Yoga Nidra: Deep Trance Journey
A guided yoga nidra class, in person, taught in the classical method of Swami Satyananda Saraswati. A practice between sleep and hypnosis: the body rests as if asleep, the outside world fades, and the mind stays awake inside. One evening, lying down, about two hours. No experience needed.
Beginners welcome · Lying down the whole time · Small group · Bring your own mat and blanket
Upcoming yoga nidra sessions
The Calgary session on October 24 has been cancelled; the Edmonton evening goes ahead as planned. Doors open at 7:00 PM, we start at 7:15 PM and finish by 9:00 PM. If you have been looking for yoga nidra near you in Alberta, this is the in-person session we run this autumn. Places are limited so that everyone has room to lie down comfortably, so early registration is recommended.
The first yoga nidra class in Calgary in the full Satyananda form. Bring your own mat and blanket; we prepare the body with special exercises before the practice itself.
This session has been cancelled. Join us in Edmonton on Nov 8 →
Yoga nidra in Edmonton on Whyte Avenue: a Sunday evening to close the week, in a quiet yoga studio, with time for questions after the practice.
What state is this
What happens to a person when the body is almost asleep, the outside world slowly fades away, but the mind stays awake inside? Can we stay aware while deeply relaxed, right on the edge between waking and sleep? What happens to inner perception when the usual control of the mind lets go?
This is the state a yoga nidra session takes you to. Yoga nidra literally means "yogic sleep", but it is not ordinary sleep. In normal sleep the mind loses its direction and attention sinks fully into what happens inside. In yoga nidra the body moves into deep relaxation, close to sleep, while the mind keeps a certain level of awareness. The body resting, the outside world losing importance, the mind still watching: that combination is what makes this practice so interesting, and why it can never be fully understood from a description.
The modern system of yoga nidra is closely connected to the name of Swami Satyananda Saraswati. In the ashram of his teacher, Swami Sivananda, in Rishikesh, he used to keep watch at night near a school where students studied Sanskrit. After his night shift he would fall asleep, and in the morning the students would begin chanting Vedic mantras. He never studied those texts and never tried to memorise them. Later, awake, when he heard the same mantras, he realised he knew them. Something he had never learned consciously had entered his mind while he slept.
That experience pushed him to study the nature of sleep, perception and awareness, and the idea that a person can take in information even while asleep. Ideas about yogic sleep are much older and appear in ancient yogic and tantric texts; Satyananda organised them into one clear, step-by-step practice, the yoga nidra taught in this class.
What happens in the session
During the practice attention moves through the body, the breath, the senses and the inner space of the mind, in the order Satyananda set out. The teacher's voice guides the whole way; you never have to remember what comes next.
Preparation matters: before lying down we do special exercises, gentle stretches and breathing, so the body can stay still without effort. Then, on your back under a blanket, eyes closed.
A short, positive resolve planted at the door of deep relaxation and repeated at the end, when the mind is most receptive.
Attention moves quickly through the body in a fixed sequence, part by part. You hear the name and feel the place, nothing more. By the end most people are already at the threshold.
Watching and counting the natural breath keeps a thread of awareness alive exactly where the body wants to fall asleep.
Heaviness and lightness, heat and cold: the nervous system learns to move between states without resisting either.
Colours, sounds, memories, symbolic images and associations may appear. The sense of time may change; the edges of the body may become less clear. Or you simply fall asleep. Everyone's yoga nidra is their own.
The same resolve, with feeling, from inside the deepest part of the practice.
Breath, weight, sounds in the room, small movements, and back. The return is never rushed; this is where the practice settles.
An unhurried close: a few words about what you noticed, if you want to share them, and questions to the teacher.
All of this is guided; you only lie still and listen. Reserve a place · $50 →
The shape of the evening
Times are approximate: the practice itself takes as long as it takes, and the evening always closes by 9:00 PM.
Doors open at 7:00 PM; please be settled by 7:15 PM so we can begin together. Once the practice has started the door stays closed, because a late arrival breaks the state for everyone in the room.
Why "deep trance journey"
How close are these states to what other fields of altered consciousness have studied? In psychology and hypnotherapy, Milton Erickson widely used trance states, working with conscious and unconscious processes, inner images, memories and a person's inner resources. Michael Newton studied the subjective experience of people in deep hypnotic trance and worked with regression.
Yoga nidra is its own yogic practice with its own structure and aim. Nobody suggests anything to you and nobody leads you anywhere on purpose. But between these fields there is a shared area: a change in the usual nature of attention, and a move toward deeper inner perception.
Deep relaxation and a change in the state of attention may let memories, images and associations appear that are usually outside conscious awareness. Some people have experiences connected to past events or long-forgotten memories. Yoga nidra does not aim to cause this, and an image that appears is not automatically a literal memory or proof of anything. It is a subjective inner experience: something to observe and explore, without needing to explain it right away.
You don't need to know beforehand what should happen, force yourself to see certain images, or try to reach a special state. The practice starts with something very simple: you lie down, close your eyes and start to listen. What matters is not what you should see or feel; what matters is the experience itself.
Two people take part
You could say it is 50/50. The teacher builds the structure and guides with the voice; the practitioner does the inner work. The teacher can create the conditions for going deeper, but how deep you go depends on your own ability to let go of outside activity, trust the process and stay attentive.
This is why yoga nidra can never be understood just from reading. You can read a lot about consciousness, the subconscious, hypnosis, trance and regression, but there is a huge difference between knowing about a state and living through it yourself.
Who the yoga nidra class is for
You don't need to try to force yourself into any state. It is enough to come, get comfortable, close your eyes and let the practice happen. For some it will be deep relaxation; for others the sense of body and time will change; some will see inner images or memories; and for someone this may be the first time they feel the body resting as if asleep while the mind keeps watching.
Not sure whether a yoga nidra session is right for you? Write to life@vipassana.ca or call +1 (647) 614-0707 and we'll tell you honestly. Ready to come? Reserve your place →
Who is guiding it
The Edmonton evening is guided by Artem Rusinov, a certified yoga nidra teacher from the Satyananda Saraswati Institute. Artem teaches yoga nidra, Kriya yoga and Vipassana meditation at every retreat we run in Alberta, and this class is the practice on its own, in its full classical form, with time for a slow return and questions afterwards.
Reserve your place · $50
Edmonton · Sun, Nov 8 · 7:00 PM. Places are limited by the floor space of the room, so that everyone can lie down with room around them.
Registration opens soon
Online checkout for the Edmonton yoga nidra session is not open yet, but you can already join: write to us and we will hold a place for you and send the payment link as soon as it is live.
Checkout not loading?Open registration on Eventbrite →
Questions people ask first
You lie on your back on a mat, under a blanket, with your eyes closed, and the teacher guides you with the voice for about 45 minutes through the classical stages: settling, an inner intention (sankalpa), a rotation of attention through the body, breath awareness, opposite feelings, visualisation, the intention again and a slow return. Before the practice itself we prepare the body: special exercises, gentle stretches and breathing, because how deep you go depends on how completely the body can let go. The evening opens with a short introduction and closes with a slow return and questions; in total about two hours, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM.
No. Yoga nidra is guided from the first word to the last, and nothing is expected of you except lying still and listening. Complete beginners and experienced meditators lie side by side in the same room, and each has their own experience.
Then you fall asleep, and that is fine. The practice aims at the threshold between waking and sleep, and on some evenings, or after a hard week, the body simply crosses it. Part of the practice still reaches you, and many people who "slept" come out more rested than after a full night. With repetition the thread of awareness gets stronger.
No. Yoga nidra is a yogic practice with its own structure; nobody suggests anything to you and nobody leads you anywhere on purpose. What it shares with the trance states studied in hypnotherapy, from Milton Erickson to Michael Newton, is a change in the usual nature of attention and a move toward deeper inner perception. That shared ground is why we call the session a deep trance journey, and why it is not regression therapy.
It may, and it may not. Deep relaxation can let images, memories and associations surface that are usually outside conscious awareness. If they come, the guidance is simply to observe them; an image that appears is not automatically a literal memory or proof of anything. If nothing comes, the practice is not less complete. Nobody is pushed toward any experience.
Yoga nidra is one of the gentlest practices there is, but a few notes. If you have a history of trauma, tell the teacher before the class; the rotation and the opposites stage can be adapted, and you can keep the eyes open if you need to. In pregnancy, after the first trimester, lie on the left side with support rather than flat on the back; bring an extra pillow. If you are being treated for severe depression or psychosis, talk to your clinician first. And please don't drive straight after: give yourself ten minutes to come back fully before leaving.
Bring your own yoga mat and a blanket; mats and blankets are not provided. Wear a warm sweater and socks, because body temperature drops in deep relaxation. An eye mask or scarf for the eyes helps, and a small pillow under the head or knees is optional. Water is a good idea; please have a light meal before you come rather than after.
Edmonton: Sunday, November 8, 2026, 7:00 PM, at the yoga studio at 9562 Whyte Ave NW, Edmonton, AB T6C 1B9. Doors open at 7:00 PM; we begin at 7:15 PM. The Calgary session on October 24 has been cancelled.
A small group. The number of places is set by the floor space of each room so that everyone can lie down with space around them, and registration closes when the room is full.
Write to life@vipassana.ca as early as you can. Because places are limited we can usually move you to the other city's date or to the next session, or pass your place to a friend.
At our one-day and three-day retreats yoga nidra is one afternoon practice among sitting meditation, hatha yoga, Kriya yoga and sound. This class is yoga nidra on its own, unhurried, in the complete classical form, with room for the slow return and questions afterwards. A sound bath works through sound and vibration; yoga nidra works through guided attention and the voice. Many people do both.
Yes; that is one of the reasons to come. Hearing the full sequence from a live voice is the fastest way to get it into memory, and after the class you will know the order well enough to guide yourself. Our guide to yoga nidra has the stages written out and a short version to practise from memory.
Still have a question? Write to life@vipassana.ca, or simply reserve a place →
Go deeper
You lie down. You close your eyes. You start to listen.
And maybe, right then, you feel for the first time what it means to stay aware while the body is almost asleep.
Yoga Nidra: Deep Trance Journey · Edmonton, Sun Nov 8 · 7:00 PM · $50
Questions? life@vipassana.ca · +1 (647) 614-0707
Ask us directly
We'd love to hear from you. Ask anything about the retreat or whether it's the right experience for you, and we'll reply personally.
Or write to life@vipassana.ca · +1 (647) 614-0707
Upcoming at Vipassana.ca
Registration openA free two-hour yoga and guided meditation session for all levels, held with Calgary Food Bank: a non-perishable food donation is welcome but optional. Registration is free.
Free · Details →
Registration open10 days of guided Vipassana practice from home, alongside the in-person retreat.
$100 CAD · Details →
Waiting listThree days of noble silence, Vipassana, hatha yoga, pranayama and sound healing, with vegetarian meals and accommodation.
$849 CAD · Details →