Yoga Nidra For Deep Relaxation And Sleep
This Yoga Nidra will allow you to feel deeply relaxed and leave you feeling energised and refreshed, as though you have had some sleep! You will be guided into a comfortable position, lying or seated to settle. You are taken on a rotation of consciousness around your body, before bringing your awareness to the breath. You can stay with the breath or follow guided imagery of colours, before being brought back to your day.
Transcript
Just allow yourself to get ready for yoga nidra.
Lay down,
Make yourself as comfortable as possible.
And if it feels comfortable on your back,
Just allow for your feet to flop out to each side a little.
Let your arms be slightly away from your body.
Maybe let the palms of your hands face upwards.
Adjust anything that you need to,
Blanket,
Clothing,
Position so that you can practice yoga nidra without moving and without any physical discomfort.
Close your eyes.
You can keep them closed for the duration of the practice.
The practice of yoga nidra is the act of hearing and the act of feeling.
These are the only important factors.
Give yourself a few moments to become calm and steady.
Take a deep breath.
And as you inhale,
Feel a sense of calmness spreading throughout the body.
I'd like you to now become aware of any sounds you can hear in the distance.
Become aware of the most distant sounds that you can hear.
Allow your sense of hearing to operate like a radar beam,
Searching out any distant sounds and following them for a few moments.
Move your attention from sound to sound without attempting to identify the source of the sound.
Now gradually bring your attention to closer sounds,
Sounds inside the building and now develop your awareness of sounds in your room without opening your eyes.
Visualize the walls,
The ceiling,
The floor,
And your body laying there.
Visualize your body laying down.
Become aware of the existence of your physical body as you lay down.
Total awareness of your body lying in perfect stillness.
Your body is laying down.
I'd like you to develop an awareness of all the physical meeting points between your body and the surface upon which you lay.
Become aware of your natural breath.
Become aware of your deep,
Natural breath.
Just allow the breath to happen.
Not focusing too hard.
Just an awareness.
Keep listening to me and know that you are breathing.
The practice of yoga nidra begins now.
Staying with your breath for a moment.
Just allowing that awareness of the rise and fall at the front of your body.
The rise as you inhale,
The fall as you exhale.
Without changing your breath,
Just stay with that awareness of the rise and fall for a few moments.
And now I'd like you to move your awareness to your body.
We're going to rotate consciousness through the different centers of the body as quickly as possible to start off with.
Allowing your awareness to jump from point to point.
You can repeat the name of each part after me and simultaneously become aware of that part of your body.
Our practice begins with the right hand.
Become aware of your 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,
Right thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole,
Top of the foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Now move your awareness to the thumb on your left hand,
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,
Left thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole,
Top of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Now take your awareness to your right shoulder,
Left shoulder,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
To your spine and now to the whole of your back together.
Moving that awareness to the top of the head,
Your forehead,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
The centre of your brows,
Right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
To your nose,
Tip of the nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Chin,
Jaw,
Throat,
To your right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Right side of the chest,
The left side,
The centre of the chest,
To your navel,
Abdomen,
Lower abdomen.
Now move your awareness to the whole of your right leg,
Whole of your left leg,
Both legs together,
The whole of the right arm,
The whole of the left arm,
Both arms together,
The whole of the back,
The whole of the front,
The whole of the head together,
Legs,
Arms,
Back,
Front,
Head together,
The whole body together,
The whole body together,
The whole of the body together.
And now we repeat our rotation of consciousness once more,
Taking that awareness back to the 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,
Right thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole,
Top of the foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
To your 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,
Left thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole,
Top of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Now to your right shoulder,
Left shoulder,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
To your right buttock,
Left buttock,
To your spine,
The whole of the back together,
Move your awareness to the top of the head,
Forehead,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
The centre of your brows,
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 side of the chest and the left side,
Middle of the chest,
Navel,
Abdomen,
Lower abdomen,
Now to the whole of the right leg,
The whole of the left leg,
Both legs simultaneously,
The whole of the right arm,
The whole of the left arm,
Both arms simultaneously,
The whole of the back,
The whole of the front,
The whole of the head,
And now 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.
Allow yourself to notice your breath,
Relax into your breath,
Allow you to observe your breath for a few moments and stay in with your breath,
Notice if you're experiencing any colours in front of your eyes.
We're going to work with a colour visualisation.
I would like you to create a picture in your mind of the colour red.
Imagine all shades of red,
Rubies,
The inside of a watermelon,
A postbox,
Bricks,
You can picture any and all red objects.
Imagine all the different tones of red,
Roses,
Apples,
Sunset.
Enjoy the colour red and allow yourself to breathe the colour red into your body.
Become aware of red all around you,
All through you,
And bathe in the colour for a few moments.
Now allow the colour to change into orange.
Think of orange flowers,
Maybe marigolds,
Picture the colour orange,
All the various infinite shades and hues of orange,
All the orange flowers,
All the orange fruits and vegetables,
Pumpkins,
Carrots,
Apricots,
Tangerines.
Fill your entire visual field of your mind's eye with the colour orange.
Orange to soothe you,
To revitalise you.
Enjoy the colour orange for a few moments.
And now allow your mind to see the colour yellow,
Powerful bright yellow,
The bright yellow of the sun beaming above you at midday.
Visualise yellow and see in your imagination,
See using your inner eye,
All the various shades of yellow.
Allow yellow to fill your vision.
Lemons,
Flowers,
Autumn leaves,
Imagine all the endless tones of yellow.
Visualise yourself surrounded with yellow,
Immerse yourself in a sea of yellow and allow yellow to support you.
Now let that colour become green.
Fill your imagination with the colour green,
All the infinite varieties,
Tones and tints and shades of green.
Plants,
Leaves,
Grass,
Emeralds,
Moss.
Just imagine being surrounded by beautiful green,
Everything from the lightest to the darkest.
Bright green,
Subdued green,
Just green,
Green fills you,
Revitalises,
Refreshes you.
Be in green.
Now see in your mind's eye the colour blue.
Allow yourself to be surrounded with beautiful,
Beautiful blue,
Unending as far as your inner eye can see.
Unending shades of blue,
Water,
Sky,
Unending blue.
And imagine blue fill in your vision.
Stay here,
Enjoying the colour blue.
Allow yourself to see the blue change into indigo,
A very beautiful colour.
Visualise this colour like a pair of jeans,
The colour of the night sky.
Imagine indigo and fill your vision with indigo.
Allow this colour to stay with you for a moment.
And now see indigo slowly become violet,
Violet or lavender,
Lighter,
Fun.
Let your focus be on the multitude of violets and purples and lavenders that you visualise all around you.
Violet,
Purple,
Lavender,
Vibrant.
Immerse yourself fully in this colour.
Take a few moments to enjoy violet.
And now allow the colour in your imagination to become white,
A breathtaking white.
With your inner eye see white all around you.
You feel bathed in this pure colour,
The colour that consists of all colours.
As you breathe in the colour white,
Allow it to let you feel lighter,
Making space within your body and mind.
Enjoy the colour white for a few moments.
And now allow your attention to return to your breath.
Notice how calm and regular your inhale and exhale has become.
Letting your breath be natural,
Take a moment to bring to mind once more the calming colour relaxation.
And imagine again the colours one at a time,
Starting with red,
Then orange,
Yellow,
Green,
Blue,
Indigo,
Violet and white.
Which colour resonates most with you?
Take a moment to let yourself be in that colour.
Allow your body to breathe in energy from your chosen colour.
Let yourself enjoy this feeling of relaxation that you're experiencing.
Enjoy it and be aware of the sensation.
Allowing that colour to gently fade,
But know you can return to your colour any time you wish to.
I'd like you to become aware of your breath once more and take a moment to notice the gentle rise and fall of your inhale and exhale at the front of the body.
Staying with awareness of the rise and fall of the breath and just knowing that the breath is effortless.
Start to allow the feeling of the clothes on your skin to come to your awareness.
Noticing whether in contact with your skin,
Maybe a blanket.
And now start to allow yourself to notice any sounds around in the room that you are in.
Seek sounds out that are a little further away,
Maybe outside the room and then seek sounds out that are as far away as you can hear.
And just allow yourself to start to feel the air in your room.
Slowly,
Gently,
Whatever way that's most comfortable.
Just notice how you feel.
Are you cool?
Are you warm?
Are you comfortable?
And now at your own pace,
In your own rhythm,
Just visualise the easiest way,
The way with least resistance to move your body and come back to the present.
Just visualise this for a moment.
And when you're ready,
Maybe take a stretch in your arms,
Stretch in your fingers,
Your toes,
Maybe stretch your body and allow your eyes to slowly open.
Slowly become more alert,
Aware,
Calm and present.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
