Yoga Nidra (With Imagery): Relaxation On All Levels

Hello and welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra.

This is Dan Guerra.

Yoga Nidra is a sacred and science-based practice that systematically teaches us how to relax the various levels of tensions that accumulate in life.

Muscular tensions,

Emotional tensions,

Mental tensions.

Yoga Nidra can sometimes be used for sleep.

This practice is designed,

However,

Not to fall asleep,

But instead to stay awake and relaxed and to achieve a state of what we would call relaxed attentiveness.

This is a great process to practice right before you go to sleep or any time of day when you really want to melt away life's tensions and to just deeply relax.

Now if you do fall asleep during this practice,

It's okay,

So please don't worry.

But with time and repetition,

You can learn how to harness that state between wakefulness and sleep for optimal effectiveness and benefit.

Let's begin.

Ideally you can find a spot on the floor or a firm surface.

Make yourself as comfortable as possible in this position.

Adjust the temperature of the room so that it's not too hot or too cold.

And your body temp will decrease during Yoga Nidra,

So take that into account.

You may use a blanket or a pillow during the practice if you'd like.

Lie down in the supine position on your back.

Make your body straight from head to toe and place the arms slightly away from the body with your palms up and your feet falling away from each other.

Adjust your clothing,

Your coverings and your position so that you can be in stillness throughout the practice.

Allow your eyes to close now and keep them closed throughout the process.

In the practice that follows,

You're going to develop the feeling of relaxation in the body.

It's not necessary to make movements or to deliberately relax your muscles.

Simply allow the feeling of relaxation just to develop,

Like the feeling that comes right before sleep.

Sleep will usually naturally come.

Do your best to try to keep yourself awake.

You can say to yourself mentally now,

I will not sleep.

I'll remain awake throughout the Yoga Nidra practice.

I'm only listening to the voice.

Do not try to think about or analyze the instructions as this may disturb your mental relaxation.

Simply follow my voice with total attention and feeling.

If thoughts distract you,

Don't worry about them.

Just continue with the practice.

In Yoga Nidra,

You function at the level of awareness plus the level of listening and feeling.

Give yourself some time to become calm and steady.

Take a deep,

Noiseless and smooth breath and as you breathe in,

Feel calmness,

Positivity and wakefulness spread over your whole being.

And as you breathe out,

Feel restlessness,

Negativity and tiredness moving out far away from you.

Repeat this three times.

Let your body go.

Don't hold back.

Release it totally on the floor.

If you're holding any part of your body back,

Just allow that part of the body to let go with the next breath.

Just lying completely restful on the floor now.

And you're able to see the body separate from yourself.

In the same way that you wear your clothes,

You've been wearing a body for some time.

Shift your awareness from the body to witness your own natural breath.

Keep on watching your own breathing through the nostrils.

Maintain a relaxed awareness of your own inhalations and your exhalations.

Now forget about your breath awareness.

The real practice of Yoga Nidra begins from this moment.

Tell yourself again,

I will remain awake.

I'll stay connected to the instructions.

Okay,

It's time to make a resolution.

If you already have a resolution,

Then you can use the same one.

And if not,

Let's try to develop one right now.

Don't be in a hurry.

Take your time.

If it's not possible right now,

You can leave it for the next session.

This resolution should be short,

Clear and positive according to your authentic needs.

If you have it now,

Then repeat it three times mentally with your full awareness,

Emphasis and sincerity.

Each time you repeat it,

Say the same words.

Do not change the structure of the sentence,

Not even a syllable.

Forget about your resolution now and say to yourself,

I am practicing Yoga Nidra,

Deep relaxation with inner awareness.

I'm awake and I'm listening to the voice.

Let us move to the next stage now.

We now begin rotation of consciousness by taking a trip through different parts of the body.

I will name the parts and you'll become aware of them.

Do not overly concentrate here.

Simply allow your awareness to move quickly with my voice.

Get ready.

The practice begins with the right hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Small finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the right hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Right side of the torso,

Hip,

Right thigh,

Knee,

Right calf muscle,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole,

Top of the right foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Left hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Small finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the left hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Waist,

Hip,

Left thigh,

Knee,

Left calf muscle,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole,

Top of the left foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And the fifth toe.

Back of the head,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

The whole spine,

The whole of the back together,

Top of the head,

Forehead,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

The eyebrow center,

Right eyelid,

Left eyelid,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Nose,

Tip of the nose,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Chin,

Jaw,

Throat,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Right chest,

Left chest,

Middle of the chest,

Navel,

Upper abdomen,

Lower abdomen,

Pelvis.

Now the major parts,

Whole of the right leg,

Whole of the left leg,

Both legs together,

Whole of the right arm,

Whole of the left arm,

Both arms together,

Whole of the back,

Whole of the front,

Abdomen and chest,

The whole trunk of the body together,

Whole of the head,

The whole body,

The whole body together,

Whole body together.

Bring your awareness now to witness your own natural breath.

Feel the natural flow of your breath in and out of your lungs.

While observing this process,

You notice that there is no effort.

It's automatic.

In a moment,

You will start counting your breaths mentally in reverse starting from 27 as follows,

Inhalation,

Exhalation,

27,

Inhalation,

Exhalation,

26.

And like this,

You continue counting until you reach one without making any mistakes.

If you lose your count,

You'll have to restart.

Remember,

It's your own natural breath.

Wherever you may be,

Stop the breathing practice for now.

Try to experience the following sensations one by one.

Use all of your emotional capacity and imagination in order to create these sensations.

The first sensation is the feeling of heaviness.

Feel as if your body is made out of a heavy material such as metal or stone.

Become aware of heaviness in each limb of the body.

Like a great pressure from your body against the floor,

It may even seem like your body will break the floor and sink into it.

The experience of heaviness,

Heaviness,

Heaviness.

Forget the heaviness feeling and let's move to the next one,

The feeling of lightness.

Feel that your body is made out of a very light material like cotton or paper.

Manifest the experience of lightness in the whole body from top to toe.

Your body is just barely touching the floor,

Almost without pressure.

It feels as if you're almost floating.

This experience of lightness,

Lightness,

Lightness.

Now let's move into another feeling.

It's the feeling of coolness.

Awaken the feeling of coolness in the body.

Imagine a cool wind on the body while standing on the beach.

Or imagine walking barefoot on a cold floor.

The whole body feeling cooler.

Coolness,

Coolness,

Coolness.

Now change that feeling,

The feeling of warmth.

Awaken the feeling of warmth in the body.

Imagine your whole body lying near a warm fireplace in winter.

Or the sensation of putting on your favorite sweater.

The feeling of warmness,

Warmness,

Warmness.

Remember that you're practicing yoga nidra.

You are doing your best to be awake and connected to these instructions.

Now become aware of the inner space that you see behind your forehead.

This is a sacred dark space.

Develop your awareness of this peaceful space.

Imagine before you a transparent screen through which you can see infinite space.

This space extends as far as the eye can see in all directions.

Become aware of this space.

Be totally aware but not involved.

Observe it as if you were watching a movie.

If you see any patterns,

This is simply the way your mind is manifesting at the moment.

Maintain your awareness.

Continue.

Now relax on that space and bring your awareness a little bit more below,

Just in front of your closed eyes.

Make sure that you're not sleeping,

No sleeping please.

I'm going to mention some objects and you should try to visualize them on the level of sensation,

Awareness,

Emotions and imagination.

Just do the best you can.

I'm going to start.

Get ready.

The sun rising over the ocean.

Sleeping baby.

Burning candle.

Endless desert.

Egyptian pyramid.

A car moving on the road.

Colored clouds drifting by.

White clouds.

Blue clouds.

Pink clouds.

Black clouds.

Silver full moon.

Sitting dog.

Cows lying in a field.

Birds flying across a sunset.

The setting sun.

Torrential downpour.

Tranquil lake.

Waves breaking on a deserted beach.

A temple or church on top of the hill.

Whole gathering together.

A ringing bell.

Someone sitting quietly in meditation.

Before ending the practice,

Remember once more your resolution and repeat it three times with total feeling and awareness.

Repeat it now three times.

Now relax all your efforts and bring your attention to the natural breath flowing in and out of the nostrils.

Maintain your awareness of the breath and at the same time feel and notice the effects of yoga nidra.

Notice the effects in your body and in your mind.

Become aware now of your physical existence.

Feel the sensation of the floor touching your body and remember the external environment.

Hear all the sounds and noises coming from the outside and remember where you are.

Now gradually move your head from one side to the other.

Bend your feet and your legs,

Your hands and arms.

Wiggle toes and fingers.

And if you'd like,

Just stretch the whole body as you lie down comfortably with eyes closed.

And then take a deep inhalation.

And exhale.

Once again,

Deep inhalation.

And exhale.

And once again,

Notice the impact of yoga nidra on your body and mind.

Thank you for taking the time to nurture yourself and to practice yoga nidra with me.

The practice has now ended.

Enjoy your new body.