Prana Yoga Nidra

This is a recording of a live Yoga Nidra session on Insight Timer on the 1st March 2026. This body-based practice includes techniques and visualisations to restore a balanced flow of prana, or life force energy, including a rotation of awareness through the body's energy centres and breathing though alternate nostrils and alternate sides of the body.

At the beginning of the session, participants were invited to request words and themes to be included and asked for 'physical healing,' 'peace and friendship' and 'goodness and gentleness.'

Image by Clemara Studio

Transcript

So make sure that you've got everything that you need for your practice, So you want to be as warm and as comfortable as you can be so that you can just rest and not be distracted by your body. So take any pillows, Any blankets, Any support that you need and just while we get started make any movements or adjustments that you need to find the most comfortable position for you. So once you've made yourself comfortable, Just feel into the feeling of your body resting into the surface beneath you, Notice all of the places where your body connects into that surface, And watch the breath flowing in and out. Notice how with every exhalation the whole of your body becomes more relaxed, Every exhalation encourages tension to release from the muscles, With every exhalation the whole of your body sinks a little more deeply into the surface that you're resting on, And just send your awareness over your body to notice if there are any places that are feeling a little more tight or any places where there's any discomfort, And if you find somewhere send the breath into that area, So breathe into that place of discomfort, Of tension, And then feel the exhalation carrying some of that tension away, And repeat this with as many places as you need to, Feeling the exhalation carrying away any tension, With every exhalation the whole of the body becomes more relaxed, And now send the awareness outwards to any sounds that you can hear in your environment, And just notice the sounds, Let the awareness jump from sound to sound without getting too involved in any one sound, Just acknowledge that the sounds are there, And know that none of the sounds are going to disturb you, They can only help to enhance your relaxation, And if you have an intention for your practice today, Just take a moment to bring that intention into your awareness, Whatever has inspired you to show up to practice, Perhaps for physical healing, To find peace, For deep rest, Some time to be gentle with yourself, For meditation, For self-exploration, Whatever your reason for practicing today, Just bring that into your awareness, Take a moment to acknowledge it, And if you have a sankalpa, Bring your sankalpa into your awareness now, Your heart's deep prayer or vow, Invite the sankalpa to arise naturally for you, However it comes, And if you don't have a sankalpa, Just bring the awareness to the heart center, Take a moment to acknowledge the heart, We're going to take a journey around the body's energy points, Bring the awareness to rest at each point as it's named, Beginning at the eyebrow center, Bring the awareness to rest at the eyebrow center, And the throat, Rest the awareness at the throat, The right shoulder, The right elbow, The right wrist, The tip of the right hand thumb, The tip of the right index finger, The tip of the right middle finger, The tip of the ring finger, The tip of the little finger, The right wrist, The right elbow, The right shoulder, The throat, The left shoulder, The left elbow, The left wrist, The tip of the left hand thumb, The tip of the left index finger, The tip of the left middle finger, The tip of the ring finger, The tip of the little finger, The left wrist, The left elbow, The left shoulder, The throat, The center of the chest, The left side of the chest, The center of the chest, The right side of the chest, The center of the chest, The navel, The lower abdomen, The right tip, The right knee, The right ankle, The right big toe, Second toe, Third toe, Fourth toe, Fifth toe, The right ankle, The right knee, The right hip, The lower abdomen, The left hip, The left knee, The left ankle, The left big toe, Second toe, Third toe, Fourth toe, Fifth toe, The left ankle, The left knee, The left hip, The lower abdomen, The navel, The center of the chest, The throat, The eyebrow center, The top of the head, Rest the awareness at the top of the head, Bring the awareness to the breath, Follow the breath as it flows in, And as it flows out, Watch the movement of the breath into the chest, And follow the air flowing into the nose, Watch the triangular shape made by the breath, As it flows in and out of the nostrils, And now see the breath flowing through alternate nostrils, As you breathe in the breath flows through the left nostril, Up to the eyebrow center, And as you breathe out, The breath flows out of the right nostril, Breathing in through the right nostril, Up to the eyebrow center, Breathing out through the left nostril, Inhale through the left side, Exhale through the right side, Inhale through the right, Exhale through the left, And continue breathing through alternate nostrils, Sending the breath through the alternate arms and hands, Inhale from the left hand, Up the left arm, Through the left nostril to the eyebrow center, Exhale through the right nostril, Down the right arm, To the right hand, Inhale up the right arm, Through the right nostril to the eyebrow center, Exhale through the left nostril, And through the left arm to the left hand, And continue breathing through the alternate arms, Alternate nostrils, And now send the breath to the legs and feet, Inhale from the left foot, Up the left leg, Up to the left side of the body, Up to the eyebrow center, Exhale down the right side, Down the right leg to the right foot, Inhale from the right foot, Up the right leg, Up the right side to the eyebrow center, Exhale down the left side, Down the left leg to the left foot, Continue breathing through alternate sides of the body, And now breathing through both sides of the body together, Inhale from the feet, Up the legs, Up the sides of the body, Through the nostrils to the eyebrow center, Exhale from the eyebrow center, Through the nostrils, Down the sides of the body, Down the legs to the feet, So making a large triangle over the body, Inhaling up the legs, Up the sides to the eyebrow center, Exhaling down the legs to the feet, Bringing the breath into the arms and the hands, Inhale from the hands, Up the arms, Up to the eyebrow center, Exhale down through the nostrils, Through the arms to the hands, And coming back to the nose, Inhaling and exhaling through the nose, Watching the triangular shape of the breath flowing through the nose, And bring the awareness to the heart center, Rest into the peace of the heart center, Here you are free to just be, To rest in the gentle peace of the heart, If you have a sankalpa, Invite your sankalpa to arise, Your heart's deep prayer over, And if you don't have one, Keep the awareness at the heart, And just observe what's happening at the heart, And before you complete the practice, Let's take a moment to bring into your awareness, The qualities that you want to carry with you as you continue with your life, The peace, The gentleness, The goodness that you have cultivated in your practice here, And see yourself moving back into your day, Moving back into your life, Carrying with you whatever it is that you need, And living your life in the way that you want to live it, And doing the things that you most want to do with ease and with joy, See yourself healthy, Radiant, Your physical body healed and strong, And see yourself enjoying happy friendships, Living life with peace, With goodness, With gentleness, And now start to turn the awareness back outwards, Just noticing any sounds that are present in your environment around you, Let the awareness jump from sound to sound, Without getting too involved in any one sound, But just notice that those sounds are there, And feel the feeling of the breath flowing in and out of your body, And the feeling of your body resting onto the surface beneath you, And start to make some small movements to reawaken the body, Moving the fingers and the toes, Circling the wrists and the ankles, And give yourself a big stretch in any way that feels good for you, And taking your time, There's no rush, And when you're sure that you're feeling wide awake again, Slowly blink your eyes back open, To complete the practice.

Reviews

Many silent sections in which I tend to drift off and wonder if it has ended without my realizing. And then we pick up again for a while. 3/6/26