Try Softer Yoga Nidra 2

A yoga nidra that follows a traditional format. Guided in a gentle and compassionate manner. The visualisation is to enhance confidence and self-worth. The is no music. This practice helps you achieve the rest and relaxation you need to energise yourself day-to-day.

Transcript

Welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra.

Yoga Nidra is practiced lying down in Shavasana to finding a comfortable place on the floor and using any pillows you need for support,

Maybe placing one under the knees to allow the lower back a bit more space or behind the neck to support that area.

Then finding some comfort,

Making any adjustments you need,

Taking a few deep relaxing grounding breaths,

Letting the body relax with each exhale.

The practice of Yoga Nidra acknowledges that you do not need to be consciously aware during the meditation.

Nidra accepts that the subconscious mind is always running,

Always alert.

As a result you can still achieve the benefits of Nidra even when you are not consciously aware of the meditation.

For Nidra it is better to gently listen to the instructions but if your mind wanders off repeatedly there is no need for concern or judgment.

Your subconscious mind is still listening.

Even if you fall asleep the subconscious mind is still listening.

Through Nidra we move from physical relaxation to mental relaxation.

Then when the body and mind are deeply relaxed the subconscious mind is more accessible and we can clear up tensions and self-limiting attitudes that may reside there.

We start Nidra by making a resolve or a sankalpa.

This is an affirmation or intention regarding something you would like to do or achieve.

Rather than focusing on the outcome let your sankalpa remind you of the qualities that you need to awaken from within to achieve your outcome.

Your sankalpa should be a short simple sentence that you can say with confidence.

Just spending the next few moments thinking of your sankalpa.

Then when you've decided on a sankalpa saying it to yourself three times letting the words in the sentence resonate around your body.

Now settling your awareness on the flow of your breath through your body.

Noting how the breath touches the body where does it cause sensations or movements?

Moving your breath down deeper observing the ebb and flow of your belly.

Allowing these deeper breaths to nourish your body with oxygen and letting the slow exhales move you closer to relaxation.

Then listening out for any sounds coming from the room you're in.

Noticing the difference between the loudest sounds and the softer ones.

Which sounds have a predictable rhythm and which don't.

Then listening out for sounds coming from outside your room and what characteristics do they have?

Remembering that if you have sounds in your area that you consider a disturbance.

Accepting that you can't control all that happens in an environment but you can control your reaction.

So always observe how you feel about a sound before reacting.

Now we will bring the nervous system on a journey around the body.

The logical flow from body part to body part and the awareness in each section will move the nervous system into a place of certainty and predictability.

This reinforces that you are in a safe place ready for deeper relaxation.

Bringing your awareness to your right thumb.

Becoming aware of any sensations or feelings around your right thumb.

Moving to your index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Baby finger and the palm of your right hand.

Observing any sensations in your right forearm,

Your elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder.

Moving across to the right side of your chest.

Bringing your awareness then to the right side of your abdomen to your right hip bone.

Moving then your right leg to your knee,

Past the shin to your ankle,

To the top of your right foot.

Then your big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Now gently guiding your attention to the left side of your body starting with your left thumb.

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Baby finger.

The palm of your left hand and moving up the left arm slowly past your elbow and towards your shoulder.

Then the left side of your chest,

Left side of the abdomen and your left hip bone.

Then slowly making your way down the left leg coming to your knee.

Gently down your shin to the top of your left foot.

Then big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Now bringing your awareness back to the right side of your body and just moving through the body parts a bit quicker this time.

Moving from the right hand up towards the right shoulder and then scanning down the whole right side of the body all the way to your toes.

And continue scanning from your toes up the right side of the body to your fingers and repeating And moving your awareness to the left side of your body and again starting at the left hand but moving at a quicker speed up towards the shoulder and all the way down the left side of the body to your toes and continuing this over and back for the next few moments.

Now bringing your awareness to the heels of your feet and observing their connection to the ground.

And moving through the areas at the back of your body in particular noticing the difference between the harder areas and the softer areas.

Moving past your calves to the areas behind your knees,

Your hamstrings,

Buttocks and slowly up through the spine.

Then around the shoulder blades and up further through the spine for coming to the back of your head.

Observing the connection between the ground or pillow and the back of your head.

And again just scanning those areas again from your heels all the way up the back parts of your body to your head.

And bringing your awareness to your forehead and just resting your attention there for a few moments observing any sensations in that area.

Then moving to your eyelids,

The tip of your nose,

Your lips,

Chin,

Chest,

Belly,

Hips,

Knees,

Shins,

Ankles,

And your toes.

And toes.

And then scanning all these areas again from your forehead and all the way down the front side of your body to your toes.

Scanning over and back across these areas.

Then moving away from scanning the body.

Often people have an apprehension around experiencing different emotions,

In particular negative emotions or feelings.

Now that we are in a calmer place and our nervous system is relaxed,

We will move through some opposing emotions or feelings in order to release subconscious tensions and begin to feel less fearful of the emotions or feelings.

Knowing that they are simply thoughts,

Feelings or emotions and that they will never be a permanent part of you.

I invite you now to generate the feeling of warmth around your body,

Heating up all the different parts of your body,

Generating the tingles that this strong warmth brings.

Now letting go of that warmth and generating a bitterly cold feeling.

Letting all parts of your body cool down dramatically.

Now feeling the emotion of sorrow coming over you.

Thinking of times that would help you generate this feeling of sorrow and observing how that feeling travels through the body.

And replacing sorrow with joy.

Bringing up times of immense joy in your life and observing the characteristics of joy around your body and mind.

Then moving to the feeling of pain.

It can be emotional,

Physical or mental pain.

Summoning any feeling of agony or distress you have experienced.

Then moving to pleasure.

Thinking of times you felt pure pleasure,

Elation and happiness and generating these feelings for the next few moments.

Now letting the body feel heavier and heavier.

Feeling your connection with the ground strengthening.

Feeling all parts of your body becoming heavier.

Then letting go of this heaviness and letting the body feel lighter.

Letting your body feel like it is floating.

The contact between you and the surface beneath is dissolving.

Now visualizing yourself in a small village high in the mountains.

You are in the center of the village where they have a small square.

Observing the buildings around the square and some of the plants and features that are in the square itself.

And noticing the cobbled streets.

Then looking above the buildings you can see some of the mountain peaks that surround this area.

Feeling excited that you are going to explore these areas.

Your bag is packed with everything you need and you are just waiting for your guide to meet you.

When your guide arrives you are impressed with a smile of enthusiasm on his face.

And you swing your bag over your shoulders and head off following him out of the village The streets and buildings give way to some fields and you have a direct view of a peak in front of you.

This is the one you are going to climb.

Behind the peak is a perfect blue sky.

The sun is warm but the cold mountain air keeps you at a perfect temperature.

You move through the fields into forested area.

And gradually you move past the tree line onto some rockier areas.

The path is still obvious getting a little steeper.

You notice the cool air traveling through your body.

As you move higher and higher the rocky areas are giving way to snow and ice.

Walking on the snow now your legs start to feel a bit heavier and each step becomes a bit harder.

After a while you feel the need to sit down and you take a seat turning around and looking down at the village seeing how small it is.

Looking back at the track you have taken and seeing how far you have come.

Gathering your breath you get ready to move again and start slowly walking through the snow getting closer and closer to the peak.

Your legs are becoming much tighter now and the air is getting thinner.

You decide to take another rest sitting down not knowing how much energy you have to keep going.

Your guide notices that you have taken a rest and comes back to speak to you.

As he gets closer you notice this enthusiastic smile still on his face.

He is enjoying every minute of this trip.

And as he gets closer he says to you you can,

You can,

You can and beckons you onwards.

These words resonate in your body and you feel the urge to say to yourself I can,

I can,

I can.

This motivates you to get moving again stepping through the snow bringing the peak closer to you.

After another while that same feeling of exhaustion comes over you.

You feel the need to sit down and take another rest.

Taking a few deeper breaths you start to feel more comfortable.

And then from deep down you feel the words rising up again I can,

I can,

I can.

And without thinking too much you are back on your feet and moving towards the peak.

This time energized by how close it is.

Ready to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Then when you've reached the peak feeling no urge to sit down at all standing there looking around seeing how far you've come from the village gazing into the other valleys and of the other peaks.

Complete joy on your face and a sense of achievement and the words I can,

I can,

I can still resonating throughout your body.

Now letting go of this scene letting the mountains dissolve and bringing your awareness back to your body.

Just observing the natural rhythm of your breath.

And feeling your heartbeat then just observing where your mind is at.

Now remembering the sankalpa you made at the start of the session.

Just remembering the thoughts and considerations that allowed you to form that simple sentence.

And once again repeating your sankalpa to yourself three times.

Moving your awareness back to your breath.

Taking active control of your breath now.

Taking deeper breaths.

And bringing your awareness back to the room noticing any sands coming from your surroundings.

And starting to make some gentle movements.

Beginning by moving your fingers and toes.

Then moving your arms and legs.

Shifting and stretching as needed.

Then giving yourself a bit of time over the next few breaths to prepare yourself to come out of the practice.

Slowly opening your eyes when you truly feel ready to do so.

Reviews

This was my first time listening. I can't even say practicing, for I fell asleep surprisingly fast. Regardless, I'm here waking up as we speak( or as I type :)) and filled with energy. I popped right up and now ready to rock and roll. Thank you very much! :)

Thank you so very much for a wonderful nidra practice. The visualizations are powerful.

That was a fantastic meditation! Longer than I usually do, but I had time this morning and was alert enough to hear the whole thing without drifting out. The body scan covered more specific areas of the body than most. Running from heels up the legs, hips and all the vertebrae in the spine felt so good. Shane’s voice and pace were perfect for keeping me steady in my attention and feeling secure. The slow, specific journey up the mountain felt empowering. This is going into my favorites for when I have at least 45 minutes. Thank you Shane.

I really enjoyed it, thanks