Yoga Nidra For Sleep

This Yoga Nidra is especially designed to help you to fall asleep, or if you wake in the night, to help you to go back to sleep. It is a full Yoga Nidra and covers all of the stages in depth, but if you fall asleep during the practice...that is perfectly ok.

Transcript

Welcome to this yoga nidra for sleep.

It will help you to fall off to sleep in the most restful,

Peaceful and healing way.

It can also help you return to sleep if you wake in the middle of the night.

Yoga nidra has a long tradition stretching back thousands of years.

It brings relief to an overworked and busy mind,

But more importantly provides healing to those areas of our deeper souls that are normally not addressed.

So let's begin.

Lie down fully in your bed over the course of this yoga nidra.

You will be guided into a state of greater presence and an embodied state of being.

A relaxed,

Hypnagogic state,

Free from anxiety.

This is a yoga nidra for sleep,

So there are no bells,

No surprising moments.

It's a full yoga nidra going through all of the stages,

So during this meditation you'll be asked to move your awareness around your body and to be with various bodily sensations.

You'll be guided to reflect on states of opposition.

You will move through the various chakras very gently and we will end with a few vivid visualizations that will bring freshness and inspiration into your sleep.

During this practice,

Absorb whatever you need to and let anything else go.

If at any time your mind becomes overly active with thoughts,

Worries and fear,

Just notice that you have moved into that state and gently yourself back to my guidance,

To the feeling of your own body,

To your breath,

To your heartbeat.

It is important to know that you are in a safe and comfortable space.

For this yoga nidra,

Choose a position that is most comfortable for you.

Turn off the lights and any notifications on your devices and begin resting into the healing darkness that surrounds you.

Try putting one hand on your abdomen,

Just below the navel,

And the other on your heart.

This is a self-assuring practice that will bring comfort and stillness to your being.

Once you have found your position of greatest comfort,

Allow yourself to sink more deeply into your bed and then let everything go.

Resting with one hand on your abdomen,

You are aware of your breath naturally moving in your body.

Release any judgment or criticism in your mind and simply be aware of the flow of the breath.

Notice how the hand feels the rising and falling of the breath.

Begin to allow any thoughts that are arising to simply go.

Do not engage in any of the mind stories that come up.

Over the next five or six breaths,

Imagine that you are stepping down gradually into a deeper state of relaxation and letting go at the same time.

Notice stillness arising.

Imagine yourself walking down into a beautiful private space where you can safely rest,

Free from any cares and worries.

You can feel the back of your body resting against the mattress.

You are aware of the sheets covering you or your night clothes.

You can hear any faraway sounds that your sense of hearing radiate outwards without straining.

Notice that any sounds that arise are temporary and passing.

Notice also the space that occurs between each sound and notice when we listen to the space between the sounds,

How things seem to be friendlier,

More natural,

More normal.

Gently listening to the sounds that are closer,

The sound of my voice,

The sound in between the words,

The sound of your own breath.

Eyes lightly closed.

You are aware of the space you are in.

You can feel the wall and the ceiling,

The floor,

Your own body and in your mind's eye you can see yourself lying there,

Perfectly safe in the healing darkness.

You can feel your skin,

Your hair,

Allowing your face to be soft and relaxed.

Eyes sinking deeper into your sockets.

Allow yourself to become aware of your own body,

The warmth,

Vibration,

Movement,

Life itself.

So just notice your breath,

Your body moving naturally with the breath,

Without any effort,

With the life inside you.

Notice the sense of your out-breath.

Allow your attention to rest a little more on the out-breath than the in-breath.

You are aware of the breath coming in and the breath going out.

Notice how naturally the breath going out becomes a little longer in duration.

Notice the space between breaths.

Be aware of the space that appears in your body naturally.

Comfortable in the bed,

Comfortable in yourself.

Notice how the breath becomes slower and slower as you are resting more deeply now.

Now bring to mind your sankalpa,

A meaningful statement in the present tense that we will plant deeply into our subconsciousness so that it may flower and bring us abundance into our lives.

You could use a phrase like,

I am resting deeply within myself,

Or I am at home within myself,

Or I feel my heart,

I feel my breath,

I am present and I am whole.

Place the seed of your sankalpa gently into the fertile soil of your mind.

Say the sankalpa three times,

Then gently let it go.

I am resting deep,

I am practicing yogic sleep.

And so to the rotation of consciousness.

Your awareness now will be brought to different acupuncture points on the body.

By moving your awareness around your body in this way,

As gently as possible,

It helps relax the body into a light hypnagogic state.

And if you fall asleep from here,

That is absolutely fine.

Rest your awareness at each point for a brief moment.

Let's begin.

The point between your eyes,

Throat,

Right shoulder,

Right elbow,

Middle of the wrist,

Back of the right hand,

Tip of the thumb,

Tip of the forefinger,

Tip of the middle finger,

Tip of the ring finger,

Tip of the little finger,

Center of the right palm,

Middle of the wrist,

Elbow,

Right shoulder,

Throat,

Left shoulder,

Left elbow,

Middle of the wrist,

Back of the left hand,

Tip of the left thumb,

Tip of the forefinger,

Tip of the middle finger,

Tip of the ring finger,

Tip of the little finger,

Palm of the left hand,

Middle of the wrist,

Left elbow,

Left shoulder,

Throat,

Heart,

Right chest,

Heart,

Left chest,

Heart,

Solar plexus,

Navel,

Pubic area,

Right hip,

Right knee,

Right ankle,

Top of the foot,

Tip of the big toe,

Tip of the first toe,

Tip of the second toe,

Tip of the third toe,

Tip of the fourth toe,

Sole of the right foot,

Right ankle,

Right knee,

Right hip,

Pubic area,

Left hip,

Left knee,

Left ankle,

Top of the left foot,

Tip of the big toe,

Tip of the first toe,

Tip of the second toe,

Tip of the third toe,

Tip of the fourth toe,

Sole of the left foot,

Left ankle,

Left knee,

Left hip,

Pubic area,

Navel,

Solar plexus,

Heart,

Left chest,

Heart,

Right chest,

Heart,

Throat,

Third eye,

Top of the head,

Your whole body,

Your whole body,

Your whole body.

I'm resting in presence,

I'm practicing yogic sleep.

Be aware of the inner space of the body and the inner life.

Here,

Just meet yourself and recognize your own life energy.

You experience the space inside you,

In which all of your life is held,

All of your experiences,

All of your creativity.

Allow yourself to experience space.

Feel your mind as energy and notice how this energy moves as your thoughts move.

Notice that you can notice this feeling of movement without judging or criticizing and simply allow the energy to be there.

Do not enter the thoughts,

Just notice them arising and falling.

We begin to notice and feel the space between the thoughts,

The space between our consciousness and our thoughts and the space between our awareness and the energy field of thought.

You can feel the space inside your own body,

The solid feeling of your own body and the wear of the space within.

You are aware of the sense of life that occupies all the space within you.

Resting in your bed,

Resting in yourself,

In your safe space,

The breath moving gently,

The space in the breath,

The space behind the breath,

The space in your heart,

The space within your whole being and your whole being in space.

Resting in the space of your own life,

Gently aware of the feeling of wholeness,

The space that is your own life.

I'm resting in presence,

I'm practicing yogic sleep and now the sensation of opposites.

Allow yourself to feel your whole body becoming light,

Almost as if your body floats up from the bed and floats toward the ceiling.

Your head is light and weightless,

Your limbs are light and weightless,

Your torso floating,

The whole body,

There is no feeling of gravity pulling on you,

Your bones are full of space and light and you are rising higher and higher as you near the level of the ceiling.

Gently let that lightness go and replace it with a feeling of heaviness so that you slowly descend back to the bed,

Becoming heavier,

Sinking deeper into the bed.

Heaviness in the legs,

Heaviness in the hands,

Perhaps one hand is more heavy than the other,

Heaviness in your arms,

Heaviness in your head.

This heaviness is coming from within you,

The solidity and denseness of your body,

Heavier and heavier,

Pressing down into the bed,

So heavy,

So heavy.

And then just letting this heaviness go.

I'm resting in presence,

I'm practicing yogic sleep and now the chakra sequence for energy balance and the deepest rest in your life.

Imagine in your mind's eye a warm golden light,

About the size of a tennis ball,

Pulsating gently and slowly about 10 centimeters above your head.

Its pulsations emit a warmth that is relaxing,

Healing,

Reassuring.

Bring this warm golden light into your crown region,

Invite this light into your body.

Feel its slow pulsations spreading through the top of your head.

If you listen carefully,

You may hear the sound,

Aum.

Now the light moves naturally to your third eye region and sinks toward the mid area of your brain.

This slowly pulsating light bringing relaxation and peace to this region.

You will notice yourself becoming less anxious,

Thoughts becoming more peaceful.

You may hear the sound,

Aum.

The golden light moves to the throat chakra,

Its gentle pulsations here calm the self-talk,

The chatter.

There is a positive feeling of self here.

You may hear the sound,

Aum.

The golden light now moves to the heart chakra.

Notice the radiating warmth.

Notice feelings of compassion,

Love and caring.

You hear the sound,

Aum.

The golden light moves to the solar plexus.

Notice any feelings of fear being dispersed by this pulsating light.

The body relaxes even more.

There is a feeling of certainty,

Of homecoming.

Hear the sound,

Aum.

The golden light moves gently to the sacral chakra,

Just below the navel.

As the light pulsates,

There is a growing feeling of balance,

Satisfaction,

Safety.

Hear the sound,

Aum.

The light moves to the root chakra at the base of the spine by the perineum.

You feel yourself becoming strongly grounded.

You belong here.

This is your home.

You feel stable,

Confident and strong.

Hear the sound,

Laum.

The golden light continues moving slowly down your legs into the soles of your feet.

Feel it pulsating its warmth.

Your feet are becoming noticeably warmer,

Adding to the deep sense of safety and comfort that you feel.

I am resting in presence.

I am practicing yogic sleep.

And so to the visualizations.

With your mind's eye,

Picture a path in front of you,

Leading from wherever you are off into the distance.

You are not sure where this path leads,

But it seems to be inviting you to come.

You are drawn by your curiosity to see where it leads.

As soon as you make the decision to follow the path,

You notice yourself walking along it,

Easily.

The scenery slowly changes from where you are to an open,

Green pasture.

You notice a fresh wind blowing through the tall grasses.

The swaying of the grass almost covers the path,

But you walk confidently forward,

Feeling the grass brush your way.

Breathing deeply of the fresh air that fills your lungs.

The sky is blue.

There are some white,

Puffy clouds.

And the sun shines more.

The path enters a forest,

And you find yourself surrounded by trees of every sort.

Sun filters through the leaves.

You notice it is cooler here,

But warmly so,

And inviting.

You feel welcome here,

And move on.

The path begins to send slowly towards a babbling river.

You see its clear waters,

And stop for a second to drink refreshingly from the stream.

After drinking deeply,

You look up and are surprised to see a beautiful stag on the path ahead of you.

He is a strong and noble figure.

There seems to be a recognition taking place in your minds between you and him.

There is no fear,

Only calm strength.

He bids you to follow him.

You follow the stag.

Trust him completely.

You have no fear.

You rejoice in the beauty of the forest and the company of your guide.

Eventually,

After a long time walking,

The stag leads you to a clearing in which stands a charming cottage.

As you enter the cottage,

You bid farewell to the stag,

Knowing that you will see him again as needed.

The inside of the cottage is warmed by a fireplace.

There are some comfortable chairs and other furniture there.

You can smell the aroma of delicious food slowly cooking.

You know this has all been prepared for you,

That you are safe here,

And you are welcome.

Suddenly feeling very,

Very tired,

You are drawn to a huge bed covered in duvets of the softest down.

You are tired after your long trip.

You climb into the bed under the duvet,

Feeling its welcoming warmth envelop you.

You promise to yourself that you will happily explore the cottage more later.

For now,

Sleep catches you just before you go to sleep.

You remember your suncow.

You remember your suncow.

And you take that seed with you,

Letting go into yourself.

There is nothing to disturb you,

Just the feeling of your body.

Your whole body.

Your whole body.

Your whole body.

Lie quietly in deep awareness and restful sleep.

Reviews

Wonderful time in the middle of the night - Through Yoga Nidra - It is a meditation of deep rest, where awareness blossoms even as the body sleeps.
Merci 💚🍃

This is a wonderful, soothing yoga nidra practice! It’s my new go to in the early morning hours when I can’t get back to sleep, but it’s too early to get up.

Nico, with all my thanks for a beautiful practice. I love your calming voice and the ocean sounds are perfect. The addition of the chakra healing was a wonderful surprise.

Fell asleep. Don’t remember. 12/12/24
Third time listening heard it all the way through. Loved it. Except that the waves in background were just as loud as the voice so that I often couldn’t hear the words clearly. Still met my need for deep relaxation.

Hi, thank you for this yoga nidra. It did guide me back to sleep. I have listened to JS’s yoga nidra for deep sleep for years. I notice you both are using the same script. How interesting. Are there scripts that teachers of the same discipline share?

Great! Thank you for this soothing, grounding, and quieting experience

Great practice, nice relaxing pace and gentle voice.
Thank you 🙏

Maybe one day I’ll get to hear the entire thing! That meditation is amazing….thank you❣️

Very calming and relaxing. The background sound maybe a bit too loud compared to the voice, but I got used to it quickly. The chanting somewhere in the middle made me more awake, perhaps not the best choice for a sleep yoga nidra. But I think I fell asleep towards the end of the meditation.