Fall Asleep Easier: Bedtime Yoga Nidra

Hello my dear friends,

Welcome to Studio R.

My name is Lauren Runyon and this is a yoga nidra to help you drift off to sleep.

If you're not already,

Go ahead to begin to snuggle into your bed,

Finding your most comfortable position to fall asleep in.

Don't be afraid to support the body in more ways than you think that you need.

So finding extra ways to support your joints like your head and neck,

Your shoulders,

Hips,

Knees and ankles might help you feel really relaxed in ways that you didn't know you could feel supported.

Take extra time to move around and find the sweet spot of comfort.

Asking yourself where might you be accepting this comfort and how can you let that go?

Imagine if it's the smallest thing like the way the blankets feel on your toes.

And once you feel settled in,

If it feels right for you,

Close down your eyes or take a soft gaze and let's take a really big deep breath in through the nose.

Exhaling,

Sighing everything,

Letting it all go out the mouth.

And then on your next one,

When you inhale through the nose again,

Really feel everything tighten,

Tightening your shoulders up towards your ears,

Maybe feeling as though the body lifts up off the bed.

And as you exhale,

Sighing and letting everything go,

Everything sinks back down into the mattress below you.

Starting at the top of your head,

Feel the head become really heavy,

Heavy enough that all of the muscles in the neck soften.

Feeling your forehead find softness and the eyelids and the eyes and the eye socket feel heavy as though they're sinking down and nestling into their own bed of comfort.

Running down to your mouth,

Releasing any tension in the jaw,

Parting the teeth,

Releasing the tongue.

Feel the heaviness of the collarbones and the shoulders as they move further away from your ears and down into the support below you.

Noticing your chest and the belly sinking and softening.

Running down towards the hips and the low back,

Imagine that everything just releases.

And as it releases,

There's a widening and the outline of your body expands even further with softness.

Running down to the legs and feeling the heaviness of both of the legs.

Relaxing all of the muscles of the feet and releasing all the tiny muscles and bones and fascia of the feet.

Slowly draw three golden circles around your body.

Slowly drawing each one,

Creating an energy of protection and a space for you to completely let go and drift off to sleep.

Assuming an intention to the practice that allows you to root in your intention of falling asleep,

Mentally repeating three times,

I sleep deeply and wake rested.

Move all of your attention now to the top of your head.

Slowly following the sounds of my voice as I name different body parts and experiencing those body parts exactly as they are.

Moving from one to the other.

Moving all of your attention to the top of your head.

The third eye.

Right eyebrow.

Right eye.

Behind the right eye.

Right temple.

Ear.

Inner ear.

Right cheek.

Third eye center.

Left eyebrow.

Left eye.

Behind the left eye.

Left temple.

Ear.

Inner ear.

Cheek.

Third eye center.

Taking three breaths here through the third eye.

Tip of the nose.

Right nostril.

Left nostril.

Upper lip.

Lower lip.

The teeth.

Inside the right cheek.

Inside the left cheek.

Tip of the tongue.

Root of the tongue.

Center of the chest.

Navel center.

Pubic bone.

Right shoulder.

Elbow.

Wrist.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Tip of the thumb.

First finger.

Second.

Third.

Fourth finger.

Right hip.

Thigh.

Knee.

Ankle.

Top of the foot.

Bottom of the foot.

Right big toe.

Second.

Third.

Fourth.

Fifth toe.

Left shoulder.

Elbow.

Wrist.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Tip of the left thumb.

First finger.

Second.

Third.

Fourth finger.

Left hip.

Thigh.

Knee.

Ankle.

Top of the foot.

Bottom of the foot.

Left big toe.

Second.

Third.

Fourth.

Fifth toe.

Pubic bone.

Navel center.

Heart center.

Breathe out the heart center three times.

Center of the throat.

Third eye center.

Top of the head.

Back of the head.

The neck.

Right shoulder blade.

Left shoulder blade.

Right shoulder blade.

The right side of the foot.

The upper back.

Mid back.

Low back.

The entire spinal column one vertebrae at a time.

Back of the heart.

Right side of the foot.

Left side of the foot.

Find your breath now.

Becoming aware of your inhales and your exhales without changing them.

Focusing all of your awareness on your breath at your navel center.

And then with your awareness remaining at your navel center,

Focus on your breath.

And then with your awareness remaining at your navel center,

Begin to imagine or just trust that each inhale comes through the navel center up to the crown of the head and each exhale goes from the crown of the head out the navel center.

Inhale navel center to the crown of the head.

Exhale to the crown of the head.

Exhale crown of the head out the navel center.

Letting that go and focusing back on your natural breath.

Begin to count the breath down from 25 to 1.

Inhale 25.

Exhale 25.

Inhale 25.

Exhale 25.

Inhale 24.

Exhale 24.

Counting down at your own pace,

Starting over if you lose track.

Bring your awareness now to behind the forehead.

And allow yourself to rest here,

Drifting off to sleep.