Hello and welcome to Journey to Mindfulness.
My name is Letitia and today I'll guide you through a yoga nidra for a deep sleep.
So welcome.
I'll invite you to settle into rest.
Maybe lying down in your bed or just onto the ground.
Finding the most comfortable position and allowing your body to sink.
Arms resting softly,
Legs heavy and eyes closing gently.
Taking a short moment here to make any adjustment necessary for you to feel completely comfortable and supported where you are.
And then take a long,
Slow breath in and sigh it out through the mouth.
Feel the weight of your body being carried,
No effort.
Take another long,
Slow breath in and empty the breath out.
And take a couple more of those deep breaths.
And full exhales.
And breathe every exhale,
Imagine the body sinking a little deeper.
Melting,
Dissolving into the surface beneath you.
The bed holds you.
The earth holds you.
There is nowhere to go.
Nothing to do.
No one to be.
Just this quiet moment of letting go.
And start to bring the awareness to the feet,
The feet,
Heavy,
Soft,
Dissolving.
The ankles,
Calves,
Thighs,
Hips,
All sinking.
Now the hands,
Fingers loose,
Palms soft,
Arms heavy,
Shoulders releasing.
Now bringing attention to the face,
The tiny muscles around the eyes,
Softening.
The toes,
Unclenching,
The tongue resting heavy in the mouth,
The whole face quiet.
Let the mind know,
You can let go now,
You can rest.
Notice the breath,
Inhaling gently,
Exhaling fully.
Imagine each breath as a wave,
Rolling in slowly,
Rolling out softly.
Each inhale brings a feeling of calm,
And each exhale carries you deeper into rest.
You may silently repeat as you inhale,
Calm,
And as you exhale,
Release.
As you drift with the breath,
Notice the spaces between,
The quiet pose after the exhale,
The silence before the next inhale begins.
These spaces are the doorways into sleep.
Rest your awareness there,
Inhale calm,
Exhale release.
Breath rolling in slowly,
And rolling out softly.
Now imagine a night sky above you,
Dark velvet,
Scattered with stars.
One by one,
The stars flicker gently,
Like tiny lanterns.
In this vast space,
And feel yourself laying beneath this vast sky,
Your body heavy,
Your mind vast and quiet.
Maybe you imagine floating,
As if the bed itself was a raft on a calm,
Dark lake.
Each ripple of water rocks you into deeper stillness.
You may drift between the sense of floating,
And the sense of being deeply rooted.
Both are true,
And both are safe.
Now let your awareness expand.
Thoughts may come like faint clouds across the sky.
But you are the vast sky itself,
Unmoving.
Feel the edges of the body dissolving.
The outline of the arms,
Of the legs,
Softening into space.
The edges of the back of the head,
Dissolving.
The shoulders,
Upper back,
Middle back,
Lower back,
Fainting across the sky.
The hips,
Back of the thighs,
Back of the knee,
Heels,
The whole back body,
Softening into space.
Back of the upper arms,
Elbows,
Lower arms,
Back of the hands,
Fingers,
Dissolving.
Soon there is only breath,
And then only the gentle hum of being.
If wakefulness lingers,
Rest in the sweetness of this in-betweens place.
If sleep comes,
Simply allow it.
Allow yourself to sink completely now.
The final descent into deep rest.
Sinking deeper.
As if descending a staircase of softness.
The body dissolving into the earth itself.
Bones as stones.
Muscles as soil.
Breath as the wind.
And cradle into the vastness of the starry sky.
Body grows heavier.
Breath slows.
The mind quiets.
Softer.
Deeper.
Sinking.
Drifting.
Still.
You arrive in the sanctuary of sleep.
Now let even the words begin to dissolve.
You don't need to listen.
You don't need to hold on.
Your body knows how to rest.
Your breath knows how to guide you.
Your heart knows how to dream.
So gently drift.
Drift like a feather floating down.
Drift into the softest,
Deepest rest.
There is nothing more to do.
Nothing more to be.
Just this gentle falling into deep,
Nourishing sleep.
Let yourself drift down into the soft,
Limitless ocean of sleep.
Each breath takes you further.
Each exhale erases the day.
Each moment carries you deeper into rest.
There is no edge to this night.
Only endless stillness.
Endless peace.
Rest deeply.
Sleep peacefully.
You are held.
You are safe.
Rest deeply.
Sleep peacefully.
