3 AM And Wide Awake: Yoga Nidra To Get Back To Sleep

Move through the body. Nothing to do.
Waking and not getting back to sleep is one of the most common sleep complaints. Sleep comes in cycles; the second half is naturally lighter, so brief awakenings between cycles are normal. The difference is usually whether you check the clock and start thinking.
This is a 25-minute yoga nidra, sometimes called NSDR, built for that moment. No intention to set, nothing to concentrate on—settle and move awareness slowly through the body, about as much as anyone should be asked to do at three in the morning. There's no ending: it fades into silence so you can drift off whenever you're ready.
Best listened to lying down, at low volume. If this happens most nights and has gone on for months, ask your doctor about CBT-I. This practice is for deep rest, not a replacement for it.
Music: 'Cirrus' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0.
'Hymn to the Dawn' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0.

Transcript

You are awake. It's the middle of the night. And you are awake. You have probably already checked the time. I'm not going to mention it again. You don't have to do anything about this. You don't have to get up. And you don't have to get back to sleep. There is something worth knowing. It's just a fact about how sleep is built. Sleep is not one long block. It comes in cycles. Roughly 90 minutes each. And the second half of the night is lighter than the first. That's by design. Not by accident. Between cycles. Everybody's surfaces. Everybody. Several times a night. People who sleep well surfaces too. They just don't look at the clock and thin. They don't start thinking. So they go back down inside a minute or two. And in the morning, They don't remember it. Sew this. Being awake now. Is not a fault. You have noticed something that happens to everybody. The noticing is the only difference. There's nothing to fix. You are just going to rest. And we will see what happens. If you want to move, Move. Turn over. Straighten a leg. Push the covers off a foot. You have probably been lying very still. You don't need to. Let your breath. Take your weight. Wherever you are touching it. The back of your head. The shoulders. The length of the bag. The backs of the legs. The heel. Your tailbone. Let the weight go down into it. The mattress is holding. All of it. You're not holding any of it. Let UV be very heavy. And whenever the next breath out arrives, Let it be long. Don't push it. Don't count it. Just let it be longer. Then you are going to make it. Again whenever it comes. You might fall asleep during this. You might not. Both are completely fine. And you don't have to decide which one you're aiming for. Now we are going to move through the body. Nothing to do. Just take your attention to each part as I name it. Right hand thumb second finger. Third finger. Fourth finger fifth finger. Palm of the right hand. Back of the hand. Rest. Lower arm. Elbow upper arm. Shoulder. Ampere right side of the waist. Right hip. Tie. Ankle. Heal. Sole of the foot. Top of the foot. Right big toe Second toe. Her toe. Fourth row Good job. Left hand. Thumb Second finger. Third finger. 4th finger fifth finger. Bum of the left hand. Back of the hand. Rest. Lower arm. Elbow. Aparam. Shoulder armpit. Left side of the waist. Left hip. Tiny. Ankle and heal. Sole of the foot. Top of the foot. Left big dough Second row. Third dough. 4th row. The back. The right shoulder blade. Left shoulder blade. Fried butter. Left a dot. You're tailbone. Lower back middle back. I'll poop back. The whole spine. The whole back together. Crown of the head. The forehead. Right bro. Left. Eyebrow the space. Between the eyebrows. Your right eyelid. Left eyelid. Right eye left eye. Right here. Left ear. Right cheek. Left cheek. The nose. The tip of the nose. Upper lip. Lower lip. Both of your lips together. But chill. The jaw. The truth. Right side of the chest left side of the chest. The center of the chest. The navel. The abdomen. The whole right leg. The whole left leg. Both legs together. The whole right arm. The whole left arm. All thumbs together. The whole back. The whole front. The head. Whole body. The whole body. The whole body lying here. Heavy. And warm. And completely support it. Nothing to keep track of The bed is holding all of it. Nothing else to do. I'm going to stop talking now.