Yoga Nidra: Quick Reset To Calm Your Mind

This is the perfect yoga nidra when you need a 16-minute break to calm a busy mind, to soften anxiety, to refocus your attention, and to relax your body. I hope you'll find this a soothing practice you can return to over and over again.

Music: Floating by James Anthony Walker

Transcript

Hello,

Lynette here.

Welcome to this short and sweet yoga nidra session that is really meant for those times when you need a quick rest and reset.

It's good for a busy mind.

It's good for periods of stress or anxiety,

Or just when you,

You know,

Only have a certain amount of time,

But you still want to take a moment to ground yourself and to nourish yourself and to just kind of clear up so you can carry on.

And so I invite you to get comfortable.

You can lay down.

You can lay on your back,

On your side.

You can also sit in a chair.

It doesn't really matter as long as your physical body feels held and supported and just make yourself as comfortable as you can with whatever you have right now,

Be it a sweater or a blanket.

Maybe you can cover your eyes.

You can even keep your eyes slightly open and just gazing softly down.

The most important thing is that you feel safe,

Comfortable,

And supported.

And so as you start to settle in and get cozy,

Remember you can move your body at any time you need.

You can also place a little bit of weight in the palms of your hands,

Like some myofascial release balls or little eye pillows.

And sometimes doing this just helps us kind of get into our body and ground down.

So I'll give you a moment just to take that time,

Like if you could make yourself 1% more comfortable,

What would you do?

So as you settle in,

Just take three big breaths,

Breathing in through the nose and then through the mouth,

Let it all go.

Take a big breath in,

Maybe breathing in more than you have all day and exhaling more air than you have all day.

And do that one more time.

Big breath in,

Filling your body up like a balloon and then through the mouth,

A big sigh,

An audible sigh if you can out through the mouth.

Do that as many times as you need to until you feel like you're finally beginning to just settle down.

And as you start to settle,

Just feel the support beneath you holding you up.

So whether it's the floor or a chair or a couch or a bed,

Just feel that support beneath you and know that you are always held and supported.

And just for a moment,

Feel the temperature of the air on your skin.

You might even notice sounds around you first close to you and then further away.

Just letting your awareness move from sound to sound or sensation to sensation.

And so even though there might be things going on around you,

You have created this little bubble of space and time just for you.

No one gets to walk their muddy shoes through this space.

This is your time.

And you might even start to repeat yourself,

I am feeling calm.

Or more and more,

I feel calm.

Or any other word that represents how you would like to feel.

Just repeat that phrase to yourself three times,

Knowing that you're safe and supported here.

And then let those words go and just feel that energy rippling out around you,

Almost surrounding you.

And bring all of your awareness now to the palm of your right hand,

The thumb of your right hand,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

All of your fingers and your thumb together.

Together.

The palm of your right hand,

The back of your hand,

And your whole right hand,

Feeling the whole right hand.

And let your awareness travel up your right arm to your elbow,

To your shoulder,

And to the center of your chest on the right side.

Moving down to your right waist,

The right hip,

And your awareness continues to travel down the right leg to your knee,

Down to your ankle,

The heel,

And the sole of your right foot,

The top of your foot,

And all of your toes all together.

Your whole right foot.

And just feel the whole right side of your body.

Relax the whole right side of your body.

And then bring all of your attention now to the palm of your left hand,

The left thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

And pinky finger.

All of your fingers and your thumb on the left hand,

The palm of your hand,

The back of your hand,

And your whole left hand together.

Feel into your whole left hand.

And your awareness travels up your arm to the elbow,

To the shoulder,

And down to the center of your chest on the left side,

Down to your left waist,

Your left hip,

And continue to travel down your leg to the knee,

Down the leg to the ankle,

The heel,

And the sole of your left foot,

The top of your foot,

And all of your toes all together.

Your whole left foot.

And now feel the whole left side of your body.

The whole left side of your body.

And now bring all of your awareness once again down to the soles of your feet.

Feel into the sole of your right foot,

The sole of your left foot.

And now feel both feet together.

And like a flower growing out of the earth to bloom,

Feel the energy move from the soles of your feet,

Up the back of your legs,

The back of your pelvis,

All the way up your spine,

All the way up to the back of your neck,

Feel your whole back body.

Your awareness travels around the back of your head to the top of your head.

And like honey dripping off a spoon slowly,

Just feel your forehead soften,

Your awareness travels down your forehead to the space between your eyebrows.

Relax the right eyebrow and the left eyebrow and both eyebrows together.

The relaxation continues down to the right eye and the left eye and relax both eyes together.

Travel down the bridge of your nose to the tip of your nose.

Become aware of your right nostril and the left nostril and both nostrils together,

Both eyes and your nose together.

And then bring all of your awareness to your lips,

Your teeth,

Your tongue,

And feel your whole mouth and jaw all together,

Your whole face and head all together.

And feel this relaxation trickle down to the center of your throat and down to the center of your chest.

The space close to your heart and relax your whole body.

Relax your whole body.

And just notice your body breathing.

And imagine there is a box at the center of your chest or a square at the center of your chest.

As you inhale,

You're going to imagine drawing one side of the box up and then hold drawing the top of the box.

Exhale and hold,

Draw the bottom.

So we go up one side,

The top,

Draw down to the bottom,

Hold,

Draw the bottom.

So inhaling for one,

Two,

Three,

Pause,

Drawing the top.

Exhale,

Two,

Three,

Drawing down the side and hold,

Drawing the bottom.

Inhale,

One,

Two,

Three,

Hold.

Exhale,

One,

Two,

Three,

Hold.

Inhale,

One,

Two,

Three,

Hold.

Exhale,

One,

Two,

Three,

Hold.

Keep going at your own pace,

Watching your mind's eye draw this box at the center of your chest.

Take four more breaths at your own pace.

After you exhale and finish drawing down to the bottom of the box,

Release all breath control and just notice your body breathing in and out and relax your whole body.

Feel your body resting on the support beneath you.

And as you sink down into the support beneath you,

Repeat your phrase to yourself three times.

I am feeling calm.

Or anything else you started with,

Repeat it to yourself three times.

And let the words go knowing that they are already true and know that you are always held and supported.

This practice is now complete.

So once again,

Feel your body resting on the support beneath you.

As you take a few deep breaths,

You might start to lick your lips.

Or rub your fingertips together.

Notice the sounds around you.

And even feel the air on your skin to come back into your present moment.

Remember how you want to feel and say to yourself one more time your phrase.

I am feeling calm.

Thank you and I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day or night.

Reviews

Thank you for this quick nidra practice. It was a beautiful and grounding way to start my day.