Refine Your Practice, Inversions and Yoga Nidra

Here is the info I said I would post:

Benefits of Inversions:
An inversion refers to any posture or position that places the head below the heart. The reversal of gravity's effects helps to take pressure off the heart, decompress the spine, improve circulation, stimulate the endocrine system - and just make people feel good. Handstands, in particular, strengthens the shoulders, arms, and wrists, stretch the abdomen, increase balance, calm the brain and help relieve stress and mild depression.

I'll leave it at that for now.... with Google, Blogs, etc... you can search and explore this to whatever depth you would like, depending on your questions and where your practice is at.


Yoga Nidra:
Yoga is union or one-pointed awareness and Nidra is the Sanskrit word for sleep, that is sleep where the conscious mind is asleep and awareness remains active.

In Yoga Nidra, the state of relaxation is reached by practicing Pratyahara (turning inward), the 5th limb of yoga, moving away from outer experiences. When consciousness is separated from external awareness and from standard sleep, it can be very powerful and can be applied in many ways, for example, to develop memory, increase knowledge and creativity, or transform one’s nature.

Yoga Nidra also induces complete physical, mental and emotional relaxation. Adherents claim that half an hour of Yoga Nidra can replace up to three hours of normal sleep, although its regular use as a sleep substitute is not recommended as the body and mind still requires sufficient rest through standard sleep.

Enjoy!!