Yoga Nidra For Deep Relaxation

Yoga Nidra is a guided practice for deep relaxation practice, often including a full body scan and visualizations. For this practice, a subject will make him/herself as comfortable as possible, listen to the instructions, and allow the mind and body to quiet down without falling asleep. To prepare, find a quiet, comfortable space, place a pillow under the head, blanket or round bolster under the knees, lying on the back. If needed, use a blanket and eye pillow.

Transcript

This sathasana or deep relaxation practice with yoga nidra uses guided purposeful awareness of various points of the body,

Enabling to get in touch with the body and quiet the mind,

Creating more stillness and relaxation,

Reducing stress,

And promoting healing.

Take a few moments to make any additional adjustments,

Perhaps the cushion underneath the knees or underneath the head,

Adjusting any blankets,

To ensure that as you're lying on the back,

The body is as comfortable as possible.

And when you're ready,

You can start to allow the body to settle in to sathasana.

On the back,

Allowing the legs to be comfortably away from each other,

The toes comfortable,

The feet coming away from each other.

With the arms close to the body,

Palms face up,

Push into the elbows slightly,

Just enough to lift the chest and allowing the shoulder blades to come a little closer together,

Lifting the heart.

And then relax and let the upper back get comfortable.

And then move the arms comfortably away from the body,

Palms face up in your most comfortable position,

Which might be a V or even a T.

Moving the head from side to side,

Establish its position.

And once again,

Assure that the toes can move freely,

That they're not locked in place with blankets,

And begin to follow the breath.

Closing the eyes,

Feeling the inhale as the belly pulls out,

Filling the lungs.

And the exhale as the belly comes towards the spine.

Begin to quiet the breath,

Noticing if it becomes more even,

Maybe a little longer.

And with each breath,

Allow tension to be released.

Mentally scanning through the body,

Notice any areas of tension and release those on the exhale.

And we're going to spend a few inhales and exhales bringing tension to the body purposely,

And then releasing it on the exhale.

So when you bring tension in,

This can be just an idea in the mind,

Or you might choose to tense up the body physically.

So on your next inhale,

Begin to bring in or will the feeling of tension.

At the top of the inhale,

Begin to release the tension with your exhale,

And complete that breath.

Continue for a few more breaths,

Inhaling tension,

And exhaling release.

Bringing tension,

Exhaling letting go.

Completely relax the body,

Bring the breath back to normal.

We will continue our rest with rotation of consciousness or systematic awareness of different parts of the body.

With each point of awareness,

Allow just a passing glance to that part of the body with very little additional thought or analysis.

Just take the awareness to that part of the body when instructed.

Begin moving over to the right side of the body,

To the right arm and the right hand,

Becoming aware of the right hand thumb.

Bringing awareness to the right hand thumb,

Move on to the index finger of the right hand,

The third,

The fourth finger,

And the pinky finger.

The right palm,

Back of the hand,

The wrist,

Forearm,

Right elbow,

The upper arm,

The right shoulder,

The right side of the chest,

The right side body,

The waist,

The hip,

The thigh crease,

Thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

The right ankle,

Top of the foot,

Sole of the foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third,

Fourth toe,

And right pinky toe.

Now bring a broad awareness to the right side of the body,

And now shifting the awareness over to the left side,

To the left arm and the hand.

Take the attention to the left hand thumb,

The pointer,

Third finger,

The fourth,

And the left pinky finger.

The right hand palm,

Back of the hand,

The wrist,

The forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Left shoulder,

Left side of the chest,

Left side body,

The waist,

Hip,

The thigh crease,

Thigh,

Knee,

The calf,

The left ankle,

Top of the foot,

Sole of the foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third,

Fourth toe,

Left pinky toe.

Bringing a broad awareness to the left side of the body,

And now shifting over to just the back side of the body,

The heels,

The calves,

The backs of the thighs,

The hamstrings,

Buttocks,

The lower back,

The middle spine,

Upper spine,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head.

And now for the front of the body,

The tops of the feet,

The shins,

Knees,

The thighs,

The pelvis,

The lower belly,

Ribs,

Chest,

The throat,

The chin,

The mouth,

The nose,

The right eye,

The left eye,

The third eye center,

The right ear,

The left ear,

The forehead,

The crown of the head.

Now considering the whole body together,

Bring the awareness to the entire body.

Now begin to imagine that the body is feeling very heavy.

The feet and legs are heavy,

Glued to the floor,

The back of the thighs,

The pelvic area,

The back,

The arms,

The back of the head,

All heavy.

Try to embrace the sensation of the body being heavy,

Submitting to gravity,

And sinking in.

From the feet all the way to the head,

Through the arms and the hips,

Back to the toes,

All heavy.

And now we'll shift our focus to a feeling of lightness.

Begin to notice different parts of the body and allow them to feel a little lighter.

The toes,

The feet,

The legs,

All light.

The pelvis,

The torso,

Ribcage,

Belly and chest,

All light as a feather.

The arms,

All the way to the fingertips,

Let them be light.

The neck and the head,

Light.

Feel the whole body being as light as it can be.

Now taking the awareness to a feeling of heat in the body.

Imagine your body is very close to a heat source,

A hot summer day,

Hot bath,

And is building up a sensation of heat.

Feel the fingers,

Toes,

And legs,

And all the heat that is generated by the body in addition to the heat of the surroundings.

The generation of heat happens continuously as we burn up fuel,

Constantly generating heat.

Now bring awareness to the heat that is produced through the legs,

Pelvis,

Torso,

Heat.

The neck,

Head,

And face,

All hot.

Embrace the sensation of heat.

Now shifting gently to a sensation of cold.

Imagine now the body is in a cold environment,

A mountain,

A cold shower,

A cool forest.

As the body generates heat,

The body regulates its temperature accordingly.

Begin with the toes and travel up the legs,

Allowing the sensation of coolness,

Like the body is close to a body of water or a cool lake.

The fingers feel the chill,

Traveling up the arms,

Colder,

To shoulders,

Chest,

Neck,

Face,

The entire head feeling cold.

Embrace the sensation of cold in the entire body.

And now gently taking the awareness back to the more realistic temperature of your surroundings.

Allow the breath to remain fluid,

Soft,

The body to continue in its relaxed state,

Continuing any awareness on the breath.

Full breath in,

Mindful breath out.

And with the body in this state,

Allow the breath to take you to a place inside that is independent of all sensation,

Maybe independent of the physical body,

Perhaps the feeling of pure consciousness,

The awareness of pure consciousness.

Acknowledging that every breath and every second that is spent with this kind of calm has infinite benefits,

Benefits for peace,

For feeling calmer,

More peaceful,

As well as the physical benefits of allowing the body to heal,

Allowing the body to relax enough to find its way in its healing process.

Let it be what it is right now.

Accept your body as it is right now.

Mindful breath in,

Mindful breath out.

Full breath in,

Mindful breath out.

Mindful breath in,

Mindful breath out.

And with the body in this state,

Allow the breath to continue in its relaxed state,

Becoming more peaceful.

Full breath in,

Mindful breath out.

And with the body in this state,

Allow the breath to continue in its relaxed state.

Mindful breath in,

Mindful breath out.

And with the body in this state,

Allow the breath to continue in its relaxed state.

And with the body in this state,

Allow the breath to continue in its relaxed state.

And with the body in this state,

Allow the breath to continue in its relaxed state.

And allowing the breath to deepen.

Very slowly begin to release from this deep state.

Prepare.

Getting and exhaling just a little bit deeper every time.

Make it comfortable and take your time.

Getting to notice the belly as it expands more and contracts on the exhale.

And some fuller breaths as the first steps in taking yourself out of this meditation.

Now begin some gentle body movements,

Wiggling the fingers,

Wiggling the toes,

Moving the legs slightly,

Rolling the arms gently,

Moving the head from side to side.

You're preparing to come out of the rotation of consciousness,

Savasana meditation with yoga nidra.

Allow the awareness to come to the breath even more,

Deepening the breath and then allowing the awareness to come to your immediate surroundings.

Taking any additional movements with fingers,

Toes,

To begin to wake up the body.

And as you're ready to,

Opening the eyes and acknowledging this time that you've set aside for yourself for your practice of savasana.

Hari Om Tat Sat.