8 Stage Yoga Nidra - 25 Minutes

Sometimes called Yogic Sleep, Yoga Nidra is one of the easiest and most transformational practices available; helping you relax and release, while also resetting your nervous system, your sleep cycle, and effectively helping you rewrite your neurological programming.

This 8 stage 25 minute practice is deeply relaxing and can be used as a tool to reset and refresh during your day or as an aid to peaceful sleep.

Transcript

Welcome to your practice of yoga nidra.

We'll get started lying in shavasana,

Arms out long beside you with palms facing up.

Make sure you feel completely comfortable.

Perhaps take a moment to grab a bolster or a pillow and place it underneath your knees and you may also want a blanket.

Do whatever you need to do to help your body feel completely at ease now.

Our time together is completely for you and your practice of yoga nidra yogic sleep where we bring our body into deep rest while our mind remains awake.

A practice of both meditation and relaxation.

Let the breath settle naturally.

We'll begin by taking a full deep inhale.

Holding it at the top of the breath for a moment.

And now exhale.

On the next deep inhale squeeze all of the muscles in our body making our hands into fist squeezing the arms the chest scrunching the face.

Tensing the abdominals the buttocks the leg muscles curling the toes and now release.

One more time inhaling.

Squeezing the muscles of the entire body.

And little all go.

Let the body relax and the breath settle naturally.

Feeling your bones heavy as the body sinks into the ground beneath you.

Like it's enveloping you in a warm hug.

Let the body melt into the ground.

Now explore sound.

What can you hear drifting on the air?

Explore a sound then let it go.

Find another one.

What can you hear?

As a listening practice there's no need to determine whether a sound is a pleasant or not so pleasant sound.

Just observe the sound for a moment as a witness.

Let it go and move on to explore another sound.

Find two different sounds you haven't heard before.

Maybe they're more subtle.

Subtle sounds that exist between the more dominant ones.

Now come closer to yourself.

What can you hear in the room?

Maybe it's a slight rustle or movement.

Notice any sounds in the space you're in.

Come even closer now.

Notice any sounds connected to the body.

The heartbeat.

Perhaps a slight ringing in the ears.

The sound of the breath.

A soft passage of the breath.

Hear what you can hear.

Take your awareness now to your heart space.

Let it rest there in the warmth of the heart.

We'll now introduce a sankalpa to the practice.

A sankalpa is an inner resolve,

An intention.

Something we want to reinforce or a seed from which change can grow.

We frame our sankalpa as a short positive statement in a way that's already true.

If you perhaps wanted to improve a state of stress or tension in your life,

Your sankalpa could be,

I am peaceful.

Once we've formed our sankalpa,

We continue to practice with it until it comes into being.

Until it becomes true.

If you have your sankalpa,

Repeat it now internally and let its resonance sink into the body.

Now let it go.

We'll now take awareness to the body.

As we journey our awareness,

Rotating to different parts of the body,

Take your attention there without physical movement.

Letting that body part remain still.

We'll begin by taking our full awareness to the right hand thumb.

Full awareness now in the right hand thumb.

The index finger,

The middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the right hand,

Back of the right hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Right side of the chest.

Taking our awareness now to the waist,

The right hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Ankle.

Sole of the right foot,

Top of the right foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

And now the whole right side of the body.

Bringing awareness to the whole right side of the body.

We'll now move to the left side of the body.

Taking full awareness to the left hand thumb.

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

The left armpit,

Left side of the chest.

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Ankle.

Sole of the left foot,

Top of the left foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Little toe.

Now the whole left side of the body.

Bringing awareness to the whole left side of the body.

Now we move to the back of the body.

The right heel,

Left heel,

Right calf,

Left calf,

Back of the right knee,

Back of the left knee,

Back of the right thigh,

Back of the left thigh.

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

Spinal column,

From tailbone to midbrain,

Midbrain to tailbone.

The whole spinal column.

Lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

The space between the shoulder blades.

Back of the neck,

Back of the head.

And now moving awareness to the front line of the body.

Top of the head,

Forehead,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

And the eyebrow centre.

Letting awareness lie in the eyebrow centre.

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Bridge of the nose,

Tip of the nose,

Right nostril,

Left nostril.

Now both nostrils together.

And the whole nose.

Upper lip,

Lower lip.

The space where the lips touch.

Both lips together.

Teeth,

Tongue,

Gums,

And the whole mouth.

The right side of the jaw,

Left side of the jaw.

Chin,

Front of the neck,

The throat pit,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest.

Bringing awareness now to the heart centre.

Upper abdomen,

Lower abdomen,

Navel centre,

Right side of the pelvis,

Left side of the pelvis,

The pelvic floor.

Now the whole pelvic area.

Whole right leg and foot,

Whole left leg and foot.

Both legs and feet together.

Whole right arm and hand,

Whole left arm and hand.

Both arms and hands together.

Now the whole torso,

Neck and head.

Torso,

Neck and head together.

The whole right side of the body,

The whole left side of the body,

Whole back,

Whole front.

And now the whole body together.

Awareness of the whole body.

Staying with the practice now.

Staying awake.

We'll let our awareness rest in the belly.

Notice as the breath gently rises and releases from the belly.

Letting the belly expand with breath and release.

We'll combine this breath with a count.

Counting down from 40 to 0 with the breath.

Inhale for the count of 40,

Letting the belly button rise.

Exhale for 40.

Inhale for 39.

And exhale for 39.

Letting the belly button descend.

Inhale for 38.

Exhale for 38.

Continue with this practice now,

Counting down towards 0.

If you lose your place,

Return to the count of 40.

Now let the practice go.

Let the belly rest still.

Taking awareness to the nostrils.

Notice as the breath enters the nostrils and transits to the space behind the eyes.

And release.

Breathing in through the nose to the space behind the eyes.

And release.

Combining this breath now with a count.

Counting down from 30 towards 0.

Inhaling through the nose for 30.

Exhale for 30.

Inhale for 29.

Exhale for 29.

Inhaling for 28.

Exhale for 28.

Continue with this practice now,

Counting down towards 0.

We'll now bring the mind to a series of opposite sensations.

Connect with the experience of the sensation as we move through.

The first sensation is of heat.

Feel the sensation of heat.

Recall an experience of heat in summer without shade.

And let it radiate through the body.

The body feels hot.

Let that sensation go and explore the opposite.

Recall a sensation of feeling cold,

A memory of cold or chill permeating through the body.

On a cool winter's day with not enough clothing.

The body is enveloped in the sensation of cold.

Now invite the sensation of lightness.

The body feels light.

Like it can float from the ground towards the ceiling.

Like a feather,

The body feels light.

Staying committed to the practice,

Staying with the practice.

The body feels light.

Descending to the ground now,

Tune in to the sense of heaviness.

The body feels heavy.

A sensation of sinking.

The body feels heavy.

Sinking into the floor.

Now let that practice go.

Taking our awareness to the space behind the eyes.

We'll work with a series of images.

Visualize the images in the mind space.

The first image is looking out across the ocean from a cliff top.

Seeing the vastness of the deep blue ocean.

The sunlight on the horizon as it shimmers across the surface.

Illuminating waves far into the distance.

Seeing the ocean from a cliff top.

The next image is looking up into the sky at night and seeing a full moon.

Seeing the light that radiates from the moon in a dark night sky.

That's glittering with stars.

Seeing the glow from a full moon surrounded by clusters of shining stars.

Now a rain forest.

You're in a lush,

Green,

Vibrant rain forest.

The trees reach high around you as the light filters in through the canopy.

You see a path before you and you begin to walk.

Feeling the damp leaves underfoot.

The path ascends to an opening.

Before you is the rain forest below and the sun rising in the distance.

You can feel the warmth of the sunlight in contrast to the dewy rain forest.

Radiating in the warmth of the sun.

The comforting warmth of the sun.

Letting that image go,

We now return to our Sankalpa.

The Sankalpa that we made at the start of the practice.

Repeat your Sankalpa now internally.

Letting it sink deep within the body.

Within the subconscious.

Now let it go.

Let the Sankalpa fade.

Notice the passage of the breath through the nostrils and into the body.

Experience any physical sensations.

Maybe the weight of the blanket on your body.

The touch of the air on your face.

Now broaden your awareness.

Noticing the sounds in the room.

The sounds beyond the room.

Connecting with the time of the day.

Knowing that you've been practicing Yoga Nidra and that practice is almost complete.

Wiggling the fingers and the toes.

Begin to bring movement into the body.

Maybe take a stretch.

And rolling onto your right side.

In your own time.

Returning to the day now.

Make your way to a comfortable seat.

And gently open your eyes.