Yoga Nidra For Relaxation & Adjusting To New Rhythms

This Yoga Nidra practice is designed to support you as you soften into life’s natural changes—whether you’re adjusting to daylight savings, settling into a new routine, or moving through a season of transition. Together, we’ll slow down, ground into the body, and gently realign with your inner rhythm, offering your nervous system deep rest and your mind a sense of spacious calm.

You may notice the sound of the wind in the background, recorded from the natural, sacred location at Māori Bay, Muriwai, Aotearoa, New Zealand. Rather than seeing it as a distraction, I invite you to welcome it as part of the experience—a gentle reminder of nature’s cycles, always moving and shifting, just like us.

All you need to do is lie back, let go, and allow yourself to be guided into stillness.

Transcript

Hello I'm Nicole and welcome to this Yoga Nidra. This Yoga Nidra is about relaxation and adjusting to new rhythms whether that be adjusting to new time zones, To new rhythms or routines in your life and as always a reset of your nervous system. As I sit here on this beautiful beach in Maori Bay, Muriwai New Zealand, Painting a picture for you as the sun is setting over the hill, The trees are rustling, The waves are crashing, The air is blowing to create a beautiful natural ambient sound and perhaps a place you can picture being yourself. So as you picture this place I invite you to get as comfortable as possible. In Yoga Nidra you want to be at complete ease, Completely comfortable, Making any adjustments, Lying down and just in complete relaxation. So finding your cozy Yoga Nidra sanctuary, Your cocoon, Finding any blankets to support you, To make you warm, Any pillows under your head, An eye mask, Getting all of your props ready and just making yourself that much more comfortable. Any minor adjustments, Unfurrowing your eyebrows, Relaxing your jaw, Maybe moving it around a little bit and relaxing it down, Relaxing your tongue to the bottom of your mouth, Smoothing out any lines in your face, Moving your shoulders away from your ears, Splaying your legs out just completely comfortably. Knowing that you can make any movements at any time in this Nidra, You're safe to do so and you are allowed to do so. Placing now one hand on your chest, One hand on your belly, Breathing in through your nose into your chest and then down into your belly. Then exhaling out of both your chest and belly at the same time. So trying that again, Breathing in through your nose into your chest and then into your belly. So firstly filling your chest up with air and then down into your belly, Filling that up with air and then exhaling out of both at the same time. So full deep breaths. Do that two more times. One more for good luck as you allow yourself to fully settle in to this practice, This sacred place of relaxation. Connecting now with your Sankalpa, A positive intention or affirmation in the present tense that connects you with your heart, That feels true to you and something that really aligns with yourself right now. Choosing an affirmation such as I can adjust to changes in my life or my nervous system is completely at peace or choosing one of your own, Bringing it to mind, Conjuring up that feeling, That resonance, Letting it really sink in, Making sure it feels really true to you. Connecting with it and then repeating that, That Sankalpa, That intention or affirmation to yourself three more times in your mind, Giving you space to do so now. Connecting now with your inner refuge, Your inner safe space. Perhaps it might be the image I painted for you of the beach with the rolling waves, The sun setting over the hill, Birds flying in the distance, Rustling flax leaves and other West Coast leaves, The wind suddenly blowing in the air. Perhaps it's a cozy space at home, Cozied up on the couch with the rain falling outside. Maybe it's in the arms of someone you love or in some sort of tropical destination or maybe you can just picture a time in your life where you were on cloud nine, You were really content, Really happy, Really at peace. Just really content within yourself. Bringing that space and that feeling to mind, Noticing all the sensations, The smells, The tastes, The visual experience. What can you feel? And just remembering that you can come back to this place at any time, Knowing that you've been there before and you can go back to that place again in your internal world. And now I'm going to guide you through a rotation of consciousness. This will be where I label parts of your body that you can bring your consciousness to, Your mind to, Visualize it, Feel it as I guide you through with my voice. Inviting you to notice the tip of your nose, Any air fluttering over the tip of your nose. Noticing a wave of air flowing in through your nostrils and out of your nostrils. This air floating over the curve of your lip, Down to your bottom lip, Down over the curve of your chin, Down your throat, Across your clavicle to both shoulders, Up the back of your neck, The air on your ears, Fluttering over your ears, Over your cheekbones, Over the lids of your eyes, Floating under the back of the sockets of your eyes, Circling round, Up over your eyebrows, Smoothing them over, Up over the space of your forehead, The crown of your head, The back of your head, The back of your shoulders and your shoulder blades, Coming round to your chest area, Your heart space, Across to your left shoulder, Down to your left elbow, Wrist, Palm, Your left thumb, Second finger, Third, Fourth and fifth, Down to your left waist, Hip, Thigh, Ankle, The bottom of your foot, The top of your foot, Your left big toe, Second toe, Third, Fourth and fifth, The air flowing back up to your right shoulder, Elbow, Wrist, Your palm, Your right thumb, Second finger, Third, Fourth and fifth, Air trickling down to your right waist, Hip, Thigh, Ankle, The bottom of your right foot, The top of your foot, Your right big toe, Second toe, Third, Fourth and fifth, Noticing your whole body now at peace, Completely rested, Able to adjust to all new rhythms as you notice the natural rhythm of your inward breath, Just noticing your natural breath as it moves into your body like a wave, Noticing the natural rhythm of your exhale as the wave of air exits your body and as the cycle continues, Noticing yourself taking another in-breath and another exhale like a wave rolling in and out as we are fully connected with nature and the rhythms of nature we are adaptable, Noticing this wave of new life, Of relaxation, Of new rhythms float over your entire body noticing it trickle from the top of your head, Trickling down over the softness of your face, Of your hair, Down over your neck, Over your shoulders your chest, Your abdomen, Your pelvis, Over your legs, The top of your legs, Your shins, Your feet over the entire length of your arms as you feel the whole sensation and energy of your entire body cocooned in this wave-like relaxation a safe place as the waves and the tides move with the moon, So do you noticing these symbols as I mention them, Symbols I brought up at the start of this yoga nidra just picturing and sensing trees on the tip of a hill, Moving ever so slowly in the wind, Moving with a subtle rhythm the sun setting behind those trees, Birds, Gannets, Flying and soaring with joy in the sky passing by scattered clouds, Bits of white, Bits of grey as the sun is coming down there's a lonely island out in the distance, Waves crashing on the shoreline, Waves rolling onto the beach softening as they hit the sand, The beach has markings on it, A heart drawn in the sand a connection to yourself and your own heart space, Behind you there is still blue sky as the day has not quite ended the wind is the sound of leaves moving also with their own rhythm in the wind the wind always working with them as they also work with the wind, A sense of peace washes over your entire body bringing forth your sankalpa or affirmation that you set at the beginning of this practice staying in your most rested state as you gently bring this into mind again letting the sankalpa or intention really profoundly sink in to your rested state feeling your heart and soul at complete peace right now as you notice yourself, You notice yourself resting you are the witness of your body and mind at pace just pure, Pure awareness, Your completely present state and lying here with this purest version of yourself, Coming back to the truth of who you are your pure essence, Your nervous system completely at peace completely rested where it should be, Knowing that you can adjust to any changes and new rhythms in your life with ease and flow, Feeling the pull of the waves of energy slowly starting to bring you back into your body, Feeling the waves of energy slowly as you breathe in for a count of one and out for a count of one breathe in for a count of two out for a count of two as you count up to five starting to feel any sensations in your body, Maybe any tingling at your fingertips or toes maybe you can feel the sensation of the blankets, Your clothing on your skin your shoulders rested back on the support beneath you your head resting on its pillow maybe you have an eye mask on and can feel that sensation on your face maybe you start to sense the space around you, The ocean of air around you suddenly moving your shoulders, Just wriggling them a little bit moving your head gently from side to side stretching your arms over your head and your legs out straight as you feel energy throughout your entire body just taking all the time you need to ground yourself and come out of the practice hopefully after relaxing now you feel more in tune with yourself more clear headed, Ready to take on your day or perhaps ease into sleep wherever you are at, I hope that this yoga nidra practice served you well and it's something that you can come back to time and time again to reset your nervous system, To relax, To connect with yourself so much love, Thank you for being here, Nicole