Relaxing Yoga Nidra For Beginners

Yoga Nidra is the practice of yogic sleep, a deeply restful practice during which the body can relax and restore. This practice is suitable for beginners and those with no prior yoga experience. We begin with a short explanation of the practice, then on softening the body, finding a resolve, a body scan, breath work, finding opposite sensations in the body, and rapid image visualization. We finish with stillness and silence for a moment.

Transcript

Welcome to our practice of yoga nidra.

Let yourself get nice and comfortable.

We generally do this practice laying down,

But if you're more comfortable seated,

You could do this seated as well.

If you choose to lay down,

Get extra comfortable here.

You could lay in bed,

You could lay on a mat adding pillows under the knees,

Letting your back soften.

Let your arms rest out to the side or on the body.

Let your legs soften too,

Maybe the toes point out to the sides.

Soften the shoulders and jaw.

Any last little movements you'd like before we start the practice?

The practice of yoga nidra is the practice of yogic sleep.

We get to this place between being awake and being asleep.

This is a deeply restful place and there's an idea that an hour of yoga nidra is equal to four hours of deep sleep.

As we get so relaxed,

We do run the risk of falling asleep.

Try to stay awake,

But if you do doze off,

That's okay.

Try to come back if you catch yourself,

But if you fall asleep,

You needed the sleep,

Take it,

Enjoy.

You can always come back to this practice.

The deepest part of you is always listening.

You're still getting some benefit.

Let's start our practice by taking a breath in together and a long breath out.

Let yourself melt and settle here.

Another one just like that.

Long full breath in.

Exhale,

Melting into the mat,

The floor,

Whatever is underneath you.

Last one,

The biggest inhale you've taken all day and breathing out.

Let it all go.

Soften the whole body.

Let the eyes close.

Let your breath return to its natural pace and rhythm.

Give yourself permission to just be here.

Let go of anything from before this moment and any plans for later.

And just enjoy being right here,

Right now.

We start our practice of yoga nidra with a sankalpa,

A resolve.

This is a short positive statement calling in what we might need in our life right now.

You could say to yourself,

I am awake and relaxed.

You could ask for clarity.

I am calm.

I am clear.

Or whatever else you might be needing in your life.

A short positive statement.

Take your time to pick this.

You could pause the recording if you need a moment here.

And then repeat that statement three times in your mind.

Next we move to anumayakosha,

The layer of the physical body,

The food body,

Skin,

Bones,

And muscle.

And we find this layer through a body scan.

For this we'll be moving our awareness around in the body from place to place.

And as I list different parts,

You might repeat that in your mind or bring your mind to that area in the body.

No need for movement here.

We'll start on the right hand.

Thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

And shoulder blade.

The whole right arm.

Left hand.

Thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Middle finger,

Palm,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Shoulder blade.

The whole left arm.

Collar bones,

Chest,

Front of the ribcage,

Side ribs,

The upper abdomen,

Navel,

Lower abdomen,

Pelvis,

Right side hip,

Right side seat,

Right thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Shin,

Ankle,

Top of the foot,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Inner arch,

Toes.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

The whole right leg.

Left side hip,

Left side seat,

Thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Shin,

Ankle,

Top of the foot,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Arch,

Toes.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

The whole left leg.

The low back,

Mid back,

Waist,

Back of the ribcage,

Upper back,

Back of the neck,

Scalp,

Crown of the head,

Forehead,

Brows,

Temples,

The space between the brows,

Your eyelids,

Eyeballs,

Where the upper and lower lash line meet,

Cheeks,

Right ear,

Right inner ear,

Left ear,

Left inner ear,

Tip of the nose,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Jaw,

Chin,

Mouth,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Teeth,

Gums,

Roof of the mouth,

Tongue,

Base of the mouth,

Back of the throat,

The whole throat,

Your lungs.

Aware of the whole body.

The whole body.

The next layer is Pranamaya Kosha.

The breath.

Something we can feel but we can't see.

And for this,

We'll first become aware of the breath,

Watching the lungs just like before in our body scan.

Notice as the lungs fill,

They expand.

How as you breathe out,

They soften and release back into center.

As we breathe in,

It's not just the lungs that expand but the ribcage as well.

The front,

Side,

And back ribs all expanding,

Accommodating for those lungs like a balloon.

And breathing out,

They soften back in.

You might notice the belly moves too as we breathe.

Inhaling,

Expanding like the whole torso is a balloon.

And exhale,

We soften back in to center.

Watch as the lungs,

Chest,

Ribs,

And belly inhale and expand.

Exhale and soften.

You can imagine your whole torso like a balloon.

And bring your awareness to the right arm.

As you breathe in,

Imagine the whole right arm expanding like another lung or balloon.

And breathing out,

Watch as it softens back to its original shape.

Inhale,

Feeling that arm expanding,

Exhaling,

Softening back in to center.

Move to the left arm.

Inhaling,

It expands.

Exhaling,

Imagining it coming back in to center.

A few more breaths,

Imagining the left arm like another lung or balloon.

Right leg now.

Inhaling,

Right leg expands.

Exhaling,

It softens.

Move to the left leg.

Then imagine the head inhaling,

Expanding like a balloon.

Exhaling,

Softening in back to normal.

Let your next three breaths expand the whole body.

Exhale,

Soften,

Melt.

Two more.

Let go of that and watch as your lungs breathe for you.

Our next layer is Monomayakosha,

The layer of the mind where thoughts and feelings reside.

To access this layer,

We find opposite sensations in the body.

Imagine first the body becoming light,

As light as a feather,

Like you're filled with helium.

You could almost float up off the floor,

Hovering an inch or two off the floor.

Incredibly light.

The whole body is filled with helium.

Then exhale,

Let go of that feeling of lightness and find heaviness in the body,

Like you're made of lead and you could sink a few inches into the earth.

Getting heavier and heavier,

The arms,

The legs,

All the limbs and torso heavy.

The whole body is heavy.

Let go of that feeling of heaviness and notice that you're the perfect place between light and heavy,

Supported gently by the earth.

Next,

Awaken the experience of cold in the body.

It's the middle of winter.

You're standing on snow in your bare feet,

No jacket,

A chilly,

Cold breeze,

That kind of breeze that goes straight to your bones,

Cold.

Let go of that feeling of coolness and find warmth spreading through the whole body.

The middle of summer,

No shade,

Feeling the heat from the sun.

Feel the heat radiating onto your skin.

The whole body is hot.

Let go of that feeling of heat and notice that you're the perfect place between hot and cold.

Perfect temperature.

The next layer,

VYANA MAYA.

This is the layer of intuition inner knowing,

Intuitive wisdom.

To access this layer,

We do image visualizations and these move rather quickly.

We're not attached to what we see.

We're simply noticing.

For this,

Your eyes might act as a screen.

Simply noticing the first image that comes up.

Not attached to what we see.

A full moon,

A sunset behind mountains,

A red desert,

Torrential rain,

A foggy morning,

A pink triangle,

A tall tree,

A bouquet of flowers,

Cool,

Clear water,

A burning candle,

A snow capped mountain,

The stars at night,

A path in the woods,

Waves breaking on a beach,

A cat stretching,

A red rose,

The sound of my voice,

Your body laying on the mat,

On the floor,

Wherever you are now,

The walls around you,

The ceiling,

The floor.

Let go of these images.

And we'll repeat our Sankalpa once more.

That resolve we made at the beginning.

Repeat this in your mind three more times.

Slow,

Steady.

The last layer is Anandamaya,

The bliss layer,

The deepest part of ourselves,

Beyond our titles,

What we look like,

What we feel like,

The innermost layer of consciousness,

The place where we watch our thoughts,

Feelings,

Wisdom,

Intuition.

And for this,

We'll stay right where we are for one more minute.

Space of loving kindness.

All is welcome.

Rest here.

Final minute.

Bring your awareness back to this moment.

You might start to awaken the body by taking a full inhale and a sigh to release.

You could rock the head a little,

Invite a smile into the face.

Maybe reach the arms overhead,

Stretch out the legs,

Big full body morning stretch.

When you're ready,

Open the eyes.

Thank you for practicing yoga nidra with me today.

Stay well and take care.

Reviews

Yes very good and not only for beginners. Thank you

Hannah, this YN is too nice to be only for beginners 😀. I really benefit from coming back to beginner's mind, even after decades of practice.
As you know I'm a big fan of your work and you are part of my regular wellbeing routine routine. Sorry I've missed the Saturday evening live restorative yoga for a few weeks - been challenging on the Sunday mornings in Winter in Melbourne.
Gratitude as always, and all blessings to you. 🙏❤️

This is a beautiful practice and created waves of relaxation throughout my body. Thank you Hannah. 🙏

As always, great practice. Thank you.

Absolutely lovely, I will be revisiting this often. 🙏

It was amazing. I love your voice 💗

Thank you Hannah. That was a great yoga nidra for the start of my day, great pace and calmness.