Yoga Nidra For Rest & Sleep

The intention of this 33-minute Yoga Nidra practice is to help you sleep. It includes a Sankalpa (intention), rotation of consciousness, relaxation techniques, and visualizations. This version was updated to included more relaxing feelings of opposites. Namaste.

Transcript

The intention of this yoga nidra practice is to help you fall asleep.

There will be no instructions to wake you up or to bring you out of yoga nidra.

So if you do have some place to go or something to do,

It's best if you set an alarm or your own timer for this practice.

Take a moment to prepare yourself for yoga nidra.

Begin to get as comfortable as you can lying down either on your back with a pillow or a bolster under your knees or on your side if that's more comfortable.

You can place a pillow between your knees.

You can take any other position that's comfortable for you.

Really take some time here to settle in and get comfortable.

As you do this,

You may feel like you need to stretch a little or take a few movements.

Go ahead and shift and move as you need.

Take your attention to your face,

Your jaw,

Your eyes.

Let your eyes be held by the sockets.

Take a deep breath.

Let your awareness drift to your forehead,

To the top of your head,

The back of your head,

The back of your neck,

Your shoulder blades,

And if it's available to you,

Tuck your shoulder blades back and down.

Take a deep breath.

Notice any tightness that you have in your back,

Your upper back,

Mid back,

Lower back.

Take another deep breath and exhale.

Take your attention to your hips,

Your thighs,

The back of your thighs,

Your knees,

Lower legs,

Your ankles,

Your heels relaxing on the floor or the bed.

Notice the bottoms of your feet and your toes.

Take a deep breath and exhale with a sigh.

Take another deep breath and again exhale with a sigh.

Now set your intention to remain still for the rest of this yoga nidra practice.

If you do have to move,

It's perfectly fine.

Just do so with awareness,

With mindfulness,

And with loving kindness to yourself.

Shifting our perception from feeling to hearing,

Begin to listen to the sound of your breath.

Without judgment,

Become aware of the sounds in the room.

Now listen to the sounds outside.

Now bounce your awareness from sound to sound.

Now begin to listen inward for your sankalpa.

Your sankalpa is your intention.

It can be something that you wish to see manifest in your life now or in time.

Look inward for your deepest,

Most heartfelt desire.

Take a moment here and listen.

What is it that would be most satisfying to your inner light,

To your inner self?

Your sankalpa may be a short,

Meaningful statement such as,

I sleep easily.

I am well rested,

Or I am truly happy.

These are a few examples of a sankalpa that might be calling to you,

Or you may have something completely different of your own.

Once you have found your sankalpa,

Say it to yourself three times with full faith,

Full conviction that it will come to pass.

Take a moment here and really let yourself experience your life as it would be if your sankalpa were true right now.

Now give thanks,

Breathe in,

And let go.

We will continue on to the rotation of consciousness.

I will speak a part of the body and take your awareness to that part without moving it.

Just take your awareness there.

Take your attention to your right hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Right wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Right side ribs,

Waist,

Right hip,

Right groin,

Right thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Right big toe,

Right toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Take your attention to your left hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Left wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Left side ribs,

Left waist,

Left hip,

Left groin,

Left thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Take your attention to the back body,

Back of the head,

Face of the skull,

Back of the neck,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Both shoulder blades,

The space between the shoulder blades,

The entire upper back,

The mid back,

Lower back,

The entire back,

The hips,

The buttocks,

Back of the thighs,

Back of the knees,

The calves touching the floor,

Both heels touching the floor.

Take all your attention to the right side of the body.

Now to the left side of the body,

Back to the right side of the body,

The entire left side of the body,

The entire front of the body,

The jaw,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Both cheeks together,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Both lips together,

The teeth,

The roof of the mouth,

The tongue,

The lower inside of the mouth,

The back of the mouth,

The entire mouth,

The entire lower part of the face,

The entire upper part of the face,

The nose,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Both eyes,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Both eyebrows,

The space between the eyebrows,

The forehead,

The scalp,

The entire top portion of the head,

Right side of the head,

Left side of the head,

The entire head,

The entire top half of the body,

The entire lower half of the body,

The whole body,

The whole body,

The whole body.

Become aware of your natural breath without making any attempt to change it.

Notice the flow of your natural breath.

Notice the air going in your nostrils and out your nostrils.

Notice the breath lifting your chest and your belly ever so gently.

Begin to count your inhales and exhales,

Starting from 25.

Inhale 25,

Exhale 25,

Inhale 24,

Exhale 24,

And so on.

Continue counting like this.

If you lose your place,

You can start again at 25.

Inhale 25,

Exhale 25,

Inhale 24,

Exhale 24,

And so on.

Let the counting go.

Take your awareness to your senses and to the feelings of opposites.

Experience the feeling of warmth.

Now experience the feeling of coolness,

The feeling of warmth,

The feeling of coolness,

Warmth.

Now let it go.

Take your awareness to the dark space in front of your closed eyes.

In this dark space,

Imagine spirals.

Visualize leaves spiraling to the ground.

See the color orange,

The hue of red,

A bowl of strawberries.

A peach.

A mountain.

A pine tree.

A wolf.

A sea.

A dolphin.

A whale.

Crashing waves.

The color blue.

A blueberry.

A feather.

A brilliant feather.

In this moment,

Your sankalpa returns to you.

Repeat your sankalpa three times.

Truly experience walking and living in your sankalpa in this present moment,

As if it were actually happening right now.

Experience emotionally what it would feel like.

Mentally.

Physically.

All five senses engaged.

Live thanks that your sankalpa has come to pass.

Continue to rest here for as long as you like and drift on to sleep.

Reviews

Solid meditation. I was asleep before we got very far into my left side. Thank you.

I listen to a variety of meditations to help me sleep. I’ve been using this one for a couple of weeks because it’s so good. Your voice is soothing, the sound quality is excellent, and the deep breaths in the beginning really help to calm my mind.

Thank you!

Sunkulpa practice was powerful. Body scan well paced. Thank you for guiding us.

I fell asleep! It was soothing and gentle. I’m not sure how it ended. It met my goal for helping me sleep.

This is the first Yoga Nidra I've done and it was amazing. I had a dreadful sleep and woke at 4 so decided to try this. I felt so relaxed and woke at 8 feeling as if I'd slept all night! Thank you, I shall be back!

Very relaxing. I think I was asleep before the end of the recording. ❤️😴

The absolute best yoga nidra, my favourite - thank you! 💛✨

Very peaceful —thank you. I’ll be listening again.

Prettige stem en fijne oefening om in slaap te komen

I don’t actually remember much. Slow moving body scan? Fell asleep but woke up after it ended and then drifted off again to sleep peacefully until morning. I started listening at 3:30 am after getting out of bed to clean up after my kitten vomited. I’m grateful to have had peaceful sleep following that.

AMAZING !!! Thank was so good!!!! I am so grateful for how I feel now!!!

I do yoga nidra often; this one is my favorite.
Your voice is soothing I became relaxed instantly and fell soundly asleep. I didn't make ot to the end.
Thank you💞

Relaxed and calmed my body and mind. I fell asleep before the end! ❤️😴

Excellent and gentle yoga nidra. It prompted a good night’s rest. Thanks.

A calming and clearly led session. Ideal for last thing before bedtime.

Love the way you moved with purpose through the major muscle groups & sections of the body.

Do yoga Nidra a lot. Teacher has lovely voice. Nice pace. Love how she focuses through the body and the exercises she uses after. She Sets up practice well, taking her time. I do this when I awake at 5 am and 80% of the time I fall back asleep. If not, I feel very relaxed.

Very helpful, I was sleep within the first 10 minutes

Wonderful 😊🙏 I slept really well. Thanks so much 🙏

I slept. Thank you