Yoga Nidra (An Excerpt From The Book Yoga Nidra By Swami Satyananda Saraswati)

An excerpt from the book Yoga Nidra by Swami Satyananda Saraswati read by Sally Younghans. This is a 30-minute guided meditation done lying down on your back. The practice of Yoga Nidra helps to induce deep relaxation, allowing the natural release of all physical and mental tension and helps to align the body and mind with spirit.

Transcript

Hey it's Sally welcome to this practice of yoga nidra or awake sleep.

This practice has its roots in tantric yoga.

I'll be reading from a book called yoga nidra by Swami Satyananda Saraswati.

I recommend picking this book up as it explains the background of yoga nidra,

Yoga nidra is,

The science behind it and it offers several practices and scripts that you can read from.

Before we begin you may want to hit the pause button and set yourself up.

This practice is done in a lying down position.

The aim is to release any mental and or physical tension you may or may not be holding that you're not even aware of.

So this is deep relaxation it's different than trying to just flop down into sleep where often we can't sleep well or sleeping restlessly because our minds are in constant motion.

So this aims to release any of that tension that is holding us back from getting a good sleep or taking us away from living life in the moment in an easy receptive way.

We go through a relaxation process,

Awareness of sensations,

A visualization,

A counting breath and when I prompt you to to think of your resolve think of your resolve as a short phrase,

A positive intention or affirmation that you want for yourself that you want to manifest in your life.

So a positive statement,

Something that you want to manifest for yourself in this life.

So just follow my lead getting ready for the practice of yoga nidra lie down in shavasana or dead man's pose which simply means lying down on your back allowing your feet to be about hips width distance apart maybe flopping over to the side letting your arms be by your sides palms facing up adjust your position so that you are comfortable but not so comfortable that you will fall asleep the practice is again awake sleep please close your eyes and keep them closed the practice of yoga nidra is the act of hearing and the act of feeling these are the only important factors in yoga nidra you function on the level of awareness and the level of listening in dreams you have no control in yoga nidra you are the creator of the dream say to yourself mentally I will not sleep I shall only listen to the voice I will not sleep give yourself some time to become calm and steady take a deep breath and as you breathe in feel calmness spreading throughout your entire body and as you are breathing out say to yourself mentally it's okay to relax become aware of the sounds in the distance become aware of the most distant sounds that you can hear let your sense of hearing operate like a radar beam searching out distant sounds following them for a few seconds move your attention from sound to sound without attempting to identify the source gradually bring your attention to closer sounds to sounds outside this building your house and then to sounds inside now develop your awareness of the room you are in and without opening your eyes visualize the four walls the ceiling the floor your body lying on the floor see your body lying on the floor become aware of the existence of your physical body lying on the floor total awareness of your body lying in perfect stillness your body is lying on the floor becoming aware of all the physical meeting points between your body and the floor become aware of the natural breath aware of the deep natural spontaneous breath just know that you are breathing the pactress of new yoga nidra begins now saying mentally to yourself I'm going to practice yoga nidra I will not sleep I am going to practice yoga nidra moving on to the resolve this is the time to make your resolve that short simple statement something that you want to manifest for yourself so bring that to the forefront of your awareness and please state that resolve silently and clearly with feeling and awareness to yourself three times moving to the rotation of consciousness rotate your consciousness through the different centers of the body as quickly as possible the awareness has to jump from point to point please repeat mentally the name of each part after me and simultaneously become aware of that part the practice always begins with the right hand right hand thumb second finger third finger fourth finger fifth finger palm of the hand back of the hand wrist lower arm elbow upper arm shoulder armpit waist hip right thigh knee calf muscle ankle heel sole top of the foot right big toe second toe third toe fourth toe fifth toe left side left hand thumb second finger third finger fourth finger fifth finger palm of the hand back of the hand wrist lower arm elbow upper arm shoulder armpit waist hip left thigh knee calf muscle ankle heel sole top of the foot left big toe second toe third toe fourth toe fifth toe back of the body right shoulder left shoulder right shoulder blade left shoulder blade right buttock left buttock the spine the whole of the back together front of the body top of the head forehead right eyebrow left eyebrow center of the eyebrow right eyelid left eyelid right eye left eye right ear left ear right cheek left cheek nose tip of the nose right nostril left nostril upper lip lower lip chin jaw throat right collarbone left collarbone right chest left chest middle of the chest navel abdomen lower abdomen major parts of the body the whole of the right leg the whole of the left leg both legs together the whole of the right arm whole of the left arm both arms together the whole of the back whole of the front whole of the head together legs arms back front head together the whole of the body together the whole of the body together the whole of the body together body floor awareness develop homogeneous awareness of the whole body and become aware of the space occupied by the body become aware of the body and this space that is occupied by your body body and space become aware of the whole body and the floor the whole body in relation to the floor and at the same time become aware of the meeting points of the body and the floor these are very subtle physical points between the body and the floor feel the meeting points between the back of your head and the floor shoulder blades and the floor elbows and the floor back of the hands and the floor the buttocks and the floor the calves and the floor the heels and the floor awareness of all the meeting points between the body and the floor the sensation of all points simultaneously evenly feel these points clearly and distinctly please do not sleep switch your attention to the eyelids and feel that narrow line meeting between the upper and lower eyelids feeling the sharp points where they meet intensify your awareness between the eyelids and then the lips center your attention on the line between the lips the space between the lips breathing from the lips we go to the breath draw your attention to the natural ingoing and outgoing breath feel the breath moving along the passage between the navel and the throat on inhalation it rises from the navel to the throat on exhalation it descends from the throat to the navel be completely aware of the respiration navel to throat throat to navel do not try to force the breath just awareness maintain your awareness and at the same time start counting your breaths backwards as follows I'm breathing in ten I'm breathing out ten I'm breathing in nine I'm breathing out nine and so on count to yourself mentally as you follow the rise and fall of your breath from navel to throat and back again total awareness of breathing and counting the breathing is slow and relaxed please continue counting and if you lose count simply begin again you and drop that counting become aware of sensation heaviness awaken the feeling of heaviness in the body the feeling of heaviness become aware of heaviness in every single part of the body you are feeling so heavy that you are sinking into the floor awareness of heaviness lightness awaken the feeling of lightness a sensation of lightness and weightlessness in all parts of the body your body feels so light that it seems to be floating away from the floor awareness of lightness cold the experience of cold awaken the experience of bitter cold in the body imagine you are walking on a cold floor in winter your feet feel very cold you feel cold all over awareness of coldness awareness of coldness heat awaken the sensation of heat awaken the experience of heat the whole body is hot the whole body is hot you feel hot all over recollect the feeling of heat in summer when you are out in the Sun with no shade heat all over the body heat all around the body awareness of heat pain the experience of pain concentrate and try to remember the experience of pain any pain you have experienced in your life mental or physical recollect the feeling of pain pleasure recollect the feeling of pleasure any kind of pleasure physical or mental recollect this feeling and relive it make it vivid awaken the feeling of pleasure check that you are awake make sure you are not sleeping say to yourself I am awake inner space withdraw your mind and concentrate on the space in front of your closed eyes the space we call should a gasha imagine you had a transparent screen through which you can see infinite space a space that extends as far as the eyes can see concentrate on this dark space and become aware of any phenomena that manifests within it whatever you see is the manifestation state of your mind continue your awareness of this space but don't become involved practice detached awareness only Park temple visualization imagine yourself in a park in the early morning the Sun has not risen and the park is deserted except for yourself it's a beautiful part calm and peaceful walk across the springy grass listen to the birds whistle and call as they welcome in the new day and there are gardens of flowers roses yellow pink red purple smell their fragrance and see the early morning dew drops on their petals nearby the Rose Garden is a fish pond goldfish swim in and out amongst the water lilies see their graceful movements you walk between trees beautiful trees bare trees and trees with leaves widespread trees and tall stately trees there's a clearing between the trees and in the clearing is a small temple with an aura of light around it go to the door it's cool and dim inside and inside on the walls there are pictures of great saints you sit down on the floor close your eyes and become still a sense of deep peace and harmony envelopes you as you listen inside and the sounds outside fade into the distance continue your awareness of meditation inside the temple stay there for some time until peace and harmony pervade inner space bring your awareness back to the space between the eyebrows that dark space you see in front of your closed eyes watch it with detachment and do not become involved just rest your mind in this warm and friendly darkness resolve now remember your resolve your son Kalpa it's that same resolve you made at the beginning of practice with the same words and the same attitude it's that positive short statement what you want to manifest for yourself repeat this resolve three times clearly silently to yourself with feeling and emphasis the finish become aware of your breathing aware of your natural breath aware of deep relaxation awareness of your physical existence become aware of your arms and legs and your body lying stretched out on the floor become aware of the meeting points between your body and the floor develop awareness of the room the walls the ceiling the noises in the room and outside of the room lie quietly for a few moments and keep your eyes closed start moving your body ever so gently maybe stretch maybe wiggle your fingers and your toes maybe rotate your wrists and ankles please take your time and when it feels right and good to you place your feet on the floor your knees bent let your knees drop to the right side and come into a fetal position resting your head on your outstretched arm breathe for a moment here your left palm and help push yourself up to a seated position keeping your eyes closed bring your palms together bow towards yourself in a state of gratitude for giving yourself this time of rest and replenishment shanti shanti shanti peace peace peace namaste

Reviews

Classic yoga nidra

Love it. I like her voice and cadence. I especially like the simplicity of this yoga nidra. It felt very classical with no music. Being a Yoga teacher myself I also appreciate her depth of practice which really came thru as she read a practice from a book. Thank you!

Excellent thank you

A perfect nidra! Well done and thanks