Heart Opening Yoga Nidra

A yoga nidra practice to help relax and restore. Yoga Nidra - yogic sleep - is a relaxation practice taking you through guided meditation into a deeply restorative state which is between wakefulness and sleep; the mind and the body rest, whilst the consciousness remains awake. Yoga Nidra promotes rest and healing on the level of mind body and soul, and brings balance to the busy doing state of our everyday lives.
This track is voice only, there is no music in the background.

Transcript

Welcome to this practice of Yoga Nidra.

Find a place to lie down where you can be comfortable and undisturbed for the duration of the practice.

Make sure you are warm enough and if you like you may want to cover yourself with a blanket.

Find yourself in Shavasana Corpse Pose lying on your back.

Allow the legs to part slightly so that the feet can flop out to the sides.

And allow the arms to be a little away from the body palms facing upwards so there is space for your shoulders to relax down away from the ears.

Lift the head and tuck the chin ever so slightly so you feel the back of the neck is long and comfortable.

Take these next few moments just to really settle in.

Notice if you could be just a little bit more comfortable than you already are.

And take any last breath you can and take any last wriggles or movements to get yourself here.

And try to remain still throughout the practice in order to allow your body and your mind to fully relax.

However,

If at any point you become uncomfortable you may move but please do so mindfully and return to stillness as soon as you are able to.

Allow your eyes to close and keep them closed for the rest of the practice.

The practice of Yoga Nidra is a practice of yogic sleep.

I will guide you into a state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleeping where the mind and the body are deeply at rest and the consciousness remains awake and aware.

Try to remain awake by listening to the sound of my voice.

I will ask you to move your attention to various bodily sensations and through various emotions and images.

Try not to concentrate too intensely but just allow yourself to fully relax.

Do not worry if you cannot hear everything I am saying but trust that what you need to hear will reach you.

Allow yourself to use and absorb what you need in the moment and leave all the rest behind.

If the mind becomes overactive with thoughts or worries just come back to the sound of my voice.

Become aware of any sounds that you can hear in this moment without judging or analyzing the sounds.

Notice what surrounds you.

Take your attention to the most distant sounds that you can hear allowing your hearing to radiate outwards searching for distant sounds and moving from sound to sound without labeling the source.

Gradually bring your attention to closer sounds and closer sounds listening for sounds around your body in the space that you are in and then bringing your attention to the closest sounds that you can hear to sounds within your own body and tune in to the sound of your breathing perhaps to the sound of your heartbeat.

Without opening your eyes,

Visualize the space that you are lying in.

Visualize what surrounds you.

Visualize your body lying on the floor.

Notice the position of your body,

Your clothes,

Your hair,

Your face.

Become acutely aware of the existence of your physical and physical space.

The presence of your physical body lying here on the floor.

Become aware of your natural breath.

Without changing anything,

Notice and observe the natural and spontaneous breath.

Notice the quality of your breath.

Is it deep or shallow?

Is it long or short?

Notice the rising of the body as you inhale and the relaxing,

The falling of the body as you exhale.

Notice the feeling of the breath as it comes in through both of your nostrils.

A sense of coolness as you inhale.

Follow this feeling into your nose,

Your sinuses,

The back of your throat and into your lungs.

There is a sense of warmth as you exhale.

Feel this warmth on your upper lip as you breathe out.

Feel the warmth wash over the body.

Allow your breath to become longer and slower.

Take a long,

Slow inhalation.

Followed by an even longer,

Slower exhalation.

Breathe deeply all the way into the belly.

Allow the breath to be easy and relaxed,

Not strained.

Now release any control over the breath and return to the spontaneous and natural breath.

The body is breathing itself without any input,

Without any control.

So to yourself,

I am practicing yoga nidra.

I am awake and aware.

I am peaceful and relaxed.

I am practicing yoga nidra.

It is time to set your sankalpa or your personal resolve.

The sankalpa that you make during yoga nidra acts like a seed planted in the mind to facilitate growth and transformation.

Your sankalpa should be a short,

Positive statement in the present tense.

A resolve that reflects your heart's longing and your own deepest desires.

Try to discover naturally what you desire.

And from here,

Set your intention.

A short,

Positive statement in the present tense.

So if you wish for good health,

You might say,

I am healthy,

I am whole.

Once you have arrived at your sankalpa,

Please repeat it to yourself three times with purpose.

Hundra up in your mind,

A place where you feel completely safe and secure.

It can be a real place or an imaginary place.

Visualize yourself in this place now.

Here you are peaceful and at ease.

You feel completely safe.

We will now begin a journey of awareness through the body.

I will name different parts of the body.

And you should move your awareness into that part as soon as you hear it named.

Do not move your body.

But simply bring your awareness into that part of the body.

Feel into that part of the body.

Move your awareness freely to the next part as soon as you hear it named.

The practice begins on the right side of the body.

Right hand thumb.

Second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

Fifth finger.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Inside wrist.

Forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Armpit.

Right ribs.

Right waist.

Hip.

Top of the thigh.

Knee cap.

Shin.

Ankle.

Top of the right foot.

Big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Fifth toe.

Ball of the foot.

Arch of the foot.

Heel of the foot.

Back of the ankle.

Calf.

Back of the knee.

Back of the thigh.

Right glute.

Right lower back.

Center of the lower back.

Up the spine.

Center of the middle back.

Center of the upper back.

Between the shoulder blades.

Back of the neck.

Back of the head.

Crown of the head.

The forehead.

Point between the eyebrow center.

Middle of the mind.

Right eye.

Right cheekbone.

Right ear.

Inside the right ear.

Right jaw.

Center of the chin.

Lower lip.

Upper lip.

Inside the mouth.

The tongue.

The roof of the mouth.

The teeth.

Inside right cheek.

Inside left cheek.

The whole of the mouth together.

The nose.

Right nostril.

Left nostril.

Bridge of the nose.

Point between the eyebrow center.

The throat center.

Center of the chest.

Space between the ribs.

Center of the belly.

Center of the pelvis.

Left hand thumb.

Second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

Fifth finger.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Inside the wrist.

Forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Armpit.

Left ribs.

Left waist.

Hip.

Top of the thigh.

Knee.

Shin.

Ankle.

Top of the foot.

Left big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Fifth toe.

Ball of the foot.

Arch of the foot.

Heel of the foot.

Back of the ankle.

Calf.

Back of the knee.

Back of the thigh.

Left glute.

Left side of the lower back.

Center of the lower back.

Middle back.

Upper back.

Right shoulder blade.

Left shoulder blade.

Back of the neck.

Back of the head.

Crown of the head.

Forehead.

Point between the eyebrow center.

Middle of the mind.

Left eye.

Left cheekbone.

Left ear.

Inside left ear.

Left jaw.

Center of the chin.

Point between the nose and the mouth.

Bridge of the nose.

Forehead.

Top of the head.

The whole of the head together.

Throat center.

Center of the chest.

Space between the ribs.

Center of the belly.

Lower belly.

Pelvis.

The whole of the right leg from hip to toe.

The whole of the right arm from shoulder to fingertips.

The whole of the right side of the body together.

The whole of the left leg from hip to toe.

The whole of the left arm from shoulder to fingertips.

The whole of the left side of the body together.

The whole of the back side of the body together.

The whole of the front side of the body together.

The whole of the torso together.

All of the limbs together.

The whole body together.

The whole body together.

The whole body.

Say to yourself,

I am practicing yoga nidra.

I am awake and aware.

I am peaceful and relaxed.

I am practicing yoga nidra.

Allow the feeling of complete calm to envelop you.

Manifest the experience of calm in your entire mind,

Body and emotions.

You are relaxed and aware.

You are completely calm.

Now imagine the whole body becoming heavy.

Sinking down into the surface you are lying on.

Feel this heaviness in all of the parts of your body.

The head is heavy.

The limbs are heavy.

The torso is heavy.

The whole body is heavy.

Sinking deeper and deeper.

Down,

Down.

Heavier and heavier.

Completely supported.

Completely surrendered.

Now imagine the whole body becoming light.

As though your body could begin to float away from the surface you are lying on.

Start to drift up towards the ceiling.

Feel the lightness in all of the parts of your body.

The head is light and weightless.

The limbs are light and weightless.

The torso is light and weightless.

The whole body is light and weightless.

Drifting,

Floating.

Lifting higher and higher.

Take your attention into your heart space.

Notice any sensations,

Any feelings here.

Without judging or analyzing,

Just observe what you feel in this space.

Imagine a small orb of light in the center of your chest.

Notice how this orb,

This ball of energetic light inside your chest feels.

See if you can uncover any sensations,

Any visualizations around this light.

Perhaps it has a certain feeling or a certain color.

Keep your attention on this orb of energetic light in the center of your heart space.

Begin to notice that each time you inhale this orb of light grows a little bit brighter.

And each time you exhale,

It expands a little bit bigger.

Each inhale brightening,

Deepening.

Each exhale expanding,

Growing bigger.

Follow the brightening and expansion of this orb of light with each breath.

Feel the light begin to grow and expand throughout the torso,

Up into the shoulders and the neck.

With each exhale settling in.

Moving into the head,

The arms.

Each breath inviting fresh expansion,

Fresh light.

Feel the light move down into the fingertips,

Through the hips and down into the legs.

All the way down to the toes.

So the whole body is flooded with this magnificent light.

And allow the expansion to continue.

The light starts to radiate out of the body,

Out past the container of your skin and into the space that surrounds you.

Each inhale brightening,

Each exhale expanding.

Bring your attention to the space behind your closed eyelids.

And imagine there was a screen there as though you were at the cinema or the movie theater.

A transparent screen stretching as wide and as high as the eyes can see.

Focus your attention on this blank screen.

And then just allow any images,

Sensations,

Pictures,

Lights or colors to manifest themselves on the screen.

Whatever appears,

Allow it to be there.

And just watch whatever appears on this screen.

Without becoming involved in whatever is manifesting.

Just allowing yourself to watch and observe this mind screen without controlling or directing the images.

Practice detached awareness.

You are the observer of your mind screen.

Now I will name a number of things and you should imagine them on your mind screen.

On the level of emotion,

Image,

Memory.

Move freely from image to image as soon as you hear it named.

Allowing your whole attention to move onto whatever thing is named.

Without chasing any image,

Thought or emotion.

A tall tree.

An empty beach.

Incense burning.

Your reflection in someone's sunglasses.

A cow in a field.

A red rose.

Fresh sheets on a bed.

A big clock.

A vibrant sunset.

A child on a skateboard.

A bookshop.

Bringing stones into a lake.

A burning twig.

A singing bowl.

A hot cup of coffee.

Flies buzzing on a hot day.

Falling leaves.

Fireworks.

A person meditating.

A golden ring.

A crescent moon.

A lit match.

A group of people chanting.

A baby laughing.

A dark sky full of stars.

A piece of chocolate melting in the sun.

Muddy hands.

Blowing bubbles.

A wind chime softly blowing in the wind.

The sound of my voice.

Your body lying on the floor.

It is time to repeat your sankalpa.

Come back to that same statement that you made at the beginning of the practice.

And repeat it again to yourself three times.

Come back to the sensation of your breath flowing in and out through your nostrils.

Not changing anything but simply noticing the body breathing itself.

Develop your awareness of your physical body.

Notice your body lying.

And notice the contact with the surface beneath you.

What parts of your body are in contact?

And what parts of your body have space underneath them?

Notice the parts of your body that are covered with fabric.

And notice where your skin is exposed to the air.

Do not open your eyes yet.

But visualize the surrounding space.

Imagine where you are in this space.

And the other objects or things that are around you.

Imagine your body lying in this space.

Very,

Very slowly.

Bring the tiniest bits of movement into your extremities.

Into your fingers and your toes.

Perhaps rocking the back of the head slightly to connect it with the surface beneath.

Letting the head gently move from side to side.

And just taking your time to return.

And taking as long as you need to come back into your body.

To come back into movement.

Be gentle and mindful with yourself as you return into this physical space.

Only opening your eyes and only stretching out your body when you feel ready to do so.

And the practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Reviews

A truly lovely yoga nidra practice. Thank you

I loved it. Thank you ♥️

Thank you 🙏

That was beautiful…thank you