Transitioning Into Deep Rest

Enjoy this yoga Nidra meditation as an evening ritual to help you unwind and let go of thoughts about the past and future. You'll be guided to focus on the present moment, allowing your mind and body to transition into a state of release and relaxation. Yoga Nidra uses breath awareness, a body scan, opposite sensations, and visualization to help you become wholly integrated into a deep state of calm.

This track can be listened to before bed to help you settle into a more peaceful mindset, or played as you fall asleep. Calming music in the background gently fades out at the end. No chimes or bells are included so that if desired, you can gently drift off to a deep, restorative sleep.

Transcript

I invite you now to settle in with me and begin to transition down from your day,

Reintegrating your nervous system from work or studies or travel,

Any stress that you may experience on a regular daily basis,

Begin to transition your emotions,

Your mind,

Your body,

The center of deep thought,

Bringing all of these parts of our psyche and our body and our mind together and begin winding them down,

Preparing for a relaxing,

Restorative evening before settling into a deep night's rest.

Using this time to quiet any sort of anxiety,

Calming the mind,

Releasing any stress in the body.

See if you can make yourself extremely comfortable in whatever position you have chosen.

It might be best to allow the spine to be long and the arms and legs to be relaxed.

All you have to do is follow the sound of my voice as I guide you through this release and letting go.

You may want to allow your eyelids to close gently or just turn your gaze inward and anytime the mind begins to focus on stress,

Anxiety,

The past or the future,

See if you can allow your focus to come back to the sound of my voice and the feeling of the breath inside your body.

Taking a few minutes now to notice that breath,

Feeling deeply into the body,

Allowing an inhale to flow all the way into the belly,

The heart space,

Expanding,

Perhaps even holding that breath for a very brief moment at the top and then allowing it to flow freely and slowly out of the body,

Letting all of the air completely exit,

Noticing a natural pause and then letting the breath come back into the body.

You may want to put a hand on your belly and a hand on your heart space noticing the rise and the fall.

Perhaps you can liken it to an ocean wave rising and falling on the horizon,

Filling and expanding on the inhale,

Releasing,

Relaxing,

Descending,

Deepening the feeling of gravity holding your body on the exhale.

Try to allow this breath sensation to flow in and out of the body naturally.

Begin now to allow the breath to flow in and out of your body naturally.

Try to adjust your body a little bit more.

Try to make yourself maybe five or ten percent more comfortable,

Cozy,

Making sure that you are going to be warm and supported in whatever position you chose.

Now focusing in on your forehead,

Smoothing the area there and releasing any tightness or tension,

Allowing the jawbone to relax,

Smoothing the eyes,

The cheekbones,

Relaxing the tongue inside the mouth,

Allowing any tension to drip away from the body,

Releasing through the neck and the shoulders,

Noticing what's beneath the body holding you,

Allowing your shoulder blades,

The ribcage,

The arms,

The entire torso to sink deeply and release.

Focusing on the hips,

The legs,

Allowing them to release and relax deeply.

We will begin a practice of yoga nidra,

Deeply separating all the different areas of the body,

Deeply separating all the different parts of our psyche and our body to allow for a deep sense of relaxation.

Separating from the past and the future,

Focusing fully on the present moment.

Before we begin,

It's a good idea to set an intention or a sankalpa for this practice.

So I would encourage you to set a sankalpa that feels at home in your body and mind.

Phrasing it in the present tense as if it were true in this very moment and using a positive frame.

And using a positive frame,

Something like,

I am deeply relaxed and ready for rest.

You can choose your own or you can use the suggested one.

I am deeply relaxed and ready for rest.

Whichever you choose,

Go ahead and repeat it to yourself with the next three inhales and exhales.

Extending the inhale through the nose,

Releasing the exhale slowly through the mouth.

Repeating your sankalpa with each breath.

One more time.

And after your last exhale has finished,

Release the intention into the space around you.

Now begin to focus fully on your body,

Imagining your entire body relaxing and releasing,

Perhaps surrounded by a warm glow.

Imagining this glow is cradling your entire body as if you were in a protective tent or a halo of light.

Letting this light envelop you,

Allowing you to be in a state of deep relaxation.

Letting this light envelop the entire body,

Allowing yourself to feel comfort and ease.

Noticing the breath in and out,

And perhaps this halo or this tent of light is expanding with each inhale.

And gently contracting with each exhale.

Expanding around you and cozying up closer to you.

Just continuing now to follow this breath pattern in and out of the body.

Out of the body.

And we'll begin a body scan where all you have to do is follow the sound of my voice,

Focusing your awareness on each body part.

Perhaps noticing this halo of light focusing on the body part as well.

We'll begin on the right hand side,

Focusing on the thumb,

The first finger,

Second finger,

The ring finger,

And the pinky finger.

The palm of the right hand,

The back of the right hand,

The wrist,

The forearm,

The elbow,

The upper arm,

The right shoulder,

The right underarm,

The side of the right waist,

The right hip,

Moving down into the lower body on the right side,

The right thigh,

The knee,

The lower leg,

The ankle,

Top of the right foot,

The sole of the right foot,

The heel,

The right big toe,

The second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And the pinky toe.

Now bringing the awareness to the entire right side of the body,

Focusing on the entire right side of the body.

Taking an inhale,

Allowing the exhale to release any tension.

Now moving to the left side of the body.

Side of the body.

Awareness on the left thumb,

The first finger,

The second finger,

The ring finger,

And the pinky,

The palm of the left hand,

The back of the left hand,

The wrist,

The forearm,

The elbow,

The upper arm,

The left wrist,

The forearm,

The elbow,

Upper arm,

Upper arm,

The left shoulder,

The left underarm,

Side of the left waist,

The hip,

The hip,

The left lower leg,

The thigh,

The knee,

The lower leg,

Top of the left foot,

Sole of the left foot,

The heel,

The left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And the pinky.

Now becoming aware of the entire left side of the body,

Focusing awareness on the whole left side of the body.

Taking a cleansing inhale and release.

Now bringing our attention to the back side of the body,

Beginning with the back of the skull,

The neck,

The right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

The middle of the spine,

The back of the ribcage,

The low back,

The low back,

The buttocks,

The backs of the thighs,

Space behind both knees,

The calves,

The heels,

The soles of both feet,

All of the toes.

Now breathing into and focusing on the entire back side of the body,

Releasing and relaxing the whole back side of the body.

Moving awareness now to the front of the body.

Starting at the crown of the head,

Moving into the forehead,

The eyebrows,

Bridge of the nose,

The eyelids,

The eyeballs,

The cheekbones,

The ears,

The nose,

Both nostrils,

The upper lip,

The teeth and the tongue inside the mouth,

The lower lip,

The chin,

The jawline,

Front of the neck,

The right clavicle,

The left clavicle,

The top of the chest,

The entire heart space and the front of the ribcage,

Solar plexus,

The low belly,

Front of the hips,

The thighs,

The kneecaps,

The shins,

Tops of both feet,

The toes,

Both shoulders,

The upper arms,

The forearms,

Tops of the hands,

All of the feet,

The fingers,

Now becoming aware of the entire front side of the whole body,

Focusing on the entire front side of the whole body,

Releasing and relaxing with a deep inhale,

Becoming aware now of the whole body as one,

The left and the right sides,

The front and the back,

Focusing on the whole body,

Releasing and relaxing,

Allowing the whole body to melt into whatever is holding you,

Allowing gravity to gently support the whole body,

Allowing the whole body to be held,

We'll explore briefly some opposite sensations,

Feeling into the weight of the whole body first,

Allowing the feeling of gravity holding the heavy weight of the whole body,

Noticing if you can imagine the body becoming heavier and heavier,

Heavy torso,

Heavy head,

Heavy hips,

Heavy arms and legs,

Allowing the whole body to sink heavily into gravity,

Breathing into the heaviness of the whole body,

Now begin to sense into any lightness you can find in the body,

Perhaps allowing an inhale to lift and lighten the whole body,

Imagining the whole body is lightening,

Becoming like a feather,

Releasing from gravity,

Perhaps noticing a sensation of floating,

Allowing the whole body to feel light and as if it could be carried easily by the air,

Floating just gently above whatever is holding you,

Releasing,

Relaxing into a sense of lightness,

Now allowing an exhale to settle the entire body comfortably back into its position,

Exhale to settle the entire body comfortably back into its position,

Perhaps now allowing the next exhale to gently settle the whole body back down to whatever position you were in,

Held comfortably and safely by gravity,

Now sensing into the temperature of the body,

Noticing any areas where it might feel cooler,

Any areas where you might sense warmth,

Perhaps noticing a cool inhale just below the nostrils,

Inhale just below the nostrils and the warmth of the exhale as you exhale through the mouth over the top of the chest,

You may want to feel into the body with your hands,

Placing your hands on your solar plexus,

Feeling any warmth there,

Perhaps noticing if the air on your face is cool or on your toes,

Allowing the focus to move between the warmth and the cool spaces,

Releasing and relaxing into the differences in temperature,

Allowing them to mix and meld until the whole body feels completely comfortable,

Continuing to breathe and relax,

Allowing gravity to hold you in place,

Now using your mind or perhaps sensing into some visualizations,

Allowing images to come to mind or just sensing into them,

Following each one without any attachment or judgment,

Just allowing them to roll through your consciousness,

Just allowing them to roll through your consciousness,

Perhaps imagining a sunset over the ocean,

A field of wildflowers,

A forest in the morning full of birdsong,

Quiet desert landscape,

A full moon over an open field,

A snow-capped mountain range,

A lush rainforest jungle,

A picnic,

A playground,

A lake full of sailboats,

A New England harbor,

A pond covered in ice in the winter,

A long stretch of highway,

Nap in a meadow full of wildflowers,

Now allowing all the images to fade away,

Perhaps allowing them to be a part of you,

Now allowing all the images to fade away,

Perhaps bringing to mind an image or a place where you feel comfort and protection and ease,

Allowing your mind to sense into this place of ease and safety,

And safety,

Allowing the whole body to relax and release into this place,

Knowing that it is completely yours and that you can find it anytime you like in your mind,

Allow the whole body to release into this feeling of comfort,

You may want to perhaps deepen your next breath,

Inhaling deeply,

Expanding the whole ribcage and belly,

Allowing the next exhale to release fully,

Now it's time to revisit our sankalpa or intention that we set earlier for practice,

Bracing it in the positive and present moment,

Bringing it back into our minds and repeating it with the next few breaths,

Inhaling deeply through the nose,

Then releasing fully through the mouth,

Allowing each breath to fully inflate the body,

Each exhale to release,

Relax the whole body even further,

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete,

You can be ready now for a restful night of restorative sleep,

You are welcome to move gently,

Move into a comfortable position or continue with any bedtime rituals that you have chosen,

Or you may want to relax and stay right where you are,

Thank you for practicing with me,

Namaste.

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