Yoga Nidra Deep Rest
This is a recording of a live Yoga Nidra session on Insight Timer on the 9th of March 2025. This long practice includes a slow body scan, exploration of opposites heavy/light and hot/cold, and a garden visualisation to receive strength and love. Before the practice, participants were invited to contribute words they wished to be included in the nidra, and asked for 'love,' 'acceptance,' 'safety,' and 'strength.' Image by Marisol
Transcript
So make sure that you've got everything that you need to be comfortable.
Any props,
Cushions,
Blankets,
Pillows,
Whatever support you need to be really comfortable for your practice today.
Make sure that you're going to be warmer now.
We'll just do some tension and release exercises today before we begin the Nidra.
So we'll start with engaging the muscles in the feet.
So bring all of the muscles together in the feet,
Draw the toes in towards the soles of the feet,
Engage the muscles in the feet,
And squeeze the feet in as tightly as you can,
And let the feet relax.
And now the legs,
Engage the muscles in the legs.
Squeeze the calf muscles,
The muscles around the knees,
The muscles in the thighs.
Engage the leg muscles as tightly as you can,
And relax the legs.
And now the arms and the hands,
Make the hands into fists and squeeze the fingers in.
Engage the muscles in the arms as tightly as you can.
Draw the shoulders up towards the ears,
And relax the arms,
Relax the hands,
And know the face.
Squeeze the face together,
The eyes,
The nose,
And the mouth,
All squeezing in towards each other.
Engaging the muscles in your face as tightly as you can,
And relax the face.
And now the whole of the body,
Engage the feet,
The legs,
The arms,
The shoulders,
The face,
Squeezing all of the muscles as tightly as you can,
And let the whole body relax.
And the whole body again,
Engaging all of the muscles of the body,
Squeezing everything in together as tightly as you can,
And release.
One more time with the whole of the body,
Squeezing everything together tightly,
And let the whole of the body release and relax.
And as your body continues to let go and release,
Just feel the weight of your body against the surface beneath you.
Feel the places where your body connects into the surface beneath you,
And feel your body becoming heavier and heavier in each of those places.
Bring your awareness to the breath,
And as you breathe,
Feel how each exhalation carries your body into a deeper level of relaxation.
Feel everything letting go as you exhale.
As the exhalations encourage your body to relax,
Feel as well how the exhalations carry away any thoughts,
Any worries,
Any concerns that you don't need to bring into the practice with you.
Just allow each exhalation to carry away anything that you don't need for the practice,
Allowing your mind to relax into a place of calmness,
So that you can enjoy your relaxation.
Now become aware of any sounds that you can hear in your environment,
And just let the awareness jump from sound to sound,
Without getting too involved in any one sound.
And just acknowledge that those sounds are there.
Just witness them,
And know that the sounds aren't going to disturb you as you practice.
They can only help you to relax even more deeply.
Now see yourself in a beautiful peaceful and safe environment.
You might like to think of a place that you know where you always feel safe and secure and well,
Or you might like to imagine a situation that has everything that you need to feel safe,
Well and secure.
Feel that feeling of safety intensifying all around you.
If there's anything that you can bring in or that you want to have around you that would make you feel even more safe,
Even more secure,
Even more at peace,
Bring whatever it is into your environment,
And feel the feeling of safety as it intensifies inside your body.
Notice where you feel that safety,
And feel that feeling as vividly as you can.
Absolute safety and security.
The feeling of being completely peaceful,
Completely at ease.
And this is your feeling that you have created for yourself,
And you can always come back to it at any time if you need to.
Absolute safety,
Security,
Security,
Well-being.
And if you have an intention for your practice today,
Just take a moment to acknowledge that intention,
Whatever your reason for showing up to practice today.
Maybe for deep rest,
For healing,
Self-discovery,
Meditation.
Whatever your inspiration to practice today,
Just take a moment to acknowledge that intention,
And if you have a sankalpa,
Now is the time to recall your sankalpa.
The sankalpa is a deep vow or prayer from the heart,
Something that you wish to attain or experience in this life.
There's no need to force the sankalpa.
It will come very naturally if it's going to come.
So if you do have one,
Welcome it as it arises now.
And if you don't have one,
Keep the awareness at the heart center,
And just observe what's happening at the heart.
We're going to take a journey around the body.
So bring the awareness to rest at each body part,
As I name it.
We'll begin with the thumb of the right hand.
Bring the awareness to rest at the right hand thumb,
The right index finger,
The right middle finger,
The right ring finger,
The right little finger,
The palm of the right hand,
The back of the right hand,
The right wrist,
The right forearm,
The right elbow,
The upper arm,
The right shoulder,
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 sole of the right foot,
The top of the right foot,
And each of the right toes,
1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
Bring the awareness to the whole of the right foot,
The whole of the right leg,
The whole of the right arm,
The whole of the right side of the body.
Moving to the left side,
Bring the awareness to the left hand thumb,
The left index finger,
The left middle finger,
The ring finger,
The little finger,
The palm of the left hand,
The back of the hand,
The left wrist,
The left forearm,
The elbow,
The upper arm,
The left shoulder,
The left side of the chest,
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,
Each of the left toes,
1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
Bring the awareness to the whole of the left foot,
The whole of the left foot,
The whole of the left arm,
The whole of the left side of the body.
The right heel,
And the left heel,
The back of the right knee,
The back of the left knee,
The right buttock,
The whole of the spine.
Send the awareness up every vertebrae of the spine.
The right shoulder blade,
The left shoulder blade,
The back of the head,
The top of the head,
And bringing the awareness down the front of the body,
Bring the awareness to the forehead,
The right eyebrow,
The left eyebrow,
The eyebrow centre,
The right eye,
The left eye,
The right ear,
The left ear,
The right cheek,
The left cheek,
The nose,
The tip of the nose,
The upper lip,
The lower lip,
The chin,
The jaw,
The right collarbone,
The left collarbone,
The space between the collarbones,
The right side of the chest,
The left side of the chest,
The centre of the chest,
The navel,
The lower abdomen,
The right hip,
The left hip,
The right knee,
The left knee,
The right ankle,
The left ankle,
The right toes,
The left toes,
And the whole of the body,
Bring the awareness to the whole of the body together,
The whole of the body together,
The whole of the body together.
Now bring the awareness to the breath,
Follow the natural flow of the breath as it flows into the body and as it flows back out again.
Watch the gentle rising and falling of the chest as the breath flows in and out.
And keeping the awareness on the breath,
Begin to count the breaths backwards from 56 to 0,
Like this,
Breathing in 56,
Breathing out 56,
Breathing in 55,
Breathing out 55,
Breathing in 54,
Breathing out 54,
And so on,
All the way to 0.
If you make a mistake or if you reach the end,
Just come back to 56 and start again.
Keep watching the breath and counting.
And stop counting and now feel into the feeling of heaviness in the body.
Feel the body becoming very heavy.
Feel the body sinking into the surface beneath you as it becomes heavier and heavier and heavier.
Intensify that feeling of heaviness.
Feel the body becoming so heavy that it sinks down into the earth,
Becoming one with the earth.
Welcome that feeling of heaviness.
The feeling of heaviness.
Now feel the body becoming very light.
Feel the body becoming lighter and lighter.
Feel the body becoming so light that it floats away into the sky and becomes a part of the sky.
Intensify that feeling of lightness.
Feel it vividly.
The feeling of lightness.
The feeling of lightness.
And are you able to feel both of those at the same time?
Can you feel the body so heavy that it sinks into the earth and so light that it floats away into the sky?
At the same time.
Can you feel the feelings of heaviness and lightness in the body together?
Heaviness and lightness together.
Now awaken the feeling of heat within the body.
Feel the feeling of heat.
Feel the body becoming very hot.
Feel as if you are outside under the sun on a hot summer's day.
And intensify that feeling of heat.
Feel it vividly through every cell of the body.
The feeling of heat.
Welcome it.
The feeling of heat.
And the feeling of coldness.
Awaken the feeling of coldness.
Feel the feeling of coldness throughout the body.
As if you're outside in the snow on a cold winter's day.
Feel the feeling vividly.
Welcome it into every cell.
The feeling of coldness.
The feeling of coldness.
And are you able to experience both of those at the same time?
Can you feel the body hot as if under the hot summer's sun and cold as if out in the cold winter's snow at the same time?
Is it possible to feel heat and coldness inside the body together?
Can you feel heat and coldness together?
Heat and coldness together.
Move the awareness to the eyebrow centre.
Rest the awareness at the eyebrow centre.
And observe what's happening there.
Observe any shapes,
Colours,
Patterns or perhaps just darkness.
And just watch.
And keeping the awareness at the eyebrow centre I'm going to name some different things.
And just allow an impression of each one to arise however it comes.
There's no need to force anything to happen.
Just allow each one to come as it's named.
We'll begin with a bunch of flowers.
An eagle soaring through the sky.
A mother hen and her chicks.
An oak tree.
A feather blowing in the wind.
A sleeping cat.
A field of daffodil.
The starry night sky.
The sound of a beating drum.
The sun rising over the mountains.
Rain trickling down a window.
An endless desert.
The midday sun.
A crescent moon.
A flowing river.
And you see yourself sitting in the centre of a beautiful garden.
Surrounded by flowers,
Trees and plants.
And you become aware of the birds and the animals around you.
And feel into all of the places where your body connects into the earth beneath you.
And as you feel into those connection points feel yourself becoming one with the garden.
Becoming one with Mother Earth.
And as you rest in the peace of the garden feel that support of the earth beneath you.
The support of all of the trees,
The plants and the flowers.
And welcome the love of Mother Earth into your body.
And as you rest in the garden know that you are supported and you are loved.
You are accepted by the earth.
By all of the life that surrounds you.
And as you rest in the peace of the garden breathe the love of the earth and the strength and support of the earth into your body.
And maintaining that connection with the earth and that awareness that you are loved accepted and supported.
If you have a sankalpa invite your sankalpa to arise again.
Welcome and acknowledge that deep vow or prayer from the heart.
And if you don't have a sankalpa just take the awareness to the heart center and observe.
And now come back to the intention that you made at the beginning of the practice.
And recall that intention once again.
Whatever it is that inspired you to show up and practice today.
Just bring that intention back into your awareness.
Acknowledge it again.
And now come back to your safe peaceful place that you created at the beginning of the practice.
And feel that safe,
Secure peaceful environment arising around you again with everything that you need to feel safe to feel well and secure.
And feel that feeling of safety intensifying through every cell of your body.
This is your feeling that you have created for yourself.
You can always come back to it at any time if you need to in the practice and also in your life.
Complete safety security absolute well-being.
And now slowly begin to send the awareness back outwards.
Become aware of any sounds that are present in your environment.
And just let the awareness jump from sound to sound without getting too involved in any one thing.
Just acknowledge that those sounds are there.
And feel into the feeling of your body resting against the surface beneath you.
Feel all of the places where your body connects with that surface.
And in your mind can you create a picture of the room that you're in?
Can you remember the colour of the walls?
Can you remember the ceiling?
The floor?
The furniture and all of the different objects?
Begin to deepen the breathing and start to make some small movements to reawaken the body.
Begin to move the fingers and the toes the wrists and the ankles.
Give yourself a big stretch in any way that feels good for you.
So taking your time,
There's no rush.
And when you're sure that you're feeling wide awake again slowly blink the eyes open and come back to sitting.
Your practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
