Progressive Muscle Relaxation & Yoga Nidra For Stress Management

This 22-minute practice begins with a guided PMR (progressive muscle relaxation), an evidence-based technique that improves relaxation and sleep preparation. Next, you will be guided through a yoga nidra practice oriented around the goal of stress and anxiety reduction. Coupled together, these practices will enhance the likelihood of both sleep initiation and maintenance.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Tracy Socrates.

Welcome to the practice of progressive muscle relaxation and yoga nidra for reducing stress.

Begin by lying down in a comfortable position.

Ensure that your clothes are loose and comfortable and remove any watches,

Jewelry,

Hair ties,

Or glasses.

You may want to support the knees with a pillow or a bolster and cover the closed eyes with an eye pillow.

Ensure that the body feels cozy and comfortable so that you can remain still and keep the eyes closed during the practice.

The practice of yoga nidra or yogic sleep induces a hypnagogic state of consciousness and later with repetition it will induce the experience of deep dreamless sleep.

It is profoundly effective at reducing the activity of the sympathetic nervous system.

Focus on my voice and instructions as we practice together.

When your attention wanders away as it will,

Bring it back into the practice by connecting to your body and to my voice again.

We'll begin with progressive muscle relaxation.

First I'll ask you to contract target muscles and then we'll relax them by softening the contraction.

Starting with the toes,

Curl the toes towards the sole of the foot,

Tightly,

Tightly,

Tightly for 10,

9,

8,

7,

6,

5,

4,

3,

2,

1.

Now relax your effort.

Flex the toes towards the front of the shin firmly,

Stretching the calf muscle.

Keep stretching the toes towards the front of the shin for 10,

9,

8,

7,

6,

5,

4,

3,

2,

1.

Now relax your effort.

Engage the muscles of both legs by straightening the legs and flexing the toes towards the nose.

Strongly engage the quadriceps above the knee for 10,

9,

8,

7,

6,

5,

4,

3,

2,

1.

Now relax your effort.

Make tight,

Tight fists with both of the hands,

Very tight fists with both of the hands.

Squeeze the fingers for 10,

9,

8,

7,

6,

5,

4,

3,

2,

1.

Now relax your effort.

Flex or bend both of the elbows,

Drawing the fists up to the shoulders,

Squeezing them tightly,

Squeezing the forearms into the upper arms for 10,

9,

8,

7,

6,

5,

4,

3,

2,

1.

Now relax all of your effort.

Squeeze both of the buttocks back into the floor and hold the contraction very tightly.

Both of the buttocks squeeze together,

Holding the contraction for 10,

9,

8,

7,

6,

5,

4,

3,

2,

And 1.

Now relax your effort.

Suck the stomach in tightly towards the spine,

Suck the stomach tightly towards the spine for 10,

9,

8,

7,

6,

5,

4,

Keep drawing the stomach towards the spine,

3,

2,

And 1.

And now relax.

Shrug the shoulders up to the ears as high as you can.

Squeeze the shoulders towards the ears,

Keep squeezing them towards the ears for 10,

9,

8,

7,

6,

5,

4,

3,

2,

1.

Now relax your effort.

Open the mouth very,

Very wide,

Raise the eyebrows and squeeze the eyes tightly shut.

Keep squeezing the eyes,

The mouth is open nice and wide for 10,

9,

8,

7,

6,

5,

4,

3,

2,

And 1.

Now relax your effort.

Feel the whole body,

Feel the contact points between the body and the surface that you're resting on.

Feel the whole body.

Moving into breath awareness.

Become aware of the natural breath.

Watch the breath enter the body,

Watch the breath leave the body.

Become aware of the breath moving through both nostrils.

Notice that the breath is cool as it enters the body and warm as it leaves the body.

Begin to elongate the breath.

Make the inhale longer and then make the exhale even longer than the inhale.

Continue to breathe like this,

Lengthening the inhale and encouraging the exhale to be even longer than the inhale.

Now relax your focus on the breath.

It's time for the sankalpa.

The sankalpa is a firm resolve or intention.

It is a clear and precise statement,

A short statement using simple terminology and it is repeated in the mind like a personal mantra three times silently using exactly the same words.

Allow the sankalpa to arise very naturally and when you have yours simply repeat it.

Moving into a rotation of consciousness.

I'll name a body part.

Allow your consciousness to follow the body part that I've named moving on when I move on.

Starting with the right hand thumb.

Right hand thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Right wrist,

Right forearm,

Right elbow,

Right upper arm,

Right armpit,

Right side of the chest,

Right side of the ribcage,

Right upper belly,

Right lower belly,

Right hip,

Right thigh,

Right knee,

Right shin,

Top of the foot,

First toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

The whole right side of the body,

The whole right side of the body,

Left side of the body,

Left hand thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Left wrist,

Left forearm,

Left elbow,

Left upper arm,

Left shoulder,

Left armpit,

Left side of the chest,

Left ribcage,

Left upper belly,

Left lower belly,

Left hip,

Left thigh,

Left knee,

Left shin,

Top of the foot,

First toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

The whole left side of the body,

The whole left side of the body,

Soles of the feet,

Heels,

Back of the ankles,

Calves,

Behind the knees,

Back of the thighs,

Buttocks,

Low back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

Shoulder blades,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head,

Top of the head,

The whole back of the body,

The whole back of the body,

Forehead,

Eyebrows,

Eyes,

Nose,

Cheeks,

Lips,

Tongue,

The whole inside of the mouth,

Jaw,

Ears,

Front of the throat,

Front of the chest,

Sternum,

Upper belly,

Navel center,

Lower belly,

All of the organs in the belly,

Pubic bone,

Front of the thighs,

Knees,

Front of the shins,

Front of the feet,

Tops of the feet.

Feel the whole body.

Feel the whole body,

Feel that the whole body is relaxed.

Feel the whole body,

Feel the whole body is relaxed.

Sensations.

Feel that the body is very heavy.

Feel that each individual limb is very,

Very heavy as if weighted by bags of sand.

Feel that the body is so heavy,

So weighted.

Feel that the body is very light.

Feel that the limbs and the fingers and the torso and the head are so light that the body can barely stay on the floor.

Feel that the body is so light as if it is filled with helium.

Feel that the body is very hot.

Feel heat spreading from the center of the chest up into the shoulders to the arms out to the fingers up into the throat and all the way to the top of the head.

Feel the heat spreading from the heart center through the torso to the hips,

To the thighs,

The knees,

The shins,

And the toes.

Feel as if the body is lying in a hot sauna.

Feel that the whole body is very hot.

Feel the body is cold.

Feel the tingle,

The crispness of the body being very cold.

Feel as if the whole body is lying naked in the snow.

Feel the cool surface of the snow touching the skin.

Feel that the body,

The mind,

Feel that the interaction between the body and mind is experiencing great anxiety.

Visualize and experience a time of great anxiety,

Great edginess in the physical body.

The breath is very rapid and shallow,

A time of great anxiety.

Now visualize and experience the body-mind complex when it is very calm,

When the body-mind is in a state of serenity,

When it is very peaceful and at ease.

Notice the experience of being very peaceful and at ease.

Now focus your awareness on the space behind the eyes.

With the mind's eye,

Begin to watch the space behind the eyes as if it is a broad and limitless screen.

Becoming aware of whatever manifests behind the eyes,

Simply watching the imagery without interacting or engaging with it.

Moving on to rapid image visualization.

Try to experience the images that I'm naming on the level of emotion,

Imagination,

And memory as best as you can.

A full moon,

A red desert,

A tropical forest,

Waves,

A full night's rest,

A child laughing,

A praying Buddha,

A path through the woods,

A funny movie,

Swimming in the ocean,

Sunflowers,

A green field,

Dancing with joy,

Singing,

Napping in the afternoon,

A beautiful sunset,

The smell of seasons changing,

The sound of my voice,

Your body against the floor,

The sound of my voice,

Your body against the floor.

It is now time to repeat your sankalpa three times using exactly the same words.

Feel the whole body and its contact points with the floor or the bed.

Feel the breath breathing the body.

Maintain awareness of both the breath and the body.

Notice the heaviness found in the whole body.

Begin to visualize the room that you're lying in.

Notice all of the sounds that are present in the room that you're lying in.

Begin to slowly move the limbs.

Gently roll to one side.

When you are sure that you feel ready,

Slowly lift up to a seated position.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Reviews

Never fails to help me drift off.

Always such a relaxing yoga nidra. I do this meditation very regularly for the past 3 years. This is the best yoga nidra i have come across. Beautiful voice, easy and relaxing process. Thank you 😊 💓

One of my top five! Relaxing… I rarely get all the way through without drifting off. Thank you 🙏

This was an excellent approach to yoga niydra. Different from other sessions I've experienced before.

This was wonderful! Saved, followed, and donated! 🙏

Love this as a break from work, the progressive muscle relaxation helped me reach a whole new state of chill. Thank you!

I woke up too early and now feel fully refreshed; whole, perfect, and comfortably complete. Sankalpa realized. Thank you!

Love it! So relaxing

I’ve been using this meditation every night for the past week and finding it so effective for helping me drift off to sleep. Thank you for creating it. 🙏❤️💤

Incredible sensations that lead to sweet dreams. Thank you kindly. I will be doing this again & again ~ ❤️💗❤️

Wonderfully relaxing and refreshing meditation. Thank you

Thank you! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Your progressive muscle relaxation technique is outstanding.

What a relaxing process. Thank you!

🙏🏻😴🙏🏻😴🙏🏻😴

Brilliant! So much content with this practice. Thank you 🙏

Loved this......your voice is very calming. Thank you