Yoga Nidra - Deep Sleep Meditation

Yoga Nidra is an ancient meditation practice whose soul purpose is to awaken ones infinite potential through a systematic set of relaxation techniques. These techniques help to induce the deepest state of meditation through gentle guided facilitation. During Yoga Nidra, the body is asleep while the mind remains awake and alert. This process invites in restorative and regenerative healing, allowing self-destructive habit patterns and old traumas to be released and resolved. 20-30 minutes of Yoga Nidra is equivalent to 3-4 hours of sleep.

Transcript

Surrender to gravity,

Release,

Control of the breath,

And let go.

Bring your awareness to your right leg,

Lift the leg an inch or so off the surface,

Point the toes,

Flex the foot,

Squeeze the muscles of the leg,

Release.

Bring your awareness now to your left leg,

Lift the leg up just a few inches off the surface,

Point the toes,

Flex the foot,

Squeeze the muscles of the leg,

Release.

Bringing your awareness up to the hips,

Squeeze together and lift,

Release.

Contract the abdominal muscles,

Squeeze everything into the center,

Let go.

Take the deepest breath that you've taken in today,

Expand the belly,

Hold,

Release.

Lift the hands and the arms up an inch or so,

Squeeze the hands into tight fists,

Tighten the arms,

The shoulders,

Squeeze everything there.

And then splay the fingers,

Opening them up wide,

And then release down.

Squeeze the muscles of the face,

Bring the shoulders up by the ears,

Tighten the jaw,

Furrow the brow,

Clench the whole face and the head,

Hold,

Hold,

Tighten,

And let go.

Rocking the head gently from side to side,

Find a comfortable position to rest the head.

And tuck the chin slightly.

Using your thumbs,

Gently bring them up to your ears,

And close your ears just tight enough so you can still hear me.

Rest your fingers on either side of your forehead.

Take a deep breath in,

And with closed lips,

Begin to hum.

Take another breath in,

Continue to hum,

This time changing the pitch of the hum.

Taking another breath in,

Changing the pitch once again,

Which changes the vibratory sensations.

And now stop,

Slowly returning your hands to your sides,

Taking a moment to tune into the sensations created in the body by the vibrational humming you just experienced.

Drop into stillness and silence.

The purpose of yoga nidra is to allow the body to deeply relax,

Remaining as still as possible.

If you need to cough,

Scratch and itch,

Or adjust for any reason to become more comfortable,

Please do so,

And come back to stillness as quickly as possible.

Remain relaxed and motionless,

Awake and alert.

I will be guiding you throughout the entire practice.

There may be long silences,

And you may drop out and come back.

If you come back during silence,

Know that you have not been left.

If for any reason you start to become anxious,

Simply bring the thumb and index finger together,

Or bend the knees,

Placing the feet on the mat to become grounded.

Follow my guidance at all times.

Relax.

Trust.

Let go.

Breathing in through the nose,

Guide your attention and breath from the eyebrow center to the base of the spine.

As you exhale,

Direct your attention from the base of the spine back to the eyebrow center.

With each inhalation,

Feel the sound of SO.

With each exhalation,

Feel the sound of HUM.

Continuing with this breath,

Moving the awareness down through what's called the central channel all the way to the base of the spine from the eyebrow center,

And then back up through the seven chakras from the base of the spine to the eyebrow center.

Inhaling SO.

Exhaling HUM.

SO HUM.

Now breathe normally,

And direct your attention to the eyebrow center.

Rest in silent awareness.

Follow my guidance as we rotate our awareness through the body.

As each body part is named,

Simply bring your awareness to that part.

Bring your awareness to the forehead.

The head.

The face.

Jaw.

Throat.

Shoulders.

Upper arms.

Tops of the hands.

Chest.

Abdomen.

Pelvis.

Thighs.

Shins.

Tops of the feet.

Toes.

Soles of the feet.

Heels.

Ankles.

Backs of the knees.

Bottom.

Lower back.

Upper back.

Shoulder blades.

Neck.

Back of the head.

Crown of the head.

Visualizing the body as one integrated whole,

From front to back,

Top to bottom.

Rest in this awareness.

Awaken the experience of bitter cold in the body.

Imagine you are walking barefoot on a cold floor.

Feet,

Ice cold.

Knees,

Bare,

Freezing.

Thighs and hips,

Frigid.

Abdomen,

Chest,

Back and arms,

Shivering.

Whole body,

Cold,

Freezing,

Shivering.

Now awaken to the experience of heat in the body.

Imagine you are walking in the summer under the hot sun.

Feet,

Hot.

Knees,

Radiating heat.

Thighs and hips,

Throbbing with heat.

Abdomen,

Chest,

Back and arms,

Hot,

Humid.

Whole body heavy with heat.

Now rest back in neutral awareness.

Imagine you are walking into a private screening room in a theater that is in the middle of a beautiful jungle.

It's dusk.

The sun is just starting to go down.

You walk into the theater and there's one seat in front of a large screen.

One VIP seat just for you.

You look around the theater.

It's so beautiful with live plants on the walls.

Warming colors.

Smells of lavender and it's the perfect temperature just for you.

You look around and see that it has everything that you particularly like.

As you take a seat,

You'll begin to view a slide show.

Highlighting a moment when you felt gratitude.

Maybe you see the memories you experienced with a person or an event.

And when the slide does appear,

Allow yourself to fully immerse in the whole experience.

The slide show starts and slides begin to flash across the screen.

You begin remembering the many moments in your life when you have felt gratitude.

Moments that filled your heart with love and joy.

Moments that made you smile.

A cherished memory.

Illuminating what you are grateful for in a new,

Alive way.

And in a few moments,

The projector will settle on one slide.

This particular slide is one of your most cherished memories.

See this slide now.

Allow it to inspire you.

Notice what seeing this feels like in your body.

Notice if the feeling or sensation is warm,

Cold.

Are you smiling,

Tearing up,

Or are you content to just be in this memory?

And now another slide appears.

Another moment where you felt so much gratitude.

In this moment,

Notice what's happening here.

Notice if there's anybody there in the memory.

If you can see them,

Hear them.

Is it a place?

Can you describe where you are?

Is it bright or dim?

Quiet or loud?

Just taking in all of the senses right now of what you're experiencing in this memory.

Rest here for a moment in silent awareness.

Bring your attention now to the eyebrow center.

Here you are witness of all that is happening,

But doing nothing to make it happen.

Remain empty and free from all doing.

Feel yourself as presence.

As pure consciousness right now.

Here intentions are fulfilled effortlessly.

Allow yourself to accept this intention.

Allow my words to become your words silently.

I move beyond old limitations.

Allow this intention to resonate and integrate on every level.

Reside in the recognition of your higher self.

Accept that you are surrounded by the love and support of those seen and unseen.

Past and present.

You are light and you are love.

Share it freely for the highest good of all.

Gently begin to bring your awareness back into the room.

Become aware of your breath.

Become aware of your body and its points of connection to the surface beneath you.

Maintaining the peace you have cultivated.

Mindfully begin to move your body.

Gently waking it up by wiggling the fingers and toes.

Moving the arms and the hands.

Starting to gently stretch.

Reaching the arms up above you for a good morning stretch if that feels okay.

Drawing the knees in when you're ready and rolling over to your favorite side.

Or you'll rest for a moment in the fetal position.

Notice how quiet the mind is.

How relaxed the body is.

How soft the breath is.

And know that you can come here again and again.

I'll read a quote called Walk Slowly by Dana Faulds.

She says,

It only takes a reminder to breathe.

A moment to be still.

And just like that,

Something in me settles,

Softens,

Makes space for imperfection.

The harsh voice of judgment drops to a whisper.

And I remember again that life isn't a relay race.

That we will all cross the finish line.

That waking up to life is what we were born for.

As many times as I forget,

Catch myself charging forward without even knowing where I'm going.

That many times I can make the choice to stop,

To breathe,

And be,

And walk slowly into the mystery.

Wherever you are,

Just bringing both hands to the heart.

Either one on top of the other or in Anjali Mudra.

Whatever you prefer.

Tuning in to your own heartbeat and breathing in to the heart space.

As you breathe in,

Gifting yourself compassion and love and gratitude.

Thank you so much for joining me this evening.

My wish for you all is that all of life come to you with ease and joy and glory.

The light and love in me honors,

Sees,

And knows the same light and love to be in all of you.

Namaste.

Peace.

I'm going to unmute you both.

I feel like everybody went somewhere.

Magic.

Witchcraft.

A half an hour.

Sometimes it feels that way and sometimes it feels like a few minutes,

You know?

How are you feeling?

Stephen was over here snoring,

Did you hear him?

You thought what?

Well I have a diffuser going that's making like ocean sounds,

So that was happening too.

Cool.

Wow.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome,

Thanks for joining.

That was awesome.

Oh,

I'm recording it for Alexa,

I forgot to stop it.