Yoga Nidra Practice 3
20 minute guided yoga nidra, prepare by lying in shavasana on a mat or the floor. Nidra is a guided meditation to lower brain waves to create a feeling of calm and peace. Great for stress, anxiety and to help with sleep.
Transcript
For today's practice of Yoga Nidra,
You'll only need your body and either a yoga mat or the floor,
So go ahead and either pause or find your way to lying flat on your back.
And today,
Your focus is just to develop a deep state of relaxation simply by lying and listening to my voice.
Yoga Nidra is a practice of awareness and a practice of listening and being only.
Feet can be apart,
Letting them flop a little bit to the sides,
Arms slightly away from the body.
Any final adjustments to your clothing,
Your blanket,
Your position,
So you can practice without moving and without discomfort.
You can take those now.
Close your eyes,
Keep them closed.
This practice is about hearing and feeling.
It's the only important thing.
So you're functioning on a level of awareness and listening.
And as you settle in,
You may feel sleepy.
But let's mentally state now,
I will not sleep.
I shall listen.
I will not sleep.
I will not sleep.
Then take a deep breath in,
Breathing in,
Feeling calmness spreading,
Breathing out,
Relaxing,
Becoming aware of your body lying on the floor,
Envisioning the room that you're in,
The four walls,
The ceiling,
The floor,
Envisioning your body lying in stillness,
Just awareness of your body lying perfectly still and awareness of the meeting points that your body has with whatever's supporting you.
So the back of your head,
The meeting point of your shoulder blades with the floor,
Your elbows,
Your sit bones,
Maybe the back of your hands,
Your legs,
Your heels,
Feeling all these points at the same time.
And then becoming aware of the natural breath,
Deep and spontaneous,
Not trying to change it,
Just listening to me and knowing that you're breathing.
And the practice begins now,
Mentally telling yourself,
I am going to practice yoga nidra.
I will not sleep.
This is the time where you can make your resolve,
Your statement of what you'd like to bring into your life,
What you'd like to create for yourself.
And you'll state this to yourself clearly with feeling,
With emotion,
Three times now.
We'll rotate consciousness through different parts of the body as quickly as possible.
Send your awareness from point to point,
To point mentally repeating the name of the body part.
And at the same time,
Becoming aware of that part.
We'll begin with the right hand,
Right hand,
Thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
The palm of the hand,
The back of the hand,
The wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Waist,
Hip,
The right thigh,
The knee,
The calf muscle,
The ankle,
The heel,
The sole,
The top of the foot,
The right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Fifth toe,
Left hand,
Thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the left hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Waist,
Left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole,
Top of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
The right shoulder,
The left shoulder,
The right shoulder blade,
The left shoulder blade,
The right buttocks,
The left buttocks,
The spine,
The whole of the back together,
Top of the head,
Forehead,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Eyebrow center,
Right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Nose,
Tip of the nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Chin,
Jaw,
Throat,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Right chest,
Left chest,
Middle of the chest,
Navel,
Abdomen,
Lower abdomen,
The whole right leg,
The whole right foot,
The whole left leg,
The whole left foot,
Both legs together,
The whole right arm,
The whole right hand,
The whole left arm,
The whole left hand,
Both arms together,
The whole of the back,
The whole of the front,
The whole of the head together,
Legs,
Arms,
Back,
Front,
Head,
The whole body,
The whole body,
The whole body,
Awareness of the whole body and the space that is occupied by the body,
Body and space together,
Awareness of the body in relation to the floor,
Awareness of the meeting points of the body and the floor,
Feeling these points clearly,
Distinctly,
Switch your attention to the space between your eyebrows and then the nose,
From the nose we're going to the breath,
Noticing that as we breathe in through the nose,
Our chest might rise and as we breathe out,
It can lower,
Feeling the breath moving along the passage between the navel to the throat,
The chest,
On inhalation things rise,
On exhalation they release,
Completely aware of respiration,
Navel to throat,
Throat to navel,
Maintain this awareness and at the same time starting to count,
I am breathing in 27,
I am breathing out 27,
I am breathing in 26,
I am breathing out 26,
I am breathing in 25,
I am breathing out 25,
Continue to count mentally as you follow the rise and fall of your breath,
Navel to throat and back again,
Awareness of breathing and counting,
If you make a mistake start over,
If you reach the end start back,
27,
Still breathing,
Still counting,
From breathing we'll move to awareness of sensations,
So awakening the sensation and the feeling of heaviness in the body,
Feeling heavy in all parts,
Heavy in your legs,
Heavy in your torso,
Heavy in your arms,
Your head is heavy,
You're sinking into the floor,
Awareness of heaviness,
Awareness of heaviness,
And bringing awareness of lightness into the body,
Feeling light in your feet and your legs,
Feeling light in your torso and your arms,
Your head is light,
You feel like you're floating from the floor,
Awareness of lightness,
Awareness of lightness,
The sensation of heat,
Heat all over your body,
Heat all through your body,
Recollecting the feeling of being in the sun with no wind,
Heat all over,
Heat all around,
Awareness of heat,
The whole body is hot,
Awareness of heat,
Awareness of cold,
The feeling of standing outside,
The cold wind,
Your feet are cold,
Your face is cold,
Your hands are cold,
Awareness of being cold,
Awareness of being cold,
And then awareness of the sensation of pain,
Remembering any experience of pain in your body,
Any physical or mental pain,
Recollect this feeling of pain,
Feeling of pleasure,
Recollect the feeling of any physical or mental pleasure,
Mental pleasure,
Awakening this feeling,
The feeling of pleasure,
Checking that you're awake and telling yourself,
I am awake,
And bringing your attention to the space between your eyebrows,
Imagining there's a movie screen here,
If you're looking towards your forehead,
And without interacting,
Observing any shapes,
Any colors,
Anything that's manifesting here in this space,
Watching them come and go,
And start to envision yourself walking outside in a park.
It's evening,
The sun is setting,
It's a perfect day,
The temperature's just right,
And you look around and you notice the different colors in the sky,
The pinks,
The oranges as the sun starts to go down.
It's peaceful here,
The only people are sitting quietly reading,
You see someone under a tree meditating,
The grass is green,
The trees are full,
And you're walking along a path,
You notice your favorite flowers to the right,
You pause and give them a smell,
You continue walking down the path through the trees,
Awareness of the tall trees reaching up into the sky,
Seeing some shorter,
Fuller trees blowing gently in the breeze,
You make your way along this path,
You hear the ground as you step on it,
You notice the feeling as you lift your foot up and place it down,
And lift the other foot and place it down,
Walking intentionally,
Observing what's around you.
Up ahead you see a clearing,
And in the middle there's a big tree stump,
You walk towards this slowly,
Noticing the difference as you step on the grass from the trail.
When you get there,
You see that'd be easy for you to sit and rest,
Find a comfortable seat,
Close your eyes,
Meditate here for a moment,
Feeling at ease and at peace in your body and in the space.
And from this tree trunk,
You open your eyes,
Feeling refreshed,
You start to come down and make your way back across the clearing to the path.
You walk back the same way you came,
Knowing you can return there anytime you'd like to have a rest and sit.
And then bringing your attention back to that same space between your eyebrows,
The area that your forehead is in,
Just noticing anything else that's manifesting there,
Watching that darkness you see before you carefully with detachment.
Now remember your resolve,
The statement you made at the start of your practice,
And repeat that to yourself three times with the same feeling and emotion without making any changes now.
Then become aware of your breathing,
Aware of your natural breath,
Awareness of breathing,
Awareness of relaxation,
Develop awareness of your physical existence,
Your arms and legs,
Your body lying on the floor,
Awareness of the room,
The walls,
The ceiling,
The noises in the room,
The noises outside,
Awareness that you'll be moving your body soon.
Awareness of your breath,
Maybe lengthening it as you breathe in,
Releasing more,
Pushing it out as you let it go,
And then slowly starting to bring movement.
You might just move some things on your face or wiggle your fingers or toes.
There's no rush to come out.
Any way that feels good,
It can be a full body stretch at some point.
It can be that side savasana before you come up to a seat.
But know that our practice together has ended and it was so lovely to spend this time with you.
Thank you again.
Namaste.
