Yoga Nidra (Yogic Sleep Meditation)

Yoga Nidra is a powerful and profound way to bring the body, breath and mind into easeful restfulness and the burdenless state. Let yourself nestle into savasana with only the simple task of listening to my voice soothe you into a much needed reset. This practice is inspired by the Yoga Nidra style of the Bihar School of Yoga.

Transcript

Begin by moving into the position of Shavasana,

Possibly with a bolster or pillow underneath the knees,

Just to soften the low back.

Take the feet a bit wider than hips distance,

Letting the feet fall open,

The arms away from the body,

Palms face up,

Even shuffling the shoulder blades slightly so that the shoulder blades are melting down the back.

Slight tuck of the chin to keep the back of the neck long and just beginning to settle here.

And first just taking a few collective breaths together,

Inhaling through the nose in two sips.

Open the mouth,

Exhale release.

Two more.

Last round.

And then closing down the lips here and just breathing through the nose.

Letting the breath become easeful,

Effortless,

Without any tension in the belly here so that the breath becomes involuntary.

Again without any work or effort on your part.

And as you're settling in here,

Scan the body to see if there are any final and small little adjustments you could make to make yourself even five or ten percent more comfortable,

Knowing that it's worth it to make these adjustments so that you won't need to move through the practice of yoga nidra.

Settling in and setting the intention here to stay awake and present during the practice of yoga nidra.

And then beginning to open the body to earth,

Opening the body to sensation,

And first to the sensation of hearing.

And begin to see how far your hearing can reach.

Starting to notice the sounds that are furthest away from you.

Not concentrating on any one sound,

But just noticing the sounds furthest away.

And then letting them go and noticing sounds a bit closer.

Maybe sounds just outside the room or in the room.

And then turning inwards and see if you can sense the sound of your own heartbeat as a sound or sensation or rhythm,

Sensing your own heartbeat.

And then moving to the sound of ringing in your ears.

And then moving to the subtle sound of the breath entering and exiting the nostrils,

As subtle as that sound may be.

And then opening yourself up to the sensation of touch,

Noticing the temperature of the air that touches the skin of your face.

And then the sensation of the fabric and clothing that touches your skin.

And perhaps even the weight of the blanket on your body.

And then noticing all the points of contact that your body makes with the earth beneath you.

From the heels,

Calves,

Backs of the knees and thighs,

The buttocks,

All the muscles along the spine,

Backs of the hands,

Elbows,

And shoulder blades,

And the back of the head.

Notice how all these points of contact firmly hold you here,

So that there's this equal sense of a strong foundation mixed with the sense of release and letting go here,

Allowing yourself to be firmly held by the ground beneath you,

Knowing that the more you let go,

The more you are supported.

Again,

Noticing all the points of contact that your body makes with the earth.

And then notice the thin layer of contact between your upper and lower lip.

And then the thin layer of contact between your upper and lower eyelids.

And back to the body and the floor.

And then the lips.

Both sets of eyelids.

And back to the body and the floor.

And then moving your awareness,

Full awareness in your right hand thumb.

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

And pinky finger.

Palm of the right hand and center of the palm of the right hand.

Back of the right hand,

The right wrist,

Right forearm,

The right elbow,

The inside and outside of the elbow,

Right upper arm and top of the right shoulder,

The right armpit,

Right side of the chest,

The right ribs and the right lung,

Right side waist and the right hip joint,

The right thigh,

Front,

Back,

Inner seam and outer seam,

The right knee,

The right shin and right calf muscle,

Right ankle,

Top of the right foot and sole of the right foot and the heel,

Right big toe,

Second,

Third,

Fourth,

And pinky toe.

And then moving your awareness to your left hand thumb,

The index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

And pinky finger,

The palm of the left hand and the point in the center of the palm,

Back of the left hand,

Left wrist,

The left forearm,

Left elbow,

Inner and outer,

Left upper arm,

Top of the left shoulder,

The left armpit,

Left side of the chest,

The left ribs and the left lung,

Left side waist,

The left hip joint,

The left thigh,

Front,

Back,

Inner seam and outer seam,

The left knee,

The left shin and calf muscle,

Ankle,

Top of the left foot and sole of the foot and the heel,

Left big toe,

Second,

Third,

Fourth,

And pinky toe.

And to the back side of the body where both heels touch the mat,

The calves,

Backs of the thighs,

The right buttock and the left buttock,

The lower back,

Middle,

And upper back,

The right shoulder blade and the left shoulder blade,

And then the whole spinal column,

Having an experience of the whole spinal column from the tailbone all the way up to where the spine meets the skull,

Back of the neck and back of the head,

The whole scalp and hair,

Crown of the head,

And then to the front of the body,

The forehead,

The right eyebrow and the left eyebrow,

Eyebrow center,

The right eyelid,

The right cheekbone,

And the right temple,

And all the muscles around the right eye,

And the left eyelid,

The left cheekbone,

The left temple,

And all the muscles around the left eye,

Bridge of the nose and tip of the nose,

The upper lip and the lower lip,

The right corner of the mouth and the left corner of the mouth,

Inside of the mouth,

Inside of the right cheek,

Inside of the left cheek,

The gums,

Teeth,

Roof of the mouth,

And the whole tongue from the root to the tip,

The whole tongue,

And sense the right ear,

And drawing a line from the right ear across the jawbone,

Moving towards the left ear,

And sense the whole jaw,

Totally relaxed,

The chin,

Front of the neck,

And the throat,

Pit of the throat,

The right collarbone,

And the left collarbone,

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

Center of the chest,

The upper abdomen,

Middle,

The navel,

And the lower abdomen,

And sense the whole pelvic floor here,

The whole pelvic floor here,

Resting on the mat,

And then sense the entire right hemisphere of the body,

Right side of the head,

The neck,

The right shoulder and arm,

Right side of the torso,

The whole right leg,

Sense the whole right side all at once,

And then the left hemisphere of the body,

Left side of the head and neck,

The left shoulder and the left arm,

Left side of the torso,

And the whole left leg,

The whole left side all at once,

And then sensing the whole body,

The crown,

The head,

The neck,

Both shoulders and both arms together,

The trunk,

Both hip joints,

The right leg and the left leg,

Both together,

Sense the whole body here,

Full awareness in the whole body,

Notice the entire body resting here,

Full body awareness,

And then without changing anything,

Notice the breath at the navel,

Notice how the navel is barely moving as the body is being breathed,

Still letting the breath be effortless here,

And then adding a count to the breath,

Inhaling for 18,

Exhale for 18,

Inhale 17,

Exhale 17,

Inhale 16,

Exhale 16,

Keep going,

Counting down to zero,

And once zero is reached or the count is lost,

Just beginning again at 18,

Knowing that there's no reward for reaching zero,

Just continuing to watch the breath as it moves in the body.

You and then letting go of that and noticing the breath move in and out of the nostrils,

Again without any work on your part or changing anything,

Just noticing the breath enter and exit the nostrils,

And again working with the count,

Inhaling for 18,

Exhaling 18,

Inhaling 17,

Exhaling 17,

Keep going again until zero is reached or if the count is lost,

Just beginning again,

Watching the breath being moved in and out of the body.

You you and letting go of the count,

Again noticing the whole body here from the crown to the toes,

Noticing the whole body here,

And sense that you could witness your body from above,

Witnessing the whole body resting here,

Holding on to nothing in this moment,

Completely tensionless,

Witnessing the body rest.

And then beginning to open back up to sensation,

First noticing sounds just in the room,

And we're noticing sounds further away,

Seeing how far your hearing can reach,

Noticing the sensation of touch,

The weight of the blanket on your body,

The texture of the clothing that touches your skin,

The temperature of the air on your face,

And then as you keep the eyes closed here,

Just remembering the room that you're in,

Remembering the time of day and what you've been doing.

Now as we're moving to a close to the practice of yoga nidra,

Come back to the breath,

Notice how the breath continues to move in the belly here,

And then starting to gently deepen that breath,

Filling up the belly a little bit more so the navel rises on the inhale,

And let the navel fall back towards the spine on the exhale,

And then sensing that you could breathe all the way into your feet,

All the way into your hands,

And then adding some gentle movement into the toes,

The fingertips,

The ankles,

And the wrists,

Taking the head from side to side,

As slow as you need.

In your own time,

Bringing both knees into the chest,

Giving yourself a hug here,

Maybe even rocking from side to side,

Massaging the spine.

In your own time,

Falling over to one side and pausing here on your side,

Just taking the next few moments to continue to rest,

Remembering that every time you inhale,

Every single cell is nourished in the body,

Every time you exhale,

The body gets a chance to soften.

Whenever you're ready,

Making your way up to a seat,

Staying with this yoga nidra energy,

Keeping the eyes closed or lowered.

As you find yourself in a seat,

Notice the spine nice and long.

Just take the next few moments to notice how you feel.

Without judgment,

Notice how you feel,

Becoming a witness to the experience of yoga nidra.

Bowing the chin towards the chest,

Slowly opening up the eyes when you're ready,

Lifting the head and coming back into the space.

Reviews

Such a nice replacement for afternoons naps. I’m enjoying the subtle sound of the ocean waves in the background of this one 👌🏼🌟