Yoga Nidra For Insomnia

This full-length Yoga Nidra meditation with ocean wave sounds is meant to help those who suffer from sleep problems get the rest that they need. In this practice, we will move down through the Koshas and different states of consciousness to induce a natural sleepy state. This meditation is from my playlist "middle of the night" and is made to help you fall asleep at night.

Transcript

Namaste.

This yoga nidra for sleep is for my playlist called middle of the night.

Take the next few moments to get yourself completely comfortable and cozy.

Adjust your pillows behind your head,

Perhaps a pillow behind your knees.

Making sure that you're warm and cozy underneath of your blankets.

Noticing if there are any little movements you could take to get your body 5% more comfortable here resting on your mattress.

And start by closing down the eyes and taking a deep breath in through the nose,

Out through the mouth,

Sinking down into the support,

The mattress beneath you,

Into the nose.

Letting it go.

Sinking deeper in one more time.

Let your breath come to a natural rhythm.

Relax the jaw,

The tongue,

The eyes becoming heavy.

Relaxing through the whole scalp and relaxing any expression that might be lingering in your face.

Imagine the muscle of your mind relaxing open like a clenched up fist gently unfurling.

Just relaxing back into a sense of spacious awareness.

Let your whole body begin to relax down,

The whole body becoming heavy.

And as you notice the rhythm of your breath,

Feel the sensations inside the nose.

Begin to welcome a continuous breath,

Inhaling for the count of four,

Exhaling for the count of seven.

As you breathe in this way,

Can you invite a continuous breath so there's no pause between the inhale and the exhale,

And no pause between the exhale and the inhale.

It's a continuous rhythm.

A gentle encouragement of the inhalation.

And just a relaxing,

Relaxing outward on the exhalation.

Continuous breath.

Welcoming a sankalpa for this practice.

And feeling and welcoming this sankalpa with your whole body and mind.

I fall asleep naturally and easefully.

And wake up feeling refreshed and restored.

Breathing your sankalpa three times,

Mentally whispering.

And then letting go of the past,

Letting go of the past.

And now rotating attention through the body,

Bringing awareness to the sensations inside the mouth.

Sensing the teeth,

The gums,

The roof of the mouth,

The tip of the tongue.

Inside of the right cheek,

Inside of the left cheek,

The root of the tongue.

The space in between the ears.

Sensing the space or distance that exists in between the ears.

Both ears receptive,

Listening.

The air at the tip of the nostrils.

The flow of air inside the nose.

The bridge of the nose.

The center of the eyebrows.

The right brow.

Temple.

Cheekbone.

The right eye has radiant sensation.

Muscles behind the eye.

The left brow.

Temple.

Cheekbone.

The left eye is a radiant orb of sensation.

The muscles behind the eye.

Both eyes simultaneously.

Sensing the warmth of the eye sockets,

Allowing the eyes themselves to relax back and down towards the back of the head.

Sensing the crown of the head.

The back of the skull.

The cervical spine in the neck.

The front of the throat.

The collarbones left and right simultaneously.

The shoulder on the right side.

Sensing the shoulder joint.

The upper arm.

The elbow.

The forearm.

The wrist.

The center of the palm.

The back of the hand.

The thumb.

First finger.

Second finger.

Third.

Pinkie finger.

All five fingers of the right hand.

Fingertips.

Fingernails.

Sensing the space in between the fingers.

The space that exists in between the fingers.

You can sense where the fingers end and the space around the fingers begin.

Or is it more of a field-like quality of energy and sensation?

Sensing the radiance,

The aliveness,

The warmth and energy within the fingers.

And the space in between the fingers.

The space between the fingers and the sensations of the fingers themselves simultaneously.

Bringing awareness back towards the palm of the hand.

Feeling the hand from the inside out.

The wrist.

The forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Shoulder blade.

Right side lung.

Front of the chest.

Ribcage.

Waist.

Right side of the belly.

Right side of the pelvis.

Hip.

Glute.

Front of the thigh.

Back of the thigh.

Right knee joint.

Shin.

Calf.

Ankle.

Heel of the foot.

Soul of the foot.

Top of the foot.

Big toe.

Second.

Third.

Fourth.

Pinky toe.

All five toes on the right foot.

Sensing the tips of the toes.

Begin to sense or imagine the space in between the toes.

Sensing the space in between the toes.

And back to the toes themselves.

Sensing the warmth.

The radiance.

The already happening aliveness of the toes.

The space around the toes.

And notice if you can sense simultaneously the space around the toes.

And notice if you can sense where the toes end.

The boundary,

The outermost periphery of the toes end.

And the space around them begins.

Or do the toes start to dissolve?

Into the space within and around the toes.

Bringing awareness back to the foot.

Feeling the foot from the inside out.

And begin to invite the whole right foot,

Ankle,

Lower leg,

Knee,

Thigh,

Hip,

Right side of the torso.

Whole right side with the arm,

Shoulder,

Leg.

The whole right hemisphere of the body simultaneously.

The whole right hemisphere of the body and the left hemisphere of the brain.

Could you invite the left hemisphere of the brain and the whole right hemisphere of the body simultaneously?

Sensing.

Feeling the whole right side body,

Left brain.

Bringing awareness back to the center of the chest.

Feeling the left lung breathing.

The left shoulder,

Upper arm,

Elbow,

Forearm,

Wrist.

Center of the palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Thumb,

First finger,

Second,

Third,

Pinky finger.

The tips of all five fingers,

The left hand,

Fingernails.

The space that exists in between the fingers.

Welcoming the warmth,

The tingling,

Buzzing aliveness of the left fingers.

Noticing any sensations residing here within the fingers.

And notice if you can sense where the fingers end and the space around them begins.

Sensing whether the fingers begin to dissolve into the space around and within the fingers.

And notice if awareness is residing within the fingers or if the fingers are residing within awareness.

Sensing the palm,

The left hand from the inside out.

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Shoulder blade.

Left lung breathing,

Left side of the chest,

Rib cage,

Waist,

Left side of the belly,

Left side of the pelvis.

Lungs,

Glute,

Front of the thigh,

Back of the thigh,

Knee joint,

Shin,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel of the foot,

Toe of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Big toe,

Second,

Third,

Fourth,

Pinky toe.

All five toes of the left foot welcoming any tingling sensation,

Warmth.

Sensing the buzzing nature of aliveness itself.

Sensing the prana,

The energy that animates the body within the toes.

Sensing the space in between the toes.

Noticing if you can sense the outermost boundary of the toe,

Where the toes end and the space around the toes begins.

Noticing if the toes are filled with awareness,

Awareness residing within the toes.

Or are the toes abiding within awareness?

Is awareness in the toes or are the toes abiding in a vast sense of awareness?

Just noticing.

Sensing the foot from the inside out.

And welcoming now the whole foot,

Ankle,

Lower leg,

Thigh,

Hip.

A sense of the whole left torso,

Arm,

And leg.

The whole left hemisphere of the body alive and radiant with sensation.

The whole left body and the right hemisphere of the brain.

Sensing the whole left hemisphere of the body and the right hemisphere of the brain simultaneously.

Whole left hemisphere alive and radiant with sensation.

Right hemisphere of the brain.

Begin to sense the body breathing itself.

And welcome your attention to ride on the wave of the breath.

Flowing in.

Flowing out.

Moving from Anumayakosha to Pranamayakosha.

Just following along with the natural rhythm.

Feeling into the ebb and flow of the already happening breath.

And once again entering into a continuous breath.

Inhaling,

Gentle encouragement of the inhalation.

No pause before entering into the exhalation.

Right back into the inhalation again.

Relaxing on the exhalation.

Gentle encouragement of the breath on the inhale.

Exhale slightly longer than the inhale,

Releasing the breath effortlessly.

Inhaling,

Completely letting go on the exhale.

And as you welcome this continuous breath,

Imagining a wave of energy on the inhale moving from your toes all the way up to the crown of the head.

Exhaling,

Imagining the wave of energy relaxing your whole body from crown of the head all the way back down to the tips of the toes.

Inhaling from toes to crown.

Exhaling,

Feel the energy move through your body just like a wave rolling into shore all the way down.

Wave rolling in.

Wave rolling out.

Inhaling from toes to crown.

No pause.

Continuous breath exhaling all the way back down.

Inhaling from toes,

Wave rolling in all the way up to the crown.

Exhale,

Wave rolling out from crown all the way down to the toe.

And just staying with this continuous breath,

Wave of energy rolling up the body and all the way back down.

And now moving from Pranamayakosha to Manamayakosha,

Begin to imagine your whole body becoming heavy.

Whole body becoming heavy,

Sinking down into your mattress.

You might imagine a body filling up with heavy sand.

The whole body becoming heavy.

And then imagining the whole body becoming light,

Weightless.

Almost as if the body were filling with space,

Evaporating,

Floating on the breath.

And then imagining the whole body heavy,

Sinking down.

Feeling the magnetic pull of gravity as your body becomes weightier and weightier,

Sinking down into your mattress.

And then the whole body light as a feather,

Evaporating,

Floating off your mattress.

And now imagine your whole body and mind sleepy.

Just that state right before you fall asleep.

Sleepy and drifting.

Awareness drifting,

Allowing thoughts to flow.

Just natural flow of thoughts.

Without any interest in the contents of the thoughts.

Just a natural arising and dissolving of random thoughts and images.

Moving gently from Manamayakosha into Vinyana Mayakosha.

Bringing awareness to the center of the forehead.

Noticing any sensation here at the center of the forehead.

Chidakas.

You might just notice the light or darkness beyond your eyelids.

You might notice some spontaneous colors or images.

Or you can invite your mind to gently rotate through the following images.

A green moth.

A yellow sunflower.

A red dragonfly.

A golden koi swimming.

A golden koi swimming through a calm lake.

An enormous tree.

An enormous centuries old tree.

A blue butterfly.

A blue butterfly.

A setting sun.

A setting sun.

A rainbow all the way across the sky.

A vibrant rainbow.

A blanket of stars all above you.

A blanket of stars all around you.

Fireflies and lightning bugs floating all around you.

Fireflies flickering and floating all around you.

And now welcoming any spontaneous dreamlike imagery to arise.

Allowing thoughts to flow freely.

Allowing images to arise spontaneously.

Not paying much attention to the thoughts or images that arise.

Just letting them gently flow.

Welcoming back your sankalpa.

I fall asleep naturally and easily and wake up feeling refreshed and restored.

Inviting the sankalpa with your whole body and mind.

Mentally whispering three times.

Relaxing back into the support beneath your body.

The natural continuous breath.

Notice if any spontaneous dreamlike imagery starts to arise.

Inviting and welcoming dreamlike imagery and thoughts to flow freely.

Noticing what it would feel like to drift off into sleep.

How would it feel if you were already asleep?

Drifting off.

Drifting off to sleep.

Drifting off.

Relaxing back into the support beneath your body.

The natural continuous breath.

Inviting and welcoming dreamlike imagery and thoughts to flow freely.

Noticing what it would feel like to drift off into sleep.

How would it feel if you were already asleep?

Drifting off.

Drifting off to sleep.

Inviting and welcoming dreamlike imagery and thoughts to flow freely.

Noticing what it would feel like to drift off into sleep.

Noticing what it would feel like to drift off into sleep.

How would it feel if you were already asleep?

Drifting off.

Drifting off to sleep.

Drifting off.

Drifting off.

Drifting off.

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Reviews

Ally has such a gentle & soothing voice & pace. This helped me go back to sleep after waking in the night. (I added background music.)

I finally drifted at the end but my chemo steroids are tough on my sleep. I’ll keep trying but I thank you for your help. 🙏🏼✨🕊️✨😊

I don’t recall the ending as I drifted off & got a full nights uninterrupted sleep 🙏🏻

This is one of my favorites due to the extended rotation of consciousness. Will revisit 🙏

This Yoga Nidra is my saving grace! It gets me to sleep every time, regardless of pain levels or heightened mental activity.
Thank you Ally 💛

I used to listen to you prior to Covid. I just found you on here now, & wow great to hear your voice again.

Who needs melatonin when you’ve got Ally! Listened to this meditation last night and fell asleep within minutes and slept through the night. Just what I needed. Thank you Ally!

Dear Ally, you’ve had such an impact on my rest since I discovered your work. I cannot turn to anyone else, because they’re just not you. You’re part of my daily life. Thank you. ❤️

Ally's voice is very soothing. This yoga nidra is just what I needed. Thank you

I was so tired but couldn’t sleep, so I put this meditation on and do not remember anything after that. Thank you 🙏🏻

Thank you for this gentle and calming practise which took me back into a profoundly deep and restoring sleep.. Namaste

Thank you… I was gone to my dream land in no time. I will try again

After a very restless night with very little sleep I found your practice. I slept for several hours and I am so grateful Aly. ❤️❤️❤️. Your voice is incredibly soothing. Thank you so much 😊

Woke up in the middle of the night and did this meditation once it was over. I looked at the clock only to realize it wasn’t even four in the morning. I struggle with insomnia so bad for the past four months and prior to that to a lesser degree. it is now affecting my gut and I am totally out of sorts. I appreciate the focus and attention that this brought to me as I laid here… Searching for my sleep has been a difficult journey. If you have any suggestions, please share them.

This meditation consistently gets me back to sleep when I awake in the middle of the night, something that happens a lot lately as I am living through a very difficult time in my life. It's so comforting to know I can press play and that my mind and body will get the rest they need. Thank you so much for this beautiful yoga nidra.

So wonderfully relaxing. Helped me to calm my nervous system to be able to sleep 💕✨

Ally - you have been such a blessing to me! So glad you are there in the middle of the night when my mind won’t shut off! Also follow you on YouTube. Your gentle voice is so soothing. Thank you for your contribution of peace in this world ☮️💕💖❣️

Beautiful and helped me relax and unwind deeply before trying to go to bed. Thank you!

So calming! Thank you for your skill and presence🌌

Thank you 😊 Such a wonderful soothing voice and I love the choice of a natural background sound of waves.. found my favorite meditation to go to sleep 🙏😴