Yoga Nidra or other really gentle styles after surgery?

[Loadedforbear]

I’m having my gallbladder whipped out tomorrow at short notice - not a lot of time to prep bar an emergency shopping trip for PJ’s! To help my recovery (not straight away obvs!) I’m looking for something extremely gentle and meditative to introduce to help rebalance and get the energy flowing again. From the little I know I was wondering if Nidra style would be worth a look and if anyone has a steer on what sort of physical health I might need to be in to start giving it a go? I’m not in full health now but 15 mins of very gentle restorative really made a difference. Even that will be way too much to start with though.

Or if anyone has any other suggestions I’m all ears! Yoga is one of my reset buttons, bereft without it though the mindset is really helping off the mat right now I gotta say.

Cheers all.

[ZaraW]

Yoga Nidra is when you support yourself with cushions and pillows and cover yourself with a blanket. It's yogic sleep so anyone can do it as long as you have no problems lying on your back for 20-30 minutes.

I did a post on it some time ago you should find it is you scroll down a bit.

Hope the surgery went well.

[Loadedforbear]

Thanks @ZaraW wow, if it’s the thread I just read, that was an eye opener! My surgery has been delayed until Monday which at least has given me the opportunity to investigate this and start a programme on Ekhart Yoga channel that I’m a member of. Very passive so entirely suitable and also really interesting concepts to explore. An unintended benefit of being laid low for a while! Thanks 🙏

[ZaraW]

Loaded no problem. I had major surgery earlier in the year. I did no yoga for four weeks after that I did yin and restorative for a couple of months. After three months I was back to vinyassa.

[Coffeeandchocolate9]

Feldenkrais is very gentle movement and body-led. You tube videos is where to find it.

Chi gung or tai chi are possibilities that work with energy, though you'll have to adapt to what feels sensible.

Body awareness and healing meditations might be of interest to you too. I love the Buddhify app for that. Headspace is good too.

Best wishes for your recovery. I'm going to be in a similar position, just behind released from hospital today with a sore spleen and upset liver!

[Loadedforbear]

Sorry to hear you were also unwell @ZaraW but useful to hear your experience, cheers.

Oh no! @Coffeeandchocolate9 sorry to hear that! Is it a gallbladder eviction for you too or something else equally unpopular? Upset livers are no fun. Great ideas on the body/energy front thanks. I did a Falun Gong taster at a festival this year and really enjoyed it but it’s sometimes hard to know how all the concepts and teachings overlap. Whether that’s important or not I don’t know. Maybe I should just go with the flow?!

[hoodathunkit]

sorry to hear of your surgery OP

I have concerns about Yoga Nidra - detailed on this thread

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/yoga/3385527-Yoga-Nidra-I-love-it

Good luck whatever you decide

[ZaraW]

I feel sorry for vulnerable people who have been manipulated but I continue to do yoga nidra. It's helped greatly with my recovery and well being.

[Loadedforbear]

Thanks @hoodathunkit i’ve read the thread and I hear the concerns. I’ve also now done several led Nidra meditations and felt the massive benefits of the practice too.

I guess like many things it’s not what it is but how it’s used and manipulated by people that causes the problems. I too am sorry for those who’ve suffered but lots of things intended for good are abused by bad people. From other sources i’ve read I believe the initial intentions of Yoga Nidra go much deeper than the more recent problems. Isn’t it chucking the baby out with the bath water to dismiss all this knowledge because of the actions of others who have corrupted it? There’s a big emphasis on the setting of intention in the practice and for me that is key for how i’ll address this going forward. Equally I respect your choice not to practice. Thank you for highlighting the issues which I mindfully acknowledge 🙏

[hoodathunkit]

Thanks @hoodathunkit i’ve read the thread and I hear the concerns. I’ve also now done several led Nidra meditations and felt the massive benefits of the practice too.

Please be aware that I am not claiming that yoga nidra has no value. Like many cult related practices typically leaves people feeling euphoric, relaxed and with a strong sense of attachment to their teachers.

For the avoidance of doubt, I have no problem at all with people feeling euphoric and relaxed.

I do have a problem with the following issues

1. Like any trance induction / hypnosis / breathwork practice YN facilitates a feeling of being “alive in the moment”. This can dissociate people from their skeptical and critical faculties. Personally I experience this kind of meditative altered state via strenuous exercise and being in nature. Other people can do whatever they find best for them, however the problem lies, as always, in the safety (or lack thereof) of the setting and the teacher.
   

1. Yoga Nidra was devised by the sexual predator known as Swami Satyananda Saraswati. He describes how he invented YN in a book that can be accessed freely via the Wayback Machine here archive.org/stream/Yoga_Nidra/Yoga%20Nidra%20Bihar%20Yoga#mode/2up
   

1. I have encountered various neo-tantric spiritual entrepreneurs who trained in YN at the Bihar / Satyananda yoga schools claiming, on their websites, that YN is much more ancient that the 1960s practice invented by Satyananda. I find such people lacking in credibility due to the lack or primary sources cited and also, well, the whole neo-tantric entrepreneur thing is very dodgy as any rational person will appreciate.
   

I would not give credence to someone whose romantic partner runs goddess/ sacred sexuality retreats anymore than I would to an anti-vaxxer, flat-earther or alien abduction therapist.

1. During the various times that hippy women have attempted to convince me that YN is a wonderful practice that I absolutely must try, they have always recommended Una Dinsmore Tuli’s books as evidence or proof of YN’s effectiveness stand validity. The problem I have with Una Dinsmore Tuli is that her network of associates includes pimps and people who promote the sexual abuse of children.
   

Here is an example; Firstly a video of Colette Nolan who likes to call herself Lady Cunt Love www.youtube.com/watchv=6T3mXV8K8iw
In the video Nolan describes an allegedly empowering training course called “Cunt Loving Quest” that she offers.

She says she is working with various experts, on of whom is Una Dinsmore Tuli. Another is none other than Amara Charles teacher of Quodoushka (fraudulent, racist, sex cult training offered by the paedophile cult the Deer Tribe).

Video of Amara Charles promoting Quodoushka here

Horrifying discussions re the Deer Tribe on the excellent NAFPS website here www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=3542.msg30116#msg30116

and here

www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=12.msg13#msg13

long disturbing thread on Qoudoshka and child sexual exploitation here www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=528.0

1. So , to conclude, YN may very well help some people feel good and sleep well, however it was invented by a sexual predator at a yoga ashram at the centre of a horrific child sexual abuse ring. Its main promoter / teacher / supervisor in the UK is Una Dinsmore Tuli a woman with network connections to a paedophile cult. Given that the central effects of YN are a dissociation from rational thoughts, trance induction and an idealising transference towards the teacher how can anyone in their right mind think it is a good idea?

[ZaraW]

Hooda you are a little obsessed every opportunity you post this stuff?

Yoga Nidra is good for me and yes I am sound of mind.

[hoodathunkit]

These threads really demonstrate very clearly how history repeats itself, as evidenced by this link

<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190204111458/www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/STAT.0415.001.0001_R.pdf" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20190204111458/www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/STAT.0415.001.0001_R.pdf

People who were abused as children struggle to be heard. We struggle to avoid being abused all over again. We struggle to prevent others being abused.

While we may struggle in vain for years or even decades one day the truth will out and somehow we well be heard.

Maybe I am a little obsessed?

Nothing invokes my obsessive character traits more than an evasive, disinterested response to serious concerns about the abuse of children and vulnerable adults.

If only more people were more focussed on protecting vulnerable children than they are on chasing spiritual dreams the world would be a much safer place.

[FinallyHere]

Just for info

https://www.yoganidranetwork.org/article/total-yoga-nidra-and-swami-satyananda-where-we-stand-now

[hoodathunkit]

The above link is helpful for those who would like to experience word salad first hand

I would strongly advise anyone checking it out to do so via the internet archive at //www.archive.org, ideally when not logged in to mumsnet

can't be too careful ;)