Pranayama & Yoga Nidra To Calm The Mind

In this 40-minute Pranayama & Yoga Nidra, Ally guides not just a body scan meditation but she starts with a Pranayama (breathing technique) called Brahmari Pranayama to further calm and soothe an overactive mind. From there she guides you through a Yoga Nidra to calm a racing mind with the accompaniment of soft rain sounds and ending with some journaling prompts.

Transcript

Namaste,

This is Allie and this will be a guided yoga nidra experience with some pranayama,

Some breathing techniques to calm the nervous system.

One of the most common questions that I get asked is about erasing mind during yoga nidra and often this occurs when there haven't been enough pre-practices.

There are traditionally many pre-practices that come before the practice of yoga nidra and so I'm going to share one of those today which is a pranayama technique called pramari pranayama.

So you can get comfortable,

Begin to find a supported position in your yoga nidra nest,

Taking the time to attune to what your body needs today to feel at ease and supported by perhaps pillows behind your knees or behind your head and maybe a blanket for warmth.

An eye covering to block out light can be very helpful and notice if there's anything that you need to do to fine-tune your comfort.

Checking in with your head and your neck,

Also the placement of your arms,

The position of your torso,

And how supported does your spine feel and your pelvis.

Placing your legs in a way that they can feel completely heavy and effortless and relaxing into the hands and the feet,

Letting the hands be placed in a position that feels most soothing today.

And let's start with a deep breath in through the nose,

Holding just momentarily at the top and then releasing,

Relaxing the jaw and releasing breath through the mouth.

So we'll inhale through the nose,

Exhaling through the mouth.

Pausing for a moment before releasing all of the breath through the mouth,

And another one like this,

Retaining the breath before releasing slowly.

And we'll begin to explore the buzzing bee pranayama,

The buzzing bee breath,

Pramayi.

And this breath not only calms the mind and is known for reducing anxiety but is also often associated with feelings of tranquility.

It's known for calming and balancing the nervous system because of the gentle vibrations of the humming.

These vibrations that are happening in the pharynx and the larynx,

They can gently stimulate the vagus nerve.

This is the wandering nerve that plays a key role in regulating the parasympathetic nervous system.

So if it feels a little bit strange for you to make sounds at the beginning of your yoga nidra,

I encourage you to give this a try.

So I am going to demonstrate and then I'll encourage you to do 10 rounds with me together.

For the in-breath,

Taking a breath deep down into the abdomen so that your belly expands,

Followed by your rib cage,

And then your upper chest.

And then as you exhale,

With the teeth parted and the lips closed,

A gentle humming sound occurs.

And this humming sound lengthens the exhalation,

Which also has a very positive effect on the nervous system and on your heart coherence.

So you can think of this not only as something that will help to calm the mind and tone the vagus nerve and calm the parasympathetic nervous system,

But also bring your heart into a state of coherence.

So there's a lot of power to this simple technique,

And you might find even more benefit by gently bringing your pointer fingers to plug the ears gently,

And then bringing your point of focus to the mind's eye center,

The center of the forehead where the prefrontal brain,

The prefrontal cortex,

Is located.

So we'll begin with 10 rounds before going into yoga nidra practice,

And you have the option now to close the ears gently with the index fingers,

Taking a deep breath into the belly,

The ribs,

The upper chest.

Continuing this at your own pace without waiting for me,

Deeply breathing in when you're ready.

Following your own breathing rhythm,

Bringing awareness to the mind's eye.

And again.

Hmm.

Attention to the mind's eye center.

Halfway through.

Hmm.

And again at your own pace.

And again.

Two more.

Hmm.

And the last one.

Hmm.

Letting your breath settle back into a natural rhythm,

And keeping your focus,

Your attention at the mind's eye center.

Noticing the effects of the gentle vibrations through the body.

Noticing the effects that may have occurred in your nervous system.

The quality of presence,

The quality of mind that's here.

Any effects you might feel in your breath,

In your heart.

Simply noticing.

And with each exhale,

Might you welcome the ever-present pull,

Gravity.

The ever-present pull,

Gravitational pull of the earth.

So you're sinking deeper and deeper into a state of rest.

And your senses are attuned and open wide to the sounds.

Yet simultaneously engulfed in the internal experience.

Noticing the sensations within your body.

Noticing the beat of your heart.

The beat of your heart and the quality of presence here at your heart space.

And as you're welcoming your heart,

Might you begin to invite your sankalpa.

And you might not have a particular sankalpa that you're working with today.

In which case you might invite the phrase,

I am resting deeply in peace and calm.

Or,

I am calm,

I am strong,

I am healthy.

And if you are working with your own primary sankalpa,

It's time to state that from your heart three times.

And now,

Allowing your attention to flow from point to point.

Within the physical body.

And could you begin by bringing all of your attention to the sensations within your mouth.

Noticing the roof of the mouth.

The upper gums and teeth.

The lower teeth and gums.

To the floor of the mouth.

The inside of the right cheek.

And the inside of the left cheek.

The muscle of the tongue.

Relaxing fully all the way down to the root of the tongue.

And could you observe the complete stillness of the muscle of the tongue.

Complete stillness and relaxation of the muscle of the tongue.

And sensing the lower lip.

The volume of the tongue.

And sensations within the lower lip.

And the upper lip.

All the way to the tip of the nostrils.

And feeling the sensation of air flowing in and out of the nostrils.

The nasal flares.

The bridge of the nose.

The point between the eyebrows.

Over to the right brow.

The right temple.

The cheekbone.

The right eyebrow.

The eyelid and eyelashes.

To the right eye itself.

Radiant.

Alive with sensation.

Relaxing all of the intricate little muscles behind the right eye.

Could you observe the complete stillness of the right eye.

Complete stillness of the right eye.

And letting your attention come over to the left brow.

And notice if the eyes want to move.

As you now bring your attention to the temple.

And then the left cheekbone.

Eyes softening and relaxing.

As you bring attention to the left eyelid and the lashes.

The left eye itself.

Radiant.

Alive.

Sensation.

Relaxing into the muscles behind the eye.

And might you observe the complete stillness.

The complete stillness of the left eye.

Softening back and down.

From the left eye to the center of the forehead.

And awareness spreading towards the hairline and into the scalp.

Sensing all of the little hair follicles throughout the entire scalp.

And the whole scalp.

The whole surface of the head.

Saturated with presence.

And sensation.

Relaxing.

Relaxing.

Relaxing.

Relaxing.

Relaxing.

Relaxing.

Relaxing.

Relaxing.

Relaxing.

Relaxing.

Sensation.

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Forearm.

Wrist.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

All five fingers.

Starting with the thumb.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

The space between the fingers.

From the fingers to the left waist.

And down to the hip.

Center of the thigh.

Knee.

Lower leg.

Back.

Ankle.

Sole of the foot.

Top of the foot.

All five toes.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

Nine.

Ten.

Eleven.

Twelve.

Thirteen.

Fourteen.

Fifteen.

Sixteen.

Seventeen.

Eighteen.

Nineteen.

The whole left side.

Could you now welcome both sides of your body and each point of awareness throughout the entirety of the body.

Toes.

Feet.

Ankles.

Lower legs.

Knees.

Thighs.

Hips.

Waist.

Fingers.

Palms.

Wrists.

Forearms.

Elbows.

Upper arms.

Shoulders.

Both sides of the chest.

Heart center.

Collarbones.

Pit of the throat.

Throat center.

Jaw.

Inside of the mouth.

Inside of the nose.

Eye.

Ear.

Mind's eye.

Hair and scalp.

Crown of the head.

The whole body.

And the whole body radiant and alive resting so deeply.

As you're resting so deeply here become aware of the rhythm of your breath.

Sensing the soles of the feet.

Could you imagine breathing in through the soles of the feet to the heart center.

As you exhale imagining breath flowing up and out through the crown of the head.

Each inhale welcoming breath and energy into the soles of the feet to the heart.

Exhaling from the heart up and out through the crown of the head.

Just imagining.

Inhaling through the feet nourishing the heart.

Exhaling from heart out through the crown.

There's no wrong way to do this.

Simply imagining.

Energy flowing up from the feet to the heart.

Exhaling out.

Allowing yourself now to simply rest.

Resting here in the synergy of energy and biochemicals that allow for deep healing to occur.

There's nothing that you need to do.

It's already happening.

Allowing yourself to be.

If you feel called to welcome the presence of your heart and restate your heart's vow might you imagine your vow could infuse all that there is.

The energy within you and around you stating it three times.

Might you bask here in the medicine of this practice as you begin to slowly invite an awareness of your body of your breath of the sounds around you and the environment around you objects in the environment around you or beings or nature wildlife structure of a building shelter around you is becoming aware of the space around you and the sounds and the shape of your physical body and the rhythm of your breath and could you deepen your in-breath and release through the mouth and just doing this a couple of times now in through the nose and out through the mouth and maybe another like this and now you might take two sips in through the nose and release through the mouth and then two sips in letting the breath go and another time like that and continuing to notice how you feel and the effects of this practice on your body on your mind as you slowly begin to make some movements of the fingers of the toes you might slowly turn your head side to side a gentle no motion massaging the back of the head as you feel ready to bring more movements you might roll the ankles or the wrists or stretch the arms and legs away from each other or you might hug in towards your core bringing knees towards your chest and then giving yourself a gentle massage of the sacrum working from side to side a massage of the back of the head and as you continue to invite movements and an energy of re-emergence might you simultaneously continue to feel the effects of this practice on your body your mind all of the layers of the self the multi-dimensional self and you might roll to one side taking a few more deep breaths before coming back to an upright position take as much time as you need and as always the encouragement is to stay introspective in this relaxed state for a little bit longer you could take a few moments to be in nature and connect to the natural world through a walk outside or simply gazing into nature out a window you might come to a book that feels nourishing for your soul or a journal in which I would give you a journal prompt of what do I most need to support myself right now what is needed and how might I support myself in this moment in this phase of my life in this part of my week what can support me in this journey that I'm on currently thank you once again for your presence and your practice and your continued encouragement and support of my sharing here in the world I hope that you have the most beautiful day maybe happy,

Maybe healthy maybe peaceful maybe free namaste

Reviews

I appreciated the teaching and breath practice before the nidra. It helped focus the mind and allowed me to drop into the practice more fully.

This is a first for me but I always enjoy your calming messages

💜🕊️🌈

Wonderful relaxing session, Ally's voice is very soothing too.

Starting with the bee breath does seem to result in calm but aware state. I like doing this practise to start my day.

This meditation helped me move from a state of stress to feeling grounded.
Thank you 🙏

Thank you, Ally🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻LOVED the bumble bee breath before a wonderful yoga nidra🙏🏻🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🙏🏻

Thank you so much for this beautiful session Ally. I’m very grateful for your sharing your gift with us.

One of the beautiful Yoga Nidra practice with breathing techniques before and after yoga nidra. 🙏🧘‍♀️🕉 Thankyou for sharing this practice 🙏🧘‍♀️🕉

Wonderful! Thank you Ally that’s
just how I like them. No distracting background music, a deep body scan with easeful breathwork. Highly recommended 🌷✨🦋

The vibrations before are so calming to the mind !

Wonderful thank you

Loved this one. The prep is so helpful! I just learned this key after doing PranaBeing’s “Healing Yoga Nidra” on here. Would highly recommend trying her nidra to experience the power of prep! Loved the bee breath.

This was sooooo relaxing 🙏🙏🙏

This was so relaxing and gave me a nourishing state of trance. Thank you so much, dear Ally! I loved to begin the rotation of consciousness within the mouth. Is there a different effect starting with this area instead of the right thumb?
Send you love from Berlin
Ilona

Super comprehensive, effective and transcending 🪽thank you

Oh my god! That was the best meditation EVER! I love the new breathing technique- I'm pretty sure I've never been introduced to that one before. And I thought your rotation of Consciousness was precise, perfect and unique. I like how you mixed up going faster just naming the body parts- I really like the part where you did though 1 2 3 4 5 with the toes; and then going slower using your almost poetic descriptions- quotes luminous! It was very thorough:-). My only criticisms are really that I could not hear the raindrops in the background, and maybe we didn't need to take that long going out in the end. But overall that was wonderful- you were like some kind of hypnotic Whisperer, and I am just so grateful. Namaste😌.

Thanks! I love the breathing at the start and finish. This is a favorite ❤️

💛🌻 thank you

Beautiful! Thank you Ally.