Intro To Yoga Nidra
A beginner's guide to Yoga Nidra! I briefly describe the steps we'll go through on this guided meditation journey, & then we delve in, melting into ultimate relaxation. Yoga Nidra, or Yogic Sleep, brings you into the parasympathetic nervous system, allowing your entire being to fully relax in a state between asleep & awake.
Transcript
Allow yourself to get nice and comfortable as I begin to explain a little bit about this yoga nidra guided meditation that I'm about to take you through.
We'll start off and you'll begin to tap into your breath.
Then you'll connect with your sankalpa,
Your positive affirmation for yourself,
Intention.
An example for you is I walk through life with love.
Whatever you feel called to say,
When I say to repeat your sankalpa,
You'll repeat that three times in your head.
So begin to think of your sankalpa that you'd like to set for class.
And then the rest of our meditation I'll take you through a rotation of consciousness which is tapping into each of your body parts to really connect with your body.
And then a little visualization at the end to deepen.
With that we'll get started,
Get settled.
Feel free to pause,
Get any candles or crystals you'd like to have nearby.
Begin to tap into your breath,
Feeling the rise and fall of your chest.
Just noticing your breath here.
Feeling that connection between your body and the earth beneath you as you begin to settle into the present moment.
Begin to notice any sounds in your field,
Beginning with sounds that you hear far off in the distance.
Don't try to identify them,
Just imagine their music and allow your mind to move your attention from sound to sound.
Slowly bring your attention to sounds that are closer to you.
Any sounds in your home or room,
Anything that's coming into your awareness.
Now listen to those sounds as close as possible,
Right beside you.
As you become aware of the room you are in,
Visualizing yourself laying in this room,
Seeing your body perfectly still in shavasana,
Resting pose,
Lying on the earth beneath you.
Notice where does your body meet the ground.
Become completely aware of all of the points where your body touches the earth beneath you.
Paying attention to your breath,
Noticing that inhale and exhale,
That life force within you.
Allow yourself to keep listening as you settle here,
Connecting with my voice and your breath.
Noticing if your mind starts to wander off,
Can gently bring it back to the sound of my voice and your breath to guide you.
That's all you need to do.
Be gentle and kind with yourself.
Now begin to tap into that sankalpa that you began to think of before we started class.
Allow yourself to silently repeat your sankalpa,
Your positive affirmation in your mind three times,
Truly feeling in your bones that you feel and believe these words coming through your mind.
Now begin to connect with your body once you've repeated your sankalpa three times as we begin to go through the rotation of consciousness.
This is typically a lot quicker but we're gonna do it a little slower.
It's a little easier to get the hang of at first,
A little easier for beginners to ease into.
Beginning with your right side,
You'll connect with each body part as I say them aloud.
Right hand,
Right thumb,
Right second finger,
Right third finger,
Right fourth finger,
Right fifth finger,
Right palm of your hand,
Right back of your hand,
Right wrist,
Right lower arm,
Right elbow,
Right upper arm,
Right shoulder,
Right armpit,
Right waist,
Right hip,
Right thigh,
Right knee,
Right calf muscle,
Right ankle,
Right heel,
Right sole of your foot,
Right top of your foot,
Right big toe,
Right second toe,
Right third toe,
Right fourth toe,
Right fifth toe,
Left side,
Left hand,
Left thumb,
Left second finger,
Left third finger,
Left fourth finger,
Left fifth finger,
Left palm of your hand,
Left back of your hand,
Left wrist,
Left lower arm,
Left elbow,
Left upper arm,
Left shoulder,
Left armpit,
Left waist,
Left hip,
Left thigh,
Left knee,
Left calf muscle,
Left ankle,
Left heel,
Left sole of your foot,
Left top of your foot,
Left big toe,
Left second toe,
Left third toe,
Left fourth toe,
Left fifth toe,
Your back,
Right shoulder,
Left shoulder,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
Spine,
All of the back together,
Front side,
Top of the head,
Forehead,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Nose,
Tip of the nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Chin,
Jaw,
Throat,
Right collarbone,
Right chest,
Left collarbone,
Left chest,
Middle of your chest,
Navel,
Abdomen,
Lower abdomen,
All major parts,
Whole of the right leg,
Whole of the left leg,
Both legs together,
Whole of the right arm,
Whole of the left arm,
Both arms together,
Whole of the back,
Whole of the front,
Front head together,
Whole of the body together,
Whole of the body together,
The body together,
The whole body together,
Whole of the body together,
Become aware of the whole body together,
The whole body together,
Become aware of the space your body is occupying,
Become aware of the whole body,
Become aware of all the space your body is occupying,
Become aware of your connection between your body and the floor beneath you,
Feel your body on the floor,
Do you feel your head on the floor,
Your back,
Your hands,
Can you feel your heels,
Your calf muscles,
Can you feel that connection to the earth beneath you,
Become aware of all these meeting points simultaneously,
Allow yourself to focus on the meeting points where your eyelids meet,
Feel the upper and lower eyelids meet,
Feel that connection as your eyes are closed,
Now begin to switch that awareness to your lip,
Feel that connection where your lips meet,
Your upper and lower lip meeting,
Feel that line between your lips,
From your lips begin to move to your breath,
Coming back to your natural breath,
Feeling that rise and fall of your chest as you inhale and exhale,
Feeling that life force within you,
Notice how the breath moves up from your navel out your throat and back down,
Feel that connection from your navel through your throat as you connect with your breath here,
Allow your breath to rest as you silently begin to count backwards in your mind from 27 to 1 as I guide you there,
27,
Breathe in,
27,
Breathe out,
You'll breathe in and out on every number,
26,
Inhale and exhale here,
25,
24,
23,
22,
21,
20,
19,
18,
17,
16,
15,
14,
13,
12,
11,
10,
8,
7,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Now begin to imagine an infinite space ahead of you,
An infinite empty space,
It feels friendly,
Warm as it welcomes you.
In this infinite space,
Begin to see a beautiful lush park,
You're surrounded by beautiful trees and bushes,
Animals,
Grass,
Feeling safe and warm in this place,
This beautiful park.
Feel the sunrise shine upon you as you hear the birds chime in the trees.
In the distance,
You begin to see a mystical glow as it guides you closer.
You begin to step towards that glow,
Walking across the park,
Feeling the earth beneath your feet with every step and the warmth of nature's love around you.
As you get closer to this mystical glow,
You realize that it's a small temple,
A temple that looks like whatever you want it to be.
This is your temple,
Your special spiritual space.
You see the door ahead of you as you step closer,
Eager to grab its handle and step inside.
You reach out ahead of you,
Clasp the handle and push open the door to your temple.
There's a fountain in the middle of this beautiful temple.
And you feel the love and warmth of any guides,
Angels,
Goddesses or gods that you connect with.
Feel that love and familiar warmth around you.
Feeling at home in your temple.
As you sit down on the floor and close your eyes near the beautiful fountain.
Water trickling as it calms you.
You feel completely at peace here.
Completely restful,
Knowing you are safe in hell.
And then that this infinite space resides within you at all time.
You give gratitude in your temple.
Sending thanks for all the gifts this life has brought you.
Allow yourself to rest here for a moment longer.
Knowing that you can always return whenever you please.
This space resides within you.
You know you'll be back and send your love.
As you step out of your temple.
Saying see you later.
You'll be back.
Stepping back into this lush park ahead of you.
And as you walk back to where you began,
Everything begins to trickle away.
As you return to that infinite space.
The lush park washes away.
And once again,
You are left with this beautiful,
Warm,
Inviting,
Infinite space holding you.
Feeling at peace and surrounded by love.
You silently repeat your sankalpa.
Your positive affirmation in your mind three more times.
You have repeated your sankalpa in your mind.
You begin to count back.
Back to where we first began.
Counting up this time to the number 10.
Beginning with 1 2 3 4 7 8 9 Come back to your body.
Connecting with your breath.
As you take a deep inhale into your lungs.
Sending that inhale down toward your navel.
Big open mouth exhale.
Let that air rise back up from your navel.
Out through your throat.
Continue to take a few more deep breaths as you come back into your body.
Feeling that life force within you.
Take your time awakening here.
Maybe wiggling your toes and fingers or rubbing your fingers together.
Shaking your head from side to side to gently reawaken whatever feels best for you.
As you come back here and enjoy the rest of your day.
Knowing that this peaceful river resides within you at all times.
You can always tap in here.
Have a lovely day and thank you for joining me.
