Yoga Nidra For Deep Relaxation & Sleep

Yoga Nidra is also known as Yogic Sleep, a deeply relaxing and restorative journey for body, mind and soul. Join in to nourish yourself through deep rest and gain new energy for the day ahead or a good nights sleep. This meditation can help when facing stress, low energy, as well as insomnia or struggles to fall asleep at night.

Transcript

Begin by lying down on your back,

With your arms down alongside the body,

Palms facing upwards or they might just naturally curl in a little bit towards the body.

Place the feet hip distance apart and allow all the muscles of the legs to be soft so that the feet naturally splay out to the sides.

Let your eyes softly close and take a moment to tune into how the body is feeling.

Notice if there are any areas of constriction or tightness.

Maybe caused by tight closing,

A watch or your eyeglasses.

Take a moment to make any final adjustments so that you can be just 1% more comfortable in the position you choose.

Bring the awareness to all the contact points between body and floor.

The heels touching the floor,

Backs of the calf muscle and back of the thighs,

Your buttocks and the lower back,

The upper arms,

The upper back,

Arms,

Hands and the point where the head touches the floor.

A whole plane of contact between body and floor.

Move the focus to the whole physical body,

Noticing any areas of tension or tightness,

Areas of holding.

And for the next couple of moments,

Let's see if it's possible to just soften those areas.

Use the support of the exhale to let go.

Soft jar.

Soft shoulders.

Soft belly.

And begin to tune your awareness in,

Noticing all the sounds in the surrounding environment.

Simply sweep your awareness in a wide circle,

Searching the most distant sound that you can hear.

Focus on that sound for just a moment.

And then drop it and move to the next sound.

And this way,

Keep moving your awareness from sound to sound.

Begin to draw your awareness closer.

See if it's possible to detect sounds within this room.

Notice the sound of your breath,

The feeling of your heartbeat.

And then become aware of your natural breath.

Become aware of your natural and spontaneous breath that moves in and out of your body without any effort.

Notice your breath flowing in through the nostrils.

Feel the breath as it comes in and out.

There's a sense of coolness as you inhale the breath.

Follow this feeling into your nose,

Your sinuses,

Back of your throat,

Into your lungs.

There's a sense of warmth as you exhale the breath.

Feel this warmth on your upper lip as you breathe out.

And shift your awareness into your heart area.

And feel for a moment into the heart.

Which deep desire or wish is present.

Create an intention or affirmation based on your heart's longing.

Let this be a positive statement in the present tense as there as it's already happening.

Also say to yourself,

I'm practicing Yoganitra.

I'm awake and relaxed.

We will now begin a systematic journey of the sensory awareness throughout the body.

You will move your awareness to different parts of your body as soon as you hear them named.

Become aware of the part of the body named.

But don't move it.

The practice begins on the right side.

Right hand thumb.

Right hand thumb.

Second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

Little finger.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Wrist.

Forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Arm pit.

Waist.

Hip.

Thigh.

Knee.

Cough.

Ankle.

Heel.

Soll of the foot.

Top of the foot.

Right big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

And little toe.

Left hand thumb.

Second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

Little finger.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Wrist.

Forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Arm pit.

Waist.

Hip.

Thigh.

Knee.

Cough.

Ankle.

Heel.

Soll of the foot.

Top of the foot.

Left big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Little toe.

Now go to the back of the body.

Right heel.

Left heel.

Right calf.

Left calf.

Right thigh.

Left thigh.

Right buttock.

Left buttock.

Lower back.

Middle back.

Upper back.

The entire spine.

Right shoulder blade.

Left shoulder blade.

Back of the neck.

Back of the head.

Top of the head.

The forehead.

Right temple.

Left temple.

Right ear.

Left ear.

Right eyebrow.

Left eyebrow.

Middle of the eyebrow.

Right eye.

Left eye.

Right nostril.

Left nostril.

Right cheek.

Left cheek.

Upper lip.

Lower lip.

Both lips together.

Chin.

Jaw.

Throat.

Right collarbone.

Left collarbone.

Right side of the chest.

Left side of the chest.

Upper abdomen.

Navel.

Lower abdomen.

Right groin.

Left groin.

The pelvic floor.

The whole right leg.

Whole left leg.

Whole right arm.

Whole left arm.

The whole face.

The whole head.

The whole torso.

The whole body.

The whole body.

The whole body.

Now imagine the whole body becoming light.

Light as though your body could float away from the floor and towards the ceiling.

The head is light and weightless.

The limbs are light and weightless.

The torso is light and weightless.

The whole body light and weightless.

You're rising higher and higher away from the floor.

Now imagine your body becoming heavy.

Feel the heaviness in all parts of the body.

Each part is becoming heavier and heavier and heavier.

The head is heavy.

The limbs are heavy.

The torso is heavy.

The whole body is heavy.

So heavy that it is sinking down into the floor.

Imagine now the experience of cold in the body.

The experience of chilly cold.

Imagine being outside in winter without enough clothing.

You feel this chill permeating your entire body.

Now allow the sensation of warmth to spread throughout the entire body.

Remember the feeling of heat in summer when you are out in the sun with no shade.

You feel heat radiating onto your skin.

Heat all around the body.

Now recollect the experience of fear.

Intense fear and worry.

The stress in your mind and body but do not concentrate on its source.

Create the experience of fear as clearly as possible.

Now allow the feeling of calm to fill you.

Manifest the experience of calm in your entire mind,

Body,

Your emotions.

You are relaxed and aware you are completely calm.

Now begin to concentrate on the space in front of your closed eyelids.

And before you a transparent screen as though you were at the movie theatre.

The screen is as high as wide as the eyes can see.

Concentrate on this mind screen and become aware of any phenomena that manifests within it.

Colours,

Patterns and lights.

Whatever you see is the manifesting state of your mind.

Clear your awareness of this space but do not become involved.

Practice detached awareness only.

If any subtle images make themselves known simply notice them without directing the image.

If thoughts occur let them come and go.

Continue watching the dark space.

Continue with detached awareness.

Now a number of different things will be named and you should envision them on the level of emotion,

Memory or imagination as best as you can.

Jump from image to image as soon as you hear it.

Red desert.

Peacock feather.

Buddha meditating.

A good night's rest.

A reflection in a mirror.

A foggy morning.

Waiting for results.

Sun shining overhead.

A bouquet of flowers.

A tall tree.

Receiving help from others.

Cool clear water.

A relaxing afternoon.

Loving with friends.

A warm embrace.

A burning candle.

A temple on a mountain.

Path in the woods.

Vibrant sunset.

Taking a deep breath.

Dog stretching.

Beautiful garden.

Your favorite song.

The sound of my voice.

Your body lying on the floor.

It is time to repeat your positive affirmation.

Please repeat the same statement that you made at the beginning of the practice.

Repeating it to yourself three times mentally now.

Now come back to the feeling of your breath flowing in and out of your nostrils.

Begin the awareness of your breath and at the same time develop the awareness of your physical body.

Your body is relaxed.

Lying on the floor.

Notice the weight of your body as it rests on the floor.

And take your awareness into all the contact points that touch the floor or the props.

The back of your heels.

The eyes.

The buttocks.

Shoulder blades.

Arms.

Hands.

And head.

Do not open your eyes just yet.

Simply visualize the surrounding room.

Imagine where you are in the room.

Imagine the objects that surround you.

Continue to lie quietly until you feel ready to move again.

You start by slowly moving your hands and feet.

Allow the movements to become bigger.

As you are sure that you are fully awake,

Gently begin to open your eyes.

Falling over to your right side.

Feel like you stay here for a couple of moments.

Once you are ready,

You use your hands to press yourself up from the floor into a seated position.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Reviews

Very nice way to go to sleep. This meditation helped me calm my mind and anxiety to let me sleep. I'm grateful that this meditation found me last night. Thank you very much. Have a wonderful day 🙏❤️ 🙂

This meditation helped me get back to sleep in the middle of the night when it felt impossible. A kind soothing voice that helped me feel safe when I was feeling anxious

Soothing voice and no background music. I fell back asleep near the end during the quick visualizations. They are unusual and nurturing. Friends, a hug. I didn’t wake up at the final instruction to sit up. I only know about that because I listened again later. 7/7/23