Yoga Nidra To Overcome Anxiety And Improve Sleep - Fly

Yoga Nidra is the science of complete relaxation.
The practice is guided meditation.
During Yoga Nidra, you experience body awareness, bodily sensations, and visualizations.
The brain reaches a delta state, which lies between sleep and awakening. Nidra yoga is a structured practice articulated around an intention called a Sankalpa. Yoga Nidra is a comprehensive method for maximizing health and well-being. It is particularly beneficial for releasing stress and improving sleep.

Transcript

Make your own way to Shavasana to get ready for Yoga Nidra.

Lie down on your mat or on your bed or on a couch.

The body straight from the head to the toes,

The legs slightly apart and the arms slightly away from the body with the palms of the hands facing up.

Allow the legs to be supported by a cushion to feel comfortable.

Close your eyes and keep them strictly closed until you are invited to open them.

Take a deep breath and as you breathe out,

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

With each in-breath,

Invite calmness and peace within.

In the practice which follows,

You are going to develop the feeling of relaxation in the body.

You don't have to do any movement,

Just developing the feeling of relaxation.

Yoga Nidra is meant to open the inner chambers of your mind.

You will step down into the internal dimensions of your consciousness.

Don't try to understand or intellectualize.

Just use the sound of my voice to be guided all the way along this experience.

If you feel asleep,

Don't worry.

As your brain is still listening and this is okay.

Now allow your inner resource to emerge,

A special place where you feel secure and at ease.

Perhaps a room or a place in nature.

And if you cannot find one,

Invite the feeling of deep peace.

Whatever your inner resource is,

Imagine it using all of your senses.

Noticing sounds,

Smells,

Tastes,

Colors,

Shapes that are present.

Sensing feelings of security,

Ease and well-being.

As you imagine your inner resource,

Experiencing feelings of security within you that are always available at any moment.

As you do this,

Note in your body where you feel warm and relaxed.

Knowing that you can return to this secure place of well-being at any time during your practice or during your daily life.

Whenever you need to feel secure,

Calm and at ease.

Now become aware of the body breathing.

The flow of the breath as a sensation in the nostrils.

A sensation in the abdomen.

Gently rising as breath flows in and releasing as breath flows out.

No need to change anything.

The body breathing naturally and rhythmically.

In-breath,

Abdomen rising.

Out-breath,

Abdomen releasing.

No need to change anything.

The body breathing itself.

Now,

While gently retaining the breath at the top of the next inhalation,

Bring your attention to the left side of the body.

And while exhaling and inhaling,

Welcome sensations throughout the left side of the body.

Then,

While gently retaining the breath at the top of the next inhalation,

Bring attention to the right side of the body.

Exhaling and inhaling,

Welcoming sensations throughout the right side of the body.

Going back and forth from one side to the other at your own breathing speed.

Experiencing sensation first on one side of the body,

Then the other side.

Giving time during retention for sensation to completely shift across the midline.

With your next inhalation,

While holding the breath,

Sense the entire body simultaneously while allowing the body to return to its own natural breathing rhythm.

It is the time to define your Sankalpa.

This term comes from the Sanskrit roots,

San,

Meaning a connection with the highest truth,

And kalpa,

Meaning vow.

The yogic practice of Sankalpa Shakti gives a tool to shape meaningful intentions and guides the journey towards inner transformation.

When the mind is relaxed,

The Sankalpa can be written on the subconscious.

Now,

Turn inward and connect with your heart's highest intention to define your Sankalpa,

Making a positive and simple statement tuned into an intention for your life.

If you can't find any Sankalpa right now,

Just take the intention to deeply relax during this practice.

Whatever your intention is for the practice today,

Formulate it now with your inner voice and repeat it three times.

Now,

Let the sound of my voice be your guide and support you in experiencing sensations throughout your body.

As I will go through a body scan and name each area of the body,

Bring your awareness to this specific part.

You may observe some sensations.

Whatever you experience,

Just accept it as it is without any judgment.

Mouth.

Bring attention to all sensations inside the mouth.

The roof of the mouth.

The floor.

Inside cheeks.

Left and right.

The back of the throat.

The tongue.

The entire mouth.

A field of sensations.

The ears.

The left ear.

The right ear.

Sensing both ears at the same time.

Welcoming the breath.

As pure sensation in the nose.

The left nostril.

The right nostril.

Both nostrils at the same time.

The eyes.

The left eye.

The right eye.

Both eyes together.

A field of radiant sensation.

Sensing the forehead.

The scalp.

The back of the head.

The back of the neck.

Inside the throat.

The left shoulder.

Left upper arm.

Forearm.

The wrist.

The left palm.

And fingers.

The entire left arm.

The right shoulder.

The right upper arm.

Forearm.

The wrist.

The right palm.

And fingers.

The entire right arm.

Both arms together.

As one field of sensation.

The upper chest.

The upper back.

Middle of the chest.

Middle of the back.

The abdomen.

The lower back.

The entire torso.

As a field of sensation.

The left buttock.

Left hip.

Thigh.

Knee.

Left foreleg.

Foot.

And toes.

The entire left leg.

The right buttock.

Right hip.

Thigh.

Knee.

Right foreleg.

And toes.

The entire right leg.

Sensing both legs at the same time.

Sensing the entire front of the body.

Back of the body.

Left side.

Right side.

Sensing the entire body.

Inside and outside.

As a field of radiant sensation.

Now imagine the whole body becoming light.

As though your body could float away from the floor and toward the ceiling.

The head becomes light and weightless.

The arms are light and weightless.

The torso is light and weightless.

The legs light and weightless.

The whole body light and weightless.

You are rising higher and higher away from the floor.

Now slowly imagine your body becoming heavy.

Feel the heaviness in all parts of the body.

Each part is becoming heavier and heavier and heavier.

The head is heavy.

The shoulders are heavy.

The arms.

The back is heavy.

The hips heavy.

The legs are heavy.

The whole body is heavy.

So heavy that it is sinking down into the floor.

Now bring to your mind the feeling of anger.

Imagine anger and intensify this emotion in the body.

Bring to your mind a memory of anger.

Feel how anger manifests in the body.

Notice where do you feel the anger precisely.

Observe any sensation of anger.

Be completely aware of the sensations of anger in the physical body.

Observe if there is a color associated with what you experience now.

It can be a shape or just the temperature in the body which is changing.

Be the witness of any manifestation.

Now recollect the sensation of stillness.

Stillness in the mind.

Stillness in the body.

Bring to your mind a memory of a moment where you were completely still and at peace.

Experience complete stillness and calm.

Notice the shift inward.

Observe how stillness feels.

You can contemplate on it and become one with the experience of stillness.

Feel it in your breath,

In your limbs,

In your heart.

Now imagine that you have the capacity to see your body from the ceiling.

Your body is lying in Shavasana,

Practicing Yoga Nidra.

Now see the body slowly stand up and tiptoe outside of the room.

See the body walking outside your place.

Notice the familiar things around you.

There is no sense of effort,

Only lightness.

You are heading to the street close by.

There you meet some people that you know.

You can see them but they can't see you.

Watch them walking or sitting on a terrace in the street.

Perhaps they are making their usual conversation.

Continue to walk.

Suddenly you find that your body is floating over the street.

Become aware of this.

The body floats like a cloud wherever the wind blows the clouds.

Your body is also blown.

Whips of cloud brush past your face.

Below you,

The sunlight reflects off banks of white cloud.

Above you,

Puffs of cloud scurry across a blue sky.

Your body is now lifted by currents of air and carried away over the land.

On the ground below,

You see fields,

Forests,

Mountains.

You feel totally secure,

Light and still.

Pause a moment and look closely at yourself.

Your body is totally relaxed and on your face is an expression of peace and calm.

A soothing rain is coming from the sky.

See your body suddenly immersed in colors as it passes through a rainbow.

Feel yourself washed and purified by subtle colors.

Yellow,

Green,

Blue,

Violet,

Red,

Orange,

Golden yellow.

Feel the colors penetrating your whole body,

Nourishing and invigorating you at some deep level.

And slowly make your return.

See your body returning to the street,

Making your way to come back to the room.

See again the familiar objects on the way.

Quietly walk to the room and start to lie down on the floor.

Now see the body slowly resting again in Shavasana.

It is time to remember your Sankalpa.

Please repeat the same statement made at the beginning of the practice three times mentally.

Come back to the feeling of your breath flowing in and out of your nostrils.

Maintain your awareness of the breath and connect with the sound of your breath.

Expand your awareness to the sounds of the room and the sounds outside of this room.

Follow for a moment each sound,

Allowing your mind to jump from one sound to the other.

Then slowly coming back to the sound of your breath,

Start to develop the awareness of the physical body.

Your body relaxed,

Lying down on the floor.

Feel the contact of the body and the floor.

Notice the heaviness of the body,

Heaviness of the bones as it rests on the floor.

Do not open your eyes yet,

But visualize the surrounding room.

Imagine where you are in the room and the other objects that are around you.

Lie quietly until you feel ready to move.

Start by slowly moving your hands and feet,

Taking your time.

There is no hurry.

The practice of Yoganidra is now complete.

Please roll over to your side.

Stay on your side for a few moments in a fetal position.

Take this time to reconnect with yourself,

With all your senses,

With all sensations.

When you are ready,

Just use your hands to press yourself up and come into a sitting position.

When you are sure that you are fully awake,

Gently open your eyes.