Welcome to Yoga Nidra,
A guided journey into deep rest.
Yoga Nidra is a meditation and visualization technique that helps you to release tension in multiple areas,
Physical,
Mental,
And emotional.
It's designed to help you find spaciousness from all that you manage during the day,
And to support you in having better sleep so you can improve your health,
Longevity,
And optimize your well-being.
This guided practice will help you release any tension or worries you may be carrying,
And will reconnect you back to your natural ability to easily welcome in nourishing sleep so that you can maximize your wellness and enhance how you show up in the world.
Let's begin.
Find a comfortable laying down position.
Take your time to support your body fully.
Adjust the pillow under your head.
Perhaps you put a pillow under your knees for extra support.
Cover yourself with a blanket.
Covering yourself with the blanket sends a signal to the body that it's time to relax.
Allow your legs to roll open.
Rock your hips from side to side until you find a center balance point.
Release the glute muscles.
Relax any tension in your stomach.
Soften the shoulders away from the ears.
Allow that sense of release to move down your arms,
Into your hands,
And out your fingertips.
Release the jaw.
Relax the tiny muscles around the eyes.
Smooth out the forehead.
As you next inhale,
Open your eyes as if you're looking up toward the ceiling.
Now exhale,
And as you do,
Close your eyes down.
Feel a velvety darkness wash over you.
Notice the calm of darkness,
How it quiets the mind and relaxes the body.
Sense your whole body resting in comforting darkness,
Fully supported by the bed beneath you.
Become aware of your breath.
Take a deep inhale,
Filling the lungs and allowing the belly to expand.
Hold at the top of the breath.
As you exhale,
Feel a wave of relaxation from your head down to your toes.
Allow your next natural exhale to relax you a little more.
Now take a second deep breath in,
Filling belly,
Ribs,
And chest.
Hold at the top.
Exhale,
Releasing,
Relaxing,
And letting go.
Your next natural exhale,
Helping you release a little more.
And now one final big belly breath.
And as you exhale,
Let all the tension drain out of your body.
Feel into your body from the inside.
Feel its shape,
Weight,
And position.
Feel the space around your body.
Notice how the bed supports you fully.
Become aware even of the presence of the earth holding you with the gentle embrace of gravity.
Nestle into the comforting and nourishing blanket of darkness.
Rest in the stability and safety of this moment.
Notice the flow of your breath.
Experience the breath like a gentle rocking of your body.
Your whole body cradled in breath.
Each inhale receiving.
Each exhale being received.
Become aware of the natural pause at the bottom of each breath before the inhale comes.
The natural pause at the top of the breath before the exhale releases.
Feel the stillness and silence of that pause.
The breath comes and goes upon a background of silence and stillness.
You might also notice thoughts that come and go upon this background of stillness.
Simply allow them to be.
They do not need your participation.
They are happening on their own.
Allow yourself to simply witness.
Stay connected to the silence and stillness that exists behind all thoughts,
Breaths,
And movements.
Let go of any doing now and allow yourself to simply be.
There is nothing you need to do,
Fix,
Or change.
Give yourself permission to let go of the day.
It doesn't need you anymore.
There is nowhere to go.
You've already arrived.
Give yourself fully to rest,
To presence,
To simply being and breathing.
Now we'll begin to move awareness through the body.
The order in which we go creates a circuit of energy in the brain that relaxes both the mind and the body.
Like an internal massage,
Letting your attention gently rest on specific points in the body encourages deep release and restoration.
There's nothing you need to do.
Simply feel from the inside.
Bring your awareness to your right thumb.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
Fifth finger.
Palm of the hand.
Back of the hand.
The whole right hand.
Right wrist.
Right forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Right shoulder.
Feel the entire right arm and right hand together.
Right armpit.
Right ribcage and waist.
Right hip and glute.
Thigh.
Knee.
Lower leg.
Ankle.
Heel of the right foot.
Sole of the foot.
Top of the foot.
Right big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Fifth toe.
Feel the whole right foot and leg together.
Bring your awareness to your left thumb.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
Fifth finger.
Left palm.
Back of the hand.
The whole left hand.
Left wrist.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Left shoulder.
Feel the entire left arm and left hand together.
Left armpit.
Ribcage.
Waist.
Left hip and glute.
Left thigh.
Knee.
Lower leg.
Ankle.
Heel of the left foot.
Sole of the foot.
Top of the foot.
Left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Fifth toe.
Feel the whole left foot and leg together.
Bring attention to the back of the head.
Back of the neck.
Right shoulder blade.
Left shoulder blade.
The space in between the shoulder blades.
Mid back.
Low back.
Sacrum.
Spine.
Bring attention to the top of the head.
Right side of the head.
Left side of the head.
The whole head.
Forehead.
Right eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
Middle of the eyebrows.
Right eyelid.
Left eyelid.
Right eyeball.
Left eyeball.
Right nostril.
Left nostril.
Tip of the nostrils.
Right cheek.
Left cheek.
Right ear.
Left ear.
Lips.
Teeth.
Gums.
Roof of the mouth.
Floor of the mouth.
Tongue.
Jaw.
Throat.
Right side of the chest.
Left side of the chest.
Center of the chest.
Belly.
Right side of the body.
The entire right side of the body.
The entire left side of the body.
The whole back of the body.
The whole front of the body.
The entire right side of the body.
Now feel the whole body together.
The whole body as one unified field of sensation.
The whole body resting in a vast and spacious awareness.
Become aware of the breath breathing you.
Feel that gentle rocking of inhale and exhale.
So calm and relaxing.
Begin to count backwards 11 more times.
Count down to one.
One inhale and one exhale count together as one breath.
If you lose track of the count,
Just begin again at 11 if you remember.
With every exhale relaxing deeper.
With every exhale drifting deeper and deeper into sleep.
