Practicing Yoga Nidra can be a very rewarding way to spend your time. However, learning how to do it properly and getting the most out of your sessions, can take some time. To assist students with this, we require 20 hours of your Yoga Nidra sessions to be logged and submitted as Journal Entries for review. Since we cannot be there with you in person, this allows us to be able to review the progress that you made in your practice and details how you utilized the techniques that you learned throughout this course.
This is a very important part of this course, as it will help you solidify a firm foundation in the basics of Yoga Nidra and help you to teach others the basics. No matter what level you are at (new, practiced a little, or have been practicing for years) we ask that you look at this course with fresh eyes as if you are new to Yoga Nidra. This will help you be open to building your foundation and enhance your practice.
With that in mind, we ask that you do not fill out the time on your journal entries randomly. Doing that will not help you deepen your practice and get the most out of this course. Being honest and providing an accurate account of your actual practice time will benefit you and help you integrate what you learned into your daily life. It will also allow us to provide the best feedback and assist you throughout your journey. Note that if Journal Entries submitted do not follow the guidelines below, they will either be returned to you to have more hours submitted, corrections made, or can result in loss of points, up to and including a failing grade. If additional hours are needed or corrections need to be made, it will result in unnecessary delays in your grading. Therefore, be sure to follow the guidelines and check your work.
Lastly, when sitting for your Yoga Nidra sessions, we know that some sessions can bring up some very difficult and/or personal topics. We do not require you to discuss every detail of your sessions. In fact, it is generally best that you do not get too personal in your journal entries. The purpose of these entries is so that we can see you progressing with your practice in regard to how you are implementing the techniques discussed in this course and what the results of implementing those techniques were. It’s okay to discuss what you experienced in a broad way; however, we do not need specific details (ex. details of past traumas, specific events, or specific names are not needed). You also do not need to log and share every session you have. If you would like to write down what you experience in all of your sessions, with these specifics for yourself, you can keep them as a separate personal journal that is not shared with us. However, please keep in mind that any session(s) not submitted, does not count toward your required 20-hrs.
Requirements:
- You should start your practice as you read the book “Yoga Nidra” textbook. You do not need to finish the book before you start. This will help you understand where you are at, and build your practice, as you start to implement techniques. It will also help you better understand your students when you start teaching, so don’t forget your experiences throughout this course.
- You must log 20 hours total of your Yoga Nidra sessions time.
- When you first start your sessions, it is okay to start with 5-15 minute sessions as you adapt to this practice. However, we do want to see you progress throughout this course, therefore, once you get to 10 hours of time, you should be able to sit for at least 15 minutes a session. There may be some sessions that are shorter, however, the average time per session, by the end of this course, should be about 20-30 minutes. Some students will adapt quicker to this practice and will be able to lie down for longer durations. For the purpose of this course, sessions over 60-minutes cannot be logged toward your required hours. Keep in mind that the goal is not to practice for as long as possible, the goal is to have a productive Yoga Nidra session. You should only lie down for only as long as the session is productive. If your mental distractions are in abundance or you are focused entirely on physical discomfort (and you don’t yet have the technique(s) to address these issue(s) you should end the session.
- The journal for your logged sessions should be short and to the point. You do not need to elaborate on personal experiences. You can broadly discuss what you experienced during your session; however, the focus should be on how you implemented techniques and the results of that implementation.
- Log your actual practice time and your review time after your session. Since your review time counts towards your session time, it should be limited. For the purpose of this course, your review time after each session cannot exceed 4-5 minutes.
- Only log up to 60 minutes per day. This ensures that students who are new to Yoga Nidra don’t burn out and become frustrated. For our more experienced students, only logging an hour per day allows us to see how the techniques in this course help improve and enrich your practice, whether the techniques are new to you or are being revisited.
- Your practice time begins when you are properly lying down and ready to start your session until your session is over. Do not log your setup time, such as: Preparing your area (setting up your props or cushions, lowering the lights, lighting candles or incense, playing music, etc.). This time does not count towards your session time.
- Your review time starts immediately after your session has ended. This includes the brief time that it takes to slowly stand up, walk around, and contemplate your session. It also includes you typing a brief self-assessment of that session. Again, this cannot exceed more than 4-5 minutes.
- To submit your sessions, fill out the Journal Submission form by selecting the link below. Once you submit a journal, you will receive a notification via email that it has been submitted. When you’re ready to submit your next journal, go to the Lesson “Journals” and then, selecting the Lesson Topic “Journal Submission Form.” NOTE: DO NOT REFRESH YOUR WEBPAGE ONCE YOUR JOURNAL HAS BEEN SUBMITTED OR IT WILL BE ENTERED MORE THAN ONCE.
*Note: Journals will not be graded automatically, as they will be reviewed once your Script, Final Exam, and Forms have been completed and submitted. You will be able to move forward in your coursework, as Journals are submitted, so you do not need to wait for a grade to complete the rest of your course.
IMPORTANT: BE SURE TO KEEP A COPY OF YOUR JOURNALS. Once they are submitted, you will not be able to review or make changes to that journal. Keep track of what you have submitted and your total hours that you submitted. This will be important if you want to review where you have been and will also be needed if you need to resubmit any of your journal entries.