Inner Sanctuary Yoga Nidra: For Rest & Inner Peace

This calming Yoga Nidra invites you into your inner sanctuary (your Ashraya) a safe, steady refuge within where peace is always available. Designed to soothe the nervous system and quiet the mind, this practice gently guides you into the deeply restorative state between waking and sleep.

Through guided breath awareness, body rotation, heart-centered visualization, and a nourishing sankalpa, you’ll be supported in releasing stress, easing emotional tension, and reconnecting with your natural sense of calm and safety. A personal healing color and inner sanctuary imagery help create a felt sense of grounding, comfort, and integration on all levels.

This practice is especially supportive during times of emotional overwhelm, stress, or when you need to pause and reset.

Transcript

Welcome,

I'm Kristen and for this session I'm going to lead you along the calming yoga nidra to help cultivate a deep sense of peace within.

This yoga nidra is helpful any time you're struggling with difficult emotions,

Stress or simply needing a pause from life to turn inward and reconnect with yourself and to also just remember the steadiness that already lives within you.

During this practice it's important to remember that there's nothing you need to fix,

Change or achieve,

You're invited to rest deeply allowing the body to soften and the mind to settle as you're guided into a state between waking and sleeping where healing and integration can naturally occur.

Finding a comfortable position lying down or seated if your body has any limitations and just take a moment to arrange your body so it feels fully supported,

Gifting yourself this time in honouring your body by sensing what could be most comfortable and supportive for you,

Just making any adjustments that you feel to make yourself even just the slightest percentage more comfortable,

Letting yourself create a gentle refuge,

A place where peace can quietly unfold from the inside out.

Now that your body is settled and supported,

Gently bring your awareness to your breath,

There's no need to change it in any way,

I just simply want you to notice the natural rhythm of your breathing,

The subtle rise of the body as you inhale and the soft release as you exhale.

Feel the breath moving in and out like a gentle tide,

Steady,

Effortless and calming.

With each exhale allow yourself to sink a little deeper into the surface beneath you as if the earth itself is holding you,

If it feels supportive begin to lengthen the exhale just slightly,

Inviting the nervous system to soften,

Signaling safety and ease.

As we begin our journey,

Imagine yourself entering a peaceful inner sanctuary,

Your ashraya,

A place where you can comfortably feel safe and at home and just filled with a deep sense of calm and peace.

This place may be real or imagined,

And just noticing what surrounds you here in your ashraya,

The quality of light,

The colors,

Textures or natural earth patterns,

And then just sensing into the feeling in the air environment of your ashraya,

Perhaps you sense a natural rhythm here,

A soft breeze,

Grounding rhythm of the earth or just a serene comforting stillness.

In this inner sanctuary,

Your ashraya,

There is nothing expected of you,

Nothing to resolve,

Nothing to become.

In this beautiful and peaceful place that is all yours,

If there was a healing color that radiated from this ashraya,

What color would that be?

Trust the first thing that comes into your consciousness.

Soaking in all the elements of this color into your consciousness,

Every hue,

Gradient and dimension as this will be the personal healing color that we will be working with for the session today.

Sensing into your physical heart now and feeling the gentle drumbeat that adds a soothing rhythm of comfort and safety.

Feeling into your emotional and spiritual heart and just welcoming that personal healing color into this space.

Imagine it melting and effortlessly saturating the heart center with a soothing,

Restorative,

Healing energy.

Sensing the space within your emotional and spiritual heart,

Soft and open.

Notice any sensations or warmth that may be present.

This is the seed of your intention,

Your inner sanctuary.

In this quiet,

Receptive state,

Allow yourself to gently plant your sankulpa,

Your heartfelt intention.

A sankulpa is simple,

Positive,

And stated in the present tense.

It may be something like I am at peace,

Or I am open to healing,

Or my heart rests in love and ease.

Just take a moment to feel the personal words that resonate in your own heart,

Letting them settle deeply.

Just holding your sankulpa in your awareness and feeling the truth of the intention already unfolding within you.

Imagining the sankulpa as a gentle seed.

Planted in the fertile soil of your heart.

And with each breath it grows,

Feeling your heart center with light and warmth and quiet strength.

And just feel it integrate fully into your being as if it's always been part of you.

We'll begin now to rotate awareness through the body,

Helping to bring a deeper sense of peace and ease to all the layers within you.

Just simply feel and sense all the sensations.

And if you feel called to,

You can visualize your healing color infusing into all the areas of your body as we move through.

If thoughts arise,

Just let them drift through your mind like clouds in a wide sky.

Keeping your awareness on my voice,

On your own breath,

And in the areas of the body in the sequence.

Connecting now to your personal healing color and bringing your attention to the right side of the body,

Sensing that healing color moving through your right thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

And the pinky.

Radiating through the palm of the hand,

The back of the hand,

Saturating into the right wrist,

Elbow,

Elbow,

The center of your right upper arm,

And rolling all the way up to the right shoulder.

Feel the whole right arm at once,

Heavy,

Relaxed,

And at ease,

Illuminated with your personal healing color.

Moving your awareness now to the right side of your chest,

The ribs,

The waist,

All the way down from the right side of the pelvis to your right hip.

Feel the healing light release and relax away,

And continue all the way down into the right thigh,

Knee,

Center of your right shin,

Ankle,

Soaking into your right heel and the sole of your right foot,

And feeling that warmth and light moving through all the toes on your right foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth and baby toe.

And sensing the entire right side of your body now,

From the tip of your right shoulder all the way down your arm and the side of your waist,

Rolling all the way down your right leg,

And just feeling it settle and rest in the right foot,

And sensing the entire right side of your body resting peacefully.

Now gently shifting your awareness to the left side,

Feeling that healing light radiating through the left thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

And pinky,

A radiating orb of light in the palm of your left hand,

On the back of the hand,

Fusing into the center of the left wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

And shoulder,

And just sensing from the shoulder all the way down to the fingers,

Released and relaxed away on your left side,

And then moving on to the left side of the chest,

Ribs and waist,

Down to the left side of the pelvis and the hip,

Imagining that healing light continuing to radiate all the way down the left thigh,

Knee,

Center of the shin,

Ankle,

Soaking in through the heel of the left foot,

The sole of the left foot,

And radiating all the way through the top of the left foot.

If you can almost imagine picturing that light soaking into your left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth,

And your little toe,

Feeling the whole left side of the body now from the very top of the shoulder all the way down the left arm and waist and hip,

Down the whole entire left leg,

All the way to the feet,

Balance,

Grounded and supported,

Sensing into the whole back side of the body,

And with each part that we move through,

If you can imagine the back part of your body just sinking further down into stillness and calm,

The back part of your heels,

Calves,

The backs of your knees,

Thighs,

Lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

And all the way up to the back of the head,

And feeling the whole back part of your body supported and secure,

As you just continue to release and relax away,

Feeling just the whole body now anchored into the earth,

Safe and secure,

And then allowing the whole front part of your body to open up to receptivity,

Again connecting with that healing color and feeling it move through all the front part of the body,

Radiating through the forehead and the eyes,

The cheeks and the jaw,

Bringing a complete softness and ease to the whole expression of your face,

Feeling a lightness and receptivity through the center of your throat,

Rolling on to the collarbones,

Infusing into the chest,

And just sensing that lightness and ease within your breath and the gentle rise of your abdomen,

And all the way down through the lower abdomen and pelvis,

And just sensing the entire body now as one field of sensation,

Whole,

Held,

And at rest,

Allow this felt sense of wholeness to deepen your inner peace,

As you continue to rest in still awareness within your inner sanctuary,

Shimmering in a peaceful container of healing,

Resting and lingering in the healing elixir of peace that you've cultivated,

Quietly absorbing its gentle energy as it flows through the physical,

Emotional,

And subtle layers of your being,

Resting deeply in this liminal space,

Awareness without effort,

Breath flowing naturally,

Body at ease,

Remain here,

Open,

Quiet,

Supported,

Feel the stillness around you,

The subtle movement within as you sink deeper into this peaceful,

Receptive state,

From this threshold of rest,

Returning again to your sankalpa,

Your heartfelt intention that you set at the beginning of the session,

Repeating it softly to yourself,

Imagine your sankalpa as a gentle seed planted in the fertile soil of your heart,

And again remembering with each breath it grows,

Feeling your heart center with light,

Warmth,

And quiet strength,

Feel it integrate fully into your being now,

Again as if it has always been a part of you,

Sealing up the session now with picturing your beautiful healing color of light,

Completely illuminating every cell of your being,

Seeing your body outlined in this light,

And knowing that it will act as a safe container protecting you from any outside circumstances that may disrupt your peace,

And just feeling warm and secure here in your ashraya that you've cultivated and created for yourself,

Knowing that you can return to this special place any time when you're ready to transition out of the session now,

Just begin to sense your breath again,

The gentle presence of your body,

Any clothes or blankets on your body,

Feeling the surface beneath you,

And as you are awakening,

Just carry this sense of inner peace within you,

Knowing that it's always accessible whenever you pause and turn inward,

To help bring some life force back into your body,

Just begin to gently deepen your breath,

Not forcing,

Just provide a little more fullness on the inhale and ease on the exhale,

Feel the support beneath your body once more,

The steadiness of the floor or the bed or just the space that you're resting in,

And just start to bring some small movements back when it feels right,

Wiggling the fingers and the toes,

Just perhaps a slow stretch of the arms or legs,

Just remembering to honor your body and listen to it,

Tuning in to any cues that the body has for movement that would feel comfortable in helping you to wake up from the session,

If your eyes are closed or you have an eye mask,

Just make sure to gently take your time,

Allowing yourself to acclimate back into the light,

You may blink your eyes open or place your hands over your eyes,

Allowing the light to return softly,

And just a closing loving note to carry the sense of inner peace with you,

Knowing it's not something you created,

But something you remembered,

A place that is always available to you,

It has been my honor guiding you along this calming yoga nidra,

And i am sending you love and light and a renewed sense of peace and calm within,

Namaste