Yoga Nidra For Peace And Tranquility

This thirty-minute Yoga Nidra practice is suitable for practitioners of all experience levels. It works with all five Koshas or aspects of Self which are common to most of the Yoga Nidra practice traditions. You can expect to experience deep calm and equanimity from this practice.

Transcript

Welcome and thank you for joining me to practice yoga nidra.

Let's take the first few moments to prepare a place to practice.

If you haven't done it already,

You can lay a yoga mat or a blanket on the floor.

And if you like,

Use a bolster and put the bolster under your knees,

If you lay on your back,

On your mat or blanket.

If you want,

You can put a rolled up blanket under your neck and supporting the neck for the practice.

Now take a few moments to settle in.

Bring your awareness to your body.

Feel the body resting on the mat or the blanket.

Notice the areas of the body that are touching the blanket or the mat.

Bring your awareness there.

Let it rest for a moment.

Now make final adjustments to the body.

Moving the feet and the legs and the back and the head and the arms and the hands.

Until you feel like you've come to a place where you're not going to need to move for the duration or practice of yoga nidra today.

Now take a deep breath in and then exhale and let the breath go.

Do that a second time.

Take a deep breath in,

This time through the nostrils.

And then exhale and let the breath go with a deep sigh.

One more time,

A deep breath in.

Exhale and let everything go.

Allow yourself to settle just a little bit more into the mat as though your body is melting just a bit.

Feel the sense of relaxation,

The softness and the surrender.

Start to let everything go.

We'll begin now by establishing an intention in Sanskrit.

We call it sankalpa.

The sankalpa is a feeling or an action that you wish to cultivate or to manifest in your life.

If you have a sankalpa you're working with,

You can use it.

If you don't,

Then one might occur to you now like I manifest peace or tranquility in my thoughts and actions or I accept the world just as it is.

Now if nothing occurs to you,

Just let it go.

Don't invite stress by struggling to create a sankalpa.

But if you have a sankalpa,

Go ahead and repeat it to yourself three times,

Silently.

In the next phase of yoga nidra,

We'll begin by sensing the physical body.

Often this is called a rotation of consciousness.

Just listen to my voice.

Start to let everything else go and recede into the background.

I'll name different parts of the body.

And as I do,

Just bring your awareness,

Your attention to that part of the body.

And then when I name the next part,

Just bring your awareness to that part.

You don't need to move those parts of the body or do anything special.

Just let your attention move from place to place.

Let's begin with the thumb on the right hand.

The first finger.

The second finger.

Third finger on the right hand.

The pinky on the right hand.

The palm.

The back of the hand.

The wrist.

The elbow.

Let your awareness move up the arm now to the shoulder.

And around to the armpit.

Let your awareness move down the right side of the body to the right hip.

Let your awareness move down the leg now to the knee.

And around to the back of the right knee.

Awareness flowing down the leg to the ankle.

And then to the top of the right foot.

Bring the awareness to the heel.

The arch of the right foot.

And the ball of the foot.

The right big toe.

The second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

And a little toe.

Thumb on the left hand.

The first finger.

The second finger.

Third finger.

And the little finger on the left hand.

The palm of the left hand.

The back of the hand.

The left wrist.

The elbow.

Let the awareness flow up the arm to the left shoulder.

And the armpit.

Down the left side to the left hip.

Now down the leg to the left knee.

And around to the back of the knee.

Down the leg to the ankle.

And to the top of the left foot.

The heel.

The left arch.

And the ball of the left foot.

The left big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Little toe.

And bring your awareness now to the top of the head.

And to the forehead.

To eyebrow center.

To the right eyebrow.

Left eyebrow.

Right eye.

Left eye.

Right cheek.

Left cheek.

Right nostril.

Left nostril.

Tip of the nose.

The upper lip.

Inside of the mouth.

Lower lip.

Chin.

Throat.

Heart.

Solar plexus.

Navel.

Pubic bone.

The whole right leg.

The whole left leg.

Both legs together.

The right arm.

The left arm.

Both arms together.

The right side of the body.

The left side of the body.

Bring your awareness now to the whole body.

Become aware of the whole body.

Bring your awareness now to the breath in the nostrils.

Breathe in through the nose.

Begin to feel the coolness in the nostrils as you breathe in.

As you breathe out,

Notice that the breath has warmed within the body.

Feel the warmth as you breathe out.

Breathing in,

Feel the coolness in the nostrils.

Breathing out,

Feel the warmth.

Breathing in,

Cool.

Breathing out,

Warm.

Continue breathing in and out.

Feeling the coolness as you breathe in and the warmth as you breathe out.

Bring your awareness now to eyebrow center.

Keep your awareness there.

Now imagine that the space at eyebrow center has become porous.

And you are able to breathe in and out through eyebrow center.

Breathing in,

Feel the breath move in through eyebrow center.

Breathing out,

Feel the breath flowing out.

Breathing in and breathing out through eyebrow center.

Follow the breath flowing in and flowing out through eyebrow center.

Take five breaths this way.

Continue breathing in and breathing out with your awareness at eyebrow center.

Feeling the breath as it flows in and out through the porous space.

Now release your awareness of the breath.

Bring your awareness to the base of the spine.

Begin to imagine that a luminous orb,

A beautiful orb of energy is forming at the base of the spine.

Keep your awareness right at that spot and feel the luminous orb becoming brighter and brighter and more energetic.

The next time you breathe in,

Feel the luminous orb of energy rise to the navel and then exhale.

Let the breath go.

On your next inhale,

Feel the luminous orb of energy rise to the solar plexus and exhale.

Now inhale and feel the energy rise to the heart space and then breathe out.

Now breathe in.

Feel the energy rise to the throat,

Perhaps feeling just a little bit of tension in the throat and breathe out.

Now inhale.

Feel the energy rise to eyebrow center.

Take two breaths.

With each inhale,

Notice the luminous orb becoming just a little bit brighter.

Now breathe in deeply.

And as you exhale,

Notice the luminous orb of energy slide all the way down the spine and back to the base of the spine.

Take a breath.

Now breathe in.

Feel the energy rise from the base of the spine to the navel.

On your next inhale,

Energy rises to the solar plexus.

On the next inhale,

The ball of energy rises to the heart and then to the throat and finally to eyebrow center.

Let it rest there as you exhale.

Notice the orb brighten as you breathe in.

And then let the breath go.

Take one more deep breath in.

As you exhale,

Notice the ball of energy slide all the way back down to the base of the spine.

Begin to cultivate now a sense of heaviness in the body.

Feel the bones in the body as they get heavier and heavier,

Weighing you down more and more deeply into the mat or blanket that you're resting on.

Feel the deep force of gravity.

Start to feel heavier and heavier.

Now begin to feel lightness.

Begin to notice lightness in your body.

Notice as the body becomes lighter and lighter,

Almost like a feather.

Eventually the body becomes so light that it almost begins to float above the floor.

Cultivate the sense of lightness in the body.

Take a moment now to remember a time when you heard a really loud noise.

Remember the sensation of the loudness.

Cultivate the sensation of loudness.

Now cultivate the sensation of softness.

Remember a time when you heard a sound that was so faint you could barely hear it.

It was almost like a whisper.

Now learn now to the loud sound and remember the sensation of loudness.

And then back to the sensation of softness.

Loudness and softness.

Loudness and softness.

Remember a time now when you were angry.

Remember the anger welling up in you.

Remember the sensation of anger and what it felt like.

Relive to the extent you can the deep sensation of anger.

Now remember a time when you felt calm and peaceful.

Remember what it felt like to feel so calm.

Now return to the feeling of anger and cultivate that sense of anger.

Relive the anger.

Remember what it felt like feeling deeply,

Deeply angry.

Now cultivate the sensation of calmness.

The calm all over your body and in your mind.

The sensation of calmness.

Imagine now your arms outstretched in front of you with your palms facing up.

Imagine in the left hand you have the feeling of anger and in the right hand the feeling of calm.

Look to the left hand and see anger.

Look to the right hand and see calmness.

In the left there is anger.

In the right hand there is calm and peacefulness.

Anger and calm.

Remember a time now when you felt deeply threatened physically,

Emotionally or some other way.

Remember the situation and then begin to remember the feeling.

What did it feel like to feel threatened?

What was the physical sensation?

What was your emotional reaction?

Relive the feeling of a deep threat.

Now remember a time when you felt very,

Very safe.

Deep safeness.

Cultivate the sense of safeness.

Relive it.

Remember what it felt like.

And now return to the feeling of being threatened and then back to the feeling of safety.

And back to the feeling of threat and then to the feeling of being safe.

Imagine again your arms outstretched in front of you with your palms facing up.

In the left palm there is the feeling of threat.

In the right palm there is the feeling of safety.

On the left threat.

On the right the feeling of safety.

To the left threat.

To the right safety.

Release the feelings now.

Just let them all go.

Begin now to imagine the images that I name.

Imagine a flowing river.

Imagine a stagnant pond.

A lush green forest.

A dry treeless plain.

A roaring fire.

A smoldering flame.

Imagine an image of springtime.

Now imagine an image of fall.

Imagine a winter day.

Imagine a day in the summer.

Imagine a newborn child.

Now imagine an old person nearing death.

Imagine waves breaking on a beach.

See the waves flowing out to the sea.

See the waves breaking on a beach.

See the waves returning to the sea.

Waves flowing into the beach.

Waves flowing out to an endless sea.

Bring your awareness back to your body.

Begin to feel your body resting on the floor.

Start to remember the room that you're resting in.

Remember the walls around you and the ceiling.

Remember where your mat or your blanket was placed.

Begin to feel the breath flowing in and flowing out.

Notice how the breath is soft and gentle.

Continue feeling the breath as it flows in and flows out.

Feel the peacefulness.

Feel the softness.

Bring your awareness now to your right hand.

Begin to notice how the fingers on the right hand are starting to move almost without volition.

They're almost moving on their own.

Bring your awareness now to the left hand.

Notice how the fingers on the left hand are beginning to move.

Again,

Almost on their own.

Allow yourself now to come back more fully into your body.

Allowing your consciousness to re-inhabit your physical presence.

When you're ready,

Very gently begin to bend your knees.

Once the knees are bent,

Roll to your right side and cradle your head and your arm.

Allow yourself to pause for a moment on your side.

Notice what it feels like.

Notice the experience of resting on your side with your knees bent,

Your head cradled in your arm.

See what arises for you in this position.

Maybe it's a memory,

Maybe a sensation or feeling,

Or maybe it's nothing at all.

Whatever it is,

Just allow yourself to be with that for another moment.

When you're ready,

Bring yourself gently to a seat.

When you're seated,

Find a cross-legged or other comfortable position.

Now slowly begin to allow your eyes to open.

Once the eyes are open,

Take a deep breath in through the nose.

Big open mouth exhale with a sigh.

Do that a second time,

A deep breath in through the nose and an open mouth exhale.

This concludes the practice of Yoga Nidra.

Reviews

Lovely calming meditation. Soothing voice and gently paced guidance. Thank you 🙏

Loved it thank.you !

Calming voice, very relaxing practice

Calming

Magnificent. Stunning voice !

Outstanding yoga nidra. It will be part of my meditation practice. His voice is deeply calming and pacing perfect. Thank you 🙏

Thank you very much for your beautiful nidra practice, Garry. Very calming and relaxing.

Took me to a beautiful place!

Thank you🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻Sometimes it felt a bit rushed, yet overall a good yoga nidra, thank you🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻