Nidra Nap

A rejuventaing yoga nidra practice to give you a high-quality rest and a nervous system reset during a busy day. Because yoga nidra encourages relaxation on every level, it can provide a powerful reset during times of stress, overwhelm or excess activity along with giving you a peaceful time out for yourself.

This practice includes a body scan for relaxation, breath awareness, exploration of the experience of sleeping and waking together, and some time in silence to enjoy resting and replenishing. Afterwards, you can expect to return to your day feeling clearer, calmer and re-energised.

Photo by Katie Hollamby

Transcript

Welcome to your yoga nidra practice. Make sure that you're in a comfortable position to begin. If you need to take any support for your body to make yourself more comfortable, Take anything you need. You may like to practice in the traditional posture of shavasana or it may feel better for you to lie in a different position. Wherever you want to be, Make sure that your body is warm, Comfortable and well supported so that you can completely surrender into deep rest for the duration of this practice. And as your body begins to settle, Take a moment to acknowledge that this is your time for your rest and rejuvenation. And for the duration of this practice, Nothing is required of you. There's nothing that you need to be attending to in the external world. No obligations to fulfill. No deadlines to meet. This time is yours for your rest, For your healing and for your journey inwards. There is no way to get this practice wrong. It is your time for you and the practice will bring you whatever you are the most in need of today. You are free to listen to my voice for as long as that's useful for you and you are also free to drift away and ignore me. And if you do find that you fall asleep today, It just means that your body is in need of some sleep and is taking advantage of this time to get the rest that it needs. So knowing that you can't get this practice wrong, Give yourself permission to surrender into deep relaxation. Send your awareness down into your feet and give your feet permission to relax. As you breathe in, See the breath flowing down into your feet and as you breathe out, Feel the muscles in the feet relaxing, Letting go. Breathe into the lower legs and breathe out to feel the lower legs relaxing. And the thighs, Inhale into the thighs, Exhale to feel the thighs relax. Breathe into your lower back and as you breathe out, Feel tension melting away from the lower back, The lower back releasing and relaxing. And the upper back and shoulders, Inhale into the upper back and the shoulders, Exhale to feel the upper back and shoulders becoming more deeply relaxed. Take a deep breath into the lower abdomen and exhale to feel the abdominal muscles relaxing. Breathe into the arms and the hands, Exhale to feel the arms and the hands releasing and letting go. And take a breath into your head and face, Into the cheeks and the jaw. Exhale to feel the face relaxing, The jaw relaxing. And now take three more deep breaths, With each exhalation feeling the whole of the body releasing and letting go. Now gently turn your awareness outwards to the sounds that you can hear in your environment. Allow the awareness to move from sound to sound without getting too involved in any one sound. Just acknowledge that those sounds are there and know that they're not going to disturb you as you practice and that any sound around you can only help you to relax even more deeply. And now we'll begin to move the awareness around the body, Starting with the tip of the tongue. Bring the awareness to the tip of the tongue and rest at the tip of the tongue. And the whole of the tongue, Bring the awareness to the whole of the tongue. The roof of the mouth. The bottom of the mouth. The teeth. The gums. The chin. The jaw. The lower lip. The upper lip. The right nostril. Send the awareness to the inside of the right nostril. The right cheek. The right ear. The inside of the right ear. The right temple. The right eye. The right eyebrow. The eyebrow centre. Rest the awareness at the eyebrow centre. And the left nostril, The inside of the left nostril. The left cheek. The left ear. The inside of the left ear. The left temple. The left eye. The left eyebrow. The eyebrow centre. Bring the awareness to the forehead. The top of the head. The back of the head. The back of the neck. The neck. The right collarbone. The right shoulder. The right upper arm. The right elbow. The right lower arm. The right thumb. The palm of the right hand. The back of the right hand. The right thumb. The right index finger. The right middle finger. The ring finger. And the little finger. Bring the awareness back to the right collarbone. The right side of the chest. The right side of the abdomen. The right waist. The right hip. The right thigh. The right knee. The lower leg. The right ankle. The right heel. The right calf. The sole of the right foot. The top of the right foot. Each of the right toes. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Bring the awareness to the whole of the right leg. The whole of the right arm. The whole of the right side of the body. Now move the awareness to the left side. Rest the awareness at the left collarbone. The left shoulder. The left upper arm. The left elbow. The left lower arm. The left waist. The palm of the left hand. The back of the left hand. The left hand thumb. The left index finger. The left middle finger. The ring finger. The little finger. Come back to the left collarbone. The left side of the chest. The left side of the abdomen. The left waist. The left hip. The left thigh. The left knee. The lower leg. The left ankle. The left heel. The sole of the left foot. The top of the left foot. The left toes. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. The whole of the left leg. The whole of the left arm. The whole of the left side of the body. And the whole of the body together. Awareness on the whole of the body together. The whole of the body together. Bring the awareness to the breath. Follow the natural flow of the breath as it moves in and out. Observe the breath as it flows into the lungs. Watch the chest expanding. And observe the breath as it flows back out again. Keeping the awareness on the natural flow of the breath, Begin to count the breaths backwards from 27 to 0. Like this. Breathing in 27. Breathing out 27. Breathing in 26. Breathing out 26. Breathing in 25. Breathing out 25. And so on all the way to 0. If you reach 0, Or if you make a mistake, Go back to 27 and start again. Keep watching the breath and counting. Stop your counting and notice how still your body has become. The body is completely still, As if fast asleep. Observe the still, Sleeping body. But although the body sleeps, The consciousness remains awake and aware. Observe the awakened consciousness that is aware of the sleeping body. The body sleeps and the consciousness remains awake and aware of the sleeping body. This is Yoga Nidra. Very gently prepare yourself to turn the awareness back outwards. Open your ears to welcome any sounds that are present in the environment around you. Without getting too involved in any one sound, Just acknowledge that those sounds are there. And now become aware of the feeling of the air against your skin. The feeling of your body resting into the surface beneath you. Begin to deepen the breathing as you prepare to reawaken your body. Start to make some movements with your hands and your feet. And give yourself a stretch in any way that feels good for you. And when you're sure that you're wide awake again, Slowly open your eyes. Your practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete. Thank you for listening.