Guided Yoga Nidra Sleep Meditation

This is a guided yoga nidra to help you sleep deeply and peacefully.

So wherever you might find yourself this evening,

Let's take the next few moments to get as comfortable as you can.

Setting yourself up in this nest,

Lying down,

Perhaps a pillow under your head or pillows under the knees might feel nice and soft.

You might like to cover yourself with your duvet.

And if you can make yourself just a little bit more comfortable,

Go ahead and do that.

Keeping the feet slightly wider than hip width apart,

Allowing the feet to flop out on either side of you,

Palms facing up towards the sky,

Your hands slightly away from you.

And as we take the next few moments to allow the body to open up into this space,

Just scanning through the body and notice if you might be holding onto any tension physically.

And can you just relax a little and let it go?

Feeling the state of your mind and your thoughts,

And can you just soften,

Allowing the volume on the thoughts to just be turned down a little lower?

Let's open today's practice with the intention to sleep deeply and peacefully.

Noticing if this intention for deep and peaceful sleep supports a deeper heartfelt desire you have for this life.

Noticing the qualities you want to embody or the life you want to build,

Stating this heartfelt desire in the present tense.

For example,

I am calm and focused.

Or I love this life I am building.

So let's take the next few moments and with a sense of curiosity,

Staying open and leaning into what your heartfelt desire might be.

Now let's take one inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth.

Two more times,

Inhale deeply through the nose from the belly and exhale through the mouth.

Let it go.

One last time,

Inhale through the nose deeply and exhale through the mouth.

Relax and soften,

Let it go.

Allow the breath to come back to its resting pace.

And slowly relax and find that quiet space inside of you.

For some of us it might be in the heart space,

For some of us it might be in the belly.

But noticing if somewhere in there,

There is a quiet sense of deep peace.

Noticing the sensations of this deep peace from inside.

If it's helpful,

You might like to recall a place that might bring about the sense of deep peace and calm.

As you sense into this,

Notice the sensations in the body.

Is there an openness or an expansion?

Perhaps a sense of warmth?

And as you slowly start to relax a little more,

Notice what else might be present in the body and in the mind.

At any point,

Know that you can always bring yourself back to this sense of deep peace from within you.

Now bringing your attention and focus to the crown of the head.

And then relaxing into all of these sensations from the crown of the head.

Feeling this relaxation from the crown of the head to the forehead,

Between the eyebrows.

Softening across the eyebrows,

Down the temples.

Relaxing the eyes and eyeballs.

Feeling this softness and relaxation all the way down through the nose,

The cheeks.

Feeling relaxation into the mouth and the lips.

Traveling relaxation down the jaw.

Relaxing the jaw.

Traveling relaxation down the throat.

All the way down through the back of the neck.

Traveling relaxation down through the base of the throat.

And relaxing across the top of the left shoulder,

All the way down the left arm.

Left elbow.

Forearm.

Wrist.

Left thumb.

Index finger.

Middle finger.

Fourth finger.

Pinky finger.

Palm of the left hand.

Back of the left hand.

The entire left hand.

Relaxed.

Feeling relaxation all the way up through the forearm.

Left elbow.

Left arm.

Left shoulder.

Back across to the base of the throat.

Relaxation softening across the top of the right shoulder.

And then traveling relaxation all the way down the right arm.

Elbow.

Forearm.

Wrist.

Right thumb.

Index finger.

Middle finger.

Fourth finger.

Pinky finger.

Palm of the right hand.

Back of the right hand.

The entire right hand.

Relaxed.

Feeling this relaxation and softness back up through the forearm and right elbow.

Up through the right arm.

Shoulder.

All the way back through the base of the throat.

Feeling relaxation down through the chest.

Back of the chest.

Rib cage is relaxed.

Belly button.

Belly is relaxed.

Traveling relaxation through the pelvis and hips.

The glutes relaxed.

Now relaxation from the left hip.

Traveling all the way down the left thigh.

Knee.

Shin and calf.

Ankle.

Left heel.

Soul of the foot.

Big toe.

Second toe.

Middle toe.

Fourth toe.

Baby toe.

The top of the foot is relaxed.

The entire left foot relaxed.

The entire left leg relaxed.

Relaxation once again across the whole pelvis.

Hips and sacrum.

And then traveling relaxation into the right hip.

Traveling relaxation down the right leg through the right thigh.

Knee.

Shin and calf.

Ankle.

The sole of the right foot.

Big toe.

Second toe.

Middle toe.

Fourth toe.

Baby toe.

The top of the right foot relaxed.

The entire right foot relaxed.

The entire right leg is relaxed.

The front of your body is relaxed.

Back of your body is relaxed.

Front and back of your body at the same time relaxed.

Your whole body is relaxed.

The whole being is relaxed.

Realizing the sensations that might be present in body and mind.

At any point you can always bring yourself back to that sense of deep peace within yourself.

Notice sensations in the breath.

The in breath cool as you inhale.

The out breath warm as you exhale.

Now let's count down the breath from 10 to 1.

So on the next inhale for 10.

Exhale 10.

Inhale 9.

Exhale 9.

Continue counting down from 10 to 1.

And if you finish the count come back to count down again from 10 to 1.

At any point you lose attention bring your focus back again to count down from 10 to 1.

And then the we need to come down from the count to count down again from 10 to your kneel down.

Noticing if attention might have wandered.

Notice if thoughts are present.

Notice if any emotions might be present.

Continue to bring your attention back to the breath,

Back to the count.

If your attention's wandered,

Start back again from the count of ten,

Down to one.

Now wherever you are,

Letting go of all count and the breath,

And just notice what might be present in this moment.

Awareness,

Aware of being aware.

Opening into this deep sense of presence,

This ever-unchanging awareness.

This deep peace that is here,

Allowing you to drift,

Drift away.

Welcoming deeper states of consciousness.

Welcoming sleep.

If it's helpful,

Recalling the intention you set at the start of this practice.

The intention to sleep deeply and peacefully.

Welcoming your heartfelt desire one more time.

The values or qualities you want to embody in this life.

Or perhaps the life that you are building.

Know that wherever you are,

This intention and desire have been planted.

Wishing you the most peaceful,

Deep sleep.

The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

Thank you so much for joining me.

I'm Jamie Tan at Light and Spoon,

Feeding your mind,

Body,

Soul.

On this channel,

We're all about mindful living,

Bringing some inner peace to your full-on busy days.

I love hearing your experiences in this community,

So I'd love to know how this practice was for you.

Do share in the comments below.

I hope this helps you find more grace,

Ease and flow in your busy life,

And I'll see you in the next one.