How to Guide Yoga Nidra: the Stages, the Sankalpa and What Teachers Need to Learn

What is Yoga Nidra?

Yoga Nidra is a practice of deep relaxation and meditation that leads the practitioner into a state of conscious sleep, the sleep of Yoga. The senses are drawn inwards, what the tradition calls pratyāhāra (Bryant, 2009). The body rests while the mind stays awake enough to follow the teacher’s voice and, later, to remember it.

This condition is rare. In daily life, either awareness is awake and the body is active, or the body rests and awareness fades. Yoga Nidra works in the narrow gap between the two. The practitioner usually lies still for thirty to forty minutes, with no task other than to listen.

It is often confused with śavāsana. Śavāsana is a posture. Yoga Nidra is a guided practice with its own structure that uses that posture. Five minutes of rest at the end of a class is not Yoga Nidra, although it is often the door through which students come to it.

Physical. Release of muscular tension through conscious relaxation of each part of the body.

Mental and emotional. Tension from worry and overthinking eases as attention withdraws from external stimuli.

Psychic. Access to material the waking mind does not easily reach, such as memories, patterns and resistances.

What happens in the brain, and where Yoga Nidra comes from

During the practice, brain activity moves down from beta to alpha and theta, the band of hypnagogia, the transition between waking and sleep (Mavromatis, 1987; Ogilvie, 2001). In EEG studies the most consistent finding is an increase in theta, especially in experienced practitioners, but the research is still scarce and preliminary (Kachera et al., 2025). The popular idea of a “conscious delta”, deep sleep experienced with awareness, comes mainly from individual demonstrations and has not been confirmed (Parker et al., 2013; Parker, 2019).

Hypnagogia can bring vivid images, sounds or the sense of floating. In large surveys, between a quarter and more than a third of people report hypnagogic hallucinations while falling asleep (Ohayon et al., 1996; Ohayon, 2000). A good teacher mentions this briefly beforehand so that nobody reads it as a warning sign.

On benefits, the manual asks for honest verbs. Stress and anxiety are the most studied: a review of 73 studies found reductions, although the studies are still of limited quality (Ghai et al., 2025; Ferreira-Vorkapic et al., 2018). During the practice the heart slows and heart rate variability rises (Markil et al., 2012). Yoga Nidra does not replace medical or psychological care.

Historically, it is a modern practice with ancient roots. In the Mahābhārata, yoganidrā is the cosmic sleep of Viṣṇu, not a technique (Birch & Hargreaves, 2015). The goddess Nidrā appears in the Devī Māhātmya (Coburn, 1991). The structured practice was systematised by Swami Satyananda Saraswati of the Bihar School of Yoga in his 1976 book, inspired by tantric techniques such as nyāsa (Satyananda Saraswati, 1976/2009). From the 2000s Richard Miller adapted it to clinical settings with iRest (Miller, 2005).

What research suggests. Reduced stress and anxiety, and signs of the body entering rest mode.

What is still preliminary. EEG findings on theta, and effects on sleep, blood pressure and concentration.

What is tradition. The stories of Viṣṇu and Nidrā: symbolic material, not the description of a technique.

The Sankalpa: the intention at the heart of the practice

Sankalpa is a Sanskrit term meaning resolve, intention or aim. In Yoga Nidra it is a short, affirmative statement the practitioner consciously chooses to plant in the subconscious. In Satyananda’s language, the deeply relaxed mind becomes receptive, and the subconscious is compared to fertile soil ready to receive seeds. Historians note that the Sankalpa, as he teaches it, is close to nineteenth-century Western techniques of autosuggestion and relaxation (Birch & Hargreaves, 2015).

The Sankalpa is personal and should not be suggested by the teacher. The teacher offers criteria, a few examples and time. As the manual observes, the first wording that occurs to someone is often a complaint disguised as an intention, and the work lies in turning it into a real affirmation.

It is also meant to stay. Keeping the same Sankalpa for weeks or months matters: changing it at every session is like digging up the soil every day to check whether the seed has sprouted.

The eight stages of a Yoga Nidra session

Yoga Nidra has been adapted to many styles, but many teachers follow the traditional eight-stage structure. The first four stages lead inwards. The next four work at the deepest point and then bring the practitioner back. Each teacher may adjust the sequence slightly, while keeping the essential elements.

1. Internalisation. Settles body and mind in comfort and quiet so that deep relaxation can begin.

2. Sankalpa. The practitioner brings their chosen intention into focus.

3. Rotation of consciousness. Also called the body scan: attention travels through the body part by part, in a fixed order.

4. Breath awareness. Deepens relaxation and steadies the mind, using the one function that is both voluntary and automatic.

5. Exploring opposites. Contrasting sensations teach the mind to move between states, building emotional flexibility.

6. Creative visualisation. Guided imagination that supports creativity, introspection and connection with the subconscious.

7. Return to the Sankalpa. Restates the intention at the deepest point to help consolidate it.

8. Externalisation. A gradual return to waking so that the practitioner finishes balanced.

What you learn in the course

The Yoga Nidra Teacher Training turns this map into a teaching skill. Carla’s manual covers the method behind each stage, and the course shows you how to lead them in practice rather than simply read them aloud.

Safety is treated with the same care as technique. Accessible does not mean suitable for everyone in the same way: deep relaxation and visualisation can bring up difficult memories or emotions. With people who have a history of trauma, psychiatric conditions or severe depression, the practice should be followed by their doctor or therapist, and the way it is led changes. The course teaches how.

Guiding each stage. How to lead all eight stages, with the reasoning behind their order and how much you can adapt without losing the essentials.

Voice and pace. Tone, timing and pauses, and how to hear your own guiding from the listener’s side before you teach.

Writing a practice. Working from the sample script in the manual and then writing your own, adapted to your students and context.

Preparation and safety. Room, comfort and props, talking about hypnagogic phenomena, trauma-informed adaptations and a careful return to waking.

Practice and assessment. Four guided practices with Carla, a final exam and a class of your own assessed by her.

Yoga Nidra Teacher Training at BeYoga: the facts

The course is online, self-paced and in English, with 10 hours of content. It is taught in Carla’s own voice, translated with AI and reviewed by the BeYoga team. The theory is on video, with the matching part of the manual under each lesson.

You receive four guided practices from 17 to 59 minutes, an interactive manual and a PDF workbook. Certification requires a final exam with 80% or more and a 30-minute class of your own, in audio or video, assessed by Carla. The course gives 10 hours of Yoga Alliance continuing education from a YACEP. It costs 175 euros, with 4 months of access.

You can read more about BeYoga School and Carla Gonçalves, explore the Meditation Teacher Training, or see all our online courses in English.