Sensuous Experience For Sleep (Yoga Nidra)

Welcome to "Sensual Experience for Sleep," a sleep-based meditation known as yoga nidra. Whether you're dealing with life challenges or you're looking for an effective practice to relax, this yoga nidra will help you enter deep rest to revitalize and feel enlivened again. This is a deeply enriching experience for the senses and will draw you into effortless relaxation. It can be used to meditate, in lieu of a nap, or to drift into a deep sleep! Recorded live at AFPD 10/17/2021.

Transcript

If you have had any challenges or just a tough go at life lately,

This practice will help you renew,

Reset,

Revitalize,

And feel enlivened again.

Please lie down on your back and prepare your space for this total relaxation practice that will guide you into a deeply enriching experience for the senses.

I hope you enjoy and thank you for practicing.

Let's begin.

As we begin progressive muscular relaxation to prepare for yoga nidra,

Tense both hands into tight fists and flux the muscles of the arms.

Breathe normally as you tense the muscles.

Hold.

Hold.

Exhale and relax the arm muscles.

Release.

Feel the flood of energy flowing through the arms and breathe naturally.

Now focus on the legs.

Tense and hold the muscles from the glutes to the toes.

Flex everything in the lower body.

Tighten and hold.

Feel the intensity build.

Hold.

Tighten even more.

Hold.

Exhale,

Relax the muscles down.

Release.

Let go.

Breathe normally.

And naturally feeling the flood of energy flow through the legs.

Now make fists with the hands and tighten every muscle of the whole body.

Arms tighten,

Chest,

Abdomen,

Glutes,

Legs,

Toes,

And even the face.

Tense and hold.

Tighten even more.

Hold.

Hold.

Exhale,

Release everything.

Completely let go.

Relax the weight of the body downward.

Quickly release the weight of the body onto the support beneath you.

Breathe normally.

Good.

Our final preparation is a technique called palming of the face.

So bringing the palms of the hands together in front of your chest and rub the palms of the hands quickly.

Imagine heat building in the palms of the hands.

Go even faster,

Focusing on that heat like a flame or a spark of light building in the palms of the hands,

Radiating up the arms.

Good.

Now place the palms directly on the cheeks of the face.

Fingertips gently press onto closed eyelids.

Feel that heat disseminate into the soft muscles of the face.

No space between the skin of the cheeks and the palms of the hands.

Breathe deeply.

Exhale completely.

Good.

Another deep belly breath in,

Letting go of all muscular tension as you exhale.

One more time,

Just like that.

And exhale it out.

Slowly begin to palpate,

Making just tiny presses and releases,

Pressing the eyeballs into their sockets very gently.

Just feeling the eyeballs relax back.

Good.

Now take the fingertips along the ridge of the eyebrows and swipe the fingertips,

Drawing a line all the way to the temples and creating a little bit of a temple massage going in one direction and then in the opposite direction.

Good.

And then drawing the fingertips down towards that jaw crease,

Right where the hinge of the jaw has a muscle and just massaging the muscles in one direction and the other direction.

And draw basically circles all around the face from down to the chin,

Around the lips,

Along either side of the nose to the cheeks,

And then all the way up around the forehead.

Taking the fingertips to the scalp now,

All 10 fingertips press and release in tiny little circles or maybe big circles along every area of the scalp.

Explore every area from the top to the back,

Behind the ears and in front of the ears,

Maybe even a tug on the earlobes.

And then find the neck muscles and the upper shoulders.

Really work from the bottom to the top of the neck all the way to the shoulders and release all the muscles,

Releasing tension,

Breathing and releasing.

Really connecting to the feeling of release,

Giving yourself permission to let go there.

Good.

And then one final time,

Rub the hands together,

Feeling a little heat build there.

And then place the hands on the face,

Fingertips on the eyes and taking a deep belly breath in and a complete exhale out.

Good.

Wipe the fingers across the face and cover the eyes with any material you have around you,

Making sure the material doesn't cover the nose just so that you can breathe normally.

And then lower your hands down to the side,

Allowing the hands to be just slightly away from the body so the armpits can breathe.

The fingertips turned slightly upward or slightly inward facing the body.

Allow the feet to be flopped out to the sides and the body should be straight from head to toe.

And feel free to take a moment here to wiggle and adjust as needed for maximum comfort.

And then begin to settle in.

Release the weight of the body once more,

Taking a breath in.

And as you exhale,

Completely let the body go,

Imagining the body becoming limp like a rag doll.

It may be helpful to release part by part,

Letting go of the weight of the head,

Letting go of the weight of the shoulders and arms.

The back,

Torso,

Chest releases downward.

The sits bones and hips,

The whole of the legs and the feet completely release,

Letting go into gravity's pull.

Taking a slow breath in and a slow breath out,

Giving your body full permission to let go of any holding.

Continue to breathe in and out the nose,

Creating a steady and calm rhythmic cadence to your own breath.

As you breathe in,

Feel a coolness and a calmness spread throughout the body.

And as you breathe out,

Say mentally to yourself,

Let go.

Relax.

Again,

Breathing in,

Feeling a sense of coolness and calmness flowing through the body.

And as you exhale out,

Mentally repeat,

Let go.

Relax.

There's no effort,

No doing here.

Just being,

Just feeling.

Continue to breathe slow and steady,

Letting the breath be a calming mechanism for the body to relax.

But no effort or strain to make anything happen.

Just let the breath be natural.

Stay connected to your breath.

And as you exhale,

Feel the cares and worries of the day flow out of you.

Visualize the exhale releasing everything.

Giving yourself full permission to be present,

Staying connected to the sound of my voice.

And resolve to remain awake,

Staying connected to the practice,

Following along with full awareness and feeling.

Until the senses begin to open with a childlike curiosity,

Notice the sense of hearing.

Visualize the ears hearing sound.

The ears scan for sounds in the distance,

Not analyzing or judging the sounds,

But simply receiving sound.

And sounds in the building,

Sounds in the space.

Perhaps the sound of your own breath,

Just notice the breath breathing itself.

No effort.

And as you breathe,

Notice the sense of smell.

Can you recall a fragrance that brings you delight?

Like citrus or a floral bouquet of flowers,

A smell in nature,

The smell of the earth or the ocean salty sea breeze.

Bring yourself into that space where you can smell a fragrance of your choice that brings you complete delight.

Breathe into it.

Until the senses enliven.

Now accompany this experience with taste,

Noticing the mouth area.

Can you recall a taste in the mouth that brings you joy and comfort,

A sense of ease,

Perhaps a special flavor.

Maybe it's sweet or salty,

Chocolatey,

Citrusy,

Whatever it is that your senses delight in.

Feel that as if you're tasting it right now,

Feel the taste buds open.

Just saliva in the mouth responds to the sensation and open all the senses to this experience of taste,

Smell,

Taste,

Touch.

What is the experience of touch?

Can you recall something that brings you ease and wellbeing,

A fabric or a sensation to the touch that makes you feel at ease,

Perhaps something smooth and silky,

Soft and furry,

Whether it be something like a soothing blanket or a fur baby that you can pet or maybe even a loved one,

The sense and touch of their skin near your skin.

Recall a memory where you were in contact,

The feeling of touch with either an object or another being that just brings you complete joy,

Love in your heart.

Can you feel that?

Breathe into that and let that feeling be completely immersive.

Let it spread through every cell of your being.

And rest back into that and release all effort and just feel into the experience of your body at ease.

Can you welcome a sense of ease and wellbeing?

A time that made you feel at ease and well,

Very secure and safe.

Feeling that sense of safety wash through you at ease,

Perhaps a place in nature,

The sounds of nature around you,

Or perhaps at home in the comfort of your own bed.

Perhaps it's just an image or a symbol that brings you a sense of security.

Let go of that image or memory,

But let that feeling permeate through the breath as the breath breathes itself.

There's no doing,

No effort,

No wrong way.

You are perfect just as you are.

It's enough to just rest.

Stay motionless for this part of the practice as movement reawakens the nervous system.

We will rotate through the body.

I will name various body parts.

And as I name each body part,

Sense,

Feel,

Visualize the body part and mentally repeat its name after I say it.

Do not concentrate too intensely for this will distract from the natural relaxation.

Just follow along,

Allow the mind to jump from part to part.

Bring your awareness to the right palm of the hand.

All five fingertips,

Back of the hand,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Right ribs,

Waist,

Right hip,

Thigh,

Kneecap,

Calf muscle,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the right foot,

Top of the right foot,

And all five toes.

Awareness of the whole right side of the body.

Now go to the left hand,

Left palm of the hand.

Back of the hand,

Fingertips,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Left ribs,

Left ribs,

Waist,

Hip,

Left thigh,

Kneecap,

Calf muscle,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole,

Right foot,

Left heel,

Top of the left foot,

All five toes.

Awareness of the whole left side of the body.

Now alternate from left to right as we travel from the feet to the crown of the head.

Awareness of the left sole of the foot,

Right sole of the foot,

Both feet together.

Left calf,

Right calf,

Both calves together.

Left glute,

Right glute,

Both glutes together.

Left shoulder blade,

Right shoulder blade,

Both shoulder blades and whole of the back together.

Left upper arm,

Right upper arm,

Both upper arms together.

Left lower arm and hands,

Right lower arm and hand,

Both lower arms and hands together.

Other bones,

Throat,

Left side of the face,

Right side of the face,

Whole of the face together.

Left ear,

Right ear,

Both ears together.

The front of the face,

The back of the head,

And the whole of the head together.

The whole of the head together.

Now from the crown,

The whole of the head,

Right side of the face,

Left side of the face,

The whole face together.

The whole of the right arm,

The whole of the left arm,

The whole of the arms together.

The right chest,

The left chest,

And the whole of the chest together.

The whole right leg,

The whole left leg,

The whole of the lower body together.

Now the whole body together.

Sense and feel the whole body together.

Visualize the whole body together.

Sense and feel the body.

Visualize and sense the whole body as a vast,

Spacious awareness.

A field of vast,

Spacious awareness.

Radiant field of sensation.

Let the breath come forth into your awareness.

Notice the natural,

Ingoing and outgoing breath.

Become aware of the natural rise and fall of the navel as you breathe in and out.

Notice the breath in synchronization with the movement of your navel area as you inhale the navel rises.

And as you exhale the navel falls,

Become aware of this.

Now begin to count your breaths backward from 54 to 1 like this.

I am breathing in 54.

I'm breathing out 54.

I'm breathing in 53.

I'm breathing out 53.

I'm breathing in 52.

I am breathing out 52 and so on.

Continue counting and breathing.

And if you make a mistake or lose your place,

You must go back to 54 and start again.

Counting and breathing,

Breathing and counting.

Continue on.

Go on with the practice.

Full awareness.

Come and yeah,

Head up 116.

Now release the counting.

Let the breath be natural.

Come to visualization.

Sur comprise yourself.

On a cold winter day,

You step outside to fresh snow barefoot.

Feel the coolness of snow.

Tingle and ripple with the coolness through your body.

During the cold,

Frigid,

Cold winter day,

A sharp coldness on the skin creates a shiver through your bones.

Feel that.

Snow on the skin.

The wind blowing across your face.

Now change the idea.

Imagine you're in a hot climate,

A tropical climate in the summer months.

The sun is beating down onto your skin.

Feel that heat of the sun penetrate through the skin.

So hot,

You feel a trickle of sweat down your forehead.

Super hot.

Feel the intensity of the hot summer sun on the skin.

Now shift back and forth between the polar opposites.

Revisit cold and hot.

Alternate back and forth.

Now release.

Experience hot and cold simultaneously in one or many parts of the body.

And release.

Let go of all effort.

Drop beneath the thinking mind.

Sense and feel the energy flowing in the body.

Perhaps you feel something.

Perhaps nothing.

Whatever you feel is perfect.

As you breathe,

Notice a pulsation,

A tingling,

Perhaps in the fingers or felt throughout.

And drop deeper and deeper into the energy body where all doing stops.

A deep sense of relaxation washes over you.

Melt and merge into it.

Make no effort to make anything happen.

Let it happen naturally.

Merge into it.

An effortless state of being.

Where all doing stops.

A state of grace and total well-being.

Burden.

Everything.

Every cell,

Nerve,

And organ revitalized and renewed begin to rise to the surface of awareness,

Noticing the rise and fall of the breath.

Mind,

Body,

Spirit,

Healthy,

Whole,

And complete.

Renewed,

Revitalized,

And reset.

Just notice the subtle changes of how you feel now compared to how you felt at the beginning of practice.

Quiet the mind is.

How soft and smooth the breath is.

And how slow the heart rate is.

Just be still and be grateful for the body and all of the body's work to restore and revitalize.

Feeling a deep sense of renewal,

Sense of connection to yourself,

Your true self.

Take a deep nourishing breath in and out the nose.

Stay connected to this deep sense of well-being.

Practice is now complete.

Reviews

This was like no other!
I loved it. I fell into a deep sleep. Slept through the night!

This was brilliant 🤩
My mind was racing but thi really helped me to calm down for sleep. I awoke feeling rested, rejuvenated and restored.
Many thanks 😊

Did this early in the morning. Very soothing and easy to stay connected. Fell back to sleep right after the gentle ending. Good for any time of day or night.

I love this Nidra, guided to lovingly nurture my body. Jacqueline has a great voice & pace 🌸