Welcome to this Yoga Nidra practice to help you fall asleep.
Yoga Nidra is a practice of yogic sleep and this particular practice has the intention of facilitating deep relaxation to enable you to fall asleep or fall back to sleep if you're awake in the night.
If you find you've fallen asleep during the recording,
That's great.
There are no bells or noises at the end.
It will just stop.
If you find that you're still awake at the end of the practice,
Then that's perfectly alright too.
Perhaps being grateful that you've spent this time allowing rest and relaxation into your evening.
Trying to take the pressure off yourself to fall asleep quickly and just enjoy the process.
We'll use an intention in this practice.
You might like to create an intention for yourself around sleep and rest.
An intention in Yoga Nidra is a wish for something positive,
Such as a good night's sleep.
You might want to have a think now before we start the practice about what that intention might be.
And the intention is best phrased in the present tense as if it's already happening.
An example might be,
I welcome deep and nourishing sleep.
And know that there is no way to do this practice wrong.
There isn't anything to be done.
Just to be here,
Resting the body and the mind is more than enough.
And thoughts will come and go,
Seeing if we can just allow that to happen,
But just stepping back from them.
Guiding your awareness back to the practice and back to the sound of my voice.
So welcome to this practice of Yoga Nidra.
Welcome home to yourself.
The first part of the practice is to make sure that you're really comfortable.
So as this is a Yoga Nidra to help you fall asleep,
I would suggest beginning in the position in which you'd usually lie to fall asleep.
Maybe lying on the back or lying on the side,
Maybe even lying on the front.
Making sure you've got all the pillows and covers that you need to be truly warm and comfortable.
And if there are any last minute movements or adjustments that would allow you to settle even more,
I invite you to make them now.
And then inviting stillness to settle in over the body.
Just closing the eyes here if you haven't already.
And letting there be a welcome now for any sounds that can be heard.
Any sounds from outside the room where you are right now.
Any sounds from within the room.
Sounds from within the body,
The sound of the breath.
Welcoming all of the sounds without any labelling or judgement.
Just observing.
And if there aren't a lot of sounds to be heard,
Then just welcoming in the silence.
And feeling the pressure of the covers,
Clothing upon the skin.
Just noticing how the clothing and the covers move with the breath.
Feeling the touch of air upon the face,
Maybe the hands.
Realising the texture and the temperature of the air upon the skin.
Feeling that the weight of the body is being held by the bed beneath you.
Starting to take the focus a little bit more inside the body now.
Just allowing the body to soften and relax.
Softening the tongue,
Letting it be heavy in the mouth.
Relaxing through the jaw.
Relaxing the arms.
Relaxing any tension through the hips and relaxing through the legs.
And making a few longer exhalations now.
Perhaps even allowing a sigh.
With each exhalation,
Just letting go a little bit more.
Feeling the weight of the body just sinking down.
And bringing to mind the intention,
The sun kelpa we set at the beginning of the practice.
And just repeating that three times in the mind.
And then gently letting that go.
Next we'll allow our awareness to travel around different parts of the body.
We don't need to move that part or do anything other than allowing the awareness to rest there.
Starting with the very crown of the head.
The left ear.
The right ear.
The left eye.
The right eye.
The throat.
The tongue.
The nose.
The forehead.
The back of the head.
The back of the neck.
The left shoulder.
The elbow.
The left wrist.
The hand.
And the awareness travelling back to the throat.
Moving across to the right shoulder.
The elbow.
The wrist.
The hand.
Travelling back to the throat.
The heart centre.
The navel.
The lower abdomen.
The left hip.
The knee.
The ankle.
The sole of the left foot.
The top of the foot.
The left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
And the little toe.
The whole of the left foot.
And the awareness travelling across to the right hip.
The knee.
The ankle.
The sole of the foot.
The top of the foot.
The right big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
And the little toe.
The whole of the right foot.
The space between the feet.
Space between the knees.
The tailbone.
The sacrum.
The lower back.
Middle back.
Upper back.
The back of the neck.
The back of the head.
The very crown of the head.
The whole of the left arm.
The whole of the right arm.
The whole left leg.
The whole right leg.
The whole of the head.
The whole of the left side of the body.
And the whole of the right side.
The whole physical body.
And then inviting the awareness to rest upon the breath.
Just feeling the gentle rhythm of the natural breath as it moves in and out of the body.
Becoming aware that you are breathing quietly and slowly.
Just being aware of the breath.
Feeling the movement of the breath between the navel and the throat.
Feeling the breath moving along this inner passageway.
As you inhale,
Feeling the breath rising up from the navel to the throat.
Breathing out,
The breath moves from the throat down to the navel.
Breathing in.
Now becoming aware of the breath in the nostrils.
Just feeling the natural breath as it flows into the body through both nostrils.
As the breath flows in,
Perhaps imagining that the streams of air coming in through the nostrils meet at the eyebrow centre.
And with the exhale they move down through the nostrils and out of the body.
So there's a triangle in the nose,
The two nostrils at the bottom and the top point between the eyebrows.
With the inhale the breath moves up both sides of the triangle coming to a point between the eyebrows.
With the exhale the breath moves back down the sides of the triangle and out of the body.
And now we'll start our mental alternate nostril breathing.
So we're not doing anything with the hands here,
Just imagining.
And we'll count backwards from 108.
So like this,
108,
Inhale through the left nostril.
108,
Exhaling through the right.
107,
Inhaling right.
107,
Exhaling left.
106,
Inhaling left.
106,
Exhaling right.
105,
Inhaling right.
105,
Exhaling left.
And keeping that going.
I find you've lost count,
Just beginning again at 108.
108,
Inhaling right.
108,
Inhaling right.
If you find that the counting's gone astray,
That really doesn't matter at all.
Just beginning again from 108.
108,
Inhaling right.
108,
Inhaling right.
108,
Inhaling right.
108,
Inhaling right.
And gently letting go of the counting,
Letting go of the awareness of the breath.
See now if you can connect to a feeling of being grounded in the left arm.
Feeling the arm resting on the bed.
The arm feeling soft and relaxed.
And now seeing if you can find a feeling of lightness in the left arm.
As if it could float up completely effortlessly.
And then coming back to the feeling of the left arm,
Relaxed and grounded.
And then moving across to the right arm,
Feeling the physical arm grounded and relaxed on the bed.
And now connecting to a feeling of lightness in the right arm.
Light and effortless.
And coming back to the feeling of the right arm being grounded,
Connected to the bed,
Relaxed and supported.
Then feeling the left leg grounded and relaxed.
And now the left leg feeling light,
As if it's floating effortlessly.
And now the left leg resting on the ground,
Relaxed and softening.
And feeling the right leg supported by the ground.
And now feeling the right leg light and effortless.
And now feeling the right leg resting and grounded.
Now connecting to a feeling of the whole body relaxing.
The whole body letting go and relaxing down into a deep and nourishing sleep.
The whole body profoundly relaxed.
And connecting to a feeling of lightness in the whole body.
The whole body light and free.
And now feeling the whole body grounded and centered,
Relaxed and resting.
And then just allowing sleep to roll in over the body,
A little bit like a mist rolls in over the land.
The whole body is deeply resting.
And allowing yourself to surrender into the sleep state.
Good night.
