Relax effectively and sleep better in just 11 minutes

Esther from Nussdorf am Inn presents the 11 minute meditation she developed. Find Your Yoga is giving away the meditation 5 times for free to try out. You can find out everything you need to do at the end of the article!

Update February 27, 2022: The 11-minute meditation is currently available for free download here.

No time!

Nowadays everything goes a little faster. Meditation should also fit well into your busy schedule, although it takes a lot of effort not to find yourself somewhere else completely different during meditation. And in general, most people don't have time for something like that, and then on a regular basis - no way! No time!

But is that really true? Time is less the problem than perhaps courage...! To say courageously, “No, I’m not going to rush through that now, no matter what the others think,” “No, I’m not going to do that now, regardless of whether everyone else would have done it that way,” “No, I don’t have to “Everything happens even faster and at the same time.” Be the maverick lemming, one of my teachers always says so beautifully: "When everyone runs towards the cliff and shouts to you 'hey, come with me, you're going in the wrong direction!' then you calmly say 'No thanks, I'm going' I'd rather not go with you..."

And then there is the beautiful thing about “living in the moment”. A wandering mind is an unhappy mind, it is said and this has been scientifically proven (e.g. Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010) - even when our minds wander to pleasant memories or thoughts in the past or future. If we manage to be fully present here and now, we are happier - but what does that mean and do we even want that? In our western language this means less stressed, more relaxed, less brooding, more happy. Pretty cool, actually.

Finally, there is the thesis that we can do more when we do less, achieve more when we take good care of ourselves, and are more successful when we make conscious decisions. And Albert Einstein made such conscious decisions during his conscious breaks... flashes of inspiration, creativity, solutions - it's all there if you give it the space for it.

"Why doesn't it work for us to take a little time for ourselves every day?

Because it's easier to just react automatically, to function, to go through without a break until we end up in front of the bottle of wine, the video or just in bed. It requires discipline, will and courage. Be your time warrior!

What is Yoga Nidra?

Yoga Nidra is based on an ancient yoga system and is at the same time a current trend in the age of emerging mindfulness movements or McMindfulness concepts. Yoga Nidra means conscious sleep and was adapted by Swami Satyananda Saraswati in the 1970s so that in around 30 minutes, profound relaxation and also the foundation for sustainable transformation can be laid. In the West, this has been further developed, particularly in the USA, through the iRest movement.

"A sankalpa works somewhat like positive mental training."

Compared to other mindfulness meditations, perhaps the biggest difference is that Yoga Nidra is performed lying down. And the heart of it, the so-called Sankalpa , is exactly what makes it more than relaxation, namely a realization of wishes for oneself, for one's own growth, mental health and positive orientation towards a vibrant life.

A Sankalpa works somewhat like positive mental training, here in the form of a simple, short, positive sentence that you repeat in the same way and your mind learns to realize it. Sounds a bit fantastic, and it's actually a great feeling when you realize that your topic has been resolved and you can move on to the next wish.

It is important that this wish relates to yourself and corresponds to your own inner growth (e.g. “I am relaxed”, “I am courageous”, “I trust myself”, “I am successful” or similar). . How does it feel when your resolution comes true? Imagine it, imagine what would be different, and give your mind the chance to take yourself to where you want to be.

Effective meditation in just 11 minutes

But since 30 minutes is still an unimaginably large amount of time for many people, I was able to research the effects of a short form of Yoga Nidra in my master's thesis, which only lasts 11 minutes and was successfully tested by 771 people. With just 11 minutes of time, it becomes easier for many people to get started, the effect of more time for themselves is still noticeable and then perhaps the desire or courage to do more of it. Ask yourself: “What is really important right now – for you?”

Now it's time to share these 11 minutes so that the potential can fully unfold and more people have access to simple relaxation and more time for themselves. A little more, little by little

Are you curious about the 11 minute meditation?

Find Your Yoga is giving away the meditation 5 times for free to try out. All you have to do is write an email with the subject “11-minute meditation” to mail[at]findedeinyoga.org . The first 5 will then receive a free link!

You can find the results of the study on the effects of 11 minutes of meditation with 771 participants: here .

If you would like to try out the 11 minute mediation, then you have come to the right place . ( There is a charge of 13.50 euros to download the meditation, which goes directly to Esther. I don't think your yoga deserves anything from this.)

(Photo: Esther Moszeik)

I am Esther , yoga teacher, student, psychologist, human being, mother, wife, friend, daughter etc. A woman who is 35 years old and finds a smile every day, about small or big things; She always tries to be close to the moment, to savor it, to start again, courageously, curiously, and to share that and awaken it in others. I try to find harmony in opposites, and to live in yoga as well as in the world. I value good coffee and a night of dancing just as much as complete silence and doing nothing. And Yoga Nidra has been helping me since 1999, pretty much every day in the last few years, sometimes short, sometimes long, and basically everywhere.

Contact : Yoga at Heuberg , Facebook