Yoga Nidra For Sleep

This is a Yoga Nidra for deep, restful sleep, where you will take time to let go of the day that passed, arriving back into your body and breath. It includes a relaxing breathing exercise, a body awareness walk and a visualization. You can use it daily or when you have woken up in the middle of the night and need help falling back to sleep.

Transcript

Welcome to this yoga nidra for sleep.

You can do this practice anywhere when you want to ease into a deep restful sleep.

Get home in the comfort of your own bed,

On a plane or bus,

Or lying down on the floor.

First make yourself as comfortable as you possibly can.

Make sure that you are warm,

Maybe place a blanket or bolster over you.

Maybe a bolster or pillow under your knees to relax your lower back.

And when you have arrived to your final position,

Explore if there is anything you can do to increase your level of comfort only by a few percent.

If you haven't already softly close down your eyes,

Feel the weight of your eyelids as they close and embrace the stillness that immediately appears.

When you found you are as comfortable as you can be,

Gently bring your awareness to the weight of your body.

Bring your awareness to how gravity brings your body down towards the surface beneath you,

And how the surface beneath you is supporting you.

Then notice all points of contact.

Walk through them all.

And with every touch of awareness,

Notice the stillness in that specific point of contact.

Now,

Become aware of your breath.

Without trying to alter or in any way change it,

Follow a couple of breaths as they float in and out of your body.

Be fully present with the inhale,

Fully present with the exhale.

Imagine that as you inhale,

The breath rises from the base of your spine all the way up to the crown of your head.

And the exhale floats from the crown of your head down to the base of your spine.

And imagine how you with every exhale let go of the day that has passed,

All the conversations you've had,

All the things you have accomplished,

Everything you have managed throughout the day.

Release it and let it go.

So let go of all the plans for tomorrow.

Allow yourself to arrive at this moment.

Letting everything else go.

Let it dissolve.

Giving you content.

Now bring your awareness to the sounds around you.

Just notice a sound that is further away and single it out with your awareness.

Listen carefully,

Focused.

Make yourself fully present with that sound.

Now let go of that sound.

Move over to the next.

For a few breaths,

Listen to this sound with your full attention and focus.

Let it fill your mind.

Now keep listening into all the different sounds around you.

One sound at a time.

Take your time and really sit with each sound.

Now try to listen to all the sounds at the same time.

Make them all in.

Be fully present with each one of them equally.

And at the same time make them into one.

We are going to do a short wind down exercise.

This exercise is a really simple breathing exercise.

You are going to breathe in to the count of four,

Holding the breath to the count of four,

And then breathing out to the count of six.

Start by taking a couple of long deep breaths in and out through your nose.

Noticing where in your body you feel your breath.

The nose,

The chest,

The diaphragm.

Now breathe in for four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Hold the breath,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Breathe out for six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Inhale for three,

Two,

One.

Hold for three,

Two,

One.

Exhale six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Inhale four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Hold four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Exhale six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Inhale four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Hold four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Exhale six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Great.

We are going to continue this practice with a rotation of awareness.

All you need to do is to allow your awareness to follow my voice while I guide you from point to point within your body.

Just move your awareness to your mouth.

Become aware of your tongue.

Relax it.

Become aware of your jaw.

Lower row of teeth.

Upper row of teeth.

Your gum.

Upper lip.

Lower lip.

The space between your lips.

Right cheekbone.

Left cheekbone.

Both of your cheeks.

Right ear.

Left ear.

Your forehead.

Right temple.

Left temple.

Both temples at the same time.

The top of your head.

The back of your head.

The tip of your nose.

Right nostril.

Left nostril.

Right eyelid.

Left eyelid.

Right eyebrow.

Left eyebrow.

The space between your eyes.

Now move your awareness to your right hand.

Right thumb.

Index finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Little finger.

Right palm.

The back of the hand.

The wrist.

The forearm.

The elbow.

The upper arm.

Shoulder.

Right armpit.

Right ribs.

Waist.

Hip.

Right thigh.

Knee.

Calf.

Ankle.

Heel.

Soap.

Right big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Fifth toe.

Move your awareness to your left hand.

Left thumb.

Index finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Little finger.

Left palm.

The back of the hand.

Wrist.

Forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Left armpit.

Left ribs.

Waist.

Hip.

Left thigh.

Knee.

Calf.

Ankle.

Heel.

Sole of the left foot.

Left big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Fifth toe.

Your groin.

Right buttock.

Left buttock.

Lower part of the back.

Middle part of the back.

Upper part of the back.

Right shoulder blade.

Left shoulder blade.

The neck.

Back of your head.

Inside of your right ear.

Inside of your left ear.

Roof of your mouth.

Throat.

Right collarbone.

Left collarbone.

Right chest.

Left chest.

Middle of your chest.

Lower part of your belly.

The navel.

Lower part of your belly.

Your whole spine.

Your whole head.

Right arm.

Left arm.

Both arms together.

Whole right leg.

Whole left leg.

Both legs together.

Whole front side of your body.

Whole back side of your body.

Be fully aware of your whole body.

Now visualize before you the sea breeze cottage.

A small stone house just by the still ocean.

Settle in a calm,

Isolated bay where the gulls cry and the waves gently tap the shore.

The sea is still,

Fully at peace and only a soft clock tells of the waves.

Created by the constant tug of war between the moon and the earth.

The sea breeze cottage is warm and cozy and the view from the picture window out over the bay instantly takes you away from all the hustle and bustle of daily life.

As you sink down into the couch where you can overlook the bay,

Your body becomes soft.

Your mind becomes soft.

As you sink deeper into the cushioned couch,

You watch the sea,

The waves and the streak of sand.

And as you do,

You relax everything down,

Completely dissolving any stress or tension from your body.

Your soft gaze follows the line where the sea and heaven meet.

Two fields of blue stillness.

The bay is small and a narrow path runs from the hill around it down onto the beach.

On the path you see a dog happily running down towards the beach,

Tail swaying,

Seemingly looking forward to dipping his paws into the water.

A few steps behind an older man follows,

Stepping carefully on the steep path,

Stone by stone,

Steadily he makes his way down.

Through the window you can see him smiling and calling out for the dogs,

But the sounds are caught and stopped by the cottage windows.

The dog reaches the beach and splashes happily out into the water.

The man follows him and stops on the shore and watches its play.

Suddenly you see him turning his head,

As if something caught his attention.

And as you follow his gaze you see a boat appearing around the corner of the bay.

It's a small rowing boat and the person rowing takes his time.

Softly the oars lap the still surface of the sea,

Only making small soft ripples and droplets.

From what you can see there are two people in the boat,

Seemingly enjoying the stillness out on the sea.

The boat doesn't move fast,

Just a gentle steady pace as it crosses the bay,

Where you see the old man as he raises his hand for a wave and the boat passenger waves back as they continue their journey out on the still water.

Your eyelids feel heavy and you bring your awareness back into the room you're in.

The couch facing the window and by the wall a fire is cracking in the fireplace,

Heat spreading in the room.

To its side a large shelf is covering the wall,

Old books from shelf to shelf.

And on top of the fireplace a couple of pictured photos are what seems to be sunsets over the bay and the surrounding nature in different seasons.

Softly you allow your eyes to close,

Being held in the warmth of the cottage,

Feeling completely at ease,

Completely relaxed,

Gently this day dissolves and you drift into a solid,

Sweet sleep.

Sheeya,

Ch tub!

You you

Reviews

Thank you so much for a very very calming practice. This practice was so useful for me to get back to sleep in the middle of the night.

Emilie, with so much thanks for your beautiful meditation. The visualizations along with your calming voice truly made this special.