Soothing Bedtime Yoga Nidra

A full yoga Nidra practice to help you unwind, relax, and have a great night of uninterrupted sleep. This is a practice to add to your before-bed routine to help you sleep more soundly, rest, and foster peace within.

Transcript

So we'll begin just by getting comfortable in bed.

So doing anything that you need to get a little bit more comfortable.

Maybe you adjust your pillows.

Maybe you add a blanket or take one off.

Just take a moment to do whatever you can right now to create that perfect little sleep space for you to have a wonderful night's rest.

And then once you've settled in just feel yourself sinking into your bed.

Just letting it fully hold and support you as you begin to release your body and just let it relax and rest.

We're going to begin our practice just slowly counting down from 10 to 1 allowing each number to bring you a little bit deeper into rest,

A little more relaxed into your bed.

So beginning with 10,

You can feel your body begin to prepare for sleep.

Nine,

Feeling more calm and peaceful.

Eight,

Going deeper and deeper into a space of rest.

Seven,

Letting go of all tension from your body.

Six,

Moving into a state of tranquility.

Five,

The body becomes more and more relaxed.

Four,

Entering a state of complete peace.

Three,

Letting go completely.

Two,

Even more relaxed now.

And one,

Reaching a place of complete rest and relaxation for your body.

Just allow yourself to rest in this state of deep relaxation and stillness.

There is nothing that you need to do right now but rest and sleep.

If you feel thoughts popping up in your mind,

That's okay but just simply let them come and go without attachment.

Just let them float past and just begin to focus on the effortless flow of breath in and out of the body.

Letting that breath be slow and smooth,

Completely effortless and fluid.

And now tell yourself three times,

Here begins the practice of yoga nidra.

Tell yourself three times,

I will receive whatever I need tonight.

And tell yourself three times,

I am ready for a night of peaceful and uninterrupted sleep.

We're now going to move through a rotation of awareness in our bodies.

So as I call out different areas,

Just let your awareness fall on that part of your body.

Begin by becoming aware of your toes.

Feel your toes and then bring your awareness over to the toes just on the right foot and become aware of the sole of the right foot,

The top of the right foot,

The right heel,

Ankle and calf and become aware of the right shin,

The right knee,

The right thigh and glute.

Then become aware of the right hip,

The pelvis,

The left hip and the left glute.

Now become aware of the left thigh,

The knee,

The left shin and calf.

Then become aware of the left ankle,

Heel,

The sole of the left foot and the top of the left foot.

Become aware of the toes on the left foot and now bring your awareness to your abdomen,

Your navel,

Your rib cage and your chest.

Become aware of the collarbone,

The tops of the shoulders,

The shoulder blades and the upper back.

Become aware of the mid-back,

The low back,

The right side body,

The left side body and become aware of your right shoulder,

The right upper arm,

Elbow and forearm.

Become aware of your right wrist,

Back of the right hand,

Palm of the right hand and all of the fingers on the right hand.

Then move your awareness to the left shoulder,

The left upper arm,

Elbow and forearm.

Then become aware of the left wrist,

The palm of the left hand,

The back of the left hand and all of the fingers on the left hand.

Then become aware of the throat,

The neck,

Your lower jaw,

Your upper jaw,

Your teeth and your gums.

Then become aware of your tongue,

Your lips,

The right cheek,

The left cheek,

The nose and your eyebrows.

Become aware of the eyes,

The upper eyelid,

The lower eyelid,

The forehead and your temples.

Then become aware of your ears,

The top of your head and the back of your head.

Become aware of your whole head,

Your arms,

The trunk of your body and your legs.

Become aware of the front side of the body,

The back side of the body and the whole body.

Become aware of the whole body as you rest and relax and it begins to drift off to sleep.

Now bring your awareness to your belly.

Feel the natural rise and fall of the belly with every breath in and every breath out.

On the inhale feel the belly rise and on the exhale feel the belly fall.

Just feel the natural rise and fall of the belly with every inhale and every exhale.

Just feeling the cool air move in and the warm air move out as you focus on the natural rise and fall of the belly with every breath cycle.

As you feel the rise and fall of the belly begin to count your inhales and your exhales.

So on your next inhale think inhale one and on the exhale think exhale two.

Then inhale three,

Exhale four and so on.

Just continuing to breathe counting each inhale and exhale knowing that there's no competition,

There's no rush.

Just marking each breath with a number as you continue to breathe and count.

If you lose track of what number you're on that's okay.

Just release it and begin again at one.

Just continue with those smooth belly breaths counting each inhale and each exhale as you go.

Maybe making your way all the way up to 100 perhaps.

And now releasing whatever number you're at.

Just letting it go and returning to those natural inhales and exhales.

Feeling the rise and fall of the belly with every breath.

We're now going to move through a series of opposing feelings and sensations.

So as I call them out just let yourself experience it fully.

Feel your body become heavy like it's sinking down into your bed.

And then feel your body become light like it's lifting up off of your mattress.

Now feel your body become rigid and feel your body become soft.

And now experience excitement.

Now experience boredom.

Now feel yourself become happy.

Feel yourself become sad.

Now feel your body become tense.

Feel your body become relaxed.

Completely and totally relaxed.

Now in your mind's eye imagine that you're laying on a big bed of cottony clouds.

Each cloud is like a soft supportive plushy pillow.

You can feel these clouds cradling your body supporting every single part of you like a gentle and comforting embrace.

Your body is completely weightless and relaxed as the clouds mold perfectly to your body.

And as you rest in this cloud you gaze at the sky above.

Right now the sky is painted in hues of peach and orange and lavender and you can see the setting sun begins to dip lower and lower in the sky with each breath.

And as you continue to rest and watch the sky turn from peach and lavender to dark purple and blue and eventually there's an inky darkness that's above you.

And in this canvas of night sky stars begin to twinkle overhead one by one.

With every breath more stars appear and eventually there's a big full moon that appears above you.

The moon radiant and full bathes the clouds in a soft silvery glow filling you with a sense of tranquility and peace.

And as you close your eyes you just enjoy the weightlessness,

The gentle support of the clouds beneath you and the calming and peaceful light of the moonlight and twinkling stars that bathe your body in a silvery glow.

Your breath continues to get slower and more relaxed with each passing moment.

And as you surrender to the embrace of the clouds you find yourself drifting deeper into sleep.

And now you tell yourself three times,

I am ready for a night of peaceful and uninterrupted sleep.

Reviews

Could see the full moon & it was lovely 💫

I don’t know I fell asleep