in not the actual primary focus. The main focus in awareness of the mind.
2. Savasana — Corpse Pose
Savasana literally translates as corpse pose even though according to Western practitioners they prefer it calling rest pose which seems to feel like a little bit less morbid. What this actually means for us is that we have to surrender in savasana. You don’t actually have to worry about your breath or even your thoughts and your body. All you need to perform is let go, and your work is essentially done. There is absolutely nothing for you to do.
Savasana is generally practised at the end of all the asanas or asana session. However, we do encourage that you consider making this asana a very own practice. In this busy life of ours, spending few minutes in savasana every day can be quite powerful.
The most common question regarding savasana is falling asleep while doing it. It is quite common for the beginners to doze off. But the question arises if this is okay. Well, the answer is that it is perfectly fine if you fall asleep. It essentially means that your body requires sleep. However, sleep and savasana aren’t actually the same thing. Savasana is more about surrender. You are actually awake but essentially at rest. It is about learning about how to remain awake and also at rest which is incredibly important for wellness and stress relief.
In case you fall asleep during the practice of savasana once in a while then it is nothing to worry about. You are just a human being, and it is perfectly alright. If you are falling asleep while doing savasana, then it means that you are most likely experiencing some sort of sleep issues which needs to be more deeply. Healthy sleep is quite important for the wellness of the body.
3. Yoga Nidra
In yoga nidra, the practitioner leads his students through a detailed and specific scrip which essentially says that feel your left toe and then release your left toe. In the yoga nidra, you are asked to set a Sankalpa or making a promise to yourself and then call upon the deepest desire that you actually have. It is essentially believed that you can easily enter a state in between the consciousness as well as unconsciousness where those particular desires can easily be manifested.
You may have experienced the feeling when you are about to fall asleep, and there is a weird feeling like your brain is simply freestyling and also attaching random ideas with each other. Some might call it dozing. You are actually in between being awake and being in sleep. This is exactly where Yoga Nidra takes you with all the intention of essentially keeping you there for a certain period of time. It is said that in that particular middle space, your brain can actually do some pretty tremendous as well as magical things.
Scripts in yoga nidra classes are quite specific, and you have to listen to your instructor’s voice for most of your class. You can also find the method of yoga nidra online.
So, these are the inherent differences between meditation, savasana and yoga nidra. You can actually practice each one of them to gain the maximum benefits. However, you can choose one of them to start with. Try these and see the great changes they bring to your life and make a great change in your outlook as well as well being.