Yoga Nidra II Sleep Meditation

Welcome to Yoga Nidra.

Find yourself a relaxing position.

If it's comfortable for you,

Lie down on your back,

Body straight with legs slightly apart,

Your feet falling away to the sides.

Before we begin our practice,

Take a moment to put your hands on your belly.

Gently close your eyes.

Take a deep breath in and allow your belly to rise.

Hold the breath for a moment and then breathe out.

Let your hands feel the movement of your belly as it rises and feel the movement of your belly as it falls,

Like a balloon losing its air.

Take another deep breath in,

Belly rising.

Hold for a moment and when you are ready,

Breathe out,

Belly falling.

And now bring your breathing back to its natural rhythm.

And our next step,

Take a moment to tense your whole body,

Contracting your whole body.

Feet turned up,

Legs tight,

Belly tight,

Hands and arms tight.

Hold,

Hold,

Feel the tension and release.

Feeling relaxation moving in.

One more time,

Tensing your whole body and scrunching up your face at the same time.

Tensing and tightening,

Holding and letting go.

Breathe out,

Releasing your whole body,

Letting go.

Now bring your arms back to the sides of your body,

Hands and palms turned upward.

Make sure you are completely comfortable.

If necessary,

Use a support under your knees to support your back.

Adjust your clothing if necessary and have a covering over you if you might get chilled during this hour of stillness.

Relax your face,

Mouth closed with teeth slightly apart to relax the jaw.

If your day is done,

Rest in knowing your day is complete and there is nothing else for you to do.

If your day is not finished,

Just rest in knowing that for the next hour there is nothing for you to do.

Nothing to think about,

Nothing to do or fix or change or work on.

Just let the energies of the day settle.

Whatever is going on in your life at the moment,

Let go of needing it to be different from what it is.

Really let go of anything that you feel the need to think about.

It will be there for you tomorrow morning or after the practice is finished.

All you have to do is be here right now listening to my voice,

Being present to your own body,

Experiencing Yoga Nidra.

If any thoughts pop into your head,

Just allow them to come and go.

No need to follow them.

And now bring your awareness back to your breath.

While aware of your breathing,

Allow your body to settle gently into the support that holds you,

Whether it is a bed or a mat on the floor or any other surface holding you.

Relax your body and know that you are held and supported.

I'm going to count down from 10 to 1 and while I count,

Allow your body to continue becoming more and more relaxed as the numbers decrease.

10,

9,

8,

Completely relaxed,

7,

6,

Even more relaxed,

5,

4,

3,

Almost there,

2,

1.

And now bring your awareness to any sounds you are able to hear,

Any sounds far off in the distance,

Any sounds closer in.

Just notice any sounds inside the room that you are in and bring your awareness to the sense of smell.

Noticing any fragrance,

Any odors,

Anything in the sensation of smell and taste.

Awareness of the sense of taste and the sense of touch.

Become aware of the contact points where your body meets the support that holds you.

Feel all of those meeting points and the sense of sight,

Vision,

Even with eyes closed in your mind's eye.

See the image of your body lying in the room that you are in.

Your body lying in the room,

The four walls,

The ceiling,

The floor,

Any other objects in the room.

Awareness of the existence of your physical body lying in the room.

And while you see yourself lying in the room,

Bring your awareness to the natural inflowing,

Outflowing of your breath.

Just notice your breath.

Continue listening to my voice and know that you are breathing.

The practice of Yoga Nidra begins now.

Say mentally to yourself,

I am aware.

I am now beginning the practice of Yoga Nidra.

We begin and end Yoga Nidra with a resolve.

So go deep inside now.

Look inside to notice something your heart longs for.

What does your heart desire?

And create a simple intention statement based on your heart's longing.

We call this a Sankalpa.

This is a positive statement in the present tense as though it is already happening.

For example,

I have everything I need or I sleep deeply and peacefully.

But come up with your own intention and then state it three times silently as though it is already happening and then let it go without any more thought.

Let it linger in your subconscious during your practice.

And we now move into the rotation of consciousness.

Just allow your awareness to travel through your body on a journey of sensation.

As I name parts of the body,

Simply feel each part as it is mentioned without moving,

Without any deliberate movement.

Welcome all sensation.

Notice a sense of vibration,

A sense of presence or simply visualize a light at each point.

We begin with the right side of your body,

Beginning with the right hand.

Bring your awareness to the right hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

The palm of the right hand,

Awareness of the palm of the right hand,

The back of the hand,

The wrist,

The lower right arm,

The elbow,

The inside of the elbow,

The upper arm,

The shoulder,

The armpit,

The right side of your waist,

The right hip,

The right thigh,

The kneecap,

The calf muscle,

The shin,

The ankle,

The heel,

The sole of the right foot.

Bring your full awareness to the sole of the right foot,

The top of the foot,

The big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

And we move to the left side of the body,

Starting with the left hand.

Become aware of the left hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

The palm of the left hand.

Complete awareness of the palm of the left hand,

The back of the hand,

The wrist,

The lower arm,

The elbow,

The inside of the elbow,

The upper arm,

The shoulder,

The armpit,

The left side of your waist,

The left hip,

The left thigh,

The kneecap,

The back of the knee,

The calf muscle,

The shin,

The ankle,

The heel,

The sole of the left foot.

Complete awareness of the sole of the left foot,

The top of the foot,

The big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And fifth toe.

Now to the back.

Become aware of the right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

The right buttock,

The left buttock,

The lower back,

Mid-back,

Upper back,

The whole back together,

The whole spine.

Bring your awareness now to the mouth.

Feel your mouth.

Feel sensation in your mouth.

Also feel your jaw,

Lips,

Your upper lip,

Lower lip.

Notice where the lips touch.

Feel the inside of the mouth,

The roof of the mouth,

Under the tongue,

Upper teeth and gums,

Lower teeth and gums,

The tongue,

The root of the tongue,

Center of the tongue,

The tip of the tongue.

Notice any sense of taste in the mouth.

Feel the left inner cheek,

The right inner cheek,

And now feel all the parts together as a whole.

Feel your mouth as sensation,

As energy,

As radiant vibration.

Now going to the top of the head.

The top of the head,

The forehead,

Both sides of the head,

The right eyebrow,

The left eyebrow,

The space between the eyebrows,

The right eyelid,

The left eyelid,

The right eye,

The left eye,

The right ear,

The left ear,

The right cheek,

The left cheek,

The nose,

The tip of the nose,

The upper lip,

Lower lip,

Chin,

Throat,

The right side of your chest,

The left side of your chest,

The middle of the chest,

The navel,

The abdomen,

And now bring your awareness to the whole right leg,

The whole right leg,

The whole left leg,

The whole left leg,

And both legs together,

The whole right arm,

The whole left arm,

Both arms together,

The whole backside,

Buttocks,

Spine,

Shoulder blades,

The whole front side,

Abdomen,

Chest,

The whole back and front together,

The whole head,

The whole body all together,

The whole body together,

Awareness of the whole body.

And now with an awareness of the whole body,

Add to that an awareness of the space occupied by the body,

Body and space.

And become aware of your whole body and the support that holds you.

Become aware of the meeting points of the body and the support.

These are very subtle,

Physical meeting points at the back of your head,

Shoulder blades,

Elbows,

Backs of the hands,

Buttocks,

Calf muscles,

The heels of your feet and the support that holds you.

Awareness of all the meeting points.

And switching your attention to your eyelids,

Feel that narrow line of meeting between the upper and lower eyelids.

Feel the points where they meet.

And then the lips,

Bringing your awareness to the line between the lips,

The meeting point of your upper and lower lips.

From the lips,

We come back to the breath.

Bring your awareness to the natural inhaling,

Exhaling of the breath.

Notice your body is completely still,

Except for the movement of your breath.

So bring your awareness to the movement of your belly as you breathe.

Your complete awareness on the movement of your belly as you breathe.

And notice the movement of your chest as you breathe.

Noticing this subtle,

Slight movements as you breathe.

Movements as constant as the rhythm of the ocean.

And bring your awareness to the feeling of the breath brushing across the upper lip as you breathe.

Breathing in,

Breathing out,

Knowing that you are breathing.

And now moving into an awareness of sensations.

Awaken within yourself,

The feeling of heaviness,

The feeling of gravity.

Everything is heavy.

Your arms are heavy,

And your legs are heavy.

Your head is heavy,

Comfortably heavy.

Like somebody put a bunch of warm quilts on top of you.

It feels nourishing and comfortable,

But heavy.

Feeling heaviness.

And now welcome the feeling of lightness.

Awaken the feeling of lightness and weightlessness.

Like you could almost float.

Everything is light.

A sensation of lightness and weightlessness in all parts of your body.

Your arms are light and legs,

Your head is light and weightless.

So light,

You can float in the air.

Now going back and forth.

Everything is light.

And then everything is heavy again,

Heavy,

Weighted gravity,

And then light again.

Back and forth.

But now feel both at the same time.

Feel both heavy and light.

Don't think about it.

This goes beyond rational thinking.

Be both heavy and light.

What is that part of you that is both heavy and light?

Be aware and become awareness itself.

Feeling yourself as awareness,

Experiencing your body in the room,

Hearing the sound of my voice.

And now awaken the experience of cold in the body.

The experience of chilly,

Freezing cold.

Imagine being outside in winter without enough clothing.

Your feet are cold,

Hands are cold,

Shivering.

Your left nostril awakens the sensation of cold.

So focus your awareness now on the breath moving in and out of the left nostril as you are aware of cold.

Now allow the sensation of warmth to spread throughout the entire body.

Remember the feeling of heat in summer when you are out in the sun with no shade.

The sun,

The heat pouring down onto your skin.

You are sweating,

Perspiring,

Feeling the heat radiating over your skin and around your body.

The right nostril awakens the sensation of heat.

So focus your awareness on the breath moving in and out of the right nostril.

Awareness of heat.

Notice that you are awake and aware and say to yourself,

I am aware.

I am experiencing yoga nidra.

We now take a few moments to step into an inner resource.

So bring to mind a special place where you feel secure and at ease.

It can be a place where you have been and you felt comfortable or it can be a place that you create from your imagination.

Perhaps a room or a place in nature,

Maybe floating in a boat on a placid lake.

It could be a person with whom you feel safe and peaceful or an image of a favorite symbol or deity or simply the feeling of deep peace.

Whatever your inner resource is,

Bring it to mind now and explore it using all of your senses.

What does it look like?

What do you see?

What does it taste like?

What does it smell like?

What are the sounds that you hear there?

What does it feel like on your skin?

How does it make you feel?

And just bring your awareness to these feelings of security within you that are always available to you at a moment's notice.

As you do this,

Just notice in your body where you feel relaxed or comfortable or warm,

Knowing that you can return to this secure place of well-being at any time during your practice or any time during your daily life.

Whenever you want to feel secure,

Calm and at ease.

And withdraw your mind now and simply concentrate on the dark space in front of your closed eyes.

Just concentrate on this dark space,

Warm and comfortable dark space and just notice if any phenomena becomes apparent within it.

Any colors,

Shapes,

Any patterns,

Whatever you might see is the manifesting state of your mind.

And just be aware of this space but don't become involved.

Practicing detached awareness only.

Welcoming the comfortable warm darkness in front of your closed eyes.

And we move into rapid image visualization.

I will call out a number of different things and I'm going to ask you to visualize them on a level of memory or imagination and emotion.

Simply the best that you can.

If you hear an image that,

If you hear a phrase that doesn't bring an image,

Just wait and move on to the next one.

No problem at all.

This part of the practice is a bit like a flip book.

Just jumping from image to image when you hear the phrase.

We will begin now.

A burning candle,

Spring flowers,

A temple on a mountain,

A small puppy,

A leaf floating from a tree,

A full moon,

A shiny apple,

A foggy morning,

A path in the woods,

Snow falling,

A panda,

A good night's rest,

Receiving help from others,

Your feet soaking in cool clear stream water,

A warm embrace,

A cat stretching,

Your favorite song,

The sound of my voice,

Your body lying in the room.

And now coming back to your intention,

Your resolve,

Your sankalpa.

Repeat the same resolve,

The same intention you made at the beginning of the practice using the same words and the same attitude.

Repeat it to yourself now three times with feeling and emphasis.

And bring your awareness now back to your breathing.

Awareness of breathing and awareness of relaxation.

Notice that your muscles are a little bit heavier as you have become more relaxed.

Begin to bring awareness to your physical existence.

Awareness of your arms and legs and your body lying stretched out in the room.

Become aware of the meeting points between your body and the support that holds you.

Become aware of the room that you are in even with eyes closed.

Visualize your body lying in the room and visualize the walls,

The ceiling,

The floor.

Notice any noises in the room,

Any sounds outside the room,

Sounds outside the building you are in.

Letting your mind now become more and more external.

Just lie quietly for a few minutes with your eyes closed and when you are ready,

Start moving your body,

Wiggling your toes,

Your fingers,

Taking your time,

Not hurrying.

And when you are sure you are completely ready,

Flutter open your eyes and slowly sit up The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.