Yoga Nidra | Non-Sleep- Deep-Rest
October 5, 2023 •
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Heathcote & Star, 344 Grove Green Road, Green Grove Room
Basia Zieniewicz
I am a fully qualified and insured yoga teacher, qualified psychedelic-assisted therapist, psychosynthesis coach, and Holotropic Breathwork trainee, currently completing my certification through the Grof Legacy Training. My work weaves together yoga, depth psychology, transpersonal psychology, somatic awareness, Yoga Nidra, breathwork, and the integration of expanded states of consciousness.
My first profession was as a special educational needs specialist pedagogue, working for over 11 years with disaffected and at-risk young people. This continues to shape the way I hold space, with a particular appreciation for highly sensitive people, burnout, existential questioning, spiritual emergence, and those tender moments when we no longer feel we fit neatly into the world.
I began practising yoga in 1999 and trained as a teacher with Sevanti at Unity Yoga in 2019, after almost 20 years of personal practice. Since then, I have completed over 600 hours of further training, including Traditional Vedic Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Katonah Yoga, children’s yoga, trauma-sensitive foundations, and Yin Yoga.
Alongside yoga, I am trained in Psychosynthesis coaching, Conscious Connected Breathwork, and Permaculture Design, and have studied Transpersonal Psychology and Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness under Dr David Luke. Out of both professional commitment and deep personal curiosity, I continue to develop my studies in breathwork, expanded states, spiritual emergence, and the intelligence of the body and nature.
My facilitation style is inclusive, accessible, non-hierarchical, and post-lineage. I’m interested in slowing down, listening deeply, and creating conditions where the body, psyche, breath, and inner wisdom can speak in their own time. I often weave together tenderness and resilience, softness and strength, playfulness and devotion, what I sometimes call subtle activism.
I also work across multidisciplinary collaborations in Europe, including experiential facilitation with the University of Nottingham’s psychedelic programme for medical students through PsycEdu, medicine and breathwork retreats for doctors with Able Integrative Lifestyle Medicine, and harm reduction work with Kosmicare at Boom Festival & ZNA Gathering.
At the heart of my work is a sincere wish to support people back into relationship with their own inner compass. I am still very much a student of this path, allowing the many trainings, teachings, lived experiences, and creative threads to slowly assimilate into something simple, useful, and alive.
I am a humbled co-creator of Yoga In The Stars, our avant-garde yoga club in East London, a space for continuous learning, community, practice, and growth.
I offer group yoga, Yin Yoga, Yoga Nidra, breathwork-informed practices, 1:1 coaching, psychedelic integration support, and guidance for spiritual emergence.
https://www.wholeexquisiteself.com/
Description
Yoga Nidra is a form of guided meditation and deep relaxation that is often referred to as "yogic sleep." It is a practice that allows individuals to reach a state of profound relaxation while maintaining full consciousness. During a Yoga Nidra session, participants are guided through a systematic process of relaxation, body awareness, and breath awareness.
During a Yoga Nidra session, participants often find themselves in a liminal space, neither fully awake nor asleep
The practice involves a transition from the active, everyday state of consciousness to a deeper, more receptive state. This liminal phase allows individuals to access their inner world and explore their subconscious mind.
Nidra, more recently referred to by Western Scientists as Non-Sleep Deep Rest; can yield benefits such as:
Stress Reduction
Improved Sleep
Enhanced Mental Clarity
Emotional Healing
Increased Creativity
Pain Management
Enhanced Self-Awareness
Lower Blood Pressure
Improved Emotional Resilience
Enhanced Sleep Patterns
Spiritual Exploration
Reduction in Anxiety and Depression
Enhanced Immune Function
And on an esoteric level, depending on the intention, Yoga Nidra has been known to have effects such as:
Expanded Consciousness
Encounters with Archetypal Imagery
Contact with Inner Guides or Higher Self
Past Life Regression
Kundalini Awakening
Access to Akashic Records
Heightened Intuition and Psychic Abilities
Lucid Dreaming
Inner Alchemy and Transformation
Mystical Union
During a Yoga Nidra session, participants often find themselves in a liminal space, neither fully awake nor asleep
The practice involves a transition from the active, everyday state of consciousness to a deeper, more receptive state. This liminal phase allows individuals to access their inner world and explore their subconscious mind.
Nidra, more recently referred to by Western Scientists as Non-Sleep Deep Rest; can yield benefits such as:
Stress Reduction
Improved Sleep
Enhanced Mental Clarity
Emotional Healing
Increased Creativity
Pain Management
Enhanced Self-Awareness
Lower Blood Pressure
Improved Emotional Resilience
Enhanced Sleep Patterns
Spiritual Exploration
Reduction in Anxiety and Depression
Enhanced Immune Function
And on an esoteric level, depending on the intention, Yoga Nidra has been known to have effects such as:
Expanded Consciousness
Encounters with Archetypal Imagery
Contact with Inner Guides or Higher Self
Past Life Regression
Kundalini Awakening
Access to Akashic Records
Heightened Intuition and Psychic Abilities
Lucid Dreaming
Inner Alchemy and Transformation
Mystical Union