Sleep Like A Baby With Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra is a meditative state of deep sleep with a slight trace of consciousness and precedes the state of deep dreamless sleep. Get in bed and follow along with Lisa's soporific voice to experience wonderful, refreshing, profound sleep.

Transcript

Welcome to the practice of yoga nidra.

Arrange yourself comfortably on your bed,

Lying in what is called shavasana,

The resting pose of yoga.

Your legs are a little apart.

The arms are open at your sides,

Palms up.

If you feel any tension or discomfort in your low back,

You can put pillows under your knees.

You can also cover your eyes with an eye pillow or a dark cloth to give you a deeper relaxation.

Yoga nidra translates as yogic sleep,

And we'll be practicing it here as a means to experience deep,

Refreshing sleep.

It is important as you practice yoga nidra to keep your body still.

So make sure that you are very comfortable now.

Once you fall into a deep sleep,

Later on,

Of course,

You'll naturally move your body.

But while you are conscious and aware on your way into deep yogic sleep,

Yoga nidra,

As best you can,

Keep your body very still as any movement creates muscular tension.

And now we are entering yoga nidra,

The state of complete physical and mental relaxation.

And now be aware of your whole body.

Feel your body lying on your bed,

The body breathing.

Be aware of the two arms,

The two legs,

The head,

And the torso,

All connected.

Feel the contact of your body between the body and the bed.

Feel the whole plane of contact between your body and the bed.

From the back of the head to the heels,

The whole plane of contact between the body and the bed.

One plane.

Now your sankalpa,

Your intention,

Your resolve.

Please repeat your sankalpa mentally three times with intensity and feeling as if your whole body and mind vibrate with the mental repetition of your intention.

And now bringing your awareness to your breathing and focus more particularly on the exhalation.

Notice how,

As you exhale,

That there is a general sense of releasing,

Of letting go.

And you can feel this as the air leaves the lungs and the chest and the belly gently recede down.

They inflate on the inhale,

The belly and the chest rise.

But really focus on that feeling of letting go,

The relaxing quality of the exhalation.

Feeling your body letting go a little bit deeper with each exhale,

Releasing into the support of the bed with each exhale,

Yielding to gravity.

And to help keep your mind focused,

I'd like you to use a word spoken mentally.

Relax.

With each exhale,

Mentally repeat the word relax as you let go.

And this helps to keep the mind focused.

Relax.

Repeating it once mentally with each exhale.

That's right,

Relax on each exhale.

And now shifting your awareness to that dark space behind your eyes.

Your eyes are closed.

And as you look up into that dark space behind your closed eyes,

There might also be images present,

Colors or patterns,

But look beyond them to that dark mental screen on which they seem to be projected.

And we'll also give that one word,

Blank.

So as you focus into that dark mental screen beyond any images or patterns or colors that might be present,

Mentally repeat the word blank to keep your mind focused,

Reminding it to look into the darkness.

This is the restful aspect of the mind.

One of the restful aspects.

Focusing into the dark screen will help your mind to relax.

Blank.

As you look into that dark screen.

Ah,

That's right.

And now combining that with the relax of the exhale.

So as you exhale,

Feeling that letting go quality,

Mentally repeating,

Relax.

And as you inhale,

Bring your awareness to that space behind your eyes,

That comfortable darkness,

And repeat blank,

Exhale,

Relax.

Inhale,

Blank.

With each exhale,

Feel the letting go.

As you mentally repeat,

Relax,

Your body relaxes.

With each inhale,

Looking up into that comfortable darkness,

That blank mental screen.

Blank.

The relaxation of the mind.

Continue with that for a few moments until you hear my voice again.

Ah,

That's right.

And now you can let go of that and bring your attention into the whole body.

Again,

Feeling your whole body,

Which has been letting go into the chair,

Yielding to gravity.

And now we will take a trip through the body.

I will guide your awareness throughout your body.

Allow your awareness to flow as it gently alights on each point of your body as I guide you.

The awareness flows from point to point,

Gently relaxing the body and the mind simultaneously.

As we do this,

You can mentally repeat each part of the body after me,

Or you can feel the sensation from that part of the body,

Or you can mentally visualize that part of the body.

Whichever feels most comfortable and natural to you.

So bring your awareness now to your right hand and be aware of your right hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

All the fingers of the right hand together,

The palm,

Back of the right hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Right shoulder,

Armpit,

Right side of the waist,

Right hip,

Right thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole,

Heel,

Sole,

The top of the right foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

All the toes of the right foot together.

Be aware now of the left hand,

Left hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

All the fingers of the left hand together,

The palm,

Back of the left hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Left shoulder,

Armpit,

Left side of the waist,

Left hip,

Left thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole,

Top of the left foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

All the toes of the left foot together.

Now the back,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Both shoulder blades together,

Right middle back,

Left middle back,

The whole middle back,

Right lower back,

Left lower back,

The whole lower back.

Be aware of the spine and the base of the spine,

Up the middle of the spine,

All the way up to the top of the spine,

The whole length of the spine,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head,

Top of the head,

Right side of the head,

Left side of the head,

The forehead,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Eyebrow center,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

The nose,

The right nostril,

The left nostril,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

The tongue,

Chin,

The neck and throat,

Neck and throat,

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

The whole chest,

The navel,

Right side of the abdomen,

Left side of the abdomen,

The whole abdomen,

Whole right leg,

Whole left leg,

Both legs together,

Right arm,

Left arm,

Both arms together,

Your head,

Your whole body,

Your whole body,

One whole body.

Once more,

Be aware of your right hand,

Then right hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

All the fingers of the right hand together,

The palm,

Back of the right hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Right shoulder,

Armpit,

Right side of the waist,

Right hip,

Right thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole,

The top of the right foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

All the toes of the right foot together.

Now be aware of the left hand,

Left hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

All the fingers of the left hand together,

The palm,

Back of the left hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Left shoulder,

Armpit,

Left side of the waist,

Left hip,

Left thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole,

Top of the left foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

All the toes of the left foot together.

Now the back,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Both shoulder blades together,

Right middle back,

Left middle back,

The whole middle back,

Right lower back,

Left lower back,

The whole lower back,

The spine,

The base of the spine,

Moving up through the middle of the spine,

Moving the awareness up through the top of the spine to the base of the skull,

The whole length of the spine,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head,

Top of the head,

Top of the head,

Right side of the head,

Left side of the head,

The forehead,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Eyebrow center,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

The nose,

The right nostril,

The left nostril,

The upper lip,

Lower lip,

The tongue,

The chin,

Throat,

The chin,

Throat,

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

The whole chest,

The navel,

Right side of the abdomen,

Left side of the abdomen,

The whole abdomen,

Whole right leg,

Whole left leg,

Whole left leg,

Both legs together,

Right arm,

Left arm,

Both arms together,

Your head,

Your whole body,

Your whole body,

Your whole body,

That's right.

Now feel the quality of heaviness,

Feel heaviness in your whole body as though the force of gravity has become 10 times more powerful and feel that heaviness in your right leg,

Left leg,

Right arm,

Left arm.

Feel heaviness in your whole body,

The head is heavy,

The torso is heavy,

Feel heaviness in the whole body,

That's right,

Heaviness in the whole body,

So relaxed,

So heavy.

Now be aware of the quality of lightness,

Feel lightness in your body,

Sense light,

Lightness,

Your body may even feel tingling or may seem to float,

Feel that lightness in your right leg and left leg,

Lightness,

Lightness in the right arm,

Lightness in the left arm,

The body feels light,

The head is light,

The torso,

A lightness,

Feel lightness as though your body were filled with light,

Lightness in the whole body,

That's right,

Relaxing deeper and allow the images now to arise spontaneously and effortlessly,

A bright yellow square of light,

A silvery white crescent moon,

A fiery red upside down triangle,

A smoky blue sphere,

A sphere of complete crystalline transparency,

The blankness of empty space,

No limitations,

Allow your mind to expand to the end of space,

Inside your body,

Visualize dark infinite space,

Become aware of the inside of your body,

Visualize,

Imagine seven points of light suspended in infinite space,

Infinite space,

Small condensed points of light,

These are the chakras,

The energy center,

The energy centers that aligned from the base of the spine to the crown of the head,

In that infinite space,

Shining,

Glistening,

White beautiful points,

Pearls of light,

Strung along a strand of silver,

From the base of the spine to the crown and now I'll count these seven points of light,

These chakras from the bottom to the top,

Starting at the base,

The first chakra at the base of the spine,

At the base of the spine,

The second chakra at the pelvis,

The third chakra at the navel center,

The fourth chakra,

The heart center,

The fifth chakra at the throat,

The sixth chakra,

The third eye point and the seventh chakra,

The crown of the head,

The thousand petaled lotus and now I'll count each chakra again,

Down from the crown to the base of the spine and with each count,

Visualize that the chakra flares brightly,

The seventh chakra,

The crown of the head,

The thousand petaled lotus,

The sixth chakra at the third eye point,

Fifth chakra at the throat,

Fourth chakra,

The heart center,

Third chakra,

The navel center,

Second chakra,

The pelvis and the first chakra,

The base of the spine,

That's right and now once again,

Mentally repeating your sankalpa three times,

The same intention,

The resolve that you repeated at the beginning of yoga nidra,

Repeat it three times from your heart,

Know that it is already happening,

Rest in beauty and peace.

Rest now,

Relax and rest.

Reviews

Such a beautiful experience! Lisa has a calm, even voice that took me down to a beautiful night's sleep.

Really lovely, thanks Lisa.
🙏🏻💖