Yoga Nidra With Visualization For Advanced Practice

This practice is inspired by the leader of yoga nidra - Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati. The practice begins with a deep intention and moves through a body scan, breathwork, and deep visualization practice. This practice is most effective following a physical yoga practice and is meant for those with experience with yoga nidra beforehand.

Transcript

Please get ready for yoga nidra.

Lie down on your back on the floor and adopt the pose of shavasana.

In this position,

The body should be straight from head to toe,

The legs slightly apart and the arms a little away from the body,

With the palms of the hands turned upwards.

Adjust yourself.

Adjust your body,

Your position and your clothes.

Adjust everything until you are completely comfortable.

During yoga nidra,

There should be no physical movement.

Make yourself comfortable now so that later there will be no sensation of discomfort to distract you from the attention towards yoga nidra.

Close your eyes and keep them shut until the end of the practice.

Take a deep breath,

And as you breathe in,

Feel the body fill with relaxation.

As you breathe out,

Feel the cares and worries of the day flow out of you.

In the practice which follows,

You're going to develop the feeling of relaxation in the body.

There's no need for movement in the practice of yoga nidra.

It's not necessary to make any movements.

Simply develop the feeling of relaxation in the whole body.

Feel the breath relaxing the body.

In this deep relaxation,

A restful sleep will come.

During the practice of yoga nidra,

Keep yourself awake.

Say to yourself now,

I will not sleep.

I will remain awake during the practice of yoga nidra.

I will not sleep.

I will remain aware during the practice of yoga nidra.

During the practice,

You are using your faculties of hearing and awareness.

Repeat all the instructions you hear to yourself in your own voice,

Following my instruction.

Do your best to simply follow the voice with total attention,

Without analysis,

Which will disturb your mental relaxation.

Simply following with total attention and feeling.

If thoughts come from time to time,

Allow them to be and simply return to the practice.

Continue to listen to my voice,

Repeating the instructions to yourself.

Allow yourself to become calm and steady.

Do not start too suddenly,

But give yourself time to become calm and steady.

Now,

Bring about a feeling of relaxation in the body.

Concentrate on the body and become aware of your body lying in complete stillness.

And develop the sense of relaxation.

Develop your awareness of the body from the top of the head to the tip of the toes.

Complete stillness and awareness of the whole body from head to toe.

Continue the awareness of the body,

Visualizing as if you were looking from the ceiling of your room.

Aware of the whole body in one sight,

The feeling of the body from head to toe.

Become aware that you are going to practice yoga nidra.

Repeat mentally to yourself,

I am going to practice yoga nidra.

With full awareness,

Repeat to yourself the intention,

I am going to practice yoga nidra.

And the practice of yoga nidra begins now.

At this time,

You should make your resolve or sankalpa.

A sankalpa is a resolve that is simple,

Short,

And positive that you can repeat to yourself.

Try to discover your intention naturally during your day and develop a resolve to say at this time during the practice of yoga nidra.

Repeat your intention mentally three times with awareness and feeling.

Knowing that through the practice of yoga nidra,

It will become true.

Once you have made your intention and repeated it three times,

We will begin the rotation of consciousness.

Rotation of the awareness through different parts of the body,

Moving awareness as quickly As you hear my voice giving instructions,

Repeating them to yourself,

Becoming aware of that part of the body.

And as you hear my instructions listing the parts of the body,

Relax that part of the body completely.

Keep yourself alert,

But do not concentrate too intensely.

Starting with the right side,

And then the left,

And then the back,

And the front.

Right hand thumb,

Right first finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

All the fingers of the right hand,

The palm of your hand,

Back of the palm,

The wrist,

The lower arm,

The elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Waist,

Right hip,

Thigh,

Kneecap,

Calf muscle,

Shin,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

All five toes on the right foot,

The whole right foot,

Right leg,

Right arm,

Right side of the body,

Bringing awareness to the left hand thumb,

First finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

All five fingers of the left hand,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Kneecap,

Back of the knee,

Calf,

Shin,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And fifth toe,

All five toes on the left foot,

The whole left foot,

The left leg,

Left arm,

Whole left side of the body,

Relax the whole left side of the body,

The whole left side relaxed,

Now bring awareness to the back,

The right buttock,

The left buttock,

The right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

The spine from tail to tip,

Become aware of the whole back,

The whole back side of the body is relaxed,

Now go to the top of the head,

The crown of the head,

The forehead,

Relax the forehead,

The forehead,

Both sides of the head,

The right eyebrow,

The left eyebrow,

The space between the eyebrows,

The right eyelid,

The left eyelid,

The right eye,

The left eye,

The right ear,

The left ear,

Relax the right cheek,

The left cheek,

The nose,

The tip of the nose,

The right nostril,

The left nostril,

Become aware of the upper lip,

The lower lip,

The teeth,

The chin,

Relax the tongue inside the mouth,

The throat,

Relax the right chest,

The left chest,

The center of the chest,

The upper abdomen,

The navel,

The front of the body,

Relax the whole front of the body,

The whole front side of the body relaxed,

Relax the right leg,

The whole right leg,

The left leg,

Both legs together,

Relax the right arm,

The left arm,

Both arms together,

The whole back side of the legs,

The back of the torso,

The back of the head,

Become aware of the whole front body,

Front of the head,

Front of the chest,

Front of the abdomen,

Aware of the whole front and back body,

The whole back body and front body together,

Become aware of the whole of the head,

The whole body,

The whole body from head to toe,

The whole body.

Please do not sleep,

But just rest in the state of total awareness of your body lying on the ground.

Do not sleep,

Allow the body to be completely still while you continue to practice Yoga Nidra.

See your body lying perfectly still on the floor and visualize the image of your body lying on the floor.

From head to toe,

Your body is resting in stillness.

Become aware of your breath,

Become aware of the movement of the breath within the body,

Feeling it flow in and out of your lungs,

Feel the breath rising and falling in the abdomen.

Do not try to change the breath,

Become aware of the breath as a witness.

You are not doing the breathing,

There is no effort,

Just becoming aware of the incoming and outgoing breath,

Complete awareness of the breath as the inhale fills the abdomen with air and the exhale releases the air from the navel.

Each inhale bringing the air through the throat all the way to the navel,

Exhale the belly falls as the air passes out through your nose.

Continue breathing in through the nose following the movement of the breath on the inhale and exhaling letting the air out through the nose.

Begin to elongate each breath,

Taking each breath in to the count of five and each breath out to the count of five.

The count of five as you breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathing out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Breathe out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Release the breath feel the body returning to a natural rhythm of breathing notice the feeling of heaviness of the body the weight of the arms and legs completely relaxed the chest resting against the floor or bed notice the feeling of the breath continuing to float the body upward and downward we now come to visualization make sure you are awake listen to my voice as i name a number of different things you should develop a vision of each thing on all levels develop awareness of these things feel them feel the emotions that arise with each item use your imagination to visualize as deeply as you possibly can if you are able to find this vision your relaxation is complete for the time being and if you are unable to continue practicing yoga nidra each night as you continue to practice the vision will become more complete the body mind and emotions will be more relaxed burning candle a burning candle see the flame the wick the wax an endless desert the heat the sun the sand in an endless desert in that desert you see the egyptian pyramid see the four sides of the pyramid in your mind's eye and then in this space torrential rain feel the wetness the coolness the weight of each raindrop and take this vision to the forefront of your mind snow-capped mountains the icy chill of the snow-capped peaks vision of a greek temple at sunrise see the horizon beyond this greek temple in the ground a grave opened up the coffin beside it coffin beside a grave on the ground and overhead birds flying across a sunset count the birds that you see in the sky flying across the sunset and then red clouds drifting in the sky feel your mind's body looking upwards at the red clouds in the sky against the picture of the sky is a cross standing above a church across above a church behind that the night sky has been illuminated with the light of the stars and the full moon moon see the light of each star and the full moon each of the planets in the sky reflecting its light towards you within the constellations visualize a smiling buddha a smiling face of the buddha the enlightened one and feel upon your skin the wind from the sea the wind coming from the ocean the waves breaking the crests of the waves against the wind breaking against a beach on the horizon is the eternal restless sea the waves are breaking on a deserted beach so close to you just beyond that is the endless restless sea visualize completely this scene of you on this beach now it is time to return to your resolve repeat the sankalpa that you made at the beginning of this practice repeat it three times with full awareness and feeling in the same words that you did at the beginning of the practice and now relax all of your efforts become aware of your natural breath allow the breath to expand through your whole body become aware of the whole body through your breathing begin to externalize your consciousness see your body lying totally relaxed on the floor witness your breathing occurring slowly spontaneously reaching from the head down to the tip of your toes your body breathing lying on the floor and say to yourself mentally that you are complete with the practice of yoga nidra become aware of the floor underneath you the position of your body on the floor the four walls around you and the ceiling your body lying on the floor lie quietly in stillness keeping the eyes closed noticing the breath noticing the body fully relaxed slowly begin to move the fingertips and toes take your time allowing the movement to move to the wrists and the arm the ankles and the upper legs do not be in a hurry to move the whole body but in your own time begin to stretch the body lengthwise when you are sure that you are wide awake mentally keeping your eyes closed bring yourself to a seated posture and only when you are sure that you are fully aware and awake open your eyes the practice of yoga nidra is now complete

Reviews

Lovely voice and simple practice. I had hoped for fewer instructions as it was described for experienced practitioners.