Yoga Nidra: Your Space To Rest
This is a recording of a live Yoga Nidra session on Insight Timer on the 25th of May 2025. This long practice includes a slow body scan, breath awareness with counting, exploration of the opposites hot/cold and joy/sorrow, rapid visualisation of images, and quiet time to rest. Image by Andrea Sanz Sanchez
Transcript
Okay so if you've made yourself comfortable now,
Just see if there are any final adjustments that you can make to feel even more comfortable,
Even more secure.
Then once you've got yourself into that place of comfort,
Just feel into that feeling of your body resting into the surface beneath you.
Notice all of the meeting points where your body connects with that surface.
Just take a moment to acknowledge that you are safely held by that surface beneath you.
And then take the awareness down into your feet and just send the message to your feet that it is safe for them to relax and feel tension releasing from the muscles in the feet,
The feet relaxing,
Letting go and move to the ankles.
Send the message to the ankles to relax and feel tension releasing from the ankles.
Feel the lower legs relaxing,
The calf muscles relaxing,
All of the muscles around the knees relaxing.
Feel the thighs becoming relaxed,
The lower back,
The sides,
The upper back,
The shoulders,
The upper arm,
The elbows,
The lower arms,
The wrists,
The hands and the fingers all completely relaxed.
Feel the face softening,
Tension releasing from the jaw,
From the forehead,
From the top of the head.
And with every breath notice how the exhalation encourages the chest and the abdomen to relax.
Watch the breath slowing down,
Watch the breath continuing to deepen.
And now as you breathe see the breath flowing over the body like a wave.
As you breathe in see that wave washing from your feet up to the top of your head.
As you breathe out see the wave washing from the top of your head back to your feet.
With every exhalation that wave washes away that you don't need to bring into this practice with you.
Any thoughts or concerns or worries from the day,
Any tension,
Anything you've been doing or that you have to do later.
Just allow that wave to carry all of those things away with every exhalation.
Making space for your practice,
Space for your relaxation,
Space for your rest.
And now just send the awareness out to 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 know that they are not going to disturb you as you practice.
They can only help you to relax even more deeply.
And now see yourself in a beautiful quiet safe place where you feel completely secure.
You might like to imagine yourself in a place that you know where you always feel safe when you're there.
Or you might like to imagine somewhere that has all of the conditions and everything that you would need to feel safe,
Secure and well.
And as that sense of safety arises in this environment,
Feel into your body and feel where you feel that sense of safety inside your body.
Intensify that feeling of safety.
Feel it as vividly as you can and welcome it into every part 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.
Safety,
Security,
Absolute peace and well-being.
And if you have an intention for your practice today just take a moment now to acknowledge that intention.
Whatever's inspired you to show up and practice.
Perhaps for rest,
For healing,
Meditation or self-discovery.
Bring that intention for practicing today into your awareness and just take this moment to acknowledge it.
And if you have a sankalpa,
Now is the time to recall your sankalpa.
Your deep resolve and prayer from the heart.
Welcome your sankalpa as it arises however it comes for you.
And if you don't have one just bring the awareness to the heart and take a moment to observe the heart.
We'll begin our journey around the body.
Bring the awareness to rest at each point is its name.
Beginning 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 armpit.
The right side of the chest.
The right side of the abdomen.
The right waist.
The right hip.
The right thigh.
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.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
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 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 knee.
The lower leg.
The left ankle.
The sole of the left foot.
The top of the left foot.
Each of the left toes.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And now moving up the back of the body come 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.
The right shoulder blade.
The left shoulder blade.
The back of the head.
The top of the head.
The forehead.
The right temple.
The left temple.
The right eyebrow.
The left eyebrow.
The eyebrow centre.
The right eye.
The left eye.
The nose.
The tip of the nose.
The right ear.
The left ear.
The right cheek.
The left cheek.
The upper lip.
The lower lip.
The chin.
The jaw.
The right collarbone.
The left collarbone.
The space between the collarbone.
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 right knee.
The left knee.
The right ankle.
The left ankle.
The right toes.
The left toes.
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.
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 the whole of the body together.
Awareness on the whole of the body together.
The whole of the body together.
Bring the awareness to the breath.
Observe the natural rising and falling of the chest with each inhalation and exhalation.
And 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.
And if you make a mistake or if you reach the end,
Just come back to the beginning.
Back to 27 and start again.
Continue to follow the breath.
Keep counting.
Now move away from your counting and invite the feeling of heat to arise inside the body.
Welcome the feeling of heat.
Feel the body becoming very hot.
Hot as if you're outside under the hot summer sun.
Welcome the feeling of heat and feel it vividly.
Welcome the feeling into every single cell.
The feeling of heat.
Welcome the feeling of heat.
And the feeling of cold.
Feel into the body and welcome the feeling of cold.
As if being out on a cold frosty morning.
Feel the feeling of cold vividly.
Welcome the feeling.
Intensify it so that you feel it inside every single cell.
The feeling of cold.
And the feelings of hot and cold together.
Can you welcome the feelings of hot and cold together?
Is it possible to feel the body hot as if under the hot summer sun?
And cold as if out on a frosty morning at the same time?
Welcome the feelings together.
The feelings of hot and cold together.
Hot and cold together.
And the feeling of joy.
Invite the feeling of joy to arise.
Perhaps by remembering an occasion when you felt very joyful.
Or by just allowing the feeling to arise by itself.
Welcome the feeling of joy.
Feel into your body and feel how the feeling manifests inside the body.
Welcome the feeling.
The feeling of joy.
And the feeling of sorrow.
Invite the feeling of sorrow to arise.
Perhaps by recalling a time when you felt sorrow.
Perhaps just by allowing the feeling to arise by itself.
Feel the feeling as it arises inside the body.
And welcome that feeling.
The feeling of sorrow.
Feel it vividly.
The feeling of sorrow.
Joy and sorrow together.
Invite the feelings of joy and sorrow to arise together.
Feel into the body and welcome the sensations that arise with joy and sorrow.
Feel them as vividly as you can.
The feelings of joy and sorrow together.
Joy and sorrow together.
And then move the awareness to the eyebrow centre.
Observe the eyebrow centre.
Notice any shapes,
Patterns,
Colours,
Images.
Or just darkness.
Without getting too involved just observe what's happening there.
Just watch.
Keeping the awareness at the eyebrow centre.
I'm going to name some different things.
Just allow an impression of each one to arise as I name it.
There's no need to force anything.
Just allow each one to come by itself.
Beginning with white clouds in a clear blue sky.
A flickering candle.
Pebbles on a beach.
A dove.
An oak tree.
A cascading waterfall.
A feather blowing in the breeze.
A tiger walking through the jungle.
A rose bush.
The full moon.
A storm in the desert.
A butterfly.
A trickling stream.
The infinity symbol.
Stars sparkling in the night sky.
Bring the awareness to the heart centre.
Rest into the peace of the heart centre.
Free to simply be.
If you have a sankalpa,
Now is the time to recall your sankalpa.
A deep resolve.
A prayer from the heart.
Invite it to arise naturally.
There's no need to force it.
And if you don't have one,
Just keep the awareness at the heart centre.
Observe the heart.
And then come back to the safe and peaceful place that you created for yourself at the beginning of the practice.
And see that beautiful,
Safe,
Peaceful space arising all around you again.
And welcome that feeling of safety as it arises inside your body.
And feel that feeling of safety as vividly as possible.
Welcome it into every single part of your body.
This is your feeling that you have created for yourself.
That you can always come back to at any time if you need it.
In your practice and in your life.
Absolute safety.
Security.
Peace and wellbeing.
And now slowly begin to turn the awareness back outwards.
Notice 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 notice that the sounds are there.
Acknowledge them.
And feel into the feeling of your body resting into the surface beneath you.
And feel the feeling of your clothing.
Your blanket against your skin.
And can you picture your body lying so peaceful and still.
And now begin to deepen the breathing.
And start to make some very small movements to reawaken the body.
Start to move the fingers and the toes.
The hands and the feet.
And give yourself a big stretch in any way that feels good for you.
And taking your time,
There is no rush.
And when you're feeling ready that you're wide awake again.
Slowly blink the eyes back open.
To complete the practice.
Your practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
