Short Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra is the tantric practice of divine sleep, a profoundly relaxing way to ease the mind into a state of restful awareness. The practice of Yoga Nidra will provide a quiet refuge from everyday stressors and promote balance in the mind and emotions. This is a basic yoga nidra meditation that follows the guidelines set out by Swami Satyananda Saraswati.

Transcript

This is a short yoga nidra practice for when you only have about 20 minutes to devote to relaxation.

Find a comfortable reclining position on the floor with your head and knees supported so that you can remain in this position for the entire practice.

Rest your hands either on the floor beside you or on the lower belly and make sure that your heels do not touch the ground.

You might use a small rolled blanket or pillow under the lower legs.

Be sure that you are warm enough,

That the room will remain quiet,

You will not be disturbed,

And that you have given yourself ample time to relax.

Take a moment to make any last adjustments to your body,

To your props,

Or to your clothing so that you can be completely comfortable and at ease.

While practicing yoga nidra,

Try not to fall completely asleep.

The secret of the practice is to reach and sustain the state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleeping,

The hypnagogic state.

My voice will act as an anchor to keep you relaxed and in the present moment.

If the mind becomes overactive with thoughts,

Continue listening with your full attention.

If you feel yourself drifting,

Return to the sound of my voice and continue with the practice.

Besides the sound of my voice,

What other sounds can you hear?

Radiate your sense of hearing outward to take in all the ambient noises that are occurring.

Listen for the most distant sounds and follow them for a few moments.

Listen without trying to label each sound.

Gradually bring your attention to closer sounds,

Those sounds outside of the building.

Listen to sounds that are inside the building.

What sounds are inside the room?

What sounds are arising from inside your body?

Can you hear the sound of your breath moving in and out of your body?

Follow this slow and steady rhythm without trying to change it.

Feel the fullness of the inhalation and the surrender of the exhalation.

With each breath become more relaxed and centered.

At this moment,

Recite your Sen Kulpa or resolve.

The Sen Kulpa is a short,

Positive statement in present tense.

Allow the Sen Kulpa to arise from your truest desire to nurture yourself and state it silently three times.

The Sen Kulpa recited during Yoga Nidra plants this wish for self-discovery and transformation deep within your mind and will come to fruition with patience and repetition.

You will now take a sensory journey through the pathways of the physical body.

As you hear the different parts of your body mentioned,

Repeat the name of the part silently.

Move all of your awareness into that part of your body and notice the movement from one part to the next.

Keep yourself alert and focused on the sensations coming from the body.

Begin with the right hand thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Right shoulder,

Armpit,

Chest,

Waist,

Hip,

Groin,

Buttock,

Thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

Left hand thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Left shoulder,

Armpit,

Chest,

Waist,

Hip,

Groin,

Buttock,

Thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Move your awareness to the top of the head,

Forehead,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Eyebrow center,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Whole nose,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Chin,

Jaw,

Throat,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Right chest,

Left chest,

Heart center,

Upper abdomen,

Navel,

Lower abdomen,

Right groin,

Left groin,

The pelvic floor,

Tailbone,

Sacrum,

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

The entire spine from the tailbone to the base of the skull,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head,

Crown of the head,

Feel the whole right arm,

The whole left arm,

The whole right leg,

The whole left leg,

The torso,

The head,

The body,

The whole body,

Your entire body.

Continue to feel the entire body and notice that each part of the body feels very heavy and grounded into the earth.

The arms are heavy,

The legs are heavy,

The head is heavy,

The torso is heavy,

The body is feeling so heavy and grounded that you seem to be sinking down into the floor.

Now experience the whole body becoming light and buoyant.

A floating and weightless sensation comes into the arms and legs.

The head and torso feel light and floating.

The whole body feels so weightless that you rise from the floor toward the ceiling.

Return to the sensation of your body resting in peace and safety as you practice yoga nidra.

Begin to concentrate on the dark space in front of your closed eyes.

Imagine before you a screen as if you were at the theater,

The mind screen as high and as wide as the eyes can see.

Concentrate on this screen and become aware of movement of light and shadow,

Swirls or flashes of color,

Patterns and images.

Whatever you see is within your mind.

Try not to worry about the content.

Practice being a witness to your awareness,

Detached from judgment about whatever arises.

Imagine a peacock feather,

A Buddha meditating,

A full moon,

Your reflection in a mirror,

A foggy morning,

An unfinished puzzle,

A display of fireworks,

The midday sun,

A thriving garden,

A rocky shoreline,

A tall tree,

Your front door,

A bright blue flame,

A temple on the mountainside,

The clear tone of a bell,

A path through the woods,

A vibrant sunset,

A bird in flight,

A dog wagging its tail,

The shape of your body lying on the floor.

It is time to repeat your sankalpa.

Please repeat the same statement made at the beginning of the practice three times silently.

Nurture this deeply planted wish for self-transformation and healing.

Begin to listen once more to all of the sounds that you can hear in this moment.

Allow each sound to bring awareness of the moments that are passing,

Moment by moment by moment.

Can you hear the sound of your breath moving in and out of the nostrils?

Feel the belly expand with each inhalation and surrender with each exhalation.

As your awareness of the breath deepens,

Become aware of the physical body resting in yoga nidra.

Visualize your body lying on the floor.

Imagine your location in the room.

See the other furnishings in the room and become aware of the time of day.

When you are ready to bring conscious movement into the body,

Begin by wiggling the fingers and toes.

Move the hands and feet.

Slowly stretch the arms and legs.

Bend the knees one leg at a time and slowly roll over to your side.

Use your hands to press yourself up from the floor and let your head come up last.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Reviews

The voice sounds a bit robotic, but I love how cold and detached it is.
I enjoyed visualization, very curious about this part

A great way to have a rest in the middle of the day. Felt knackered before, feeling refreshed afterwards!

An effective, traditional session. I especially appreciate the visualizations near the end, and the repetition of the san culpa. Thank you.

Great voice and instructions. No fluff

I’d recommend to go a tad slower and it would be ✨✨

Such a wonderful Yoga Nidra practice to begin my day. Namaste 💖

Really appreciate this for rest and rejuvenation during the day.

This was the best yoga nidra I have done in a long time. Thank you for sharing 🙏

Excellent. Left me feeling both rested and alert. I was surprised by the instruction to keep the heels off the floor - first I've heard that in yoga nidra, wonder if it's usual?

A nice little journey to start my day relaxed and at ease ~ thank you! Namaste 🌺🙏🌺

Fantastic meditation. Your voice is soothing and has a relaxation provoking quality.

A lovely short but perfectly formed yoga nidra. Thank you

Thank you. I really enjoyed that, a great experience.

Thank you for sharing this yoga nidra practice. Such a lovely meditation 🙏😊

she's great. I love her yoga Nidra

Very nice, simple, quiet and well structured.

Very refreshing. Thank you.

Thank you🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻Grateful to have a short yoga nidra option that goes beyond mere rotation of consciousness in the body...

Soothing and calming. Exactly what I needed! Thank you!

Fantastic! Just what I needed to set me up for the day after waking with a busy mind. Thank you 🙏

Wonderful, thank you so much for sharing! Can’t wait to listen all the others, too! Namaste 🙏🧡