Yoga Nidra: [Day 5] Deep Parasympathetic Rest

This is Day 5 of a 5-part Yoga Nidra series, Grounding & Safety, designed to help you root deeply into your body, find steadiness, and feel supported, no matter what life brings.

'Deep Parasympathetic Rest' is a deeply restorative Yoga Nidra practice designed to guide you into the parasympathetic state—the body’s natural “rest-and-digest” mode where true healing and renewal can occur.

Through gentle breathwork, grounding body awareness, and spacious guided rest, you’ll:
Allow the nervous system to shift out of stress and into deep calm
Support digestion, immune function, and overall balance
Replenish your energy and return to a state of ease

This practice is ideal when you feel depleted, overstimulated, or in need of profound rest.

Transcript

All right, So go ahead and take the next few moments to settle into your space. Making sure that your shavasana is nice and cozy, That you have all of the props that you need. Make sure the back of your head is cushioned and then cover yourself with the blanket. And then when you're settled in, Make as many adjustments as you need. Just fidget around and settle into your cozy space. Then as soon as you're settled in, Just begin to be aware of the sounds around you. Effortlessly, Not holding on to the sound, Without analyzing the sound, Just let the mind go from one sound to the next. Now become aware of your own sounds. So notice the sounds inside of the body. It's like the sound of your inhale and exhale, The subtle sounds of your heart beating, The sounds of the throat, Sounds in your mouth. Be aware of your own sounds. And begin to find that state of effortlessness where you're listening, You're concentrated, Concentrating, But no effort to keep up, No effort to listen. Become aware of your body on the ground. Notice all of the meeting points between the body and the ground. And then become aware of your right hand. Tip of the right thumb, The tip of your index finger, Middle finger, Ring finger, Pinky finger, The palm of your right hand, The back of the right hand, Right wrist, Right lower arm, Right elbow, Right upper arm, Right shoulder, Right armpit, Right waist, Right leg, The right hip, Right thigh, The right knee, Right shin, Right ankle, Top of the right foot, The sole of the right foot, And the heel of the right foot, The right big toe, The second toe, Third toe, Fourth toe, And fifth toe. Move your awareness to the left hand, The tip of your left thumb, The tip of your index finger, The tip of the middle finger, The ring finger, And the pinky finger, Palm of the left hand, Back of the left hand, Left wrist, Left lower arm, Left elbow, Left upper arm, Left shoulder, Left armpit, Left waist, The left hip, Left thigh, The left knee, Left shin, Left ankle, Ankle, Feel the top of your left foot, The sole of the left foot, Heel of the left foot, Your left big toe, The second toe, Third toe, The fourth toe, And the fifth toe. Move your awareness to the back of the head, Back of your neck, Back of the right shoulder, And the back of the left shoulder. Feel your spine, Feel the upper back, The middle back, The lower back. Feel your entire back, Back of the right leg, And the back of your left leg. Move your attention to the top of the head, The forehead. Feel the right eye, The left eye, The right ear, The left ear. Feel the insides of the ears, Feel the outer rims of your ears, The right cheekbone, The left cheekbone, The right nostril, The left nostril, The tip of the nose, The upper lip, Bottom lip. Feel the inside of your mouth. Notice the sensations inside of your mouth, The upper teeth, The bottom teeth, The roof of your mouth, The tongue. Now feel the throat, The right side of the chest, Left side of the chest, The center of your chest. Feel the navel, Lower abdomen, The right leg, The left leg. Now feel both legs together. Feel the right arm, And feel the left arm. Feel both of your arms together. Feel the right hand, And feel the left hand. Feel both of your hands together. Now be aware of the right side of the body. Feel the left side of your body. Feel the front of your body, The openness of the front of your body. Now feel the back of your body, The back of your body. Feel the outer layer of your body, Your skin, Clothes against your skin, Hairs against your skin. Feel the outer layer of your body. And then feel the insides of the body, Awareness of the insides of your body, Bones, Your muscles, Organs. Just be aware of them. And then notice your entire body. Notice the sensation of your entire body resting on the floor. Notice the sensation and the effortlessness of your body lying down on the floor. As your body rests peacefully on the floor, Begin to notice your body breathing. Notice the movements that your body makes as you inhale and exhale. So as you breathe in, You might notice the front of your body expand. The chest, The ribs, The belly. As you breathe out, The front of your body contracts, The back of your body expands, And you come closer and closer to the ground with each exhale. Notice your body breathing. No effort. Just let the body breathe. Let yourself be the observant of your body breathing. Now just bring your attention to the nostrils. And just notice the feeling of the air moving in and out through your nose. And keeping your attention at the nose, Count your breaths 11 to 1. So you're counting effortlessly on each exhalation. Every time that you exhale, Your body gets heavier and you come closer towards the ground. Count your breaths 11 to 1. Now let go of your count and then move your attention to the center of your chest. Notice how your chest expands when you inhale, Contracts as you exhale. And now keeping your attention at the center of your chest, Count backwards 11 to 1. So now you're counting on each exhale and you're noticing that your chest expands. Your upper back, So the back of your chest, Come closer to the ground with each exhale. Count back 11 to 1. Now let go of your count. Move your attention to your lower abdomen. And notice your breathing right at the lower abdomen. When you breathe normally, Your lower belly rises as you inhale and pulls back down as you exhale. Notice that movement as you breathe in and out. Now keeping your attention at the lower belly, Count your breaths 11 to 1. So you're counting on the exhale. This time, Every time you exhale, Notice your lower back come closer to the ground with each exhalation. Count your breaths 11 to 1. Let go of your count. And now awaken the feeling of extreme heat in your body. Imagine you're walking down the desert, Middle of the day. Notice that feeling of extreme heat. How does your body feel with extreme heat? Then awaken feelings of extreme cold. Imagine that you're walking through a blizzard. Body is cold, So cold. We're going to go back to that feeling of extreme heat. We're going to go back to that feeling of extreme cold. And then welcome both feelings at the same time, So you allow both into your presence. Feel both at the same time, Hot and cold. And then awaken feelings of tension, Maybe stress in your body. So what parts of your body tense up when you feel stress? Maybe your shoulders, Maybe your face. What parts of your body tense up when you feel stress? Imagine your body so relaxed, Shoulders let go, The hands are loose and soft, Your whole body relaxed. And then go back to that feeling of feeling so tense, So relaxed. Intense and stress. And then go back to that feeling of calm, Relaxation. And then welcome both at the same time, Tense and relaxed. And now come to that space between the eyebrows and imagine that you're staring at a blank screen, Like you're waiting for something to come on to that screen. Notice that space, That space right behind your forehead. Imagine that you're sitting right behind that space. And then visualize a calm, Glistening lake, Holding that image right at that space between the eyebrows. And then visualize a small wooden boat floating gently and slowly on that calm, Glistening lake. Now visualize yourself resting in Shavasana on that small wooden boat that's floating on the lake. Visualize yourself lying in Shavasana. And keeping the eyes closed, Visualize tall green mountains all around that calm, Glistening lake. Hold that image of tall green mountains all around the lake. And then visualize a clear blue sky right over the lake. Hold that image of a clear blue sky right over the lake. And then visualize the sun setting right behind the mountains. Hold that image of the sun setting right behind the tall green mountains and see that warm golden sunlight over the green mountains. Hold that image of that sunlight right over the green mountains. Notice the reflection of the sun over the glistening lake. And then hold the image of your body resting on that small wooden boat that's floating on the lake. The image of the mountains all around the lake. The clear blue sky, The sun setting behind the mountains. And the sun reflecting on the calm, Glistening lake. Hold that image. And then visualize yourself lying down in the room that you're in right now. Notice the feeling of your body lying down on the floor of the room that you're in. Notice the feeling of the body lying down and resting effortlessly in Shavasana. And then we'll slowly and gradually start to bring the awareness back. You can start by wiggling the fingers and wiggling the toes. Bend your knees one at a time. And then as you are ready, You can roll into a fetal position, Pausing there for a few seconds. Then whenever you're ready, No rush, You can stay lying down as long as you wish. You can start to make your way into a seated position. Once you're there, You can take your hands together at the center of your chest and lower the chin down towards the chest. We'll take the time to finish what we started, Closing out the practice. We'll take a long deep breath in through the nose. Inhale. Then out through your mouth. Exhale. Thank you.