30 Minute Nidra: Body Scan, Deep Focus, Visualizations

Trouble staying focused? This 30 minute Yoga Nidra class will help you out. During this class, you will experience intention setting, sound meditation, rotation of consciousness (body scans), breath meditation, and guided visualizations. The intention behind this practice is to stay away and focused during the whole practice.

Transcript

Welcome to your 30 minute yoga nidra practice.

Yoga nidra is a state of deep relaxation.

And often when relaxation is deep,

Sleep comes.

But in this practice,

We're actually resting right at the point between sleeping and wakefulness.

But keeping ourselves awake.

It's that place we get to just before we fall asleep.

So right now,

Set an intention to try to remain awake during the practice.

Say in your mind,

I will remain awake through practice.

I will not sleep.

Do not try to intellectualize or analyze the instructions.

We want to just follow the voice and follow the movements through the body.

If thoughts come in,

That's normal.

So don't worry about that.

Just continue to practice yoga nidra.

The practice we are going to do involves setting an intention.

In yoga nidra,

We call this intention the sankalpa.

So before you start the practice,

Just think for a moment of what your intention or sankalpa might be.

I like to start by asking myself the question,

What is my heart's deepest desire?

Setting an intention is like a resolve,

Stated and positive in present tense.

An example might be,

I'm able to access stillness,

Or I am kind,

Or I am aware of my breath.

Make it something simple.

It could be for this practice,

Or it could be something that you're using longer term.

It is of your greatest benefit to lie comfortably and supported on your back in shavasana.

But you can also do this practice laying on the couch or in bed if that is more comfortable for you.

For the practice of yoga nidra,

It is also beneficial to have a soft warm blanket on your body,

Perhaps a pillow underneath your head and underneath each of your knees.

Now give into this moment of stillness and feel the stillness move over your whole body.

Feel the stillness move over your whole body.

With every inhale and exhale,

Move deeper and deeper into this stillness.

Place any rising thoughts into an imaginary box that is a few feet away from you.

And then gently close the lid,

Knowing that you can get back to those thoughts later if you so desire.

Feel your whole body.

Your whole body melts into the earth beneath you.

There is no separation between your body and the earth.

Let your eyeballs be heavy in the sockets.

Your jaw is relaxed.

Your body is relaxed,

Letting go completely.

Witness the natural rhythm of your breathing.

With every exhale,

Allow yourself to sink deeper and deeper into this stillness.

Become aware of the sounds that are outside of the room that you're in.

Moving from sound to sound.

Moving from sound to sound.

Let your breath escape into the center of the sound.

Listen to perceive the sound as a manifestation of energy,

Vibrations.

Moving from sound to sound.

Now switch your focus to the sounds inside of this room.

Moving from sound to sound.

Notice the inside of your mouth.

Relax your tongue.

Relax your teeth and your jaw.

Begin to breathe softly in and out of the nostrils.

Notice your nostrils.

The upper lip.

Lower lip.

Chin.

Notice your jaw.

The ears.

The inside of your ears.

Your temples.

Eyebrows.

The space between the eyebrows.

Your eyes.

Your cheeks.

And the sides of your head.

The top of your head.

The whole head.

Notice your neck.

The shoulders.

Your upper arms.

Elbows.

Wrists.

Palms.

Back of the hands.

Thumbs.

Pointer fingers.

Middle fingers.

Ring fingers.

Pinky fingers.

Back of the wrist.

Forearms.

Elbows.

The upper arms.

Armpits.

The sides of your ribs.

The sides of your belly.

Your hips.

Thighs.

Knees.

Backs of the knees.

Lower legs.

Ankles.

Heels.

Soles of the feet.

Big toes.

Second toes.

Middle toes.

Fourth toes.

And pinky toes.

Your whole body on the ground.

Your whole body completely relaxed.

Now begin counting your breaths backwards.

Starting from 30 towards 1.

Like this.

30.

Naval rising.

30.

Naval falling.

29.

Naval rising.

29.

Naval falling.

Say the words mentally to yourself as you count the breath silently.

If you make a mistake,

Go back to 27 and start again.

With total awareness that you are counting,

Go on counting in the mind.

Amazing.

Now let go of the counting.

Let go of the counting and the awareness of the navel.

Bring your attention,

Your awareness up to the chest and your ribcage.

Notice how your chest is rising and falling with each breath.

Continue to become aware of the rhythm in your chest as you're breathing and begin the counting from 30 to 1.

No mistakes,

No sleeping.

Focused on the counting and the rhythm in the chest.

Remain present and focused.

And once again let go of the counting.

Release the awareness of the chest and bring your awareness now up to the throat.

Become aware of the breath that is moving in and out through the throat.

Concentrate on the movements of the breath and again begin counting down from 30 towards 1.

Complete awareness of the breath and the counting.

No sleeping.

Alert and awake and focused on the counting.

If you make a mistake simply go back to 30 and start again.

Again release the counting.

Draw your attention up to the nose to your nostrils.

Feel the movement of the breath inside the nostrils.

Start counting down from 30 to 1.

Keep awake,

Keep alert.

Be aware of the breath,

The counting,

And the awareness that you are breathing and counting.

You find yourself walking down a forest path.

You can hear the leaves crunching beneath your feet.

You can feel the sticks and the stones under each footstep you take.

The forest air smells of damp earth combined with old rotting leaves.

This earthy smell has an instinctive yet calming effect to you.

Then there are the trees,

Thousands of trees.

Some so large you can't see the tops.

Some so wide you can't come close to wrapping your arms around them.

Some so small they could easily be crushed by a misplaced footstep.

The trees together are surrounding you with a protective and supportive presence.

Every tree has its own unique smell too.

Some have a sweet smell while others are almost sour or bitter,

But they're all good.

You walk past a large tree and its unique aroma fills your nostrils.

You are walking down a forest path.

You can hear the leaves crunching beneath your feet.

You can feel the sticks and the stones under each footstep you take.

You smell it before you can see it,

A body of water in the distance.

A lake soon appears at the side of the forest path.

It has a wonderfully damp smell that can't be duplicated.

The water is completely still and smooth like a mirror.

You can see the mirrored image of the trees across the lake and the blue sky up above them.

As you approach the shoreline of the lake,

You feel the urge to enter the water.

You pause by the water's edge to remove your clothing and then slip seamlessly into the lake.

The water is special.

Its smooth mirrored surface remains completely undisturbed as you take your first few footsteps in.

The water is the exact temperature of your body and you can barely feel it against your skin.

You are now up to your knees,

The unique smell of the water filling up your nostrils.

By the time you are up to your hips,

You start to feel the water become more and more buoyant.

You give in to its support fully and begin to float on your back,

Looking up at the blue sky above you,

Weightless and free over the water's surface,

Completely supported,

Effortlessly floating into the middle of the mirror-like surface of the lake.

Above you is the clear blue sky.

Surrounding you is the mirror image of the clear blue sky.

You notice the blue slowly darkening as the sun begins to set behind the forest.

Colors of deep navy blue fill your eyes.

Darkening more yet,

You notice faint glints of the stars coming through the deep dark bluish black sky.

Darkening more,

The blue fades to a twilight black.

Stars sparkle brighter into view as you begin to feel lighter and lighter in your physical body.

The stars are reflected in the mirrored surface of the lake.

You begin slowly to rise up out of the water,

Floating freely into the warm night air,

Rising slowly up above the lake,

Rising up surrounded by the twilight of the stars.

As you float higher into the atmosphere of the planet,

You begin to become completely surrounded by the night stars.

Drifting out further and further,

You pass other planets.

Leaving our small solar system,

You drift further yet out into space,

Completely supported and weightless.

You drift for some time through empty space,

The stars completely surrounding you,

Supporting you.

You see a small planet in the distance.

It looks warm and inviting.

You float closer and closer towards it and eventually begin to float down onto its surface,

Feeling the pull of gravity down again on your body.

The ground is firm yet soft beneath you.

This planet is so small that you could walk fully around it in a short time.

It is here on your own personal space in the universe that you will plant your intention,

Your sankalpa,

Letting it take hold like a new beautiful growth on this planet,

Growth to benefit you from deep within.

Repeat your sankalpa now three times with full sincerity,

Confidence and trust.

Knowing that you can return to this space at any time you need to,

You begin to float back up off the planet's surface,

Taking one last view back at it.

You float back through the empty space,

Drifting weightless and free,

Surrounded by the twinkling of the distant stars.

In the distance you see our small solar system come into view,

Drift past the outer planets and begin to notice our pale blue dot in the distance,

Our true home of planet Earth.

You float effortlessly towards it,

Back through Earth's atmosphere,

Back into the night sky,

Twilight black.

You see the mirrored surface of the lake beneath you and seamlessly float back into it,

Your body not disturbing the special water surface.

You barely feel the water as it touches your body.

You float back towards the shore of the lake.

You acquire your clothing and return again to walking down the forest path that brought you here.

You are walking down a forest path.

You can hear the leaves crunching beneath your feet.

You can feel the sticks and the stones under each footstep you take.

The forest air smells of damp earth combined with old rotten leaves.

This earthy smell has an instinctive calming effect to you.

Then there are the trees,

Thousands of trees supporting and surrounding you with their presence.

Become aware of your body in this room.

Become aware of your body in this room right here.

Feel your mouth,

The tongue,

The upper lip,

Lower lip.

Notice your nose,

The tip of the nose,

The cheeks,

The temples,

The eyes,

The space between your eyes,

The forehead,

Both sides of the head,

The crown of the head,

The back of the head,

The neck,

The shoulders and upper back,

The spine and the arms,

The hips and the thighs,

The lower legs and your feet.

Feel your whole body resting on the floor.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Reviews

Matthew, such a beautiful nidra practice. I love the breath work and your visualizations. So much thanks and gratitude. It felt like we were really all there in your forest and lake.

I LOVED the focus on listening and smelling trees and feeling comforted by their surrounding. I also REALLY loved the utter lack of sing-songiness in your delivery. I felt like you were in the room speaking to me as opposed to reciting. You felt present. Thank you so much!