25 Min Yoga Nidra Cultivating Inner Garden

In this 25-minute Yoga Nidra, you are invited to cultivate your inner garden — a safe, nourishing space you can return to whenever you need calm and grounding. The garden becomes a reflection of your mind, where you can gently weed out unhelpful thoughts and nurture those that support balance and growth.

The practice begins with generous settling time, guiding you into physical comfort and stillness before a creative rotation of consciousness and soothing visualisation. Delivered in a soft, steady voice, this session helps you reconnect with inner peace, renewal, and the quiet joy of tending to your inner landscape.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this Yoga Nidra,

Where you have the opportunity to create,

To enter and to tend to your own inner garden,

Your inner safe space,

Where you get to create it exactly to your liking.

So if you're ready for this restful journey inwards,

Settle down,

Find a comfortable position lying down,

Perhaps on your back,

Supported,

Maybe beneath your knees,

A nice pillow below your head,

Or maybe you would rather be lying on your side curled in,

Or maybe even on your belly.

Choose,

Settle down,

Do what you need to so that you can surrender your physical body to the powerful presence of the earth beneath you.

And as you're settling here,

Know that even though stillness is very much welcome,

If there's anything you need to do to adjust yourself so that you can welcome stillness in your body,

Just respond to that itch,

Readjust and then arrive back into stillness.

Once you feel like you have found comfort,

Check in with your body,

The position of your head,

Your shoulders,

The back of your heart,

Your lower back,

Your hips,

Perhaps support beneath your knees,

Your heels,

The entire body.

Notice if there is anything that you would like to do to be that 1% more comfortable.

And then release with a big exhale.

You have arrived.

You're here and you're welcome exactly as you are.

Knowing that whatever is present is welcome,

And perhaps welcoming this intention for you to be open and receiving whatever experience arises during this journey of yoga nidra.

If you would like to,

You might want to close your eyes and invite the attention inwards,

Knowing that you can always blink your eyes back open whenever you feel like you need to re-anchor yourself to the present moment.

And as your eyes might be turning the attention inwards,

Using your hearing in a similar way,

First welcoming any sounds of the environment you're in,

Welcoming the sound of my voice,

Giving you pointers and direction on this journey.

And then directing your hearing towards the more subtle sounds,

Sounds of your breath,

Sounds of your body.

Welcoming the sound of the inhale and exhale.

Feeling into the air entering your nostrils and leaving the nostrils.

And as the air comes in and out,

Perhaps there is some aromas,

Some smells you might welcome as well.

Whatever is present,

Let it be present.

And as your breath,

The rhythm that's coming and going in this rocking motion,

Can you see if you can follow that rocking all the way to the very top of the inhalation,

And then all the way back to the bottom of the exhalation.

Maybe slowing down a little bit,

This journey between the top of the inhale and the bottom of the exhale.

Allowing yourself to be unrushed.

And what would it be like to rest for a little while longer on the top of the inhalation?

And then also,

Could you rest for a little while longer at the bottom of the exhalation,

Waiting for a while for the next inhale to arrive.

Without too much strain,

Simply giving yourself a little pause,

A little waiting on either end of the parts of your breath.

And then allowing for your breath to find its own rhythm.

You don't need to get involved.

Your breath knows what to do.

As you rest here,

Your body,

Your physical body held by the earth.

Resting your awareness now in your heart center,

The deep heart,

The home of your energy heart,

Behind the breastbone,

Deep in the center of your chest.

Could you be present here?

Present to whatever arises in your heart center.

There might be your heart's desire,

Your sankalpa,

That takes shape in words.

Perhaps there's a certain felt sense.

If you do have a sankalpa that you would like to connect to right now,

You might want to repeat it silently inside your heart three times,

Affirming this deep rooted wish,

The expression of your deepest desire,

Feeling the meaning of your words in every cell of your body.

And then releasing the words,

Releasing any effort.

May you invite your awareness now to go on a journey,

An exploration of your physical body,

The landscape of your physical body.

While the body is resting,

Still asleep,

Held,

It is the light of your awareness,

This life-giving light of your awareness that travels through each body part in turn.

And you might even imagine that as your awareness arrives to a point in your body,

There is this beautiful flower that blossoms there.

Beginning at the crown of your head,

A beautiful flower blossoming there.

The space between your eyebrows,

A flower there.

Your left eye and your right eye,

Your left ear and the right ear,

Blossoming flowers there.

Your left nostril and the right nostril,

The upper lip,

The lower lip,

The space between the lips,

The tip of your chin,

A flower blossoming in the space between your collarbones and a flower on top of your left shoulder,

In the little hollow of your left elbow,

On your left wrist,

A flower nestled in the palm of your hand and little flowers on the tip of each of the fingers,

Thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger and the pinky finger.

The whole left arm blossoming with flowers.

Back to the flower in between the collarbones and a flower blossoming on the top of your right shoulder,

In the right elbow,

Right wrist,

Flower in the palm of your hand and five little flowers on tip of each fingers,

The thumb,

Index,

Middle,

Ring finger and the pinky finger.

The entire right hand and the right arm blossoming with flowers.

Back to the flower in the hollow of your neck and a beautiful flower blossoming in the space behind your breastbone,

A flower on the left breast and the right breast,

A flower at the navel center,

A beautiful flower at the tip of your pelvic triangle,

The pubic bones,

A flower on the outside of your left hip,

Knee,

Left ankle,

The sole of the foot and the top of the foot and five little flowers at the tip of each of the toes in the left foot,

The first toe,

Second toe,

Third,

Fourth and the fifth toe.

The entire left leg blossoming.

Back to the flower at the pubic bones and a flower blossoming on the outside of your right hip,

Right knee,

Ankle,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot and five little flowers at the tip of all five toes on the right foot,

The tip of the first toe,

Second toe,

Third,

Fourth and the fifth toe.

The entire right leg and the foot blossoming with flowers of your awareness.

Back to the flower at the pubic bones,

Your navel center and your heart center.

The entire body like a field,

Like a spring field full of flowers.

Your whole entire body awake and alive with flowers blossoming everywhere.

As you inhale,

May you imagine each and single one of these flowers opening wider as welcoming the sun above you.

And with each exhalation,

The petals come gently towards the center as if coming towards the end of the day.

With each inhale,

Each and single flower opens up wide,

Catching the sun.

And each exhale closes the petals a bit closer to each other.

Each inhalation opens and exhalation closes.

And what would it be like to feel into the opening and receiving of the sunshine at the same time as closing to rest for the night?

What would it be like to feel both at the same time?

The open receiving and the inward resting,

Releasing any effort and letting the flowers fade into the background.

As you move your awareness back to your heart center.

As I invite you now to create a journey in your imagination.

Know that this can arise in the shape of images and colors,

Or perhaps it's more memories or a felt sense.

Whatever comes up and rises to you is absolutely perfect.

So if you arrive at your heart center,

Can you imagine there is a little door.

And feel free to take a key that only you have.

It's magical,

Unique key fitted into tiny little keyhole.

Feel how the key moves in there and opens so smoothly,

Opening the door so that you can enter.

Entering the door of your own heart.

As you take a couple of steps in,

You look around and you notice that you have stepped into a garden.

A beautiful garden.

The sun is rising,

There's the soft hue of the warm colors of the sun.

You feel a gentle breeze on your skin.

You feel really comfortable,

The temperature is perfect.

Your bare feet standing on the soft grass.

Perhaps a little bit wet from the night.

Beautifully pleasant,

Clean.

You look around in all directions and you start noticing all the colors.

The lush green,

All the colors that make your heart smile.

Flowers,

Perhaps even fruit trees.

And if you feel like it,

You might even start walking around.

Using your hands to gently brush the pads of your fingertips against the soft leaves.

As you inhale,

This fresh crisp air brings in all the beautiful aromas of familiar flowers.

The smell that makes you feel so at ease,

So peaceful.

As you walk around,

You might feel the earth undulating.

It might be a little hill.

Then you come down the valley.

As you see in the valley,

A little gentle stream bubbling with beautiful turquoise water.

You step closer,

Might even put your fingertips into the stream of the bubbling water,

Feeling the water washing away any fatigue,

Any worries.

If you would like,

You can even put both of your feet in there.

Water washing away anything that might be weighing on you,

Simply going down the stream.

Nothing for you to hold on to anymore.

As you look around,

You notice there's a little corner,

A little corner of your garden that looks a little different to the rest.

You might want to walk a little closer and notice that this corner has been really looked after.

There are many edible plants,

Bushes,

Berries,

Maybe even a fruit tree here and there.

And it might look like nobody has given it the care it needs for a little while.

And you also notice there is a little basket with all the gardening tools you might need.

You might put on gloves on your right hand,

On your left hand,

Pick up any tools.

And as you look around,

You notice the parts of the garden that need a bit of weeding.

And you just get yourself down there.

You remove whatever has overgrown,

Pulling at it.

You see that it comes off quite easily.

Not much strength is required.

Spend a little bit of time clearing out the overgrowth.

You also notice that there are some parts that feel so lush and ready to receive new seeds.

So from your basket of tools,

You take out a couple of seeds,

Make little holes in the fresh ground,

Moist,

Full of nutrients.

You plant those seeds with love and intention.

You water them with a watering can that has water from that beautiful stream of water.

Maybe you look around if there is anything else you would like to tend to.

You can take off your gloves,

Stand up again and slowly start walking back up that little hill.

Walking all the way back towards the little door that is still there waiting for you.

Before you enter the door of your heart again,

You take one more look around your beautiful garden.

Taking the aromas in,

Listen to the sounds of the birds,

Of the wind gently playing with the leaves and see the beautiful fruit of your work.

Know that this garden of your heart is always there for you.

And as you say a little goodbye and you take your step through the door,

Close the door with your own magical key,

Lock it.

Know that this garden never disappears.

It's a space you can come and visit often.

Releasing any effort,

Any visuals.

Lying where you are and perhaps resting for a little moment or two,

Simply in what is,

Nothing to do.

Resting in the state of awareness that is yoga nidra.

You might want to reconnect with your heart's desire,

The words of your sankalpa.

Repeating them silently one more time.

And as the words echo through your body,

Allow for your breath to become a little bit deeper,

A little bit longer,

Perhaps even a little bit more audible.

And as the air comes in,

Allow for the fresh oxygen to travel into your fingertips and there might even be a bit of movement coming to your fingers.

It might feel nice to bring the palms of your hands towards each other and gently rubbing them against each other,

Feeling the heat.

And then allowing for the palms of your hands to land on your face,

Perhaps covering your eyes,

Feeling the warmth of the hands,

Bringing a bit of fire into your eyes as you gently open the eyelids,

Welcoming the colors and the brightness of the space you're in.

Welcoming a full body stretch,

Maybe even a yawn,

Until you eventually feel yourself ready to come upright,

Looking around the space you're in,

Knowing that you have never truly left and yet you journeyed deep inwards.

Remember that you can always come back to garden,

To tend to your inner garden.

This might be seen as reflection,

As inner connection,

So that you can tend to any overgrowth of thoughts and to also nurture the thoughts that might need more support.

And with this,

This yoga nidra is now complete.

Thank you for your practice.

Thank you for joining me.

And I hope to be back with you soon again.

Reviews

Really nice nidra that resonated across the pond. Thanks so much and look forward to more. 🙏