Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra translates to 'Yogic sleep'. Whilst you will not fall asleep, you will be on the edge of sleep and awareness. Your body will receive the benefits of sleep and your soul will receive the benefits of your soulful intention without the mind getting in the way.
Transcript
Welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra.
This practice is taken laying down.
Perhaps you might like to lay on your bed,
On the floor and some pillows.
However,
Or wherever you choose,
Make sure that you're comfortable and warm.
Take a few moments to settle.
And ensure that you roll your arms open.
Allow the palms to face up and the fingers to naturally curl.
Take your feet a little wider and perhaps place a pillow or a cushion behind your knees.
Take some slow breaths.
Allowing yourself to settle into the space.
And take a deep breath.
Feel your lungs,
Feel your body,
Feel your body.
And then take a deep breath.
Deep breath.
Feel your lungs,
Feel the belly expand.
And sigh it out.
Take another one just like that.
Big breath in.
And let it go.
And more like that.
Big breath in.
Sigh it out through your mouth.
Sigh it out through your mouth.
With every exhale from now,
Feel yourself become more relaxed.
Notice any sounds around you.
Sounds outside of the room.
Identify one sound,
Then move to the next.
Not getting caught up on the story,
Just noticing the sound.
Then bring your awareness closer to the sounds within the room.
Now drawing that awareness even closer,
Can you hear the sound of your breath?
Can you hear the sound of your breath?
Coming into the awareness of your other senses.
Feeling the touch of the air on your skin.
The feeling of your clothes or blankets.
And sensing the inside of your mouth,
Your tongue,
Your teeth,
Your gums.
And any taste that you can sense.
And then noticing your breath.
The movement of the air through the nostrils.
And any scent or fragrance that you can detect.
With your eyes softly closed,
Looking beyond your closed eyelids,
Your inner vision.
Sensing contentment in your body.
Your inner world.
Safe,
Comfortable and present.
Now we explore contrast within the body.
As you take a long inhale,
Clench your fists,
Your arms,
Your shoulders,
Your chest,
Your belly,
Your ribs and your back.
Squeeze,
Squeeze,
Squeeze until you feel your arms shake.
Sip in a little more air,
Squeeze a little harder and let it go.
Sigh it out.
Take a couple more breaths in between.
That exhale take you deeper and deeper into a state of relaxation.
Next breath in,
Another large breath,
Feel your belly and then tense your toes,
Your ankles,
Your feet,
Your lower legs,
Your thighs,
Your pelvic region,
Your glutes.
Squeeze,
Squeeze,
Squeeze as tight as you can,
Sip in a little more air,
Squeeze until the legs lift and shake.
And let it go.
Normal breaths in between.
Those exhales taking you deeper and deeper.
On your next breath in,
The whole body including your head,
Your neck and the features of your face.
Squeeze everything as you breathe in deeply.
Breathe,
Breathe,
Breathe.
Sip in a little more air,
Squeeze,
Squeeze,
Squeeze,
Squeeze and let it go.
Resting in the awareness of these layers of tension melting away.
Now coming into the awareness of your breath,
The three part yogic breath.
Beginning of your inhale,
Taking your breath all the way down to your belly,
Your ribs and your chest.
And as you exhale emptying from the top to the bottom,
Breathing out chest,
Ribs and belly.
You might like to count silently 1,
2,
3,
3,
2,
1.
Or you might prefer to just feel into the experience of these three part yogic breaths.
Noticing the quality of the inhale expanding and the quality of the exhale releasing.
Releasing the breath,
Breathing naturally.
As I describe an area or a part of your body,
I invite you to feel this part as light.
Feel the tops of your feet,
Light,
Effortless.
The fronts of your ankles,
The fronts of your shins,
Floating.
The fronts of your thighs,
Your belly,
Your ribs,
Your chest,
Your collar bones,
Both your arms.
And the whole of your head,
Light.
Breathing in lightness.
Now feel your body heavy.
The backs of your heels,
Your calves,
The backs of your knees,
Thighs,
Your buttocks,
The lower back,
Middle back and upper back.
The backs of your arms and the back of your head.
Feel the body heavy.
Breathe in heaviness.
Breathing in heaviness.
Coming back to neutral and sensing into your energy body.
Begin by feeling into your physical sheath,
The outer layer of your being.
And sensing below the surface,
Your energy body.
This energetic sheath is your imprint.
It's how you receive and leave the imprint of your energy.
Feel the expansion of this energetic body with every breath in and every breath out.
As we rest in our energetic body,
It's time to create our sankalpa,
Our intention.
The creation of our intention is a positive resolve beginning with I am,
Make it personal and make it present.
It may be as simple as I am living my life with ease and grace.
Or you may have a more particular sankalpa that you're already working with.
If nothing comes to mind,
Just know by being present within this practice,
We'll welcome new neural pathways toward greater health,
Vitality and awareness.
You can rest in knowing that this will be present regardless.
If you do have an intention,
Repeat it now silently three times.
Now I'll take a rotation of consciousness.
As I describe an area or part of the body,
Feel the energy layer.
Feel the energy of that part of your body.
Beginning at the right hand thumb,
Feel the thumb.
Second finger,
Third,
Fourth and fifth finger.
The right palm of hand,
Back of hand.
The right wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm.
The right shoulder,
Armpit,
Right side waist.
The right hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg.
The right ankle,
Heel,
Sole of foot,
Top of foot.
The right big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth and fifth toe.
The right side chest,
Upper abdomen,
Lower abdomen,
Right side pelvis.
The right buttock,
Lower back,
Middle back and upper back.
The whole right side,
The whole right side.
The left hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third,
Fourth and fifth finger.
The left palm of hand,
Back of hand.
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm.
The left shoulder,
Armpit,
Left side waist.
The left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg.
The left ankle,
Heel,
Sole of foot,
Top of foot.
The left big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth and fifth toe.
The left side chest,
Upper abdomen,
Lower abdomen.
Left side pelvis,
Left side buttock,
Left side lower back,
Middle back and upper back.
The whole left side,
The whole left side.
The front of your throat,
Your sternum,
Navel,
Pubic bone.
Your tailbone and your whole spinal column.
The back of your head,
The hole of your neck,
The crown of your head,
The right side of your head,
Left side of your head.
Right side jaw,
Left side jaw.
Your right ear,
Left ear.
Feel the inner architecture of the ears.
Your right temple,
Left temple.
The whole of the forehead.
Your right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow.
Right eye,
Left eye.
Relax the tissues around the eyes.
Your right cheek,
Left cheek.
The centre of your eyebrows,
The bridge of your nose.
Your right nostril and your left nostril.
Both your lips,
Your chin,
Your whole head,
Your whole head.
Your whole body,
Your whole body breathing.
Your body breathing you.
Observe the rise and fall of your breath.
Your sternum rising and falling.
Your belly rising and falling.
Your chest rising and falling.
Your chest rising and falling.
Counting backwards from 27.
One breath in,
One breath out,
27.
One breath in,
One breath out,
26.
If you lose your way,
Begin again.
If you complete the count,
Begin again.
If you complete the count,
Begin again.
Releasing the count,
Returning to your natural breath.
Allow yourself to experience deep sense of grace,
Contentment and resolve within your body,
Within your soul.
.
Begin to deepen your breath.
Expanding your awareness from your inner world to your outer world.
Sensing the temperature of the air on your skin.
Hearing the sounds around you.
And perhaps noticing any filtered light through your eyelids.
Expanding your awareness to the sounds and the senses outside of the room.
Feel a sense of your physical body within the space.
Recall the details of the room.
The time of day that it is.
And the day of the week.
On the following breath,
Slowly take your arms overhead.
Take a deep,
Deep stretch.
And releasing down,
Sliding your heels toward your sit bones.
And then hug your knees up into your chest.
Gently rocking from side to side.
Any ledges or surfaces around you.
Come to land softly on your right side.
And just stay there for a moment or two.
When you're ready,
Make your way up to a comfortable seat.
4.8 (165)
Recent Reviews
Xavier
September 26, 2025
Fabulous, I went so deep as of in a trance
Katie
June 26, 2025
My favourite nidra, i can’t stop doing it! Thank you so much x
Sujata
February 13, 2025
Wonderful! Helped me unwind from the day and fall asleep.
Robbie
November 11, 2023
Lovely
Stacey
November 6, 2023
Simply beautiful 🤩 !! This relaxed and out me right to sleep🙏🏻🙏🏻 Thank you 😊 🌸