Yoga Nidra for All · with Carl Parratt
Yoga Nidra is deep, guided relaxation — sometimes called “yogic sleep”. No flexibility, no experience, no effort. You simply lie down, listen, and let the practice do the work.
Taught in person in Notting Hill · Holland Park · Ladbroke Grove
↓ Settle in
It is the easiest meditation there is — because you don’t have to do anything.
You lie down comfortably under a blanket. For about forty-five minutes a voice guides you — through the body, the breath, and the quieter layers of the mind — to the threshold between waking and sleep, and holds you there, deeply rested and completely aware. It is the practice behind what researchers now call NSDR — non-sleep deep rest: an ancient tradition, and the deep rest modern science is rediscovering.
If you’ve ever tried to meditate and given up — the racing thoughts, the fidgeting, the feeling that you’re “doing it wrong” — Yoga Nidra was made for you. There is nothing to get right and no sitting still on a cushion: the voice gives your mind something to follow, and lying down does the rest. And the practice quietly teaches itself — after a few sessions the steps become your own, and you can use them whenever you need them, for the rest of your life. It suits people of every age and ability — including anyone who would find a physical yoga class hard work.
An hour of Yoga Nidra can feel as restful as several hours of sleep. People come back week after week for their own reasons:
Each practice also carries a sankalpa — a short, personal intention planted like a seed in the quiet of the practice — a gentle way of pointing your life in the direction you want it to go.
I didn’t learn Yoga Nidra from a weekend workshop. In December 2018 I completed a 200-hour residential Teacher of Yoga Nidra training at the Shankar Prasad Foundation, an ashram near Gokarna in South India, under Swami Yogaratna Saraswati — a direct disciple of Swami Satyananda, the man who developed modern Yoga Nidra in the 1960s.
When the course ended, the ashram asked me to stay and teach. For four months I led Yoga Nidra five days a week for visitors from all over the world — the kind of daily, hands-on experience no certificate can give. Back in London I taught weekly classes in Walthamstow and Notting Hill until the 2020 lockdown paused everything. Now I’m bringing the practice back to my own neighbourhood.
“Carl is patient and kind and draws from a well of experience where you feel very comfortable exploring your inner world with his help and gentle guidance.” — a class member
“Gently open your eyes.”
— every session ends this way. Here’s how to begin one.£60 per session
£12 per class · £6 concessions · first class free
Venues and dates are being confirmed now — as far as I can tell, this will be the only weekly class in West London dedicated purely to Yoga Nidra. Message me on WhatsApp and I’ll let you know the moment the first class is announced. I usually reply within a couple of hours.
Nothing to prepare, nothing to get right. A session simply goes like this:
Come a few minutes early in comfortable clothes. Mats, cushions and blankets are provided — you just find your spot and lie down.
I’ll say a little about what we’re doing — a few minutes, no more. Then you close your eyes, and my voice guides you: through the sounds around you, then the body, then the breath, into deep rest.
You lie still and listen. There’s nothing to concentrate on and no way to fail — if your mind wanders, the voice simply brings it back. If you drift off, that’s fine too; the practice still works.
You’re guided slowly back — breath, body, the room — and open your eyes rested and clear. Most people feel the effects for the rest of the day. Over a few sessions the steps become your own, to use whenever you need them.
Sleep is the most common reason people come. An hour of Yoga Nidra can feel as restful as several hours of sleep, and practised regularly — especially the shortened version you learn to do at bedtime — it helps many people fall asleep more easily and wake more rested.
Yes — “non-sleep deep rest” (NSDR) is the name researchers and podcasters have given to this practice in recent years. Yoga Nidra is the original, and what I teach is the traditional form it comes from.
Maybe, at first — and that’s fine. With a little practice you learn to rest on the edge of sleep while staying aware. There are simple tricks for staying awake, and I’ll teach you them.
Not at all. Some people see vivid pictures, others simply feel or sense — both count. If you try too hard nothing comes; the practice teaches you to let images drift past like a slideshow.
No. Yoga Nidra comes from the yogic tradition of India, and I trained in that tradition — but the practice itself only asks you to lie down and listen. People of every faith and none practise it.
Yes. There are no postures and no movement — the whole practice is done lying down (or seated in a chair if that’s more comfortable). It’s one of the few practices genuinely open to everyone.
Nothing, really. Comfortable clothes. Mats and blankets are provided at classes; for home sessions you just need somewhere warm to lie down.
Call or WhatsApp to book a private session, ask a question,
or hear first about September’s classes.
Book on WhatsApp · carlhenri@live.no · Facebook
I usually reply within a couple of hours.
Workplaces: I also bring Yoga Nidra to offices — a 30-minute guided deep rest that leaves teams calmer and sharper. Message me to arrange a taster.