YogaNidra,whichisderivedfromthetantras,isapowerfultechniqueinwhichyoulearntorelaxconsciously.Inyoganidra,sleepisnotregardedasrelaxation.Peoplefeelthattheyarerelaxingwhentheycollapseinaneasychairwithacupofcoffee,adrinkoracigarette,andreadanewspaperorswitchonthetelevision.Butthiswillneversufficeasascientificdefinitionofrelaxation.Theseareonlysensorydiversions.Truerelaxationisactuallyanexperiencefarbeyondallthis.Forabsoluterelaxationyoumustremainaware.Thisisyoganidra,thestateofdynamicsleep.Yoganidraisasystematicmethodofinducingcompletephysical,mentalandemotionalrelaxation.ThetermyoganidraisderivedfromtwoSanskritwords,yogameaningunionorone-pointedawareness,andnidrawhichmeanssleep.Duringthepracticeofyoganidra,oneappearstobeasleep,buttheconsciousnessisfunctioningatadeeperlevelofawareness.