Yoga Nidra For Sleep
This bedtime meditation uses techniques from Yoga Nidra to guide you into a night of continuous deep sleep. The practice includes several body scans and breath awareness to allow you to release stored tension from the day and slowly ease into deeper levels of relaxation, and eventually sleep. There is no talking you out at the end - you will be left to remain in deep rest and to fall asleep as and when it happens. It is recommended to listen in bed, fully prepared for a restful night. Photo by Nealle LaSalle
Transcript
This practice of Yoga Nidra is designed to help you fall asleep and to stay asleep.
I hope that you will have a deep and restful,
Peaceful night and awaken in the morning feeling refreshed and re-energized.
So I'm not going to talk you out of this practice.
You can just leave the recording going knowing that it will finish when it's time to finish.
You can fall asleep at any time and just welcome the sleep when it comes.
So I recommend that you do this practice in bed.
Begin by finding what position your body wants to sleep in tonight.
Finding the pillows and the blankets however you need to feel really comfortable.
So perhaps as you begin to fall asleep the body can feel so comfortable that you forget it's there at all.
As the body does begin to settle you start to notice the small movements that happen as you begin to relax.
Become aware of the tiny movements in the muscles as they begin to release and let go.
Notice how the breath is beginning to slow down.
Notice the heartbeat beginning to slow down.
And with each exhalation feeling that the body becomes heavier and heavier as it sinks into the mattress.
If you like you might like to imagine that the breath is like a wave washing over the body.
As you breathe in the wave washes from the feet up to the top of the head.
As you breathe out it washes from the top of the head back to the feet.
If you find that the mind is busy maybe with thoughts of things that have happened today or thoughts about tomorrow or any worries as you exhale just allow that wave to take away all those cares and worries.
Knowing that anything that you need will be there tomorrow.
Just for now letting the wave take all of those worries and thoughts away so that you can sleep peacefully and calmly.
Now bring the awareness to the insides of the nostrils.
As you breathe feel the sensation of the air on the insides of the nostrils.
And now the insides of the ears.
Can you feel the sensation of the air on the insides of the ears?
What sounds can you hear?
Become aware of the sounds from far away.
The sounds from closer to you.
The sounds of your own body.
Of the breath.
Of the heartbeat.
Welcoming all of the sounds.
Knowing that they are all helping you achieve a deeper level of rest.
Setting the intention now for a long deep peaceful sleep.
That you awaken in the morning feeling refreshed,
Energised and focused.
Knowing as well that you don't need to fall asleep straight away.
You can enjoy this process of falling asleep.
Knowing that sleep will come when it's ready.
When sleep does come you can welcome it.
You can also enjoy this process of falling asleep.
Bringing the awareness around the body.
Letting the awareness jump from point to point as it's named.
Starting with the right hand thumb.
The index finger.
The middle finger.
The ring finger.
The little finger.
The palm of the right hand.
The back of the hand.
The right wrist.
The forearm.
The elbow.
The upper arm.
The shoulder.
The right side of the chest.
Right side of the abdomen.
The right hip.
The thigh.
The knee.
The lower leg.
The ankle.
The heel.
The sole of the right foot.
The top of the right foot.
The right toes.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Bringing the awareness to the left hand.
The left hand thumb.
The index finger.
The middle finger.
The ring finger.
The little finger.
The palm of the left hand.
The back of the hand.
The left wrist.
The forearm.
The elbow.
The upper arm.
The left shoulder.
The left side of the chest.
The left side of the abdomen.
The left hip.
The thigh.
The knee.
The lower leg.
The left ankle.
The left heel.
The sole of the left foot.
The top of the foot.
And the toes.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
The right toes.
The left toes.
The right heel.
The left heel.
Right buttock.
The left buttock.
The whole of the spine.
The right shoulder blade.
The left shoulder blade.
The back of the head.
The top of the head.
The forehead.
The right eyebrow.
The left eyebrow.
The eyebrow center.
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 center of the chest.
The navel.
The whole of the right leg.
The whole of the left leg.
The whole of the right arm.
The whole of the left arm.
The whole of the body together.
The whole of the body together.
Awareness on the whole of the body together.
Become aware that the body has become very still.
Notice how still the body has become.
The body is so still as if it is fast asleep.
Awareness of stillness in the body.
Notice now that the body is still moving.
Become aware of the movement of the chest and the abdomen as you inhale and exhale.
Become aware of all the movements that are happening all the time.
The beating of the heart.
The circulation of the blood.
Awareness of movement in the body.
And perhaps you might like to explore if it's possible to feel both of those at the same time.
Can you be aware of the body completely still and also full of movement together?
Can you be aware of stillness and movement in the body at the same time?
Stillness and movement together.
Bring the awareness to the right hand thumb.
The index finger.
The middle finger.
The ring finger.
The little finger.
The palm of the hand.
The back of the hand.
The right wrist.
The forearm.
The elbow.
The upper arm.
The right shoulder.
The right side of the chest.
The right side of the abdomen.
The right hip.
The thigh.
The knee.
The lower leg.
The ankle.
The heel.
The sole of the right foot.
The top of the foot.
And the right toes.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
The left hand thumb.
The index finger.
The middle finger.
The ring finger.
The little finger.
The palm of the hand.
The back of the hand.
The left wrist.
The forearm.
The elbow.
The upper arm.
The left shoulder.
The left side of the chest.
The left side of the abdomen.
The left hip.
The thigh.
The knee.
The lower leg.
The ankle.
The heel.
The sole of the left foot.
The top of the foot.
The left toes.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
The right toes.
The left toes.
The right heel.
The left heel.
The right buttock.
The left buttock.
The whole of the spine.
The right shoulder blade.
The left shoulder blade.
The back of the head.
The top of the head.
The forehead.
The right eyebrow.
The left eyebrow.
The eyebrow centre.
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 whole of the right leg.
The whole of the left leg.
The whole of the right arm.
The whole of the left arm.
The whole of the body together.
The whole of the body together.
Awareness on the whole of the body together.
Become aware of the breath.
Notice the natural inhalation and exhalation.
Watch the expansion of the chest and the abdomen as you breathe in and as you breathe out.
Start counting the breaths backwards from 54 to 1 as follows.
Breathing in 54.
Breathing out 54.
Breathing in 53.
Breathing out 53.
Breathing in 52.
Breathing out 52.
And so on.
All the way down to 1.
Keeping the awareness on the breath and on counting.
If you make a mistake.
Or if you get down to 1.
Back to 54 and starting again.
Breathing in 54.
Breathing out 54.
Breathing in 54.
Breathing out 54.
Breathing out 54.
Breathing out 54.
And so on.
You You Leave your counting and bring the awareness to the right hand thumb The right index finger The middle finger The ring finger The little finger The palm of the right hand The palm of the right hand the back of the hand The right wrist The forearm The elbow The upper arm The right shoulder The right side of the chest The right side of the abdomen The right side of the abdomen The right hip The thigh The knee The lower leg The ankle The heel The sole of the right foot The top of the right foot And the right toes one two Three four five The left thumb The index finger The middle finger The middle finger The ring finger The little finger The palm of the hand The back of the hand The left wrist The forearm The elbow The upper arm The shoulder The left side of the chest The left side of the chest The left side of the abdomen The left hip The thigh The knee The lower leg The ankle The heel The sole of the left foot The top of the foot The left toes one two three four five The right toes The left toes The right heel The left heel The right buttock The right heel The right buttock The left buttock The whole of the spine The right shoulder blade The left shoulder blade The back of the head The top of the head The forehead The right eyebrow The left eyebrow The eyebrow center The eyebrow center The right eye The left eye The right ear The left ear The right cheek 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 left collarbone The space between the collarbones The right side of the chest The left side of the chest The center of the chest The chest The navel The whole of the right leg The whole of the left leg The whole of the right arm The whole of the left arm The whole of the left arm The whole of the body together The whole body together Awareness on the whole of the body together Welcoming this deep state of relaxation into the body and the mind Welcoming deep restful sleep Welcoming deep relaxation deep rest deep and peaceful sleep knowing that you will awaken in the morning feeling refreshed and rejuvenated Welcoming this deep and peaceful sleep drifting away now into deep rest Welcoming peaceful sleep Welcoming in peaceful sleep Welcoming a long peaceful night of deep sleep
4.6 (245)
Recent Reviews
Andi
January 23, 2026
So wide awake at 4:00 am I didn’t fall back asleep. But it was a pleasant nidra. 1-23-26
Denise
August 11, 2021
Absolutely phenomenal. I love this practice, your peaceful voice and words and your long body rotation. Thank you so very, very much.