Yoga Nidra For Relaxing The Mind And The Body

In this 20-minute yoga nidra practice you're invited to completely let go. Tuning into the senses will help you get out of your mind and into your body. All you have to do is lie down, make sure you're warm and comfortable and surrender to the experience.

Transcript

So just take a moment to lie down here.

Maybe you want to lie down on your yoga mat,

Maybe you want to lie down in your bed,

Anything that is comfortable for you that works.

And maybe you want to cover yourself,

Just make sure you're warm enough.

If you have an eye pillow,

It's a great way to keep your attention to yourself by closing your eyes.

So if that feels okay and safe to you,

You can do that as well.

And then just take a moment to see if there's anything that you can do to make yourself even 1% more comfortable.

And then just know that there's nothing you can do wrong during this yoga nidra practice.

Everything that you feel,

Everything that you experience,

It's all very welcome.

And then let's start by drawing a circle.

So you can draw a circle around your body.

This circle makes sure that everything that you don't need during this practice will stay outside of the circle.

And if you want to fill it with a color or an energy or love,

Whatever feels good to you.

And then maybe you want to draw an extra circle.

And then we're gonna start with awakening the senses.

So take your attention to the inside of your mouth.

Maybe there's things that you can taste and see if there's any tension you can release on the inside of your mouth.

And then release and relax your jaws,

Your tongue,

Your throat.

And then let your attention flow from your mouth to your ears.

Are there any sounds you can hear?

Maybe there's sounds outside of the room that you're in right now.

Sounds that are a little bit closer by.

And then even closer,

Maybe even the sound of your own breath.

And then see if you can listen with not only your ears but with your whole body.

And then let your attention flow from your ears to your nose.

Feeling the breath coming in and flowing out.

Maybe the air flows more easily through one nostril than the other.

And then you let your attention flow from your nose to your eyes.

There's nothing you need to see right now.

And you can let go of all the little muscles around the eyes.

Soften your forehead and your temples.

And maybe you can let your eyes rest a little deeper into the eye sockets.

And then from your eyes your attention flows to your skin.

What do you feel?

Maybe you can sense your own skin.

Maybe you can even breathe into your own skin.

Maybe there's areas that feel a bit warmer.

Areas that feel a bit colder.

Areas where the body touches the mats.

Or your clothing touches the body.

And then we'll continue with the rotation of consciousness.

So start by taking your attention to the palms of your hands.

Feeling both hands at the same time.

Maybe there's a tingling,

A buzzing or the awareness of energy.

Then take your attention to the thumb of your right hand.

The index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger.

Feel the space between the fingers.

The tips of the fingers,

The palm of the right hand,

The back of the right hand,

The wrists,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Right shoulder,

Armpits,

The right side of the body,

The hip,

Upper leg,

Knee,

The space behind the knee,

The lower leg,

The right ankle,

The heel,

Sole of the right foot,

Top of the right foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Little toe.

Feel the space between the toes.

Feel the whole right side of the body.

Then take your attention to the thumb of your left hand.

The index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger.

Feel the space between the fingers.

The tips of the fingers,

The palm of the left hand,

The back of the left hand,

The wrists,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Left shoulder,

Armpits,

The left side of the body,

Upper leg,

Knee,

The space behind the knee,

Lower leg,

The left ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the left foot,

Top of the left foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Little toe.

Feel the space between the toes.

Feel the whole left side of the body.

Take your attention to your throat,

Your tongue,

The middle of the tongue,

The base of the tongue,

All your teeth,

All sensations in your mouth.

Feel your chin,

Your cheeks,

The ears,

The earlobes,

The nose,

The tip of the nose,

The left nostril,

The right nostril,

The left eye,

The right eye,

The left eyelid,

The right eyelid,

The left eyebrow,

The right eyebrow,

The space between the eyebrows.

Then feel the forehead,

The top of the head,

The back of the head,

The whole face,

The back side of the neck,

The throat,

The shoulders,

The upper back,

Middle back,

Lower back,

The chest,

Belly,

Lower belly,

The pelvis,

The whole torso.

Feeling both legs at the same time,

Both arms at the same time,

Head and torso at the same time,

The whole body as one,

The whole body as one.

And then we'll continue with a visualization.

So just see if you can imagine a place somewhere in nature,

A quiet beautiful space in nature.

Maybe it's a place that you've been to before,

Maybe it's somewhere that you want to go to someday.

So just take a moment to see where you are,

Maybe look around,

What do you see.

And then while you're looking around you see a little path and you decide to walk towards the path and just start walking.

Maybe you're barefoot so you might feel the grass or the ground underneath you and just know that the earth is carrying you,

You're safe here.

Just walk slowly,

Just keep following the path and you keep walking and walking until you find a big big tree.

It's a very old tree.

You see the roots of the tree,

Some of the roots are a little bit above ground.

It's a very high tree.

You can feel the presence of the tree and you can feel its wisdom.

All these years this tree has been here.

And then you notice that there's sort of an opening in the tree.

So it's like you can just walk into the tree.

So this is what you decide to do.

You enter the tree and then you notice that there's someone waiting for you inside of the tree.

It's a wise person.

This person has been waiting for you.

There's a seat opposite the wise person that is inside of the tree.

You can take a seat,

You sit down,

You smile at each other and then this wise person is gonna give you something in a minute.

He or she is gonna hand you something.

This might be some kind of knowledge or he might actually give you something into your hands.

It's something that you need,

Something that you can use,

Maybe something that you can use right now or this month or this year.

It has to do with some kind of deeper longing that you have.

So just sit down and you can open your hands,

Hand palms facing up and receive whatever gift this wise person has for you.

So just take a moment now to receive whatever it is and if it's not immediately clear to you what you have been given then just know that one day it will all make sense to you.

So do not worry about that too much.

Take a moment to thank the other person,

Say your goodbyes and then it's time to get up and leave again.

You leave the tree,

Going back over the path into nature,

Feeling the earth beneath you,

Walking slowly over your path to the place where you begun this walk and then coming back to the space where you began this guided meditation.

So wherever you are,

Coming back into that space right now,

Take a moment to feel the body,

Feel the weight of the body resting down,

Maybe feeling all the parts of the body that are making contact with the ground below you or the bed or the yoga mat or whatever it is that you're lying on.

And maybe you want to take a deeper breath in through the nose and then breathing out through your mouth.

Let's do that again.

Take a deep breath in and a long breath out and then slowly start moving the hands and the feet again,

Making any movements here that feel good.

Maybe stretching out,

Bringing the arms overhead,

Maybe sighing or yawning or making a sound.

Now if you feel like going to sleep or taking a nap,

Please stay here.

And if you're ready to move on with your day,

May you first slowly come onto your side,

Either the left or the right side.

From there,

Making your way up to a seated pose,

Bringing the hands together in front of the heart and then take a moment here to thank yourself for taking time out in your day to practice yoga nidra.

Thank you.