Yoga Nidra For Insomniacs Like Me

Sometimes sleep just seems impossible. I created this Yoga Nidra just for you. Whether you can't fall asleep or find yourself awake in the middle of the night, this guided meditation can be helpful in calming your mind. Let go the urgency to find a solution for the day's conundrums. Instead, just lay back and relax. Let the events of the day melt away.

Transcript

Hi.

My name is Karin.

If you're listening to this,

It's either because you have woken up,

Or you're having trouble falling asleep.

I thought I might offer a yoga nidra to maybe help you to fall asleep a little bit more easily.

And so if you'd like to try this with me,

Set yourself up to be as comfortable as you possibly can be in your bed.

Turning off the lights.

Setting up your pillow so that you will be comfortable.

Arranging your blankets.

And if you could make yourself 3% more comfortable,

You should do it.

Let's begin by taking a really nice deep breath in through your nose,

And then exhaling out through your mouth.

Maybe do that one more time.

Big breath in through your nose,

And sigh it out through your mouth.

Take a moment to acknowledge any thoughts that you might have right now.

Unfortunately,

We often climb into bed and that's when our mind gets busy.

I want you to imagine that each of your thoughts is a sheet of paper,

Representing some mind business from the day.

And as each thought or sheet of paper comes to you,

Acknowledge it and then just put it into a file marked Mind Papers.

And tomorrow you can open that file up if you wish and deal with whatever is in there.

But for now,

As each of these Mind Papers draws for your attention,

Simply acknowledge it and set it aside.

You're not saying you'll never deal with it.

You're just saying,

Tonight I'm not going to look for a solution.

Become aware of any emotions that might be present.

Our emotions are like attachments to the files from the mind.

But rather than getting into a description of what each emotion might be,

Just label them all Heart Space.

Put them into a file called Emotional Papers.

For now,

Just file them away.

Scan your body from the top of your head all the way down to your toes,

Out to your fingertips,

Making any adjustments you wish.

And you're looking for any places of tension or discomfort,

Not judging,

Just seeing.

Where do you feel your breath?

Perhaps you feel it as the air moves across your upper lip,

Breath drawing in,

Breath moving out,

Or in your nostrils,

The back of your throat,

Perhaps you notice the air expanding your chest and contracting as the air leaves,

Or the rise and fall of your belly.

Wherever you feel your breath,

See if you can lightly rest your focus there for a few moments.

And if your mind travels,

Either label it as Mind Papers,

Filing it away,

Or if your attention is shifted to the mind space,

That's okay,

Just go there,

That's fine.

You're not trying to change the breath,

You're just watching it.

And if you're not able to change the breath,

You're not trying to change the mind,

You're just watching it.

And if you're not able to change the breath,

You're just watching it,

Noticing how it changes,

Noticing its constancy.

Become aware of the breath traveling in the body,

Not just in the airway passages.

Our breath travels within the circulatory system to nourish and restore all of the living tissue in the body,

Healing it while we sleep.

Imagine your breath then traveling all the way down the length of your torso,

Journeying then down the right leg,

Out to your right foot,

And all the way to the tip of your right big toe.

Imagine your right big toe,

Without wiggling it,

Just sense it there,

See it in your mind's eye.

Taking a deep breath in,

And as you exhale,

Relaxing all the muscles there and then letting the big toe simply fade from your mind's eye.

And then we'll do the same to the next toe,

The second toe.

Breathing in,

Exhaling and letting it go.

Exhaling and letting it go.

Third toe,

And letting it go.

Fourth toe,

Letting it go.

Fifth toe,

And letting that toe go as well.

Now in your mind's eye,

See all the five toes on your right foot.

Take a lovely deep breath in,

And as you exhale,

Let them all go.

Bring your awareness now to your right foot,

The sole of the right foot,

The heel,

The top of the right foot.

Taking a deep breath in,

And letting it go.

Letting the whole foot go.

Drawing your awareness now to the right ankle.

Breathing in,

And letting it go.

Now in your mind's eye,

See all the five toes on your right foot.

Breathing in,

And letting it go.

Now in your mind's eye,

See all the five toes on your right foot.

Breathing in,

And letting it go.

Now in your mind's eye,

See all the five toes on your right foot.

Breathing in,

And letting it go.

Now in your mind's eye,

See all the five toes on your right foot.

Breathing in,

And letting it go.

Now in your mind's eye,

See all the five toes on your right foot.

Breathing in,

And letting it go.

Now in your mind's eye,

See all the five toes on your right foot.

All five toes of the right foot.

Let them go.

Imagine your breath now traveling down your left leg,

Down its full length and journeying all the way out to your left big toe.

Seeing it in your mind's eye,

And bringing your breath into it.

Breathing in,

Exhaling and letting it go.

Second toe,

Letting it go.

Third toe,

Letting it go.

Fourth toe,

Letting it go.

And your fifth toe,

Letting it go.

Seeing all five toes of the left foot in your mind's eye.

Breathing in and exhaling,

Let the toes simply fade from your imagination.

Become aware of the left foot,

The sole of the left foot.

The heel,

The top of the left foot.

Breathing in deeply,

And then exhaling,

Letting it go.

The whole foot,

The whole left foot,

Letting it go.

All five toes,

Letting them go.

Bring your awareness now to the left ankle,

And letting it go.

The left lower leg,

Letting it go.

The left knee,

Letting it go.

Upper leg left,

Letting it go.

The entire left leg,

Letting it go.

The whole left foot,

Letting it go.

All five toes on the left foot,

Letting them go.

Both limbs,

Right leg,

Left leg,

Right foot,

Left foot.

All 10 toes,

Letting them go.

Bring into your awareness now your buttocks,

Hips right and left,

Pelvic floor,

Low belly,

The organs within the hip girdle and pelvic girdle,

The organs within the hip and pelvic girdle.

Breathing into this space,

As you exhale,

Let it go.

The low back,

Lumbar spine,

Natural waist,

Mid belly.

Breathing into the mid torso,

Let it go.

The upper back to the shoulder blades,

The side ribs,

The shoulder blades,

The chest,

The organs within,

Heart,

Lungs,

And letting them go.

Begin to travel down the length of the right arm,

All the way out to the right thumb.

Seeing the right thumb in your mind's eye and bringing your breath into it.

Exhaling and letting it go.

Second finger,

Letting it go.

Third finger,

Letting it go.

Fourth finger,

Letting it go.

And fifth finger,

Letting it go.

Seeing all five fingers in your mind's eye of the right hand,

All five fingers of the right hand,

Letting them go.

Your right hand,

Palm,

Back of hand,

And letting it go.

All five fingers of the right hand,

Letting them go.

The right hand,

Letting it go.

The right wrist,

Letting it go.

The right forearm,

Letting it go.

The right elbow,

Letting it go.

The right upper arm,

Letting it go.

Begin to shift your attention now down the length of the left arm,

All the way down and into the left thumb.

Seeing the left thumb in your mind's eye,

Imagining your breath traveling all the way down and filling your left thumb.

Breathing in deeply and exhaling,

Letting it go.

Second finger,

Letting it go.

Letting it go.

Third finger,

Letting it go.

Fourth finger,

Letting it go.

Fifth finger,

Letting it go.

Seeing now in your mind's eye,

All five fingers of the left hand.

Breathing in deeply and letting them go.

Moving your attention now to the left hand,

The palm,

The back of the hand.

Breathing into the hand itself and releasing the left hand.

All five fingers,

Letting them go.

The left wrist,

Letting it go.

The left forearm,

Letting it go.

The left elbow,

Letting it go.

The left upper arm,

Letting it go.

The entire left arm,

Letting it go.

The left hand,

Letting it go.

And all five fingers of the left hand,

Letting them go.

Both arms,

Letting them go.

Both hands,

Letting them go.

All ten fingers,

Letting them go.

The upper torso,

Letting it go.

The middle torso,

Letting it go.

The lower torso,

Letting it go.

The whole torso,

Letting it go.

Both lower limbs,

Letting them go.

Legs,

Feet,

Toes,

Arms,

Legs,

Arms,

Feet,

Toes,

Arms,

Feet,

Toes,

Arms,

Feet,

Toes,

Arms,

Feet,

Toes,

Arms,

Feet,

Toes,

Arms,

Feet,

Toes,

Arms,

Feet,

Toes,

Arms,

Feet,

Toes,

Arms,

Feet,

Toes,

Arms,

Feet,

Toes,

Arms,

Feet,

Toes,

Arms,

Feet,

Arms,

Feet,

Arms,

Feet,

Arms,

Feet,

Arms,

Feet,

Arms,

Feet,

Arms,

Feet,

Arms,

Feet,

Arms,

Feet,

Arms,

Feet,

Arms,

Feet,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

Your neck,

The left shoulder.

Letting it go.

Both shoulders.

Letting them go.

Your neck.

Letting it go.

Your neck and shoulders.

Letting them go.

Letting them go.

Your arms.

Your hands.

Your fingers.

Letting them go.

Your torso.

Letting it go.

Your legs.

Your feet.

Your toes.

Letting them go.

Letting them go.

The low back of your skull.

The sides of your skull.

Your ears.

The back of your skull.

The top of your skull.

The temples.

Your cranium.

Your skull.

Let it go.

Your face.

Your forehead.

Let it go.

Your eyebrows.

Left eyebrow.

Right eyebrow.

Let them go.

Your eyes.

Right eye.

Left eye.

Let them go.

Your nose.

Left nostril.

Right nostril.

Let them go.

Let them go.

Your cheeks.

Right cheek.

Left cheek.

Let them go.

Your mouth.

Upper lip.

Lower lip.

Let them go.

Let them go.

Your lower jaw.

Relaxing it and letting it go.

Your skull.

Let it go.

Your face.

Let it go.

Your jaw.

Let it go.

Let it go.

Your whole head.

Let it go.

Your neck.

Your shoulders.

Your arms.

Your hands.

Your fingers.

Let them all go.

Your torso.

Let it go.

Your legs.

Your feet.

Your toes.

Let them go.

Your head.

Your neck.

Your shoulders.

Your arms.

Your hands.

Your fingers.

Your torso.

Your legs.

Your feet.

Your toes.

Whole body.

Whole body.

Letting go.

Whole body.

Letting go.

Head.

Neck.

Shoulders.

Arms.

Hands.

Fingers.

Torso.

Legs.

Feet.

Toes.

Whole body.

Letting go.

Whole body.

Letting go.

Whole body.

Letting go.

Letting go.

Reviews

I especially enjoyed the hummingbird and used it to focus 😃

Thank you Karen. That was sublime. Your voice and cadence were so absolutely beautiful for Yoga Nidra for sleep. I’ll add it to my playlist for future reference if I need it.
Namaste 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
⭐️ x5 gold: stars