Yoga Nidra For Physical Healing

Relax and enjoy this 35-min guided Yoga Nidra (a.k.a. "Yogic Sleep") practice which will put your body into a deep state of healing itself. You will awaken feeling energized and refreshed. This is a great substitute for a nap!

This particular practice is focused on healing the body into a state of perfect health through a "Quantum Jump" visualization inspired by Burt Goldman.

Enter the realm of Yoga Nidra, where deep relaxation meets profound transformation. As Swami Satyananda Saraswati proclaimed, "A single hour of Yoga Nidra is as restful as four hours of conventional sleep." In this practice, you lie down in comfort and stillness, guided by the instructor's voice into a state of conscious dreaming. Here, the subconscious awakens, releasing tensions and paving the way for inner healing.

Transcript

So lying down with your hands by your side,

Palms facing up ideally,

Or you can have your hands on your stomach and your chest if that's more comfortable,

But ideally by your side.

Your feet are a little bit apart,

Your feet splaying out.

I really like to take up space and bring my hands away from my body a little bit,

Take up the whole mat and the feet wide,

But whatever feels good to you.

And lengthening the back of the neck,

Tucking the chin slightly and feeling the spine extend.

And you can put a pillow under your knees as well if that will make your lower back more comfortable.

Really we want to be as comfortable as possible and then we're going to do our best to remain in stillness for the remainder of this practice.

Of course you can fidget if necessary,

But we intend to stay still.

So once you've found that still comfortable position,

Start to notice that the body is breathing.

We're going to take three deep breaths,

Inhaling into the bottom of the stomach,

Ribcage,

And chest.

And as you exhale,

Just surrender the whole body into the earth until you're completely empty.

And two more deep breaths like that.

And then letting the breath be natural,

Let the body take over.

And just observe as the body breathes itself with no effort or control on your part.

And scanning the body,

Noticing if there's any place you can send some breath and create some space into.

And as you exhale,

You can release a little bit of tension or holding on.

Wherever our attention goes is where our energy goes.

Our energy has the potential to heal parts of our body simply by focusing on it and breathing and letting go of any holding on.

So the next 35 minutes or so are just for yourself.

We are practicing yoga nidra or deep relaxation.

And the only thing you need to do is listen and feel.

Everything else outside of the room and the future or the past is irrelevant for the next little while.

We're just listening and feeling.

Repeating to yourself mentally now,

I am going to practice yoga nidra.

I will not sleep.

I shall only listen to the voice.

I am going to practice deep relaxation.

Amazing and feeling calmness spread through the body and your next inhale.

As you exhale,

Repeat to yourself,

I am safe here and allow the body to sink even heavier.

Now become aware of the sounds you can hear in the distance.

The furthest away sounds that you can notice.

Without worrying about the source of the sounds without analyzing,

Just let your attention flit from sound to sound.

Notice how there is a constant stream of sounds that reach your ears.

Every moment,

The sounds change never remaining the same.

Just observe this stream of sound moving by or through you.

Drawing your attention to closer sounds now.

In the mid distance,

Perhaps sounds just outside your building.

Again,

Like you're sending out a radar in all directions.

Notice the sphere of sound surrounding you.

Then gradually drawing your attention to closer sounds within the building perhaps.

To sounds within the room that you're in.

Maybe to the sounds of your own body,

Your breath,

Your heartbeat.

And now develop your awareness of the room that you're in without opening your eyes.

But become aware of the room that you're lying in.

Visualize the four walls,

The ceiling,

The floor,

Your body lying down.

Almost like you're standing outside of the body.

Become aware of your body lying down in the room that you're in.

The body is lying down in the room that you're in.

The body is lying in stillness and comfort.

And become aware of the natural breath.

The body breathing calmly.

And here we are going to repeat our intention or sankalpa.

A short positive sentence in the present tense.

So repeating it to yourself three times,

Knowing that it will come true.

We repeat it with emphasis and with oomph behind it.

Please go ahead now.

And once you're ready,

We're going to take a deep breath.

And once you're complete,

Come back to the breath.

The body breathing.

Becoming more relaxed with each exhale.

Letting go a little bit more.

Surrendering a little bit deeper into the earth beneath you with each exhale.

And we are now going to begin the rotation of consciousness in which we will take a trip through different parts of the body.

I'm going to name the parts of the body.

And as quickly as possible,

You'll follow along with my voice and visit those parts of your body.

Bringing your awareness to those places that I name.

There's no need to concentrate too hard.

Sometimes we'll move faster,

Sometimes slower.

Simply follow along with my voice.

We're going to start with the right hand.

Bring your awareness to the right hand.

Right hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

The palm of the right hand,

The back of the hand,

The right wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

The right armpit,

The right waist,

Right hip,

Right thigh,

Right knee,

Calf muscle,

Ankle,

The heel of the right foot,

The sole of the foot,

The top of the foot,

The right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Now it's the left hand side,

The left hand,

The left hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

The palm of the left hand,

Back of the hand,

The left wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

The left armpit,

The left side of the waist,

Left hip,

Left thigh,

Left knee,

Calf muscle,

Ankle,

Heel of the left foot,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Now to the back of the body,

Become aware of the back of the head and the point of connection between the pillow and the head.

Feel that point of contact.

Become aware of the right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

The right buttock,

The left buttock,

The whole spine,

And the whole back of the body altogether.

Feeling the whole back of the body and the points of contact between the back and the ground,

All together.

Now we're going to go down the front of the body.

We'll start at the top of the head.

Bring your awareness to the crown of the head,

The forehead,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

The center of the eyebrows,

Right eyelid,

Left eyelid,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

The nose,

The tip of the nose,

The right nostril,

Left nostril,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Both lips together,

The chin,

The jaw,

Throat,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

Center of the chest,

The navel,

The lower abdomen,

The right groin,

Left groin,

Right thigh,

Left thigh,

Right knee,

Left knee,

Right ankle,

Left ankle,

Right toes,

Left toes.

And now feeling the whole of the right leg,

All together,

The whole of the right leg,

And now the whole of the left leg,

And now both legs together,

Now the whole of the right arm,

The whole of the left arm,

And both arms together,

Now the whole of the back of the body,

All those points of contact between the back and the floor,

Now the whole of the front of the body,

All together,

The front of the body,

And the whole of the head and face,

And all together now feeling your legs,

Arms,

Back of the body,

Front of the body,

Your head,

All together now,

The whole of the body together,

The whole of the body together,

And feel the points of contact with the body and the floor underneath you,

Bring your awareness to those particular points of contact between the heels and the floor,

Feel that pressure point between the backs of the calves and the floor,

The backs of the whole legs,

The buttocks and the floor,

The shoulder blades and the floor,

The backs of the arms and backs of the hands and the floor,

The back of the head and the floor,

Awareness of the whole body and this line of pressure or contact,

The body is breathing naturally,

Do not contract and do not expand,

Please do not sleep,

Remain awake,

In this practice,

You are neither sleeping nor awake,

But somewhere in between,

The consciousness is functioning through a relaxed awareness,

So simply stay connected with my voice and remain aware,

We're going to become aware of the breath now,

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

Do not try to change the rhythm,

The breathing is natural,

Automatic,

Complete awareness of the breath,

And feel the breath moving along the passage between the navel and the throat,

So as you inhale,

It rises from the navel to the throat,

And as you exhale,

It descends from the throat to the navel,

Inhaling from navel to throat,

Exhaling,

The breath descends from the throat to the navel,

Follow this passage for each breath,

Passage for each breath,

There is no forcing,

Just awareness,

It is happening automatically,

And with this awareness following the breath from the navel to the throat and back,

We are going to start counting our breaths backwards as follows,

We'll start at 27,

So on your next inhale,

Repeating to yourself mentally,

I am breathing in 27,

Breathing out 27,

Breathing in 26,

Breathing out 26,

Breathing in 25,

Breathing out 25,

Keep going at your own count,

Total awareness of breathing and counting backwards,

If you lose count,

You can start again at 27,

If you reach one,

Start again at 27,

And staying with the breath from navel to throat and back throat to navel,

You're doing great,

The breathing is slow and relaxed,

And letting go of counting now,

Become aware of your whole body again,

Lying on the floor,

In stillness,

In relaxation,

And now awaken the feeling of heaviness in the body,

The feeling of heaviness,

Become aware of every single part of the body feeling really heavy,

You feel so heavy that you are sinking into the floor,

Every cell is so heavy,

Awareness of heaviness,

And now awaken the feeling of lightness,

The feeling of lightness in the body,

A sensation of lightness and weightlessness in all parts of the body,

Every cell,

Your body feels so light,

It seems to be floating away from the floor,

The feeling of lightness,

And now awaken the experience of cold,

The experience of bitter cold in the body,

Imagine you are walking on a cold floor in the winter,

Your feet are cold,

Your fingers are cold,

You feel cold all over,

Awareness of coldness,

And now awaken the sensation of heat,

Warm heat throughout the whole body,

The whole body is hot,

You feel hot in every part of the body,

Remember the feeling of heat in the summer when you're sitting in direct sun,

Warmth and heat throughout the whole body,

Awareness of heat,

Warmth and heat throughout the whole body,

Awareness of heat,

And now let go of the sensation of heat and come back to your body the way it is,

Notice the body breathing,

And I want you to visualize yourself in a hallway,

And at the end of the hallway just in front of you is a door,

And on the other side of that door is every possible other universe and outcome of your life,

A multiverse where every possibility exists,

We're going to walk through that door and visit ourselves in another universe,

Another outcome,

Where we are at our complete healthiest,

Where our physical body is working just as it should and we feel vital,

And energetic,

So we're going to count down from three,

When I count down from three,

I'll go open the door and walk through the threshold and visit ourselves a twin self,

Another version of ourself,

A doppelganger,

And observe this version of ourselves,

So three,

Two,

One,

Reaching out to the handle of the door,

Opening the door,

Walking or jumping through the threshold,

And visualize yourself in your most healthy state,

Visualize and visualize yourself in your most healthy state,

Visualize what you're doing on a day-to-day basis,

How your health is helping you,

Feel more joyful,

Feel more alive,

Be more connected to people and those around you,

Notice how this version of yourself walks and breathes and eats,

Visualizing this prime,

Healthy version of yourself with as much detail as you can,

As much detail as you can,

And notice the steps that this twin self took to become this healthy,

Maybe it was improving their diet,

Maybe it was exercise,

Maybe meditation,

And see them doing these things and see how those things positively impact their body,

See the energy flowing through their body and healing every cell,

Every organ,

As if you can see through this person,

See how the things they are doing to improve their health are really working and healing every cell of their body,

Like you can see through their body with an x-ray,

Maybe there's light or golden healing energy that you can visualize that's coursing through them.

So we're going to approach this twin self,

This doppelganger,

And as you get closer to this version of yourself,

We're going to come right up to this twin self,

Version of yourself,

We're going to come right up to them and we're going to meld with them,

We're going to become them,

Step right into their body,

We're going to just take a few moments feeling completely vital and healthy,

Feel that you've adopted this body where every cell in your body is at its prime,

Feeling all the positive impact of the practices you have been doing to improve your health,

Feeling how they all worked.

And then we're going to come back to our universe at the count of three.

So three,

Two,

One,

Going back to the door,

Opening the door,

Walking back,

One,

Going back to the door,

Opening the door,

Walking back,

Or jumping through the threshold back to this universe,

Bringing this healthy body with you.

And now,

This healthy body,

We are back in this reality,

Lying down in the room that you're in,

Visualize your body lying in the room that you're in,

In this reality,

Continuing to feel the effects of that healthy body.

We're going to repeat our sankalpa,

Or intention,

Three times again,

The one we started with at the beginning of the practice.

Knowing that this will come true,

Repeat it to yourself three times.

Go ahead.

And then letting it go when you're done.

And you will become aware of the breath now.

We're going to start to extend the awareness of the breath to every part of the body.

As you inhale,

Feel new,

Empowering,

Fresh energy permeate your whole body.

Let your exhales be long and slow.

And keeping your eyes closed,

Become aware of your surroundings,

The room that you're in,

The walls,

The ceiling,

The floor,

Your body lying in stillness,

And the practice of yoga.

And the practice of yoga nidra is now complete,

But we are going to take our time shifting out of this relaxed state back into a more wakeful state.

So externalizing your attention,

Becoming aware of your surroundings,

Keeping your eyes closed for now,

But starting to feel the effects of that.

Externalizing your attention,

Becoming aware of your surroundings,

Keeping your eyes closed for now,

But start to notice the sounds around you,

Deepening the breath.

And you can start making some small movements at your own pace,

Becoming more aware of the physical body,

Maybe moving the fingers and toes,

Maybe stretching with your arms above your head and pointing the toes,

And then relaxing for another few breaths in stillness.

And taking your time to stretch.

Only once your awareness is completely externalized,

You can roll over to one side and take another couple breaths here,

And eventually making your way up to a seated position.

And blinking your eyes open whenever you're ready.

Reviews

That worked! I had woken too early and after listening to this meditation, I was able to fall back to sleep. Very relaxed. Thank you

Thank you. I enjoyed the visualization. This would also be beautiful with music added