Yoga Nidra For Stress & Anxiety

Ever think to yourself, "I can't meditate?". If this is ringing true, then yoga nidra is a great option for you. Known as the "yogic sleep," it is space to rest in awareness. It is a space to peel back the layers through the practice of pratyahara (withdrawing from the senses) and get into contact with our true limitless unbounded divine self. It is a great tool for anyone struggling with insomnia, stress, anxiety, depression, and PTSD. So give yourself the permission to surrender and rest in BEING.

Transcript

Hari Om Tat Sat.

Hari Om Tat Sat.

Please get ready for yoga nidra.

Lie down with your back on the floor in the pose of shavasana.

Your body should be straight from head to toe with the legs slightly apart and the arms at your sides,

Palms facing up.

Please make any adjustments you may need until you are completely comfortable.

During yoga nidra there should be no physical movement.

Please close your eyes,

Keeping them closed until you are told to open them.

Begin to become quiet and take three long deep breaths.

As you continue to breathe,

Feel yourself letting go.

For just one hour forget your cares,

Forget your worries,

And concentrate on yoga nidra.

Simply follow my voice with attention and feeling.

If thoughts disturb you at any point,

Simply observe them without judgment and come back to the practice.

Begin to become aware of your body and relax yourself completely.

Become aware of distant sounds.

Move your attention from sound to sound,

Listening only not analyzing.

Bring your attention closer.

Become aware of the sounds outside the building.

Now become aware of the sounds inside the building,

Inside this room.

Develop awareness of this room,

The walls that surround you,

The ceiling above you,

The floor beneath you,

Your body lying on the floor.

See your body lying on the floor,

Your whole body lying on the floor.

Continue with this awareness of the whole body,

The whole body,

The whole body.

Feel the whole body becoming relaxed.

Become aware that you are going to practice yoga nidra.

Say to yourself,

I'm going to practice yoga nidra.

I'm going to practice yoga nidra.

The practice of yoga nidra begins now.

Now is the time to make your resolve,

To set your intention.

It should be short,

Positive,

Simple statement stated in the present tense.

Please silently state your resolve with feeling and awareness,

Stating it three times silently to yourself.

As you state your resolve,

Feel it fully in the fiber of your being,

Feeling it as if it were already true.

Now we begin to rotate our awareness through different parts of the body.

Follow my voice and allow your awareness to go from part to part.

Repeat the part in your mind while simultaneously becoming aware of that body part.

Right hand thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Right wrist,

The lower arm,

The elbow,

The upper arm,

The shoulder,

The armpit,

Right waist,

Right hip,

Right thigh,

Right knee,

The calf muscle,

The ankle,

The heel,

The sole of the foot,

The top of the foot,

The big toe,

The second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Now bring your awareness to the left side,

Left hand thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Left wrist,

Lower arm,

The elbow,

Upper arm,

The shoulder,

The armpit,

The left waist,

The left hip,

Left thigh,

Left knee,

The calf muscle,

The ankle,

The heel,

The sole of the foot,

The top of the foot,

The big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Now bring your awareness to the back of the body.

Become aware of the right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

The whole of the spine,

The whole of the back together,

The whole of the back together.

Now bring your awareness to the front of the body,

Top of the head,

The forehead,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

The space between the eyebrows,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

The nose,

The tip of the nose,

The upper lip,

The lower lip,

The chin,

The throat,

The right chest,

Left chest,

Middle of the chest,

The navel,

The abdomen.

Now bring your awareness to the whole of the right leg,

The whole of the left leg,

Both legs together,

Both legs together,

The whole of the right arm,

The whole of the left arm,

Both arms together,

Both arms together,

The whole of the back,

The whole of the front,

The whole body together.

Awareness of the whole body,

The whole body,

The whole body,

Total awareness of the whole body,

No sleeping,

No movement,

Only awareness of the whole body,

The whole body lying on the floor.

Become aware of the body lying on the floor.

Your body is lying on the floor.

See your body lying perfectly still on the floor in this room.

Visualize this image in your mind.

Now bring your awareness to the natural,

Ingoing,

And outgoing of breath.

Become aware that you are breathing quietly and slowly,

Nothing else.

Concentrate now on the flow of the breath between the navel and the throat.

As you inhale,

The breath rises from navel to throat.

As you exhale,

It falls from throat to navel.

Become aware of the movement of the breath,

Navel to throat,

Throat to navel.

Do not try to force the breath,

Just awareness,

Just awareness,

Awareness of breath,

Just awareness.

Maintain your awareness and at the same time start counting your breath backwards as follows.

I am breathing in 54.

I am breathing out 54.

I am breathing in 53.

I am breathing out 53.

I am breathing in 52.

I am breathing out 52,

And so on.

Count to yourself mentally as you follow the rise and fall of your breath from navel to throat and back again.

If you lose count,

Please start again at 54.

Total awareness of breathing and counting.

Total awareness of breath.

The breathing is slow and relaxed.

Please continue counting.

Awareness of breath.

The breathing is slow and relaxed.

Now begin to awaken the sensation of heaviness in the body.

The sensation of heaviness.

Become aware of heaviness in each part of the body.

You are feeling so heavy that you are sinking into the floor beneath you.

The whole body heavy.

The whole body heavy.

The whole body is heavy.

Experience the feeling of heaviness in the whole body.

Now begin to awaken to the feeling of lightness.

The feeling of lightness.

A sensation of lightness and weightlessness in the whole body.

Lightness in the whole body.

Lightness in the whole body.

Your body feels so light that it seems to be floating away from the floor.

Awareness of lightness.

Awareness of lightness.

Begin to feel the sensations of being cold.

Awaken the experience of bitter cold in the body.

Imagine you are walking in the snow outside barefoot in the winter.

Your feet feel very cold.

You feel cold all over.

Awareness of coldness.

Awareness of coldness.

Now begin to awaken the sensation of heat.

Awaken the experience of heat in the body.

The whole body is hot.

The whole body is hot.

You feel hot all over.

Recollect the feeling of heat in the summer when you are outside with no shade.

Heat all over the body.

Heat all around the body.

Awareness of heat.

Awareness of heat.

Begin to withdraw your mind and concentrate on the space in front of your closed eyes.

We call this space Chidakasha.

Imagine before you a transparent screen through which you can see infinite space.

A space that extends far beyond the eyes can see.

Concentrate on this dark space and become aware of anything that manifests within it.

Be totally aware but not involved.

Observe this empty space,

This darkness,

This screen as if you are watching a movie.

What you see is a projection of your subconscious.

You may see patterns,

Colors,

Shapes,

Or maybe nothing at all.

Accept it as the way your mind is manifesting at this moment.

Maintain your awareness of this infinite space.

Begin to intensify your imagination and concentration.

Imagine a deep dark jungle.

Enter into the jungle.

Go deep into it.

Continue deeper and deeper into the jungle.

As you go deeper,

You see a lonely clearing with an aura of light around it.

You see that the light is coming from a temple close by.

The temple is like a house lit from the inside at night.

There is a great aura of light,

Of warmth,

And of peace that surrounds this temple.

You become aware that the temple is vibrating and pulsating to the sound of Aum.

Inside the temple there is chanting of mantras,

The ringing of bells,

The smells of incense.

Draw closer to the temple and feel yourself become enveloped in the atmosphere of peace and love.

As you draw closer,

You see the temple door is open.

You peep inside and see that nothing is there.

Nothing but a monk in a bright orange robe.

He is sitting on the floor in front of a fire.

His eyes are wide and open.

You sit in front of him and look into his eyes.

These eyes full of soul take you on a journey deep within his being where you see glimpses of yourself,

Where you see glimpses of the entire universe.

Rest in this awareness,

In this vastness.

Rest in this deep knowing that you yourself are the universe.

Feel the light and the love and the peace emanating from this temple.

Fully enter into your being.

Begin to bring your awareness back to your breath.

Become aware of your breath.

The deep inhales bring expansion and the exhales allow you to merge even deeper with the ground beneath you.

Remember your resolve,

Your sankalpa.

Repeat it silently with absolute faith and awareness.

Please repeat your resolve three times.

The whole body,

The whole body,

The whole body.

Relax all efforts as you become aware of the whole body.

Bring your attention to the natural breath,

Noticing the rising and the falling of the abdomen and the chest.

Maintain your awareness of the natural breath and gradually begin to deepen it.

Become aware of the physical existence of your body and your state of physical relaxation.

Your body deeply relaxed,

Lying on the floor.

Visualize the room that surrounds you and feel the support of the earth beneath you.

Begin to make small movements in your body,

Bending your fingers,

Wiggling your toes,

Moving your arms and your legs,

Keeping your eyes closed as you stretch your arms gently above your head.

Please take your time.

There is no hurry.

When you feel ready,

Please gently sit up calmly,

Slowly,

With the least amount of effort as possible,

And gently open your physical eyes.

The practice of Yoganidra is now complete.

Harayom Tatsa.

Bringing your hands to prayer at your third eye center,

Bowing down to the divine light within you,

Within me,

Within us all.

Namaste.

Reviews

Thank you for that. I was in the middle of an anxiety crisis and you made me relax and even sleep for some minutes. Namastê 💛

Very soothing and calming! Woke up feeling at peace. I’ll definitely frequent this meditation. Namaste 🙏🏻🌸🙏🏻

Beautiful- calming

Extremely relaxing and peaceful. Thank you 🙏🏼💕

Thank you Shannon for this beautiful practice. Put me right to sleep.

Loved it thank you Namaste

Very good love that we have a thumb & 5 fingers in yoga nidra 😃😂🙏

Perfect. Loved it. Took me away. Very nice and clear voice. Thank you 🙏💖

I went to sleep and slept so soundly for hours, I'm finding it difficult to review as I hardly remember 😌 does that say it all, I truly hope so.

I practice Yoga Nidra, guided or not, every day. This one made me feel very aware and relaxed. It is definitely going into the rotation. Thank you

Deepened my Muse meditation! It resonated with me like no other self guided meditation. Thank you!

That was my first experience with yoga nidra, and I excited to try more. Thank you for sharing the experience.

Perfect. Thank you 🙏🌸

Excellent..great timing for me