Yoga Nidra For Deep Relaxation
Yoga Nidra is a practice designed to help you access effortless rest and ease. Use this guided practice as an opportunity to find a restful pause in your day, or to help you drift off to sleep in the evening. Music: Cosmic Harmony // Chris Collins // Indie Music Box
Transcript
Welcome.
I'm Kelly Villarreal.
This is a guided yoga nidra practice designed to help you connect to a sense of effortless relaxation anytime you need it,
Whether that's an opportunity to take a break in the flow of your day or if you need a little help drifting into the world of sleep at night.
This practice will help you connect to a deep sense of rest and ease.
You begin by finding a comfortable way to rest your body.
If it's an option,
Maybe allowing the body to lie down in a comfortable reclined position.
You could close your eyes and begin to settle your body into your space.
You might take a moment and notice here if there's a way that your body could be just a little bit more comfortable in whatever way you've positioned yourself.
Taking the time now to make small adjustments so the body can relax completely.
As you've made those adjustments and let the body settle,
You could close your eyes and take a few deep rounds of breath in through your nose.
Open your mouth and take an audible sigh out.
You're going to allow the body to begin to sink into a feeling of rest and relaxation and start to bring your awareness into the space your body's occupying with your eyes closed.
Expand your awareness into the space beyond you,
Feeling out for the walls that make up your space,
The ceiling above you.
You can start to bring your awareness back toward your body.
Take notice that the body is breathing.
Just be aware of the natural rhythm of your breath.
Notice if you can connect to the rise and fall of your chest or your belly.
Just allow the mind to watch that natural rhythm unfold.
You could take a moment now to bring an attention or an awareness to the space around your heart and set an intention or a sankalpa,
A sincere wish for your time in this practice.
Let a statement or an affirmation that resonates for you now just arise from inside and repeat it silently to yourself three times.
You can start to draw attention back into your physical body.
Notice the whole body around the edges,
The periphery,
Scanning bottom to top,
And then returning just to an observation of the natural flow of your breath without trying to change it or manage it.
Just watch the waves of breath roll in like waves to the shore and recede back out to the ocean from which they came.
You might notice the sensations of your breath entering and leaving your body.
Notice each individual part of the breath,
The sensations as the breath moves in the nostrils,
Into the throat,
Down into your lungs,
Filling into your belly.
As you exhale,
Noticing those sensations in reverse as the belly draws in,
The chest softens,
And the breath flows out.
As you watch these next few rounds,
You could create the intention that with each breath out,
You soften a little bit more.
Surrender the weight of your body to gravity and sink in a little more deeply.
You could bring your attention to rest gently at the top of your head.
As we move awareness through the body,
Imagine your attention bringing relaxation to the body so that anywhere your attention touches,
The body softens and lets go.
You gently rest attention toward the top of your head and then let your awareness start to travel down the sides of your head,
Your scalp,
Toward the back of the head and into the center of the forehead.
Notice the right side of your forehead,
Your right temple,
Your right ear,
The left side of your forehead,
The left temple,
And the left ear,
Your right eyebrow,
Your left eyebrow,
Your right eye.
Noticing the sense of vision,
Soft and internal.
You bring your attention to the bridge of your nose,
The right side of your nose,
The right nostril,
The left side of your nose,
The left nostril,
Your right cheekbone,
Your right cheek,
Your right lower jaw,
Your right upper jaw,
The whole right side of your mouth,
The teeth inside the mouth,
The right side of your tongue at rest.
And notice the left cheekbone,
The left cheek,
The left lower jaw,
Left upper jaw,
The teeth inside the mouth,
The left side of the tongue.
Let the relaxing quality of your attention blanket your whole head,
Whole face.
Notice the right side of your neck,
Right half of the throat,
The left side of the neck,
The left half of the throat.
Notice the top of the right shoulder,
The right collarbone,
Right shoulder blade,
Your right upper arm,
The forearm.
The palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Right thumb,
First finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And pinky finger.
And notice the whole right arm and the top of the left shoulder,
The left collarbone,
The left shoulder blade,
Your upper arm,
Left elbow,
Forearm,
The palm of the hand,
The back of the hand,
Thumb,
First finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger.
Bring your attention to the center of your chest,
The space of the heart,
The right half of the chest,
Left half of the chest,
The back of the ribcage,
And notice the center of the belly,
The space around the navel,
The right half of the belly,
The left half of the belly,
And the front of the right hip.
And notice the bowl of the pelvis,
The right side,
The front of your thigh,
The back of the thigh,
The right knee,
Right shin bone,
And calf muscle,
The right ankle,
Right heel,
The top of the foot,
Bottom of the foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Notice the left thigh,
The top of the thigh,
Back of the thigh,
The left knee,
Left shin bone,
And calf muscle,
The left ankle,
Left heel,
The top of the foot,
Bottom of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
And notice the whole left leg,
The whole right leg.
Notice the whole right side of the body,
Whole left side of the body.
The whole front of the body.
And notice the whole body at rest.
You can imagine the whole body becoming heavy,
As if your body might sink into whatever you're resting on.
Your attention,
Like the quality of a weighted blanket,
Inviting your body to sink in and to release any amount more.
You can come back to noticing the soft rhythm of your breath in whatever way it's settled.
You can gently rest your attention toward the bottoms of your feet.
And as you take your next breath in,
You can imagine your body filling from your feet to the crown of your head,
Like a wave with relaxation.
As you breathe out,
Like a wave receding from shore,
The breath pulling out anything with it that's still holding on.
Anywhere there's a sense of tightness or gripping just recedes with the breath out.
Breathing in a sense of relaxation and ease.
Breathing out any remaining holding or tension.
We'll begin to count those breaths back from 10.
Inhaling,
Deep rest.
Exhale,
Releasing anything that wants to go.
Nine,
Eight.
Continuing to breathe in,
Exhaling,
Releasing anything that wants to go.
Nine,
Eight.
Continuing to count these breaths on your own,
All the way down.
Just allow the body to be here a few minutes longer,
Toward a space that feels to you like center.
Toward a space that feels to you like center.
For just another few minutes,
I'll let the sound of my voice go quiet.
And hold the space for you while you let your body rest.
You could begin to call your attention back from whatever space it settled into.
Before you return to the world of waking and doing,
You'd remember quietly for a moment your sankalpa,
Your intention or your affirmation.
And you might carry that forward into the remainder of your day.
You could remain where you are.
If you're settling in to a space of sleep,
Or if you're returning to the world of wakefulness,
And wiggle your fingers,
And just let your body rest.
Or if you're returning to the world of wakefulness,
And wiggle your fingers and your toes,
Your ankles and wrists,
And take a few deeper breaths before you awaken the body and the senses.
Thank you for joining me.
And I look forward to resting with you again.
