Yoga Nidra For Sleep

Sleep is so essential and yet sometimes so elusive. This soothing yoga nidra practice with Jennifer offers us tools to induce sleep naturally, connecting within the body. Use as you transition into sleep, or as a way to bring meditation into napping, or other downtime periods to hold space for deeper rejuvenation. This track will be a friend to your rest, relaxation and sleep rhythms.

Transcript

This particular practice focuses on helping you to sleep in whatever position you find yourself in.

Whether you are seated on an airplane or bus,

Lying down on the floor,

Or in the comfort of your own bed,

This will be a friend to your rest,

Relaxation,

And sleep rhythms.

Sleep is so essential and yet sometimes so elusive,

And when we can't sleep it can be due to physical factors,

Mental and emotional factors,

Or a combination of both.

Yoga Nidra offers us tools to induce sleep organically,

Following the natural workings of your own mind.

Notice if you could be 5 or 10% more comfortable in whatever position you've chosen.

Open your senses,

Taste inside the mouth,

Hearing,

Listening with ears and whole body,

Smell,

Welcoming the touch of air and aroma inside the nostrils,

And vision,

Relaxing the eyes from the world of looking and seeing,

Internal vision opening.

And feel the skin,

The touch of air temperature,

The touch of your clothes,

And the touch of the ground.

Now set your sankalpa,

Your intention,

Or deep resolve for this practice.

Ask yourself,

In your life right now,

What is your deepest,

Most heartfelt desire?

Think of this as a little seed that you're planting into your time in the world of sleep,

Like a blessing that you sprinkle over your passage through sleep.

As you contemplate your sankalpa,

See and feel your life with the fulfillment of this desire.

What would your life look,

Sound,

Smell,

Taste and feel like if this deepest desire were a reality?

Repeat your sankalpa three times in your own words from your heart in the present tense,

Like a mantra.

Then give thanks and let it go.

Now allow your attention to be spontaneously drawn into the breath without needing to control it or manipulate it.

The breath breathing you.

And as you relax into the simplicity of being breathed.

Notice how your body spreads like water.

And feel how within this body of water there is a rhythm,

A tide,

Waves of respiration ebbing and flowing.

Feel how awareness of the tide of your breathing can deepen awareness of the flow of all life.

See and feel how the simple process of releasing and welcoming a quiet breath is mirrored in the flow of a day in your life.

As day flows into night and night flows into day.

Touched by the transition spaces of dawn and dusk.

And see and feel how it's mirrored in the seasons of your life.

As winter flows into summer.

And summer flows into winter.

Touched by the transition spaces of autumn and spring.

Releasing into being breathed.

Now begin to count back on each exhalation until you reach zero from ten.

Rest awareness at your heart and each time you exhale count back.

As though you could shed a layer or drop down a layer with each out-breath.

Now bring your awareness to the hollow space of your throat.

The tongue.

Jaws.

Sensations in the gums.

Teeth.

Lips.

The entire mouth full of sensation.

Cheeks.

And cheekbones.

Chin.

Ears.

And earlobes.

Nose.

And tip of nose.

Both nostrils.

Both eyeballs.

And the space just underneath the eyeballs.

Both eyelids full of sensation and awareness.

Both eyebrows.

And the space between the eyebrows.

Temples.

Forehead.

Top of the head.

Back of the skull.

Back of the neck.

The whole head as one orb of sensation.

Now feel both shoulders from the inside.

Both upper arms.

Both elbows.

Forearms.

Wrists.

Palms of the hands.

Backs of the hands.

Thumbs.

Second fingers.

Third fingers.

Fourth fingers.

Pinky fingers.

Feel the spaces between the fingers.

The tips of the fingers.

Each finger like a little stream that flows into the space beyond.

Now feel the chest and the upper back.

Feel the rib cage and the middle back.

Feel the belly and the low back.

The pelvis and the buttocks.

Both hips.

Sensation in the thighs.

Knees.

And the space just underneath the knees.

Lower legs.

Ankles.

Heels.

Soles of the feet.

Tops of the feet.

Big toes.

Second toes.

Third toes.

Fourth toes.

Pinky toes.

Feel the spaces between the toes.

The tips of the toes.

Each toe like a stream that flows into the space beyond.

Feel the whole body at once.

Each individual sensation melting into a mass of sensation.

Feel the awareness of the whole body at once.

Now let awareness sink even deeper.

Feel the skin.

And go beneath the skin feeling the insulating tissues.

The warm substances.

And deeper still to feel muscles.

Letting muscles give up their command of the body committing them to rest.

And deeper still into bones.

And the layers inside the bones.

As though the bones themselves could sigh a little.

Feeling the bones carried on the currents of breath.

And deeper still to feel the soft organs,

The contents of your skeleton.

The heartbeat slowing down.

All the organs committed to rest.

Feel the fluids and waterways in the body.

And the cells humming,

Pulsing and glowing.

Just like stars against a night sky.

And you go deeper still and feel the energy behind or underneath these sensations.

Now bring your attention to a sensation of heaviness.

Welcoming the sensation of heaviness in some or all parts of the body.

Now bring your attention to a sensation of lightness or weightlessness in some or all parts of the body.

Go back and forth returning attention to the sensation of heaviness.

Give yourself up to heaviness,

Relaxing into heaviness.

And go back to the sensation of lightness or weightlessness.

Give yourself up to lightness.

Dissolving into weightlessness.

Back to the sensation of heaviness.

Arms and legs heavy and sinking.

Head and torso heavy and sinking.

And back to the sensation of lightness.

Arms and legs floaty and weightless.

Head and torso floating in space so light.

Now feel both simultaneously,

Feel heavy and light at once.

Don't try to think about this,

Just feel.

Heaviness and lightness dissolving into each other.

Now notice what is your direct experience of the body now.

Is it solid?

Is there a center?

Let the body answer the question.

Set your attention free to a feeling of just being.

Nothing you need to do.

Nothing you need to know or get or want.

Having let go of any set identity,

Time and space.

Notice what remains.

Now let yourself fall back into the heart space.

Emptying the mind completely of any images,

Thoughts,

Feelings,

Stories.

Emptying completely into the heart space,

Falling back into a deep,

Deep rest.

Reviews

After a week of unexpected bereavement and additional stress, this has helped support me to reset.

AmAZING!!! Medicine for my mind body and soul right now. This entered my space at just the most perfect time. Thank you thank you thank you 🙏🏼

Wonderful,. Always soothing often poetic; incorporateing a detailed body scan.

À wonderful meditation that relaxes me without fail every time

Very relaxing. I look dory to more from this teacher

Such a wonderful meditation and always helps me fall asleep. 🙏

Ooooogh I am so glad I found this one! Going into my daily practice folder.

This was both aware and relaxing at the same time. I enjoyed how it went through different parts of my body, and different sensations of being with a gentle awareness.

Thanks for putting me to sleep at a time when I really needed it 🙏

Perfect cadence, timing, time - as always. Much gratitude. 🙏🙏🙏

Fell asleep while listening to this last night. The best sleep I've gotten in a long while. Thank you 🙏🏻😍

Amazing… this meditation is purely Divine…thank you!🌻💫🌟🌟

Your voice works like magic for me. Thank you so much for this recording. It relaxes me even on super restless nights 🙏

my cat fell asleep on my chest while practicing this tonight :) we both thoroughly enjoyed it

My takeaway: Several back to back steps to unwind and drift to sleep. This is the best one I've found and now setting the bar high to beat. KEY: 5*Insightful 4*Interesting 3*Okay 2*Not For Me 1*Irritating

This is my primary nidra. Just hits the right chords with me.

The best meditation, great soothing voice that makes you calm and relax 🙂💫 I listen to it every single day, it helps me to fall asleep easily. Thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️🕉🙏

Enjoyed it felt really relaxed and calm. Thanks 👍 😊

I return to this recording regularly, I find it so soothing and sleep follows…

I fell asleep in seconds! And I slept in without waking up all night!!