Yoga Nidra For Gratitude

Enjoy the benefits of two powerful practices together. Yoga Nidra will take you on a journey, allowing you to rest deeply, as you explore many things in your life that you are grateful for. Practicing gratitude has a host of benefits, including leading to a happier you!

Music by Chris Colllins

Transcript

Namaste.

This is Melissa.

Thank you for joining me for this gratitude yoga nidra.

Getting comfortable now.

Be sure that your body is completely cozy and at ease.

Maybe lying upon your bed.

Maybe on your yoga mat.

Adjusting the head,

Neck,

Shoulders,

Pelvis and hips so that you can completely relax into the support beneath you.

If you could get even 1% more comfortable,

What would you do?

Making any final adjustments and then settling into stillness.

Begin to notice the breath as your body comes into stillness.

Allow your eyes to softly close and feel the rise of the belly and chest as you inhale.

Find a softening or sinking sensation as you exhale.

Begin to lengthen both the inhale and the exhale with each consecutive breath.

Draw your attention to the places where your body touches the surface you are lying on.

On each exhale,

Let these points sink a little deeper into the surface,

Releasing any tension in the body,

Backs of the legs,

Hips,

Shoulders,

Arms,

Back of the head.

Notice how you're supported.

Now please bring your sankalpa to mind.

This is your resolve or your intention.

If you don't have your own,

For today's practice I will provide one.

But please feel free to use your own sankalpa instead.

Please repeat to your own sankalpa or repeat after me three times silently.

State it firmly as though you believe it to be true.

I am grateful for all of the blessings in my life.

Begin to allow your attention now to float through your body following the guidance of my voice.

Imagine your attention fluidly moving from one point to the next,

Creating a rivulet or stream of awareness flowing through your body.

As attention moves,

The body remains in stillness.

Remaining sensations just as they are without needing to change them or make anything different.

The rotation will move quickly.

As I name a body part,

Please draw your attention to that area and then move along to the next,

Bringing your full attention to each body part but not lingering there.

We will begin with the right side of the body.

Please draw your attention to the right hand.

The right hand thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Right wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Under arm,

The right side of the chest,

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Top of the foot,

The right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

The whole right side of the body.

Now moving attention to the left hand,

The left hand thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Left wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Under arm,

Left side of the chest,

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Top of the foot,

The left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

The whole left side of the body.

Press to the back side of the body now,

The soles of the feet,

Right heel,

Left heel,

Right calf,

Left calf,

Right glute,

Left glute,

The right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

The back of the head,

The whole back side of the body.

Bringing attention to the crown or top of the head,

The forehead,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Tip of the nose,

Lips,

Chin,

The front of the throat,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Center of the chest,

Belly,

Pelvis,

Now the whole torso and the whole front side of the body.

Now the back side and the front side of the body together,

Both legs together,

Both arms together,

Arms and legs together,

Arms,

Legs and torso together,

The whole body,

Sensing the whole body as a unified field of sensation.

Now return your attention to your breath.

Press the breath in,

Notice the breath out,

Allow the breath to be natural.

Just observe the breath for a few moments.

Feel the breath move in through the nose and down to the navel on an inhale and out from the navel and up to the nose on an exhale.

Perhaps visualizing a small white light traveling from the tip of the nose down to the navel as you inhale and that same white light traveling back from the navel to the tip of the nose as you exhale.

Observe the light flowing down and up with the breath.

As you breathe in,

Say silently to yourself,

Breath in.

As you breathe out,

Say silently to yourself,

Breath out.

Breath in,

Breath out.

Now starting to count your breath backwards from 27 towards zero like this.

27 breath in,

27 breath out,

26 breath in,

26 breath out.

And continue on your own at your own pace.

Don't worry if you lose count,

Simply begin back again at 27.

Nothing else to do,

Nowhere to be.

Simply becoming absorbed in counting down the breath.

Ceasing counting,

Release your focus from the breath and draw your attention to the dark space behind your eyelids.

Attention resting lightly here.

Listen to the various scenes and objects that I will describe and try to experience each vision on as many levels as possible.

Noticing any emotions or feelings that arise or any other sensations that you experience.

If you have difficulty visualizing,

Simply think about the scene or object and notice what arises for you.

Bring to mind a beautiful flower arrangement.

A starry night sky.

A brilliant sunset.

A vibrant sunrise.

A giggling baby.

A serene lake.

A favorite meal in front of you.

A cozy bed.

A favorite pet.

The smiling face of a dear friend.

A warm embrace.

Focusing on your mind screen or the darkness behind your eyelids.

Just notice what you observe.

We will take a few moments in silence,

Allowing your body to enjoy this rare state of stillness and relaxation.

Gently draw your attention back to your breath.

Bring your sankalpa or your resolve back to mind.

With conviction,

Repeat your sankalpa silently to yourself three times again.

If you used the provided sankalpa,

Repeat after me.

I am grateful for all of the blessings in my life.

Bring your attention back to your physical body.

Notice the breath.

Unforced,

Easy breath.

Witnessing natural breath in the body.

And now to count your breath from one up to ten.

Inhaling one.

Exhaling one.

Inhaling two.

Exhaling two.

At your own pace now,

Slowly waking the body a little more with each inhale breath.

Begin to sense the earth beneath you and the room around you.

Taking a deep breath in through the nose and exhale through the mouth.

And again in through the nose.

Let it go through the mouth.

Start to wiggle the fingers and the toes.

Maybe gentle movements of the head and the neck.

When you're ready,

Gently fluttering the eyes open once again.

Take a nice big stretch if that feels good to your body.

Allow for any wiggles or movements that your body would like here.

Perhaps walking the feet in so the knees are bent taking any movement you might like here.

Then when you're ready,

Finding your way onto your favorite side,

Pausing there for a few moments,

Allowing yourself to come fully back into this moment.

Notice here if there's any lingering emotional tones resonating within your body.

When you're ready,

Use your hands to help press you up to a seated posture of your choice.

Once you are seated,

Bringing palms together in front of the chest and softly closing your eyes.

Take a few breaths here,

Simply noticing how you feel.

Draw to mind something you are grateful for in this very moment.

Notice the sensation of gratitude wash over you.

Be in this moment of perfect gratitude.

Say a silent thank you for this perfect moment.

And finishing with one final breath together,

Inhale sweeping your arms up.

Exhale palms to heart center.

Thank you for practicing yoga nidra with me.

Namaste

Reviews

Lovely gratitude. Presented in a holistic way. Will revisit.

A beautiful, relaxing practice. Perfect as an afternoon “pick me up” 🙏

A beautifully paced and gentle guided practice and very much follows the yoga nidra style of Satyanandra Sarawati which pleases me, rather than the personal variations that some teachers create
Thank you, thank you, thank you

Beautiful thank you, this was so powerful particularly the visualisations thank you 🙏🏻 I will definitely listen again ✨

Much thanks and gratitude for this beautiful nidra meditation. Perfect Melissa.

Wonderful, Melissa, like all of your nidras. This one is also very effective in spite of its shortness.
Love them all, thank you.
👌🏻🪷🕊️