Yoga Nidra For Calming A Busy Mind

Time to unwind all the mental and emotional knots with a yoga nidra session. It is good for everyone, especially those who have trouble sleeping, concentrating and fatigue.

Transcript

Hello,

I'm Adam.

Welcome to this Yoga Nidra practice,

The meditative heart of yoga,

Where we will seek to bring harmony to a restless body and a vided mind.

As you lie down in a comfortable position,

Make sure that you will be warm and free of any distractions.

Put aside any thoughts to stir the activity of your busy mind.

Events of the past or fantasies of the future.

Begin to put them to one side.

The noise the mind creates pulls our attention away from what is really going on and the potential bliss of living freely.

Our work here will help you calm the restless mind and uncover the timeless wisdom hidden within you.

With enough practice you can realize that your true nature is a heartfelt sense of peace that is always present,

No matter the circumstances in your life.

With this realization you will discover a source of calmness that is always available to you.

For now,

Close your eyes and keep them closed until I tell you to open them.

Take several deep breaths and as you breathe out,

Feel all the cares and worries of the day fall away.

Set your attention free to wander between your senses.

Notice the sounds around you,

Far away sounds and sounds closer by.

Then feel your body lying down.

Feel the contact of your body with whatever you are lying on.

Allow my words to become your words as you embody the following affirmation to begin the practice of Yoga Nidra.

I am awake,

I am aware and everything that I feel is welcome friend,

Guiding me home to my authentic,

Grounded and peaceful being.

Again embody this resolve with full awareness and feeling.

I am awake,

I am aware and everything I feel is a welcome friend,

Guiding me home to my authentic,

Grounded and peaceful being.

Take the time within you to find a heartfelt intention or prayer that you feel about yourself or someone in your life for health,

Happiness or inspiration.

The most effective intentional prayer is simple,

Positive and stated in the present tense as though it is actually true in this moment.

It can be something like I am calm,

Focused and peaceful in this moment.

Find the one that's right for you and repeat the intentional prayer to yourself twice more now.

Remember the prayer or intention as we will return to it later in the practice.

A restless mind is often paired with an agitated body.

Let's ease the body by taking a drip of awareness around the body.

With my words become your words,

Follow me as I name different parts of the body,

Allowing your awareness to jump freely from one part to the next.

Become aware of your right hand thumb.

Imagine a point of light glowing from your right hand thumb.

Allow the light to move and grow freely with your awareness.

Now your first finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Palm of your hand,

Back of the hand,

The whole hand,

A glowing orb of radian awareness,

The wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Arm bit,

Ribs,

Waist,

Hip,

Outside a thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle bone,

Top of the foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third,

Fourth,

Fifth,

Radiant light on your left hand thumb,

First finger,

Second,

Third,

Fourth,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Arm bit,

Left shoulder,

Left ribs,

Waist,

Hip,

Outside thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle bone,

Top of the foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third,

Fourth,

Fifth,

Sole of the right foot in radiant light of awareness,

Sole of the left foot,

Right heel,

Left heel,

Right calf muscle,

Left calf muscle,

Back of right knee,

Back of left knee,

Back of right thigh,

Back of left thigh,

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

Right lower back,

Left lower back,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Right shoulder,

Left shoulder,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head,

Top of the head,

Forehead,

Eyebrow centre,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Right eyelid,

Left eyelid,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Bridge of the nose,

Tip of the nose,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Chin,

Right jaw,

Left jaw,

Throat,

Right chest,

Left chest,

Centre of the chest,

Upper abdomen,

Belly button,

Lower abdomen,

Now the whole right arm,

The whole left arm,

Both arms glowing with radiant awareness,

The whole right leg,

The whole left leg,

Both legs and arms radiant together,

The whole of the head,

The whole of the front,

The whole of the back,

Glowing in the light of radiant awareness together,

The whole body together,

The whole body together,

Awareness of the whole body together,

Now focus the light of awareness on your breathing,

The smooth spontaneous and natural breath,

Beginning at the nose,

Follow the breath down past the chest into the belly,

Continue to follow your breath with every inhale and exhale,

Full awareness on the breath and nothing else,

Become aware of any sensations associated with breathing,

The feeling of breathing,

Focus on the areas of your body where breathing is at its deepest,

Where do you feel the depth of your breath,

Remain with the sensations of deepest areas of your body,

Let go of your breathing,

Allow your awareness to drift deeper within you,

Maybe sinking,

Plunging into the depths,

The depths of your body into darkness,

Develop the awareness and sensation of the depth of your being,

Fully embrace the experience of sinking deeper,

Now change to bring the experience of rising to the surface of your body,

A sensation of being superficial,

Nearest to the skin,

Your awareness may become lighter and brighter the further you go,

Embody the experience of being superficial,

The experience of rising close to the surface of your being,

Return to sinking,

Sinking deep within you,

Experience of depth,

Develop the experience of the depth within you,

Switch back to floating or rising to the surface,

Experience being superficial,

Light and floating,

Sinking deeper to the depth of your being,

Floating lighter nearer the surface,

And now both feelings of depth and being superficial at the same time,

Fully embody the feeling of both opposites at the same time and be aware of any sensations,

Let go of the experience of these sensations and remember a time when you have had a difficult decision to make and felt confused,

So confused and worried that you could not see a clear way through,

Remember this time,

Where you were,

Who you were with,

The problem that you were trying to solve,

Relive the experience,

Make it as vivid as possible,

Become aware of any sensations that rise within you,

Maybe feelings of confusion,

Agitation,

Being perplexed,

Welcome all of these visitors with an open heart,

Not getting involved,

Just allow them to be as they are and simply watch,

Now counter this with the memory of being in a place,

With people where you felt totally at peace with the world,

A sense of calmness throughout your body,

Peace and serenity like a calm lake on a still day,

Be aware of any sensations or emotions that rise within you as you remember this time of peace and allow these visitors in to join the party,

Simply watching and not becoming involved,

Again switching back to confusion,

Worry and agitation,

Return to the memory of when you felt these emotions,

They are no trouble,

Just messengers who have arrived at your door,

And turn to the feelings of peace,

Serenity and calmness,

The time that you felt them,

Be aware of them and allow them to be without getting involved,

And keep switching back and forth between these experiences of confusion and worry,

Then peace and serenity for a few moments,

Feel them co-exist equally within you.

Bring your awareness to the space you see behind your closed eyes,

Imagine an open window into a warm,

Dark,

Friendly space,

An endless space,

There are no boundaries of time or distance here,

Just as far as your imagination can take you,

Be aware of any shapes,

Colours or patterns that may emerge from the darkness,

These are manifestations of your subconscious mind,

Simply watch,

Do not become involved,

Imagine your feet on soft ground,

You are walking along a forest path,

A tropical forest full of colour and life,

The sun overhead breaking through the tree canopy,

The sounds of tropical birds singing,

The rustling of branches as monkeys swing on them,

Butterflies dance together around the edge of the path as you walk past a stone statue of a smiling Buddha,

Ahead is a clearing through the trees,

Walking onwards towards the clearing the forest ground turns to sand and the clearing leads onto a golden beach,

You feel the soft sand between your toes,

The ocean waves are gently brushing the sandy shore,

Walk along the shoreline,

The restless ocean lays wave after wave over your feet,

Eternal restless ocean,

You hear the sound of OM beyond all the waves,

The sound of OM,

The eternal sound of the universe,

Always present all around you,

Listen to the sound of OM over the waves of the eternal restless ocean,

The sound of OM,

The eternal sound of OM,

The sound of OM,

The sound of OM,

How do you feel?

Bring your awareness to any feeling in you that stands out,

I am warm,

I am calm,

I am unloved,

I am hungry,

Any feeling at all,

Feel it,

What jumps out at you at the moment?

Simply state in your mind I am,

And fill in the blank with whatever feeling you feel,

And repeat those words to yourself several times,

Let go of thinking and the identification with the feeling,

As you simply repeat the words I am several times,

Allow your sense of I to drift down into your heart space,

As you repeat the words I several times,

Total awareness you view as the one who is aware,

And now come back to the heartfelt intentional prayer that you said to yourself at the beginning of the practice,

Remember the words you said back then,

And repeat them in exactly the same way with the same feeling and emphasis,

Repeat them to yourself three times,

Feel the flow of your breath,

The flow of your natural spontaneous breath in and out of your lungs,

Just watch your breathing for a couple of moments,

Feel the sensation of your body lying down,

The contact your body has with the surface beneath you,

Become aware of your surroundings,

The walls,

The doors,

The ceiling,

The windows,

And expand your awareness that the sounds around you begin with the sound of my voice,

Open the sounds closer by,

And eventually taking in all of the sounds that you can hear around you,

We are coming to the end of the practice of yoga nidra,

Take your time,

There is no need to hurry,

Just make sure that you are fully awake before you roll to one side,

Push yourself up to sitting,

I wish you a happy and peaceful day.

Reviews

I've listened to this meditation several times and I've always fallen asleep halfway through. Mr Thomas thank you for calming my busy mind and helping me to get the sleep I need.

I was asleep before it ended

Amazing!!!!

Thank you Adam so very much for your beautiful meditation.

Thank you🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻