Yoga Nidra To Release Stress

Welcome,

This is a practice of yoga nidra,

Also called yogic sleep,

It will put you in a profound stage of relaxation of the muscles,

The nervous system and some say that it's equivalent,

Half an hour of yoga nidra is equivalent to four hours sleep.

You can do this practice sitting comfortably in a chair or some may even take it while walking but my preferred option,

If you wish to take it,

Is lying down.

You can lie down on a mat with a prop like a blanket under the head and another blanket over the body or lying down on a bed,

If you are recovering from an illness for instance,

It will boost your immune system,

Accelerate the recovery.

So in yoga nidra,

There are two main concepts in the practice.

The first concept is called pratyahara,

It's a state between awake and asleep.

It's acquired gradually without thinking,

So when it is acquired as the body doesn't move.

So we eliminate any involuntary movement,

Should you need to move,

You can of course follow your need of moving and you will do so mindfully and easily come back to the practice.

So the second concept is called sankalpa,

It's a desired wish,

An intention,

A positive statement starting with I am.

I am happy,

I am grounded,

I am healthy,

Those are some examples.

It is not suggested by the teacher but coming from you,

From your heart.

If nothing comes to you,

Then use the sound um instead.

The practice of yoga nidra begins now.

Bring yourself to a comfortable position,

Lying down,

Sitting on a chair,

On any other position you may see fit,

Palm of the hands moved towards or facing the sky,

Head facing the sky,

Feet gently apart,

About hip width apart,

The arms are a little bit away from the body and now imagine a point between forehead and from that point a line coming down the head,

The torso and finishing between the feet and visualizing yourself perfectly aligned.

So now take a big breath through the nose and open your mouth,

Exhale through the mouth,

Releasing any worry,

Tensions,

Concerns to Mother Earth,

For Mother Earth to take care of it and if that's supportive,

Feel free to repeat this one or two more times if that is helping.

Now bring your awareness to the point of contact between the body and the floor,

Feel the point of contact between the body and the floor,

You can take a body scan starting from the head,

Shoulders,

The back,

The hips,

The legs and the feet.

Now with your closed eyes,

Bring your awareness to the body lying on the floor,

The ground and visualize the walls around you,

The ceiling,

The floor.

Bring your awareness now to sounds,

The ear is attuning to the sounds,

Distant sounds first,

As distant as you can hear outside of this room without labeling the sound,

Just listening to the sound for what they are,

As distant as you can hear.

And now close sounds,

The sounds within the room,

Any sounds you might hear and as close as the sound of your own breath,

The sound of your own breath,

Listening to that sound without trying to make any change,

Just listening to the sound of your own breath,

Nothing to do,

Nowhere to be,

Just breathe and be.

Now once more bring your awareness to the plane of contact between the body and the floor,

Between the whole body and the floor,

No part of the body is omitted,

It is the whole body and the floor,

Almost an abstract experience as it is neither the body nor the floor but the space in between,

That single plane of contact.

Now bring your awareness to your lips,

Feel the plane of contact between the lips,

Become aware of it and again the plane of contact between the body and the floor,

The lips again and now bring your awareness to your eyelids,

Upper eyelid,

Lower eyelid,

The plane of contact between the eyelids,

Feel that plane of contact,

Become aware of it,

Lips again,

Body,

Floor,

The eyelids,

Plane of contact between the lips,

Eyelids,

Lips,

Eyelids,

Body,

Floor.

Now bring your awareness to the point between the eyebrows,

Feel that point,

Become aware of it and now bring to your awareness your sankalpa or wish for transformation or if you don't have a sankalpa the sound um instead and with faith and compassion repeat now three times your sankalpa or the sound um,

Release now your sankalpa,

I will guide you through a rotation of awareness,

Part of the body will be mentioned,

When each part is mentioned visualize it,

Feel it,

Become aware of it,

The rotation will go quite swiftly from part to part,

We will start with the right side followed by the left side,

Back of the body,

Front of the body,

Starting now with the right hand,

The thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Right side,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Back of the knee,

Shin,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Instep,

Sole of the right foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

The five toes together,

The whole of the right side,

The whole of the right side,

The whole of the right side,

Now the left side,

The thumb from the left hand,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Left shoulder,

Armpit,

Left side,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Back of the knee,

Shin,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Instep,

Sole of the left foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

The five toes together,

The whole of the left side,

The whole of the left side,

The whole of the left side,

Now the back body,

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

Right lower back,

Left lower back,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

The spinal cord,

The neck,

Back of the head,

Crown of the head,

The whole of the back body,

The whole of the back body,

The whole of the back body,

Now the front body,

The forehead,

The forehead,

The forehead,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

The point between the eyebrows,

Right eye,

Left eye,

The nose,

Tip of the nose,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Both lips together,

The tongue,

The root of the tongue,

The teeth,

Chin,

The whole face,

The throat,

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

The center of the chest,

Diaphragm,

Abdomen,

Navel center,

Groin,

The whole front of the body,

The whole front of the body,

The whole front of the body,

The right arm,

The right arm,

The right arm,

The left arm,

The left arm,

The left arm,

Both arms together,

The right leg,

The right leg,

The left leg,

The left leg,

Both legs together,

The whole body,

The whole body,

The whole body,

Breathe with your whole body,

The whole body is breathing,

Breathing with your whole body,

Now bring your awareness to your nose,

And feel the breath in the nose,

Become aware of it,

Perhaps you can feel a difference of temperature between the inhale and the exhale,

Cooler air on the inhale,

Warmer air on the exhale,

Be a difference of density between the inhale and the exhale,

And now bringing your awareness to your abdomen,

And feeling the breath in the abdomen,

Abdomen rising on the inhale,

Descending on the exhale,

All of the cells expanding on the inhale,

Retracting on the exhale,

On the inhale,

Lungs get full,

Diaphragm pushing down,

Making the abdomen rise,

And on the exhale,

Diaphragm like a dome shape,

Emptying the lungs,

Pushing the lungs up,

So they empty,

Abdomen descending,

And now imagine a transparent tube going from your navel center to your throat,

And on the inhale,

Visualizing the inhale or prana,

Life force energy,

Going up from your navel center to your throat,

And on the exhale,

A prana,

Breath going down from the throat to the navel,

Visualizing that circuit of the breath,

Going up from the navel center to the throat,

And down from the throat to the navel center,

Not trying to change the breath in any way,

Just keeping the awareness on that journey,

With each breath,

Inhale,

Prana,

Breath going up from navel center to throat,

And exhaling from throat to navel center.

Now,

We're going to introduce a simple count as we keep the awareness on from the navel to the throat,

And throat to navel,

So again,

We're going to count up to number 13,

So inhale from navel center to throat is 1,

Exhale from throat to navel center is 1,

2,

From same,

From navel center to throat,

Exhale 2,

And like this until you reach the number 13,

If you make any mistake,

Start from number 1 again,

Again and again,

It's part of the practice to start again,

If you lose count,

Forget where you are in your numbers,

Otherwise,

Keep counting the breath up to number 13,

Keeping your awareness on that journey from navel center to throat,

And throat to navel center,

A few more counts,

Now,

Wherever you are in your count,

Release your count,

Breathing with the whole body again,

Whole body breathing,

Release count,

Release the focus on the abdomen,

The focus on the throat,

No particular focus,

Just the whole body breathing,

I will mention you some images,

With each image mentioned,

Visualize it,

Make the color as vivid as you can,

The sounds,

The smells,

So starting now with a red rose,

A red rose,

Visualize the color of the petals,

The light shimmering on the petals,

And see yourself next to a red rose,

And inhaling the scent,

Smelling the scent of the rose,

And now a butterfly,

A butterfly in the sky,

Imagine a yellow butterfly dancing with the wind in the sky,

And imagine the butterfly landing on your hand,

You bring the butterfly to the level of your eyes,

And you make contact with the butterfly,

Looking at its wings,

It's not afraid of you,

It's just you and the butterfly in a beautiful garden of flowers,

You look around you,

You are surrounded by beautiful flowers,

Roses,

And you've got a place for yourself,

Look at the sky above you,

Blue sky,

And you feel at one with the sky,

The sun,

The flowers,

The butterfly,

The butterfly lifts your hand,

Starts flying,

And lands on a pink rose,

A pink rose,

Now it's midnight,

A full moon is reflecting on the surface of a lake,

There is a bench next to the lake,

And you decide to sit on the bench,

Looking at the moon,

Its reflection on the lake,

You can hear the sound of nightingales in the night,

You feel at peace with your surroundings,

A candle flame,

Visualize a candle flame,

A cat stretching,

A cat stretching,

The smell of freshly cut grass,

The smell of freshly cut grass,

The sound of a bell,

The sound of a bell,

A golden egg,

A golden egg,

Bring yourself,

Your awareness to the point between the eyebrows,

Feel that point,

Become aware of it,

And with faith and compassion,

Repeat your sankalpa,

Or the sound Aum,

Beginning now,

Release your sankalpa,

Bring your awareness to the body lying on the ground or on its support,

Feel the point of contact between the body and the floor,

And bring your awareness to the front body,

Feeling the different textiles in contact with the skin,

The contact of the air,

Cool air,

Maybe you can feel the contact of your hair on your skin,

The contact between the eyelids,

Between the lips,

And in the mouth,

Can you feel the tongue and the moisture in the mouth,

Now visualize yourself lying or sitting wherever you are,

With your closed eyes visualize the walls around you,

The ceiling,

The floor,

Bring your awareness to the sounds,

Sounds of your own breath to start with,

Listening to your own breath,

Sounds now inside the room where you are,

Listening to all the sounds,

And now sounds outside of the room,

Any sounds you might hear,

Once again bring your awareness to your body,

And become aware of your feet,

Start moving the feet,

The legs,

Start moving the hands,

The arms,

Head moves side to side,

If that's supportive,

Take a big breath now,

Give yourself a stretch,

And without rushing,

When you are ready,

Bring your knees to your chest,

Massaging the lower back,

And rotate on your right side,

The practice of yoga nidra is complete,

Aryum tatsat,

Aryum tatsat,

Take as long as you need to bring yourself in a seated position,

Or if you are about to sleep,

Staying lying down,

And feel yourself drifting,

Thank you for practicing with me today,

Namaste.

Www.

Mooji.

Org