Yoga Nidra For Releasing Stress And Anxiety

This will offer you deep rest, release you from anxiety or worry loops, and free up your mind to find clarity and insight. Find more spaciousness and ease with this comforting practice. Settle into a comfortable spot and allow yourself to drift into this deeply meditative yoga nidra.

Together we will use gentle breath awareness and comforting visualizations to relieve stress, find grounding, and allow more space in our minds.

Transcript

Welcome to your Yoga Nidra practice.

So find a comfortable space.

A comfy spot where you won't be interrupted.

A quiet room.

Perhaps you're laying down on your bed,

On a sofa,

Or on the floor.

Wherever you are,

Make sure that you are entirely comfortable.

Make sure that you're warm enough to blankets,

Socks,

Pillows.

Everything that you need so that you can find and settle into a cocoon of comfort.

Once you get to this comfortable space,

Take a deep breath in.

And sigh.

And feel as though you're able to release softly.

We'll do that again.

Take a deep breath in.

And you fill up onto your belly,

Into your ribs,

Into your shoulders.

And find a deep sigh and a release.

And the shoulders relax.

The neck softens.

The head becomes heavy.

Breathe in again fully.

Your belly expands.

Your ribcage expands.

You fill up full of air.

And breathe out deeply.

You feel your chest soften.

Your belly go soft.

And your hips release.

Breathe in deeply.

You expand as fully as you possibly can into your torso with as much breath.

And then exhale.

Feel your legs become heavy.

Your feet become heavy.

And the toes go soft.

And then allow yourself to return to a natural rhythm of breath.

Breathing in and out through your nostrils.

Slowly.

Not making any effort.

Allowing your natural breath to rise and fall as it needs.

And you begin to notice your breath.

The length of the inhale.

There's a pause at the top of the inhale where you've stopped breathing in.

You're no longer breathing out.

And then the exhale begins.

There's a pause at the bottom of the exhale.

You've stopped breathing out.

You're not yet breathing in.

And then you watch the inhale rise from somewhere deep within.

And the cycle begins again.

Watch these four parts of the breath.

Inhaling.

A pause at the top where the breath is turning.

Exhaling.

And the rest at the bottom where the breath is turning once more.

And a new cycle rises from somewhere deep within.

Notice how this cycle of breath could be mirrored in the changing of the seasons.

The beginning of the inhale are the first signs of spring.

And as the inhale rises you see the blossoms lift onto the trees and the flowers begin to bloom.

You reach the top of the inhale and it's the height of summer where it's full of energy,

Full of life.

And the exhale starts the descent down through the autumn of the breath.

You see the leaves turn brown and begin to fall off of the trees.

And you drop down into the bottom of the exhale,

The winter night time,

Where there's nothing left to do but to rest and wait for a new cycle to begin again.

And it does begin again.

Follow this trend,

This natural pattern of your breath,

As if it was mirroring the seasons.

Pay particular attention to the space at the bottom of the exhale,

The night time of the breath,

The winter.

And without causing any strain,

Let yourself spend even just a microsecond longer at the bottom of the exhale.

Only long enough that you can explore it for a little longer without causing any discomfort.

You still have comfortable,

Natural,

Rhythmic breath.

The next time you're at the bottom of the exhale,

You see your body as if it were the night sky.

In your mind's eye,

Your body has now become a dark,

Clear,

Spacious night sky.

And we'll place stars at different landmarks of this night sky of the body.

As I name each body part,

Place a star there.

You don't need to do anything.

You don't need to move in any way.

Place a star in the night sky of your body with your imagination,

With your awareness.

A star at the space between the eyebrows.

Place a bright,

Shining star at the space between the eyebrows.

A shining star at both eyes.

A star at the tip of the nose.

A star on both cheekbones.

A star on both of the corners of the mouth.

The upper lip.

The lower lip.

A star at the root of the tongue.

The tip of the tongue.

The roof of the mouth.

The floor of the mouth.

The right cheek and the left cheek.

Place a star now at the chin.

And both sides of the jaw.

Your awareness drops deeper down to the space at the base of the throat where you place a star there.

Spreading across the collarbones,

We land a star deep inside both of the collarbones.

A star in both shoulders.

Upper arms.

Elbows.

Forearms.

Wrists.

A star in the palms of the hands.

The backs of the hands.

And a star at the tip in turn of each of the thumbs.

Index fingers.

Middle fingers.

Ring fingers and little fingers.

And your awareness now travels all the way back up the constellation of stars from your fingers through your arms and your shoulders.

And you feel your fingers,

Arms,

Shoulders,

Neck and face.

Calm,

Spacious like the night sky.

And filled with the light of your awareness.

Filled with a constellation of bright shining stars.

Land your awareness at the space between the collarbones.

And let your awareness drop deeper now into the space at the center of the chest.

Bright shining star here.

A star at both armpits.

Both sides of the waist.

A star at the belly button.

All the way down to the base of the pelvis.

Right at the bottom of the pelvis.

Both sides of the hips.

A star in each of the thighs.

Knees.

Lower legs.

Ankles.

A star in the tops of both of the feet.

And the two big toes.

Second toes.

Third toes.

Fourth toes.

Fifth toes.

A star at the soles of both of the feet.

The insteps.

And the heels.

And up the back of the body now we place a star in the Achilles tendons.

A star in each of the calves.

At the backs of the knees.

The backs of the thighs and the buttocks.

A star at the very tip of the tailbone.

At the back of the pelvis.

Both sides of the hip.

And all the way up the length of the spine we'll place a star at different parts.

At the space at the back of the navel.

The space at the back of the heart.

The space at the back of the throat.

And all the way up to a space at the back of the skull.

And finally we land a star at the crown of the head.

Your awareness takes a step back for a moment.

And it sees the night time of your body.

Calm.

Resting.

Still.

And fully alive with the light of conscious awareness.

A constellation of stars in the landmarks of the night sky of the body.

Softly sharing their light.

Offering deep rest as you breathe.

And sink deeper into softness.

Feel how with each inhale it's as if the stars shine a little brighter.

Become more potent.

And with each exhale it's as if they lift a little out of your body.

Out past the barriers that we know,

The physical boundaries of the skin.

The inhale brings them back to their starting point where they shine brightly.

And the exhale gives them more space.

Let's them lift a little higher.

Explore this movement with your breath.

Allowing the stars to grow out from the boundaries that we know of the body.

And allowing them to land in their original space within the body.

Shining brighter.

Full of life.

And then let that exploration go.

Let go of this image.

Feel now your body resting here in this space.

Experience the space just underneath the soles of the feet and in between the toes.

Experience the space in between the fingers and just in front of the palms of the hands.

You experience the space all around you and yet you're fully aware of your legs,

Your glutes,

Your back and your head.

Resting,

Grounded,

Steady with the support beneath.

And with each exhale it's as if you're tapping back into this feeling of resting upon the earth.

The comfort of the support beneath you.

The warmth of the clothes that touch your skin.

The coolness of the air that breezes past your skin.

You feel at once deeply rested and yet spacious and free.

Fully rooted,

Grounded and earthed.

And yet more space,

More freedom to be you.

Allow yourself deeper rounds of breath now.

And you notice more the inhale.

As if with each passing inhale it brings you to more of a state of wakefulness.

It brings you back into the waking world.

You see with your mind's eye your body resting here on this support,

Wearing these clothes on this day,

In this room.

Gently and in your own time wriggle your fingers,

Wriggle your toes,

Introduce movement.

Find your way to resting on one side or the other.

Take your time as you move back into your day.

Thank you for sharing this practice.

Namaste.

Reviews

I love your voice, the breathing, the seasons and the stars.