Yoga Nidra For Deep Rest

Yoga nidra (or yoga sleep) is a state of deep, non-REM rest. The brain falls into a delta wave state, consistent with deep, non-REM sleep, yet the practitioner remains conscious. There are 4 levels to the practice. Levels 1 & 2 represent a state of deep relaxation. In Level 3, we approach a state yogis call abhava-prataya; thought ceases, but awareness remains. In Level 4, a practitioner remains in a simultaneous state of sleep and conscious awareness.

Transcript

Lie down,

With feet shoulder-width apart,

Arms beside your body,

Hands at your sides,

The head aligned with the spine,

And eyes closed.

Get as comfortable as you can,

As fully relaxed as possible,

So that you can practice yoga nidra without moving.

Settle into this present moment and simply be,

Accepting whatever sensations,

Sounds,

Thoughts or emotions arise in awareness,

Moment by moment.

Relax completely,

Surrendering the body into the mat,

Bed or floor.

The body like a heavy old coat,

Completely limp and relaxed.

The whole body relaxed.

Resolve to practice without falling asleep.

We will enter a state of complete mental rest,

Maintaining awareness without falling asleep.

Take a slow,

Deep,

Calming breath in,

And with each exhalation release all the tensions in the body,

The whole body.

Breathing in calm,

Breathing out all tensions in the face,

The forehead,

Around the eyes,

The lips,

The mouth,

The jaw relaxed,

Shoulders relaxed,

Arms and legs relaxed.

Practicing further with each exhalation,

Feeling the tensions leaving the body.

Put your attention in the ears themselves and be awake there,

Listening and feeling.

Listen to the sounds that come into your awareness as if you were listening to music.

Listen without trying to identify or judge the sounds you are hearing.

Notice the three dimensionality of sound,

Locating noises in all directions,

Above,

Below,

To the left,

To the right.

Notice how many channels of sound you can hear.

There is the relative quiet between sounds,

If there is any.

If not,

Then notice the space between you and the source of the sounds.

You can usually tell by listening how far away the source of the sound is.

Simply allow sounds in and let them go,

Even if you cannot resist naming or labeling sounds.

Allow and accept the thoughts without trying to repress the mind in any way.

Let your ears hear whatever they want to hear.

Don't judge the sounds.

There are no proper or improper sounds.

It's all just sound.

Listen to the sound of my voice as if it were noise.

Don't try to make any sense out of what I'm saying.

Your brain will take care of that automatically.

You don't have to try to make sense of anything.

Just listen to the sound as sound.

It's important that you don't try to repress the sounds or cast them out of your mind.

You will only disturb the mind.

Listen to the most distant sounds for a few seconds,

Moving your attention from sound to sound.

Simply move your attention to closer sounds.

Without opening the eyes,

Visualize your meditation space.

Picture the three-dimensionality of the space in your mind's eye.

See your body lying in perfect repose,

Completely relaxed and still.

Observe the breath.

Feel the touch sensation of the breath as it flows in and out of the nostrils,

Just like the surf coming in and receding from shore.

Feel the beginning,

The middle,

And the end of every in-breath,

And the beginning,

The middle,

And the end of every out-breath.

Be present with the pauses in between,

Maintaining your focus on the breath to the exclusion of everything else.

Feeling perfect awareness,

Single-pointed concentration on the touch sensation of the breath.

Notice the quality of it,

The temperature of it.

Feel as it comes in,

Warmer and moister with each exhalation.

Now,

Set your intention or resolve.

It can be short-term or long-term,

Stated three times clearly,

With feeling,

Confidence,

And awareness.

A simple declaration stated three times with faith.

If you cannot think of a specific intention,

Or your intention is unclear,

Notice whatever appears in awareness.

Even the simple intention of relaxing the body during this practice of yoga nidra will do.

Now,

We will move attention through the body,

Moving the mind from part to part as I guide you.

Mentally,

Repeat each part after me while visualizing that part in front of the closed eye.

Become aware of that part,

Feel it fully,

And relax that part.

We will begin with the right hand thumb,

The joint,

The nail,

The tip,

The right index finger,

The joints,

The nail,

The tip.

Right middle finger,

Joints,

The nail,

The tip.

Right ring finger,

The joints,

The nail,

The tip.

The right little finger,

The joint,

The nail,

The tip.

Four fingers and thumb together,

The palm of the right hand,

The top of the right hand,

Right wrist,

Forearm,

Right elbow,

The crook of the right arm,

The upper arm,

The right shoulder,

The right armpit,

The ribs on the right side of the body,

The right hip,

The right thigh,

The right knee,

The shin and calf of the right leg,

The right foot,

Heel,

The heel,

Arch and sole,

The ball of the right foot,

The right big toe,

The second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

Five toes together,

The whole right side,

The whole right side,

The whole right side.

Move attention to the left hand,

The left hand thumb,

The joint,

The nail,

The tip,

The left index finger,

The joints,

The nail,

The tip.

Left middle finger,

Joints,

Nail,

Tip.

Left ring finger,

The joints,

The nail,

The tip.

Four fingers and thumb together,

Palm of the left hand,

The top of the left hand,

Left wrist,

Left forearm,

Left elbow,

The crook of the left arm,

The upper arm,

The shoulder,

The armpit,

The left side of the ribs,

The left hip,

Left thigh,

Left knee,

The shin and calf of the left leg,

The left foot,

The heel,

The arch and sole,

The ball of the left foot,

The left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

Five toes together,

The whole left side,

The whole left side,

The whole left side.

Bring your awareness to the back of the body,

The posterior chain,

The back of the feet,

The heel,

The calves,

The hamstrings,

The buttocks,

The lower back,

The spinal column,

The upper back,

The back of the head.

Allow your attention to move through your head and face,

Including the top of the head,

The forehead,

The eyebrows,

The eyes,

The cheekbones,

The bridge of the nose,

The nose,

The nostrils.

Be aware of the breath at the nostrils for several breaths.

Now survey the mouth,

The jaws,

And chin.

And survey the neck and throat,

Shoulders,

Arms,

Elbows,

Wrists,

Hands,

Fingers,

And fingertips.

Feel as though you were inhaling from the tips of the fingers up to the shoulders and then exhaling back down to the fingertips.

Do this several times,

Inhaling from the tips of the fingers up to the shoulders,

Then exhaling back to the fingertips.

Now move your attention from the fingers back through the hands,

Wrists,

Lower arms,

Upper arms,

Shoulders,

Upper back,

And chest.

Concentrate at the center of the chest and exhale and inhale completely several times from the heart area.

Be aware of the stomach,

Abdomen,

Lower back,

Hips,

Thighs,

Knees,

Calves,

Ankles,

Feet,

And toes.

Inhale as if your whole body is exhaling,

And inhale as if your whole body is inhaling.

As you exhale,

Let go of all tension,

Worries,

And anxieties.

Inhale as if you are inhaling new energy.

Exhale and inhale like this several times.

And move your attention from the toes to the feet,

Up the legs,

To the abdomen and chest.

Concentrate at the center of the chest and exhale and inhale completely several times from the heart center.

Move your attention from the heart up to the head.

For about one minute,

Allow your attention to be aware of the smooth,

Slow,

Serene flow of the breath.

Now bring your attention to the space between the eyebrows.

Stay in that space for several breaths.

Now I will call up objects,

Visualize the objects as I name them.

Visualize the objects in the space between the eyes with the eyes closed.

Visualize the image in this space of consciousness as clearly as possible,

As detailed and vibrantly as possible in this sky of consciousness.

After a sunrise,

A mountain,

The sun rising above the mountain,

A beach,

White sand,

Clear turquoise waters,

The sun setting on the beach,

Sunlight glistening off the waves as the sun sets,

The sky festooned with ribbons of vibrant color as the sun sets,

A colorful butterfly,

A flower,

A butterfly unfurling its tongue to sip nectar from a flower.

Visualize the dew on the flower and the patterns on the butterfly's wing,

A blue sky,

White clouds,

White clouds moving slowly across a blue sky,

A colorful bird flying through the sky,

A wild flower,

A flowering meadow,

A candle,

A flame,

A flickering flame of many colors,

A flame of many colors dancing in a dark room.

Bring your attention back to the dark space in front of the closed eyes,

The space in front of the forehead between the eyes.

Watch this space.

Rest your mind in this darkness.

If any images arise,

Simply observe them,

But remain aware and detached,

Letting images come and go.

Experiencing awareness in this warm darkness,

Experiencing tranquility,

Stillness,

Peace.

Now repeat the intention or resolve you made at the beginning of this practice,

Stating it again clearly with feeling,

Confidence and awareness.

Now allow your awareness to empty completely of any images,

Impressions,

Thoughts,

Sensations or other experiences.

Just go deep into the stillness and silence.

Bring your attention to the top of the head.

Exhale as though you were breathing from the top of the head down to the tips of the toes.

Exhale as though you were breathing from the tips of the toes to the top of the head.

Exhaling and inhaling many times in this way.

Exhaling down,

Inhaling up.

Inhaling up from the toes to the top of the head.

Exhaling down from the top of the head to the tips of the toes.

Notice that the breath is flowing in a stream from top to bottom and bottom to top.

Bring your attention back from the stillness and silence through the awareness of the relative quietness of the mind,

The awareness of the smoothness of the breath,

The stillness of the physical body.

Bring the deep stillness and silence with you as you gently wiggle your fingers and toes,

Gradually moving as you wish and opening the eyes.

Reviews

Simple and to the point leading to a restful stillness.

This put my mind and body into a state of deep rest and healing. Truly the best guided meditation I’ve ever experienced 😌🙏 thank you so much

I did this in the afternoon after a long walk when I was tired. I quite expected to fall asleep. I was surprised to find that the speaker’s voice kept me focused and awake the whole time. Very very relaxed but not drifting. There is a loud bell at the end, so I’d have been awakened if I had fallen asleep. Perfect for a brief rest.

Thank you for your kind guidance

Excellent! 🙏🏾✨🙏🏾

Unique and soothing. Jonathan points to observations that capture the imagination and focus.

Thank you for this guided relaxing meditation.

Great full yoga nidra experience, the sound awareness aspect is especially well done. Thank you

A lovely yoga nidra that really helped to quieten my mind and remain focused on the practice. Thank you!