Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra can be listened to first thing in the morning, or later on in the evening, preferably on an empty stomach. Lie down in a room that is dimly lit; not too dark, not too bright, and an ideal temperature. Be free from interruptions to get the best from your Yoga Nidra. Remain awake, yet allowing your Yoga Nidra to prepare you mentally and physically for a wonderful, restful sleep.

Transcript

Yoga Nidra To gain the most from this yoga nidra,

Make sure that the room you are in is not too bright,

Not too dark.

Make sure you won't have any interruptions and that your room is well ventilated and you might want a thin blanket placed over you.

Preferably you have an empty stomach and you are doing this first thing in the morning or in the evening or maybe for a few minutes after you've just come in from work just to relax and make the transition between work and home.

So please get ready for your yoga nidra.

Lie down on your back,

On the floor in savasana.

Your body should be straight.

Your palms facing upwards.

Your legs slightly apart.

Just get everything just right so you are completely comfortable.

Adjust any clothing because during yoga nidra there should be no physical movement.

Close your eyes and keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them.

And start by taking in a deep breath and as you exhale feel any cares flowing away.

You'll start to feel relaxation in the body and though you will be feeling relaxation in your body you will keep yourself completely awake.

You might say to yourself I will not sleep.

I will remain awake throughout the practice.

And of course it is a beautiful way to lead to sleep.

But for the purposes of yoga nidra to remain awake and then afterwards allow yourself to fall into a blissful relaxing sleep.

Just follow my voice now and don't worry about any thoughts that might flow into your mind.

Just continue.

Bring about a feeling of inner relaxation concentrating on your body and become aware of the importance of complete stillness.

Become aware of the body from the top of your head all the way down to the tips of your toes.

Complete stillness of your whole body.

Become aware of the fact that you are going to practice yoga nidra.

Around this time you'll make your resolve.

It can be very simple.

Develop a resolve to say at this time a short positive statement stated three times with awareness,

Feeling and emphasis.

The resolve you make during yoga nidra is bound to come true in your life.

And now we will begin the rotation of consciousness going through different parts of your body.

Become aware of that part of the body.

Become aware of your right hand.

Your right hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

The palm of your hand,

The palm,

The back of the hand,

The wrist,

The lower arm,

The elbow,

The 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,

The top of the foot,

The big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Become aware of the left hand,

The left hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

The wrist,

The upper arm,

The elbow,

The upper arm,

The shoulder,

The armpit,

The left waist,

The left hip,

The left thigh,

The kneecap,

The calf muscle,

The ankle,

The heel,

The sole of the left foot,

The top of the foot,

The big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Now becoming aware of the back,

Become aware of the right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

The right buttock,

The left buttock,

The spine,

The whole back together.

And now to the top of the head,

The forehead,

The sides of the head,

To the right eyebrow,

The left eyebrow,

The space between the eyebrows,

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,

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,

The abdomen,

Shoulder blades,

The whole of the front,

Abdomen,

Chest,

The whole of the back and front,

Together,

Together,

The whole body together,

Total awareness,

No movement,

The whole body,

See your body perfectly still,

Visualise this image in your mind,

Become aware of your breath,

Feel the flow of your breath in and out of your lungs,

Effortless,

Keeping the awareness on your breath,

And now bring your awareness to the movement of your navel area,

Your navel rising and falling slightly,

With every breath expanding,

Contracting,

Remaining completely aware,

And begin counting your breaths backwards from 27 down to 1,

On every out breath,

27,

26,

25,

Saying those numbers in your mind as you count your breaths,

With total awareness you keep counting,

Keeping on with the practice,

Saying those numbers in your mind,

Keeping on with the practice,

And now moving from the navel breath,

Bringing your attention to the chest,

Counting backwards from 27 on every out breath,

In your mind,

Your chest is rising and falling,

With every breath as you count backwards,

Becoming really aware of this movement,

Repeating those numbers,

Repeating those numbers mentally to yourself as you count,

On every out breath,

Number down,

Awareness and counting,

And now moving your awareness from your chest to your throat,

Please move to the throat,

Become aware of your breath moving in and out of the throat,

Concentrating on the movement of the breath,

Counting backwards from 27 to 1,

In the same way on every out breath,

No sleeping,

Total awareness that you are counting,

Keep on with the practice,

Continue counting your breaths in the throat,

Aware of the breath moving in and out,

Concentrating on the movement of the breath in and out,

Complete awareness,

Continue counting,

Keep on with the practice,

And now allow the breathing to continue in its own natural effortless way,

As you turn your attention to visualization,

Developing a vision of a few things that will be described,

Focusing on feelings,

Awareness,

Emotion,

Imagination,

As best as you can,

And the more able you are to visualize,

The more relaxed you are,

And you will find that this becomes easier and easier every time you practice,

Easier and easier until it becomes effortless,

Imagine a candle right in front of you,

Imagine the flame,

See that flame right in front of you,

Imagine heavy rain,

Everything about heavy rain,

Notice all the things that come to mind when you think of heavy rain,

Imagine clouds drifting,

Clouds drifting,

Clouds drifting,

Imagine stars in the sky at night,

Stars in the sky at night,

Stars in the sky at night,

Snow-capped mountains,

Snow-capped mountains,

Snow-capped mountains,

A beautiful tranquil sea,

Beautiful tranquil sea,

A beautiful tranquil sea,

A full moon,

A full moon,

A full moon,

A bird on a branch,

A bird on a branch,

A bird on a branch.

Now it is time to repeat your resolve to yourself,

A resolve that you made earlier on in this practice,

And repeat that resolve to yourself three times again,

And repeat it with full awareness and feeling,

Feel what you're saying.

And now it's time to become aware again of your natural breath,

Aware of your breathing,

Aware of your body,

Awareness of your whole body and your breathing.

Your body is lying totally relaxed.

You are breathing easily,

Effortlessly,

Slowly.

Develop an awareness of your body from the top of your head all the way down to the tips of your toes.

Become aware of the floor or the bed in which you are lying.

Become aware of the position of your body.

Visualize the room around you.

Become aware of your surroundings.

You might want to bring some movement back into the body now.

Taking your time,

Do not hurry.

And when you feel that you are ready,

Sit up slowly and allow your eyes to open.

Your practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

Reviews

Relaxing and nice way to start the day with focus. Thank you.

Thank you. I love hearing a yoga Nidra just this way

Very relaxing great activity before a nap

Nice simple yoga nidra. Only wish there was a bit more space for my san kalpa.