Non-Sleep Deep Rest [NSDR] Yoga Nidra

This is a Non Sleep Deep Rest 40 Minutes (NSDR) Guided Meditation

The session includes breathing exercises, awareness practices, visualisation, and a complete and thorough body scan. This relaxation should leave you feeling deeply rested and refreshed after the session.

Key Benefits of NSDR: Stress Relief: Reduces stress and anxiety, promoting deep relaxation. Improved Cognitive Function: Enhances mental clarity, focus, and cognitive function. Better Sleep Quality: Improves sleep quality and aids in falling asleep more easily. Pain Management: May potentially assist in managing pain and stress-related symptoms. Neuroplasticity Enhancement: Stimulates the brain's ability to adapt and change in response to experiences, aiding in faster learning and skill acquisition.

Background music by Liborio Conti

Transcript

Hi and thank you for joining me for this 40-minute NSDR or non-sleep deep rest guided relaxation.

My name is Rishi from Good Karma Meditations and I'll be guiding you through this session today.

So make sure that the place you've chosen to lie down is somewhere where you won't be disturbed for the next 40 minutes.

Choose somewhere comfortable and quiet and then come to lie down on your back,

Eventually bringing the body to complete stillness.

Close your eyes and settle in.

So we'll begin our practice today with a sighing exercise that will consist of deep breaths in through the nose and big sighs out through the mouth.

So you can begin this now,

Take a deep breath in through the nose,

Fill the lungs and breathe out through the mouth with a big sigh and continue.

Deep breath in,

Big sigh out through the mouth.

Do several more of these.

And one last sigh,

Deep breath in through the nose,

Fill the lungs,

Big sigh out through the mouth.

And we'll do just one more active breathing exercise.

And this technique is composed of a deep breath in,

Just like before,

But we try to breathe out in a long,

Slow exhalation.

So you can try this now.

Take a deep breath in through the nose,

Fill the lungs and then breathe out slowly through the nose or mouth,

Trying to make the exhale longer than the inhale.

Continue this technique,

Deep breath in,

Long slow exhale,

But keep it comfortable and with every exhalation,

Allow the body to relax,

Sinking into the floor,

Heavy,

Comfortable.

Deep breaths in and long breaths out and finishing the round you are on and then just one more deep breath in and a long,

Slow exhalation and then you can finish that breathing exercise.

Allow the breath to return to a completely natural rhythm with no further control on your part and now just observe your breath at the nostrils.

Allow the breath to flow,

Coming and going in its own rhythm and you simply observe or feel the sensation of the breath coming and going from the nostrils and you don't need to strain your focus,

Just in a relaxed manner,

Observe the passage of the breath,

Feel the coming and going of the breath and just notice if and when your attention wanders and lead it back,

Watching the breath,

Not trying to suppress thought but not giving too much tension to your thoughts either.

Give your attention to the breath at the nostrils,

Very good and now the next technique we will practice is a simple observation of some of the senses and we will start with the sense of sound or hearing,

Bring your attention to your ears and notice what sounds you can hear,

Obviously you can hear my voice and the music in the background but maybe there are some sounds from the room you are in or even beyond the room,

Maybe voices,

Traffic,

Birds,

Construction,

Just take a moment to notice these sounds and now shifting your attention to your sense of sight,

Keep the eyes closed but notice what you can see behind the closed eyes and at first glance it may appear that everything is pitch black but if you spend some time here,

Gazing into the back of the eyelids,

You may just notice that there is more happening here,

There may be patterns,

Light and dark,

Shapes and colours or anything else,

I am not trying to artificially bring about a vision,

Just simply observe what is,

But now we will try to bring about a vision,

Try to visualize as clearly as you can the room in which you are resting,

In your mind's eye,

Try to imagine seeing yourself lying there however you are lying,

Notice the clothes you are wearing,

Notice your surrounding in as much detail as you can,

Visualize the room,

Yourself in the room and if you can't do this exercise clearly,

No problem,

It's just the intention that counts and we will now take a scan through the body,

As I name the different parts of the body,

Simply take your attention to that part of the body and see if you can feel any sensation there,

Maybe you can relax that part of the body too and start with the right thumb,

Become aware of the right thumb,

Right index finger,

Right middle finger,

Ring finger and the right little finger,

Right palm,

Right back of the hand,

Right wrist,

Right forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Right shoulder,

Right chest,

Right waist,

Right hip,

Right hip joint,

Right thigh,

Right knee,

Lower leg,

Right ankle,

Right heel,

Right arch of the foot,

Outside edge of the foot,

Right ball of the foot,

Right big toe,

Right second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and fifth toe,

Whole right side of the body,

Everything we've covered so far,

Left thumb,

Left index finger,

Left middle finger,

Left ring finger,

Left little finger,

Palm of the left hand,

Back of the hand,

Left wrist,

Left forearm,

Left elbow,

Upper arm,

Left shoulder,

Left chest,

Left waist,

Left hip,

Left hip joint,

Left thigh,

Left knee,

Lower leg,

Left ankle,

Left heel,

Left arch of the foot,

Outside edge of the foot,

Left ball of the foot,

Left big toe,

Left second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and little toe,

Whole of the left side of the body,

Everything covered so far,

And now you can become aware of the contact of your body against the surface you're resting on,

Start with the heels,

Feel the pressure of the contact of your heels against the surface you rest on,

Calf muscles,

Back of the thighs,

Back,

Upper arms,

Elbows,

Forearms and feel the contact of the hands on the surface you rest on,

And back of the head,

Become aware now of the forehead,

Aware of the closed eyes,

Temples,

Cheeks,

Nose,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Upper teeth,

Lower teeth,

Tongue,

Chin,

Jaw,

Now become aware of the crown at the top of the head,

Bring all of your attention here,

Try to feel this area as clearly as you can,

Maybe you can sense the crown clearly,

Maybe you can't feel this area at all,

It doesn't matter,

Just take your attention there to the crown and see what you can feel,

Continue holding awareness at the crown Now shift awareness to the forehead,

Bring all of your focus and attention to the forehead,

Soften and relax the region,

See if you can identify,

If you can feel any sensation here at the forehead,

If the mind wanders,

Lead it back,

Aware of the forehead Now focus on the front of the throat,

Bring all of your attention to the front of the throat,

Can you feel anything here,

Or is it devoid of sensation,

There is no right or wrong experience,

Just simply notice what is,

Continue holding awareness at the throat Good,

Now bring attention down into the chest,

To the place where the heart resides in the chest,

And try and feel the region of the heart,

Maybe you can detect the physical presence of the heart,

You may even notice the pulse,

The beating of the heart,

But it does not matter if you can't Try to feel this region of the heart as clearly as you can,

If the mind wanders,

Lead it back,

Feeling the heart And now,

Become aware of the navel center,

The belly button,

Tune into this region,

See if you can feel or sense this area,

And hold focus here for a while You may be able to detect the area more superficially,

Or perhaps more deeply towards the spine,

At the level of the navel,

Hold focus at the navel center And now shifting attention to the region of the pubic bone,

Take your attention here,

Tune into the area,

See what you find,

Can you feel this region,

Is there any sign of sensation here,

Maybe yes,

Maybe no Just have a look,

Continue focusing at the region of the pubic bone,

And bringing your focus to the pelvic floor now,

Tuning in to this region of the pelvic floor,

Maybe you can sense the area clearly,

Maybe not at all Just have a look,

Connect to the region,

Notice the sensations or absence of sensation,

Mind focused at the pelvic floor See if you can now become aware of the entire left side of the body,

So the left half of the face,

Left arm and shoulder,

Left half of the torso,

And the left leg Aware of the whole left side of the body And now,

Become aware of the entire right side of the body,

So the right half of the face,

Right shoulder and arm,

Right half of the torso,

And right down through the right leg And now shift your awareness to become aware of the entire upper half of your body,

From the waist up,

Tune in to the whole upper half of the body,

So the face and head,

Torso and arms And now,

Become aware of the entire lower half of the body,

From the waist down,

Connecting to and aware of the entire lower half of the body And now becoming aware of your entire body,

From the crown at the top of the head,

All the way down through the body,

Right the way in to the toes Connect to and become aware of your entire body,

Feel the sensations throughout the whole body,

Feel the body continuing to relax more and more deeply Whole body awareness,

And if your mind should wander,

Lead it back,

Aware of the whole body,

Feeling your conscious awareness permeating the entire body The body relaxed,

Heavy and saturated with your conscious awareness And as you continue to rest here,

Aware of the body,

Maintain that connection and awareness of the body But begin to also notice the coming and going of your natural breath at the nostrils,

So the awareness of the body remains,

The breath continues flowing And you simply watch the breath as you feel the body Thoughts may come and go in the background,

But the bulk of your attention is involved with feeling the body and watching the breath Continue this practice,

Very good Now allow your attention to move out specifically into the fingers and toes As we begin to come to the end of this practice,

Feel the sensations in the fingers and toes And begin slowly wiggling fingers and wiggling toes,

Bringing movement back to the body And you can start gently turning the wrists,

Turning the ankles,

Waking up the body some more You may like to take slightly deeper breaths in and out now,

Starting to stretch out through the arms and through the legs Stretching out through the whole body And as you prepare to come to the end of this 40 minute non-sleep deep rest NSDR guided meditation See if you can maintain that awareness of the body,

So when you're ready,

You can slowly open the eyes Become aware of your surroundings once again,

And just take a moment to give thanks to yourself For taking this time for self-care,

For connecting and looking after yourself So I'd like to thank you for taking the time to practice with me today I hope that this NSDR has served you well,

And that you feel much more refreshed and ready to go on with the rest of your day Thank you for the practice And if you wanted to support this project or show your appreciation,

Feel free to give a like or rating for this meditation Follow or subscribe to the channel And if you wanted to share your experience,

Please leave a comment I love hearing from you all Thank you so much This is Rishi from Good Karma Meditations And I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day

Reviews

Very nice, gentle, relaxing Yoga Nidra practice. Very soft music, no loud sounds 🙏🏻

This was SO RELAXING 🩵 Thank you Im very grateful. My nervoys system is overloaded all the time bc of ME/CFS and this really calmed me. Your voice is incredible!

//Edit to your reply; Thank you so so much for concidering doing that – I would absolutely LOVE it 🥹 I’ll look forward to it with excitement!🙏🏻Have a wonderful day too ☀️