Yoga Nidra For Beginners And Experienced Meditators

Welcome to this yoga nidra that contains several minutes of informational guidance in the very beginning of this recording-especially nice for those not familiar with the practice! Yoga nidra is the perfect way to unwind and relax into a deep state of nourishing rest, no effort or experience is needed! This recording was originally shared as a live event here on Insight Timer on 3.8.26. Enjoy!

Transcript

Hello hello welcome welcome everyone so looking forward to sharing this yoga nidra experience with you if we haven't met yet my name is kumari sky and i'll be your guide but if you happen to be new your first time with yoga nidra with me i promote comfort and ease in the yoga nidra practice so however that is for you if it's bedtime maybe you would do this in your bed you could do it on your floor on your couch in a hammock in a parked car so many options for yoga nidra this is a deep rest practice this practice aims to take us into a subtle layer of consciousness our thinnest veil between our physical energetic bodies and all that is according to yogic philosophy one of my favorite things about yoga nidra is that it is truly effortless really the most effort is getting yourself comfortable you might even like to cover your eyes your body temperature will drop so be sure to have a covering or extra layers so through the systematic set of techniques that make up yoga nidra we're moving in from the most gross states our physical body into our most subtle states so we have five layers of being in yoga and the first one is our physical beating being and then the next four get more subtle more subtle more subtle and when we move through this process what we're doing is slowing the brain waves and we are entering what's known as the hypnagogic state the state between waking and sleeping it's that liminal space you might have experienced it in yoga nidra before or that space where you're like am i awake or am i dreaming when you're going to bed and when we hang out in this space all sorts of beneficial things happen in the body and the mind so there's really there's nothing to achieve here it's just a matter of staying open and seeing what comes so you're essentially dis-identifying from the thinking mind and we're like these spongy subconscious beings or higher consciousness beings and in this space you could get a like a hit of inspiration or an idea just see see what happens i'm not trying to like put that out there and then we use our sankalpa intention this is we're planting the seed we're we're creating what we do want with our conscious mind we're thinking about what we do want and so we're planting that into the subconscious and it flourishes there and what happens with each practice when we're setting these intentions we're replacing potentially what isn't wanted or old beliefs and old stories with this sankalpa and things also grow and change from that intention and action so it's a little bit about the practice it's always good to remember why we're doing this and of course that was just a few minutes i will bring you out of this let's begin by taking a deep breath in through the nose and let it go and another taking time to make any fine-tuning positionings just arriving here with your body we're welcoming stillness and really stillness is the medicine of yoga nidra where all the goodness arises from this stillness in the body the breath the mind feeling your arms and your hands your legs and your feet the whole backside of the body the whole front side of the body feel the weight all of your head settling in even more here feeling the support under your head however it may be feeling the support and allowing yourself to be supported maybe even a sense of your whole body being received in the space you're in the surface you're resting upon the pillows and blankets you might be using as support the covers but also the whole space you're in in the sense of the earth ultimately holding you and supporting you holding and supporting you the earth safe to let go here and relax your body innately knows how to relax hearing any sounds in your space feeling the rhythm of your breath and also feeling the nostrils as they take in and out each breath becoming aware of this act of breathing and thinking of this as you are the witness of your breathing i'm not trying to control the breath in any way just observing what does it feel like to breathe does it have a feeling tone like expansive or shallow cool or warm slowing down so much to simply experience the action of breathing just breathing breathe ever so so gently nothing to do nowhere to go you are free to continue to let go let yourself be held let yourself let go just for now no past no future the simple experience of being we'll take a few rounds of the physiological sigh two sips of breath in long slow exhale out in through the nose and out through the mouth this time we'll hold it at the top hold for three two one let it go now from this relaxed easeful and relaxed space you can call in your sankalpa and if you're not currently working with a sankalpa you could make an intention or an affirmation this could be one word or a little statement i trust the divine unfolding of my life would be an example or simply the word peace or i allow myself to rest deeply taking a moment here feeling your sankalpa your intention you know whispering it back to yourself whispering it bringing it back inward this is like planting a seed deep within about what you do want to experience in your life follow my voice as i guide you around the body for the rotation of consciousness move around the body in each area we stop at simply notice notice what it feels like there there's no right or wrong you can't get yoga nidra wrong we'll begin with the right hand thumb and the first finger second finger third and the small finger the palm sensing the palm the top of the hand wrist forearm and now the elbow upper arm and shoulder sensing and feeling the whole right arm and hand feeling this area as separate now take attention over to the left thumb the first finger the second finger there and the small finger the palm feeling the palm from the inside the top of the hand the wrist forearm elbow upper arm and shoulder and now a sense of the whole left arm and hand together all left hand and arm together as one now shift attention to rest at the center of the chest the very center of the chest moving upward to sense the collarbones and the inside of the throat the tongue as if all 10, 000 taste buds were tingling on the tongue could you sense the sides of the tongue the sides of the tongue and the roof of the mouth and the space under the tongue your gums and your teeth sensing the whole inside of the mouth the inside of the mouth the lips and the cheeks the bridge of the nose both ears the right eye left eye both eyes together and now a sense of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center the space behind the eye the brain inside the skull the third eye forehead whole scalp the back of the neck the shoulder blades the backs of the ribs lower back and now a sense of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center of the center 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