Yoga Nidra: Relax & Reset Your Energy

Welcome to your Yoga Nidra meditation practice.

This meditation is designed to be used during the day to connect you to a feeling of ease and well-being.

Take a few moments now to get comfortable and settled.

If you're practicing from lying down,

Make sure that you'll be warm enough as the body temperature drops about 2 to 3 degrees during the practice.

And once everything feels just so,

Allow yourself to become still.

Settle fully into your body and into your position by breathing consciously.

Focusing on creating a smooth,

Slow breath rather than a deep breath.

Breathing in and out through the nose and following the pathway of the breath through the body.

Three more breaths like this.

And now grounding your awareness in your body.

Feeling fully into the space that you occupy.

Sensing the dimensions of your body.

And feeling into the weight of your body resting against the surface beneath.

See if you can release the weight of your body a little more.

Letting go of any areas where you might be holding back or cultivating tension or tightness.

Now begin to consciously soften from the top of your head all the way down to your toes.

Feeling as though your scalp is relaxing.

The fine muscles around the eyes softening.

Feel your cheeks drawing down towards the earth.

And your tongue soft inside your mouth bringing ease to your jaw.

Keep moving your attention down through your body.

Feeling each part soften as your awareness touches it.

Feel the sense of ease spreading through your body.

Your whole body softening.

Your whole body letting go.

Just your attention to the sense of hearing.

And just open your awareness to all of the sounds around you.

Welcoming in all of the sounds without concern,

Without judgment.

Receiving them just as they are.

Actively listening to the sounds around you.

See if you can sense which sounds seem to be entering through your right ear.

And which sounds seem to be received by your left.

Invite your awareness to be drawn to the sound of your own breath.

Just resting awareness on the breath.

Hearing its gentle sound.

And feel that with each breath in,

You're drawing in calmness and positivity.

Each breath out releasing tensions and negativity.

Letting go of this.

And preparing to move awareness through the body.

A body scan.

Beginning on the right side with the right hand thumb.

Moving into the thumb and mentally repeating right hand thumb.

Shifting attention to the index finger.

To the middle finger.

Ring finger.

Little finger.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Right wrist.

Lower arm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Arm pit.

Right side of chest.

Waist.

Hip.

Thigh.

Knee.

Shin.

Ankle.

Soul of the right foot.

Top of the foot.

Right big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Fifth toe.

Whole right side of the body.

Whole right side.

Directing attention to the left side.

Letting awareness land on the left hand thumb.

Shifting to the index finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Little finger.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Wrist.

Lower arm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Arm pit.

Left side of chest.

Left side of waist.

Hip.

Thigh.

Knee.

Shin.

Ankle.

Soul.

Top of foot.

Big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Fifth toe.

Whole left side of the body.

Moving attention up the back body.

Just sensing each area as named.

Feeling into the heels.

Backs of the legs.

Lower back.

Middle back.

Upper back.

Back of the neck.

Back of the head.

Drawing attention to the top of the head.

And down the front body feeling the face.

The face.

The throat.

The shoulders.

The arms and the hands.

Shoulders.

Chest.

Abdomen.

Hips.

Pelvis.

Legs.

Feet.

The whole body.

The whole body.

The whole body.

Within the stillness of the body,

Begin to notice the movement of breath.

Become sensitive to the feeling of the breath down in the abdomen.

Sensing its rise and fall.

Navel rising on the in-breath.

Falling on the out-breath.

There is no need to create this movement or try to accentuate it.

It may be quite subtle.

This is fine.

Continue to follow the rise and fall of the navel with each breath.

And begin to count each breath as it passes.

Letting the count follow the breath.

Counting backwards from the number nine.

Like so.

Navel rises,

Nine.

Navel falls,

Nine.

Begin again if the count is lost or if zero is reached.

Counting the breath.

Let go of the count.

And just rest in whatever experience is present in this moment.

Noticing how you feel after creating this time and this space in your day to meditate and practice prioritizing yourself.

If you'd like to and if you have time,

You might like to just rest here a little longer.

But if you need to return to your day,

Begin to breathe more deeply.

Expanding your inhalation and extending your exhale.

Grounding yourself and your body through your breath.

Open your awareness to the sounds around you and feel back into your body and the sensation of resting on the earth.

In your own time,

Start to introduce movement.

Slowly wiggling your toes.

Slowly moving your fingers.

Maybe stretching your arms overhead or squeezing your knees into your chest.

Doing whatever feels right for your body in this moment before moving back into your day.

Carrying with you this feeling of ease.

This feeling of peacefulness.

Thank you so much for practicing with me and I hope that you have a great rest of your day.