Yoga Nidra: Find Peace In Uncertain Times
This is a recording of the Yoga Nidra that we practiced during the retreat on the Isle of Man in August 2025. The practice guides you to a place of quiet presence, to hold feelings of worry and uncertainty whilst realising that you are much more than what you feel. During the practice, we use the technique of inviting the feeling of worry to arise and holding it simultaneously with the feeling of trust, to remind ourselves of the power we have to hold and explore our emotions and not be dominated by them. We also practice a long body scan, breath awareness counting backwards from 27-0, exploration of the opposites heavy and light, rapid visualisation of images and time to rest in silence. Photo location: Saba's Glen, Isle of Man
Transcript
Welcome to your Yoga Nidra practice.
Make sure that you are warm,
Comfortable and ready to begin.
Traditionally Yoga Nidra is practiced in Shavasana,
Lying on your back with your arms a little away from your sides and with the palms of your hands facing upwards,
With your legs a little wider than hip distance apart,
Allowing your feet to fall outwards.
And if you would like to support yourself here you might like to take a block or a cushion under your head,
Or a rolled up blanket under your feet.
Shavasana doesn't always feel like the most comfortable position to lie in for a while,
So if you know that this isn't going to be the best position for you,
Choose another position that feels better.
You might like to bring your feet to the mat at hip distance apart and let your knees fall together.
This can often feel much better if you're experiencing any tension in your lower back.
Or you could bring the soles of your feet together and let your knees open out to the sides,
Perhaps supporting your thighs with blocks or cushions.
Or find any position that you can comfortably stay in for the practice.
Do all that you can do to make yourself as comfortable as you can possibly be.
Perhaps even so comfortable that you could forget that your body's there at all as you practice.
And if you do feel the need to move during the practice,
That's okay.
Gently move yourself into another position,
But take care to move slowly and mindfully,
Being conscious that the rest of your body will be relaxing very deeply and making sure not to disturb it too much.
Today's practice will guide you through various relaxation techniques to bring you to a place of peaceful presence that always exists within you,
Despite the worries and uncertainties of the chaotic world.
This practice isn't designed to take away your worries,
But gives you the opportunity to hold space for the feelings that you are experiencing right now,
To explore them,
To be present with them,
And to realise that the truth of who you are is much more than any passing feeling or situation.
You may find that as you practice you drift in and out of awareness of my voice.
This is normal and indicates that you're entering into a deeper state of consciousness,
Turning your senses away from the external world for now.
There is no right or wrong way to do this practice.
You might stay present with my voice the whole way through.
You might drift in and out.
You may completely drift away or even fall asleep.
The practice will bring you exactly what you need right now,
So welcome whatever comes to you today.
And if you would like to make an intention for your practice,
Take a moment to bring that intention into your awareness now.
Whatever has inspired you to show up to practice Yoga Nidra today.
Perhaps to find some peace,
Some calmness or healing.
Or for self-exploration,
Meditation,
For rest and rejuvenation.
Whatever your reason for practicing today,
Bring that into your awareness now and take a moment to acknowledge it.
As your body becomes more settled,
Feel into the feeling of your body resting into the surface that you're lying on.
Feel into all of the meeting points where your body makes a connection with that surface.
And notice how with every exhalation the body becomes heavier at each of those points.
Watch your body naturally becoming more relaxed with every exhalation.
Safely held by the supportive surface beneath you.
Safely held by the earth beneath you.
Bring your awareness into your nose and feel the gentle sensation of the air against your nostrils as you breathe in and out.
And now move to your ears.
Bring the awareness into the ears and feel the sensation of the air on the inside of your ears.
And with the awareness inside your ears,
Notice any sounds that are present in your environment right now.
Just let the awareness jump from sound to sound without getting too involved in any one sound.
Simply acknowledge that they are there and know that they're not going to disturb you as you practice,
But will only enhance your experience of relaxation.
And now we're going to take a journey around the body.
Rest your awareness at each body part as it's named.
Beginning with the right hand thumb.
Bring the awareness to rest at the right hand thumb.
And the right index finger.
The middle finger.
The ring finger.
And the little finger.
The palm of the right hand.
The back of the hand.
The right wrist.
The right forearm.
The right elbow.
The upper arm.
The right shoulder.
The right armpit.
The right side of the chest.
The right side of the abdomen.
The right waist.
The right hip.
The right thigh.
The knee.
The lower leg.
The right ankle.
The right heel.
The sole of the right foot.
The top of the right foot.
The right toes.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
The whole of the right foot.
Awareness on 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.
And moving to the left side.
Bring the awareness to rest at 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 left hand.
The left wrist.
The left forearm.
The left elbow.
The upper arm.
The left shoulder.
The left armpit.
The left side of the chest.
The left side of the abdomen.
The left waist.
The left hip.
The left thigh.
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 foot.
Rest the awareness on the whole of the left foot.
The whole of the left leg.
The whole of the left arm.
The whole of the left side of the body.
And now moving up the back of the body.
Bring the awareness to the right heel.
And the left heel.
The back of the right knee.
The back of the left knee.
The right buttock.
The left 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 neck.
The back of the head.
The top of the head.
And moving 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 space between the lips.
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 left side of the chest.
The centre of the chest.
The right side of the chest.
The left side of the chest.
The centre of the chest.
The right ankle.
The left ankle.
The right toes.
The left toes.
And the whole of the body.
Awareness on the whole of the body.
The whole of the body.
Bring the awareness to the breath.
Watch the breath flowing in and out.
The chest gently rising with each inhalation.
And falling with each exhalation.
Notice the subtle movements that happen all over the body as the breath comes and goes.
The movement of the abdomen.
The small movements that happen in the arms and the legs.
The small movements that happen in the face.
With every inhalation and exhalation.
And as you observe the breath flowing in and out,
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 the end,
Or if you make a mistake,
Come back to 27 and begin again.
Continue following the breath and counting.
Stop your counting and now feel your body becoming very heavy.
Experience the feeling of heaviness throughout the whole of your body.
Feel the body becoming heavier and heavier.
Sinking into the surface beneath you.
Intensify the feeling of heaviness.
Feel the body becoming so heavy that it sinks into the earth and becomes one with the earth.
The feeling of heaviness.
Welcome the feeling of heaviness.
And now the feeling of lightness.
Feel your body becoming very light.
Experience the feeling of lightness throughout the whole of your body.
Your body becoming lighter and lighter,
Floating up into the air.
Intensify the feeling of lightness.
Feel your body becoming so light that it floats up into the sky,
Becoming one with the sky.
The feeling of lightness.
Welcome the feeling of lightness.
Heaviness and lightness together.
Welcome the feelings of heaviness and lightness as you experience them both inside your body at the same time.
Your body becoming one with the earth and one with the sky.
Welcome the feelings of heaviness and lightness together.
Heaviness and lightness together.
Feel into your body and invite the feeling of worry to arise.
The feeling of worry.
If it helps to bring the feeling,
You could recall something that you have been worried about or a time that you felt very worried.
Or you can simply allow the feeling to arise by itself.
The feeling of worry.
Welcome it and welcome the sensations that arise inside your body as the feeling of worry intensifies.
Feel the sensations vividly.
Welcome it wholeheartedly.
The feeling of worry.
The feeling of worry.
And now the feeling of trust.
Invite the feeling of trust to arise.
Perhaps by recalling a time that you felt very secure,
Very trusting in life.
Or by allowing the feeling to come by itself.
Intensify the feeling of trust.
Feel the sensations that arise throughout your body with the feeling of trust.
Feel it vividly.
The feeling of trust.
Welcome the feeling of trust.
Worry and trust together.
Invite the feelings of worry and trust to co-exist within your body at the same time.
Feel into the sensations that arise with the feeling of worry and those that arise with the feeling of trust as they arise in your body together.
Welcome both feelings.
Allow them to intensify.
Feel them vividly as you experience them together.
Worry and trust together.
Worry and trust together.
Move the awareness to the eyebrow centre.
Rest at the eyebrow centre.
Observe anything that's happening at the eyebrow centre right now.
Any shapes,
Colours or impressions.
Or perhaps just darkness.
Without getting too involved,
Just observe whatever is there.
Keeping the awareness at the eyebrow centre,
I'm going to name some different things.
Allow an impression of each one to arise as it's named.
Without forcing anything to happen,
Allow each one to arise naturally for you,
However it comes.
Beginning with a burning candle.
Pebbles on the beach.
A snow-capped mountain.
A cascading waterfall.
A feather blowing in the breeze.
A yogi in deep meditation.
A roaring fire.
A dew drop on a leaf.
A butterfly.
A swan.
The full moon in the starry night sky.
A rainbow.
The sun rising over the desert.
Bring the awareness to the heart centre.
Resting here in the peace of the heart centre.
You are free.
And before you complete the practice,
Take some time now to create a vision of yourself going back into your day,
Carrying this sense of peaceful presence with you.
See yourself moving through your day with ease and calmness.
Gracefully flowing through any obstacles.
And see yourself living your happiest and healthiest life.
Doing all of the things that you want to do with joy,
With peace.
See yourself embracing your life,
Joyfully moving through your days.
Happy.
Healthy.
Peaceful.
And whole.
And now,
Very gently,
Begin to turn your awareness back outwards.
Notice any sounds that are present in your environment and just allow your awareness to float from sound to sound,
Without getting too involved in any one sound.
Just acknowledge that those sounds are there.
And feel into the feeling of your body resting onto the surface beneath you.
The feeling of the earth supporting your body.
Watch the breath flowing in and out and notice how every breath reanimates your body.
See the breath flowing into your hands and your feet,
Into your fingers and toes.
And very slowly begin to make some small movements to reawaken your body.
Circling the wrists and the ankles.
And when you feel ready,
Give yourself a stretch in any way that feels good for you.
Take your time,
There is no rush to come back.
And when you're sure that you're feeling quite awake again,
Gently blink your eyes back open.
Your practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Thank you for listening.
4.8 (8)
Recent Reviews
ilinca
September 13, 2025
Very beautiful nidra track! 🪷 I loved the addition of the last part, when we take the relaxed state into the rest of our day, and envision our ideal self 🥰 Thank you, Jessica 🙏