Yoga Nidra For Stress Relief & Anxiety - Deep Somatic Rest

This 40 minute somatic deep rest practice using Yoga Nidra, neural rewiring and other techniques is designed to guide your mind and body from a state of stress and anxiety back to a place of balance and calm. In this no-music practice, you'll simply be guided by voice. I’ll lead you through a sequence that will deeply relax your entire being, helping you feel restored as if you've had a restful sleep. This practice also supports the rewiring of neural pathways, making it easier for you to access this state of relaxation in your daily life. If you have found benefits in this practice leave a comment to share your experience, I enjoy reading each and every experience.

Transcript

Welcome to this somatic deep rest practice for bringing your mind and body back from an activated,

Stressed and anxious state into a state of homeostasis.

I will shortly be taking you through a sequence that will deeply relax your whole being,

Mind and body,

So that you feel restored almost as if you've had a restful sleep.

This practice helps to rewire the neural pathways in your brain so that you have better access to this state of relaxation in your waking life.

But before we start,

I would like to invite you to subscribe so that you get early access to my new yoga nidra somatic deep rest practices.

So make yourself comfortable and take a few moments to move into a position that feels restful and cosy.

Notice if there is any tension or discomfort being made by the position that you're in,

And see if you can make a small movement that would make yourself just a little more comfortable.

Allowing your body to experience ease in the physical body will allow your mind to feel safe and receptive to this experience of resting deeply.

Close down your eyes or take a soft gaze,

And take a moment to gently observe where your attention is naturally rested in this moment.

There is no need to change,

Simply notice with curiosity.

Your thoughts may be holding a lot of your attention,

Or perhaps you're scanning your environment for sounds.

You may be replaying events from your day,

Or running through your to-do list.

Simply notice where your attention is rested.

Now you're aware of where your attention is focused,

Imagine gathering all that attention,

And gently guide it down into your body,

Away from the busy mind and into the physical sensations of your body.

Just visualise this shift happening in whatever way your intuition guides you to.

You may notice some anxiety,

Nervousness,

Or a sense of being tightly wound.

This is okay,

And take a moment to notice where you're experiencing these emotions in your body,

And allow them to be exactly as they are.

Simply observe how your feelings are manifesting physically in your body.

Now you have a sense of where these emotions are playing out in your body,

Try to name these sensations and their properties.

For example,

This may show up as a tightness in your chest,

A churning feeling in your stomach,

Or a tightness in your jaw.

Simply name the quality of the sensation that you're experiencing the most,

And whatever else draws your attention.

Now allow your body to respond naturally to these feelings and sensations.

If you sense restlessness,

Anxiousness or jittery feelings,

Give yourself the permission to move in a way that feels right and supportive.

This could be a gentle shake of your hands,

Tightening and release of your shoulders,

Gentle tapping of your feet,

Or even a self-hug from whatever position you're resting in.

Simply allow your body to express in the way that it feels drawn to,

Allowing your intuition to guide you here.

You may find yourself trying to edit or placing judgement on the movements that you're drawn to making.

That is fine and normal,

But simply allow yourself to consciously release this judgement and allow your body to make the movements it wants to,

Knowing that there is no need for a story,

You are simply moving the energy through your body.

Trust in your body's wisdom to find its own balance through this mindful movement.

As you're making these movements,

Know that they can release stuck emotions such as anxiety,

Worry or stress.

When you're ready,

Bring your body back to stillness and allow yourself to rest in stillness for the remainder of this practice.

Notice now if the energy in your body has begun to settle in any way.

You may feel a sense of relief,

But you may not.

It doesn't matter,

Simply allow whatever your experience is to be as it is for just this moment.

Allow your sensations and emotions to be held in your gentle,

Kind awareness.

You're giving your body this gift of spaciousness to process the stress and anxiety that it's been holding onto.

By holding space for it in a loving,

Gentle way.

So hold this space as long as it feels comfortable to do so.

And now drift your attention to your breath and take a slow,

Deep breath in through your nose,

Counting to four as you inhale.

And really try and feel the breath and the air flowing in through your nostrils.

Feel your lungs fill with air on your inhale and hold the breath gently at the top of your breath for just a moment,

Enough for a brief pause and then slowly exhale through your mouth,

Counting to six as you release the breath.

Allow your body to soften with this out breath.

Continue to breathe in through your nose,

Counting to four as you inhale.

Holding the breath gently at the top for just a moment and then releasing to a count of six.

And as you do this,

Notice any areas of tension or tightness within your body.

And with each exhale,

Imagine that you're releasing that residual tension,

Allowing yourself to let go of this tension and let it flow out of your body with each exhale.

If your mind begins to wander here,

Gently guide your attention back to the pattern of your breath,

In for a count of four,

Brief pause at the top and exhale for six.

Use the metronome of your breath as an anchor to bring you back if your mind wanders.

On your next inhale,

Tune into the shape and the rhythm of your breathing,

Simply feeling the pattern as it naturally flows,

Without counting.

Experience the sensation of your body being breathed.

If it feels right for you,

You can deepen this practice by letting out a soft sigh or a gentle hum as you exhale,

Adding a vocal release to the sensation of letting go of any tension.

Release your attention from your breath and allow a visual to come to your mind's eye that represents trust and comfort.

This may be a symbol,

A figure like an animal,

A word or simply a deep knowing.

There's no need to refine the image of whatever comes to your mind,

Simply allow your intuition to guide you here.

As you gather this sense of a visual in your mind's eye,

Allow this visual to give you the permission to let go of any expectation or attachment.

It gives you permission to trust in the inherent wisdom of your inner being.

The visual may change or just give you this deep knowing that gives you this permission,

Simply allow your intuition to guide you here.

There's nothing more you need to do,

There's no efforting required in your practice today,

You can simply be as you are here and now.

Allow yourself to practice today without being weighed down by any expectation and just know you are supported using this visual to represent that support,

Comfort and trust.

Knowing this,

Ask yourself,

What intention has brought me to practice here today?

Translate this intention into just one word of positivity and strength.

Words that may resonate with you today are peace,

Joy or freedom.

Choose a word that resonates with your reason for practicing today.

And now imagine that your word of intention can be extracted from your brain and placed at your heart centre.

This part of your body is full of compassion,

Support and love.

Feel your heart space accepting your intention here.

Allow any visuals or sensations to come to you as you sense your heart centre accepting your intention fully and non-judgmentally.

Imagine your word transforming at your heart centre into a radiant glowing light.

This light feels safe and comforting.

Notice the colour,

Intensity and properties of this comforting light.

And with your natural inhale,

Feel as this light expands.

Allow it to fill your entire chest cavity.

And then watch it contract again with your exhale without changing your breath.

Feel the light expand with your inhale and contracting with your exhale.

Feel its warmth and compassion as you watch it move.

And you visualise its supportive radiance.

As you rotate your consciousness around each body part,

Allow your radiant light of support and compassion to be placed like a pinpoint on each point.

And allow it to open up the sensations that reside at each part of your body,

Feeling the energy begin at the crown of your head.

Allow your attention to be placed at all the sensations and energy at the crown of your head.

Drift down to your forehead,

Third eye centre,

Feeling the radiance of your supportive light like a pinpoint at your third eye centre.

Your right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Your right eye,

Your left eye,

Your right ear,

Space between the ears,

Left ear.

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Both cheeks together,

Both lips,

The space between the lips.

Your jaw,

Feeling the sensations and radiance being held in your jaw.

Sense into the inside of your mouth,

The top row of your teeth,

Bottom row of teeth.

The tip of your tongue,

The middle of your throat,

Feeling all the energy here without changing anything,

Just allowing the radiance of support to support the sensations here in your throat.

The pit of your throat,

The heart centre,

Left shoulder,

Upper arm,

Elbow,

Lower arm,

Palm of your hand,

Left thumb,

The four fingers on your left hand,

Feel the sensations as you feel these fingers as one.

The navel centre,

Heart centre,

Your right shoulder,

Upper arm,

Elbow,

Lower arm,

Palm of your right hand,

Your right hand thumb,

Four fingers together on your right hand.

The right of your pelvic bowl and now move your attention,

Spreading the light from the right of your pelvic bowl to the left of your pelvic bowl.

The tip of the tailbone at the base of the spine,

Feel the sensations here at the base of your spine,

Allowing the radiance and movement to be sensed here.

And now drift your attention to your left thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Top of the foot,

Base of the foot,

All toes on your left foot together.

Your right thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Top of your foot,

Base of the foot,

All toes together.

Now hold both legs together in your awareness,

Feeling the sensations here.

Now drift your attention to your lower abdomen,

Navel centre,

Both arms together in the radiant warmth of your supportive awareness,

Your heart centre,

Pit of the throat,

Centre of the throat,

The whole face,

Eyebrow centre,

The crown of your head.

Imagine that your body is a microcosm of the universe,

Feel into the solidarity in your bones and sense into this grounding earth-like energy that resides deep in your bones.

You may feel the spine as it rests on your support beneath you,

Feel the groundedness,

The solidarity and the earth property in your body,

In your bones.

Without moving,

Resting in stillness,

Sense into the fluidity in your joints,

Feel the veins as if you could feel the movement and energy of each blood cell flowing together,

Making up the water-like nature,

Just like a stream passing through mountains.

An ebb and flow with each heartbeat,

Feel the warmth in your muscles and the heat exchange in your body,

Feel this like a cosy fire,

Warming up your body,

Giving you comfort and energy as you rest here in stillness,

Restoring your whole body of its energy.

And feel the lightness in your breath without changing anything,

Simply sense into the expansiveness of air,

Energising your body,

Recharging you,

Sense into the spaciousness beyond the body where your consciousness resides,

Your thoughts and feelings are like the constellations of the universe,

Visualise your whole self being made up of a beautiful map of constellations and space,

Rest back here in your spaciousness and energy,

Resting deeper,

Allowing yourself this space to recharge,

Knowing that you've made time for yourself here today,

And this time you've spent resting back,

Recharging,

Will bring you benefits in your waking life,

So feel into a deep feeling of gratitude for yourself,

And with this deep sense of gratitude,

Bring your attention back to your heart space,

Feeling the energy of love,

Warmth and thankfulness for yourself at your heart space,

Allow your heart space to bring back your word of intention,

Bringing it back into your frame of consciousness,

Notice how your body responds to this intention,

Feel into a part of the body that feels receptive or feels light,

It may be your hands,

Chest,

The muscles in your face as they've relaxed down,

Wherever it is,

Simply sense into a feeling of lightness and receptiveness or neutrality,

And now become aware of the regulation,

The calm that exists within your mind,

You may notice you feel like the quality of your thoughts has changed,

You may feel calmer,

Or like your mind has slowed down,

You may feel a small or no change,

But that is okay,

The most important thing here is that you thank yourself for creating this space,

To allow your body to integrate with your mind,

And to process the day's experiences,

You have created this experience for yourself,

And you have held this space for yourself,

Allowing your body and mind to deeply rest,

And whenever you're ready,

With your eyes still closed or your gaze soft,

Begin to bring in the sense of the physical world around you,

Focus back in on my voice,

And allow yourself to become attuned to the sounds and the sense of the physical world external to you,

Take a deep breath in through your nose,

And try to gather any wisps of scent in your environment,

And now gently begin to move your body,

And bring one of your fingers to your thumb,

Or whichever hand you wish,

And gently but rhythmically tap your finger and thumb together,

And as you're doing this,

Just focus in on a relaxed or cocooned state that you've created,

You may feel this in your whole body,

Or focus in on the specific part of your body that felt like this,

Continue to gently tap your first finger and thumb together,

This action is an anchor that rewires your brain,

Remind your brain of this state of relaxation,

So whenever you tap your finger and thumb in this rhythmic way in your waking life,

Your brain remembers that this is the state that you're asking to create,

It may require a few sessions to fully integrate this tapping motion to this regulated relaxed state,

But once it is connected you can use this anchor to bring in regulation whenever you feel you want it in your waking life,

And now begin to move the rest of your body in whatever way feels wakeful to you,

You might want to stretch,

And when it feels right,

Begin to focus your gaze and allow your eyes to adjust to the light,

Your practice is now complete,

I hope you've enjoyed this somatic rest practice today,

I would love to connect with you in the comments,

So leave a comment to share your experience today,

And remember to subscribe for more practices like this one,

In this deep somatic rest you connected to your mind and body in a way that supports the rewiring of neural connections in your mind,

Whilst also allowing you to process your feelings and emotions in your body without any story or judgment,

Whilst you're in a relaxed and restful state,

This deep rest state is more receptive and will allow for quicker rewiring of the connections in your brain,

Take a moment to reflect on how you feel now compared to when you began the practice,

And just know that with practice your mind becomes more accustomed to the rewiring of your mind body that comes with somatic rest,

And that you will gain even more benefits from the practice the more that you do this,

Anyway thank you so much for being here today,

And i hope you come back soon to practice with me here on the wellness words

Reviews

Lovely slow yoga nidra with lots of lovely techniques to soothe and settle the nervous system. I drifted off at the end. Thank you 😊