Yoga Nidrā - Rest & Remember

This practice supports both deep rest and awareness as you explore various states of consciousness. Relax into being and remember your true nature. You can use this recording anytime you need to rest and recharge or as support for sleep. Please note - there is no bell to indicate the end of practice, so you may want to set an alarm if you need to continue on with your day.

Transcript

This practice is designed to offer you both deep rest and awareness through various states of consciousness.

Begin by settling into a cozy and comfortable position lying onto your back.

You might support your body with a bolster or rolled blankets beneath your knees and some type of cushion underneath of your head.

Feel your head supported in a way that the height of your chin falls just below the height of your forehead.

This arrangement will stimulate and signal a relaxation response throughout your system.

Maybe you cover yourself with a blanket knowing that your body temperature will drop as you arrive into stillness.

Extend your arms alongside and slightly away from your torso and turn your palms face up.

Feel space through the front of your chest.

As you land here,

Draw a deep breath in through your nose.

Fill up and hold for a moment at the top.

Open your mouth and sigh out.

Exhale and surrender your weight to the support of the surface beneath you.

Take that breath again,

Filling belly,

Chest,

Throat and hold.

Let it go,

Gentle exhale from the mouth.

Perhaps you take one more cycle on your own.

Then breathe normally as you feel your shoulders relax,

Belly relax.

Feet flop open to the sides as hips and hip flexors relax and release.

If you have not already,

Allow your eyes to softly close.

With eyes closed,

Notice.

Do your eyes dwell close to the surface,

Awake and alert just beneath eyelids?

Offer permission to the muscles around and behind your eyes to soften and let go.

Feel eyes sink back into the hammock of their sockets.

Eyes rest heavy into darkness.

Entire body rests heavy,

Melting toward the ground as any lingering gripping or holding releases.

Body is so heavy,

It is as though its shape carves an impression into the surface upon which you rest.

Flow your attention to notice your breath as it moves easily in and out through nostrils.

Stay with your breath.

Feel it move like a wave against the shore.

Breath flows up and down,

In and out.

A steady current nourishing and clearing the body.

As you arrive into a place of quiet presence,

There is no need to direct your experience.

No need for narration or judgment.

This is a practice of surrender and of welcoming what is.

Whether ease or resistance,

Can you let it be?

Practice of allowance of what is.

Notice a sense of deep stillness.

This is a stillness which is always there,

Beneath change and fluctuation,

Distraction and disconnection.

Beyond the movement which often takes our attention,

The stillness resides.

Bring your internal gaze to the space of your heart,

The energetic heart at the very center of your chest.

Rest into your heart space as the thinking mind dissolves into a feeling sense.

I invite you to acknowledge anything that you are sincerely thankful for.

Feel and experience gratitude within your body and within your heart.

From that grateful place,

We practice sankalpa.

Sankalpa is like a deep resolve.

It is a vow or a commitment to support one's highest truth.

Feeling into your heart,

Inquire to this space,

What is your deepest desire?

As you identify and acknowledge your sankalpa,

Repeat it three times as a present moment statement of I am or I will.

And if nothing came up for you,

That's perfectly fine.

Can you stay open to receive insight throughout your practice?

Letting go your sankalpa,

Having planted it within the garden of your being,

We will begin to explore sensation,

A rotation of consciousness throughout the body.

The reminder that this is a feeling practice,

Not a thinking practice.

Give permission for intellect and control to let go as you open to receptivity and felt experience.

Guide your attention to your right hand thumb.

Your entire awareness dwells within this thumb.

Feel second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Pinky finger.

Feel all five fingers of your right hand.

Feel the space between your fingers.

Sensation of palm of hand,

Back of hand,

Entire right hand at once.

Feel wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Right side ribs,

Right waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Calf,

Heel,

Sole of foot,

Top of foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Pinky toe,

Entire right foot at once.

Feel entire right body sensation.

Bring attention to left hand thumb.

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Pinky finger.

Feel the space between your fingers,

Palm of hand,

Back of hand,

Entire left hand as one orb of sensation.

Feel left wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Left side ribs,

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Calf,

Heel,

Sole of left foot,

Top of foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Pinky toe,

Entire left foot,

And feel entire left side sensation.

Guide awareness to the base of your spine and sensation of pelvis,

Abdomen,

Low back,

Rib cage,

Middle back,

Chest,

Upper back,

Back of neck,

Back of head,

Scalp,

Forehead,

Eyebrows,

Space between the eyebrows,

Eyelids,

Eyeballs,

Space behind eyeballs.

Feel ears,

Cheeks,

Nose,

Tip of nose,

Root of nose,

Bottom hinge of jaw,

Sides of mouth,

Gums,

Teeth,

Tongue,

Tip of tongue,

Root of tongue,

Whole mouth at once.

Feel entire head,

Neck,

And throat as one sensation.

Feel entire body sensation.

Bring breath to the forefront of your awareness once again.

Notice where breath is most present.

Whether belly,

Chest,

Nostrils,

Touch of breath at the back of your throat.

Follow the sensation of your breath at that place as it moves in and out.

Then begin to count down your exhales starting at 10.

You'll breathe in,

Exhale 10,

Breathe in,

Exhale 9,

And continue all the way down to 1.

If you lose the count at any point,

Start again,

Breathing down a count of 10 cycles.

Let go of counting.

Provide your attention to spaces of relaxation within the body.

Feel places of quiet ease where the body is soft and relaxed.

And flow your attention to what is tense within the body.

Feel what is firm and tight,

Hard.

Again,

Feel relaxation in the body.

And now shift back to tension.

Allow what is relaxed and what is tense to begin to fold into one another.

Feel tension and ease merge and mix.

An alchemy,

A transformation into a single quality.

A single sweetness that saturates the body entirely.

In this experience of one vibration,

Feel the truth of your being.

Your essence is contained in one unchanging,

All-pervading quality.

Limitless,

Unbound,

Whole and complete.

Rest here,

And rest well.

Reviews

Very deeply moving. It felt spiritual. My body loved it. I cherish that it doesn’t not disclude tension, and teaches acceptance of tension as part of our human body vs perfect relaxation.

Feeling completely relaxed, mind is empty… thank you! 🤍

💖

Wow that was fantastic. I’ll definitely be back to do this practice again. Thank you so much!!!

A lovely concise yet super relaxing practice. Thank you

Perfect for relaxing into sleep or back to sleep after waking during the night. I used it three times last night and will use it again. Beautiful silence in the background, sankalpa and perfectly paced rotation. My body responded by melting blissfully into my bed. Grateful for release with no disturbance at the end. 10/25/23

Thank you ! 🙏🏻

Nice and neat Yoga Nidra, beautiful and calming voice.. Excellent, thank you! I'll definitely come back and I'm already looking forward to hearing from you more. Thank you again! 😊

Lovely practice, thank you! ❤️🙏❤️