Yoga Nidra For Sleep

This yoga nidra is meant to be supportive of falling asleep or falling back asleep when you find yourself lying awake in the middle of the night. Rather than fight against being awake, this nidra guides you through welcoming you into this sleepless moment. Includes a spacious rotation of consciousness and gentle guided breathing to support calming the body and mind.

Transcript

So welcome to this practice of yoga nidra where the intention is to support rest and sleep.

So to begin,

I would like to invite you to just do anything at all that would allow you to be as comfortable as you possibly can be.

Ideally in the position in which you would like to fall asleep.

Some people find that they fall asleep during this practice.

So if that happens to you,

You'll already be exactly where you need to be.

So take your time to tune into your body,

Noticing if there's any other pillows or blankets or anything else needed to allow yourself to be comfortable and resting.

Even while you're awake.

And throughout,

I'll keep on talking.

And you can feel free to listen or allow the words to fade into the background.

And as you prepare to settle in,

And as you begin to allow the body and the mind to settle,

Know that you're welcome.

Welcome to this moment,

To yourself,

Even welcome to still being awake.

In fact,

What would it be like to welcome this moment of being awake?

This rare opportunity to consciously be and choose to do nothing at all.

What would it be like to cease any struggling in this moment?

Surrendering to the opportunity afforded by being awake and choosing to do nothing at all.

Could you trust that you're exactly where you need to be?

And as you welcome this opportunity and this moment,

You might notice if there's any sounds around you.

Far away,

Close by.

And you might allow a warm welcome for any sounds that might arise,

Knowing that the deeper the welcome,

The deeper the settling can be.

The deeper the welcome,

The deeper the settling.

All distractions welcome.

And as the body and the mind just begin to settle,

Perhaps you could become aware of the breath as it flows in and out.

Ebs and flows.

Perhaps like gentle soothing rhythmic waves of the most pleasant variety.

The breath like gentle moonlit waves,

Calmly flowing in and out.

And you might invite the breath for just a little while now to deepen and maybe to lengthen.

Inviting the in-breath to flow all the way into the belly and then the ribs and then the chest.

While the out-breath is a complete releasing of chest,

Ribs and belly.

So the in-breath is an invitation to allow the belly,

The ribs and the chest to fill,

To rise without strain.

And the out-breath is an invitation to soften,

To release,

To let go.

Breath flowing in,

Breath flowing out.

Breath flowing in and breath flowing out.

And so as the gentle waves of the breath move through the body,

Nourishing the inside of the body,

As oxygen flows in through the lungs,

Is absorbed into the bloodstream,

And flows through every part of the body,

Bringing nourishing life.

Body giving back anything it no longer needs to flow with the stream back through the body,

To be exhaled out of the lungs,

Into the air,

Where plants can play their role in taking in what you no longer need.

And giving back nourishing,

Giving back life and oxygen.

And so in this way,

Connecting you to the whole planet,

Giving,

Receiving,

Breath flowing in and out.

And as each breath flows in and out,

Allowing it to soften,

Back to its natural rhythm.

And as the breath returns to its natural rhythm,

Some people have an intention,

A phrase,

Expression of gratitude,

Or a kind wish for themselves that they like to affirm silently in this moment.

So if that's you,

And something effortlessly arises,

You might repeat it to yourself,

Kindly and warmly,

Three times.

Now allowing the following words to sink into your very bones,

As you settle in.

I release doing,

Thinking,

And struggling,

Inviting my body and mind to rest and restore.

I release doing,

Thinking,

And struggling,

Inviting my body and mind to rest and restore.

And then dropping beneath the world of thoughts,

And as the breath breathes the body,

Allowing effortless awareness to travel through the body with the sound of my voice.

Perhaps imagining that each place,

Each place that is visited is greeted in the coziest and most pleasant of ways.

Perhaps like you might greet a beloved friend or a pet,

Would it be with a smile or a warm embrace,

So that each place feels the support of the surface upon which you are,

And can burrow in to being held,

And maybe to feel at ease and invited to rest completely now.

So warmly greeting the space between the eyebrows as it rests and effortlessly smooths across the forehead,

Head supported and held.

Greeting the base of the neck,

Muscles of the neck releasing in warm embrace.

The whole right shoulder,

Allowing itself to be held by the surface beneath in warm attention.

The right elbow and the right wrist releasing any effort.

Right thumb bathed in warm welcome.

Index finger welcome.

Middle finger resting.

Ring finger and the pinky all snuggled up and cozy.

And the right wrist,

Elbow,

Shoulder greeted again,

Fully held.

The space at the base of the neck making room in this place for ease.

The whole left shoulder,

Allowing itself to be held by the surface beneath in warm attention.

The left elbow,

The left wrist bathed in warm welcome and releasing any effort.

The left thumb,

Welcome,

Index finger resting,

Middle finger,

Ring finger and the pinky snuggled up and cozy.

And the left wrist,

Elbow,

Shoulder,

Each greeted again,

Each fully held.

Resting now at the space at the base of the neck resting in this place.

A warm welcome now for the heart space.

Muscles invited to be held and to ease.

The left side of the chest caressed by the breath.

The middle of the chest,

The right side of the chest caressed by the breath.

The middle of the chest and the whole chest radiant and at ease.

The navel,

Belly region softening,

Releasing into warm welcome.

The bowl of the pelvis,

Warmly welcomed,

Resting on the earth.

The right hip,

At ease,

The right knee resting gently,

Right ankle.

And a warm welcome for the right big toe and the second,

Third,

Fourth and fifth.

All five toes free to rest.

And back up to the right ankle,

The right knee,

The right hip,

All settling in.

Back to the bowl of the pelvis,

Warmly welcoming all the contents as they receive an invitation to rest.

And the left hip,

Welcome hip,

The left knee gently resting,

Left ankle letting go.

And a warm invitation to rest for the left big toe,

The second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth and fifth.

All five toes resting and the left ankle,

The left knee,

The left hip,

All settling in.

Back to the bowl of the pelvis now,

The pubic bone,

The navel,

The chest,

Base of the neck.

And the space between the place,

The space in the place between the eyebrows.

And it's as if the warm greeting and sense of ease at each point of the body expands and merges until the whole body is welcomed and bathed in ease.

The whole body held,

Invited to rest and restore.

And what is that like?

To have the whole body feeling held and supported,

Effortlessly carried in a warm embrace.

What does that feel like?

Right leg held and supported,

Left leg held and supported,

Right arm carried gently,

Left arm carried,

The head and the mind,

The brain gently held.

The whole right side of the body surrendering to ease.

And the whole left side of the body surrendering to ease.

The whole body,

Every cell,

Completely and totally carried,

Surrendering to ease.

And as the breath gently breathes the resting body,

Imagining now how the breath travels without effort up and down the length of the body in the shape of a triangle.

Triangle which starts at a point just above your head and expands to just outside and beyond both of your feet.

As if you could see a triangle surrounding the body,

Breath traveling in from the point above your head,

Across the body,

Spreading just beyond the outside of both your feet,

And the out breath traveling back up to the point above your head.

And if this is too hard to imagine,

Perhaps just allowing your deeper mind to carry on with this while you just notice the breath,

Noticing the breath as it gently and pleasantly travels.

So counting the breaths backwards from 10 to 1.

And if you lose track,

Just starting again at 10.

And then approximately 7 to 8 times the feet length.

And allowing the base of the triangle now to move from beyond the feet to the ankles and allowing the breath to flow along the length of the triangle from the point just above the head to the point just on the outside of the ankles,

Counting the breath backwards from 10 to 1.

And if at any point you lose track,

It's not a problem,

Just start back at 10.

Thank you.

And then allowing the base of the triangle to move from the ankles to the knees.

Breath running from the point above the head to a point just outside the knees and counting the breaths backwards from 10 to 1.

And anytime you lose track,

You just start again at 10.

Breath running from the point above the head to a point just outside the knees and counting the breaths backwards from 10 to 1.

Breath running from the point above the head to a point just outside the knees and counting the breaths backwards from 10 to 1.

Breath running from the point above the head to a point just outside the knees and counting the breaths backwards from 10 to 1.

Breath running from the point above the head to a point just outside the knees and counting backwards with each breath from 10 to 1.

And anytime you lose track,

Just starting again at 10.

Breath running from the point above the head to a point just outside the knees and counting the breaths backwards from 10 to 1.

Breath running from the point above the head to a point just outside the knees and counting the breaths backwards from 10 to 1.

Allowing the base of the triangle to move from the perineum to the navel.

Breath flowing from above the head to the navel,

Counting the breaths backwards from 5 to 1.

And anytime you lose track,

Just starting again at 5.

Breath running from the point above the head to a point just outside the knees and counting the breaths backwards from 10 to 1.

Moving the base of the triangle from the navel to the heart.

Breath flowing from above the head to the heart,

Counting backwards with each breath from 5 to 1.

Breath running from the point above the head to the navel.

And the base of the triangle moves again from the heart to the throat,

Counting the breaths backwards from 5 to 1 as the breath travels from just above the head to the throat.

Breath running from the point above the head to the navel,

Counting backwards with each breath from 5 to 1.

And then the base of the triangle moving from the throat to the eyebrow center,

Counting the breaths from 5 to 1.

Breath running from the point above the head to the navel,

Counting backwards with each breath from 5 to 1.

And then moving the whole triangle so the point of the triangle is at the eyebrow center and the base of the triangle is just wider than the nostrils.

Moving in from the space in between the eyebrows down to the nostrils and back out,

Counting the breath backwards from 20 all the way down to 1.

Breath running from the point above the head to the navel,

Counting backwards with each breath from 5 to 1.

And then the base of the triangle moving from the navel to the eyebrow center,

Counting backwards with each breath from 5 to 1.

And then the base of the triangle moving from the navel to the eyebrow center,

Counting backwards with each breath from 5 to 1.

And then the base of the triangle moving from the navel to the eyebrow center,

Counting backwards with each breath from 5 to 1.

And then allowing the triangle to expand again with the base of the triangle at the throat,

Counting the breaths backwards from 5 to 1.

And then the base of the triangle moving to the eyebrow center,

Counting backwards with each breath from 5 to 1.

Counting 5 breaths backwards.

Triangle expanding,

Base of the triangle at the navel,

Counting 5 breaths backwards from 5 to 1.

Moving the base of the triangle to the perineum,

And counting the breaths backwards from 5 to 1.

Triangle expanding again,

Base of triangle at the knees,

Counting 10 breaths backwards from 10 to 1.

And then the base of the triangle moving to the navel,

Counting the breaths backwards from 10 to 1.

Base of the triangle at the ankles,

10 breaths,

Counting from 10 to 1.

And the base of the triangle at the base of the feet,

Counting 10 breaths backwards from 10 to 1.

Counting the breaths backwards from 10 to 1.

Imagining now.

Imagining now how every part of the body,

Every organ,

Every cell is resting,

Restoring in the most effortless and relaxed way.

And even the mind rests and restores.

Allowing the following words to be absorbed into the body.

I release doing,

Thinking,

Struggling.

Inviting my body and mind to rest and restore.

And so the voice will stop now,

Welcoming you in this place,

Welcoming you to feel free to drop into deep,

Restful sleep in which the body and mind can rest and restore.

Sleep well.

Reviews

hartelijk dank!! ik ben gelukkig dat ik je gevonden heb! heel veel liefs

I love this track. Skylar's voice is very soothing .

Love the pace and the sound of the voice 🙏🏻💗

Thank you. This was a different Nidra experience than I normally use and it worked well for a full night's sleep. Calm and quiet voice that I didn't hear till the end. Grateful 😴

Well done and I fell asleep which makes me forever grateful too! www.grateful ness.org, ahimsa

This was so wonderfully peaceful. Thank you! They have such a warm and soothing presence. Their words gifted me with a deep sense of self compassion. Lovely meditation!

This is an exceptional meditation. You stick with the purpose, which is relaxing someone to help them fall asleep. It is soothing and comforting. The yoga nidra points are done beautifully. I like that you don’t go on stories. When stories are introduced my mind goes there and wakes me up. I like the length of it too because often times meditations for sleep are just not long enough.
Thank you. 🍃🌸🍃

Loved all the breath work and visuals!

Calming. Skylar has such a reassuring presence. Thank you.

Theirs is the only meditation that I can listen to to really get me to fall asleep. Thank you.

Very nice yoga nidra, resrful and restori ng. Thank you.

Love your soothing voice and healing meditation. Thank you 🙏🏼❤️

I love this one ❤️ so relaxing. I fall asleep in no time. Great affirmation of welcoming whatever comes my way.

Slept easily Thank you for a nice way to transition into sleep that’s always the hard part for me

Beautiful, so very gentle, thank you.
🌼

This feels so wonderful, one of the best for relaxation and sleep, helps with anxiety as well for me, quiets racing thoughts, helpfull to release muscle tension and eases distress.
Thank you
🌸🙏🌸

Amazing. 😴

Helped me fall asleep, which is what I needed.

Beautiful!

It must have worked, as I don't remember any of it!