Deeply Relax and Sleep Peacefully with a Yoga Nidra Practice

This Yoga Nidra practice takes you to a place of peace and calm to experience a deep restful sleep, or can be used at any time to help train the body and mind to remain calm for all life's challenges.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this Yoga Nidra practice.

If you're using this practice to fall asleep,

It will work for you in that way.

However,

You can use it any time at all that you wish to deeply relax.

And the more you practice a Yoga Nidra session,

The more easily it comes to you.

So before we get started,

Just make sure that you're lying comfortably ready for this.

And I'll give you a couple of extra pointers now before we begin.

So while practicing Yoga Nidra,

Be relaxed and very much at peace with yourself.

That may not happen necessarily at the very beginning,

But as we progress,

It will evolve.

Be aware of distractions along the way,

As they are a reminder to come back to the practice.

Avoid slipping into a sleep.

That's if you're not doing this to actually assist in falling asleep,

Of course.

If you feel any tension during the practice,

Remind yourself that it's only temporary.

It will pass.

Keep your mind moving with me from point to point.

Follow my voice and remain aware of this experience.

Let's begin the practice now with a complete body scan.

This will ensure that you're receptive and ready,

So the eyes are lightly closed.

Just let your shoulders drop.

Feel any weight or burden that you may have been carrying today.

Just let that go and feel your shoulders relax.

Let your lower jaw drop a little bit,

Teeth part,

And the tongue softly spreads in the mouth.

It's important to check these parts of the body because they are traditionally areas that we hold tension quite unconsciously most of the time.

Now feel your arms relax.

Just rest your hands on the lower belly or you can have them beside the body,

Palms up or down.

Be aware of your chest,

The chest and throat.

Be aware of your chest and the light breathing that you can sense now.

You're not purposely guiding your breath,

You're just aware of it so that you can relax.

And then feel the abdominal muscles relaxing and your whole back and spine melting into the bed or the mat.

And allow your legs now to feel the ease streaming down,

Right down to your feet and your toes.

So your whole body feels a little more relaxed now than when you very first started.

That feeling of relaxation will increase as we proceed.

Now whilst we remain with a feeling of relaxation in the body,

We state traditionally in a yoga practice a sankalpa.

That is a Sanskrit word meaning resolve.

The direct order comes from the conscious mind to the subconscious mind.

And it is the seed enabling one to change one's attitude,

Behavior or even destiny.

It is very important that the resolve be stated clearly and positively.

This will give the mind strength and a positive outlook.

One should have sincere faith that the resolve will be effective and this faith strengthens the effect of the resolve so that it becomes a reality in one's life.

So for the purpose of this practice I'm going to suggest a sankalpa.

You may use it of course but if you wish to compose or think about one that you would particularly like for yourself then please do that.

Not perhaps right now but later.

For now we say the sankalpa with absolute determination,

Peacefully and gently of course but with heartfelt meaning and determination.

So repeat after me.

I relax and allow divine peace permeate every cell of my body.

I breathe in divine peace.

I am divine peace.

Now I'll repeat that and this time say it mentally to yourself.

I relax and allow divine peace to permeate every cell of my body.

I breathe in divine peace.

I am divine peace.

Once more.

I relax and allow divine peace to permeate every cell of my body.

I breathe in divine peace.

I am divine peace.

And now we come to the section of the practice where we rotate our awareness methodically around the body.

Stay with me for this and be there in each body part mentioned.

Just feel it,

Think about it and move on to the next.

There's no need to pause throughout this section.

So bring your mind now to your right hand thumb.

Be aware of your right hand thumb,

The index finger,

The right index finger,

The middle finger,

The ring finger and small finger.

Be aware of the palm of your right hand and the back of your hand,

The right wrist,

The forearm,

The elbow and the upper arm.

Be aware of the right armpit,

The right waist,

The right hip,

The right thigh,

The knee,

The right lower leg,

The right ankle and the heel,

The sole of the right foot,

The top of the right foot and the right big toe,

Second toe,

Third,

Fourth toe and fifth toe.

Be aware of your whole right foot,

The whole right leg,

The right side of your waist,

The whole right arm,

Hand and fingers.

Now gently and with peace move your awareness to your left hand thumb.

Move your awareness to the left hand thumb,

The first finger,

The middle finger,

The ring finger and small finger.

Be aware of the palm of the left hand,

The palm of the left hand,

The back of the hand,

The left wrist,

The left forearm and elbow,

The left upper arm,

The left armpit,

The left side of your waist and the left hip,

The left thigh,

The left thigh,

The knee,

The lower leg,

Your left ankle,

Heel and the sole of your left foot,

The top of your left foot,

The left big toe,

Second toe,

Third,

Fourth toe and fifth toe.

Be aware of your whole left foot,

The whole left leg,

The hip,

The left side of your waist and the whole left arm,

Hand and fingers.

So now be aware of your whole left side,

The whole left side and the whole right side,

The left and right side of your body together.

Moving into the back now,

Be aware of the right buttocks,

The left buttocks,

The lower back,

The lower back,

The waist and the upper back.

Be aware of the shoulder blades,

The right shoulder blade and the left shoulder blade and the whole spine.

Be aware of the whole spine,

The whole spine and your whole back,

Your whole back.

Moving to the front of the body once again now,

Be aware of the lower abdominal muscles,

The lower abdominal muscles,

The upper abdominal muscles and the navel,

The whole abdominal area.

Now be aware of the right rib cage and the left rib cage,

The right lung,

The left lung and your heart.

Be aware that your heart is calm now,

Your heart is quiet.

Once again be aware of your shoulders,

The right shoulder and the left shoulder,

Both shoulders together.

Feel your throat relaxed and so once again feel your whole face and head,

Be aware of your whole face and head,

Your shoulders,

Both arms together,

Hands,

Fingers,

The whole torso,

Front and back,

Both legs together,

Both feet and toes.

Be aware of your whole body,

Your whole body,

Whole body.

And we turn our focus now to the breath,

The breath.

Very gently and with peace.

First of all noticing your breathing,

Feeling the softness of the breath as it streams in through your nostrils and the smooth outpouring of the breath as it leaves the nostrils.

Just a natural breath rhythm now,

Breathing naturally in and out.

It's this smooth easy breath rhythm that helps to calm the mind,

Especially if you want to use this practice to fall asleep.

And once you feel your breath is rhythmic and smooth,

Apply a very simple count,

Breathing in counting 1,

2,

3,

4.

Pause,

Breathing out 1,

2,

3,

4,

5,

6.

Please continue breathing in counting 4,

Breathing out counting 6.

A few breaths please and I'll call you back.

Now please leave the breath,

Allow just that natural rhythm to reoccur.

Feeling relaxed,

Feeling very still and calm.

A clear mind and we proceed now with the traditional section of Yoga Nidra that involves visualization.

Please follow again my voice visualizing each object that I give you.

If visualization is difficult just think of the object.

Do it all gently and with peace.

A burning candle,

A burning candle.

A bright red apple,

A green apple.

A tall palm tree,

A tall palm tree.

A sandy beach,

A sandy beach.

Birds flying across the sky.

A standing dog,

Standing dog.

Cars on a busy road.

Waves breaking on a deserted beach.

Soft white sand,

Squeaky sand between your toes.

A full moon,

A full moon in a dark night sky.

Torrential rain,

Torrential rain against a window pane.

A weeping willow tree,

A weeping willow tree.

A horse galloping,

A horse galloping.

A large pond of clear water,

A large pond of clear water.

Clear water.

A temple bell ringing,

A temple bell ringing.

A vast open green field,

A vast open green field.

Finding a large leafy tree now under which you can sit or lie down.

It's a place of rest,

Place to rest.

With peace and calmness in your heart,

Close your eyes and feel immersed in the natural beauty that you feel in vibration all around you.

Be still now,

Feel the calmness in every cell and atom of your body.

Coming back now,

Coming back,

Leaving that place and recalling now your resolve,

Your sankalpa.

Again I'll give you the one that we did in the beginning.

Say it say it mentally three times with heartfelt meaning and determination and it will manifest in your life.

I relax and allow divine peace to permeate every cell of my body.

I breathe in divine peace.

I am divine peace.

I relax and allow divine peace to permeate every cell of my body.

I breathe in divine peace.

I am divine peace.

I relax and allow divine peace to permeate every cell of my body.

I breathe in divine peace.

I am divine peace.

And to finish now just feel relaxed throughout your whole body.

Become aware of your breathing,

Aware of your whole body,

Your whole body lying still and relaxed.

Notice that you're breathing quite slowly now.

The heart rate has dropped a little so the heart is completely quiet and calm,

Ready for sleep or any other activity that you might engage in after this.

Listening to sounds around you both near and far.

Smile a little,

Feel at peace with love and gratitude in your heart.

Lie quietly for some time now if you can and keep your eyes closed.

When you're ready,

Stretching back over your head in your own time and then you draw your knees to the chest and rock a little bit from side to side or you might just roll over and fall asleep.

Many blessings to you.

Thank you for tuning in.

Reviews

Slept deeply & peacefully. This is a wise & experienced instructor-guide whose tone, pace, and limited repetition are pleasant & effective, imo.

Listened again. New favorite sankalpa. “I relax and allow divine peace to permeate every cell of my body. I breathe in divine peace. I am divine peace.”
Wonderful for any time of day or night. Blissfully free of music background. 2/4/24.

I fell asleep. Wee hours. Don’t remember much beyond the gentle voice scanning the body. And a lovely sankalpa. 8/29/23

Happy to find a new yoga nidra from you 😊 Very relaxing, thank you 🙏