Yoga Nidra for Before Bed Today's guided meditation is designed to improve the quality of your sleep and to help you fall asleep.
You can listen to this guided meditation if you have awoken in the middle of the night and you would like to fall back asleep.
You can also listen to this guided meditation as you fall asleep at night,
Beginning a night of deep rest and sleep.
So welcome,
My name is Ilsa,
I will be your guide and this is your safe haven of peace and tranquility.
During this guided relaxation for before sleep,
I will guide you through Yoga Nidra meditation techniques and I do not guide you out of the practice so you can fall asleep.
These Yoga Nidra meditation techniques are an inner resource practice,
Breath work and body sensing.
Now let's begin.
Take a few moments to arrive in a comfortable position,
Lying down.
Beginning this guided relaxation in a comfortable lying down position,
Adjusting your body so that you feel completely supported for going into a deep state of sleep.
Beginning this guided relaxation in a place that is safe for you to enter a deep state of sleep.
Now that we have begun,
I offer you permission to leave this guided relaxation at any point.
Completing this sleep talk down is not the goal nor is completion key for you to reap all the possible benefits.
Be aware complete stillness of the body is not essential.
If you feel compelled to move at any point,
Make any adjustments to cultivate ease and well-being within your entire body and mind.
If you could be five or ten percent more comfortable,
Make any adjustments to bring ease and well-being throughout your entire body and mind.
And here is a poem from Dana Folds called Walk Slowly to help you settle in for an evening of slumber.
It only takes a reminder to breathe,
A moment to be still and just like that something in me settles,
Softens,
Makes space for imperfection.
The harsh voice of judgment drops to a whisper and I remember again that life isn't a relay race,
That we all cross the finish line,
That waking up to life is what we were born for.
As many times as I forget,
Catch myself charging forward without even knowing where I'm going,
That many times I can make the choice to stop,
To breathe and be,
And walk slowly into the mystery.
Welcome every experience that is now present.
Enduring this yoga nidra for before sleep,
You are held and supported in this safe haven of peace and tranquility.
I will be your guide and you are your own best teacher.
Be aware that resting is a skill,
Sleep is a muscle to build and this is your space to practice this skill.
Bring attention to your senses,
Allowing each perception to come to you.
Sounds outside the room that you are in,
Sounds within the room,
The sound of breath moving in and out of your nose,
The sounds from within your body.
Feel the touch of air on your skin,
The softness of your cheeks,
Smooth out your forehead,
Release any expression from your face,
Let the eyes rest back into your skull,
Let go of any holding in the hands,
Feel the sensation of where your body touches the earth beneath you,
The earth rising up,
Supporting your entire body,
Allow the dial on your senses to turn down to low,
Feel a veil of fabric envelop your body,
The outside world muffled.
You are held here,
Carried,
Cradled by my voice,
By my voice and the sanctuary of serenity that you are cultivating.
This is your refuge to fall asleep and this is your time to rest and restore.
Noticing where the body makes contact with the earth underneath you,
Feeling the earth rising up to support the entire body,
Allowing the body to let go of any tension it might be holding onto.
Bring attention to your inner resource,
Your safe haven of peace and serenity.
Welcoming a place from your memory or from your imagination,
A place that nurtures feelings of being secure,
Peaceful and at ease.
Letting go,
Diving into this place that arises in your mind,
Without judgment or the need for perfection,
There is no right or wrong answer.
Inviting people or images,
A person,
An animal,
Object,
Or place in nature.
A place or images that nurture feelings of being secure,
Serene and at ease.
Spacious,
Open,
Timeless,
Perfect,
Familiar,
Unchanging yet fresh and always present.
Rest back into your inner resource,
The felt sense of well-being throughout your body.
Know that you can return to this inner resource at any time,
Day or night,
And throughout your practice of yoga and nidra.
Whenever you feel the need to be totally secure and at ease,
Knowing that you're welcome to leave this guided relaxation at any time.
Now allow my words to be your words as you rotate attention throughout your body.
Feel sensations of where your body meets the surface beneath you,
Welcoming your experience just as it is.
Welcome the entire body as a vibrant sensation,
Radiating in all directions,
Inwardly and outwardly.
Sensations on the surface of the body,
Deep inside the body,
Sensing the right side of the body,
The left side,
The back of the body,
The front of the body.
Welcoming both legs at the same time,
The entire right leg,
Ankle,
Foot,
Toes,
Knee,
Shin,
Calf,
Thigh,
Right hip,
Attentive,
The entire left leg,
Ankle,
Foot,
Toes,
Knee,
Shin,
Calf,
Thigh,
Left hip,
Attentive,
The entire torso alive,
Breathing itself,
Letting go of thinking,
The ceiling and floor of the pelvis,
Sacrum,
Belly and lower back,
Mid-chest and back,
Upper chest and back.
And welcoming both arms at the same time,
The entire right arm,
Wrist,
Palm and fingers,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Right upper arm,
Shoulder,
The entire left arm,
Wrist,
Palm and fingers,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Left upper arm,
Shoulder.
And without analysing,
Sensing your weight,
Neck,
Back of the head,
Crown,
Forehead,
The touch of air on your skin,
Both eyes at the same time,
The entire right eye,
Cheekbone,
Temple,
Eyebrow,
Right eye,
The entire left eye,
Cheekbone,
Temple,
Eyebrow,
Left eye.
Sensation of the breath moving through both nostrils,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Left nostril,
Both ears at the same time as sensation,
Right ear,
Sensation of the left ear.
Give up being involved with thinking,
Instead welcoming sensations just as they are.
The entire jaw,
Mouth and throat as sensation,
Back of the throat,
Inner walls of the mouth,
Left and right,
Ceiling,
Floor of the mouth,
Gums,
Teeth.
Sensing your jaw,
Lips,
Tongue as vibrant,
Vibrating,
Tingling,
Radiant sensation.
And if helpful,
Interweave your inner resource,
Your safe haven of peace and tranquillity,
Knowing that you're welcome to leave this guided relaxation at any time.
At any time.
Sense the body breathing itself,
The natural flow of breath entering and leaving the body,
The inflow and outflow of the breath through the nostrils,
The chest and belly gently rising and releasing,
The expansion and softening of the ribcage,
The expansion and softening of the ribcage,
The rivers of the breath flowing freely with ease.
And while sensing the abdomen rising and releasing as breath naturally flows in and out,
Begin counting from 1 to 7 like this,
1 inhaling abdomen rising and expanding,
1 exhaling abdomen releasing and relaxing,
2 inhaling abdomen rising and expanding,
2 exhaling abdomen releasing and relaxing.
Continue counting with your body's own natural breathing rhythm.
Completely absorbed in counting from 1 to 7 as the body breathes itself.
If you lose count,
Beginning again at 1.
Beginning again at 1.
Counting body breathing itself,
Abdomen expanding and relaxing.
Counting as the body breathes itself.
When it feels right allow the counting to fall away while remaining attentive to flows of air and sensation throughout the body.
The body a feels of radiant shimmering sensation.
Welcome every experience that is nigh or present and if helpful interweave your inner resource,
Your safe haven of peace and tranquility,
And staying with the flows of energy and sensation that are present as the body breathes itself.
Not analysing,
Simply welcoming sensation,
Leaving this guided relaxation at any time.
And everything to be just as it is,
Without trying to understand or change anything.
Simply being just as you are and everything just as it is.
And everything just as it is.
Interweaving your inner resource,
Feeling secure and at ease.
Feeling secure and at ease throughout your body,
Held,
Supported.
With kindness,
Compassion and gentleness.
And give yourself the grace to abide in this space of peace and tranquility that you and only you have created for yourself.
This is your time,
Offering you the invitation to invite in gratitude for taking this time for yourself.
Resting back into this guided relaxation.
At rest.
At ease.
