Yoga Nidra For Deep Sleep

Welcome to this session that is designed to help you unwind from your day and find deep rest.

In order to allow you to drift off at the end,

There'll be no final bell,

So if you are doing this practice during the day,

You might set a gentle reminder or bell to bring you out of the session at the end.

The practice of Yoga Nidra allows the body-mind to experience states of rest which are as deep as or deeper than in deep sleep.

So let go of any goal you have here to get to sleep and just allow the experience to unfold as it does.

You can't get this wrong.

Just follow in my voice and allow yourself to drift in and out in whatever way spontaneously happens.

Let this be a time for you to enjoy,

A time for self-care and nourishment.

So prepare the body by getting really deeply comfortable.

You might place a pillow underneath your knees to support the lower back,

Maybe a pillow underneath the head or gentle roll under the neck.

Covering the eyes can be nice and I suggest covering yourself with a blanket as you will cool down during the practice.

Allow the feet to be slightly apart,

Arms slightly away from the body,

Palms face up,

The natural curl to the fingers.

Arms length through the spine,

Back of the neck is long,

Shoulder blades relax back and down and the head is heavy.

Softening across the forehead,

The third eye centre.

Feel the tiny muscles around the corners of the eyes soften.

Cheeks relax.

The teeth gently part allowing the jaw to soften and relax.

Letting the tongue rest in the lower jaw.

The whole front body soften and relax.

Whole back body soften and relax.

Bringing your awareness to the day that has just been.

Scanning the contents of your day,

The interactions,

The events,

The thoughts and feelings that were passing through you.

Imagine finding an easy,

Natural breath into the belly and as you exhale consciously release the contents of your day,

Letting go of the day that has just been.

The same way take two more breaths,

Deep,

Slow,

Quiet breath into the belly.

Exhale consciously letting go of your day.

One more as you breathe in arriving in this present moment feeling sensation of breath in belly,

Exhale letting go.

Becoming aware of the touch of the back body on the surface beneath you,

Back of the head,

Back of the shoulder blade,

Lower back,

Hips,

The places where the backs of the thighs touch the surface beneath you,

Backs of the calves and the heels.

Feel yourself get 10% heavier as you rest deeply into this moment just as it is.

Dropping deep into the support that's here beneath you and around you.

Continuing to bring a gentle breath into the belly as you inhale filling the belly like a balloon and as you exhale gently feeling the belly soften.

I'm going to invite you to count the breath,

Counting down starting at the number 20.

So as you inhale saying silently saying to yourself inhaling 20 and as you exhale silently saying exhaling 20.

On the next breath inhaling 19,

Exhaling 19 and so on.

There's nowhere to get to with the counting just allowing yourself to focus on the counting in the breath and then if you lose your count just start again at 20.

With each exhale just releasing a layer of stress and tension,

Resting deeply into the support beneath you.

At the end of your next exhale you can let go of the counting in the breath,

Just sensing the calming effect of the breath,

Relaxing through the jaw,

The shoulders,

Belly is soft and relaxed,

Soles of the feet relax,

Palms of the hands relax.

Just allowing for this intention of deep letting go and opening into rest.

Committing the body to stillness for the rest of this practice.

Bringing awareness to the centre of your chest,

Noticing a couple of gentle breaths in and out of the centre of the chest,

The heart centre.

Visualising a gentle flame in the centre of the chest as you inhale,

Igniting that light in the heart and as you exhale feel it shining brighter.

Inviting yourself to find one thing that you're grateful for in this moment,

One thing that you're truly grateful for,

Doesn't matter what it is just as long as you feel a real sense of gratitude.

Not thinking about the gratitude but really feeling it as an embodied sense.

Feeling gratitude throughout your whole body.

Noticing the sensation of gratitude as it is appearing in your body in this moment.

Continuing to become aware of sensation throughout the body as I guide you through the different parts of the body,

Just bringing your full attention and awareness to the sensation in each body part.

Beginning with the right hand and the right hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Back of the right hand,

Palm of the right hand,

Right wrist,

Right elbow,

Right shoulder,

Right armpit,

Right lung,

Right side of the waist,

Inside right hip,

Center of the right thigh,

Right kneecap,

Right calf muscle,

Right heel,

Sole of the right foot,

Top of the right foot,

All the toes on the right foot,

The big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And the little toe.

Become aware of sensation of the whole of the right side of your body.

The whole of the right side of your body.

Let go of any image or thought of the right side and just directly perceive the sensation of the right side of the body without thinking about it.

The whole of the right side of the body is one field of sensation.

Bringing your awareness up to the very center of the forehead,

The third eye center,

Just between and above the eyebrows.

Sense and relax the center of the forehead,

The front of the brain,

And the thinking mind.

Let's feel this area relax and let go.

Awareness moving down to the left hand,

The left hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Back of the left hand,

Palm of the left hand,

Left wrist,

Left forearm,

Left elbow,

Left upper arm,

Inside left shoulder,

Left armpit,

Left lung,

Left waist,

Inside left hip,

Left thigh,

Left kneecap,

Left calf muscle,

Left ankle,

Sole of the left foot,

Top of the left foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Realizing the whole of the left side of your body as one field of interconnected sensation,

The whole of your left side of your body.

Let go of any image or form,

Thinking about the left side of the body.

Perceive the experience of the sensation of the left side of the body.

Bring your awareness to the right side of the brain.

Sensing sensation of the right side of the brain,

The left side of the brain,

Midline of the brain.

Sensing the whole brain,

The whole brain.

Relax and let go.

Awareness to the backs of the heels,

Back of the left heel,

Right heel,

Back of the left calf muscle,

Right calf muscle,

Soft skin at the back of the left knee,

Back of the right knee,

Back of the left thigh,

Back of the right thigh,

Back of the left sit bone,

Right sit bone,

Base of the spine,

Middle of the spine,

The spine just between the shoulder blades and the neck.

Sensing the left side of the back from the hip to the shoulder blade and the right side of the back from the hip to the shoulder blade,

Back of the left arm,

Back of the right arm,

Back of the center of the head.

Become aware of the whole back body as one field of sensation,

The whole back body as a field of sensation.

Letting go of thinking about it or imagining it and directly perceive the back body as a field of sensation.

Attention moving to the very center of the brain to the region of the pineal gland.

Softening and relaxing the center of the brain.

Relax the subconscious mind.

Letting go of the subconscious mind.

Sensing the forehead relax and soften.

Relaxing the third eye.

The left eyeball relax.

Right eyeball relax.

Both eyes soften and melt back and down releasing any effort to see.

Awareness moving to the tip of the nose.

Inside left nostril.

Inside right nostril.

Inside left ear.

Inside right ear.

Upper lip.

Lower lip.

Tongue.

Base of the throat.

Center of the chest.

Solar plexus.

Navel center.

Lower belly.

Pubic bone.

Left hip.

Front of the right hip.

Front of the left thigh.

Right thigh.

Left kneecap.

Right kneecap.

Left shin.

Right shin.

Top of the left foot.

Top of the right foot.

Inside of the left arm.

Inside of the right arm.

Become aware of the whole of the front of the body.

The whole of the front of the body as a field of energy and sensation.

Whole of the front of the body as a field of energy and sensation.

Experiencing the whole of the front body as a field of sensation and the whole of the back body at the same time.

Both the front body and the back body as a field of sensation.

And at the same time,

The whole of the left side of the body.

Whole of the left side of the body.

And the whole of the right side of the body.

The neck and the head.

Sense the whole body as one interconnected field of alive energy and sensation.

Sense the whole body.

Let go of any thought or image of the body.

Any memory of the form or the shape.

Let go of thinking about it and directly experience the body as a field of sensation.

I'm going to invite you to experience opposites.

Find a place in your body that feels cool or cold.

Allow yourself to experience the sensation of cold.

Find a place in your body that feels warm or hot.

Allow yourself to experience the sensation of heat.

And holding both at the same time.

Experiencing both the sensation of cold and hot at the same time.

The thinking mind can't do this.

Step back in your awareness.

Sensing sensation of both cold and hot at the same time.

Finding a part of your body that feels really heavy.

Sensing heaviness in the body.

Finding a part of the body that feels lightness.

Moving your attention to a sensation of lightness.

Experiencing both heaviness and lightness at the same time.

Without thinking about it.

Opening your awareness and experiencing the sensation of heaviness and lightness at the same time.

Sensing a part of your body that feels really tired.

Imagining a sense of tiredness and allowing the whole body to feel deeply tired.

And then finding or imagining a part of you that feels deeply rested.

Deeply at peace.

Sense the sensation of feeling peaceful and deeply rested.

And then hold both at the same time.

Both the sensation of being very tired and deeply rested.

Without thinking about it.

Soften the awareness and open to feeling both tiredness and peace at the same time.

Bringing your awareness up to the space behind the mind.

And from the back of the mind looking forward onto the screen of your forehead.

I'm going to invite you to imagine these images in front of you.

A bright sun.

A silvery moon.

A purple flower.

A still calm lake.

Stars in the night sky.

The Milky Way.

The entire cosmos.

Your awareness fall from the mind to the heart.

Center of the chest.

Imagine the entire cosmos lives inside the center of your heart.

Allow yourself to rest.

Allow yourself to rest back down into the heart center.

Into this infinite field.

Peace.

Of love.

As you rest deeply into the infinite space within your heart.

Into the heart of being.

Nothing to change.

Nothing to fix.

Allowing any thoughts or feelings to come and go.

Resting into the infinite space of your heart.

The heart of the cosmos.

You are safe.

You are loved.

You are held.