Yoga Nidra For Sleep

Yoga Nidra, also known as Yogic sleep. Yoga Nidra is a traditional practice of guided meditation to help create balance, calm and deep relaxation. This practice helps us to connect to our truest SELF by connecting to Awareness. During this meditation, we will be focusing on cultivating a space for deep, peaceful, relaxing, and nourishing sleep. Listen to this meditation laying down comfortably. Great for listening right before bed.

Transcript

Welcome to this yoga nidra practice for sleep.

I invite you to get comfortable laying down in your bed,

Maybe even doing this meditation right before sleep.

Feeling as comfortable as you can,

Allowing yourself to feel that the back of the head is supported,

Your body can be relaxed.

And I invite you to take a deep breath here and send out a sigh.

Breathing in deeply.

Letting it go.

Let's do that again,

Inhaling.

And then maybe it's nice to do a few stretches here.

Maybe inhaling,

Spreading your fingers really wide,

Really tightening the muscles.

And then as you exhale,

Let them be soft.

Maybe then inhale,

Clenching your fingers,

Making a fist,

Tightening up your shoulders.

And then exhale,

Soften,

Let it go.

Inhale,

Clench your feet,

Your toes.

Exhale,

Let them go.

Clenching your bum,

The muscles around your bum,

Your pelvis and your inhale.

You're welcome to clench a few more places if that will help you to release and find some softness.

Inhaling tightening,

Exhaling,

Letting go.

Now allow yourself to move into a position where you can fully relax.

Making sure that you're warm and comfortable,

Maybe turning out the lights.

Once you find your cozy position,

I invite you to let go of any expectations,

Any ideas that you might have of how you think you should feel,

How your body should react,

How your mind should be.

And instead,

I invite you to just welcome anything that arises,

Recognize it for what it is.

And then witness,

Observe,

Nothing to change or fix.

As you feel your body in this moment,

I invite you to close your eyes and see if you can allow yourself to relax 10% more than you already are.

10% more relaxed.

Then begin to notice whatever you're experiencing this moment.

Notice the sounds of my,

You hear my voice,

Music,

Maybe your breath.

Notice any physical sensations,

How your shoulders feel,

Your belly.

Notice any emotions or thoughts.

Simply just allow whatever it is you are experiencing to be there.

You don't need to fix or change anything here.

You are simply becoming relaxed awareness,

Being aware of your thoughts,

Sounds,

Smells,

Realizing that you are none of those things.

You are bigger.

I invite you to be aware of the sensation of your body.

Simply just feel your body resting on your bed,

Welcoming the sensation of your body,

Noticing and recognizing it as a sensation,

And then just watch.

Observe.

Feel your head,

Your hands.

Feel your arms and your legs.

Feel your belly and chest and your back.

There's nothing to do,

Nothing to hold on to.

You're just watching your body.

Through this yoga nidra practice,

We are going to set the perfect conditions for deep sleep,

For deep awareness,

A deep,

Peaceful and nourishing sleep.

As we become more and more aware of different changing sensations,

I invite you to just notice how naturally your body will begin to become more and more relaxed.

You don't need to try and make this happen.

It will simply happen naturally.

In this moment,

I invite you to remember a place you love.

This is your sanctuary,

Your oasis.

It's a paradise where you can be full of yourself,

Where you are allowed to be very relaxed and calm and peaceful,

Where you feel connected,

Loved.

We're now going to make this sanctuary come to life.

I invite you to notice the colors you see in your sanctuary,

In your safe,

Comfortable place.

Are you inside or are you outside?

Are you enjoying this space alone or is there somebody there with you?

What does it sound like in this relaxing place?

Is it really calm and quiet?

Do you hear water,

Birds?

What does this relaxing place smell like?

Maybe there's no smell.

Just notice.

How does your body feel as it becomes more and more relaxed in this relaxing space?

Maybe you're feeling heavy or really light.

Give yourself a moment to enjoy this feeling.

Letting yourself relaxed in this space,

Allowing it to relax not just your body but your mind and your spirit as well.

This relaxing space,

The sanctuary is a space you can come back to anytime you want.

You can return whenever you like.

I want you to bring your attention now to your sankalpa.

This is called,

This is an intention.

There might be something that you would like to focus on for this practice.

I invite you to repeat it a few times in your mind.

Letting that go,

Reminding yourself that we are really focusing on coming to a space of deep,

Relaxing and nourishing sleep.

We're going to start to connect to awareness even deeper now through all the sensations of your body.

We're simply going to welcome,

Recognize and witness the feeling of your body without the need to fix or change anything.

I invite you to welcome the sensation of your face.

Give it permission to relax.

Relaxing all the muscles in your face around your eyes,

Around your mouth,

Around your nose and ears.

Your face relaxing as much as possible.

You're not trying to do anything here.

You're simply noticing how your face begins to relax when you are aware of it.

Be aware of the top of your head,

The back of your head.

Feel the sides of your head and notice that by being aware of your head,

It begins to relax.

Maybe it feels heavy or light.

Maybe it's tingly.

Welcome,

Recognize and witness the sensations and notice as you are aware,

Your head and your face begin to relax.

As awareness here,

I invite you to experience yourself as the sensation of your neck,

Your throat.

As awareness,

Simply notice the rise and fall of your chest as you breathe.

There's nothing to do or change.

Simply just noticing the rise and fall of your chest as you breathe.

Using your belly as it becomes more and more relaxed.

There's nothing to hold on to,

Nothing to do.

You're simply being aware of your belly as deep relaxation.

Being aware of the sensation of your back,

Your shoulder blades,

Your spine.

Feel the sensation of your spine from your head all the way down through your upper back,

The middle back,

The lower back,

All the way down to your tailbone,

Allowing this entire spine to relax,

To feel heavy,

To be restful.

We are simply welcoming,

Recognizing and witnessing anything that comes up for us,

Whether it's a thought or sensation.

There's nothing to fix or change.

Allow yourself to move deeper and deeper into relaxation here.

If you find yourself falling asleep,

That's great.

You don't need to resist it.

The part of you I'm speaking to will still pay attention.

You are creating the perfect conditions for deep,

Peaceful and nourishing sleep.

You are awareness feeling itself as a body that is relaxing.

Be aware now of the sensation of your hips,

Of your pelvis,

Sensation of your buttocks.

As you become aware of your pelvis,

Hips and buttocks,

They begin to soften,

Get heavy and relax,

Moving down to your legs,

Being aware of the sensation from your hips to your knees,

From your knees down to your ankles,

Your ankles down to your feet.

Nothing to do or change,

Just being aware of the sensation of legs.

As you are aware,

They begin to soften and relax.

Being aware of your entire body now as if there is a wave of relaxation that starts at your head,

Moving down your body all the way down to your feet,

Allowing your body to get more and more relaxed.

Another wave from your head down to your fingers,

Down to your hips,

Down to your legs,

Helping you become more relaxed.

The wave of relaxation starts at your head,

Moving down to your eyebrows,

Your nose,

Your lips,

Chin,

Your neck and collarbones becoming more and more relaxed.

Fingers down your chest,

Your back,

Through your belly,

Hips,

Legs,

All the way down to your feet and toes.

Another gentle wave comes,

Making you even more relaxed,

Moving down your body,

Starting at your head,

Going down to your chest,

Belly,

Pelvis,

Legs and feet.

Then another wave comes,

Moving down from head all the way to toes,

Becoming more and more relaxed.

In this moment with your body even more relaxed,

I invite you to let yourself be without a care.

There's nothing for you to do.

Simply give yourself permission to move into sleep.

Even if there's a part of you that's still paying attention,

You can still move into sleep,

Allowing your mind to rest.

You're moving into a place where there's nothing but deep,

Peaceful and nourishing sleep,

Where your body is relaxed,

Your mind is soft and clear,

Your breath is relaxed.

Allow yourself to be in this place of deep sleep and imagine being pulled deeper and deeper into it,

Into a place of pure awareness where you can feel a body,

A mind somewhere around,

But you're not responsible to control them right now.

You're simply experiencing yourself as deep,

Peaceful,

Nourishing sleep.

There's nothing to change or do.

There's nothing to be.

Feel your body at rest,

Your breath natural,

Coming in and out with ease.

Hear and feel your heartbeat.

From this space,

Remind yourself that you are creating the perfect conditions for deep,

Peaceful and nourishing sleep.

Going deeper and deeper,

Relaxing more and more,

Inviting yourself to move deeper and deeper into rest,

Into sleep.

You're moving into a place where there's nothing but deep,

Peaceful and nourishing sleep.

You're moving into a place where there's nothing but deep,

Peaceful and nourishing sleep.

You're moving into a place where there's nothing but deep,

Peaceful and nourishing sleep.

You're moving into a place where there's nothing but deep,

Peaceful and nourishing sleep.

You're moving into a place where there's nothing but deep,

Peaceful and nourishing sleep.

You're moving into a place where there's nothing but deep,

Peaceful and nourishing sleep.

You're moving into a place where there's nothing but deep,

Peaceful and nourishing sleep.

You're moving into a place where there's nothing but deep,

Peaceful and nourishing sleep.