Yoga Nidra Inspired By Swami Satyananda Saraswati

A classical Yoga Nidra inspired by the book 'Yoga Nidra' by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. This Yoga Nidra is best for those with some previous experience in meditation or Yoga Nidra. Do take the time to read for it is a gift in its own right.

Transcript

Hi there.

Welcome to the practice of yoga nidra.

My name is Leah and tonight I will be guiding you through a classical yoga nidra extracted from the book Yoga Nidra by Swami Satyananda Saraswati.

Please purchase this book if you find this useful.

Beginning to get ready for the practice.

Lie down on your back on the floor and bring yourself into Shavasana.

In this position the body should be straight from head to toe,

The legs slightly apart,

Your feet falling to the sides and the arms a little bit away from the body.

The palms of the hands turned upward.

Take the time to adjust everything,

Your body,

Your clothing until you are completely comfortable.

During yoga nidra there should be no physical movement.

Closing your eyes and keeping them strictly closed until you are told to open them.

Take a deep breath and as you breathe out feel your cares and worries of the day flowing away.

In the following practice you are going to develop a feeling of relaxation in the body.

It is not necessary to make movements or deliberately relax your muscles but simply develop a feeling of relaxation.

It is like the feeling you have just before sleep.

When relaxation becomes deep sleep comes fairly easily but you should try to keep yourself awake during this practice.

Make a resolution to yourself now that I am practicing yoga nidra.

I will remain awake throughout this practice.

Of course if you do fall asleep you will still reap the benefits of the practice.

During yoga nidra you are functioning on the levels of hearing and awareness.

And the most important thing is to follow my voice.

Do not try to intellectualize or analyze the instructions as this might disturb your mental relaxation.

Simply follow my voice with total attention and feeling.

And if thoughts come to disturb you from time to time don't worry just continue the practice.

Allow yourself to become calm and steady.

And when you are doing the practice maybe allow five minutes for yourself to set up and drop into this state before you start.

If you have already done this begin to bring about a feeling of inner relaxation throughout the whole body.

Concentrate on the body and become aware of the importance of complete stillness.

Develop your awareness of the body from the top of the head to the tips of the toes and mentally repeat the mantra.

Om.

Complete stillness and complete awareness of the whole body again.

Om.

Continue your awareness of the whole body.

The whole body.

The whole body.

Become aware of the fact that you are practicing yoga nidra.

And say mentally to yourself I am aware.

I am practicing yoga nidra.

I will not fall asleep.

I am aware.

I am practicing yoga nidra.

I will not fall asleep.

The practice of yoga nidra begins now.

In this moment begin to make your resolve or your I am statement.

Keep your resolve simple and let it come to you naturally.

Develop your resolve to say mentally.

It should be a short positive statement.

Personal,

Present and precise.

If your I am statement is speaking to you,

State it three times with awareness.

Feeling and emphasis.

The resolve you make during your yoga nidra is bound to come true in your life.

Repeat your resolve now.

I will now begin rotation of consciousness.

A rotation of awareness by taking a trip through the different parts of the body.

As rapidly as possible the awareness is to go from part to part.

State a body part,

Repeat it in your mind and simultaneously become aware of that part of the body.

Keep yourself alert but don't concentrate too intensely on the body part.

Begin,

Become aware of the right hand.

Right hand thumb.

Second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

Fifth finger.

Palm of the hand.

Become aware of your palm.

The back of the hand.

The wrist.

The lower arm.

The elbow.

The upper arm.

The shoulder.

The armpit.

The right waist.

The right hip.

The right thigh.

The knee.

The calf.

The ankle.

The heel.

The sole of the right foot.

The top of the right foot.

The big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fifth toe.

Become aware of the left hand.

Left hand thumb.

Second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

Fifth finger.

Palm of the left hand.

Back of the hand.

The wrist.

The lower arm.

The elbow.

The upper arm.

The shoulder.

The armpit.

The left waist.

The left hip.

The left thigh.

The kneecap.

The calf muscle.

The ankle.

The heel.

The sole of the left foot.

The top of the foot.

The big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Fifth toe.

Now bring your awareness to the back of your body.

Become aware of the right shoulder blade.

The left shoulder blade.

The right buttock.

The left buttock.

The spine.

The whole back all together.

Now bringing your awareness to the top of the head.

The forehead.

Both sides of the head.

The right eyebrow.

The left eyebrow.

The space between the eyebrows.

The right eyelid.

The left eyelid.

The right eye.

The left eye.

The right ear.

The left ear.

The right cheek.

The left cheek.

The nose.

The tip of the nose.

The upper lip.

The lower lip.

The chin.

The throat.

The right chest.

The left chest.

The middle of the chest.

The belly button.

The abdomen.

The whole right leg.

The whole left leg.

Both legs together.

The whole right arm.

The whole left arm.

Both arms together.

The whole back.

The glutes.

The spine.

The shoulder blades.

The whole of the front body.

The abdomen.

The chest.

The whole of the back and front body together.

The whole head together.

The whole body together.

The whole body together.

The whole body together.

Remember,

I am practicing Yoga Nidra.

I am trying to fall asleep.

Noticing the whole body on the floor,

You become aware of your body lying on the floor.

Your body is lying on the floor.

See your body lying perfectly still on the floor in this room.

Visualize the image of your body lying perfectly on the floor in your mind.

Now becoming aware of your breath.

Feel the flow of your breath in and out of your lungs.

Do not try to change it and let your breathing be natural and automatic.

There is no effort here.

Maintain the awareness of your breath.

Complete awareness of your breath.

Bring your awareness to the movement of your belly button.

Noticing your belly rising and falling slightly with every breath.

With each and every breath,

It expands and contracts.

Notice this movement in synchronicity with your breath.

Now bring your attention to the rise and fall of your chest.

The rise and fall of your chest with each breath.

Become aware of this.

Continue noticing the movement of the chest with the breath.

Now bring your awareness to the throat.

Moving your awareness to the throat.

Becoming aware of your breath.

Breathing up and down the throat,

In and out of the throat.

Continue noticing your breath in the throat.

Now moving the awareness to the nose.

Become aware of your breath moving in and out of the nose.

Noticing the movement of the breath in and out of the nostrils.

Complete awareness on the breath moving in and out of the nose.

Now we come to the visualization part of the yoga nidra.

I will name some different things and you should try to develop a vision of them on all levels on a level of feeling,

Awareness,

Emotion,

Imagination as best you can.

If you are able to find this vision,

Your relaxation is complete for the time being.

A burning candle.

A burning candle.

Endless desert.

Endless desert.

Endless desert.

Torrential rain.

Torrential rain.

Torrential rain.

Snow-capped mountains.

Snow-capped mountains.

Snow-capped mountains.

Birds flying across a sunset.

Birds flying across a sunset.

Birds flying across a sunset.

Clouds drifting.

Clouds drifting.

Clouds drifting.

Stars at night.

Stars at night.

Stars at night.

Full moon.

The full moon.

The full moon.

Buddha smiling.

Buddha smiling.

Buddha smiling.

Waves on a beach.

Waves on a beach.

Waves on a beach.

Waves on a beach.

Now it is time to repeat your resolve.

Repeat the same resolve that you made at the beginning of practice.

Repeat your resolve three times with full awareness and intention.

Relax all of your effort.

Draw your mind outside and become aware of your breathing once again.

Become aware of the natural breath.

Awareness of the whole body and awareness of your breathing.

Your body is totally relaxed,

Lying on the floor.

You are breathing quietly and slowly.

Bring your awareness from the top of your head down to the tips of your toes and say mentally in your mind,

Aum.

Repeat Aum mentally to yourself twice or more.

Become aware of the floor and the position of your body lying on the floor.

Visualize your room around you and become aware of your surroundings.

Breathing quietly for some time and keeping your eyes closed for as long as you need.

You might begin to start moving your body and reaching the arms overhead to stretch.

Please take your time here and do not hurry.

When you are feeling awake,

You might roll over to one side and slowly push yourself upright to sit.

With a few big blinks,

You will open your eyes.

The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

I'd like to thank again one more time Swami Satyananda Sarasvati for developing this classical Yoga Nidra and to the Eastern lineages that Yoga Nidra has been passed down through.

Take care of yourself and thank you so much for listening.

Reviews

Restful

Thank you Leah🙏💕

So beautiful and relaxing. Thank you Leah 💖

Awesome. Grateful...

Nice Voice and clear teaching. Thank you very much

Thank you Leah🙏🏻

This is honestly the best yoga Nidra practice I have ever tried. It follows the original script and has tremendous results - many thanks for this

Another great one! Really like your style and voice. Look forward to more meditations😌

Really enjoyed this classic Yoga nidra. Well guided. Very relaxing. 🙏🏻 💕