Yoga Nidra: Deep Rest For When You Need Restoration

Come to lie on your back,

Resting in Shavasana.

Allow the hands to come either side of the body with the palms facing up towards the sky.

And let your feet rest,

Allowing them to fall however is comfortable.

Relax the legs completely.

Allow your arms to rest.

Soften the whole body,

Allowing yourself to sink into the floor beneath you.

Relaxing the eyes into the back of the sockets.

Relaxing the jaw,

Tongue,

The throat.

With each exhalation feel yourself melting into the floor beneath you.

Allow your entire body to relax.

Slowly bring your awareness to the points of contact between your body and the earth beneath you.

Imagine that roots begin to grow out from these points of contact,

Connecting you to the earth,

Helping you feel completely grounded.

Take a moment to make the intention to give your wholehearted attention to this practice.

Tell yourself that you will make every effort to stay awake and aware,

And that you will do your best to avoid sleeping.

Now taking a moment to bring to mind something that you're grateful for in your life at the moment,

And repeating to yourself the statement,

I am grateful for.

Doing this three times.

Now begin to listen to the sounds around you.

You can start by focusing on the distant sounds,

That are perhaps outside the room that you're in or that feel far away.

There's no need to identify the source of the sound or to label it in any way,

Just simply notice what you're hearing as it is.

Accepting it exactly as it is.

Now start to listen to any sounds that are closer to you,

Perhaps inside the room that you're in.

Again,

No need for any interpretation.

Just listening to the sounds without labeling them or thinking about them too much.

Now rotating your consciousness around the body.

As you hear me name the body part,

Just place all of your attention there.

Starting with the right side of the body.

Bring your awareness to the palm of your right hand,

The thumb,

Index finger,

The middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

The wrist,

Lower arm on the right side,

Upper arm,

The shoulder,

The whole right arm.

Moving to the leg,

The right foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Little toe,

Ankle,

Shin,

The right knee,

Thigh,

The right hip,

The whole right leg.

Now moving to the left side,

Bring your awareness to the palm of your left hand,

The right thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

The wrist,

Lower arm,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

The whole left arm.

Moving down to the leg,

Awareness goes to the left foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Little toe,

Left ankle,

Shin,

The thigh,

The hip,

The whole left leg.

Now taking your awareness to the front of the torso,

Your pelvis,

Waist,

Lower belly,

Upper abdomen,

Chest,

Neck,

Throat,

Chin,

Mouth,

Lower lip,

Upper lip,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

The whole nose,

The right cheek,

The left cheek,

The right ear,

The left ear,

The right eye,

The left eye,

The right eyebrow,

The left eyebrow,

Your forehead,

The point between your eyebrows,

The top of your head,

The whole torso and your head together.

Moving now to the back of the body.

On the right side,

The back of the hand on the floor,

The lower arm,

The upper arm,

The right shoulder blade,

The whole right arm.

On the left side,

Back of the left hand on the floor,

The lower arm,

The upper arm,

The left shoulder blade,

The whole left arm.

Back of the right leg,

The heel,

Calf muscle,

Back of the thigh,

The right buttocks,

The whole leg.

On the left side,

The left heel,

The left calf muscle,

Back of the left thigh,

The buttocks,

The whole left leg.

Moving to the backside of the back,

The lower back,

Taking your awareness to the upper back,

Back of your neck,

Back of your head,

The whole torso and the head together,

The whole back body together,

The whole body together.

Being aware of your whole body.

Begin to notice the belly as it rises and falls with the breath.

Noticing the circular pattern of the breath with your full awareness.

As you inhale,

Noticing the subtle sensation of the nostrils as you breathe.

After the inhale,

Noticing the space before you exhale.

Begin to notice the subtle sensation in the nostrils of the exhalation.

And the slight pause after the exhalation.

Watch all four parts of the breath.

Inhalation,

Pause,

Exhalation,

The pause.

Giving each part equal attention and interest.

Now begin to count each inhale and exhale until you reach ten.

Whenever you reach ten,

Just returning back to one and continuing to count for another round.

As you count your breath,

Be very conscious to stay awake and aware.

Now stop counting your breath and become aware of the space between your eyebrows.

Placing all of your attention there.

Begin to focus on the dark,

Empty space behind the forehead.

And peer into it,

Noticing any shapes or colours that form.

Staying awake and aware,

Being very conscious not to fall asleep.

As we now cultivate our awareness of opposites.

Imagine that your body is growing heavy.

With each exhalation it grows heavier and you feel yourself sinking deeply into the earth.

As if your body is made of stone.

Feel the density and weight as you keep growing heavier and heavier.

Now imagine you are becoming lighter.

Each inhalation you become light and weightless.

You feel yourself becoming empty,

Full only of air and light.

Experience the sensation of lifting up away from the earth.

Feel as if you would be floating a few inches away from the ground.

Coming back into a normal weight of your body.

Noticing how you rest on the floor.

Start to visualize yourself walking on a beautiful beach.

The sky is clear and blue.

The sand beneath you is white and powdery.

And you feel the sensation of the sand squeaking underneath your bare feet.

Looking out across the ocean you notice that it's a beautiful turquoise blue.

And the most gentle,

Soft waves are breaking on the shore.

You notice the gentle sound of the ocean as it comes in and returns out.

You observe some stone cliffs off to your right.

You notice there's a small entry,

The base of the cliffs.

You start to walk in the direction of this opening.

Once you reach the entrance of this cave in the cliff,

You decide to go inside,

Noticing that there are small oil lamps lit all across the walls,

Lighting your path so that you do not need to be afraid.

You step into the passageway where there's plenty of space for you to walk.

And you take a few steps on the cool,

Damp sand,

Going deeper into the cave following the light.

You descend deeper and deeper into the cave with a sense of curiosity and excitement.

Your hand touches the cool surface of the rocks as you take each step forward.

Slowly the passageway starts to open up and you find yourself in a beautiful cave.

There are thousands of oil lamps throwing a beautiful,

Warm,

Golden light.

The most beautiful place you have ever seen,

Full of shining crystals that reflect the light of the lamps like diamonds.

You step into this cave with a profound sense of awe and wonder.

As you look around,

You notice that there's a small chest towards the back of the cave.

The chest is made of gold and you slowly unlock the latch,

Opening up the lid.

Inside the chest you find a folded piece of white paper.

You realize that this paper contains an important message for you.

You take it out of the chest,

Unfold the paper,

And you read to yourself the one sentence message that is written on there,

An important message for you alone.

Once you've read the message,

You place it back in the casket,

Turn around and take in one last time the beautiful cave that you find yourself in.

Taking that light that surrounds you inside you as you slowly make your way out of the cave,

Retracing your footsteps until you finally come back out into the daylight and onto the beach.

You notice a big flat rock jutting out of the ocean in front of you.

You walk over to it across powdery white sand and step from the beach onto the rock.

As you walk along it,

The rock starts to be surrounded by the gentle lapping of waves of the ocean.

There's a lot of space on the rock that's lying there in the sun.

So you slowly lie down and close your eyes,

Experiencing the warmth of the stone underneath you,

The smooth surface.

You take a few moments to just enjoy the rays of the sun shining down on you,

Nourishing your body with its warm rays.

As you lie there,

You feel a great sense of joy filling you.

You lie there for a few minutes enjoying the warmth of the sun and this deep sensation of bliss.

You notice how this joy is arising from within you.

Now ask yourself,

Who is experiencing this joy?

Allow your awareness to penetrate to the source of your feelings.

Ask yourself,

Who am I?

Spend a few moments contemplating this question.

Begin to let go of any sense of separateness.

Allow all the boundaries between yourself and what you have perceived to be outside of you to dissolve.

Witness your experience and allow all boundaries between you and what you have mistakenly perceived to be outside of you to dissolve.

As you lie there,

Start to become aware of yourself lying on the floor in Shavasana,

As if you were looking down on yourself from the ceiling.

Notice what you're wearing,

What you're lying on.

Notice the peaceful and relaxed expression of your body,

Of your face.

Look around in your mind's eye at the room,

Visualizing the space that you're in with your full attention.

Now consciously slip back into your physical body.

Begin to become aware of your gentle breath as the belly rises and falls.

Noticing the right arm,

The left arm,

The right leg,

The left leg,

Front of the torso,

The back of the torso,

The neck,

Throat,

Head,

Eyes.

Taking a moment to bring to mind something that you're grateful for in your life at the moment and repeating to yourself the statement,

I am grateful for… doing this three times.

Become aware of the boundaries of your body,

Bring your awareness back into the physical body.

Slowly move the fingers and the toes.

If you would like to,

Take a nice gentle stretch,

Bringing the arms up overhead and lengthening all the way from the tips of the fingers to the tips of the toes.

Slowly rolling over onto the right side and gently pressing yourself up to a comfortable seat.

Thank you for your attention.