Benefits of Yoga Nidra meditation

Yoga Nidra is deep sleep. Many people mistakenly believe it's twilight sleep, that stage between awake and dreaming, but it's even deeper than that. It goes beyond the dreaming stage and into a state of conscious deep sleep. While that sounds like an oxymoron, it's not. It's the third of the four levels of consciousness where there are no images in the mind. Mental images live in the domain of a waking state, the first level or the dreaming state, the second level. It is a deep meditation right before the last level, the turiya, higher consciousness.
You might wonder how you could be awake and yet asleep at the same time. The state is that of introversion where you look deep into your soul. It allows you to look at past lives and future lives, to address your karma and cleanse the storehouse consciousness. It is a way to purify the unconscious mind and commune with divine energy. It is a state of inner awareness. You enter it by remaining in the waking state of consciousness while mentally moving beyond the thoughts, emotions and images. You go beyond the dream state while you remain awake. It is not only extremely relaxing, it is a method of purification. It is the state where astral projection and thought form take place.
Those lucky enough to enter into this state claim that a half hour in this state is like getting three hours of regular sleep. While yogis don't recommend it as a sleep substitute, it demonstrates how relaxing the effect is on the body and mind. Since the body uses sleep time to repair, it still needs normal sleep but Yoga Nidra is one method of relaxation available when sleep time is limited. The most important use, however is still to commune with the Divine energy of the Universe.
Yoga Nidra brings on serenity, calmness and clarity. It takes your awareness through all the mental states into stillness where you find insight. It is more than meditation, where you remain in a waking state and even though it has some commonalities with autosuggestion, it definitely isn't that as autosuggestion indicates the use of the waking mind.
Since it rests all parts, including the mind, it gives access to universal knowledge and refreshes the practitioner. It is also an excellent tool for accelerated learning.
Since this is he level where astral travel and thought form takes place, Yoga Nidra takes on a psychic appearance. Astral travel is the ability to be in a different location without moving your body and thought form is the ability to materialize items from the use of your mental energy. These are not mystical tricks performed by yogis, but the ability to use the spirits energy. This ability is available to everyone who chooses to study and practice. Before entering the world of the psychic, you must first learn the discipline to control the conscious mind. Without this training, you may become a danger to your own essence.