Yoga Nidra Meditation For Deep Relaxation

Yoga Nidra is a form of guided meditation for deep physical, mental, and emotional rest. It is also a powerful practice for integrating a conscious intention into the subconscious mind. Today’s practice is based on a classical yoga nidra script from the book Yoga Nidra by Swami Satyananda Saraswati.

Music Title: Delta Dreams
Music by: Chris Collins

Transcript

Hello,

And welcome to your yoga nidra practice.

Please find a comfortable place to lie down on your back and relax.

Now take a deep breath in,

And a long breath out,

And feel your body soften and relax,

And allow yourself to feel calm and steady.

Yoga nidra is a form of guided meditation.

We won't fall asleep during this practice,

But we also won't be concentrating too hard.

Instead,

We'll relax and stay aware as we tap into our subconscious mind and go on a journey through the inner world of our consciousness.

Even if you don't understand anything that happens during our yoga nidra session,

That's okay,

And it's not important to understand.

Just stay with the sound of my voice.

Stay with my voice and use it as a rope.

Just as you would use a rope to go in and out of a deep cave,

You will stay with my voice as you venture in and out of your mind.

Please prepare for yoga nidra by making any final adjustments needed to make sure you are completely comfortable.

During our yoga nidra practice,

There shouldn't be any physical movement.

However,

If you become uncomfortable at any point,

Please make any adjustments needed and then return to complete relaxation.

Close your eyes now and keep them closed until the end of our practice.

Now,

Take a deep breath in,

And as you exhale,

Feel every care and worry flow out of you.

In our practice,

Your body will feel completely relaxed.

You won't need to make any movements or deliberately relax your muscles.

Just connect with the feeling of relaxation.

While we will be fully relaxed,

We won't sleep.

You will try to keep yourself completely awake during our whole practice.

So make the resolution to yourself now to stay awake by repeating in your mind,

I won't sleep.

I will remain awake throughout the practice.

During yoga nidra,

You only need to listen and stay aware.

The only important thing you need to do is follow my voice.

You don't need to think about or analyze the instructions because this will only interrupt your mental relaxation.

So instead,

Just follow my voice with total attention and feeling.

And if thoughts arise,

Don't worry.

Just notice and then come back to the practice.

Now begin to connect with the feeling of inner relaxation in your whole body.

Concentrate on your body and become aware of the importance of complete stillness.

Become aware of your whole body from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes.

Experience complete stillness and complete awareness of your whole body.

Continue being aware of your whole body.

You are aware of your whole body.

Become aware of the fact that you are going to practice yoga nidra and say to yourself in your mind,

I am aware I'm going to practice yoga nidra.

Repeat this to yourself again.

I'm aware I'm going to practice yoga nidra.

The practice of yoga nidra begins now.

This time you will set an intention.

Try to discover one naturally,

One that is simple.

Structure your intention as a short positive statement.

Now with awareness,

With feeling,

And with emphasis,

Repeat your intention in your mind three times.

The intention you set for your yoga nidra practice will certainly come true in your life.

We will now begin a rotation of consciousness by taking a trip through different parts of our body.

As I guide you,

You will rotate your awareness as quickly as possible from one body part to another.

You will stay alert and become aware of the body part I name without focusing too hard.

Become aware of your right hand.

Become aware of your right hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

And pinky finger.

Become aware of the palm of your hand.

Become aware of your palm.

The back of your hand,

Your wrist,

Now your forearm,

Elbow.

Become aware of your upper arm,

Your shoulder,

Armpit,

Moving down to the right side of your waist.

Become aware of your right hip,

Your right thigh,

Kneecap,

Shin,

Calf,

Ankle.

The heel of your right foot,

The sole of your right foot,

Top of your foot.

Become aware of your big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And pinky toe.

Now to the other side.

Become aware of your left hand.

Become aware of your left hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

And pinky finger.

Become aware of the palm of your hand.

Become aware of your palm.

The back of your hand,

Your wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow.

Become aware of your upper arm,

Your shoulder,

Armpit,

Moving down to the left side of your waist.

Become aware of your left hip,

Left thigh,

Kneecap,

Shin,

Calf,

Your ankle,

The heel of your left foot,

The sole of your left foot,

The top of your foot.

Become aware of your big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And pinky toe.

Now to the whole back of your body.

Become aware of your right shoulder blade,

Now left shoulder blade.

Become aware of your right glute,

Now left glute.

Become aware of your spine,

And become aware of your whole back body together.

Now bring your awareness to the top of your head.

Drift your awareness from the top of your head to your forehead.

Now both sides of your head,

Your right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

The space between your eyebrows.

Become aware of your right eyelid,

Your left eyelid,

Your right eye,

Your left eye,

Your right ear,

Your left ear,

Your right cheek,

Your left cheek.

Now become aware of your nose,

The tip of your nose,

Your upper lip,

Lower lip,

Chin,

Throat,

Moving down to the right side of your chest,

Left side of your chest,

Middle of your chest.

Become aware of your belly button and stomach.

Now become aware of your entire right leg,

Entire left leg.

Become aware of both legs together.

Become aware of your entire right arm,

Left arm.

Become aware of both arms together.

Become aware of your whole back,

Your glutes,

Spine,

Your shoulder blades.

Now the entire front of your body,

Your stomach,

Chest,

The entire front and back of your body together,

Your entire head,

Your entire body together.

Become aware of your entire body together,

Your entire body together.

Please don't sleep.

You're experiencing total awareness with no sleeping.

Become aware of your whole body and the support underneath you.

Become aware of your body exactly as it is.

Your body is lying down.

See your body lying down perfectly still in this room.

Visualize this image in your mind.

Become aware of your breath now and notice the flow of your breath in and out of your body.

Don't try to change the rhythm.

Just let your breathing be natural and automatic.

You are not controlling the breath and there is no effort.

Maintain awareness of your breath.

With complete awareness of your breathing.

Now concentrate your awareness on the movement of your stomach.

Concentrate on your stomach moving.

Your stomach is rising and falling slightly with every breath.

With each and every breath,

It expands and softens.

Concentrate on this movement in connection with your breath.

Continue practicing and make sure you are aware of your breath.

Start counting your breaths backwards from 27 to 1 like this.

27,

Stomach rising,

27,

Stomach falling,

26,

Stomach rising,

26,

Stomach falling,

25,

Stomach rising,

25,

Stomach falling,

And so on.

Say the words and numbers mentally to yourself as you count your breaths.

Be sure that you don't make a mistake.

If you do,

You must go back to 27 and start again.

With complete awareness that you are counting,

Continue counting from 27 to 1.

Continue with the practice,

Making no mistakes.

Stop counting now and shift your awareness to your chest.

Please shift your awareness to your chest.

Your chest is rising and falling slightly with each and every breath.

Become aware of this rise and fall.

Continue concentrating on the movement of your chest and start counting your breaths backwards from 27 to 1 in the same way as before.

27,

Chest rising,

27,

Chest falling,

26,

Chest rising,

26,

Chest falling,

And so on.

Again,

Repeat the words and numbers mentally to yourself as you count.

No mistakes here.

If you make a mistake,

Go back and start again at 27.

Continue counting 27 to 1.

Continue with the practice,

Counting and awareness,

Awareness and counting.

Stop your counting and move your awareness to your throat.

Please move your awareness to your throat now.

Become aware of your breath moving in and out of your throat.

Become aware of the breath as it moves in and out.

Concentrate on the movement of the breath in your throat and start counting backwards from 27 to 1 in the same way as before.

With complete awareness of counting and your breath,

27,

Breathing in,

27,

Breathing out.

Still no sleeping,

Please.

Maintain total awareness that you are counting.

Continue with the practice.

Continue counting your breaths in the throat.

Stop counting and now move your awareness to your nose.

Become aware of the breath moving in and out of your nose.

Concentrate on the movement of the breath in and out of the nose and start counting as before,

27,

Breathing in,

27,

Breathing out.

Maintain complete awareness here.

Continue counting with no mistakes.

Continue with the practice,

Counting your breaths.

Stop your counting and leave your breathing.

We now come to the visualization portion of our practice.

A number of different things will be named and you should try to develop a vision of them on all levels,

Feeling,

Awareness,

Emotion,

Imagination,

As well as you can.

We begin burning candle,

Burning candle,

Burning candle,

Endless desert,

Endless desert,

Endless desert,

Egyptian pyramid,

Egyptian pyramid,

Egyptian pyramid,

Torrential rain,

Torrential rain,

Torrential rain,

Snow-capped mountains,

Snow-capped mountains,

Snow-capped mountains,

Greek temple at sunrise,

Greek temple at sunrise,

Greek temple at sunrise,

Coffin beside a grave,

Coffin beside a grave,

Coffin beside a grave,

Birds flying across the sunset,

Birds flying across the sunset,

Birds flying across the sunset,

Red clouds drifting,

Red clouds drifting,

Red clouds drifting,

Across above a church,

Across above a church,

Across above a church,

Stars at night,

Stars at night,

Stars at night,

Full moon,

Full moon,

Full moon,

Wind from the sea,

Wind from the sea,

Wind from the sea,

Waves breaking on a deserted beach,

Waves breaking on a deserted beach,

A restless sea,

An eternal,

Restless sea,

Eternal,

Restless sea,

Waves breaking on a deserted beach.

Intensify your awareness,

Intensify your awareness now,

And imagine an infinite ocean,

Imagine an infinite ocean,

Calm and quiet,

And try to discover a sound there.

There is a sound of this infinite ocean.

You now see an island,

You see the shore with a dark green jungle behind it,

You see birds,

Lions,

And snakes all living in harmony.

From the shore,

You see a path that leads to a lonely cottage in the jungle,

And you see a yogi sitting outside in a cross-legged position.

You see a fire,

And smell incense,

And the fragrance of flowers.

You feel an atmosphere of tranquility.

Now is the time to repeat your intention.

Repeat the same intention that you made at the beginning of practice,

Don't change it,

And repeat your intention to yourself three times with full awareness and feeling.

Relax all efforts now,

And draw your mind outside to become aware of your breathing.

Become aware of your natural breath.

Now become aware of your whole body,

And aware of your breathing.

Your body is lying totally relaxed,

And you are breathing quietly and slowly.

Develop awareness of your body from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes.

Become aware of the support underneath you,

And the position of your body.

With your eyes closed,

Visualize the room around you,

And become aware of your surroundings.

Lie here quietly with your eyes closed.

Begin to invite some deeper breaths into your body,

And gently rock your head from side to side.

Bring gentle movement into your fingers,

And your toes,

Into your wrists,

And ankles,

Arms,

And legs.

And when you are ready,

Slowly open your eyes,

And take in the space around you.

Allow yourself as much time as you'd like to simply be.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

May you be well.

Reviews

Fantastic 🧘🏻‍♂️🙏

Very very nice. Gentle voice, gentle music. Feeling relaxed and rejuvenated at the same time. Many thanks. Be well also.

Lovely yoga nidra & music. I drifted off. Thank you 🙏

So lovely, definitely a different experience being at home. I’m excited to try it again with a better understanding of what to expect in a different environment. As always, I am so grateful to share in this with you. Such a beautiful way to end the day. Thank you for sharing 💕