Yoga Nidra To Release Anxiety

Rest back into this 35-minute Yoga Nidra to release anxiety. I've designed this practice to bring you into an effortless state of deep rest. You can practice this Yoga Nidra for sleep before bed, or for non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) during the day. Settle into gentle handpan binaural tones (played by me), as your nervous system unwinds and your mind releases any anxiety that it's holding onto from the day. Through this practice, I invite you to rest back into stillness and the experience of deep presence. If you'd like to share your experience with this practice, I'd love to hear from you (and where you're practicing from) in the comments. Follow for more ancient yogic rest practices for life today, helping you to finally move beyond the weight of exhaustion, burnout, anxiety, and disconnection from the self. Take care.

Transcript

Welcome to your practice today. My name is Em and I would like to thank you for choosing to join me for this deeply restorative yoga nidra practice today. So, Let's begin. By taking a moment to get your physical body settled into a comfortable position for the practice. You might wish to support your body with cushions under your knees, Lower back or your neck. And you might want to use an eye pillow for the eyes to block out any light and support those deeper states of rest. Attending to your physical comfort can really support your body-mind to rest even deeper. So don't skip this part. Tend to your physical comfort here and get as comfy as possible. And whenever you're ready, Begin to settle your body into a state of stillness. And close down the windows of the eyes or take a soft gaze. And as you drop into the moment, Allow yourself to release any pressure to feel or experience this practice in a certain way. Simply be open to receiving this practice and your mind will pick up on the subconscious grounding cues from my voice and my nervous system in co-regulation with me. And literally feel your body softening here as you begin to rest down. Allow any tension to release from the muscles, Paying extra attention to the muscles of the shoulders and neck, The thighs, Just allowing your body to melt down here, Being supported by the ground that you're resting on. Feel the cushioning of your body by whatever it is you're resting on today, Knowing that you are fully supported and held here. And now in the form of an I am statement, Bring to your mind your desire for this practice today. If you wish to feel more at ease from this practice, Your desire could be I am at ease. This is your sankalpa for the practice, And to seal this desire, Whisper it in your mind's eye, Slowly, As a repeating mantra, Repeating in your mind's eye now, I am at ease, For example, I am at ease, I am at ease. Continue repeating your desire or sankalpa for this practice today in your mind's eye at a gentle regulating pace. Allow this desire to dissolve now, And bring all your awareness to your mind's eye centre in the centre of the forehead between the brows, Allowing a moment for your awareness to fully absorb the sensations and the experience here of your mind's eye centre. And now we're going to rotate awareness around different parts of the body, Sensing into energy and sensations of each part, Beginning at the mind's eye centre, Awareness to the centre of your throat, The base of the throat, The heart centre, The right shoulder, First finger, Second finger, Little finger, Palm of the hand, Wrist, Shoulder, Base of the throat, Awareness to the heart centre, The centre of the chest, The left shoulder, Elbow, Wrist, First finger, Second finger, Third finger, Little finger, Palm of the hand, Wrist, Elbow, Shoulder, Base of the throat, Awareness to the centre of the chest, The heart centre, Right side of the chest, Left side of the chest, Navel centre, Pelvic centre, Awareness to the right of the pelvis, Sole of the foot, The big toe, Second toe, Third toe, Fourth toe, Little toe, Top of the foot, Ankle, Pelvic centre, Awareness to the left of the pelvis, Left hip, Ankle, Sole of the foot, Big toe, Second toe, Third toe, Little toe, Fourth toe, Fifth toe, Top of the foot, Ankle, Pelvic centre, Navel centre, Awareness to your heart centre, Centre of the chest, Base of the throat, Centre of the throat, The inside of the mouth, Tip of the tongue, Space above your lips, Right cheek, Left cheek, Right nostril, Left nostril, The tip of the nose, Bridge of the nose, Right eye, Right eyebrow, Right temple, Right ear, Bridge of the nose, Left eye, Eyebrow, Temple, Left ear, Centre of the forehead, Top of the head, With your awareness, Imagine illuminating the right side of the body, The right side of the body illuminated with awareness, The left side of the body fading into the shadows of awareness, Illuminating the right side of the body, Illuminate the left side of your body, Left side of the body illuminated by your awareness, And the right side of the body fading into the shadows of awareness, Illuminating the left side of your body, With your awareness illuminate your whole body, The whole body illuminated by awareness, Notice the sensations of illumination, These may be shimmerings, Vibrations, Tingling, Feeling the sensations of illuminated awareness as your whole body rests deeply here, Expand your awareness out into the space around you now, Just imagining you could sense the spaciousness of the air around you, And now imagine drawing in the air from the space in front of your nose, On the inhale, Breathing in to the centre of the brain, Then exhale down to the centre of the torso, Dissolving the air you're breathing out into space, Inhale to the centre of the brain through the nostrils, And exhale down through the torso, The breath dissolving into the space around you, Inhale to the centre of your brain, Exhale through the torso, Out into space inhale to the centre of the brain, Exhale through the torso, Dissolving the exhale into the space around you, On the next breath, Breathing this way, Notice the gap between your inhale and exhale at the top and the bottom of the breath, Inhale noticing the gap, Exhale and notice the gap, Inhale to the centre of the brain, Notice the gap exhale through the torso, Out to the air around you, Notice the gap, Continue breathing in this way, With your own natural rhythm, There's no need to change the rhythm of the breath, Just allow your natural breath as you inhale and exhale allow the breath to dissolve here and rest back into the space behind your eyes, And simply receive the symbols I'll name in whatever form your mind presents them to you without doing or changing anything about what comes to mind when I mention each symbol, Simply receive them and allow them to dissolve in your awareness a red lotus flower, A red lotus flower, The sun setting above a mountain range, The sun setting above a mountain range blue clouds, Blue clouds, A woodland pathway, A woodland pathway, Petals dropping from a flower petals dropping from a flower, A pinpoint of light tracing an infinity symbol, A pinpoint of light tracing an infinity symbol a calm animal, The mantra OM, The mantra OM bring your awareness now to the space in front of your closed eyes, Watch this space with the detachment you'd watch a screen just noticing any colours, Patterns or darkness here, Allowing any thoughts to come and go as you watch the screen of your awareness allow this space to guide you deeper into rest, Rest here in your inner space of solace and now bring back your sankalpa, Your desire for the practice today, And repeat it in your mind's eye again as a repeating mantra for example, I am at ease, I am at ease, Continue repeating your desire as a mantra here just repeating in your mind's eye, And now notice the natural breath at your nostrils, In and out of your nostrils, Naturally, Without force, Just noticing and if you wish to drift off into sleep for longer now, You may wish to allow the rest of this nidra to wash through your awareness as you remain in stillness just noticing the breath, And if you wish to begin to awaken the body to continue with your day, Begin to notice wakeful energy spreading throughout your body with each breath drawn in through the nostrils, Feel the wakefulness spreading down through your face, Your arms and hands, The torso, Legs and feet if you're awakening your body here, Bring some wakeful awareness back into your body by noticing the sounds around you, Or tuning back into my voice noticing if you can pick up any lingering scents in your environment on your next inhale, And then sigh out through the mouth with your exhale begin to trace your environment with your awareness, And now waking up the body by making some small supportive movements like placing both of your hands in the centre of your chest or gently circling your palms around your eyes, Whatever feels most supportive and wakeful for you here your yoga nidra practice is now complete, So whenever you're ready to adjust back, Open your eyes and take a moment to allow your vision to adjust back to the light in the room and just notice how you're feeling now, And what it is about this state that you might like to take back into your waking life it may be a feeling of spaciousness, Or a felt somatic sense of muscle relaxation, You may have released any holding, Whatever it is, Just notice what it is that you could take back into your day and if you'd like to share your experience of this practice, Please do share with me in the comments, I enjoy spending time reading and responding to each unique experience of these practices and if you would like to learn more about the yogic philosophy that underpins my yoga nidra practices, Then please do join my free mailing list deepening your understanding of how yoga and ayurvedic philosophy guides yoga nidra can really deepen your understanding of yourself, Your practice, And how you approach your healing or whatever it is that brings you to these practices thank you so much for practicing with me here today, And until you're ready to practice again, Take care