Stillness Within Yoga Nidra

Discover deep calm with this guided Yoga Nidra meditation for anxiety and stress relief. In this short yet powerful practice, you’ll be guided to gently release tension from the body, quiet anxious thoughts, and support your nervous system in shifting into a state of rest and repair. This Yoga Nidra helps reduce stress, ease anxiety, promote relaxation, and restore emotional balance, leaving you feeling grounded, peaceful, and renewed.

Perfect for unwinding before sleep, calming a busy mind, or whenever you need a soothing reset during the day.

Transcript

Welcome everyone.

I'm so delighted that you are here.

Thank you so much for joining my yoga nidra practice tonight.

If you're new to the practice,

You'll want to make yourself as comfortable as possible.

Whether that's lying down in your bed or reclining on your couch or chair or even your floor.

Maybe putting down an extra blanket or yoga mat to lay on.

All of this contributes to a really potent yoga nidra experience.

This is a set of techniques that bring the practitioner,

You,

Into a really deep state of rest.

So first and foremost,

You're going to get comfortable.

If it's chilly where you live,

Consider having a blanket nearby or putting sweatshirt and some socks on.

Your body temperature naturally decreases with this practice.

You might like to cover your eyes just in case there's some light from a street lamp or other areas of your house or wherever you're at.

Pretty much other than that,

That's the prep for the practice.

So I started to mention it's a set of techniques that take you into a deep state of effortless rest.

But it's a different kind of rest.

It's not like taking a nap in the afternoon and it's not like going to sleep at night.

It's a yogic sleep.

And what that means is we are finding this liminal space where the body is asleep but the mind is aware.

So you're just kind of like floating in this space.

You can still hear all my directions but your body is out like a light.

And so in this way,

The practice is extremely nourishing for the nervous system and the whole physical body.

But more than that,

It also guides us to a space where we're not identified with our thinking minds.

So all the thoughts of the past,

Of the future,

Anything that's not grounded in the present moment,

All of that you're disidentifying with through this practice.

All right.

There's nothing else you need to do.

This is effortless.

Just allow my voice to guide you.

Towards the end of the practice,

I am going to wake you up.

But of course,

You do you.

You can always click off the app if you're not wanting to be guided away from the practice.

And you'll hear this as I start to bring you back to the waking state.

So if you haven't already,

Close down your eyes.

Let's just start by listening for sounds around you.

What's the farthest away sound that you hear?

Are there any sounds in your space?

And just move from sound to sound,

Not staying too long with any one sound.

And then can you hear the sound of your breath?

Ever so subtly hearing the sound of your slow,

Deep breath?

Are there any aromas,

Leftover tastes in the mouth,

Perhaps running your tongue over your teeth?

Just being present to all you hear,

Smell,

Taste.

Aware of the darkness of the lids.

And the eyes just shrouded,

Protected,

And allowed to rest.

Allowed to rest now.

Moving from outward attention to inward presence.

And feeling.

Take a minute to really zero in on how your head is resting.

Knowing you can make adjustments any time to maintain your comfort during the practice.

Good.

And now can you feel your arms and your hands?

How are they resting?

Is there anything else you can adjust?

What about the hips and the buttocks?

The legs and the feet?

Is there some way that you could adjust to just feel that much more supported?

Maybe something under the knees.

Your whole back.

Sense the whole back.

Just that connection between whatever you're resting on and you.

Now sense the front side of the body.

Perhaps you feel your clothes or your blanket or the air on your exposed skin.

Just aware of the whole front side of your body.

Now just a sense of the whole body resting here in this effortless position,

Completely supported.

And held.

Receptive and ready for your deep rest practice.

Consciously moving from a state of doing to one of being.

Sense your own presence.

Imagine your body.

And there's rise and fall of your breath.

You're not changing anything.

Just breathing your natural breath.

Now we'll begin to count the breath.

Follow along.

Inhale 2,

3,

4.

Exhale 2,

3,

4.

Inhale 2,

3,

4.

Exhale 2,

3,

4.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

This time holding at the top.

Breathe in.

Pause.

3,

2,

1.

Slowly blow it out.

Again on your own.

Allow your awareness to saturate your whole body.

Already deeply resting.

Now connecting with the space of the heart.

Bring to mind the word peace.

Feel in your body what the word peace is like.

Can't get this wrong.

There's no certain way.

Just whatever you feel like peace is in your body.

And now love.

Feel the essence of love in your body.

Maybe it's a little tingliness at the heart center or deeper breath.

Now joy.

Feel joy in your body.

What does joy feel like?

Now choose which word to you feels the most resonant.

Which word?

Really resonates with you right now.

And then this is going to be your sankalpa for this practice.

Say,

I am love,

Joy,

Or peace.

Or heck,

It could be two or three of them.

I am.

And say that a couple times back to yourself,

Whatever word you chose.

Affirming this three more times.

Now moving into our movement energetically around the body,

The rotation of consciousness.

Just let your attention drift to each place that I mention.

A sort of mental acupuncture.

A way to deeply let go energetically and physically.

We'll be beginning at the top of the head.

Just let your attention rest right at the top of your head.

And then let it expand into your whole scalp.

As if each hair follicle were tingling.

The whole scalp.

And then the right half of the face.

And the left half of the face.

In the center of the forehead.

The third eye center,

The mind center.

The left eye center,

The mind's eye.

The right eyebrow,

Temple,

Space beneath the eye,

The lid,

Lashes,

The eyeball.

So aware of the whole space of the right eye.

Move to the left eyebrow.

Temple,

Space beneath the eye,

And lashes,

Eyeball.

The space of the whole left eye.

Now both eyes together.

Both eyes and just a sense of all the tiny nerves and muscles that animate the eyes.

The eyes resting back,

Warm,

Protected.

Move awareness out to each temple simultaneously.

And then to the ear canals.

Listening,

Hearing my voice,

Listening.

Now to the tip of the nose and the nostrils.

Sense the flare of the nostrils ever so,

So subtly.

Sense your lips and tongue,

Roof of the mouth.

Gums and teeth,

The inside of the mouth alive with sensation.

The jaw,

The whole neck and throat,

The shoulder blades.

And the spine running in between from the base of the skull all the way down to you,

The sacrum.

So imagining the whole spine here.

And the right side of the body.

The left side of the torso.

To the right side of the chest.

The left side of the chest.

Just a sense of the expanse of the whole chest up to the collarbones.

Both armpits.

The shoulders.

Upper arms,

The creases of the elbows,

The inside of the forearms,

Inside of the wrists.

Both palms and all 10 fingers.

Both palms and all 10 fingers.

Warmly shimmering.

Tops of the hands and wrists.

Top of the forearm.

The bone of the elbow.

Both arms and hands together.

Sensing both arms and hands.

Solar plexus.

Navel.

Become aware of the whole abdomen.

Above the navel,

Below the navel,

Each side.

Can you sense the right hip joint and the left hip joint?

The joints deep inside.

Expanding awareness to sense the glutes and the hips,

The tops of the thighs,

The backs of the thighs,

The kneecaps,

The shins,

Ankles,

The tops of the feet and all 10 toes.

Awareness expands to fill the feet,

The soles of the feet,

The Achilles tendons,

The calves,

Backs of the knees.

Sense both legs and feet together.

And the hips,

The whole torso and back,

Entire head.

Awareness cascading through your whole body.

Whole body.

Shimmering and alive with life force energy and awareness.

Whole body electric.

Tune into the breath happening inside this electric body.

And in the mind,

Repeating so on the inhale and hum on the exhale.

Inhale,

So.

Exhale,

Hum.

I am that.

Keep coming back.

So,

Hum.

Don't worry if you drift away.

Staying connected to the energy of the breath.

Receiving the energy of the words.

So,

Hum.

I am that.

Pulling you deeper within.

Washing these vibrational words up and down the body now.

Imagine breathing in through the toes,

So all the way up the body to the crown.

Exhaling from the crown all the way back down to the toes,

Hum.

Imagining the prana moving up and down your body.

Inhale,

So.

Exhale,

Hum.

Open to allowing this to be whatever it is,

Maybe seeing color or energy as you breathe up and down your body.

Now,

Just letting that focus dissolve.

Now,

Instead of the breath moving up and down the body,

Sense how the inhale expands from your center and ripples all the way down to your fingers and toes,

The edges of your skin.

And how the exhale energetically brings everything back to center.

Inhaling,

Opening,

Expanding.

Exhaling,

Coming back in.

Sensing,

Feeling,

Or imagining this happening just with the energy of the breath,

The prana.

Releasing that focus.

Practice feeling the body as heavy,

The body heavy,

Weighted down.

Weighted down as if it were filled with sand.

Every nook and cranny of the body as heavy.

Heavy body.

Now,

Sense the body as light,

Cultivating a felt sense of the body lifting,

Lifting and floating,

Light as a feather.

Floating and light.

Now,

Return to heavy,

As if the bones were made of concrete.

Sinking down into the surface,

Feel your body as heavy.

Feel your body as light again,

As if each inhale created more buoyancy in the whole body.

Light as air.

Light,

Buoyant.

Come to sense both light and heavy at the same time.

Light and heavy simultaneously.

The observer of light and heavy together simultaneously.

Mm,

Letting that go.

Tuning into this great sense of stillness.

The body still.

Weighted yet weightless.

Imagine a gentle light beginning to glow behind your closed eyes.

The soft silver light of the moon.

With your eyes closed,

The light of the moon guides you.

You find yourself standing on a quiet path beneath the vast night sky.

Feel the cool and crisp air on the skin,

In the nostrils.

Mm,

See the ground beneath you lightly covered in snow.

Each step you take leaves a soft imprint.

This is a reminder of your presence.

Mm,

Look back and see the soft imprints of your feet on the path.

All around you,

Snowflakes fall slowly.

Mm,

Each snowflake unique,

Yet part of the same delicate dance.

Now pause and notice the snowflake as it drifts in the moonlight,

Luminous and pure.

Unique,

Just like you.

One of a kind,

Yet inseparable from all that is.

This moonlit path is silent.

The moon above reflecting your own brilliance.

Mm,

You're emanating the energy of your innate goodness.

Now sensing your goodness,

Your intelligence,

Your worthiness.

Sensing your essence,

It's already here.

Just tune into all that you are.

All your gifts,

Qualities,

Your special brand of magic.

Mm,

Sensing your own life force essence in this moonlight.

Your inner sky illuminated and vast.

And all the snowflakes landing softly within the vastness of all that you are.

All the snowflakes,

Seeds of hope,

Insights,

Unity.

All the snowflakes twinkling down,

Bathing you.

Mm,

Feel yourself as both the moon and the snow.

Both observer and you are everything.

Unique,

One with all life.

Your inner light luminous,

Radiant,

Open and receptive.

Asking the wisdom of all that you are resting here now.

Mm,

Could you call back the I am Simkhopa,

Love,

Peace,

Joy.

Feeling that everywhere.

Repeating a few more times.

Mm,

Can you begin to deepen your breath?

More slowly coming back from the state of yoga nidra.

Deepen your breath again.

And now two sips.

Mm,

Again.

Back to the body.

Moving your fingers and your toes really slowly.

Circling the ankles and the wrists.

Really just taking your time if you can to keep moving really slowly and breathing.

You might notice how you feel right now.

Changing positions.

Mm,

If you have time,

You can just keep resting or start to slowly stretch.

Post yoga nidra can be a very insightful time.

I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

How are you feeling?

Mm,

Maybe you're asleep.

Just coming back and knowing that yoga nidra is truly a balm to your whole being.

If it's day,

You can expect peaceful energy.

And if it's night,

You can expect ease and sleep.

You can use yoga nidra to support us in so many ways.

It's wonderful that you chose to do this tonight.

I hope you feel relaxed and amazing.

Mm,

I said tonight,

Today,

Probably a better way to say it.

Wishing you all the very best.

You are loved and I hope to see you again real soon.

Namaste.

Reviews

Sad about the bells at the end… I never like to be jangled out of a liminal space. So pleasant otherwise. 11-29-25