Welcome to this yoga nidra practice for deep sleep.
Lying down on your back with your body straight from head to toe,
Allow the legs to be slightly apart,
Your feet relaxing outward.
The palms are a little away from the body with your hands facing upward.
Allow your body to sink into the bed feeling totally supported.
Shift and move a little to allow your body to become maybe five or ten percent more comfortable and to settle deeper in.
Be comforted that at this time nothing else matters.
Everything is okay.
You have nowhere to go and nothing to do except listen.
Say mentally to yourself,
I am aware.
I am going to practice yoga nidra.
Take a deep breath in and as you breathe out feel the worries of the day flow out of you.
Do not worry if you do not hear everything I say.
Your awareness may drift in and out of conscious hearing.
Whatever your experience there is no way to do this wrong.
Yoga nidra is not concentrating.
It is simply a practice of listening and feeling.
Even if you do not understand everything it does not matter.
The only important thing is to follow my voice.
Know that you are following what I am saying and that the deepest part of you,
Your core self,
Is always listening.
Listen with your whole body and allow the mind to let go.
You are in a safe environment,
A protected and held space.
Come into stillness now and remain still for deep rest and deep nourishment.
Give yourself a moment to tune in and notice your breath.
Notice the cool air coming in through the nose.
As you breathe out allow your bones to feel heavy and weighted like lead.
If you are stressed or anxious try to let go of those words and what they mean.
And instead tune into sensations in the body.
Allow the brain to turn off.
Allow my words to guide you and help you release gently into sleep.
Become aware of sounds in the distance,
Maybe listening for the most distant sounds you hear.
Listen to the sounds inside your room.
Listen to the sounds outside your room.
Become aware of your own physical presence,
Visualizing your body resting on the bed.
You are breathing slowly and deeply.
Your mind is letting go.
Allow yourself to go deeper within and notice your heart's deepest longing.
What is it that you wish for in this present moment?
It is from this wish we will create an intention or a sankalpa.
It should be a short positive simple statement in the present tense as though it's already happening.
For example,
I am aware,
I am relaxed,
I am sleepy.
Come up with your resolve now and state it three times to yourself,
Then let it go.
Now we will move into a rotation of consciousness of the body.
I will name a part and you will say the part to yourself and as quickly as possible.
Let your awareness jump from part to part.
Becoming aware of your right hand,
Right hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Right waist,
Right hip,
Right thigh,
Kneecap,
Calf,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the right foot,
Top of the right foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Become aware of your left hand,
Left hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left waist,
Left hip,
Thigh,
Kneecap,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the left foot,
Top of the left foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Now go to the top of the head,
Forehead,
Temples,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
The space between the eyebrows,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Nose,
Mouth,
Chin,
Throat,
The whole body together.
Getting awareness to your breath.
Feel the breath entering the body through your nose.
Follow the breath as it moves into the lungs and the chest,
Expanding your ribs,
Moving down into the belly,
Following the breath as it moves from belly to chest,
As it exits through the nose.
Your navel is rising and falling with each breath.
Notice this and begin to count your breath up to 12 and then back down again.
Now release the counting.
Give yourself permission to let go,
To be taken over by something greater than you right now.
Allow yourself to just turn the brain off,
To be pliable,
To just turn off,
To be taken over.
As you inhale,
Feel your belly rise,
Breathing in big,
And as you exhale,
Think release.
Challenge yourself to inhale bigger than you normally would,
And as you exhale,
Surrender everything.
Inhale breathing in big,
Inviting sensation into the body,
Giving yourself permission to release as you breathe out.
Allow the body to breathe you.
Send your awareness to your right heel.
Without moving it,
Just imagine the neurons in your brain racing down to the right heel,
Feeling the right heel,
Heavy with gravity.
Feel the sole of the right foot,
The top of the right foot,
The big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Pinky toe,
Letting gravity have the right foot.
Think let go.
Sending your awareness to the right calf,
Your right knee.
Imagine your knees softening and unwinding as if you could take the knee cap gently off the body,
And all the tissue around it just instantly relaxes,
Slackens.
Sending your awareness to your right thigh,
Feel the front of the right thigh,
Feel the back of the right thigh.
Let the thigh get heavy,
Weighted,
Letting it go.
Send your awareness to the left thigh,
Feel the top of the left thigh,
The bottom of the right thigh,
Feel them apart and then together.
Allow the left thigh to get heavier,
Letting gravity have it.
Allow the left thigh to relax as you shift your awareness to the left knee.
Imagine the whole knee softening,
Tissues receiving more slack,
More space,
Envisioning the knee cap gently coming off the body as you relax the left knee.
Sending your awareness to the left shin,
The top of the lower leg,
The left calf,
Feel the top and bottom of the leg separately,
Then bring your awareness to them together,
Allowing the left leg to relax.
Feel your left heel on the ground,
Let it be heavy,
Feel the sole of the left foot,
The top of the left foot.
Send your awareness into your left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Letting your whole left foot let go.
Feel both legs completely relaxed now.
The whole body is softening and melting like water.
Send your awareness to your belly.
We often think of our stomach being in knots.
Just imagine the opposite,
Your stomach unraveling,
Unwinding,
Space coming into all the tissues and muscles and organs.
Things floating a little bit further apart,
Creating more space.
Send your awareness into the right shoulder,
The right bicep,
The top of the upper arm,
Letting your right arm get heavy,
The right elbow,
The right palm,
The right wrist.
Sending your awareness to the right hand,
The right thumb,
Second finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger.
The whole right hand relaxes.
The whole right side of your body unwinds,
Sending your awareness to your left shoulder,
The left bicep,
The top of the arm,
The bottom of the upper arm.
The whole left arm gets heavy.
The left arm relaxes,
The left forearm,
The left wrist,
The left palm,
The left hand.
Sending your awareness into the left thumb,
The second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Pinky finger.
The whole left hand relaxes.
The left side of your body's unwinding,
Getting heavy,
Letting gravity continue to sink your body further down.
Send your attention to your throat,
Relaxing and softening the throat,
The back of your head,
The back of your neck.
Your face softens.
Relax the space between the eyebrows,
The right eye and the space behind your right eye.
The left eye relaxes,
The space behind your left eye,
Feeling both eyes get heavy.
The right cheekbone relaxes,
The left cheekbone relaxes.
Feel the jaw slacken and relax.
After breathing quietly and slowly,
The whole body is relaxed.
Imagine the whole body becoming heavy.
You're so heavy,
It's as if you're sinking into the bed.
Your whole body feels heavy,
Your head is heavy,
The arms are heavy,
The torso and legs are heavy.
You feel heavy like lead.
Awareness of heaviness.
Awaken the feeling of lightness.
Imagine your body so light,
It's as if your body is floating away from the bed.
Your head is light and weightless.
The limbs are light.
The torso is light.
Your legs are light.
Your whole body is light like a feather.
It's as if you're rising.
Awareness of lightness.
Breathe in while mentally saying the number 40 in your head.
Then breathe out and mentally say the number 39.
Your next inhale is 38.
The next exhale is 37.
Keep counting backwards all the way down to one.
If you lose count,
Begin again at 40,
No need to rush.
Don't get frustrated if you skip a number or forget to count.
Be friendly to your mind if it wants to fall asleep.
Just continue counting your inhales and exhales,
40 to one.
Keep counting backwards all the way down to one.
Visualize on the screen of your mind the following things for a few seconds each.
The color blue,
A baby laughing,
The sun shining,
Torrential rain,
Snow-capped mountains,
Birds flying across the sunset,
Stars at night,
Red desert,
Egyptian pyramid,
A good night's rest,
Full moon,
Your reflection in a mirror,
Foggy morning,
Waiting for results,
The sun shining overhead,
A bouquet of flowers,
Tall tree,
Receiving help from others,
Cool,
Clear water,
A relaxing afternoon,
Laughing with friends,
A warm embrace,
Burning candle,
Temple on a mountain,
Path in the woods,
Vibrant sunset,
Taking a deep breath,
Cat stretching,
A beautiful garden path,
Your favorite song,
The sound of my voice,
Your body lying on the floor,
Wind from the sea,
Waves crashing on a deserted beach,
You smiling.
Imagine your body floating on the dark water and surface of the ocean.
The water is calm and quiet.
Every muscle in your body is now relaxed.
Your whole body is supported.
You are at peace,
Ready for sleep.
Feel the rise and fall of the waves.
Match it to your breath.
Feel like you're being breathed.
See if you can cultivate the subtle sense that your body is recharging,
Renewing.
You are supported,
Suspended,
Refueling.
Take the next 10 or 20 breaths to recharge the body as much as possible,
Feeling enlivened by each inhale,
Relaxed by each exhale,
Imagining every body part healthy and renewing.
Every cell in your body is renewing.
Every thought you've ever thought is renewing and turning into something gentler.
Remember and repeat your original affirmation we set at the beginning of the practice.
Give thanks and let it go.
Imagine as your mind lets go,
Slowly fade into deep sleep.
