Yoga Nidra For Sleep

Go to sleep fast! Simply get comfortable, close your eyes, and press play! This guided yoga nidra is designed to help you fall asleep fast, so you don't have to lay in bed hoping you will get to sleep soon. There is no bell or voice to bring you back out of the practice so you can allow consciousness to fade away with the practice!

Transcript

This yoga nidra practice will help you fall asleep and because it's for sleep there will be no bell or any instructions to signify the end of practice.

Instead the audio will slowly turn to silence and then eventually shut off so that you can use this practice to make the transition from the waking state into the dream state and fall asleep.

Make your way down into a comfortable position.

You can lie down on your back with your legs and your arms extended in shavasana.

Maybe you want to lay on your side.

Maybe sit up in a chair.

Any positions okay.

The whole goal is to make sure that your body is completely comfortable.

Let's get ourselves ready for this relaxing rejuvenating practice of yoga nidra.

You can place a blanket or pillow underneath of your knees to help protect your back.

You can cushion your head with a pillow or blanket.

Make sure you're nice and comfortable throughout.

You can wiggle and move yourself into stillness.

Ask yourself where does the body need to be to be comfortable.

During the practice of yoga nidra our aim is to remain perfectly still.

So wiggle and move your body into a nice comfortable position and then resolve yourself to remain still there.

If you need to move throughout the practice,

No rules that say you can't,

Just move your body and then settle back into stillness as quickly as possible.

Yoga nidra works on the levels of intention and awareness.

You want to make sure to get the body nice and calm and relaxed so that the body can fall asleep and the mind can remain awake and aware.

So now check make sure that you're comfortable.

Make sure your feet are comfortable,

Your legs are comfortable,

Your hips,

The whole back.

Make sure your shoulders are relaxed,

Your arms,

Back of your neck,

Your jaw,

Your tongue,

Your forehead.

Encourage your whole body to become as comfortable as possible.

Bring your awareness to the points in the body where your body meets the surface beneath you.

And feel the pressure growing at these points.

Encourage your body to completely surrender to the force of gravity.

To let go of any need for effort,

Need to do anything.

Simply let go of the urge to do and allow your body to relax,

To sink into the earth beneath you.

Nothing expected of you here,

Nothing to do here.

Take a deep breath in,

As you exhale let go of anything that you think you might need to do right now.

There's nothing that needs to be done at this moment,

Nothing important to think about.

Set everything from life aside for the practice of yoga nidra.

Encourage the body to settle,

For your attention to draw inward.

As you inhale,

Feel present in each moment.

As you exhale,

Think about letting go of your to-do list,

Anything outside of this moment.

As you inhale,

Feeling present,

And exhale letting go.

Now,

Become aware of sound.

Allow your sense of hearing to range out,

To notice sounds far off in the distance first.

Gradually move your awareness closer to sounds just outside of the building,

To sounds inside of the building.

Even closer still,

Maybe the sounds of your own body,

The sound of your own breath.

Become aware of the body.

Be aware of your whole body,

From the top of your head down to your toes.

From your toes up to the crown of your head.

Be aware that your body is resting comfortably.

Feel stillness in your body.

Feel your body settling into stillness.

Practice of yoga nidra has begun.

Now bring your awareness to your body.

Feel your whole body all at once.

And feel as if your whole body is breathing.

Feel your breath in your body.

Each breath,

There's an exchange of energy from the outside of your body to the inside of your body.

Your body is an energy field.

It's always giving and receiving energy.

Energy is known as prana,

And it's the key to your vitality,

To your body's ability to heal.

In this yoga nidra practice,

We will explore deep within the energy body.

Mentally scan your body and notice any areas that might feel dull or blocked or gray.

These are areas where prana is not flowing freely.

And when prana doesn't flow freely,

We feel tired,

Worn out.

We might end up being sick.

We want to restore the flow of prana so they can flow freely through us.

And with the flow,

Bring happiness and well-being.

So now it's time to make our sankalpa,

Or our resolve.

Sankalpa is a short,

Positive statement made in the present tense as if it was already a reality.

You can repeat the sankalpa of rejuvenation,

Or you can come up with one that's already in your mind.

Whichever one you choose,

Repeat it three times with full intention and full awareness.

So sankalpa of rejuvenation is prana flows freely within,

Rejuvenating the body and the mind.

After your third time repeating this,

Allow it to leave your mind with your breath.

Rotation of consciousness.

A series of energetic points will be named.

Allow your awareness to flow freely from point to point,

Like connecting points of light or energy currents.

Start by bringing our awareness to the spot in between our two eyebrows.

Feel awareness concentrating at the spot in between your two eyebrows.

Move your awareness down to the hollow of the throat,

The right shoulder,

The right elbow joint,

Wrist joint,

Right thumb,

Tip of the index finger,

Tip of the middle finger,

Tip of the ring finger,

Tip of the pinky finger.

Experiencing energetically the right wrist joint,

Elbow joint,

Right shoulder joint,

The hollow of the throat,

Over to the left shoulder joint,

Elbow joint,

Wrist joint,

The left thumb,

Tip of the left index finger,

Tip of the middle finger,

Tip of the ring finger,

Tip of the pinky finger,

Back up to the left wrist joint,

Elbow joint,

Shoulder joint,

Back to the hollow of the throat,

Down to heart center,

To the right chest,

Back to heart center,

To the left chest,

Back to heart center,

To the navel,

The tip of the tailbone,

The right hip joint,

Right knee joint,

Ankle joint,

The right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

Back to the right ankle joint,

The knee joint,

The hip joint,

The tip of the tailbone,

Sweeping awareness to the left hip joint,

Left knee joint,

Ankle joint,

The left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

Back up to the left ankle joint,

Knee joint,

The hip joint,

The tip of the tailbone,

The navel,

Up to heart center,

The hollow of the throat,

The spot in between the two eyebrows,

The third eye,

The third eye.

Now bring your awareness to your breath.

There's no need to change your breath in any way.

Try to find the perfect breath.

Simply bring your awareness to the natural flow of your breath.

Each exhale,

Feel yourself letting go of any fatigue,

Any stress,

Any tension.

As you inhale,

Feel yourself pulling in boundless energy.

Exhale,

Letting go of fatigue,

Stress,

And tension.

Inhale,

Filling up with boundless energy.

Now exhale from the crown of the head down to your toes.

Inhale from your toes up to the crown of your head.

Exhale from the crown of the head down to the ankles.

Inhale from the ankles up to the crown of the head.

Exhale from the crown of the head down to your knees.

Inhale from the knees up to the crown of the head.

Exhale from the crown down the spine to the tailbone.

Inhale from the tailbone back up the spine to the crown.

Exhale from the crown down the spine to the navel.

Inhale from the navel up the spine to the crown.

Exhale from the crown down the spine to your heart center.

Inhale from heart center up the spine to the crown.

Exhale from the crown down to the throat.

Inhale from the throat up the spine to the crown.

Exhale from the crown down to the bridge between your nostrils.

Inhale from the bridge between the nostrils up to the crown.

Now the third eye.

Exhale down to the bridge between the nostrils.

Inhale from the bridge between the nostrils up to the third eye.

Back to the crown.

Exhale down to the bridge between the nostrils.

Inhale from the bridge between the nostrils up to the crown.

Exhale from the crown down to the throat center.

Inhale from throat center up the spine to the crown.

Exhale from the crown down the spine to your heart center.

Inhale from heart center up the spine to the crown.

Exhale from the crown down to the navel.

Inhale from the navel up the spine to the crown.

Exhale from the crown down the spine to the tailbone.

Inhale from the tailbone up the spine to the crown.

Exhale from the crown of the head down to the knees.

Inhale from the knees up to the crown of the head.

Exhale,

Crown of the head down to the ankles.

Inhale from the ankles up to the crown of the head.

Inhale from the crown of the head down to the toes.

Inhale from the toes up to the crown of the head.

Feel that the whole body is breathing in and out.

Inhaling cosmic energy from all around you.

Exhaling any blockages.

Continue to breathe this way for a few breaths.

Inhaling cosmic energy.

Exhaling any energetic blocks.

Experience of opposites.

Allow each opposite to take over your very being.

Really experience each opposite.

Start by becoming aware of heaviness.

Awaken to the sensation of heaviness in the body.

Each part of your body becoming heavier and heavier with each breath.

Your body heavy like a stone.

Feel the right leg heavy like a stone sinking into the surface beneath you.

The left leg becoming heavy sinking down.

So heavy you couldn't lift it.

Now feel heaviness in your hips,

Your back,

Your chest.

The whole torso is sinking into the surface beneath you.

Shoulders so heavy they're sinking.

Feel heaviness extending down to your arms,

Down to your hands.

Your hands heavy like a stone.

The head is heavy sinking into the surface beneath you.

Now the sensation of heaviness will fully take over your body.

The entire body heavy like a stone.

Now completely let go of the sensation of heaviness.

Release heaviness from each part of your body and awaken to the sensation of lightness.

Feel every part of the body filling up with lightness like a helium balloon.

With each breath the body becomes lighter and lighter.

The right leg becoming light lifting off the ground.

Left leg filling up with lightness floating up to the ceiling.

The right arm becoming lighter and lighter floating off the ground.

The left arm becoming light floating up.

Hips and torso filled with lightness like a helium balloon.

The head filling with the sensation of lightness floating off the ground.

Experience the entire body floating as light as air.

Experience lightness throughout the entire body.

Let go of the sensation of lightness and allow your body to gently release the feeling of floating.

Let go of lightness and manifest the sensation of cold in the body.

Feel the sensation of coldness rising throughout your entire being.

A cool breeze blowing across your whole body.

A cool breeze from the tips of your toes to the top of your head.

From the top of your head down to your toes.

Feel your whole body naturally contracting,

Pulling in from the cold.

Feel your body shivering as the chill runs up your spine.

Cold permeating your skin,

The tissues of your body all the way down to your bones.

No goosebumps across your skin as cold takes over all parts of your body.

Coldness in the arms,

The legs,

Torso.

Coldness in the head.

Feel cold on your cheeks,

The tip of your nose,

Your forehead.

Cold on your temples,

Up along the back of your neck.

Cold and shivering throughout the entire body.

Now let go of the sensation of coldness.

Allow coldness to completely leave your body and awaken to the sensation of heat.

Feel heat rising in the whole body.

Hot like a sweltering summer day.

Feel the heat on your skin,

Your arms,

Legs,

Your fingers and toes,

Your face.

Feel each part of your body getting hotter and hotter.

So much heat that sweat is escaping from your pores.

Feel your whole body breaking out in a sweat.

Your armpit sweating,

Your forehead,

Your eyelids sweating,

Palms are sweating,

The soles of your feet,

The back of your knees.

Feel heat rising through your entire body.

Hot and sweat.

Heat and sweating throughout the entire body.

Now release the sensation of heat.

Completely let go of the sensation of heat.

Allow heat to leave your body.

If you were able to manifest any of these sensations,

Any of these opposites,

Notice what happens when you let them go.

When you let go of the opposite,

The state of balance reveals itself.

Balance is always there,

Waiting between the two opposites.

Balance is your natural state.

Balance always there for you,

Just beneath the opposites of heavy and light,

Hot and cold,

Energized and tired,

Busy or stuck.

Balance is the neutral state.

When you can let go of the opposites,

You'll notice balance appears.

That state of balance is here for you anytime that you like.

It's yours.

Letting go,

You arrive at the natural state of balance.

Letting go,

You arrive at the natural state of balance.

Now bring your awareness to the dark space just behind your eyes,

What we call the Chitakash.

Notice anything that arises in this dark space.

This is the natural state of your mind.

In this inner space,

Think about an ocean,

A dark blue ocean.

Become aware of the waves on the surface.

These rolling waves represent sleep,

The manifesting unconscious state of your mind.

Become aware of sleep and try to visualize the state of unconsciousness within you.

It's like waves on an ocean.

Below is a beautiful blue sky and below a vast ocean with infinite waves.

This is the manifesting process of your unconscious mind.

Now imagine a well,

Imagine a well that you're looking down into.

The well is dark and deep.

The tunnel dives deep into the depths of the earth.

There's a bucket on a chain so you lower yourself down into the well into abysmal darkness.

You can feel that you're in a bucket on a chain down in the well but it's so dark that you can't see anything.

Now pull the bucket up,

Up and out of the darkness,

Back into the light.

Now let's lower the bucket again.

This time you can get into the bucket and I will lower you down and pull you up again.

Perfectly safe.

Now the bucket is winding down.

You are descending slowly through the light,

Moving down into the darkness.

Complete darkness and emptiness all around.

It's so dark you cannot see two feet in front of yourself but you can know and feel that you're there.

You descend a little further with complete awareness that you're down in the well.

Now I'm pulling you back up,

Up through the darkness into the dim light and from the dim light into daylight and back out of the well.

Now ask yourself,

What am I thinking?

Don't worry about finding the perfect answer.

Don't think,

Instead become aware of the spontaneous thought process.

Just become a witness to your thoughts.

Don't try to suppress any thoughts.

Try to cultivate the perfect one.

Try to simply witness thoughts as they arise.

Remember to ask yourself again and again,

What am I thinking?

Simple awareness of any thought that's passing through the chitakasha.

Now,

Bring your awareness to yourself.

Picture yourself practicing yoga.

Visualize yourself from the outside practicing your favorite yoga poses.

Only practicing yoga mentally here.

There's no need to move your body.

In your mind,

See yourself practicing some of your favorite poses.

Effortlessly moving from one pose to the next.

See yourself lying still in shavasana.

Effortlessly resting on your mat.

From shavasana,

See yourself moving into a shoulder stand.

And into plow pose.

Over to fish pose.

Forward fold.

To cobra pose.

Now,

Sitting up in lotus pose.

Pressing your hands into the ground and moving into a handstand.

See yourself sitting in an easy cross-legged pose with your hands at heart center.

Bowing your head and saying namaste quietly to yourself.

Bring your awareness to your breath.

Notice the natural effortless flow.

The air comes into your body and then leaves your body.

Notice how calm,

Relaxing,

And effortless your breath is.

Reviews

Thank you so very, very much for a wonderful nidra practice. I almost made it to the end but fell into a deep sleep. Great meditation.