Classic Yoga Nidra

Lying down on the floor or on your bed,

On your back,

With your palms facing the ceiling,

Your legs slightly apart,

Fiddling or even stretching as much as you want to get yourself as comfortable as you can possibly be.

And over the next minute,

Settling yourself into stillness with your shoulder blades coming together and down your back,

Opening the chest,

Lengthening the back of your neck.

Once you find a place of stillness,

Committing to stay still throughout this practice of yoga nidra.

Of course,

You may move if necessary,

But we try to stay still.

Let's take three deep breaths now.

Inhaling and inhaling a little bit more and then exhaling through the mouth all the way till you're empty.

And another deep breath,

Inhaling,

Inhaling a bit more,

Exhale through the mouth.

Relax your body as heavy as you can into the floor or support beneath you.

One more deep breath and then let the body breathe itself.

Let go of any effort or control and observe as the body starts to relax muscles that have been tense all day.

Notice where you can soften,

Becoming curious about how your body feels right now and what you're holding on to or where you're holding on.

Throughout this practice of yoga nidra,

We operate on the level of listening and of being aware.

Following along with my voice and staying awake.

Become aware of the sounds you can hear in the distance,

The furthest away sounds that you can pick up on right now.

Let your awareness flit from sound to sound without worrying about the source of the sounds.

Placing the farthest reaches of this bubble of sound surrounding you.

Begin to become aware of sounds a little bit closer in.

Thoughts or distractions arise.

You can acknowledge that you're distracted.

Come back to listening to the sounds around you.

Bring your awareness closer into the sounds within the room that you're in.

Now visualize the room that you're in,

Keeping your eyes closed.

Visualize the four walls,

The ceiling,

The floor,

Any windows,

Any details you can,

Including your body lying in stillness in the room.

See your body lying in stillness,

Breathing naturally.

Your body relaxing in even deeper,

Even heavier into the support beneath it.

Recognizing that you're safe here.

You're safe in this room.

So you can surrender all of your weight,

All of the tightness or tension in the body and open up in the chest,

The stomach,

The rib cage,

The pelvis,

The hips,

The face and throat,

And hands and feet.

Notice how it feels to be open and relaxed.

Softening a little bit more with each exhale.

Say to yourself mentally now,

I am aware.

I am going to practice deep relaxation.

I will stay awake.

This is the time to state your intention or resolve.

A short,

Simple,

Positive phrase in the present tense of something that you want to change in your life or accomplish something you want to happen.

This will come true.

So repeating an intention to yourself,

Your intention,

Three times now.

And then letting it go.

We will now begin the rotation of awareness through the body.

Simply follow my voice.

Move your awareness to the part of the body that I name.

No need to concentrate too hard.

Move your awareness from part to part.

Stay awake.

Bringing your awareness to the right side,

The right hand,

Right hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the right hand,

Back of the hand,

The wrist,

The lower arm,

The elbow,

Upper arm,

Right shoulder,

Right armpit,

Right waist,

Right hip,

Right thigh,

Kneecap,

Calf muscle,

Right ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the right foot,

Top of the foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

Left hand now.

Become aware of the left hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the left hand,

Back of the hand,

The wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Left armpit,

Left waist,

Left hip,

Left thigh,

Kneecap,

Calf muscle,

Ankle,

Heel of the left foot,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Now to the back,

Become aware of the right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

The right buttock,

The left buttock,

The spine,

And the whole back together.

Now go to the top of the head,

The top of the head,

The forehead,

Both sides of the head,

The right eyebrow,

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,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

The nose,

The tip of the nose,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

The chin,

Throat,

Right side of your chest,

Left side of your chest,

The center of the chest,

The navel,

And the abdomen.

Now the whole of the right leg,

The whole of the left leg,

Both legs together.

Now the whole of the right arm,

The whole of the left arm,

And both arms together.

Now the whole of the back of the body,

Buttocks,

Spine,

Shoulder blades,

And the whole of the front,

The chest,

And abdomen.

Now the whole of the back and the front together,

The whole of the head,

And the whole body together now.

Awareness of the whole body together,

The whole body together.

Please do not sleep.

Total awareness.

Become aware of your body lying on the floor.

Realize your body lying in perfect stillness in this room that you're in.

Breathing naturally,

Completely relaxed.

Become aware of the sensation of the natural breath.

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

It is effortless and automatic.

You are simply observing it,

Not doing it or changing it.

Just witnessing.

Bring your awareness to your navel area.

Observe the movement of your navel with the breath.

Notice your navel rise with the inhale and fall slightly with each exhale.

Right on this movement,

In synchronization with your breath.

Now start counting your breaths backwards from 11 to 1,

Focusing at the navel,

At the movement.

So 11,

Navel rising,

11,

Navel falling.

10,

Navel rising,

10,

Navel falling.

9,

Navel rising,

9,

Navel falling.

And so on at your own count.

You lose count,

Start again at 11.

If you reach 1,

Start again at 11.

All your awareness on counting and the movement of the navel.

Now stop counting.

Shift your attention to your chest.

Become aware of the rising and falling motion in your chest with each breath.

Waiting on your chest,

Start to count backwards from 11 to 1 in the same way as before.

11,

Chest rising,

11,

Chest falling,

And so on.

Continue at your own pace.

Total awareness at the chest and on counting.

Stop counting now.

Move your awareness to your throat.

Become aware of your breath moving in and out of the throat now.

Become aware of how it feels as the breath moves in and out of the throat.

Concentrating at the throat,

We'll start counting backwards from 11 to 1 in the same way as before.

Breathing in 11,

Breathing out 11,

Breathing in 10,

Breathing out 10.

Keep going at your own count.

Pay attention to the breath in the throat.

Counting and staying awake.

Stop counting now.

Go to the nostrils.

Become aware of the gentleness of the breath as it moves in and out at the nostrils.

Counting down from 11.

Breathing in 11,

Breathing out 11.

Breathing in 10,

Breathing out 10.

Keep going at your own count.

Keep awareness of counting the breaths at the nostrils.

Let go of the counting.

Make sure you're still awake.

Notice the body breathing in stillness in the room that you're in.

Now I will begin to name some images for a visualization.

Follow along and visualize any objects or images that I state.

Do your best.

One doesn't come immediately,

Just move on to the next.

Bring your awareness to the center of the eyebrows.

Visualize darkness.

A burning candle.

A white swan.

Snow capped mountains.

Birds flying across the sunset.

A pink rose.

Waves on the ocean.

Blue sky in the evening.

White sandy beach.

A dove.

A galloping horse.

A small hut in the woods.

A big garden of blooming flowers.

A jungle valley.

A house cat snoozing in the sun.

A temple at sunrise.

A deserted beach.

A golden egg.

A deep well.

Twinkling stars in a dark sky.

A shooting star.

Light rain in the evening.

A peaceful evening.

Beautiful sunrise.

Dolphins playing in the ocean.

People swimming.

A boat rocking gently along the waves.

Bring your awareness to the space behind the forehead now.

This dark infinite space.

This behind the forehead.

Become the witness to the space that extends as far as you can.

See.

On either side as far as wide and up and down.

Like a movie screen that envelops.

As far as you can see,

Just observe any phenomenon that arise on this screen for a moment.

Becoming the witness.

No need to analyze anything that arises or doesn't arise.

We're a silent witness.

For our current experience.

Well,

It is time to repeat your intention or resolve once more.

Repeat the same intention that you made at the beginning of the practice in the same words,

Knowing that it will come true.

So repeating it with full awareness and feeling three times now.

Then let it go.

Ensure that you are still awake.

Become aware of your body lying down in the room that you're in,

Breathing naturally.

Your body is lying totally relaxed.

You are breathing quietly and slowly.

Become aware of the body from the top of the head to the tips of the toes.

Become aware of the floor or the support that you're lying on in the position of your body lying on it.

Visualize the room around you.

With your eyes closed,

Become aware of your surroundings.

Once you are sure that you are awake,

You can begin to gently move your body.

Stretching your hands and toes and stretching in any way that feels good to you right now.

Please take your time.

Do not hurry.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Taking all the time you need to gently come out of this state of yoga nidra consciousness back to being awake.

Whenever you are ready,

You can roll over to one side,

Push yourself up to a seated posture.

And open your eyes.