Yoga Nidra For Relaxation

A 38 min Yoga Nidra practice for relaxation, including the rotation of consciousness around the body, counting the breath backwards and a visualization of walking along an easy mountain path to the peak.

Transcript

Good,

So everyone get settled,

Lying down comfortably,

Either on a bed,

The floor,

Support yourself with pillows as you need.

Make sure you're warm as we come into the chilly fall season,

Let your eyes close gently and just take a moment and feel that floor,

That bed beneath your body and remember this time is for you,

There's nowhere you have to go,

Nothing you have to do for a while and this is a time for you to focus on your body,

Focus on your mind,

Focus on your spirit and remember if you fall asleep,

Don't worry,

It's part of the process,

When you wake up just wait for the next set of instructions or those of you who have been doing this yoga for a while,

You could always start doing a countdown,

That's a good idea as well.

So before we start with our sankalpa,

Let's just take a nice deep inhale together,

So inhale through the nostrils and hold and then exhale through the mouth and you can sigh out if you'd like,

Good,

Breath back to normal and let's do that again,

Take a nice deep inhale through the nostrils and hold and then exhale sighing out,

Good and breath back to normal and simply now repeat either to yourself or out loud,

I will remain awake and aware,

I will remain awake and aware and as you gaze into the center of the eyebrows,

I want you to formulate your sankalpa,

That short positive phrase,

Something you want to improve upon in your life or change or manifest,

So take a moment to listen to yourself and see what that is for you today and once you know what that is,

Formulate your phrase and repeat it to yourself mentally three times,

Good,

So now we're going to begin the rotation of consciousness over the body,

Whatever part of the body my voice says,

I want you to mentally repeat it,

Mentally echo it,

At the same time take your awareness to that part of the body,

The body remains still,

Only the mind moves,

The body remains still,

Only the mind moves,

Bring all your awareness to the right side of the body,

To the right thumb,

Second finger on the right hand,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

To the back of the right hand,

Center of the right palm,

Right wrist,

Right forearm,

Right elbow,

Right upper arm,

Right shoulder,

Right armpit,

Right ribcage,

Right waist,

Right hip,

Right thigh,

Right knee,

Right shin,

Right ankle,

Top of the right foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

To the sole of the right foot,

Right heel,

Right Achilles,

Right calf,

Back of the right knee,

Back of the right thigh,

Shift all your awareness to the left side of the body,

To the left thumb,

Second finger on the left hand,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

To the back of the left hand,

Center of the left palm,

Left wrist,

Left forearm,

Left elbow,

Left upper arm,

Left shoulder,

Left armpit,

Left ribcage,

Left waist,

Left hip,

Left thigh,

Left knee,

Left shin,

Left ankle,

Top of the left foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

To the sole of the left foot,

Left heel,

Left Achilles,

Left calf,

Back of the left knee,

Back of the left thigh,

To the right buttock,

Left buttock,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

To the entire spine,

The entire spine,

The entire spine,

The back of the neck,

Back of the head,

To the top of the head,

To the forehead,

Bring all your awareness to the right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Both eyebrows together,

To the right eyeball,

Left eyeball,

To both eyeballs together,

To the right ear,

Left ear,

Both ears together,

Right cheekbone,

Left cheekbone,

Both cheekbones together,

To the right nostril,

Left nostril,

Both nostrils together,

To the tip of the nose,

To the top lip,

To the bottom lip,

To both lips together,

To the top set of teeth,

To the bottom set of teeth,

To both sets of teeth together,

To the tip of the tongue,

To the middle of the tongue,

To the root of the tongue,

To the entire tongue altogether,

To the throat,

To the right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Right chest,

Left chest,

To the very center of the chest,

To the upper abdomen,

Lower abdomen,

To the navel center,

Shift your awareness to the entire right arm,

The entire right arm,

Move your awareness to the entire left arm,

The entire left arm,

Become aware of both arms together,

Both arms together,

Shift your awareness to the entire right leg,

The entire right leg,

Move your awareness to the entire left leg,

The entire left leg,

Become aware of both legs at the same time,

Both legs at the same time,

Become aware of your entire body,

Your entire body,

Your entire body,

Your entire body is relaxed,

The prana,

The life force is moving freely throughout the body,

Allow yourself to fall deeper and deeper into relaxation,

Move deeper and deeper into surrender,

Letting go,

Letting go,

Letting go,

And as the body moves into deeper and deeper relaxation,

We will now begin to relax the mind,

Become aware of the breath at the entrance of the nostrils,

Try not to control it,

Just witness it moving in and out,

Now move your awareness to the breath at the belly,

Again,

Try not to control the movement of the belly,

Just be a witness,

As you inhale and exhale,

The belly naturally makes a small movement up and down,

Be a witness,

Now I want you to count the breath backwards at the belly mentally,

From 45 to 1,

If you lose count,

Start all over again at 45,

If you fall asleep and wake up,

Start again at 45,

If you reach 1 before you hear my voice again,

Start again at 45,

And we'll count like this,

45 navel up,

45 navel down,

44 navel up,

44 navel down,

Continue at your own pace,

No rush,

To 1.

Very good,

Stop counting and try to remember the number you stopped at,

Remember you are awake and aware,

Awake and aware,

Now I want you to use the creativity of your mind to imagine your body is very cold,

You know the feeling of cold ice cubes in your hand,

Or walking on a cold floor with bare feet,

Use the creativity of your mind to feel that coldness throughout your body,

Now,

Good,

Now I want you to use the creativity of your mind to imagine you are very hot,

You know the feeling of the hot sun on your face and body,

Or the feeling of heat from a fire or a hot stove,

Use the creativity of your mind to feel that heat throughout your body,

Now,

Good,

I want you now to use the creativity of your mind to imagine your whole body is becoming heavy,

It's 100 times heavier than normal,

And you can feel yourself sinking down,

Down into the ground,

Experience heaviness throughout the body,

Now,

Good,

Now I want you to use the creativity of your mind to imagine your body is very light,

It is as light as a feather and is floating up off the ground,

Experience lightness throughout the body,

Now,

Good,

I want you now to go back to a very happy time,

It could be recently,

A long time ago,

Maybe a few years ago,

Find a time that was very happy for you,

Remember that happy time,

The sounds,

The setting,

The people,

The feeling,

The smells,

The laughter,

The joy,

Once you've found that moment,

Remember it,

And try to feel happiness in your body,

Try to feel happiness throughout the body,

Now,

Very good,

Now,

Keeping your focus at the Chittikash,

The mind space,

The space right at the center of the eyebrows,

I want you to imagine that it's very early morning,

Still dark,

And you're walking through hills,

Climbing up towards some mountains,

You are alone,

You're walking along,

And if you look back,

You can see a crescent-shaped moon low in the sky,

Soon the sun will rise,

Far below in a valley,

The lights of a small town twinkle through an early morning mist,

The track you are on twists back and forth on the side of a steep slope,

It continues to wind between large boulders,

Back and forth,

Back and forth,

And up,

And up,

And as you climb along the track,

You catch a glimpse of the snow-covered mountain ahead of you,

And now the paler sky heralds the dawn,

You continue finding your way up the path,

Walking now through snow,

It makes a crunching sound as you go,

It's beginning to get a little colder,

And the snow gets a little deeper,

And the wind begins to pick up,

Snatching at your coat,

You pull your coat around you tight,

You can feel the cold breeze against the skin of your face,

You keep walking,

You keep going,

And then you reach the top,

The end of the path,

And a magnificent scene reveals itself before your eyes,

A vast range of snow-covered peaks and dark valleys,

Hills leading to rolling plains on and on,

Then you see the sun rising like a golden ball,

Scattering rays of golden light off the snow that dazzles your eyes,

You sweep your eyes across the sky,

It's getting lighter,

Bluer,

And you watch the sunlight strike the tops of the mountains around you,

Lighting up the entire landscape,

You sit and contemplate the breadth of the sky,

The immensity of the mountains,

And the beauty of the sun,

It is the dawn of a new day,

Let yourself experience this,

Let your mind flow freely with this experience,

Very good,

Now let that experience go,

And I want you to bring your focus back to the Chittikash,

The mind space,

I want you to imagine a motorcycle,

A polka dot dress,

A mixing bowl,

Imagine a jean jacket,

Imagine a mermaid,

Imagine a duffel bag,

Imagine cowboy boots,

Imagine a blue ribbon,

Imagine a frog,

Imagine a roll of tape,

Imagine a paintbrush,

Imagine a giraffe,

Imagine a peacock feather,

Imagine a beret,

Imagine a camera,

Imagine a chair,

Imagine a mountain,

Imagine raindrops,

Imagine a block of ice,

Imagine a mirror,

See yourself in the mirror,

See yourself in the mirror,

See yourself in the mirror,

In the mirror,

Keeping your focus with Chittikash,

I want you now to try to think about nothing,

Thoughts,

Feelings,

Ideas,

Probably will bubble up from your subconscious,

If they do,

Just notice it,

And then try to let it go,

And come back to the Chittikash,

Come back to the mind,

If no thoughts come up,

Just enjoy the peace and quiet of the mind,

Focusing at the mind space now,

Very good,

And as we come to the end of our Yoga Nidra time together,

I want you to remember that sankalpa,

That short positive phrase you created at the beginning,

And repeat it to yourself again mentally three times,

Planting that desire,

That seed deep in your mind,

Good,

And then let's slowly begin to awaken the body again,

You could wiggle the fingers gently,

Wiggle the toes,

Move the wrists,

Move the ankles,

Maybe lick the lips,

And move the skin on the face,

Take a nice deep inhale,

And exhale,

If you want you can move your head from side to side,

And back to center,

And then if you have room behind you on your bed,

Or on the floor,

You can reach your arms on the floor,

The bed,

The table,

If you're on a massage table,

And reach the arms up and back,

And point your toes,

And give yourself a full body stretch,

You can stretch one side,

Other side,

Both sides,

And then allow the arms to float back down by your sides,

And then you can bend your knees gently,

And bring the soles of the feet onto the floor,

The bed,

And roll over to your right side,

Supporting your head with your arm,

Or your pillow,

Your hand,

And in that fetal position,

Just take a moment to check in with the body,

Check in with the breath,

And check in with your mind,

And then whenever you're ready,

You can slowly push yourself up to an easy seated position,

If you are coming up to sit,

And once you're seated,

Spine is tall,

You can draw the hands together at the heart center,

Keep the chest lifted,

And then bow your head towards your heart,

In gratitude,

Namaste.

Oh,

Let me just end the recording here.

Reviews

Lovely practice, thank you 😊 🙏