Yoga Nidra For Self Care

Take a moment to nourish yourself with this Yoga Nidra. This practice will give you a sweet pause and internal pampering, that will leave feeling ready to step back into your life as the most nourished version of yourself. Grab your favorite pillows and blankets, create your nest, and snuggle up with your soul for a moment of replenishment.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Laura and today I will be guiding you through this yoga nidra practice.

Thank you for taking the time to nourish yourself today.

You can start to make yourself comfortable with any props that you might need,

Like a bolster behind the knees,

Support behind your head,

A blanket to stay warm,

Or an eye pillow to really create the space to go inside.

Once your eyes are closed,

You can take a slow inhalation and with the exhale you can sink the weight of your body into the ground beneath you.

And just pause here and begin to feel the settling of your body.

Feel the matter inside of your tissues,

Of your bones,

Sinking with gravity into the earth.

And begin to encourage your awareness to be fully present with your breathing.

You can explore the edges of your breath.

And you can experience your breath as it moves through you with a sense of curiosity.

Sense the breath from both the front and the backside of your body.

And become aware of that space where the inhale becomes the exhale.

And the exhale becomes the inhale.

And feel your body as full and as empty.

And with each passing inhale,

Begin to call back the pieces of yourself.

Encourage your breath to become magnetic in a way that pulls back all of the fragmented parts of you back to you.

You can call back the part of you that is selfless.

You can call back the part of you that's happy,

Sad,

Bitter,

Childlike.

The part of you that's angry.

The part of you that might still be healing.

Part of you that's carefree,

Inquisitive,

Playful,

Apathetic,

Caring.

All of the pieces of you.

Continue doing this until you can feel yourself whole and complete right now.

Knowing that all of these parts of you are welcome right now.

One of the most radical things that we can do in this day and age is to unplug.

In an era that demands doing and being everything at once,

Taking a step back from everything becomes a revolutionary act of self-care.

We leave pieces of ourself behind.

So you might even imagine these cords emerging from your body.

And one by one,

You can unplug these cords to reconnect.

You can imagine these as different things in your life that plug into you for energy.

Just one by one,

Unplug each cord from your body.

And as you unplug these cords,

You might even notice that your breath can expand into that space a little bit more.

And as you unplug all of these cords,

Begin to again connect to a feeling of wholeness.

And give all of yourself permission to be here for the remainder of this practice.

Begin to drop your awareness into your heart and invite in the feeling of gratitude.

Let this feeling initiate from your heart space and radiate out into every single cell inside of your body.

And it's in this space where the practice of yoga nidra begins.

You'll begin to call in your sankalpa for your practice.

If you're unfamiliar with what a sankalpa is,

It's a brief and positive affirmation or intention that arises from within your heart.

Spoken internally in a positive way as if it were already true.

If you haven't been feeling valuable recently,

Then you could work with I am worthy.

Or if you felt spread thin,

Then you could work with I am grounded.

Or if your voice hasn't been feeling strong recently,

Then you could work with I am valid.

Whatever it is,

Your sankalpa is the perfect antidote for your heart's desires.

And repeat your sankalpa internally to yourself at least three times.

With each repetition radiating out even more than the last.

Begin to reconnect to your heart.

You might invite in a glowing warm light.

Allow this space to radiate inside of your heart.

And we'll begin to move through a rotation of consciousness throughout your body.

I'll name a body part and you'll bring all of your conscious awareness along with this light into that space.

We'll begin on the right side of the body.

Bring your awareness and this glowing warm light into your right thumb,

Into the tip of all four fingers and into the palm of your right hand.

Bring this awareness into the back of your hand,

Into the right wrist,

The forearm,

The elbow,

The upper arm,

The shoulder,

The underarm,

The right side of the ribcage and your right lung,

The waistline and into your right thigh.

Feel the knee,

The lower leg,

The ankle and the top of the right foot.

Bring this warm awareness into the sole of the right foot,

Into the big toe,

The four little toes and then hold your entire right side of the body in your awareness.

Feel the whole right side and then move your awareness into your left hand.

Feel the left thumb and the tip of the four fingers.

Feel the palm of the hand,

The back of the left hand,

The left wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow and upper arm.

Feel the left shoulder,

The underarm,

The left side of the ribcage and the left lung,

The waistline and into the left thigh.

Feel the left kneecap,

Shin,

Ankle and the top of the left foot.

Feel the sole of the left foot,

The left big toe and the four little toes and then bring the entire left side of your body with your awareness and this glowing light.

Feel the whole left side of your body.

Now we'll begin to explore the back of your body moving from right to left fairly quickly.

Feel the sole of your right foot and the sole of your left foot.

Feel the soles of both of your feet together.

Feel the back of your right heel,

The back of your left heel and feel both heels together.

Feel the right calf and the left calf and then feel both calves together.

Feel the back of your right knee and the back of the left knee and then feel the backs of both knees simultaneously.

Feel your right hamstring and your left hamstring and then both hamstrings together.

Feel your right buttocks and your left buttocks and then feel both sides of your buttocks.

Feel the back of your pelvis,

Your lower back,

The middle back and the upper back.

Feel your right shoulder blade and your left shoulder blade and then feel both shoulder blades together.

Feel your right arm and your left arm and then feel both arms together.

Feel the back of your neck,

The back of your head,

The crown of your head and feel your entire back body.

Now feel your awareness in this glowing warm light into the crown of your head,

Your forehead,

Your right eyebrow,

Your left eyebrow and then both brows together.

Begin to settle your awareness in this glowing warm light right into your brow center.

Feel your right eyelid,

Your left eyelid and then feel both eyelids together.

Feel your right eyeball and your left eyeball and then feel both eyes together.

Feel your right nostril and your left nostril and then feel both nostrils together.

Feel the bridge of your nose,

The tip of your nose and feel your entire nose.

Feel your upper lip,

Your lower lip and feel both lips together.

Feel your chin,

Feel the right side of your jaw and the left side of your jaw and then feel both sides of your jaw together.

Now feel your whole face.

Feel the right side of your head,

The left side of your head and then feel both sides of your head together.

Feel the right side of your throat,

The left side of your throat and then feel your whole neck and throat together.

Feel your right collarbone and your left collarbone and then feel both collarbones together.

Feel the right side of your chest,

The left side of your chest and feel both sides of your chest together.

Feel the area of your abdomen from your ribs to your belly button.

Feel the low belly,

Your pelvis and the root of your pelvic floor.

Feel both thighs and both kneecaps.

Feel both shins,

Both ankles and the tops of both of your feet.

Feel the right leg from your toes to your hip and feel your left leg from your toes to your hip.

Feel the entirety of both of your legs together.

Feel your right arm from your fingertips to your shoulder.

Feel your left arm from your fingertips to your shoulder.

Now feel both arms together.

Keep your arms and your legs in your awareness in this warm light and begin to add your entire torso and your head to your feeling experience.

Feel and sense your entire body.

Feel your whole body.

Feel your whole body together simultaneously right now,

Illuminated in this warm light with a whole body awareness.

Begin to observe your breathing again without consciously manipulating or changing your breath.

Allow your natural breath to breathe for you,

The space where the mind surrenders the breathing to the body.

Begin to observe how the inhalation comes through the left nostril.

Follow this breath into your brow center and then follow the exhale down through the right nostril.

On the next inhale,

Follow the inhale through the right nostril to your brow center and then follow the exhale out of the left nostril.

Continue following the subtle movement of your breath in the shape of an inverted V.

The inhale starts through the left nostril to the brow center and then moves out of the right nostril and comes back again.

Now begin to bring your awareness into your left fingertips.

As you breathe in,

Breathe up the arm to the brow center and then exhale and breathe down through the right arm and out of the right fingertips.

On the next inhale,

Breathe up the right arm to the brow center and then exhale down through the left arm and fingertips.

Continue moving your awareness in this inverted V up the arms to the brow center and then down the other side and then back.

Now begin to bring your awareness into your left toes.

Breathe in and up through the left leg all the way up to the brow center and breathe down and out through the right leg and down through the right toes.

Then inhale up through the right leg to the brow center and exhale down through the left leg and the toes.

Keep going following this pattern through the legs to the brow center and down through the other side and then back.

If you can,

Try to breathe with all three of these patterns at once.

Toes,

Fingers,

And nostrils.

Breathing from the left side into the brow center and then out of the right side and then back again.

Then begin to release this pattern of movement all together and rest your awareness right in your brow center.

We'll begin to explore our mental and emotional body by balancing polarities.

You can begin to recall a time in your life of great joy,

A time where you might have experienced the highest of highs,

Where you felt on top of the world and like you could just float away because you were so full of bliss and love for life.

And begin to let that go and recall a time in your life of great sorrow,

A time where you felt like you couldn't go any lower,

Where you might have wanted to give up hope altogether.

Now let that go and return your awareness right into your brow center and begin to separate the matter in your body from the space and feel yourself as heavy.

Feel every cell,

Every bone,

And every atom inside of your body as if it were made from lead and let yourself be heavy.

And begin to let that go and connect to the part of you that is space.

Feel into the weightlessness of your body as if it could float away from the ground like a feather.

Let that go and return your awareness into your brow center.

Feel yourself as whole again here.

Allow these polarities to integrate themselves within you so you find a feeling of wholeness through every fiber of your being.

And then begin to bring your awareness back to your brow center and begin to move into your midbrain,

The space that's in between your ears and just slightly from your brow center.

We'll now be moving through our intuitive body where we'll be exploring different visualizations.

You start to see yourself from a bird's eye perspective.

And you can see that you're lying in a treatment room at one of the most luxurious spas you've ever seen.

There's a bathtub next to you.

It's a gorgeous tub with a comfortable place to rest your head.

And it's up to you if you get inside.

But it does feel like it's very inviting.

And the liquid inside of the tub is the perfect temperature.

If you choose to submerge yourself into the waters,

You can feel that these are healing waters.

Water is a sacred element that is used to cleanse away all that is no longer necessary for you to carry.

And it's also here to give back to you all that you've given away.

And as you rest in the tub,

You begin to notice an ornate copper vessel above your head.

There's a small opening right above your brow center.

This vessel is filled with a warm oil blend that's fragrant and nourishing.

And it's been made just for you.

In Ayurvedic healing,

One of the most nourishing treatments is called Shadara.

It is a beautiful and soothing treatment that slowly releases a warm stream of oil right onto your forehead.

And you realize that if you want it now,

You can enjoy this treatment.

So if you choose,

You can release the warm oil from the vessel above your head.

Or you can continue simply enjoying the healing waters of the bath.

And if you choose to release the liquid,

A warm golden oil begins to slowly stream down onto your brow center.

This oil is fragrant and it invites you to drop into a deeper state of relaxation.

Your eyes are protected from the oil,

Which begins to move down from your brow center and into your scalp.

You can even feel this healing herbal power washing over you,

Lulling you deeper into an elevated state of presence and healing.

And as the treatment continues,

You can massage the oil into your scalp with your hands if you'd like,

Soothing your mind even more.

And slowly the oil begins to come to a stop and your healing session is now complete.

After the oil comes to stillness,

You can still see a glowing golden awareness in your mind's eye.

This healing golden color is the same as the beautiful golden oil.

You notice that this golden color begins to expand out from your brow center until your entire body is filled with this glowing healing golden light.

And in this moment you feel nourished.

Every cell of your body feels like it has been taken care of and nourished.

The codes for healing and renewal live inside of every cell in your body.

We just have to get quiet enough to listen.

And as you lie here listening to your breath,

You can begin to hear your sankalpa emerge.

You can begin to repeat it to yourself now three times.

And become aware of the space that your body occupies again.

You can observe the connection between the earth and the parts of the body that are in contact with the ground beneath you.

You can begin to reconnect to the subtleties of your body,

Like the movement of clothes with your breathing.

Any sounds that the body might be making,

Like the murmur of your heart or the passing breath.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

You can begin to deepen your breath.

You can invite in small movements.

Maybe you take the thumb and rub it into each fingertip.

With each passing breath,

Allow these movements to get bigger in their own time,

Until eventually you feel like you're ready to roll over to whichever side of your body is calling you.

When you're ready,

You can gently push yourself up to a seat and lengthen your spine both up and down at the same time.

You can bring your hands to meet at your heart center.

You can take a moment to set an intention for the rest of the day ahead of you.

Finally,

You can bow your head down towards your heart as this gesture of gratitude and humbling the mind to the body.

Pariyom tat sab.

Thank you for joining me today.

Reviews

Amazing 🤩! Beautifully crafted nidra. Will add to my favorites.

So many cords and pieces. It felt great pulling the pieces together and unplugging the cords.

Amazing! One of the most beautiful meditations I have ever experienced. Thank you! 🙏🏻

This is a perfect yoga Nidra meditation to help you into a state of peaceful rest.

This yoga nidra was one of the BEST ones I have EVER listened to.
Her voice is so melodic and at a perfect pace.

Very relaxing! I enjoyed the breath practice and pace of the body scan. Thank you 🙏💕

Beautiful practice. Thank you and many Blessings 🕊️💞

I just had a phenomenal day, and my mind was flooded with too many exciting ideas, and couldn't get to sleep. However I did learn a lot of good self care tips, that I hope will help in the future!!!!

Also a personal note: the music seemed a little dark and a smidgen ominous, for my taste in a Yoga Nidra 🧘‍♀️

If I am not already doing so, I look forward to following you!!!! Thank you for your wisdom!!!!

Blessings to you and yours!!!!

Thank you- many blessings 🙏💜

Wow! 5 stars 💯 I was hesitant to sit in stillness for 40+ mins and called to the challenge as I started my weekend. The shifting nuggets for me came towards the end during the guided lead towards the air, at the oil visuals.

Will now follow this guide🫶🏼