Yoga Nidra: Easing Fatigue And Restlessness

In this practice, you will be guided into a state between sleep and wakefulness, tapping into the subconscious mind and coming into a space of deep rest. This has a greatly soothing and restorative effect on the nervous system.

Transcript

Welcome to a yoga nidra practice that can help you restore and revitalize your energy.

If you're feeling fatigued,

Jet-lagged,

Or you just didn't have a good night's sleep,

You might be feeling stirred up emotionally,

Or your mind is just busy and just not allowing you to rest.

So please begin with lying down comfortably on your bed or on the ground.

You may be using a yoga mat or a folded-up blanket,

Anything that supports you to rest comfortably and find ease in your body.

And as you settle yourself down,

Do so intentionally by taking a few deeper rounds of breath in and out of your nose.

Just allowing yourself to come into a time of quiet,

Taking this time to be completely with yourself and by yourself in order to tap into the revitalizing forces and resourcefulness within you.

Another round of long,

Slow breaths,

Helping you calm and settle,

And then letting the breath move in and out by itself,

Creating no effort in your breathing,

And allowing yourself to relax back into an intentional state of calm and rest,

Completely settling into gravity,

Settling into any sensations you may be feeling,

Settling into any nuances or impressions you may be experiencing.

Maybe you're feeling tightness somewhere in the body.

Maybe you're having this visceral feeling of tiredness and fatigue penetrating your entire being,

And that's okay.

Maybe you're feeling a sense of restlessness or unease.

And whatever you're experiencing,

Just taking note of that and for a moment giving it space,

Allowing it to express itself,

Allowing whatever you're experiencing to express its need for restoration,

Allowing yourself to settle even further back into your body,

Into the support beneath you.

And then gently reminding yourself of being completely in the experience throughout the practice,

Allowing your body to come to complete rest,

Allowing your mind to come to rest,

Yet allowing an aspect of your awareness to remain alert and attentive to your experience.

Drop your attention all the way down through the hips,

Into your legs,

Into the feet and toes.

Feel the heaviness of your shoulders and your back against the ground.

Relax your head and the neck.

Feel the whole body resting on the support beneath you,

Resting into the support of gravity,

Bringing your awareness to your right hand thumb.

Soften and release the right hand thumb,

Right index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger and the right small finger.

Relax your whole right palm and the right wrist,

Right forearm,

Elbow,

The right upper arm and the right shoulder,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Left shoulder.

Relax your left upper arm,

Left elbow,

Forearm,

Left wrist,

Whole left palm,

Left hand thumb,

Index finger,

Left middle finger,

Ring finger and the left little finger.

Relax both shoulders,

Both arms,

Both wrists,

Both hands and all the fingers.

Breath is completely soft.

Feel the breath moving gently in and out of your chest.

Relax the entire chest and the ribcage,

Abdomen,

Whole pelvis and the lower back.

Again softening the abdomen,

Whole pelvis and the lower back.

Relax your buttocks and both hips.

Relax your right hip,

Right thigh,

Back of the thigh,

Your right knee,

Back of the knee,

Right calf and the right shin,

Right ankle,

Whole right foot and the right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and the right fifth toe.

Relax your whole right leg,

Relax your left hip,

Left thigh,

Back of the thigh,

Left knee,

Back of the knee,

The left calf and the left shin,

Left ankle,

Whole left foot and the left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and the left fifth toe.

Relax your whole left leg,

Relax your buttocks and the lower back,

Whole pelvis,

Both legs and both feet.

Let the whole body settle even further back into the support of gravity.

Feel the whole body heavy and at ease,

Resting into the support of gravity.

Still noticing the subtle flow of breath moving in through the nose,

Gently moving down into the lungs.

Just a soft,

Subtle,

Continuous,

Almost unnoticeable breath,

Resembling the breath that you experience when you go to sleep.

Feeling the body at rest,

Feeling the mind coming to rest,

But having an aspect of your awareness remain alert and awake to the experience.

Noticing the soft sensation of your breath,

The brushes through the nose,

Past the brain,

Down into your throat.

Notice the breath brushing up against your throat,

Past the brain and out through the nose,

Allowing the breathing to be soft and continuous.

And in its own subtle rhythm,

Let it move and flow and navigate itself completely by itself without any effort.

Let it naturally and gently nourish your system,

Nourish your energy field.

And as you're gently following the flow of your breath,

Further softening your throat,

Softening the sides of your neck,

Softening the ears and the inner ears,

Releasing any tension in your jaw and the temples,

Softening the forehead and your eyes.

Let the eyes soften and draw back into the sockets of the skull,

Softening the wings of your nose,

The skin on your face,

Relaxing into a space behind your eyes,

Behind your nose,

Relaxing into a soft and spacious feeling deep inside your head,

Allowing the mind to rest,

Allowing an aspect of your awareness to remain alert and awake to the softness that you're experiencing throughout your body,

Alert and awake to the nourishing force of the subtleties in your breath,

Allowing yourself to come to complete rest so that no part of your body,

No aspect of your being no felt sense of your experience remains untouched by this nourishing,

Softening and restoring power of your own presence.

Awakening to the soft and subtle power within you,

Touching every aspect of your being with your mind,

With your attention and with your loving care and awareness.

Slowly awakening to a deeper breath,

Gently increasing the capacity in your lungs,

Letting the breath expand all the way through the abdomen,

Letting the breath expand all the way through your pelvis.

All the way down into your toes and fingers,

Letting the breath penetrate the entire body,

Allowing the breath to continue to nurture and awaken all the nerves,

Cells,

Tissues,

Allowing the breath to continue to feed your bloodstream,

Your lymphatic system,

Your immune system,

Allowing your breath to continue to restore and to revitalize your entire body,

Feeling this nourishing effect on your organs,

On your muscles,

On your brain.

And with the experience of this vitalized feeling,

Slowly begin to move your toes and fingers,

If you feel the need you may gently want to move your neck and the head.

And then slowly with awareness,

Bending your knees,

Curling yourself over to one side of your body,

Feeling the vitality that this practice brought to you.

And you may rest here on your side a little longer or for as long as you like to,

Before pushing yourself up to sit,

Before gently closing your practice.

Moving out into the rest of your hours of your day,

With energy and vitality in your entire system,

With ease in your mind.

And allowing this practice to continue to do its work.

Thank you for your practice.

Namaste.