Yoga Nidra | Stillness Within | Sound Bath
by Dane Howard
Yoga Nidra is a practice that allows us to enter the stillness within, the point of nothingness. This practice will help you enter a state of pure bliss where nothing else matters, just being. It helps you to forget all the stresses and worries of everyday life and for moments completely forget even who you are. The practice starts seated before lying down. It is layered with a hybrid Sound Bath and allows for a few minutes of silence at the end of the Nidra before I bring you back.
Transcript
Yoga Nidra is a way to ease into total relaxation where we can really rest and allow for the day's tension to release.
And just as you can't have lightness without darkness,
You can't have relaxation without tension.
So before we get into the Yoga Nidra,
I'll take you through a tension and release exercise to really bring the day's tension to the surface.
So when we get into the practice,
We can release that tension and your relaxation will be deeper.
We will start with the tension release in a seated position.
And then once we move into the practice of Yoga Nidra,
We'll move into a lying down position.
So before we start the practice,
Make sure you've got everything you need to be comfortable.
A pillow for your head,
A blanket,
A bolster for below your knees,
An eye mask,
Anything you need to get comfortable.
And have it ready to go.
So once we finish the tension release,
You can move into a lying down position mindfully.
We hold the majority of our tension in our face,
Shoulders and stomach.
So as we start,
We'll really focus on these areas.
So settle into your seat and start to get comfortable.
Start to become aware of the room you're in.
Close your eyes and begin to notice your breath,
Your natural breath.
Feel your stomach flowing up and down with the breath.
Notice any tension you have in your stomach and let it out with a sigh on the out breath.
Now begin to notice any sounds starting outside the room.
Just noticing any sounds that you can hear,
But don't try to analyze the source.
Moving from sound to sound,
Starting with the sounds that are furthest away and then moving closer towards you.
Now begin to notice the sounds inside the room.
Again,
Don't try to analyze the source of the sound.
Now visualize with your eyes still closed,
The room you're in,
The floor,
The walls,
The roof,
And now start to feel your body on the floor.
Feel the meeting points of your body and whatever it is that you're lying on.
And now bring your awareness into your body.
Feel your face,
Shoulders,
And stomach and just noticing how they feel.
Feel any sensations that might arise.
And now let's bring up the tension in those areas.
Start by clenching your fists together,
Clenching as hard as you can and keeping your fists clenched,
Come up to the shoulders and tense your shoulders as hard as you can.
And now your stomach.
Now bring up all the tension to your face.
Squeeze everything into your face,
Into the nose,
Keeping everything tensed,
Tensed,
Tensed,
And let it go.
Now let's do it again,
This time starting from the face.
Sensing everything into your face,
Making a funny face if you have to.
Squeeze as hard as you can and hold it.
Now tense the shoulders,
The arms,
Clench the fists,
The stomach,
And tensing up everything and holding it,
Holding it,
Hold and let it all go.
Letting out a sigh,
A noise,
A scream,
Anything you need to let go of the tension.
And now continue to do a few more at your own pace.
And just remember,
The more you tense,
The more relaxation you'll get during the practice.
And really focus your tension on your face,
Shoulders,
And stomach.
So continue to do a couple more at your own pace.
And last one,
Tensing your face,
Shoulders,
Stomach,
Really pulling in everything tight and holding it,
Holding it,
Hold and let it all out.
Then come back to your normal breath.
And now we'll move mindfully into a lying down position.
Your head on the pillow,
Your blanket on,
Eye mask,
But please move mindfully.
And if you need to move at all during the practice,
That is okay,
But also just move mindfully.
So now please get ready for yoga nidra.
Lie down on your back and adopt the pose called shavasana.
In this position,
The body should be straight from head to toe,
The legs slightly apart and the arms a little away from the body with the palms of the hands turned upwards.
Almost everything,
Your body position and close until you are completely comfortable.
During yoga nidra,
There should be no physical movement.
Close your eyes and keep them closed until you are told to open them.
Take a deep breath and as you breathe out,
Feel the cares and worries of the day flow out of you.
In the practice which follows,
You are going to develop a feeling of relaxation in the body.
It is not necessary to make movements or deliberately relax your muscles.
Simply develop the feeling of relaxation.
It is like the feeling you have just before sleep when relaxation becomes deep.
Sleep does come,
But you should try to keep yourself completely awake.
This is very important.
Make a resolution to yourself now that I will not sleep,
I will remain awake throughout the practice.
During yoga nidra,
You are functioning on the levels of hearing and awareness and the only important thing is to follow my voice.
You must not try to analyse the instructions as this will disturb your mental relaxation.
Simply follow the voice with total attention and feeling.
And if thoughts come to disturb you from time to time,
Do not worry,
Just continue the practice.
Allow yourself to become calm and steady.
Now bring about a feeling of inner relaxation in the whole body.
Concentrate on the body and become aware of the importance of complete stillness.
Develop your awareness of the body from the top of the head to the tips of the toes and mentally repeat the mantra.
Complete stillness and complete awareness of the body.
Again AUM.
Continue your awareness of the whole body,
The whole body,
The whole body.
Become aware of the fact that you are going to practice yoga nidra.
Say mentally to yourself,
I am aware.
I am going to practice yoga nidra.
Repeat this to yourself again.
The practice of yoga nidra begins now.
At this moment you should set your intention.
The intention can be very simple,
Try to discover one naturally.
It should be a short positive statement in simple language,
Stated three times with awareness,
Feeling and emphasis.
Intention you make through yoga nidra is bound to come true in your life.
Come up with an intention,
State it three times now.
We will now begin a rotation of consciousness,
Rotation of awareness by taking a trip through different parts of the body.
As quickly as possible the awareness is to go from part to part.
Repeat the part in your mind and simultaneously become aware of that part of the body.
Keep yourself alert but do not concentrate too intensely.
Become aware of the right hand,
Right hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
The wrist,
Lower arm,
The right elbow,
Upper arm,
The shoulder,
The armpit,
The right waist,
The right hip,
The right thigh,
The kneecap,
The calf muscle,
The ankle,
The heel,
The sole of the right foot,
Top of the right foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
When I move to the left side become aware of the left hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm,
Back of the hand,
The left wrist,
Lower arm,
Left elbow,
Upper arm,
Left shoulder,
Armpit,
The left waist,
Left hip,
The left thigh,
Kneecap,
The calf muscle,
The ankle,
The heel,
The sole of the left foot,
The top of the left foot,
The big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Now to the back of the body,
Become aware of the right shoulder blade,
The left shoulder blade,
The right buttock,
Left buttock,
The spine,
The whole back torso together.
Now to the top of the head,
The forehead,
Both sides of the head,
The right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
The space between the eyebrows,
The right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
The right eye,
The right ear,
The left ear,
The right cheek,
The left cheek,
The nose,
The tip of the nose,
The upper lip,
The lower lip,
The chin,
The throat,
The right chest,
The left chest,
The middle of the chest,
The navel,
The abdomen,
The whole of the right leg,
The whole of the left leg,
Both legs together,
The whole of the right arm,
The whole of the left arm,
Both arms together,
The whole of the back,
Buttocks,
Spine,
Shoulder blades,
The whole of the front,
Abdomen,
Chest,
The whole of the back and front together,
The whole of the head,
The whole body together,
The whole body together,
The whole body together.
Please do not sleep.
Total awareness.
No sleeping.
No movement.
The whole body on the floor.
Become aware of your body lying on the floor.
Your body is lying on the floor.
See your body lying perfectly still on the floor in this room.
Visualize this image in your mind.
Now become aware of your breath.
Feel the flow of your breath in and out of your lungs.
Do not try to change the rhythm.
The breathing is natural,
Automatic.
You are not doing it.
There is no effort.
Maintain awareness of your breath.
Continue complete awareness of breath.
Now concentrate your awareness on the movement of your navel area.
Concentrate on your navel movements.
Your navel is rising and falling slightly with every breath.
With each and every breath it expands and contracts.
Concentrate on this movement in synchronization with your breath.
Continue on practicing but be sure that you are aware.
Now start canning your breath backwards from 27 to 1.
Like this.
27 navel rising.
27 navel falling.
26 navel rising.
26 navel falling.
25 navel rising.
25 navel falling.
And so on.
Say the words and numbers mentally to yourself as you count your breaths.
Continue at your own pace.
And if you get lost in the counting,
Simply go back and start again at 27.
25 navel falling.
26 navel falling.
26 navel falling.
26 navel falling.
27 navel falling.
28 navel falling.
29 navel falling.
Now stop your counting of the navel breath and shift your attention to the chest.
Please shift to the chest.
Your chest is rising and falling slightly with each and every breath.
Come aware of this.
Continue concentrating on the movement of the chest and start counting backwards from 27 to 1 in the same way as before.
27 chest rising.
27 chest falling.
26 chest rising.
26 chest falling.
25 chest rising.
25 chest falling.
And so on.
And again,
Repeat the words and numbers mentally to yourself as you count.
And again,
If you get lost,
Just start again at 27.
Continue counting.
27 to 1.
Keep on with the practice.
Counting and awareness.
Awareness and counting.
Again,
Wherever you are in the count,
Please stop.
Please stop and move your awareness to the throat.
Please move to the throat.
Become aware of your breath moving in and out of the throat.
Become aware of this.
Concentrate on the movement of the breath and start counting backwards from 27 to 1 in the same way as before.
Complete awareness of counting and the breath.
No sleeping,
Please.
Just total awareness that you are counting.
Keep on with the practice.
Continue counting your breaths in the throat.
Continue counting your breaths in the throat.
Again,
Wherever you are in the count,
Please stop.
Please stop and now move your awareness to the nostrils.
Become aware of the breath moving in and out of the nostrils.
Concentrate on the movement of the breath in and out of the nostrils.
And start counting as before.
You know it very well by now.
27,
Breathing in.
27,
Breathing out.
Complete awareness.
Please continue counting.
Keep on with the practice.
Continue.
Complete awareness.
Now please stop your counting and leave your breathing.
We now come to visualization.
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 best as you can.
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 the grave.
Coffin beside the grave.
Coffin beside the 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.
A cross above a church.
A cross above a church.
A cross above a church.
Stars at night.
Stars at night.
Stars at night.
Full moon.
Full moon.
Full moon.
Smiling Buddha.
Smiling Buddha.
Smiling Buddha.
Wind from the sea.
Wind from the sea.
Wind from the sea.
Waves breaking on a deserted beach.
Waves breaking on a deserted beach.
The restless sea.
Eternal restless sea.
Eternal restless sea.
Waves breaking on a deserted beach.
We are prepared to enter that silence within.
That inner stillness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Point of nothingness.
Now is the time to repeat your intention.
Repeat the same intention that you made at the beginning of the practice.
Do not change it.
Repeat the intention three times with full awareness and feeling.
Now relax all efforts.
Draw your mind outside and become aware of your breathing.
Become aware of the natural breath.
Awareness of the whole body and awareness of breathing.
Your body is lying totally relaxed on the floor.
You are breathing quietly and slowly.
Develop awareness of your body from the top of the head to the tips of the toes and say mentally in your mind.
Om Repeat.
Om And mentally repeat it to yourself twice more.
Become aware of the floor and the position of your body lying on the floor.
Visualize without opening your eyes the room around you.
Become aware of your surroundings.
Lie quietly for some time and keep your eyes closed.
And when you're ready,
Start to make little movements.
Maybe wiggle your fingers,
Your toes,
Whatever you feel comfortable with.
Turn that into some bigger movements,
Maybe some stretches,
But please take your time.
Do not hurry.
And in your own time,
When you're ready,
Roll over onto the right side of your body into fetal position.
And take at least five deep breaths before slowly making your way back up into a seated position.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
4.7 (86)
Recent Reviews
Lee
October 30, 2024
Excellent combination of speaking and music. I drifted off to sleep during the music