40-Minute Yoga Nidra For Relaxation And Sleep
Yoga Nidra has a very specific set of instructions, but you don't need to memorize them. This track will guide you through the steps. Yoga Nidra is a form of meditation, and, while it's not meant to put you to sleep, it can. Yoga Nidra is well-known as a treatment for those who struggle with PTSD. It's now an integral part of many yoga studios. Yoga Nidra is best practiced lying comfortably in savasana (corpse pose) with a pillow or rolled blanket under your head, and a blanket covering you, if you tend to get cold.
Transcript
Please get ready for Yoga Nidra.
Lie down in Shavasana.
On your back,
Your body stretched out,
Feet apart,
The palms of the hands turned upwards,
And your eyes closed.
We will start the practice on our back by chanting the vibration Aum three times.
Inhale,
Aum.
Make all the necessary adjustments so that you are as comfortable as possible.
There must be no movement.
Remember that you are about to practice Yoga Nidra,
Psychic sleep,
And that you have only to maintain awareness of hearing and feeling.
The body sleeps,
But the mind remains awake.
You must remain alert so that you do not sleep.
Say to yourself mentally,
I will not sleep.
I will remain awake.
Take a deep breath,
And as you breathe in,
Feel coolness and calmness spreading throughout the body.
As you breathe out,
Feel your cares and worries flowing out of you,
Dropping away.
Become aware of your body and relax yourself completely.
Make yourself physically calm and steady.
Feel that the legs are relaxed,
The trunk,
The head,
The arms,
And hands.
Develop the awareness of your physical body right from the top of your head to the tip of the toes.
And now just say in your mind,
Aum.
Complete awareness of the whole body.
Say to yourself again,
Aum.
Relax your whole body mentally.
Relax yourself mentally.
Relax yourself by breathing normally and becoming aware of the breath as it moves between the navel and throat.
Awareness of your natural breath.
No forcing.
Navel to throat breathing.
Please go on with this awareness and slowly feel yourself becoming more relaxed.
Now leave your breathing and become aware that you are going to practice Yoga Nidra.
Yoga Nidra begins now.
Now is the time to make your resolve.
Be consistent.
Plant the resolve at one place and do not change it.
Certainly the resolve will come true if the soil is perfect.
Repeat your resolve to yourself with feeling and awareness three times.
And now awareness of the parts of the body.
The consciousness should move around the body and keep on moving.
As it moves,
It changes into prana,
The vital energy in the form of a current of energy.
Do not concentrate on any one part,
But let your mind jump freely from one part to the next.
Right hand thumb.
Second finger.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Palm.
Back of the hand.
Wrist.
Lower arm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Armpit.
Waist.
Hip.
Right thigh.
Kneecap.
Calf muscle.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole.
Top of the foot.
Right toes.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Left hand thumb.
Second finger.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Palm of the hand.
Back of the hand.
Wrist.
Lower arm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Armpit.
Waist.
Hip.
Left thigh.
Kneecap.
Calf muscle.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole.
Top of the foot.
Left toes.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Go to the right big toes.
The right toes and start from the bottom.
The big toe.
The second toe.
The third.
The fourth.
The fifth.
The top of the foot.
Sole.
Heel.
Ankle.
Calf muscle.
Kneecap.
Thigh.
Hip.
Waist.
Armpit.
Shoulder.
Upper arm.
Elbow.
Lower arm.
Wrist.
Back of the hand.
Palm of the hand.
Right thumb.
Second finger.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Go to the left toes.
Left big toe.
Second toe.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Top of the foot.
Sole.
Heel.
Ankle.
Calf muscle.
Kneecap.
Thigh.
Hip.
Waist.
Armpit.
Shoulder.
Upper arm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Lower arm.
Wrist.
Back of the hand.
Palm of the hand.
Left thumb.
Second finger.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Now we will go down the whole back of the body.
Go to the back of the head where it touches the floor.
Back of the head.
Right shoulder blade.
Left shoulder blade.
Whole spine.
Right hip.
Left hip.
Right buttock.
Left buttock.
Back of the head.
Back of the right thigh.
Back of the left thigh.
Back of the right knee.
Back of the left knee.
Right calf muscle.
Left calf muscle.
Right ankle.
Left ankle.
Right heel.
Left heel.
Now we will go back up.
Right ankle.
Left ankle.
Right calf muscle.
Left calf muscle.
Back of the right knee.
Back of the left knee.
Back of the right thigh.
Back of the left thigh.
Right buttock.
Left buttock.
Right hip.
Left hip.
Whole spine.
Right shoulder blade.
Left shoulder blade.
Back of the head.
Now go to the front of the body.
Go to the top of the head.
Top of the head.
Forehead.
Right eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
The space between the eyebrows.
Right eyelid.
Left eyelid.
Right eye.
Left eye.
Right ear.
Left ear.
Right nostril.
Left nostril.
Right cheek.
Left cheek.
Upper lip.
Lower lip.
Chin.
Jaw.
Throat.
Right collarbone.
Left collarbone.
Right chest.
Left chest.
Middle of the chest.
Navel.
Upper abdomen.
Lower abdomen.
Right groin.
Left groin.
Right thigh.
Left thigh.
Right knee.
Left knee.
Right toes.
Left toes.
Now going back up the front of the body.
Right toes.
Left toes.
Right knee.
Left knee.
Right thigh.
Left thigh.
Right groin.
Left groin.
Lower abdomen.
Upper abdomen.
Navel.
Right chest.
Left chest.
Middle of the chest.
Right collarbone.
Left collarbone.
Throat.
Jaw.
Chin.
Lower lip.
Upper lip.
Right cheek.
Left cheek.
Right nostril.
Left nostril.
Right ear.
Left ear.
Right eye.
Left eye.
Right eyelid.
Left eyelid.
Right eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
Eyebrow center.
Forehead.
Top of the head.
Now the major parts of the body.
The whole of the right leg.
The whole of the left leg.
Both legs together.
The whole of the right arm.
The whole of the left arm.
Both arms together.
Whole of the back.
Together.
Whole of the front.
Together.
Whole of the head.
Together.
The whole body.
Whole body.
Whole body.
Visualize the whole body.
Intensify your awareness.
The whole body.
The whole body.
The whole body.
Become aware of the meeting points between your body and the floor.
Feel the meeting points between the body and the floor.
Sharp meeting points.
Body and floor.
Feel the floor holding you to its bosom like a baby in arms.
Now concentrate on your body as if you were seeing it from the outside.
Look on your body as an object.
See your head,
Your clothes,
Your whole body from top to bottom.
Lying in the dead man's pose on the floor.
See your body as an object.
A reflection in an imaginary mirror.
You are looking at your own reflection in the mirror and you see yourself lying on the floor.
Your feet.
Your legs.
Abdomen.
Chest.
Arms.
Hands.
Clothing.
Nose.
Closed eyes.
Forehead.
Hair.
Everything reflected in that mirror.
Awareness of your body as an object.
Make sure you are not sleeping.
Bring your attention to the natural,
Quiet breath.
Become aware of the breath through the nostrils.
The natural breath flows through both nostrils.
And meets at the top of the nose to form a triangle.
The spontaneous breath enters through the nostril openings,
Moves upward,
And draws together to form a triangle with its apex in the eyebrow center.
Be aware of the breath passing through both nostrils.
Become aware of both breaths separately and simultaneously.
Think of the breaths as starting separately from a distance,
Drawing near,
And uniting in the eyebrow center.
Now concentrate on each breath and try to determine its temperature.
Move back and forth and compare the temperatures.
In yoga,
We say the left nostril breath is Ida,
Moon,
And the right is Pingala,
Sun.
Ida,
The left breath,
Is cooler.
Pingala,
The right breath,
Is warmer.
Continue your awareness of breathing,
But imagine you are now breathing through alternate nostrils,
In through one nostril and out through the other,
Up and down the sides of the triangle and back again.
Maintain your awareness and start counting each breath with full attention.
Inhale left,
27.
Exhale right,
27.
Inhale right,
26.
Exhale left,
26.
And so on,
Continuing counting and breathing to zero.
Total awareness of counting and breathing.
If you make a mistake or reach zero,
Start again from 27.
Inhaling left,
Exhaling right,
Inhaling right,
Exhaling left.
Stop your counting and remain aware of your breath only.
Inhaling evenly through both nostrils.
Total awareness.
No sleeping.
No sleeping,
Please.
Heaviness.
Awaken the experience of heaviness in the whole body.
Become aware of the heaviness in each part of the body as it is named.
Toes,
Heels,
Ankles,
Calves,
Knees,
Thighs,
Buttocks,
Back,
Abdomen,
Chest,
Shoulders,
Arms,
Wrists,
Palms,
Head,
Eyelids,
The whole body heavy.
The whole body heavy.
The whole body heavy.
Experience this feeling of heaviness in the whole body.
Lightness.
Manifest the experience of lightness in the body.
Manifest the feeling of lightness from the top.
From the top of the head,
The whole head,
Shoulders,
Palms,
Back,
Chest,
Abdomen,
Thighs,
Knees,
Wrists,
Calves,
Heels,
Soles,
Toes.
Manifest the experience of lightness in the whole body from top to toe.
The lightness of the body can be developed by feeling the meeting points between the body and the floor point by point or as a whole,
A whole surface of body,
Floor meeting.
Concentrate on this area of meeting and gradually experience lightness.
Feel yourself floating up from the floor.
You are so light that you are floating to the ceiling,
Drifting back and forth.
Continue this experience until lightness is manifest.
Go on.
Pain.
Recollect the experience of pain,
Any kind of pain you have experienced in your life,
Head pain,
Stomach pain,
Any physical pain or mental pain.
Everyone has experienced pain at some time in their life.
Remember that pain.
Feel that pain.
Try to make that experience of pain as clear as possible.
Deepen your awareness and feel that pain intensely,
Deeply,
Acutely.
Continue to concentrate on the experience of pain.
Pleasure.
Try to experience the feeling of pleasure,
Any pleasure.
Concentrate and remember the feeling of pleasure.
It may be according to your sense of touch,
Smell,
Taste,
Hearing,
Or sight,
Any kind of mental pleasure.
Recall that pleasure and try to develop it into an intense,
Ecstatic experience.
Think of an ocean.
Think of a dark blue ocean and become aware of the waves.
That ocean lies within the inner space,
The Siddhakasha,
And the rolling waves represent sleep,
The manifesting unconscious state of your mind.
Become aware of sleep and try to visualize this state of unconsciousness within you like waves on an ocean.
Above is a beautiful blue sky and below is the vast ocean with infinite waves,
The manifesting process of unconsciousness.
Imagine a well and that you are looking into it.
The well is dark and deep.
A cylindrical tunnel into the depths of the earth.
There is a bucket on a chain.
You lower it into the well and it moves into abysmal darkness.
You can feel it on the chain,
In the depths,
But you cannot see it.
Now pull the bucket up,
Up out of the darkness and into the light.
Let's lower the bucket again,
But this time if you wish you can get into the bucket and I will lower you down and pull you up,
Perfectly safe.
Now the bucket is winding down.
You are descending slowly through the light and moving into the darkness,
Unknown,
All-pervading darkness.
Complete darkness and emptiness all around.
So dark you cannot see yourself,
But you can know and feel that you are.
You descend a little further with complete awareness that you are.
Now I am winding you up,
Up through the darkness and into the dim light,
From the dim light into daylight and out of the well.
Now ask yourself,
What am I thinking?
Do not think,
But become aware of the spontaneous thought process.
Become a witness.
Do not suppress any thought.
Try to witness your thoughts and ask yourself again and again,
What am I thinking?
At the same time maintain total awareness of any thought that is passing through the visible frame of your consciousness.
Now you have to concentrate on yourself as if you are doing asanas,
Yoga poses.
You should try to visualize yourself from the outside doing the poses with psychic awareness only.
Do not move your body.
Practice mentally.
Salute to the sun.
Surya Namaskara.
See yourself in each of the poses.
Now you are lying down.
Visualize yourself in Shavasana,
Dead man's pose.
From Shavasana you move to Sarvangasana,
Shoulder stand.
Halasana,
Plow,
And the counter pose,
Matsyasana,
Fish.
Now Paschimatsanasana,
Forward bend.
Pujangasana,
Cobra.
Turn over.
Padmasana,
Lotus.
And then,
Sirsasana,
Headstand.
Check that you are not sleeping.
Now you are going to travel into your past in the same way you have traveled from the past to the present.
Retracing the steps of your memory and consciousness backwards from this time.
The past is part of time,
And time is part of your mind.
Normally you walk forward in time.
This time,
Try and walk backwards.
By remembering your past,
You are going into the deeper excesses of your consciousness,
Deep into the recesses of your mind.
Try to remember what happened from the present time to the time you got up this morning.
You have to go back in time as if you were watching a film running in reverse,
Or if not a film,
A series of slides.
Remember back to the start of the Yoga Nidra.
Then recall what you were doing in the half hour before that.
Remember the important objects and feelings in that time,
And then keep on proceeding in half hour or one hour stages to when you woke up.
Stage by stage,
With full awareness,
Visualize and recall what you were doing,
Thinking,
And feeling.
Now bring your mind directly back to the present.
Bring your awareness to the present,
And make sure you are not sleeping.
No sleeping,
Please.
I'm going to name a few objects,
And you should try to visualize them on the levels of feeling,
Awareness,
Emotion,
And imagination as best you can.
You should move as fast as I go,
Jumping your mind from image to image.
Do not waste your time concentrating on any one image,
But keep moving.
Flickering candle,
Weeping willow tree,
Tall palm tree,
Moving on a road,
Colored clouds gathering,
Yellow clouds,
Blue clouds,
Starlit night,
Full moon,
A dog standing,
A cat reposing,
An elephant moving,
A horse racing,
A rising sun,
A setting sun,
Ocean with waves,
Blue lotus,
White lotus,
Pink lotus,
A big pond with clear water,
Golden spider web,
Sandy bank of a wide river,
A boat sailing on the water,
See the ripples,
Yourself lying down without clothes,
Completely naked,
Golden cord extending from your navel into the sky,
A worshipper kneeling,
Chimney smoke rising from an old house,
A cold winter,
A fire burning in the house,
Dawn of the day,
Temple bell ringing,
A yogi sitting in deep meditation.
Intensify your awareness,
Intensify your awareness,
And go to an infinite ocean,
Calm and quiet,
And try to discover a sound there.
There is a sound,
An infinite ocean,
Dark green jungles on the shore,
Snakes,
Lions,
And goats living in friendliness.
From the shore,
A path leads to a lonely cottage in the jungle,
And a yogi is sitting outside in lotus pose.
There is a fire and a smell of incense,
The fragrance of flowers,
And an atmosphere of tranquility.
All around can be heard the sound of Aum,
The chanting of Aum over the infinite ocean.
Become a witness of your awareness.
Not the body,
Not the senses,
Not the mind,
Nothing but the different awareness.
Become aware that you are observing yourself.
Look within and try to be aware of the one who is looking,
Who is aware of what you have been doing so far.
Go into Shiddhakasha.
Go into the cave of darkness within.
Within that cave,
There is a flaming light.
Find that light.
Find that light and find a small golden egg in the center of the light.
A small golden egg,
Very bright,
With light all around.
Now relax all efforts and bring your attention to the natural breath.
Resolve.
Resolve.
Resolve.
Now you should remember your resolve and repeat it three times.
With maximum feeling and awareness,
Three times.
Now relax all efforts and bring your attention to the breath.
The natural breath flowing in and out of the nostrils.
Maintain your awareness of the breath and at the same time develop your awareness of physical relaxation.
Awareness of relaxation and awareness of your physical existence.
Become aware of the physical existence of your body.
Develop awareness of your body and visualize your body lying on the floor.
Take your mind out and visualize the surrounding room.
Let your mind become completely external.
Do not open your eyes.
You are practicing Yoga Nidra.
Become aware of this fact.
Lie quietly until your attention is completely externalized.
Then start moving,
Moving your body and stretching yourself.
Please take your time.
There is no hurry.
When you are sure that you are wide awake,
Sit up slowly and open your eyes.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
