Yoga Nidra Practice 6
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.
As you're getting ready for Yoga Nidra,
You can move around and make any final adjustments in this savasana so you're just as comfortable as possible.
All right,
So your feet could be apart,
Your arms can be slightly away from your body or resting somewhere.
Last little time to adjust your blankets or your clothes,
Your position,
So you can practice without moving but also without discomfort.
And closing your eyes and keeping them closed.
Knowing this practice is just about listening,
Hearing,
Feeling.
It's the only thing that's important.
Knowing,
Setting the intention verbally to yourself can keep you present throughout the practice.
So mentally,
Again,
I will not sleep.
I shall only listen to the voice.
Just repeat that to yourself.
I will not sleep.
I shall only listen.
Feel steady here on your mat,
On the floor.
Feel steady and connected,
Taking a deep breath in,
Feeling calmness,
And then breathing out and mentally relaxing.
Just bringing some awareness to any sounds you might hear.
Maybe distance right outside of the room you're in,
The building.
Just sending your attention around to sounds.
You can name them or not,
Just bouncing from one sound to the other.
And then bring your awareness to the room that you're in.
Without opening your eyes,
Just imagining the walls and the ceiling and the floor,
Your body lying on the floor.
Just awareness of the existence of your body lying here in perfect stillness.
And then becoming aware of your natural breath,
Aware of your deep natural and spontaneous breath without changing.
Just listening to me,
Knowing you're breathing.
And the practice begins now.
This is the time when you can make a simple statement to yourself,
Which will come to fruition through dropping it into this practice.
It can be something related to what we talked about already.
Maybe I'm the observer.
It could be I'm present.
Or maybe there's something you're trying to manifest in your life outside of that.
Go ahead and state this to yourself three times with feeling and awareness right now in the present tense.
We'll rotate a consciousness throughout the body.
So as quickly as possible,
Just sending your awareness from body part to body part,
Mentally repeating the name of the body part after me.
And at the same time,
You repeat it becoming aware of that part.
So we start with the right side,
Right hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Right shoulder,
Armpit,
Waist,
Hip,
Right thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole,
Top of the foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Left hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Waist,
Hip,
Left thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole,
Top of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Right shoulder,
Left shoulder,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Right buttocks,
Left buttocks,
The spine,
The whole back,
The top of the head,
Forehead,
The right eyebrow,
The left eyebrow,
The eyebrow center,
The right eyelid,
The left eyelid,
The right eye,
The left eye,
The right ear,
The left ear,
The right cheek,
The left cheek,
The nose,
Tip of the nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
The upper lip,
The lower lip,
The chin,
Jaw,
Throat,
The right collarbone,
The left collarbone,
The right chest,
The left chest,
The middle of the chest,
The navel,
The abdomen,
The lower abdomen,
The whole right leg,
The whole left leg,
Both legs together,
The whole right arm,
The whole left arm,
Both arms together,
The whole back,
The whole front,
The whole head,
Together,
The legs,
Arms,
Back,
Front,
Head,
The whole body,
The whole body,
The whole body.
Become aware of the whole body and the floor.
Become aware of your body's meeting points with the floor.
Feel the meeting point between the back of your head and the floor,
Shoulder blades,
Elbows,
Back of the hands,
The buttocks,
The calves,
The heels,
Awareness of all the meeting points between the body and the floor,
All evenly at the same time.
Switch your attention to your lips,
Centering your attention on the space between your lips,
The line between your lips,
And feeling the breath coming in and out of the nostrils over the upper lip,
The natural ingoing and outgoing breath.
Feel the breath moving along the passage between the navel and the throat.
On inhalation,
It rises from navel to throat.
On exhalation,
It descends from throat to navel.
Be completely aware of this respiration,
Navel to throat,
Throat to navel.
Don't try to force the breath,
Just awareness,
Just observation.
Then maintaining this awareness,
We'll count backwards as follows.
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 to yourself mentally as you follow the rise and fall of your breathing.
Counting and breathing.
If you make a mistake,
Start over.
And then bring your attention to the rise and fall of your chest as you breathe in and out.
We'll count the breath in the same way,
Starting at 27,
Going backwards.
So 27,
Chest rising.
27,
Chest falling.
26,
Chest rising.
26,
Chest falling.
25,
Chest rising.
25,
Chest falling.
Continuing to breathe and count.
Starting over if you make a mistake,
Counting,
Breathing.
Then stopping the counting of the chest breaths and moving your awareness to the throat.
Become aware of your breath moving in and out of the throat.
Concentrate on the movement of the breath and start counting backwards from 27 to 1 in the same way as before.
No sleeping,
Just awareness,
Just breathing,
Just counting.
Just simply 27 breathing in,
27 breathing out.
And then just leaving the breath,
Coming to visualization.
Imagining now that you're floating in the room that you're in,
Floating near the ceiling.
And you can see below you,
Your body lying in Shavasana on the floor,
Practicing Yoga Nidra besides other people.
Now see your body slowly stand up and tiptoe to the door,
Opening it quietly,
Going outside and closing the door softly behind you.
See your body walking outside of the building,
Seeing the familiar things around you.
There's no sense of effort here,
Just lightness.
You might see some people you know,
They don't notice you,
Just walking.
You watch them as they pass.
Suddenly you find that your body is floating.
And as you look down,
Going up towards the sky.
The next thing you know,
You're floating over the sea.
Becoming aware of this,
See the dark blue ocean glistening below.
It's daylight.
You see on the surface a ship moving.
Your body floats over like a cloud.
Wherever the wind blows the clouds,
Your body is also blown.
Wisps of clouds brush past your face.
Continue to float,
Seeing the sea glistening below you.
Sunlight reflects off of the waves.
Your body continues to be lifted by the air and now it's carried over land.
On the ground below you see farmhouses laid out,
Fields,
Thick forests.
You see winding rivers that reflect the sun.
Pause for a moment,
Just look closely at yourself floating.
Your body is totally relaxed.
And on your face is an expression of peace and calm.
And then see your body suddenly immersed in color as it passes through a rainbow.
Feel yourself washed in the yellow,
The green,
The violet,
The red.
Feel the colors penetrating your body,
Nourishing and invigorating you.
And slowly your body starts to make its return.
The wind carrying it back over the land,
The farmhouses,
The fields,
The forests,
Back over the ocean and the sea.
You're floating in the sky and then you start to slowly lower right outside of this building.
Seeing again familiar objects.
And quietly open the door,
Walk inside,
Close it after you.
Gently walking back to where you're lying down,
Taking care not to disturb as you settle back in.
Your body is resting in Shavasana.
Just check that you're awake right now.
Are you drowsy or sleepy?
And withdraw your mind and just concentrate on this space in front of your eyes.
Imagining there a screen where you can just see infinite space.
Just keep your awareness on the space without becoming involved.
Practicing detached observation.
Noticing what's manifesting here.
Now is the time to remember your statement from the beginning of practice.
Repeat it to yourself three times with the same feeling without changing the words.
And then become aware of your breathing again,
Your natural breath in and out.
Awareness of relaxation in your body.
Awareness of your physical existence,
Your arms and legs,
Your body lying stretched out on the floor.
Become aware of the meeting points between your body and the floor.
Become aware of the room you're in,
The walls,
The ceilings,
The noises.
And then starting to make some small movements,
Wiggling things,
Maybe lying in the same position.
We're starting to stretch.
There's no rush.
Take your time.
When you're sure you're wide awake,
You'll sit up slowly and open your eyes.
But know that our practice together has ended and it was so lovely to spend this time with you.
Thank you again.
Namaste.
