Yoga Nidra To Fall Asleep

This is a Yoga Nidra body scan and breath awareness practice to ease you into a peaceful sleep for the night. There is no talking you out at the end so you are free to drift away into sleep when you are ready.

This meditation is part of the 'Ayurvedic Wisdom For Peaceful Sleep' course, so if you enjoy the practice, you may also enjoy listening to the course!

Photo by Aleksander Cvetanovic

Transcript

Make yourself comfortable in preparation to fall asleep. Lie down in a position that you feel comfortable in and where you won't feel distracted by any discomfort in your body as you rest. Take any support you need for yourself to make yourself comfortable. A pillow under your head. A blanket under your knees. Find a position that you'll easily be able to fall asleep in. Perhaps even where you can forget that your body is there at all. Now feel your body naturally beginning to relax. Feel the weight of your body against the surface beneath you. And feel yourself gently sinking into that surface. Become aware of your breath. And with every exhalation feel the whole of your body relaxing more deeply. Sinking into the surface beneath you. Watch the gentle movements that your body makes as you breathe in and as you breathe out. Watch the gentle movement of your chest rising and falling with your breath. And just notice if there are any sounds that you can hear in your environment around you. Observe any sounds without getting too concerned about what they are or where they're coming from. Simply notice that the sounds are there. And know that they cannot disturb you but will only help you to relax more deeply. And now make a quiet intention to yourself that you are going to sleep deeply. Make the intention that you will sleep deeply and peacefully tonight. And we're now going to move the consciousness around the body. Bring the consciousness to each part of the body as its name. Beginning at the thumb of the right hand. Bring your awareness to the thumb of your right hand. And to the right index finger. The right middle finger. The ring finger. And 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 waist. The right hip. The right thigh. The right knee. The ankle. And the heel. The sole of the right foot. The top of the right foot. And the right toes. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Move your awareness to the left hand thumb. The left index finger. The left middle finger. The ring finger. And 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 waist. The left hip. The thigh. The knee. The left ankle. The left heel. The sole of the left foot. The top of the left foot. And the left toes. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Bring your awareness to the right toes. And the left toes. The right ankle. And the left ankle. 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 eye. The left eye. The right cheek. The left cheek. The right ear. The left ear. 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. Both legs together. The whole of the right arm. The whole of the left arm. The whole of the left arm. Both arms together. The whole of the right side of the body. The whole of the left side of the body. Both sides of the body together. The whole body together. The whole body together. Feel how still your body has become. Feel your body completely still. Feel your body completely still. As if it is fast asleep. Observe the stillness throughout the whole of your body. Feel the stillness in your body. Stillness in your body. But although your body is still and sleeping, There is still movement happening. Observe the movements that continue to happen even though your body is fast asleep. The gentle movements of your breath. The beating of your heart. The circulation of your blood. Become aware of the movement that continues to happen in your body. Become aware of movement in your body. Movement in your body. And now become aware of both of these together. Can you feel your body completely still? Fast asleep? And yet active with movement at the same time. Can you feel stillness and movement together? Bring your awareness to your breath. Feel the breath gently flowing in and out of your body. And begin to count your breaths backward from 50 to 0. Like this. Breathing in 50. Breathing out 50. Breathing in 49. Breathing out 49. Breathing in 48. Breathing out 48. And so on. Complete awareness on your breath and counting. If you make a mistake or if you reach zero, Return to 50 and start again. Continue to count the breaths backward.