Yoga Sleep: Sacred Mountain

During our busy lives we may experience stress, anxiety and insomnia which can have profound effects on our body and wellbeing. Yoga Sleep (Yoga Nidra), an ancient tantric method, is an excellent tool to bring balance to your mind and body. They say a single hour of this blissfully deep relaxation is as restful as four hours of conventional sleep.

Transcript

Let's prepare now for this yoga nidra session.

Let's get comfortable.

Lay on your back in shavasana with your feet apart,

Arms away from your body and palms facing up.

Let your body sink into the floor.

Get comfortable now and let your body sink deeply into the ground.

Be comforted at this time that everything is okay.

Nothing else matters right now.

Everything is okay.

There's nowhere to go and nothing to do.

This time is for you.

You are here simply to feel your body and to listen.

Do not worry if you do not hear everything I say.

It is natural to flow in and out of conscious hearing.

The deepest part of you,

Your core self is always listening.

Whatever your experience today,

This practice will still work.

Simply listen without trying too hard.

You are in a safe environment,

A protected space,

A held space.

Come into stillness now and remain still for deep rest and deep nourishment.

Keep listening.

Deep listening.

If you hear sounds,

Just let these sounds pass over you.

Do not judge these sounds.

Simply allow them to occur and fade away.

Feel your natural breath.

Your natural breath flowing through you.

Settle into your body.

Settle your body into the earth.

Feel the earth underneath you,

Holding and supporting you in your practice today.

Allow your bones to become heavy and feel your bones heavy and sinking into the earth.

Go deep inside now.

What is your heart's deepest longing?

Listen and let the answer come from your heart.

What does your heart desire?

Create a Sankalpa,

A positive intention affirmation based on your heart's longing.

A positive statement in the present tense as though it's already happening.

For example,

You could state with feeling,

I am successful in all that I undertake.

Or I have total health.

Or I am more aware and efficient.

So go ahead now and come up with your own positive intention.

Repeat it three times to yourself as though it's already happening.

You will affirm this truth again at the end of the session.

It is indeed the truth.

Now let your consciousness move through your body as you are guided.

Feel each body part,

Then move on to the next when prompted.

I will be going quite quickly through the body,

So try not to linger or to think.

And do not worry if you cannot feel every body part.

Feel sensation in your mouth.

Feel the roof of your mouth,

Underneath the tongue,

The teeth,

Gums,

The center of the tongue,

The tip of the tongue,

Inside the right cheek,

Inside the left cheek.

Feel this taste in your mouth.

Now feel all of the parts of your mouth,

All together as a whole.

The entire mouth as sensation,

As radiant energy.

And now feel your nose,

The length of the nose,

The tip of the nose,

The nostrils,

The right nostril,

The left nostril,

Both nostrils.

Now feel your breath passing through the nostrils.

Sense smell.

Feel your whole nose as energy,

As prana,

As vibration.

And really feel your nose.

And now feel your ears,

Feeling the wrinkles and folds of the ears,

The backs of the ears,

The earlobes,

Ear canals,

The inner ear.

And feel your ears hearing,

Listening,

Receiving sound.

And feel your ears as glowing orbs of sensation and vibration.

Really feel your ears.

And now feel your eyes,

Eyelids,

Each and every eyelash,

The surface of your eyes,

The center of the eyes,

The backs of the eyes,

Behind the eyes.

And feel your eyes as radiant orbs of energy,

Color and sensation.

Become aware of your crown,

Throat,

The right palm,

Thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

All fingers.

Feel the whole hand with all the fingers,

The right wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder.

Feel your throat center,

Left palm,

Thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

All fingers.

Feel the whole of your hand with all of the fingers.

The left wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder.

Feel your throat center,

Heart center,

Solar plexus,

The navel,

Right hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Right lower leg,

Ankle,

Top of the foot,

Sole,

The big right toe,

The second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

And feel the entire right side of the body.

Feel your navel,

Left hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Left lower leg,

Ankle,

Top of the foot,

The sole,

The big left toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Feel the entire left side of the body.

Feel your root chakra,

Navel center,

Solar plexus,

Heart center,

Throat center,

The mouth,

The third eye,

The crown.

Feel the right side of your body.

Feel the left side of your body.

Feel the right side of your body.

Feel the left side of your body.

Feel the midline,

Where the right and the left join.

Feel now the back body,

The heels,

Calves,

Backs of the knees,

Backs of the thighs,

The buttocks,

The lower back,

Ribs on the back,

Shoulder blades,

Between the shoulder blades,

The spine,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head,

Backs of the hands,

Arms,

Elbows,

Shoulder blades,

The back of the heart.

Feel the whole of the back body.

Now feel the front body,

The crown,

Forehead,

Eyes,

Nose,

Cheeks,

Mouth,

Chin,

Jaw,

Throat,

Collarbones,

Chest,

Shoulders,

Arms,

The inner elbows,

The inner wrists,

Palms,

Fingertips,

Chest,

Heart,

Solar plexus,

Stomach,

Belly,

Hips,

Thighs,

Kneecaps,

Shins,

Tops of the feet and the toes.

Feel the whole of the front body,

The side of the body facing the sky.

Become aware now of your natural breath as it flows through you.

Notice the breath in your belly and feel the breath in your chest.

Feel your breath in your nostrils and feel your breath flowing easily,

Flowing gently through your entire body.

Notice your breath as it streams through you.

Notice your breath and follow it.

Begin to feel the pause in your breath between the inhalation and exhalation.

Feel the gap.

Now begin to feel the pause between the exhalation and the inhalation.

Feel the gap opening a little wider.

Really feel the pause between your breath.

Become aware of where your body meets the floor.

Take your time to concentrate on where your body meets the floor.

Really feel the points where your body touches the floor.

Now bring your attention to the soles of your feet.

Feel the skin on the soles of your feet,

From the heels to the tips of the toes.

Go to the palms of your hands.

Feel the skin on the palms of your hands and fingers.

Feel the skin and also become aware of the lines on your palms and fingers.

With full awareness.

Bring your awareness to your face.

Become aware of the skin on your face.

Help your awareness of the skin on your forehead,

Cheeks and chin.

Bring your attention to the eyelids and feel where the eyelids touch.

And now feel the lips.

Feel the meeting point between the lips.

Become aware of the inner space you can see behind your forehead.

Develop your awareness of this space.

An infinite space that expands as far as you can see.

As low or as high and as wide as you can see.

Really become aware of this space.

Be totally aware.

Observe as if you were watching a movie.

What you can see is a projection of your subconscious mind.

Just observe and maintain your awareness.

You can see yourself setting out on a journey to climb a sacred mountain.

You know that it is going to be a long and difficult climb.

But you feel sure that you will reach the top.

As you set off you will meet your guide.

A person whom you have never met before.

Go ahead now and check in with your guide.

See or sense them.

You know that they are a qualified and experienced guide.

You feel safe and comforted in their presence.

So go ahead now and follow your guide.

The path you are following passes through a large forest.

You are beneath a canopy of trees and you are crossing many streams.

You come to an enormous lake.

The lake is a tranquilising blue colour,

Clear and fresh.

And you stop.

You and your guide drink the water and you rest for a while taking in the beauty of your surroundings.

You continue into the forest which is becoming dense and you are finding it difficult to see far in any direction.

The sacred mountain is obscured from your view.

You trust your guide who is very familiar with the forest and after a little time you ascend and the forest becomes less dense.

When you look back and you can see the forest,

See where you set off from,

See the rooftop of houses.

Your guide encourages you to continue.

The ascent becomes steeper.

You follow your guide and you are comforted that they know the territory well.

You are guided through the difficult terrain.

You are grateful for your guide's support.

The vegetation becomes less dense.

The ground is rocky and rugged.

You are focused on the climb and keeping up with your guide.

Your guide actively encourages you,

Asking you to repeat,

I will get to the summit.

You walk in step with your guide and the words I will echo through your body and mind,

Giving you lots of energy and strength.

As you near the top of the sacred mountain,

The ascent is even more difficult.

Your guide continues to encourage you.

You are determined to reach the top.

You continue your climb and finally you reach the top.

Your guide is waiting for you.

As you observe the panoramic view,

A feeling of exhilaration floods your body and mind.

Your guide smiles at you and you are grateful for your guide's support.

You are proud of your achievement.

Take your time to soak up the views and take in the environment.

You breathe in the clean,

Fresh air.

You fill your lungs with this wonderfully fresh air.

You can smell the freshness of the air.

You can feel the breeze against your skin.

Let this pure energy fill up your lungs.

Let this pure energy fill up every single cell of the body.

You feel peace and harmony.

You are still absorbed in your thoughts and feelings when your guide says follow me.

And slowly your guide disappears and without further thought you follow.

Your guide is so pleased with your achievements and now expertly guides you down the sacred mountain.

You effortlessly descend the sacred mountain.

As you return down the mountain you hold on to your positive feelings of achievement.

You have stored the images,

Views and positivity which you can recall at any time.

Slowly and safely you come down the mountain.

Back through the forest.

When you return to where you started your journey you are merging again with the world.

Return your awareness again to that inner space,

The space behind the forehead.

Watch this space carefully for any colours or patterns that emerge.

There should be no effort,

Just awareness of watching.

Total awareness of watching with no involvement.

Continue watching this space and become aware of any images.

Try to become aware of any images.

Remember now your sankalpa.

The positive statement you set at the beginning.

I want you to say it now to yourself as though it's already happening.

Feel the truth of this statement.

Find your positive statement and inhale it into your body.

Let it fill every cell of the body.

So go ahead now and inhale it in again and again.

This seed has now been planted deep inside where it will blossom.

Notice your back body facing the earth.

Feel all of the places where you touch the ground.

Feel your body heavy.

And notice the front body facing skyward.

Feel your body light.

And notice all of the space surrounding you.

Let your body expand wider into the space that surrounds you.

Notice your breath,

Feel its rhythm and pace.

We are now completing our relaxation practice.

Feel moving,

I want you to sense your toes and fingers and just imagine them moving.

Now begin to wriggle your fingers and your toes.

Feeling every sensation as you do.

Slowly waking up the body.

Gently rock your head from side to side.

A slow awakening.

Draw a deeper breath into your belly,

Into your chest.

We are now waking up the body.

Bring your knees to your chest,

Give yourself a hug.

Maybe rocking from side to side or bringing the head to the knees.

Curling yourself into a ball.

Stretching out the spine.

And then when you are ready,

Drop your knees to the right hand side and settle your body on the right side.

Keeping your eyes closed.

Push yourself up to a comfortable seated position.

Take a full breath in and as you exhale,

Imagine filling with divine light.

Notice how you feel right now.

Notice the effects of your relaxation practice.

Let's close our session now.

Om Shanti.

Peace.

Eternal peace.

May there be peace,

Eternal peace in your heart.

Ever so slowly now open the eyes.

Place your hands in prayer position in front of your heart.

And let's close this session with a Namaste.

Namaste.

Reviews

Hi Julie
My sincere thanks to you for the effort you put into creating such
an amazing meditation.
Namasta
🙏🏻

A

Wonderfully relaxing

Blessed, sacred Nidra! Thank you.🙏

A wonderfully relaxing Yoga Nidra with fantastic guided imagery of a hike up a mountain - I'll certainly be returning to this meditation again. Thanks!

I listen to all of this , like being at yoga class, then finally fall asleep for half an hour. You have a very firm, reassuring voice, thank you.

That was so very enjoyable. My first yoga nidra practice. Amazing how one can go so deep, yet not fall back asleep. Thank you!!

Very thorough body scan that starts directly and ends up with a visualisation climbing a mountain - calming and Nice. Thank you!

Fell asleep mid way....worked a treat.

This meditation has helped me get some restful sleep. Thank you!

Sound asleep 💤 😘😛😀😴😇🥀💕💋

Deep sleepy in 15 minutes, namastê!

That was delicious. 💚.

Fell asleep before it ended 😪

Thank you ...for sharing this meditation...woke up and you were already done...

I liked body and chakra scans. I felt relaxed and had with my options.