Melt Stress Away

This yoga Nidra relaxation meditation features soft morning jungle sounds, the physiological sigh, and the mantra So Hum.

Let your stress melt away with this calming practice, reduce your cortisol and connect within.

Transcript

Welcome to Studio R.

My name is Lauren Runyon and this is a guided yoga nidra practice to melt away your stress.

As you start to move into your favorite yoga nidra position,

One where the spine is straight and usually lying down,

Start to slow down the body in your movements.

Become really intentional with how you are moving your body and shifting into a state of awareness,

Intention,

And sort of like a consciousness.

Moving off of autopilot as you notice your body as you settle in to your most relaxing and comfortable position.

Ask yourself how your body feels and see if you can get even more comfortable.

Maybe by adding props to support your joints or adjusting your clothing.

Once you're settled in,

Try and remain still for the remainder of your practice,

Giving your body a chance to enter into a deep rest.

Close the eyes or take a soft gaze and let's begin to relax the body.

We will begin with the breath using the physiological sigh method.

You will take two sips of air in and then exhale out the mouth.

When you breathe in,

The second breath should expand your lungs even further than the first breath.

Do this three times at your own pace.

Scan your body as a whole and notice if you are still efforting anywhere.

Where are you still trying to hold yourself up and where can you let go imagining that the body is just sinking or surrendering into the surface that supports you.

Developing the skill of scanning the body to notice where you are lifting or holding and not releasing is essential for developing the skill of falling asleep quickly at night.

Imagine your body is like an hourglass and the sand is all at the top of the glass,

Which is like the top of your body from the waist up.

Imagine the tension in your body moving down the hourglass from the top of your head all the way down towards the feet,

Draining,

Releasing all of the tension from the body.

Feel the body draining and emptying of tension so that you can relax even deeper.

And when you feel ready,

Begin to mentally trace the lines of the face,

Softening the lines and dissolving any tension,

Outlining the lines of the forehead and around the eyes,

The mouth,

And not forgetting to mentally release tension from the outline of the face.

Begin to soften around the eyes,

Undoing any effort in the mouth by letting the back teeth slightly part and the tongue falls away from the roof of the mouth,

Dissolving any efforting in the ears,

Allowing a sense of the ears to relax down towards the earth below you,

Opening the ears up to receive all of the sounds around you effortlessly.

Receive the sounds of your room and venture further out to the sounds outside of your room.

And then listen to the sounds internally,

Scanning for sounds of the heartbeat or maybe the sound of your breath.

And now that the body has deeply rooted into relaxation,

Let's welcome your sankalpa to the practice.

If you're working with a sankalpa,

You may use that.

Or maybe you would like to set the intention,

Mentally whispering and feeling three times,

I am relaxed and centered.

During the rotation of consciousness,

I will name body parts one by one.

Land your attention on each body part and inwardly experience the sensations happening there.

Let your thinking mind give way to your felt experience as we go one body part at a time.

Draw all of your awareness and attention to the throat,

Feeling and sensing the throat,

Jaw,

Tongue,

Roof of the mouth,

Teeth,

The gums,

Inside of the cheeks,

The whole mouth,

Lower lip,

Upper lip,

The face,

Your right nostril,

Your left nostril,

The whole nose,

The sensation of breath at the nose,

Right ear,

Folds of the ear,

Ear canal,

Inner ear,

Listening.

Your left ear,

Folds of the ear,

Ear canal,

Inner ear,

Folds of the ear,

Ear canal,

Inner ear,

Listening.

Right eye,

Eyebrow,

Temple,

Cheekbone,

Behind the right eye,

The left eye,

Eyebrow,

Temple,

Cheekbone,

Behind the left eye,

Between the brows,

Mind's eye center,

Back of the head,

Back of the neck,

Inside the throat,

The whole head,

The whole head and neck,

Base of the throat,

Heart center,

Right shoulder,

Upper arm,

Elbow,

Forearm,

Wrist,

Palm,

Back of the hand,

Right thumb,

First finger,

Second,

Third,

Little finger,

Palm,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Base of the throat,

Left shoulder,

Upper arm,

Elbow,

Forearm,

Wrist,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

The left thumb,

First finger,

Second,

Third,

Fourth,

Little finger,

The palm,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Base of the throat,

Heart center,

Ribs,

Shoulder blades,

Back of the heart,

The whole back,

Belly,

Navel,

Right hip,

The whole thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Right big toe,

Second,

Third,

Fourth,

Fifth toe,

The whole right leg,

Navel,

Left hip,

The whole thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Left big toe,

Second,

Third,

Fourth,

Fifth toe,

The whole left leg,

Both legs together,

The tailbone,

Sacrum,

Spine,

Back of the head,

The whole right body,

The whole left body,

The whole body,

The whole body at once,

The whole body,

The whole body surface,

The whole body deep,

Moving deeper now to sense your breath,

Watching and sensing the natural breath without making changes to the pace or depth,

Simply witnessing the body receive each breath,

Sensing the ebb and flow,

Feeling the unforced waves of the breath,

Can you begin to sense into the space hidden between the paws at the top of the inhale and feeling into the space hidden in the subtle paws at the bottom of the exhale,

And as you surrender to the sensations of each breath,

Could you invite the mantra,

So hum,

To each breath,

This translates to I am mentally whispering so on the inhale,

Mentally whispering hum on the exhale,

Inhale so,

Exhale hum,

Continuing this for three minutes,

And if your mind begins to wander,

Simply bring it back to the anchor of the mantra,

Inhale so,

Exhale hum,

Letting go of the breath,

Letting go of your mantra,

And just rest in silence here,

Awareness on the mind's eye center,

Becoming a witness to your experience of resting as your true self,

Awaken and call forth your sankalpa,

Mentally whispering three times,

I am relaxed and centered,

And take a deep breath in through the nose,

Exhale letting it go,

Inhale again,

Exhale letting it go,

Begin to become aware of the sounds around you,

Hearing the sounds that are happening outside of this recording,

Start to become aware of your surroundings with the eyes closed still,

Sensing the walls and the furniture,

Or the things that surround you in your comfort,

Noticing the skin and the temperature of the skin,

And the sensations that you feel there,

Maybe noticing the taste of your mouth and the sensations happening in your mouth,

And the undercurrent of your emotions or thoughts that may be floating by distantly,

And when the time feels right for you,

Go ahead and begin to take small movements to awaken the body,

Whatever that might be for you,

And maybe even eventually rolling over onto your side,

Cradling your head with your arms,

Whenever it feels right,

You can open your eyes as your practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Thank you so much for joining me for this yoga nidra practice,

I am honored to guide you through this and allow you just a little bit of space in your day to slow down and start to consciously create a life that you love and nourish your nervous system.

Reviews

Amazing

Exactly what I needed today, love this approach to self compassion!