What is the difference between Savasana and Yoga Nidra? PDF Print E-mail
Written by Lian Reed, Director Santa Fe Community Yoga Center, October 2011   
Tuesday, 12 October 2010 16:56
Great question!  Although there are some similarities depending on how an instructor might approach either one of them, they are 2 very different things.  One is a yoga pose where instruction is given to help the student relax and the other is a guided meditation practice.

Savasana (sometimes spelled Sivasana) is the Corpse Pose.  The word Shava in Sanskrit means Corpse.  A more traditional name for the pose is Mrtaasana.  Mrtaasana gives it a pretty literal feel.  In Sanskrit “mrt” means “dead”.  Mrtaasana means “dead pose”.

Mrtaasana (Savasana) allows the body to integrate what it just went through in class.  The mind relaxes; stress falls away, the nervous system takes in the information gained from the Asana then sends that information out to all the systems of the body and repair may occur.  The pose is held from 3 minutes to 20 minutes.  Mrtaasana is considered a difficult pose because relaxation is not always an easy state to be in.  Especially since the student is asked to relax the mind as well.

Yoga Nidra is a guided meditation practice.  The word Nidra means sleep in Sanskrit.  The practice is often referred to as Yogic Sleep.  Although no one is positive of the exact origins, Sanskrit scholars began to see references to it in the Hatha Pradipika (A writing that details the Hatha Yoga practice most people recognize today as yoga).  The Hatha Pradipika appeared in the early middle ages in India when the practice of yoga was banned and the yogis went underground creating asana and practicing austerities in secret.  Because of how it is referred to in the Pradipika, Yoga Nidra is thought to be how the original Rishis transmitted the information to their students regarding the practices of yoga.  We do know from the Pradipika that the practice of Yoga Nidra was originally transmitted from Teacher to Student. The student lies on their back in a comfortable position and although the eyes are closed, the task for the student is to remain aware of their surroundings, and allow the mind to follow what is being said by the Instructor.

Swami Rama wrote quite a bit on the subject 1970.   He stressed the importance of the script, how it is written and transmitted to the student in order to take the body through stages of relaxation yet keeping the mind completely aware and able to retain the information being transmitted.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati is credited with bringing this form of meditation to the attention of the Western World as he taught it through the Behar School of Yoga.  You can do searches on the internet for books, scripts, and CDs on Yoga Nidra.