Welcome to this Yoga Nidra session for deep relaxation,
Anxiety relief,
And nervous system reset.
Find a place to lie down now.
On your back,
Arms slightly away from your body,
Palms turn upward or down,
Legs naturally falling open,
Body straight,
And take your time adjusting.
You are not trying to meditate.
You are not trying to sleep.
You are entering a third state,
A state between waking and dreaming,
And in just a moment you may begin to notice that the body is already starting to settle,
Already starting to relax.
Not because you force it,
But because you're starting to feel safe as you listen to the sound of my voice.
Feel the weight of the back of your head.
Feel the weight of your shoulders.
Feel the weight of your hips.
Gravity is not against you,
It's holding you.
And as you begin to let gravity do its work,
Your muscles that were unconsciously working can finally surrender,
Can finally stop,
Can finally settle.
Yoga nidra works at the level beneath effort.
So now we plant something small,
Simple,
Present tense,
Not dramatic,
True enough to accept.
In just a moment you'll set your sankalpa,
An intention,
Examples of sankalpa,
I am safe in my body,
My nervous system knows how to relax,
I rest deeply.
In just a moment you'll say your sankalpa three times,
With intention,
Passion and focus.
Choose your intention and say it three times silently,
Now.
And now,
We move awareness through the body,
Not to relax.
Relaxation will happen automatically and intuitively.
I'll say a body part,
And you'll bring your attention and awareness to that body part.
No forcing,
No controlling,
Just listening.
And if your mind wanders,
That's okay.
Just come back to the sound of my voice and the body part we're on.
Now,
Bring your awareness and attention to your right thumb.
Full awareness,
Full attention to your right thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
Little finger.
Palm of the right hand.
Back of the right hand.
Wrist.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Armpit.
Right waist.
Hip.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole of the right foot.
Top of the right foot.
Big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Little toe.
Now bring your attention and awareness to your left thumb.
Full attention,
Full awareness to your left thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
Little finger.
Palm of the left hand.
Back of the left hand.
Wrist.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Armpit.
Waist.
Hip.
Thigh.
Knee.
Shin.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole of the left foot.
Top of the left foot.
Big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Little toe.
Now bring your attention and awareness to the back of your head.
Full attention,
Full awareness to the back of your head.
Right shoulder blade.
Left shoulder blade.
Fine.
Lower back.
Right butt cheek.
And left butt cheek.
Front of the body.
Forehead.
Right eye.
Left eye.
Nose.
Upper lip.
Lower lip.
Shin.
Throat.
Right chest.
And left chest.
Center of the chest.
Upper abdomen.
Lower abdomen.
The entire right leg.
The entire left leg.
Both legs together.
The entire right arm.
And the entire left arm.
Now both arms.
Attention and awareness to the back of the body.
And front of the body.
Attention and awareness to the whole body.
And notice how much quieter the mind already is.
You didn't force that.
It just happened naturally.
Now bring your awareness to your natural breath.
Don't change it.
Just observe your breath at the nostrils.
Cool air in.
Slightly warmer air out.
In just a moment,
You'll begin counting your breath backwards.
Starting from 27.
If you forget the number,
Just begin again.
That forgetting is not failure.
It happens to most people.
And what you do is just start back at 27.
Counting all the way down.
In just a moment,
You'll breathe in the belly will rise 27.
And you'll breathe out the belly falls 27.
And then you'll breathe in belly rises 26.
And you'll breathe out belly falls 26.
Counting all the way down.
Now begin.
Inhale your belly rises 27.
And exhale the belly falls 27.
Inhale the belly rises 26.
And exhale the belly falls 26.
Keep it going.
Count all the way down.
And if you forget,
Just start back at 27.
And now release the counting.
And what you notice,
The more you focus on your breath,
The less space thought has.
And in just a moment,
You may begin to feel your body is breathing automatically.
All by itself.
Because your body knows exactly what to do.
Now allow your body to breathe naturally.
Let breath breathe you.
Let gravity hold you.
Let your nervous system reset.
Recalibrate.
Reboot.
Whole body relaxes.
And surrenders.
As you listen to the sound of my voice.
And now,
We move through opposites.
So right now,
Feel so heavy.
So heavy.
So heavy.
Your body feels extremely heavy.
So heavy.
Like you're sinking into the earth.
All the way down.
So heavy now.
And now start to feel lighter.
And lighter.
Floating all the way up.
All the way up.
Lighter and lighter to the surface.
All the way up.
Feeling lighter and lighter.
And now,
Start to feel cold.
Imagine cool air on your body.
So cold.
And now start to feel warm.
Like sunlight is shining on your body.
The sun is warming your body.
Feeling so warm.
And so comfortable.
And now,
Feel your body tense.
So much tension.
Tension in your shoulders.
Tension in your jaw.
Feels so tense all throughout your body.
And now release.
Relax all the tension.
Complete surrender.
Releasing all the tension,
Yes.
And now start to feel anxious.
Little anxiety.
Feel the anxiety in your body.
And now calm.
Feeling so calm now.
Whole body feels calm.
Your muscle fibers.
Your nerves.
Your whole body feels calm.
Like a still pond.
Calmness.
Tranquility.
So much peace.
Just like that,
Yes.
Now,
Notice how your nervous system learns through contrast.
You're teaching your nervous system how to learn through contrast safely.
In just a moment,
You'll use that great imagination of yours.
And you'll imagine yourself standing on a dock at night overlooking a still lake.
So peaceful.
Completely still.
The surface of the lake reflects a starry night.
A warm night.
Now,
Imagine you're standing on the dock overlooking the calm lake.
The stars reflect on the water.
The lake is completely still.
You can see the stars' reflection in the water because it's so still.
And you feel so calm.
And you start to notice that each thought that appears creates a ripple in the water but you do nothing and the ripple settles and the surface becomes still again.
A thought comes up ripple in the water and the surface becomes still again.
Now,
Return to your sankalpa.
Repeat your sankalpa three times silently.
In just a moment,
You'll begin to return.
Not fully.
Not abruptly.
Gradually.
Feel the breath.
Feel the body.
Feel the room.
If you're staying awake,
Bring small movements to your body.
If you're going to sleep,
Remain exactly how you are and allow the descent to continue.
Yoganidra is not sleep but it often becomes sleep.
Either outcome is correct because the work has already begun.
You have reset.
You have recalibrated.
You have remembered how to rest.
And now,
You let go.
