Yoga Nidra For Relief Of Physical Pain

When you have pain in your body it is difficult to feel joy in the simplest things in life.

Use this therapeutic yoga practice to assist with the relief of physical pain anywhere in your body. Most often, it seems to be used for back pain. If your pain has hung around for too long, there is usually an element to that pain that can be assisted by this practice. You will be led through a sequence to relax your body and mind.

Learn how to completely change your attitude toward life in 30 minutes a day!

Transcript

In this yoga nidra,

We aim to release physical pain from the body.

Using the deeply relaxed state that yoga nidra takes us to,

We are going to do a practice to release pain from the body.

Just follow along with the instructions and you might be surprised at the outcome.

I hope you find relief from your pain.

While pain can be physical,

Emotional or mental pain,

We are going to work with physical pain here.

It's not meant for the simple pain when you have just had an injury,

Say you just burnt your finger or skinned your elbow.

It's meant for the pain that's been in your body long term.

If you have more than one area of pain,

Start with the area of pain that gives you the most trouble,

And later use this process to release another area.

Take your time to get yourself set up in a comfortable position.

It's important that you're comfortable and able to stay awake throughout the practice.

Ensure you don't have any tight clothing around your neck or waist.

We set up in the yoga position known as shavasana.

Start by lying down on the floor,

With a mat or towel underneath you,

Or directly on the floor if it's comfortable.

If the room is cool,

Cover yourself with a blanket.

You can also put a blanket or a small cushion under your head and neck for support,

But make sure you keep your shoulders resting directly down on the floor and your head aligned with your body,

Your chin not tilted upwards.

If you have back pain,

You may like to put a bolster or folded blanket under your knees to support them in a slightly bent position,

But allow your heels to touch the floor.

Tuck your shoulder blades slightly underneath you so that you feel them resting on the floor.

Lengthen the back of your neck and tuck your chin in a little towards your chest.

Relax your legs and feet,

Allowing your feet to fall outwards.

Have your arms down by your sides,

A little away from your body so there is space in the armpits.

Allow the back of your hands to rest on the floor,

The palms gently open and facing up in an attitude of giving and receiving.

Identify the area of your body where you want to work on reducing pain today,

Just so that you are ready to bring your attention there when prompted.

We are now ready to begin the practice of Yoga Nidra.

Spend a few moments becoming aware of your body.

Feel the length of your spine resting along the floor.

And feel your body lying symmetrically either side of your spine.

Explore the back of your body,

Feeling the parts of your body that are touching the floor.

Feel the parts that are touching the floor quite heavily.

Feel the parts that are touching the floor more lightly.

Then look for the curves and the other areas of the back of your body that aren't quite touching the floor at all.

Now become aware of the touch of the clothing against your skin.

Feel the different textures against your body.

The texture of different items of clothing.

The texture of the surface that you are lying on.

The texture of anything you have covered yourself with.

Feel the touch of your hair against your head,

Maybe against your neck and your face.

And be aware of areas of skin that aren't covered and see if you can feel the touch of the air against your bare skin.

Now bring attention to the sense of hearing.

Listen for sounds both inside and outside the room.

Don't name any sounds or place any importance on them.

Just allow the sounds to be there on the edge of your awareness.

Listen for distant sounds.

Listen for closer sounds.

Listen for the sound of your own breath as it moves in and out of your body.

Now become aware of the sense of darkness behind your closed eyelids.

Look for areas of light and dark,

Different shades,

Different shapes or any colours you might see.

Now take a moment to remind yourself that you will stay awake and aware and listen to the instructions.

I will name different parts of the body.

As I do,

Take your attention to each part and feel the energy there.

Don't move at all,

Just allow your awareness to move to each body part as it's named.

Starting on the right side of the body,

Take your attention to the right hand thumb,

Feeling the energy at the tip of the thumb.

Move to the index finger and feel the energy there.

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the right hand,

Back of the hand,

The right wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Right shoulder,

Feel the energy in the right shoulder,

Right armpit,

Right side of the chest,

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Right knee,

Shin,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Allow attention to move to the left side of the body,

To the left hand thumb,

Feeling the energy at the tip of the thumb.

Now to the index finger and feel the energy there.

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Thumb of the hand,

Back of the hand,

The left wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

The left shoulder,

Feel the energy in the left shoulder,

Left armpit,

Side of the chest,

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

The left knee,

Shin,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

The left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Now move awareness to the back of the body,

Feel the energy at the right heel,

The left heel,

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

The energy at the small of the back,

Middle of the back,

Upper back,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head,

And inside to the entire length of the spine,

From the top to the base,

From the base of the spine to the top of the spine,

The back of the head,

Top of the head,

Feeling the energy there,

Forehead,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Now feel the energy at the point in the middle of the eyebrows,

The eyebrow centre,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Right side of the nose,

Left side of the nose,

The tip of the nose,

The whole nose,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

The whole mouth,

Chin,

The jaw,

The whole face,

Feel the energy in the whole face,

Feel the energy at the front of the throat,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

The sternum at the centre of the chest,

Upper abdomen,

Navel,

Lower abdomen,

The whole pelvic region.

Now visualising,

Taking attention,

Feeling energy in whole body parts.

The whole right leg and foot.

The whole left leg and foot.

Both legs and feet together.

The whole right arm and hand.

The whole left arm and hand.

Both arms and hands together.

The whole torso,

Front and back.

The whole neck and head.

The whole right side of the body.

The whole left side of the body.

And now feel the whole body.

The whole body.

Feeling the energy in the whole body.

Take your attention to the natural breath moving in and out of your body.

Feel your breath moving into the body and the breath moving out of the body.

Be aware that the body breathes and the awareness watches.

Be aware that the body breathes,

The awareness watches,

Supported and still.

Now take awareness to the area of your body looking for relief.

Let your whole attention rest there.

Feel any sensation there now.

Just look at it with interest.

Don't try and deal with it in any way.

And take your breath to that area.

Put your attention on your breath and breathe in and out,

Holding your attention on the area of sensation.

And start to count your breath each time as you breathe in.

It's nice and slowly.

You might want to say 1001,

1002,

1003.

So resting attention on your breath.

Breathing in and out to that area that you've chosen.

Now start to also count your breath as you exhale.

Counting the length of each exhalation.

And now simply letting go of the count.

Still letting your breath go down to that area of sensation as you inhale and moving out from the area of sensation as you exhale.

Just being aware of whatever sensation you're feeling.

With each breath start moving that sensation from where you're feeling it down towards your feet.

As you inhale let the sensation move down.

As you exhale allow it to pause.

With each inhale the sensation moves a little further down.

With each exhale you pause.

Just keep going with that visualisation.

Breathing into the sensation,

Allowing it to move down towards the feet.

Until it finally reaches the soles of the feet.

And when the breath and the sensation reaches the soles of the feet allow it to flow out of the body through the soles of the feet.

Just visualise that sensation flowing out,

Right out of the body through the soles of the feet.

Keep visualising whatever the sensation now is flowing out through the soles of your feet.

Now let go of that idea and that sensation and bring your attention back to the breath moving in and out of the nostrils.

Allow the breath to be relaxed.

Allow your in-breath to flow all the way down to the belly and the out-breath to flow out from the belly.

With each inhalation imagine the whole body is becoming lighter.

As though the body could float away from the floor and towards the ceiling.

With each inhalation the head is light and weightless.

The limbs are light and weightless.

The torso is light and weightless.

The whole body light and weightless.

Rising higher and higher away from the floor.

Now with the exhalation imagine the whole body becoming heavy.

Feel the heaviness in all parts of the body.

With each exhalation each part becoming heavier and heavier and heavier.

The head is heavy.

The limbs are heavy.

The torso is heavy.

The whole body is heavy.

So heavy that it is sinking down into the floor.

Just rest attention on that process.

Each inhalation the whole body becoming lighter.

Each exhalation the whole body becoming heavier and more relaxed.

And any time you find busy thoughts coming into the mind,

Simply acknowledge those thoughts but don't place any importance on them.

Just allow them to float by and take your attention back to your breath.

Now allow all sensations to dissolve.

Bring your attention back to your breath as it moves in and out of your nostrils.

Be aware of your breath on the edge of your nostrils as you breathe.

Feel the slightly cooler air as you breathe in and the slightly warmer air as you breathe out.

Remind yourself that the air has been warmed by its passage through your body.

Feel your breath moving into your chest and abdomen.

Be aware of each inhalation bringing fresh,

Clean,

Nourishing air into your body.

And each exhalation be aware of your body releasing wastes and toxins.

Be aware of the relaxed movement of your breath in and out.

And we're going to begin to bring your attention back into the present.

For now keep your eyes closed.

Just allow yourself to be aware of your breath in your nostrils.

And begin to picture the physical body lying relaxed on the floor.

Feel your clothing against your skin and the mat and the floor underneath you.

Allow yourself to picture the room you're lying in,

The floor,

The walls,

The entrance,

And the position of your body as you're lying in the room.

Listen for the different sounds around you and be aware of the sources of those sounds.

Close sounds and more distant sounds.

Sounds within the room and sounds outside the room.

See if you can picture the colour of the walls and the colour of the clothes you're wearing.

Lie quietly until you feel ready to move.

Starting to slowly and gently move your fingers and your toes.

When you're ready,

Bend your knees and roll onto your right side.

Just stay down on the floor in that position for a few more breaths.

The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

Using your hands for support,

Bring yourself slowly up to a sitting position.

Open your eyes slowly and gently.

You might want to keep your gaze just downcast for a little while.

Bring your hands together at your heart.

Namaste.

Take your time to come back to the present.

Don't rush back to your next task.

Move slowly,

Savour the experience,

And come back and repeat this practice to release the pain from your body.

Reviews

Thank you Susie that was lovely

I drifted into a deep state of rest. Thank you! 🙏

Helped me a lot. At se point I started following my own needs instead, diverging from the instruction, but stayed attuned and knew finally what my body needed. Thank you.

Very nourishing

Thank you, very deeply relaxing and soothing

This helped me with a recurring pain that was particularly persistent today. The practice eased it significantly. I’ll be back. Thank you.

Thank you. This really helped shift some pain from my lower back and I now feel centred and relaxed 🙏🏻🕊

So good, my pain went right out my feet!
Thank you

Loved it! Definitely keeping as a favorite! Was in major pain and could not sleep and afterwards fell right asleep and the pain had lifted. Your voice is very calming too.

A nicely paced yoga nidra practice with a bonus of focusing on an area of pain. Thank you 🙏