Yoga Nidra For Body, Mind & Heart

The purpose of a traditional yoga nidra is to allow the body to sleep whilst the mind stays awake and alert. All you have to do is listen, there is no right or wrong way. Very often, during the practice, we find ourselves moving into different brainwave states, as the mind resides in levels of consciousness that are different from our usual daily awake state. So if you find yourself drifting, or missing some of the practice, that's good, it is a normal response to the practice.

Transcript

Namaste and welcome to this practice of Yoga Nidra. Yoga Nidra is a traditional yogic practice that translates as sleep of the yogis. It is designed to allow the body to rest fully while the mind stays awake and alert. Throughout the practice all you need to do is listen to the sound of my voice. So just begin now by making sure that your body is comfortable, That you're settled down either on a mat, On the floor perhaps or on a bed and that you have all the props available to you to make yourself comfortable. You may want to put a thin pillow or folded blanket under your neck and head and you may want to rest the knees over a cushion. You might like to prop the heels onto something softer if you're on the floor and I would recommend that you cover yourself with a blanket because as the body begins to relax and calm down it may begin to feel more cold. If you have an eye bag you may like to place the eye bag over your eyes with the weight of the bag on the forehead and the fabric just covering the eyes. So just making whatever preparations you need to make now in order to make yourself warm and comfortable. Perhaps having a little wriggle around to ease the body into a little more comfort. Maybe taking the head from side to side a few times easing away any tension in the neck and shoulders and perhaps on an inhale raising one leg and pushing the heel away stretching from the hip all the way down to the heel and then with the out-breath replacing the leg back down onto the floor and allow the ankle to rotate and the foot to fold out towards the side. Repeating this with your other leg now breathing in and raising the heel away from the floor pushing the heel away from you and then replacing the heel back down onto the floor again allow the ankle to soften and relax as the foot folds out towards the side. Widen across the shoulder blades let the arms rest heavy on the floor beside you and begin to become aware of your body now resting on the floor noticing in your mind's eye whatever your body is wearing any blanket that might be covering your body noticing the connection between the back of your body and the floor or the bed beneath you and then bringing your attention to the breath and just beginning to notice the body as it breathes itself allow the breath to be in its own natural rhythm no need to change anything. I'm noticing the breath as it comes into the body and the breath as it goes back out throughout this practice we will enable a sankalpa and your sankalpa is your purpose or your intention and you may already have a sankalpa and if you don't you may not just like to leave a space of awareness because your sankalpa will come to you when it's ready so keeping the awareness on the breath for a few more breath rounds feeling the body beginning to settle into its position and just ensuring now that there are no more movements you need to make with the body in order that it can be still throughout the practice and if throughout the practice you feel an urge to move your body then you may like to just watch that urge for a few moments and see if it goes before actually moving the body if of course you have to move the body then please do so I am practicing yoga nidra I am practicing yoga nidra yoga nidra is the form of my attention and I'll bring that attention and awareness now to my sankalpa my purpose or intention and if you have a sankalpa just repeating that to yourself now silently for three times and if you don't just leave that space of awareness and so now we're bringing ourselves to what's called a rotation of consciousness and we'll take the mind around to various points of the body and as I mentioned each part just place your awareness on that part of your body if you wish you can silently silently repeat the part of the body to yourself or you can just imagine a light shining on that part of your body bring your awareness now to your right hand begin to notice your right thumb index finger middle finger ring finger little finger noticing the palm of your right hand and the back of the hand the wrist the forearm the elbow the upper arm and the shoulder noticing the whole of the right hand arm and shoulder and then bring your awareness across to your left hand begin to notice the left thumb index finger middle finger ring finger and little finger bring the awareness to the palm of your left hand the back of the hand the wrist forearm elbow upper arm and the left shoulder noticing now the space between the collarbones the left side of the chest the right side of the chest the center of the chest be aware of your heart beating in the center of your chest and then move your awareness down to your solar plexus your navel and your pubic bones become aware of your right hip the front of the right thigh back of the right thigh back of the knee the front of the knee the shin the calf the ankle the right foot the right big toe second toe third toe fourth toe and fifth toe the top of the right foot the sole of the right foot and the heel move your awareness back up through the right foot and the leg all the way back to the right hip joint and be aware of the whole of the leg and the foot and then take your awareness across to the left hip joint the front of the left thigh the back of the thigh the back of the knee joint and the front of the knee the shin the calf the left ankle the left big toe second toe third toe fourth toe fifth toe top of the left foot the sole of the foot and the heel draw your awareness up from the left foot all the way up through the left leg into the left hip joint and be aware of the whole of the leg and the foot take your awareness round now into the tailbone at the base of the spine be aware of a softness in the tailbone move your awareness into the lower back the middle of your back and your upper back feeling all those different points of your back sinking down into the earth become aware of your left shoulder blade your right shoulder blade and the space between the shoulder blades be aware of the back of your right shoulder the back of your left shoulder the back of the neck the back of the head the crown of the head and the forehead notice your left temple and your right temple be aware of your eyebrows your right eyelid softly closed over the right eye your left eyelid softly closed over the left eye the tip of your nose right nostril left nostril the top lip the bottom lip the tongue resting in the mouth the roof of your mouth and the space inside your mouth become aware of your right cheek your left cheek your right ear and inside the ear your left ear and inside the ear notice your jawline from left to right and your chin be aware of the front of your throat the space between your collarbones the center of your chest become aware once more of your breathing noticing the breath and noticing the lungs as they rise and fall with the breath feeling a sense of expansion with the in breath the chest grows wide and release with the out breath the chest sinks down noticing with the in breath the body feeling lighter with every in breath the body feels lighter and with every out breath the body feels heavier noticing a sense of heaviness with every out breath body breathing in becoming lighter breathing out becoming heavier and noticing how it feels for the body to feel heavy and light at the same time a sense of heaviness and lightness at the same time becoming aware of the whole of your body again feeling its weight settled relaxed on the floor feeling the whole of your left side the whole of your right side the whole of the back of your body the whole of the top of your body the whole body the whole body the whole of your body bringing your awareness back to your San Calpa if you have one and again repeating your sound Calpa three times with feeling and conviction and again if you don't yet have a San Calpa just allow a space of awareness for one to be there and then beginning to become aware of the sounds around you inside your room if you're indoors and also outside allowing the sounds to pass by as if you are an antenna picking up the sounds but giving them no meaning at all just allowing them to be there becoming aware of how you feel now in your body how does my body feel in your mind how does my mind feel and in your heart how does my heart feel I have been practicing yoga nidra I have been practicing yoga nidra the practice of yoga nidra allows me to rest my body and this practice is now over so just begin now to make a few movements with your fingers and toes becoming more aware of the external world around you feeling the temperature of the air on your face and as you wriggle your fingers and toes you may like to roll over now onto one side or to draw the knees into the chest and rock gently from side to side just listening to your body and doing whatever feels right for you you can either remain here now and rest or if you prefer you can open your eyes and very slowly and mindfully bring yourself up into sitting I very much hope that you've enjoyed this practice of yoga nidra that your body and your mind feel better for it that your heart feels open and wide and strengthened thank you um shanti shanti shanti

Reviews

That was lovely. Perfect for a brief afternoon rest with eye compress. Calm quiet background; no music. Gentle guidance. Perfect speed. So soothing. I dipped down into deep rest. 7/19/23