Yoga Nidra: Soothe Your Nervous System

This yoga nidra is designed to sweetly activate your parasympathetic nervous system. Whenever we feel a little unsettled, scattered, or busy-minded, it's good to have a regular ritual that helps you to feel grounded and calm. This will help to fill your well, so you can carry on with the magical moments and the challenges that life constantly presents us.

(Music: Chris Collins)

Transcript

Hello,

I'm Lynette,

And welcome to this Yoga Nidra practice,

A practice that can nourish your whole being and guide you to slow down when you need it.

As we transition into fall,

We move into an increased vata energy,

An eruvetic dosha that is represented by the elements of air and ether.

With an increase of this energy,

We might feel qualities of dryness,

Unproductive busyness,

Mental windiness,

Maybe a feeling of being scattered or all over the place.

During fall season,

Or any time when we feel a little ungrounded or anxious,

It's important to find a routine that allows us to feel calm and connected to the earth.

Here,

We will be able to settle our nervous systems to feel safe and stable.

So find a comfortable position.

The most important thing is that you feel cozy.

Do whatever you need to do.

Maybe cover with a blanket if you're cool,

Or place something light on your eyes to reduce light stimulation.

And you might even place a pillow or yoga bolster under your knees for some extra low back support.

As you get comfortable,

Take a few deep exhales out through the mouth to let go of any obvious tension from the body.

And check in with yourself again.

Could you make yourself 2% more comfortable?

Take care of you.

Only you know what you need.

Take a few more deep exhales and feel that support beneath you just holding you up.

Our nervous system is always taking in,

Processing,

And integrating information.

Even the quickest or subtlest things that we might not even be aware of.

We might store that information in the body or do something about it.

But this system is always activated,

Always alert,

Always at work.

And it's with this lens that we are interacting with the world.

The nervous system needs a way to release stress and tension so it doesn't stay in this overwhelmed state.

And this soothing practice will slow down your brain waves and start to strengthen and activate the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system.

Take a few more deep exhales,

Allowing this to happen.

Sensing that you don't have to make it happen.

You allow it to happen by relaxing your whole body,

Little by little.

Your whole body.

And we now begin.

Bring your awareness to your belly.

Imagine this space like a little garden plot or a flower pot.

Now first you started learning about what you wanted to grow and why.

And then you have been cultivating the soil,

Nourishing the dirt for optimal growth.

And here you are ready to plant your seeds.

As you breathe naturally,

Imagine you are gently digging into the soil to make a little space for your seeds,

Your desires,

Your hopes,

Your wishes,

Your intentions.

For a quality you would like to cultivate in your life.

Take a moment now,

Holding the seeds in your cupped hands.

And think about these intentions or these qualities now.

Something here will start to resonate and this will become your samkalpa.

As you see yourself planting your seeds,

Repeat your samkalpa to yourself three times with faith and patience.

Cover the seeds with soil and take a few deep breaths as you relax your whole body.

Now I invite you to bring your awareness to the base of your spine or your first energy center and envision a coiled ball of golden light resting here at the base of your spine.

This light is gently pulsing and shining bright.

There is a subtle vibration you can feel emanating from this light.

The golden light will travel with you through the body as you follow my voice and relax each body part as it is mentioned.

Awareness moves up to your second energy center,

The space below your belly button.

Here golden light shines bright.

Up to the third energy center,

Above your navel and below your ribs.

Up to the fourth energy center,

Your heart space.

Golden light flows here.

Up to the fifth energy center,

The throat expressing brightly.

The sixth energy center,

The space between your ears in the center of your head.

Feel the golden light gets stronger here.

Up to the seventh energy center,

The space between your eyebrows and as the light shines here your whole face softens.

Now all the way up to the eighth energy center,

The top of your head,

Slightly above the top of your head.

Feel the golden light radiating from the base of your spine all the way to the top of your head.

Golden light moves back down to the brain,

Filling your whole brain area with an awakening golden light.

And at the same time all the lines in your forehead soften.

Right eye socket,

Eyeball,

Eyelid.

Left eye socket,

Eyeball,

Eyelid.

Right cheek,

Left cheek.

Nose,

Tip of the nose.

Right side of the jaw,

Left side of the jaw.

The whole jaw together.

Upper lip,

Lower lip.

Both lips together.

Teeth,

Tongue.

Relax your whole mouth,

Your whole face.

This golden light moves down the center of your neck and throat.

And here feel threads of golden light move to your right shoulder,

Down your upper arm,

Lower arm,

Right palm.

Back of the hand,

Right thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger.

And just the tips of the fingers.

Feel these threads of golden light travel all the way back up the arm to the center of your neck and throat.

And then threads of golden light move to the left shoulder.

Down your upper arm,

Lower arm,

Left palm,

Back of the hand,

Left thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

And little finger.

And just the tips of the fingers.

Feel the threads of golden light travel all the way back up the arm to the center of your neck and throat again.

And then down to your heart space,

That fourth energy center.

And here the light shines even brighter.

As the light travels down your sternum and the center line of the ribs towards your navel,

Feel threads of golden light line all of your right ribs from front to back towards your spine.

And then golden threads line all of the ribs on the left side from the front all the way around to the spine.

And then back to the space of your heart and lungs.

It continues down to the third energy center,

That space between your ribs and your navel.

The light shines so strong here.

Feel the bright sparks of electricity shining here.

And this sensation moves down to your second energy center below your navel.

Here you feel waves of light flowing freely.

Feel these waves of light move to the right hip.

And threads of golden light travel down your upper leg,

Lower leg,

Sole of the right foot,

Top of the foot,

And all five toes.

And just the tips of each toe.

Threads of light move back up the right leg,

All the way back to the hip,

And back to the space below your navel.

And feel these waves of light move over to the left hip.

And threads of golden light travel down your upper leg,

Lower leg,

Sole of the left foot,

Top of the foot,

And all five toes.

And just the tips of each toe.

The threads of light move back up the left leg,

And all the way to the hip,

And then back to the space below your navel.

Feel these threads of light flow from your sacrum,

Or the back of the pelvis,

Down the backs of your legs to your feet.

There's a spark of light in the right heel and the left heel,

And both heels together.

Rivers of golden light move back up the legs,

Along the back of the right leg,

The back of the left leg,

Both legs together at the same time.

Back of the pelvis.

These threads of light move like currents up your spine.

Low back,

Middle back,

Upper back.

Feel the threads of light wrap around all the ribs on your right side now from the spine to the front.

And the left ribs,

Energy wraps around from the spine to the front.

And then continue flowing up your spine,

Up the back of your neck,

And up through to the center of your head,

That space between your ears.

And back up to the center of your eyebrows.

And the golden light travels all the way back up to the top of your head,

Shining brightly here.

And relax your whole body as you watch this light moving up through the top of your head and around your whole body,

Encasing you in a warm golden light,

Top and bottom,

Front and back,

Left and right side,

Your whole body resting here in this golden oval of light.

Here you notice your body breathing.

You're not making this happen.

You are simply noticing breath flowing in and flowing out,

Flowing in and flowing out.

As you breathe in,

Become aware of the breath flowing into the spinal cord,

The center of the spine,

The whole spine.

As you breathe in,

Breath fills the center of your spine.

As you exhale,

You watch the breath move out along these golden rivers of spinal nerves,

Extending outwards throughout your whole body.

Inhale,

Breath draws into the center of the spine,

Filling your whole spine with this golden light.

And as you exhale,

Watch the breath travel along these myelin sheaths of your whole nervous system,

Extending out to the edges of your body.

Inhale,

Gathering this golden light towards the center of your spine.

Exhale out and traveling past the boundaries of your physical body,

Creating a golden glow around your whole body.

Inhale center of the spine.

Exhale out into this energetic field around your whole body.

Inhale in.

Exhale out.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Blow your breath in and out,

Like ocean waves flowing in and out for 12 more times,

Counting to yourself.

Letting your body breathe,

Resting in this golden oval of light.

Inhale.

Release counting and release all breath control and simply watch your body breathing.

You are aware of your body breathing.

We will now flow back and forth through oppositions.

What does it feel like in your body when you feel worried or anxious?

Notice all of the sensations that arise any time you are in a worried state.

Do you clench?

Does your breathing change?

Simply notice.

And let go.

What does it feel like in your body when you trust yourself and the world around you?

Notice all the sensations that arise when you allow yourself to trust.

Do you feel freedom in your body?

And where?

Do you notice lightness and deep breaths?

Simply notice without analyzing anything.

And let go.

What does it feel like in your body when you are criticizing and controlling yourself or others?

What do you notice within when you are in a critical state of mind criticizing yourself or trying to control an outcome?

What does that feel like in the body?

Let go.

What does it feel like in your body when you are allowing and accepting?

What do you notice within when you are just allowing things to flow?

When you accept yourself and others as you are and as they are without trying to change anything?

Notice the sensations.

And let go.

And rest here in this flow of allowing.

Relax your body.

Relax your body and allow.

Allow.

Allow.

Now let go of any anticipation of what comes next and just flow along with the sound of my voice.

Behind your closed eyes,

You start to see yourself standing in front of a wide and winding body of water.

You cannot see what lies ahead.

However,

You see a rowboat waiting and you know it's for you.

You gently step into the boat and sit down.

You don't have to paddle.

The boat begins to move slowly on its own.

So you relax and observe,

Taking it all in.

The calm water is cool to the touch as you drag your fingertips along the surface.

You feel a light breeze on your skin as the boat carries on.

Feeling the curves of the water path.

You feel so relaxed you close your eyes and take a deep breath.

With closed eyes you see clearly the images I describe.

A red boat.

A large green tree.

Golden orange rays of sunshine through an open window.

A soft blue blanket.

Purple flowers.

A yellow feather.

The sound of silence.

All you hear is the sound of silence.

And then you realize the boat has stopped.

You get out and step onto the soft earth with bare feet.

In front of you is a beautiful big tree providing shade just for you.

You lay down underneath and feel your body sinking down into the earth.

You rest here.

And as you lay here you remember the seeds that you planted and you feel them start to come to life under your body inside the earth.

You rest here as you allow.

Allow.

Allow.

Allow.

Allow.

As you continue to rest here,

You start to feel the golden oval of light surrounding your whole body.

This light gently begins to lift you off the ground,

Containing you and supporting you,

And you hover above the ground for a moment.

From this position,

You look down and you can see the seeds that you planted starting to emerge from the earth,

Blossoming,

Making themselves known.

Just rest here in this golden oval of light and repeat your sum culpa to yourself at least three times,

Feeling the vibration resonate throughout your whole body,

Along every spinal nerve and into every cell.

This golden light that surrounds you continues to lift you higher and higher,

And it slowly brings you home,

Back down to the space you are resting in doing yoga nidra.

At this place and this time,

You feel your body landing back in this precious present moment.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

As you land in your own space,

Wake up your senses by listening to the sounds,

By feeling the textures around your body,

By licking your lips with your tongue,

Wake up to the space around you.

Move slow.

If you want to move a little more,

First take really,

Really small movements,

And then slowly make them bigger and bigger.

Maybe you stretch out your whole body.

You can roll to one side and stay,

Or you can push up to a seated position.

Take one more full breath in and out,

And then open your eyes.

And with your eyes open,

Repeat your samkalpa out loud one time.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Have a beautiful rest of your day.

Namaste.

Reviews

As I was listening to this meditation I fell asleep . Rey residing .

Words can't describe how refreshing and incredible of an experience that was

This was so perfect and such a wonderful way to begin the day. Thank you 🙏💐🙏

I really enjoy this yoga nidra & will keep it in my arsenal

Thank you for the refill of energy and relaxation!

Thank you, that one of of the best yoga nidra experiences I’ve had!

Lovely practice♾️⚘️☄️🕊
Thank you so kindly❣️🌟
Namaste🙏🏼✨️🖤🪔🕯📿
Shanti 🕉

That was amazing!! I suffer daily anxiety and have been meditating everyday for about 8 months. This is the best one yet! When I returned to my space I had this overwhelming sense of peace, relaxation and warmth. I will be back for some more of this tomorrow. Thank you, sincerely, thank you x

What a wonderful yoga nidra practice! I enjoyed it so much and it really did the job, I feel new and refreshed. Namasté 🙏🏽

Beautiful yoga Nedra session ! I enjoyed it a lot ! It made me relaxed and peaceful! Very grateful to you !🙏❤️

Fantastic Nidra, lovely pace and powerful visualisation. Restored me after a sleepless night. Thanks

Very good. I’m happy to add it to my trusty yoga nidra library . Thanks!

Loved this, exquisitely detailed and unique and brought me to a gentle awake sleep. Thank you for this beautiful meditation, such a blessing 💜😇🤩🌻🙏

Lovely meditation and really enjoyed all the visualizations ♥️

The most soothing 🏵️ yoga nidra I have ever practiced 🧚‍♂️🙏🏻💐🧚many thanks, I feel so balanced and simply wonderful xxx

Exactly what I needed today as I’m eagerly waiting for my baby to decide it’s time to arrive earthside. Thank you!

That was absolutely incredible. Thank you so much 🙏💖

So good, thank you. Very soothing for my nervous system. 🙏

One of the best Yoga Nidras I’ve ever done! And I’m a connoisseur- I am a yoga teacher and Yoga Nidra is my specialty. Thank you! ♥️♥️♥️🙏🏼

Excellent! Sent me right into a wonderful trance from which I emerged at the end restored and energised.