Yoga Nidra for Sleep & Deep Relaxation

Yoga Nidra ('Yogic Sleep') for inducing a state of deep relaxation and readiness for sleep, suitable for complete beginners and seasoned practitioners. Gentle female voice with Scottish accent. There are no ending sounds or statements, so that you can simply drift off to sleep while the audio is playing. May you enjoy this practice of Yoga Nidra, and sleep deeply and peacefully.

Transcript

So get ready for this practice of yoga nitra for sleep.

Make yourself comfortable.

Arrange the duvet,

Covers,

Pillows,

Cushions,

Everything around you so that you can be completely comfortable.

So that you can allow the body to settle and experience a state of zero desire for movement.

So take your time and settle yourself.

And as this is a practice of yoga nitra for sleep,

It can be a good idea to have a yawn or two,

Which is a very useful way of signalling to the body that it's time to rest.

And allow the jaw to un-grip so that there's space between the back teeth.

Allow the tongue to unstick from the roof of the mouth or the back of the teeth so that the whole area around the mouth and jaw can feel relaxed and spacious.

Allow all the rings of muscles around the eyes to soften and to widen.

Allow any final adjustments so that you can move into the most comfortable state available to you just now.

If during the practice you need to move to get more comfortable,

Do so mindfully and with a minimum of disturbance to yourself.

Turn your awareness to all of the sounds that you can hear and the space in between the sounds.

Feel the temperature of the air on any exposed parts of skin.

Feel the contact of the body against the fabric of clothing or sheets,

Blankets around you.

And simply be aware of the breath coming and going now.

Feel the body move gently with the breath and feel the temperature of the air as it comes in through the body.

And as it leaves slightly warmer air,

Breath warmed by the body.

And in a few moments we'll take a rotation of awareness around the body part by part guided by the sound of my voice.

And you don't have to do anything or stretch or move or tense or relax.

There's no effort required.

Simply a focusing of the attention momentarily on each part at a conscious level can allow at a deeper level to let go of the everyday and into a much more comfortable state of being.

And begin by bringing the awareness now to the sensations in the right thumb.

Whatever sensation you experience there observe that and then invite a sense of the right thumb powering down of resting.

And transfer that awareness to the right index finger,

Feeling there allowing a powering down.

Moving the awareness to the middle finger,

The ring finger and little finger.

Feeling all fingers and thumb together.

Palm of right hand,

Back of hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Right side of torso,

Waist and hip,

Front of thigh,

Back of thigh,

Top of knee,

Back of knee,

Shin,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of right foot,

Instep,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and fifth toe.

Feeling all of the toes together and the whole of the right foot powering down.

Whole right leg,

Whole right arm,

Resting completely.

Moving the awareness to the left side now.

Feeling the sensations in the left thumb and inviting a powering down.

Moving the awareness to the left index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger and little finger.

All fingers and thumb together.

Palm of hand,

Back of hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Left side of torso,

Waist and hip,

Front of thigh,

Back of thigh,

Knee,

Back of knee,

Shin,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of left foot,

Instep,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and fifth toe.

Feeling all of the toes together and the whole left foot,

Whole left foot,

Whole left leg,

Whole left arm.

And be aware of the whole of the left side of the body,

Whole of the right side of the body.

Both sides together.

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Length of spine,

Small of back,

Middle of back,

Upper back,

All of back.

Back of neck,

Back of head,

Top of head,

Forehead,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Space between the two eyebrows.

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Nose,

Tip of nose,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Both lips together,

Chin,

Throat,

Base of the throat,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Space between the two collarbones,

Right side of chest,

Left side of chest,

Centre of the chest,

In the space of the heart,

Rib cage,

Diaphragm,

Belly button,

Pubic bones.

And feel the whole body.

Be aware now of the whole body.

Allowing the whole body to power down all the way through.

And right now there is nothing to do,

Nowhere to go,

No one to please.

Just being here and now for yourself,

Enjoying the experience of yoga nidra.

And allowing the awareness to settle on the movements of the breath as you inhale,

As you exhale.

Observing the breath coming into the body,

Leaving the body,

Body being breathed.

And the body becoming more and more immobile.

And at the same time feeling the breath moving the belly,

The rib cage,

The upper chest.

This is of the body we're a living breathing statue.

And feel with each exhalation now that the body becomes a little heavier and settles to the ground a little bit more.

Heavier and heavier.

Each exhalation feeling that contact of the body with the support beneath it.

More and more with each exhaling breath.

Settling down,

Resting more heavily.

And then feel with each breath in the body becoming more buoyant and lighter.

Each inhalation bringing a feeling of floating,

A sense of lightness.

As if the body was swirling up into the air like a wisp of smoke with each breath in.

Lighter and lighter with each inhaling breath.

And now move between those two states.

Feel with every breath out the body growing more and more heavy.

Settling down more and more.

Heavy as marble like a breathing statue.

And with each inhalation body feeling more light and free as if floating above the support beneath.

Move between those two sensations with the breath now.

Exhaling heavy,

Inhaling light.

And now experience both of those sensations together at the same time.

So that you can at the same time feel completely heavy,

Deeply resting and light and floating.

Together at the same time feel both of those now.

And then you can let go of that awareness and begin to notice anything you can sense with the body.

And sounds that you can hear.

Whether they're sounds nearby,

Sounds from further away.

Observe the sounds,

The spaces between the sounds as things come and go.

Be aware of the space that encompasses these different sounds.

The space around you,

The space nearby,

The space further away.

And be aware of the sense of touch,

Contact of the body against covers,

Against the skin,

Of the air against the skin,

The temperature.

Of the vision behind the closed eyelids,

The darkness.

Maybe a taste lingering in the mouth.

Maybe a sense of smell.

Be aware of all of the different things that your senses tell you about.

And the breath coming and going.

And the thoughts coming and going.

As everything becomes just a little bit quieter and softer,

As the mind begins to drift a little further and further away,

Safe and sound.

From here to there,

To nowhere in particular.

Wherever the mind goes,

Safe and sound,

Going to sleep but not too quickly.

Enjoying the process of this drifting from here to there.

And the breath coming and going.

Enjoying the process,

The in between.

And just continuing like that for a little while longer.

And as feelings come and feelings go,

The mind becomes more distant,

Observing its own thoughts and the body becomes softer.

Feel the breath and let the awareness travel along the spine with the breath.

Down on the inhale,

Up on the exhale.

Awareness travelling down the spine,

Breathing in,

Up the spine,

Breathing out.

And if the conscious mind needs to focus,

It can do that movement of awareness along the spine,

Inhaling down,

Exhaling up.

And the mind grows more quiet,

More restful.

As you go all the way in and deep down inside,

Comfortable,

Relaxed,

At ease.

So you can drift and float further and further away to sleep well at the right time,

To dream soundly in the right way.

Remember the breath is always there,

Always with you.

And you can focus on it when you want to,

Whenever you need.

Simply being aware of that as the mind drifts away,

As the body floats away,

As everything quietens and soothes.

Feel that nothing needs to happen.

Nowhere to go,

Nothing to do.

Enjoying that in between state,

Drifting to sleep at your own pace.

And if you like,

Travelling round the body from one part to another,

Feeling how each part quietens even more.

As you drift,

Floating away,

Drifting away,

Wherever necessary.

To sleep so soundly,

Rest so deeply at so many levels,

Peacefully,

In just the right way.

All the way through.

Sleeping soundly as long as you need to,

As long as necessary.

Sleep well.

Reviews

Very nice way to go to sleep 😴 I've been having problems getting to sleep, but I don't think I even remember hearing the end of this meditation 🙏 Thank you so much! Have a great day!❤️🙂

Love the accent. Deeply restful. I did this in the afternoon and didn’t intend to sleep. It was a beautiful break in my day

Amazing

Very resizing

Such an excellent yoga nidra and a calming soothing voice.

Great thank you ☺️

Nice music-free nidra. Lovely voice. A bit of microphone noise at the end might startle. Altogether a very soothing easy nidra. 2/1/24

Lovely nidra practice!°•♡~
Thank you so kindly ❣️♡°•
🙏🏼°•☆ ✨️🫶🏽 ✨️°•☆

Well-crafted meditation with a lovely voice. I never made it to the end of the meditation, so it was effective too! (I fell asleep straightaway!)

A great relaxation experience. I was drifting towards the end. Thank you so very much.

Lovely calming voice. Good yoga nidra speed and compassionate reminders.

Amazing, thank you 🙏🏼

Beautiful calm voice leading this yoga nidra! My favorite part was imagining the body as both heavy and light at the same time. This engaged my mind and allowed my body to relax more deeply. Thank you!🙏🏾🌺✨

This was really beautiful. Your voice is so calm and relaxing. I wish it would have had a San Kalpa, and perhaps a series of images like many yoga nidras, but ultimately I appreciate it for what it is and will certainly return to this time and again. Thank you for sharing!

This is my current favorite sleep meditation! Listening to her voice allows me to quiet my brain and relax into sleep every time. Highly recommend!

This is my favorite Yoga Nidra for sleep on Insight Timer. Thank you so much!

I love this..:. Perfect for relaxation and you move at just the perfect pace🤍

Amazing nidra session thank you! ❤️

Beautiful, thank you

Lovely yoga nidra, sweet voice. Starts with a short relaxation of the head, which I always very much benefit from, since that's where I hold most of my tension.
Pondering on how too describe the quality of this session, the word spaciousness comes to mind. And peacefulness.