Deep Sleep Meditation With Nature Sounds

This yoga nidra with nature sounds in the background prepares your body to claim the relaxation it so deserves. This step-by-step process induces deep relaxation through breath work, a body scan, and a visualization journey to quiet your mind and prepare your body for a restful sleep. Rest isn’t a reward-it’s essential, so come back to this sleep meditation anytime you need support.

Transcript

Hi,

It's Jack,

Your yoga nidra teacher.

And this yoga nidra is all about helping you get rest,

Helping you feel supported,

And really increasing feelings of well-being,

Ease,

And tranquility.

A major benefit of yoga nidra is that it helps improve sleep and it also really helps with insomnia.

So anytime you do need help falling asleep,

Come to the practice of yoga nidra and it's always here to aid you.

Yoga nidra is similar,

I like to say,

Going into a darkened room and gradually turning on a dimmer switch so that the light reveals more and more of what's in the room.

And we're going to reveal more peace,

We're going to reveal more ease,

More relaxation,

More comfort,

And we're going to do this slowly and slowly.

And this is a gradual practice where things start to naturally and organically slow down.

So to slow things down right away,

Let's go ahead and breathe together.

So take two inhales through your nose,

And then exhale,

Side out.

Two more like that.

Inhale,

Exhale.

One more,

Inhale,

Exhale.

Take a full,

Deep,

Rich breath in and take a full,

Deep,

Nourishing breath out.

Yoga nidra is done by lying down,

So if you haven't already,

Use some props.

Maybe you have a pillow underneath the head or underneath the knees.

You want to stay nice and warm and cozy,

Getting a blanket on top of you feels really nice,

Or even a sweater if you have one in your bag.

And you feel like placing something over the eyes,

An eye mask,

A t-shirt,

A blanket,

Feel free to.

And allow yourself to take up space here.

In yoga nidra,

It's really recommended to stay as still as possible.

When the body stills,

The mind starts to still.

However,

If you do need to move throughout the practice,

Please do so mindfully.

Always bringing attention and intention towards what we're doing with our body instead of coming from a place of reaction.

So listen to your body throughout the practice.

Otherwise try to remain as still as possible.

Just let it feel good to be held here and start to enjoy the non-doing.

Take a full,

Deep,

Rich breath in and take a full,

Deep,

Nourishing breath out.

Now I want you to imagine that you have a balloon in your tummy.

And every time that you breathe in,

The balloon inflates.

And every time you breathe out,

The balloon deflates.

So play with that image for a bit.

So notice the sensations in your abdomen as that balloon inflates and then deflates.

Your abdomen rises with the in-breath and falls with the out-breath.

Feel and visualize your abdomen expanding on the inhales.

And feel and visualize your abdomen releasing on the exhales.

Fully draw that breath down into your belly to create space.

And exhale,

Really let that air out.

And notice how when you exhale,

The abdomen muscles,

They're used a little bit more to release the air.

So on your next long,

Expanding inhale,

Hold your breath anywhere from three to five seconds.

And then let it go naturally on an exhale.

So do a couple of rounds like that.

And let this exhale,

Let it be organic.

So maybe it's smooth and long,

Or maybe it's releasing and short.

And I'll give you these next few breaths in silence to be your own,

To let yourself find your own way to start to settle into the practice.

Take a deep,

Rich breath in and a deep,

Rich breath out.

Just let your breath be steady now.

No need to control the breath.

And the breath is really a tool.

It's an anchor of mindfulness,

Helping us attach ourselves to the present moment.

So if your mind wanders ever throughout this journey,

Let the breath be an anchor for you.

Let my voice be an anchor for you,

Guiding you back to this experience in this moment.

Release your jaw.

Let that tension start to fade.

Release the jaw.

Create space between the lips and the teeth.

Release the tongue.

Let it hang heavy.

Soften the eyes.

Unfurl your eyebrows.

Relax the space in between the ears.

And let go of the tension in the neck and shoulders.

And let a deep exhale out as you feel the shoulders and the neck soften and release.

Feel the thighs start to soften,

The kneecaps,

The ankles,

The heels,

The feet.

Feel all 10 toes spread and soften.

And let the legs be free.

Let the tension start to dim as you feel yourself be completely supported by the surface beneath you.

And feel the whole body begin to simmer down into the surface beneath you.

Let yourself be held here and know that you do have support.

You have something that wants to hold you so you don't have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders anymore.

And take this moment to feel yourself settling deeper and deeper into this experience,

Deeper and deeper into your yoga nidra journey where you allow yourself to feel supported.

And feel the flow of breath to allow you to calm the mind and calm the body.

And take this moment to be aware of your physical self,

Scanning one last time to see what's showing up.

And are you holding anywhere in the body?

Are you gripping anywhere?

Are you tightening anywhere?

And instead of attaching to the story of it,

Can you just be present with it?

Can you notice it with compassion?

And breathe into that space with a sense of openness.

Breathe into that space with a sense of softness.

And breathe into those areas.

Create space.

Use that breath to help you.

And feel that sense of softness and openness flowing into those spaces.

Breathe it in fully,

Expanding there to create that space.

Create that sense of flow with the breath.

Take a deep effortless breath in and a deep smooth breath out.

This is a time for you to be supported,

Nourished,

And cared for so that you can rest.

And know that by being at this yoga nidra,

You've done the work to receive that.

Now all you gotta do is lie back,

Relax,

And enjoy the journey that your yoga nidra practice will bring.

Start to become aware of sounds.

Become aware of any sounds far away.

Now be aware of sounds closer in.

So any sounds that you hear in the room,

Maybe the sound of my voice.

And now be aware of the closest sounds,

The sound of your body breathing.

And you can allow your sense of sound to rest.

Simply focusing your awareness now on the sound of my voice to guide you deeper and deeper into rest.

And the next stop on your yoga nidra journey is to create an intention,

Also known as a sankopa,

And this intention is here to just keep you focused on your path.

So my question for you this evening is,

What do you need?

What do you need?

I invite you to start to bring your mind into focus and in alignment with your heart.

What do you need?

Be aware enough to notice and conscious enough to listen.

So whatever that need is,

We're going to turn it into a sankopa,

A positive I am statement.

So I am allowing myself to receive what you need.

So maybe you need rest and your sankopa would be,

I am allowing myself to receive rest.

I am allowing myself to receive patience,

Love,

Compassion.

Whatever your intention is for this evening,

I want you to repeat it to yourself three times to really allow your sankopa to arise in your awareness and to really feel that sankopa.

And you can gently let that sankopa fade,

Knowing that you've taken the time to plant the seeds and the flowers of today were yesterday's seeds.

So even though we might not see something happening,

We've taken the time to plant the seeds and we get to see those flowers bloom and blossom.

And next on our yoga nature journey,

We're going to go into a body scan.

So I'll touch on different parts of your body and with rested awareness,

You'll allow your awareness to go to all the different body parts.

There's nothing you need to do here,

But just listen and be with the sensations that you feel.

And these sensations might be tingling,

Buzzing,

Temperature,

Tightness,

Pressure,

Or it might just be neutral.

And just simply notice that too.

That's all we're doing here.

There's no right answers.

There's no one way of doing it.

We're just simply resting in the awareness of the sensations happening in the body and welcoming them just as they are.

There's nothing you need to accomplish or experience.

There's no way to get this wrong,

Being with that effortless awareness.

So start by becoming aware of the right side of your body,

Then simply expanding awareness into the right side of the body.

That awareness travels to the right thumb,

Pointer finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

And pinky finger.

And allow that awareness to move effortlessly to the palm of the hand and the back of the hand.

In the right wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

And the right shoulder,

Armpit,

Right side of the ribs,

Right side of the waist.

In the right hip,

Right thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Heel,

And the sole of the foot,

Top of the foot.

In the right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And fifth toe.

Feel the whole right side of the body resting and aware.

Tons of sensations happening in the whole right side of the body.

And now,

Allow that awareness to travel over to the left side of the body.

Move awareness to the left side of the body.

Become aware of the left hand,

Left thumb,

Pointer finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

And pinky finger,

The palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

The left wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

The left shoulder,

Armpit,

Left side of the ribs,

Left side of the waist,

The left hip,

Left thigh,

Knee,

The lower leg,

Ankle,

Heel,

The sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

And awareness traveling over to the left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And fifth toe,

And the whole left side of the body,

Rested and aware.

Trillions of cells vibrating with sensation in the left side of the body.

And allow your awareness to be like an elevator and allow that awareness to move from the toes all the way up the body to the crown of the head.

Move awareness into the crown of the head and allow that awareness to glide down to the forehead,

The right temple,

Left temple,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Eyebrow center,

The right eye,

Left eye,

The right ear,

The left ear,

The right cheekbone,

And the left cheekbone,

And the tip of the nose,

The right nostril,

The air flowing in and out of the right nostril,

The left nostril,

The air flowing in and out of the left nostril,

The upper lip,

Lower lip,

The space between the lips,

The chin,

The jaw,

Throat,

Neck,

The right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

The right side of the chest,

The left side of the chest,

The right side of the chest,

The right side of the chest,

The right side of the chest,

The right side of the pelvis,

And now move that awareness to the back of the body into the lower back,

Awareness climbing up to the middle back,

The upper back,

Awareness landing at the right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

Awareness moving up to the back of the neck,

Back of the head,

And find that awareness landing and resting at the crown of the head,

And become aware of the whole body together,

The whole body together,

The whole body together,

Resting,

Relaxed,

Effortless relaxation happening throughout the whole body,

Feeling yourself supported by the surface beneath you,

Finding yourself drifting deeper and deeper into your calm,

Supportive yoga major practice.

Allow your awareness to now rest at your breath and notice this expanded self breathing,

The whole self breathing,

Nothing to do,

Just simply notice the breath without an agenda because letting yourself be here in this state of observation.

Now bring your awareness to the space in between the eyebrows and feel as if you are breathing in and out of the point between the eyebrows,

Effortlessly breathing in and out of the point between the eyebrows,

Breathing in and breathing out of the point between the eyebrows.

Now,

Feel that awareness start to descend down all the way into your heart center.

Bring your focus to your heart center and feel as if you are breathing in and out of the heart center,

Organically and effortlessly breathing in and out the middle of your chest.

Deep,

Rich,

Full breath in and out of the heart center.

And feel that breath and that awareness travel from the heart center down the torso,

Past the navel,

Past the hips,

The knees,

The heels,

And allow that awareness to now land at the soles of the feet.

Bring awareness to the soles of both feet and feel as if you are breathing in and out of both feet.

Exhaling and breathing in and out of the soles of your feet.

Breathing in and out of the soles of your feet.

And now,

We're going to count down from seven to one using the breath.

Exhaling seven,

Exhaling seven,

Inhaling six,

Exhaling six.

And then do the next five rounds at your own pace until you get down to the number one.

Let the breath be continuous,

Easy,

And gentle.

And now,

Bring awareness from the breath as we embark on a beautiful journey of visualization to receive nourishment and support on your path to rest.

While your body is safely and comfortably resting,

Your awareness is free to explore.

So allow your awareness to consider traveling to a lush autumn park,

Auburn,

Yellow,

Warm,

And inviting.

And this is a vast and private park that you only share with the singing birds,

The golden trees,

The berry bushes,

And other delightful animals and wildflowers that live there.

And as you walk along the accessible path,

The path has a way of greeting the soles of your feet,

Solid and warm.

And then you stop for a moment to gaze at the site before you.

You witness a flock of birds jumping from tree branch to tree branch,

The trees that roots grow so deep,

And the trees that reach up so high in the sky.

You notice delicate flowers in a multitude of shapes and colors.

You see the leaves of the trees changing colors as autumn has begun.

And then you spot a quiet,

Free,

Open,

Enchanting wooded area with a well-kept black bench.

And you notice that the comfort of the black bench,

Warm from the steady sun,

Is a place to absorb the beauty of the park,

The beauty all around you.

And you find yourself seeking out this inviting area of this vast,

Charming park as you walk along the path until you find yourself sitting on the warm,

Inviting bench.

And it's comfy here on this cozy bench.

So you stretch out and get yourself all settled and snug on this bench.

And as you sit here,

You feel light on your skin as you behold the warm sunlight shining down on you.

And you feel pleasantly toasty with that warmth on you.

And a slight breeze grazes your skin,

And you feel radiant like the sun as you sit on the bench.

You feel content here.

You feel peaceful in this moment,

As soft sounds of birds in the background buzz.

And you feel nourishment from the warm sun above.

And as you just sit here on this bench,

You look down at the black bench,

And you notice a piece of paper.

You take the piece of paper and turn it over,

And on this paper is your sankopa,

Your intention.

Be aware enough to notice and conscious enough to listen.

So take this as an opportunity to repeat your intention,

Your sankopa,

Silently to yourself three times.

Really feel your sankopa.

Feel it arise in your awareness.

Moving in to that desire,

That need that you can always give yourself.

As you gaze at the piece of paper,

The corners of your mouth turn up into a smile,

And you feel a moment of gratitude,

Gratitude for yourself,

For giving yourself this gift,

And for listening to that beautiful heart of yours.

And take the sheet of paper and fold it up and place it in your pocket.

And as you sit on the bench,

You just soak it all in.

You enjoy the park and all it has to offer,

The birds,

The trees,

The leaves.

And suddenly,

You start to notice that the sun is beginning to set.

With your eyes fixed on the sky,

You follow the sun until it slips away.

And then something new,

The moon.

Sublime,

Restful light emerges in a comforting darkness.

So allow yourself to rest in this comfort.

Allow yourself to go deeper and deeper into stillness,

Into ease,

Just letting everything be.

So I'll leave you here now to be in the steady stillness,

To bask in your own inner serenity of peace,

Rest,

And tranquility.

B.

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Reviews

Lovely and soothing it helped me get back to sleep after waking too early. Thank you for sharing.✨🙏🏼💜✨

Awesome as always from Jacks! Thank you 🙏