Yoga Nidra

This is a simple yet powerful meditation technique that can be practiced by anyone. It will take you to the depths of your mind and help you float in a state between wakefulness and sleep. Its a great way to cultivate multiple levels of well-being.

Transcript

Hello and namaste everyone.

My name is Meeta and welcome to Yoga Nithra.

Lie down on your back and make yourself comfortable.

Keep your feet apart with your toes pointing out and your arms away from your body.

Use any props if you need to find more comfort using pillows,

Blankets or bolsters,

Perhaps under your head or your knees for more support.

And deliberately relax your whole body and close your eyes.

Allow my voice to guide you to the depths of your mind.

Let's start by taking three deep long breaths.

Take a breath in and as you breathe out let all your worries of the day flow out of you.

And do this again breathe in and breathing out a long slow exhale releasing it all.

And breathe in again and this time as you breathe out let it all out letting tension drain away from your body.

Allow yourself to completely settle into the support of the earth beneath you.

Allow your attention to take in the room around you visualising the body lying on the floor visualising the position of the body,

Your clothes,

Your hair,

Your face.

Become aware of the existence of your physical body lying on the floor.

And now move your awareness to the sounds within your space.

Bring your awareness to your ears.

Notice your right ear listening and your left ear listening.

Sounds arising out of the silence and dissolving.

Now let your ears pick up sounds that are furthest away from you.

Maybe outside the room,

Outside the building or the house you are in.

Searching out these distant sounds and following them for a few moments.

There is no need to label the sounds or to judge them.

Just be aware of them.

Now move your awareness to the sounds that are within the room.

Just everyday sounds,

Whatever you can hear.

And moving from sound to sound.

And finally moving your awareness to the sounds closest to you,

Perhaps from your own body.

Maybe you can hear your breath,

Maybe you can hear your heart beating or digestive sounds.

Just be aware.

And now slowly let go of all the sounds,

Drop them to the background of your mind.

And as we begin the practice of Yoga Nidra,

At this moment you can make your sankalpa,

Your resolve or intention.

It's a short positive and simple statement from your heart.

It is what your heart desires.

Try to discover one naturally and honestly.

And seeing it clearly and with awareness three times in your mind.

It could be something like I am at peace with myself or I am aware and present.

Or something like I am successful at whatever I do.

Giving you a few moments for stating your sankalpa.

This sankalpa that you make during Yoga Nidra plants a seed in the fertile soil of your mind to bring about transformation and healing.

And just following your natural breath flow through both nostrils and slowing down your breath.

Slow inhales,

Slower longer exhales.

And now we'll rotate our awareness through our body.

As I say the name of a body part,

Feel that body part and bring your attention to that region of the body.

Bring awareness to the right hand thumb,

First finger,

Second,

Third,

Pinky finger,

Thumb of the right hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

The whole right side of the trunk,

Right waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Ankle,

Sole of the right foot,

Top of the foot,

All five toes of the right foot.

Bring attention to the whole right side of the body,

The whole right side,

Alive and radiating with sensations.

Now moving awareness to your left hand thumb,

First finger,

Second,

Third,

Pinky finger,

Palm of the left hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

The whole left side of the trunk,

Left waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Ankle,

Sole of the left foot,

Top of the foot,

All five toes of your left foot.

Feeling the whole left side of the body,

The whole left side,

Alive,

Warm,

Tingling with sensations.

And as you feel the flow of air inside your nostrils,

Feeling the whole right side of the body and the left hemisphere of the brain simultaneously.

Imagine you are breathing into the whole right side of the body and the left hemisphere of the brain.

Whole right body,

Left brain.

And without changing the pace of your breath,

Maintaining the natural rhythm of your breath,

Feel the left side of the body and the right hemisphere of the brain simultaneously.

Breathe into the left side of the body and the right hemisphere of the brain.

Whole left body,

Right brain.

And the whole body now,

Both sides of the body,

Dividing attention equally between both sides of the body.

Continue to sense your breath and the natural rhythm in and out,

In and out.

And now moving your awareness to the back of the body.

To your right heel,

Left heel,

Right calf,

Left calf,

Thigh,

Buttock,

Lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

The entire spine,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head.

Bring awareness to the top of the head,

Forehead,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Middle of the eyebrows,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Both lips together,

Chin,

Jaw,

Throat,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

Upper abdomen,

Navel,

Lower abdomen,

Right groin,

Left groin,

And the pelvic floor.

Now bringing awareness to the whole right side,

The whole left side,

The entire front of the body,

The back of the body,

The whole body as one.

Moving deeper and deeper into your mind and letting your body stay perfectly still and peaceful.

Now let's visualize opposite sensations.

Imagine your whole body becoming heavy.

Feel the heaviness in all parts of the body.

Each part is getting heavier and heavier.

Your head is heavy,

Your limbs are heavy,

Your torso is heavy,

The whole body is heavy.

Breathe and feel your whole body sinking into the floor.

Now imagine the body becoming light as though your body could float away from the floor.

The head feels light and weightless,

Your limbs feel light and weightless,

The torso feels light and weightless,

The whole body feels light like a feather.

You are rising higher and higher away from the floor.

Now awaken the experience of gold in the body.

Feel the body becoming cooler and cooler.

Imagine being outside in winter with barely anything on.

Feel the chill permeating the entire body.

And now allow the sensation of warmth to spread throughout your body.

Imagine the summer heat when you are out in the sun with no shade.

Your whole body feeling the heat getting hotter and hotter.

Now allow the sensations,

The visualizations to just recede and come back to your breath.

And with every breath notice that space in front of your closed eyes.

With your eyes closed concentrate on this mind screen and notice whatever is here.

Maybe there are some colours,

Shapes,

Patterns of lightness and darkness.

Continue your awareness of this space without becoming involved or getting carried away by it.

Practicing detached awareness.

Let the images come and go all on its own.

Just continue watching the dark space.

And now let go of that awareness and come back to your breath.

And as you notice the natural pace of your breath counting down from ten.

So inhaling ten,

Exhaling ten.

Inhaling nine,

Exhaling nine.

And so on and so forth till you reach one.

Continuing at your own pace one breath at a time.

And now gently letting that breath go.

It is now time to repeat your sankalpa.

Repeating the same statement made at the beginning of the practice three times mentally.

And now Bringing awareness back to the physical body.

Noticing your body is relaxed,

Lying on the floor.

Notice the heaviness of your body.

And feel the sensations of the earth beneath your body.

Feel the sense of the room around you and the sounds.

Ears listening,

Receptive,

Open and balanced.

Reorienting to your surroundings and noticing that you've been practicing yoga nidra.

And as you feel ready,

Slowly begin to awaken your body.

Still with your eyes closed,

Bring awareness to your toes.

Wiggle them a bit,

Making a few tiny movements.

Wiggling into your fingers and perhaps nodding your head from side to side slowly.

And taking as much time as you need.

Bending your knees,

Rolling onto one side,

Staying there for a bit.

Savoring another few breaths here.

And then when you feel ready,

Push yourselves up to a seated position.

Let your head come up last.

Bring your palms together in front of your heart,

Bowing your head slightly.

We'll end this session with three omms,

So take a breath in.

Aum.

Aum.

Aum.

Rub your palms together,

Warm them,

Cup them over your eyes.

And gently slide your hands down.

Namaste and thank you everyone.

Reviews

This was so amazing thank you.

Thank you, very relaxing🪷

Great voice & pacing. some background music would be nice.

Relaxing

Very pleasant Yoga Nidra practice

Amazing guided yoga nidra. Next time it might be nice to have some minutes of silence towards the end. But you have a true gift. Thank you.

I needed that, thank you 🙏🏼