Yoga Nidra For Depression
by Emily Stroia
Give yourself some relief and healing in this beautiful nidra practice designed for depression and symptoms of depression or anxiety. It is a hard space to be in and yoga nidra is a proven tool used often to treat mental health and sleep. My intention is for you to get some space from the thoughts clouding your view and feel a sense of peace, relief and clarity. Disclaimer: This practice is not a substitute for professional help.
Transcript
Welcome to this yoga nidra practice.
Take a moment to lie down and get comfortable.
Feel free to fidget until you find the ideal position to rest for a moment.
Place your hands by your sides,
Right hand on right side,
Left hand on left side.
Both palms facing up.
Start to draw your awareness to the room you are in.
Begin to notice the sounds around you without getting too attached to any one sound.
As you become aware of the sounds of the room,
Start to draw your awareness towards the sound of your breath.
As you become aware of the sound of your breath,
Drop your awareness to the sound of your heartbeat.
Allow yourself to be present with the sounds and sensations of your body.
Rest your awareness on your chest as it rises and falls with every inhale and exhale.
Take a deep breath in and slowly sigh it out of your mouth.
Again,
Take a deep breath in and slowly sigh it out of your mouth.
Bring your attention to the center of your forehead and in your imagination see a circle of golden light.
As you focus your inner gaze on this circle of golden light,
Watch as it expands and fills all parts of your body.
From your head to your toes.
With every inhale,
This golden light grows brighter.
With every exhale,
It contracts back to the center of your forehead.
Just begin to see that image in your mind.
You inhale and the circle of golden light expands.
With your exhale,
It contracts back to the center of your forehead.
As you notice the circle of light radiate and contract,
Start to bring your awareness back to the center of your forehead.
For a moment,
Let go of the golden light and just become aware of the center of your forehead.
For a moment,
Imagine that at the center of your forehead,
In your mind's eye,
A film screen appears.
This film screen is the screen of your mind and is there to show you some very valuable information.
It is there to reveal to you your heart's felt desire.
This heart's felt desire is your resolve or sankalpa or a personal intention.
You might imagine it to be a vow to yourself that creates a positive ripple effect in your life.
Your sankalpa is like a positive affirmation.
When you call forward your sankalpa,
It will appear as a positive affirmation in the film screen of your mind.
Use the I AM statements to treat it as if it were already true.
In the film screen of your mind,
Notice what your sankalpa is.
I AM I AM I AM As you see your sankalpa,
Repeat it several times to yourself.
With each repetition,
Notice the energy of it magnify.
And like a seed,
It is planted in your subconscious mind.
Draw your awareness now back to the circle of golden light at the center of your forehead.
Become aware as it draws a line from the center of your forehead to your right thumb.
From your right thumb,
This golden light bounces to your right index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And pinky finger.
This light then travels to the center of the palm of your hand,
And then to the back of your right hand.
Notice your entire right hand fill with the golden light.
Become aware if you feel any tingling or pulsating sensations here.
The light then draws up and illuminates your right wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Right upper arm,
Underarm.
Side of the waist,
Right hip,
Thigh,
Right knee,
Lower leg,
Right ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot.
Top of the foot.
The golden light moves into your right big toe,
Your second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And pinky toe.
Notice your entire right side body fill with this golden light.
Now draw your awareness to the left side of your body.
Become aware of the golden light as it moves into your left thumb.
From your left thumb,
It moves into your index finger,
Middle finger,
Left ring finger,
Pinky finger.
The light drops down to the center of the palm of your hand,
And then to the back of your left hand.
Notice your entire left hand fill with this golden light,
And become aware of any tingling or pulsating sensations.
The light then moves up into your wrist,
Your forearm,
Elbow,
Left upper arm,
Underarm,
Side of the waist,
Left hip,
Thigh,
Left knee,
Left lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot.
The golden light moves into your left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And pinky toe.
See your entire left side body filled with this golden light.
Draw your awareness to the golden light as it continues to travel to the sole of the right foot.
Sole of the left foot.
Illuminating soles of both feet together.
Notice as it moves into your right heel,
Left heel,
Both heels together,
Right calf,
Left calf.
Both calves together.
Back of the right knee.
Back of the left knee.
Backs of both knees together.
Draw your awareness to the light as it moves into the back of the right thigh.
Back of the left thigh.
Backs of both thighs together.
The yellow golden light travels to the back of your right glute.
Back of your left glute.
Backs of both glutes together.
From your glutes the golden light expands to your tailbone.
Sacrum.
The base of your spine.
Lower back.
Middle back.
Upper back.
Right shoulder blade.
Left shoulder blade.
The space between both shoulder blades.
Focus your awareness to the back of your head and feel the golden light travel from the back of your head to the back of your neck.
The golden light fills the crown of your head.
Expands to the right side of your head.
Left side of your head.
Forehead.
Become aware of your right eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
Space between both eyebrows.
See the golden light illuminate the space between both eyebrows like the rays of the sun.
It moves from the space between both eyebrows and radiates to your right eyelid.
Left eyelid.
Right eyelid.
Entire right eye.
Entire left eye.
Right cheek.
Left cheek.
Right nostril.
Left nostril.
Right ear.
Right ear.
Left ear.
Top lip.
Bottom lip.
Chin.
Highlighting the outline of your jaw.
The golden light moves to the inside of your mouth.
Tracing the roof of the mouth.
Back of the throat.
Throat.
It expands to the right side of your neck.
Left side of your neck.
Right side of your chest.
Left side of your chest.
See the light as it moves into the center of your chest.
From the center of your chest it travels to the center of your belly.
And radiates outward.
Tracing the outline of your entire body.
Feel and see your entire body wrapped in this golden light.
Draw your awareness now back to your breath.
Become aware again of the natural rise and fall of your chest.
And for a moment recall your sankalpa.
Repeat it to yourself once more and imagine that it takes root even deeper into your subconscious.
Start to let it go.
From here begin to start counting backwards from 11 to 1.
With each inhale and exhale.
If you lose your count you can always start again.
On your next breath begin.
And I will be here to bring you back when it's time.
Begin to let go of your count.
And draw your attention back to the center of your chest.
In a moment I will guide you through a series of opposite feelings,
Sensations,
Rapid visuals and a visualization.
If you find yourself activated or triggered or uncomfortable in this part of the practice you are welcome to stop.
I invite you to be the observer in the experience.
And to just notice what comes up for you without getting fixated on any one thought,
Feeling or memory.
If you get lost or drift off or fall asleep my voice will always be here to guide you back.
Begin to engage your imagination and imagine the feeling of heaviness.
Imagine the feeling of heaviness as if a weighted blanket was placed upon you.
Feel your arms heavy.
Your legs heavy.
Your eyelids heavy.
And your feet heavy.
Feel them as they naturally fall to the side.
With each breath your entire body feels heavier and heavier.
From your head to your toes.
Your body feels so heavy it feels as if it could sink like a heavy anchor into the earth.
Now let it go.
Let go of the feeling of heaviness and come back to a feeling of neutral.
Start to imagine your body feeling light.
Imagine the sensation of what it feels like to remove the weighted blanket from your body.
Feel your arms light.
Your legs light.
Your eyelids light.
With each inhale your whole body feels lighter.
And your breath itself feels light.
You feel so light it's as if you could float like a balloon.
Now let this feeling go and come back to a feeling of neutral.
For a moment go back and forth between these two sensations.
Recall the feeling of light.
And then recall the feeling of heavy.
Heavy.
Light.
Heavy.
Light.
Heavy.
Now let go of both of these sensations and come back to a state of neutral.
A blank slate.
For a moment imagine a time you felt joy.
See the look in your eyes when you are experiencing joy.
Feel where joy lives in your body.
Be the observer in this moment as you notice what joy feels like in your body.
Notice where you feel it most.
Now let that feeling go.
And begin to imagine a time you felt sad.
Notice where you feel sad in your body.
Does your chest tighten?
Do you feel a lump in your throat?
For a moment be a conscious observer of what it feels like to feel sad in the body.
Again try not to get attached to the story.
But just be a witness.
Now let this feeling go.
Begin to shift between the feelings of joy,
Sadness,
Joy,
Sadness.
Sadness.
And joy.
Now let go of these feelings and come back to a state of neutral.
Bring your awareness back to the center of your chest.
And recall the golden light.
Feel it expand in your chest and take a deep breath in.
Now let it go.
Recall your sankalpa and repeat it to yourself.
Again imagine that as you repeat it to yourself it grows even deeper roots in your subconscious.
In this next series of visuals and visualizations you may find some old memories or emotions come up.
And that's okay.
Again I invite you to not linger on any one memory or emotion but simply be an observer of them and let them go.
Imagine that these feelings,
Stories,
Or memories are just clouds in your sky and watch them as they go by.
Bring your awareness to your third eye center,
The center of your forehead.
And imagine the smell of a fresh citrus lemon.
The taste of a juicy sweet strawberry.
The feeling of a warm hug.
The feeling of a warm hug.
The feeling of a warm hug.
A lush green forest.
A humid summer night.
A pale blue sky.
A peace sign.
Oprah Winfrey.
The American flag.
The smell of chlorine in a pool.
A wooden swing set.
A candy apple.
Colored pencils.
A blue rooster.
A wide and deep flowing river.
The ocean waves crashing against the shore.
A prism of light.
See in your mind's eye a prism of light.
As your inner vision sharpens,
This prism of light begins to expand and becomes the golden light that you started the practice with.
As you focus your awareness on this golden light,
The light expands into a blank screen.
And on your next breath,
You see yourself sitting on a beach.
The sun is shining.
You can feel the rays of the sun radiate on your back.
You look up and you see a pale blue sky.
You notice the sky is clear like a blank canvas.
Your eyes follow the horizon and all you can see is a turquoise blue ocean.
In the far distance there are faint outlines of mountains.
You'll hear the seagulls calling.
You smell the smell of salt water in the air.
You see children laughing and playing.
And you look down and you can feel the sand squished between your toes.
There is a slight breeze in the air.
And for a moment you take a breath in.
As you become aware of yourself sitting on the beach,
You notice beside you there is a book.
A brown leather book with your name written on it.
And beside that brown leather book is a golden fountain pen.
As you begin to open the book and you turn to the first page,
At the top of the page you notice the words My Sankalpa.
And you feel the inclination to begin to write your Sankalpa.
As you start to write your Sankalpa on this page,
You also repeat it to yourself in your mind.
This page is also an invitation to simply write for as long as you wish until you feel complete.
I will be here to guide you when it's time to return.
Take a moment to pause and observe what you wrote.
Read your Sankalpa to yourself.
Start to put the pen down and close the book.
Become aware of the ocean and breathe in the smell of the ocean air.
Become aware of the sky,
The pale blue sky,
The warm sun on your back,
And the breeze on your face.
Take a deep breath in and slowly exhale.
On your next inhale,
Chant the word OM in your mind.
Again,
On your next inhale,
Chant the word OM in your mind and then let it go.
And then one more time on your own.
Chant the word OM in your mind.
Allow this mantra to carry out your Sankalpa out into the universe and imagine that your Sankalpa has already manifested.
Bring your awareness back to your chest and recall the golden light.
See yourself wrapped in this warm blanket of golden light.
Feel its warmth and the support of this blanket wrapped around you.
Remember the support of the universe and of the earth always there beneath you with every step you take.
Take a deep breath in and let it go.
On your next inhale,
Draw your awareness back to the room you are in and become aware of any sounds around you.
Become aware of your breath in your body.
Become aware of your heartbeat.
Begin to gently wake up your body by wiggling your toes and your fingers.
Perhaps shift your head side to side and start to draw your knees into your chest and rock from side to side until you find one side to let your knees fall to.
Lie in the fetal position and when you are ready,
Slowly bring yourself up to sit.
Feel free to open your eyes whenever you wish.
Thank you for sharing in this practice.
4.7 (294)
Recent Reviews
Rachel
October 18, 2025
This was wonderful. I am feeling significantly better and more connected after coming to this in a pretty dark mood. Thank you!
Paul
September 9, 2025
Very thoughtful!
Gina
June 28, 2025
Effectively pivots the mind thru visual activity - which is a nice break from the isolation and dreariness of a depressive episode - I’ve lived with Generalized Anxiety Disorder/Clinical Depression on/off for 28 years - this is a proactive exercise to help yourself, administered calmly but not cloyingly (which I for one appreciate) - but I do recommend a psychiatric evaluation and medication/therapy as well.
Domagoj
April 4, 2024
I have been using this application for years now and I think this may be my first review. I used this meditation 2x in a row. The first time I fell asleep. The second time was profound to say the least, remembering the ability to deliberately create and experience feelings of happiness and sadness in my body, alternating between the two to desensitise and release attention, and return to a neutral centre at the end, reminded me of a practice I used many years ago. The beach visualisations were just incredible, but I really enjoyed how you freed up attention by moving through different forms, meanwhile the Sankalpa gently creating in the background. Thankyou 🙏That was really quite special.
scott
May 31, 2022
It was refreshing to have a speaker use a normal voice (rather than a lullaby whisper). Thank you.
Denise
April 23, 2022
Thanks so very much for your wonderful nidra practice. Very relaxing and restful.
Antonia
December 4, 2021
Fantastic put me.tonsleep and had an amazing rest, lots of vivid dreams! Will do more yoga nidra for sure!✌️🌻😍
Dawn
December 19, 2020
Very peaceful and soothing. I especially liked the background white noise, like the hum of an air conditioner. It was very calming. Thank you so much, Emily 🙏🏻❤️
Michelle
December 9, 2020
Powerful. Thank you.
Tamlin
November 27, 2020
Simple and effective.