Yoga Nidra Rest And Rejuvenate
This is a recording of a live Yoga Nidra session on Insight Timer on the 8th of June 2025. The practice includes a long body scan, breathing through alternate nostrils and alternate sides of the body, exploration of opposites, resistance/acceptance and control/surrender, visualisation of images, and time to rest at the heart centre. Before the practice, participants were invited to contribute words and themes they wished to be included in the nidra, and asked for 'acceptance.' Photo by Pixabay
Transcript
And as your body settles and begins to feel more comfortable,
Just bring the awareness to the breath.
Watch the breath flowing in and out of your body and with every exhalation feel the whole of your body relaxing a little more deeply.
With every exhalation tension releases from the muscles.
Every exhalation carries the body into relaxation.
Now bring the awareness into the nose and watch the air as it brushes on the insides of the nostrils.
Feel the breath flowing in and out.
And now move to the ears.
Feel into the feeling of the air on the insides of the ears and with the awareness inside the ears,
Notice any sounds that are present in your environment right now.
Just let the awareness jump between the different sounds.
Just acknowledging that those sounds are there.
And know that those sounds are not going to disturb you.
They can only help you to relax even more deeply.
And just take a moment now to acknowledge that this is your time for your rest.
And there is no way that you can get this practice wrong.
You can continue to listen to my voice for as long as that's useful for you.
Or you can just drift away and ignore me.
And if you fall asleep it just means that your body needs to sleep and it's taking advantage of this time of deep breaths.
There's nothing that you can do to get this wrong.
This is your time to welcome whatever your practice brings to you today.
And now see yourself in a beautiful peaceful environment where you feel completely safe,
Completely well and at peace.
You might like to think of a place that you know where you always feel peaceful whenever you're there,
Where you always feel safe and secure.
Or you might like to imagine somewhere that has everything that you would need to feel safe,
Well and secure.
And if there's anything that you can bring into that environment to make you feel even more safe,
Bring in anything that you need,
Perhaps objects or colour.
And now feel into your body and notice how that feeling of safety intensifies in your body as you rest into this safe,
Peaceful place.
Feel that feeling of safety as vividly as you can.
Welcome that feeling of safety into every cell of your body.
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 during the practice.
Absolute safety,
Security,
Peace and well-being.
And if you have an intention for your practice today,
Just take a moment to acknowledge that intention.
Whatever inspired you to show up for the practice,
Perhaps for rest,
For healing,
Insight and meditation.
Whatever your reason for practicing today,
Just bring that into your awareness now and take a moment to acknowledge it.
And if you have a sankalpa,
Now is the time to recall your sankalpa.
Your deep vow or prayer from the heart,
Without forcing anything to happen,
Just allow the sankalpa to arise naturally if it's going to come.
If you don't have one,
Just bring your awareness to the heart.
Rest at the heart center.
We're going to begin our rotation of consciousness around the body.
Bring the awareness to rest at each point as it's named.
Starting with the right hand thumb,
Rest the awareness at the right hand thumb,
The right index finger,
The right middle finger,
The ring finger,
The 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,
Each of the right toes,
1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
The whole of the right foot,
Rest the 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.
Moving 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 left hand,
The left wrist,
The left forearm,
The left elbow,
The upper arm,
The left shoulder,
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 heel,
The sole of the left foot,
The top of the left foot,
Each of the left toes,
1,
2,
3.
The whole of the left foot,
Bring the awareness to 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,
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 head,
The top of the head,
Rest at 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 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 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.
Awareness on the whole of the body together.
The whole of the body together.
The whole of the body together.
The whole of the body together.
Bring the awareness to the breath.
Watch the breath flowing in and out of the nostrils.
Notice how the breath makes a triangle shape as it flows in and out.
It begins from outside the nose and flows in through the separate nostrils to the eyebrow center.
And on the exhalation it flows back out again.
Observe the triangular shape of the breath flowing in and out.
And now see the breath moving through alternate nostrils.
As you inhale the breath flows through the left nostril up to the eyebrow center.
And on the exhalation it flows from the eyebrow center out of the right nostril.
Inhale through the right nostril to the eyebrow center.
Exhale through the left nostril.
Inhale through the left side.
Exhale through the right.
Inhale through the right.
Exhale through the left.
Continue breathing through alternate nostrils.
Changing sides after each inhalation.
Now move the breath into the arms and the 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 from the right hand up the right arm through the right nostril to the eyebrow center.
Exhale through the left nostril down the left arm to the left hand.
Continue breathing through alternate arms and hands.
Changing sides after every inhalation.
And then moving into the legs and the feet.
Inhale from the left foot up the left leg up the left side of the body and through the left nostril to the eyebrow center.
And exhale through the right side through the right nostril down the right side of the body down the right leg to the right foot.
Inhale 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.
And continue breathing through alternate sides of the body.
Changing the side after every inhalation.
And now breathing through both sides of the body together.
Inhale from the feet up the legs up the sides of the body and through the nostrils to the eyebrow center.
Exhale through the nostrils down the sides of the body and down the legs to the feet.
So breathing this large triangle shape over the whole of the body.
And moving back to the hands and the arms.
Inhale from the hands up the arms through the nostrils to the eyebrow center.
Exhale through the nostrils down the arms to the hands.
And coming back to the nose.
Inhale through the nostrils to the eyebrow center.
Exhale back out through the nostrils.
Making a triangular shape through the nose.
And then move away from the breath and invite the feeling of resistance to arise.
The feeling of resistance.
And to help bring the feeling you might like to remember a time where you felt very resistant to something.
Or perhaps just allow the feeling to come by itself.
And welcome that feeling as it arises inside the body.
Feel into the feeling of resistance.
And intensify the feeling.
Feel it as vividly as you can.
The feeling of resistance.
The feeling of resistance.
And now the feeling of acceptance.
Welcome the feeling of acceptance.
Perhaps recalling a time when you felt very accepting.
Very at peace with something.
Or just allow the feeling to come by itself.
The feeling of acceptance.
Welcome the feeling.
Feel it vividly through the whole of the body.
The feeling of acceptance.
Resistance and acceptance together.
Now welcome the feelings of resistance and acceptance as they both arise at the same time.
Welcome the feelings.
Resistance and acceptance together.
And now the feeling of control.
Feel into your body and welcome the feeling of control.
Perhaps recalling a time when you felt very controlling.
Needing to be in control of something.
Or just allow the feeling to arise by itself.
The feeling of control.
Welcome the feeling.
Intensify it throughout the whole of the body.
The feeling of control.
And the feeling of surrender.
Welcome the feeling of surrender.
Invite the feeling of complete surrender throughout the whole of the body.
Welcome it.
Absolute surrender.
Control and surrender together.
Now invite control and surrender to arise inside the body at the same time.
Welcome the experience of control and surrender together.
Control and surrender together.
Now move the awareness to the eyebrow centre.
Observe the eyebrow centre.
Notice any shapes,
Colours or patterns or perhaps just darkness.
Without getting too involved just observe the eyebrow centre.
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 just allow each one to come however it comes.
Starting with a bunch of roses.
White clouds in a blue sky.
A string of prayer beads.
A dandelion.
A flickering candle.
An eagle soaring through the sky.
A cave on a beach.
A cascading waterfall.
A bolt of lightning.
A path leading up a mountain.
A church bell ringing.
A snowflake.
The sun setting over the desert.
A yogi in deep meditation.
Bring the awareness to the heart centre.
Rest here in the peace of the heart centre.
Keeping the awareness at the heart centre.
If you have a sankalpa now is the time to recall your sankalpa.
Allow it to arise naturally however it comes.
And if you don't have one just keep the awareness at the heart.
And now very gently begin to turn the awareness back outwards.
Let the awareness jump between any sounds that are present in your environment.
Just acknowledge that those sounds are there.
Welcome them back into your experience.
Watch the breath flowing in and out of your body.
Notice how as you breathe the breath flows into the whole of your body.
It flows into the chest and the abdomen and it flows into the arms into the hands and the feet.
Sending the breath into the hands and the feet begin to make some small movements moving the fingers and the toes.
And then give yourself a stretch in any way that feels good for you.
Opening the body reawakening and take your time.
There is no rush to come back.
When you're sure that you're wide awake again slowly blink the eyes back open to complete the practice.
