Hey,
I'm Chibzo Karake and welcome to this yoga nidra practice for deep relaxation,
Also known as non-sleep deep rest.
I invite you to take a moment to get comfortable,
Really comfortable.
See if you can set yourself up in a way that feels effortless,
Supported,
Warm and safe.
Feel free to use cushions,
Blankets or whatever your body's asking for right now.
Take your time,
There's no rush.
And when you're ready,
Allow yourself to settle.
Let the stillness begin to arrive.
And taking a little time now to notice if there's any busyness still moving through you from the day or from the week.
You don't need to change it,
We're just noticing.
And let's check in with the body.
Noticing any places that feel tight or heavy and any areas that feel soft,
Spacious or at ease.
How's your energy right now?
Is it running slow?
Is it steady?
Or maybe there's some tension or restlessness moving through?
There's no right or wrong answer,
We're just being with what's here.
And now,
I invite you to gently tune into the emotional tone of the moment.
What's the weather like inside?
Notice the thoughts,
Fast or slow,
Loud or quiet,
Just letting the thoughts be.
And behind all of it,
There's something steady.
There's a part of you that's just watching,
Relaxed,
Aware.
Allow that awareness to grow.
Let it hold onto everything.
And let's move our awareness to the breath.
And we're not just observing the breath,
We're feeling the breath,
Experiencing the breath.
We're noticing what the breath feels like as it moves in and moves out.
There's a rhythm that's always with you,
The quiet anchor beneath it all.
Over the next few breaths,
If it's comfortable,
I invite you to breathe in through your nose and then exhale with a soft sound,
Just like you're gently fogging up a mirror.
Now you can follow my breath for a few breaths and then you can do a few in your own time,
At your own pace.
Keeping the body relaxed,
Let's breathe in and breathe out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Doing a few more breaths like this at your own pace and as best as you can,
Keeping the breath slow and unforced.
Okay,
Good.
Now you can allow the breath to settle into its own rhythm.
Taking a few moments to notice how the body's feeling.
Perhaps the body's feeling more relaxed or maybe things still feel the same and that's okay too.
And seeing if we can allow the jaw to loosen,
Letting the face relax.
And if it feels good,
You can rest the tongue gently on the roof of your mouth.
This can help soften the jaw even more and support easier breathing.
Allowing the eyes to soften.
Letting the eyes rest down and back as if they're settling into stillness.
Now imagine what it might feel like if the mind itself could soften.
As if the brain were a muscle,
Gently relaxing.
Here's where we shift from thinking to feeling.
From analysing to listening.
Allowing our hearing to open wide.
Letting the sounds arrive.
No effort,
Just awareness.
Each sound comes and each sound goes.
Arising,
Then fading.
Like ripples on a quiet pond.
And you're already resting deeply in the space beneath it all.
The awareness that holds everything.
We're letting the whole body rest in that space.
As if it's floating.
Safe.
Supported.
Feeling the rising and falling of the breath in the chest,
In the heart space.
Beneath all of this,
There's wisdom.
There's a knowing that lives in the heart.
Let's take a moment now to connect with an intention.
This isn't about setting a goal or trying to fix anything.
It's more like planting a seed.
A quiet reminder of what matters to you.
When the body is deeply relaxed,
Like it will be in yoga nidra,
The subconscious mind is more receptive.
So this is a powerful time to reconnect with an intention or a value.
Something that can gently guide you,
Even after this practice ends.
If you already have a phrase or intention that feels true for you,
Bring it to mind now.
And if not,
You're welcome to borrow one of these.
I allow myself to rest without needing to earn it.
I trust what's unfolding.
I return to who I am underneath the doing.
Whichever phrase you choose,
Let it land in the heart and repeat it quietly in your mind three times.
Okay,
Good.
Now,
Let's bring our awareness to the space between our eyebrows.
I invite you to imagine a tiny point of light here.
Soft and steady.
From this center point,
We're going to move through the body,
Lighting up points of awareness one by one.
We're going to notice each part as if it's gently coming online,
Like tiny little LEDs across the body's landscape.
Moving our attention now,
Pointing our light to the base of the throat.
And we're going to move through the body a little more quickly now.
If your mind drifts or if you lose track,
That's totally fine.
It's actually part of the process.
Just notice when it happens and gently return to my voice whenever you're ready.
Moving to the right shoulder.
Right elbow.
Wrist.
Tip of the little finger.
Ring finger.
Middle finger.
Index finger.
Thumb.
Back to the wrist.
Right elbow.
Shoulder.
Back to the base of the throat again.
Now across to the left shoulder.
Elbow.
Wrist.
Little finger.
Ring finger.
Middle finger.
Index finger.
Thumb.
Back to the wrist.
Left elbow.
Left shoulder.
Back to the base of the throat.
Moving our awareness,
Pointing our light down to the heart centre.
The right side of the chest.
The left side of the chest.
Back to the heart centre.
Down to the navel.
Moving to the base of the spine.
Moving to the right hip.
Middle of the right thigh.
The right knee.
Right calf.
Right ankle.
Pinky toe.
Fourth toe.
Third toe.
Second toe.
The right big toe.
Back up to the ankle.
The calf.
The right knee.
Middle of the thigh.
The right hip.
Returning to the base of the spine.
Now over to the left hip.
The middle of the left thigh.
The left knee.
Left calf.
Left ankle.
Left little toe.
Fourth toe.
Third toe.
Second toe.
Left big toe.
Back through the ankle.
The calf.
The knee.
The middle of the thigh.
The hip.
Again to the base of the spine.
Up through the navel.
The heart centre.
Right side of the chest.
Left side of the chest.
Heart centre.
Base of the throat.
And finally the mind's eye centre.
Now imagine that all these points are softly glowing.
Like a constellation mapped across your body.
A quiet galaxy within.
And around you.
Above you.
Beyond you.
More stars.
Brilliant.
Steady.
Peaceful light.
Allow yourself to float in that light.
A quiet body.
Resting in a sky of calm.
As you rest in this stillness.
Gently bringing your awareness to the crown of the head.
As you rest in this stillness.
With each inhale.
Imagining you're breathing in soft,
Luminous light.
Gently entering through the top of the skull.
Allow it to pour in like warm,
Golden light.
Slowly filling your body.
From head to toe.
And as you exhale.
Feel that light spread outwards.
Into the chest.
The arms and legs.
The space around you.
As if your whole system is exhaling ease.
This light isn't imagined.
It's the nervous system switching gears.
A soft signal of safety moving quietly through everything.
Every cell.
As you continue to breathe in the light.
Allow it to travel further.
Into the heart.
The belly.
The hands and feet.
There's no effort needed.
We're simply following the breath.
Each exhale softens us deeper into rest.
Each inhale invites in a little more space.
A little more ease.
With every breath.
This light moves through the quiet architecture of your body.
Restoring.
Recalibrating.
And bringing the system back into balance.
Allow the light to fill the heart space now.
Expanding gently into it.
Your whole being is being bathed in this glow.
A soft hum of intelligence and stillness.
As we continue to stay with the breath.
And now,
Rather than focusing on the air itself.
Let's see if we can feel the energy moving with the air.
A subtle current flowing beneath everything.
This is our life force.
Not something to chase.
Just something to notice.
Quiet.
Steady.
We're allowing our attention to rest there.
In that hum beneath the surface.
On each inhale we're feeling that spacious awareness within us.
On each exhale we're letting the body drop further into rest.
Inhaling.
Alert but at ease.
Exhaling.
Even softer.
Even slower.
We're allowing our body to sink.
Like it's being held by something deeper than gravity.
A kind of trust.
A kind of letting go.
Each breath carries us further.
Not away from ourselves.
But deeper inside ourselves.
Like a deep sleep.
That's wide awake.
Still.
Aware.
Alive with presence.
And now gently bringing our focus to the space between our eyebrows.
The mind's eye.
Noticing whatever's there.
Darkness.
Movement.
There's nothing to change.
We're just noticing.
We're resting in the quiet space behind the thoughts.
And now we might imagine looking up at a clear night sky.
Still.
And endless.
Allow the stars to begin to appear.
Distant.
Steady.
You might see them scatter across the sky like quiet points of light.
Perhaps a soft light show begins.
Meteors and falling stars.
Leaving gentle trails as they glide overhead.
All colours.
All directions.
Silent.
And slow.
Beyond the shooting stars,
You sense the planets moving.
Huge.
Quiet.
Unhurried.
The sun is radiant.
Billions of suns across the galaxies.
We're going to keep expanding.
Stars.
Nebulas.
Explosions of light.
Supernovas blooming.
And fading.
We're letting our awareness stretch to the very edge of what's knowable.
And then a little further still.
The entire universe.
Within you.
And around you.
Vast.
Silent.
And somehow,
You're not separate from it.
You're resting inside it.
Safe in its stillness.
By its vastness.
The whole universe gently calling you home.
As you rest in this vast stillness,
I invite you to come back to your intention.
If you like,
You can repeat it silently now,
Three times.
Or just allow it to echo quietly through your system.
Feeling the intention settle into the body.
Settle into the heart.
And now,
Beginning to notice the outline of your physical self again.
The gentle edges of your body resting on the surface beneath you.
Feeling the connection with the earth.
The room.
This moment.
Breath still moving.
And out.
Noticing the subtle sensations of the inhale.
And the exhale.
And whenever you're ready.
Taking a slightly deeper breath in through the nose.
And letting it out slowly through the nose or the mouth.
Again,
Breathing in through the nose.
And out through the nose or the mouth.
One last time,
A full breath in.
And a soft release.
Beginning to bring some movement into the body now.
We might gently rub the thumb across each fingertip.
One by one.
Feeling the textures.
The reawakening.
We can start to roll our head slowly from side to side.
Wiggling the toes.
Rolling the ankles.
Stretching if it feels good.
Maybe even giving your body a gentle hug.
Arms around the knees or arms around the heart.
Relax.
Taking a moment here to thank yourself.
For pausing.
For listening.
For choosing rest and relaxation.
Every time you show up for yourself like this.
You're tuning your system towards balance.
Towards calm.
Clarity.
And resilience.
Yoga nidra and non-sleep deep rest is a powerful practice.
One that works on a very deep level.
Even when it feels simple on the surface.
I'm Chibzo Karake.
Have a wonderful day or,
If you're doing this before bed,
Sweet dreams.
