Customer Reviews

Experience Yoga Nidra: Guided deep relaxation

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a wonderful CD. I purchased it off Amazon after reading the reviews and it totally lives up to the comments.

Swami Janakananda Saraswati voice is lovely and the music and sound are beautiful on the CD. There is sitar and harp music, but intermixed with nature sounds like streams, birds, and even some farm animals. He guides you through a relaxation of the body, beathing practice, and then lovely nature visualizations. I wake up so relax (and happy) when I'm done.

There are 3 tracks on this CD. First is Called Wholeness of Your Nature which is 21 minutes (my favorite). Then mandala harp is played by Roop Verma, 7 minutes (absolutely beautiful). And the final, long meditaton is called Discovery of Your Self, 45 minutes. I've fallen asleep on this last one, so you might want to try it sitting up. Also, you get a little booklet with the CD that explains Yoga Nidra and the Chakras.

This CD is well worth the money and highly recommended. Please see my other reviews on meditation CD's and Yoga DVD's on Amazon. Namaste'

Those are the best words that I found to describe the excellent CD through which Swami Janakananda so gracefully shares the ancient Indian technique of Yoga Nidra with us.

I was firstly introduced to Yoga Nidra last year while I was working and traveling extensively around the world. My job was extremely demanding and required a high level of responsibility and dedication. It was a 24 hour a day job and over the years I amounted a great deal of stress that threatened to endanger my professional performance and most importantly my health.

The CD has three parts: a short version of Yoga Nidra, a piece of music by Roop Verma and a long version of Yoga Nidra.
I found out that by listening to both versions (depending on the time available) I was able to easily manage my stress and I learned to relax. In addition, I could "finally" sleep better.

Swami is our guide on this voyage through our body parts and into our inner space. His narration and Roop's music will not let your mind wonder around, but instead you start to develop an open state that allows the body and mind to co-exist in balance, a total harmony.

My life being very active I found out that the more I practiced Yoga Nidra, the more relaxed I became, but in the long run I also discovered that I had more energy. What happened in reality was that I always had a lot of energy, but in most of the cases this energy was dispersed. Now I had found a way of channeling better my energy and take more advantage of my own resources.
For example, before long day meetings, I would start the day with a early morning Yoga Nidra practice and I would be focused and fresh throughout the day, being able to use the necessary amount of energy for each situation and finish the day with a sense of professional accomplishment and feeling very good health wise; a very happy person.
Since I was not able to do physical yoga due to my strenuous schedule and life style, Yoga Nidra was the best choice or replacement. I later found out that I could practice both types of Yoga and actually one complemented the other so it worked very well.

I also introduced this CD to my beach volleyball partner and since we have experienced an increase of coordination and better understanding of our individual techniques in the context of this fast "two a side" sport.

I have since changed job, joined my beautiful wife in matrimony and slowed my life's pace but I have to thank Swami for his great contribution to my general well being and improved health.

I would like to recommend this CD to anyone that seeks a perfect balance between body and mind and a happy life.

Luis de Carvalho
Lagos, Portugal
October 18, 2004

I love to meditate, and am quite partial to Bodhipaksa's CD, but I'm always on the look-out for something new and different.
Well, this is vastly different from any other meditation CD I have ever used. There is a short form, about 28 minutes, and a long form, about 45 minutes.
I agree with one reviewer who said the narrator speaks too quickly. That is definitely a challenge, as I generally like their verbal pacing to slow down my breath.
The accent is obvious, but not a big impediment. (Bodhipaksa also has an accent, but it's from the British Isles and only adds to my enjoyment.)
I actually found myself laughing during the short version, as there are sounds of cows, and the narrator can be funny. This only helped me relax.
I didn't find the longer meditation any more relaxing than the shorter form.
In retrospect, if I were to only buy one mediation CD this would not be the one I chose. The Bodhipaksa CD, with its three options: breathing, loving-kindness, and walking, is the best of all I have used, so far.
NOTE: I wrote the above review after using this CD a few times. Now that I have used it more regularly I am sorry I didn't give it 5 stars. It isn't a relaxation CD, per se, it's a mind retraining system. You focus your attention on a wide variety of things and shift between them fairly quickly. In time, I imagine this leads to more mental flexibility and tolerance...just the way asanas (yoga postures) develop flexbility, strength, and endurance on a physical level.

This CD presents two versions of a yoga nidra "meditation"--perhaps "exercise" would be a better word. The first one is about 25 minutes long, and is based on the directions found in Swami J's book "Yoga, Tantra and Meditation." The second is nearly twice as long.

This CD is a nice little production, and the exercises extremely effective. The background music is soothing and complementary, without being intrusive. This is great stuff, very relaxing. I can confirm the other 5-star reviews, and recommend that anyone looking for a yoga nidra CD try this one first.

This CD is one of my favorite meditation CDs. Every person I have recommended it to has just loved it. Swami Janakananda Saraswati has an extremely soothing voice. I love the background music/sounds. The short version (track 1) is about 20 minutes. I don't think I have ever heard the entire track as each time I put it on I fall asleep. The longer version, oh forget it, I haven't finished listening to it yet. Its even more relaxing than the short version. This is a must have for anyone hoping to experience true guided deep relaxation.

A coworker referred me to this CD. Thank you Larry. I don't drink, smoke or do drugs. This guide has helped me successfully work through emotional issues that have clouded my happiness. Funny, every time I listen to the CD it is like a different first time experience. It has helped me to open up and put my energies of love and sorrow "out there". They have come back to me 10 fold in only positive ways. Best wishes to all.

Yoga nidra means yogic sleep, a state of mind where you are in a deep sleep state and at the same time awake and aware that you are sleeping. With all due respects to Janakananda I don't think he accomplies this on his CD.

According to Swami Rama, and I consider him a far more experienced and advanced yogi, the real yoga nidra requires concentration on the heart center after some 'warm-up' excercises', because the heart center is the center of deep (dreamless) sleep. And it requires quietness around you. Something that's not on this socalled yoga nidra where the voice speaks all the time, and when the concentrationpoint is on a postulated "golden egg" in the middle of the brain.

I have done this excercise many times over the years, and I have to say I've come to find it a rather confusing mixture of genuine yoga nidra related practises like mentally contacting various parts of the body, and working with the seed mantras traditionally associalted with the chakras in yoga and tantra on the one hand. And on the other hand some fantasy journeys, walking in a wood, contacting different animals etc. that has absolutely nothing to do you with yoga, and come from a totally different tradition.

In true yoga nidra you give yourself up and let things happen spontaneously, while Janakananda forces and manipulates you in to feeling this golden egg, something that has nothing to do with genuine meditation, that is always a state beyond the verbal mind.

The best about this CD is Roop Vermas beautiful music.

It's certainly moving to read the many happy accounts of people thoroughly enjoying this CD, but if you really want to dig deep into this fascinating field, Janakananda is not the right place for you.

A great product, which I found amazing because a few simple instructions had such a relaxing and positive effect on me. It is definitely worth a try for anyone who needs to relax and recharge their batteries, thereby directing their positive energies to take advantage of their own resources.

It is a great do-at-anytime-of-the-day exercise and allows your body and mind to co-exist and maintain a balance. The instructor's rhythmic voice is very soothing and the sound effects in the CD enhance the instructions in a balanced and harmonious way. Some of the techniques in the `Nidras' are so relaxing that you might fall asleep for a short while, after which you wake up feeling calm, focused and fresh. The CD can be a good stress-buster if the instructions are followed and can be used by anyone on the lookout for a means of relaxation that actually works!

This CD combines music and a relaxation mantra to work its magic. The Swami (who is actually Scandinavian) has a very soothing, rhythmical voice. Some of the techniques in the Nidras, such as alternate nostril breathing and concentrating on the plane between your body and the ground, were new too me but they were all highly effective. A very professional and authentic production indeed.

Swami Saraswati's Yoga Nidra CD is one of the easiest ways to meditate I've ever experienced. (It's fully guided, so you just lie there and direct your attention as you're told.) It's also tremendously effective. I use it to help boost my immune response when I'm worn down from too much travel. I haven't tried any other Yoga Nidra CDs, so I can't say whether it's Swami Saraswati's particular version or Yoga Nidra in general that is so surprisingly good, but this CD tops my list of favorites.