Yoga Nidra For Deep Relaxation

Hello,

My name is Nadine.

Welcome to your Yoga Nidra practice.

So the practice of Yoga Nidra is a practice of yogic or sometimes called psychic sleep that will guide you into a deep relaxation,

Into a state of consciousness between being awake and being asleep.

So you should be laying in Shavasana on your back.

Have your knees slightly bent and supported with a rolled blanket,

Pillow or a bolster.

And you want to make yourself really comfortable so that you can allow your body to relax completely.

While we cannot force relaxation,

We can still create the conditions,

The container for the body to feel safe,

Warm,

Comfortable and supported.

So that all that is left to do is to relax,

To let go,

To surrender and to allow the entire body and your brain to relax completely.

So take a moment here to get comfortable.

Allow your legs to just fall out naturally.

Let your feet soften,

Your toes relax.

Let your arms rest heavy by your sides,

All 10 fingers relaxed and your palms facing up or slightly inwards,

Creating a sense of openness and receptivity in your chest.

Make sure that you are warm enough so you may want to cover yourself with a blanket and that your position is one that will be comfortable for the duration of the practice.

It is best that you remain still during yoga nidra so that both your body and your brain have a chance to fully relax.

However,

If you become uncomfortable,

Please feel free to change your position at any point.

Allow your eyes now to close and try to keep them closed until the practice has ended.

You may even cover your eyes with an eye pillow to help you turn your awareness inwards.

This is your time,

The time for you that you're giving yourself to rest,

To recharge,

To nourish yourself,

To take care of yourself.

So really let yourself enjoy it and participate fully.

There is nothing you need to do right now.

Simply relax.

Set your worries,

Your thoughts,

Your to-do's aside and just listen to the sound of my voice.

Try to remain awake by listening to my voice and to my instructions.

You will be asked to move your awareness to various sensations in your body,

Emotions and images.

Try not to concentrate too hard and don't worry if you don't hear everything I say.

It's totally normal that you feel like you're drifting in and out of consciousness.

And if your mind wanders off to thoughts,

To-do's or to worries,

Just come back to the sound of my voice.

There is really no way to do this practice wrong.

Simply allow the journey to unfold just as it is and receive with open arms whatever comes up for you,

Moment to moment.

Now let yourself sink and nestle even deeper into your resting pose.

Make any final wiggles and adjustments to the body so that you can remain perfectly still for the remainder of this practice.

Now bring your awareness to your breath and start to take some long,

Slow,

Full and deep breath into your body.

Filling each part of you from your toes to the crown of your head.

And even imagine the fresh oxygen traveling through your entire body in and around every cell,

Recharging and nourishing every part of your body.

So you're breathing in,

Filling up the belly,

The ribs,

The chest and then pause for a moment at the top of your inhale.

And then let go,

Let out a long,

Slow exhalation through the mouth.

As you do,

Feel yourself becoming more relaxed,

Letting go completely.

And take another deep,

Full breath in,

Holding it for a moment or two.

And as you exhale,

Release any remaining tension and tightness in the body.

Let the body melt and surrender into the floor.

One more breath like that,

Breathing in a sense of calm and relaxation.

Breathing out your day,

Your worries,

Your concerns.

Feeling the forehead and the eyebrows begin to smooth,

The eyes getting heavy in their sockets.

Let the skin around the corners of your eyes and your lips begin to soften,

The jaw relaxes,

The tongue,

The mouth.

Feeling the backs of your shoulders beginning to melt and spread down into the earth beneath you.

Arms are heavy,

Chest and belly are soft.

Relax your thighs,

Your calves and even the feet and all 10 toes.

Now let your awareness drift to your heart space,

The center of your chest.

Allow yourself a few moments to connect and to breathe in and out of your heart center.

You might even imagine your heart breathing in and out.

You are now going to set your sankalpa or your intention for this practice.

The sankalpa is a short positive I am statement in simple and present tense language,

Something that you'd like to manifest and experience more of in your life.

It is a longing that rests within your heart and intention that is already within.

For example,

It might be something like I am healthy or I am strong or I am lovable.

These statements are facts of truth coming from your heart.

So take a moment now to surrender and to listen to your heart as you are longing,

Your intention bubbles up to the surface.

And if it doesn't,

That's okay too,

For now you can simply say I am aware.

And once you have your sankalpa,

Repeat it three times silently to yourself with conviction,

With faith,

Determination,

As if it is already happening right now.

And then gently let that go now.

Now become aware of any sounds that you can hear in this moment.

Focus on nothing else but what you can hear without concentrating too hard.

And begin with the most distant sounds that you can hear.

Let your sense of hearing radiate outward,

Searching out these distant sounds and follow them for a moment.

Don't get stuck on one sound,

But move your attention from sound to sound without identifying the source.

Just try to remain the witness of the sounds you hear without labeling or judging them.

Moving your attention from sound to sound and gradually bring your attention to closer sounds,

To sounds right outside the building that you're in,

And to sounds right outside the room that you're in,

To sounds inside your room,

And to sounds that are very close to you.

Stay with one sound for a moment and then move on to a sound even closer to you,

Until you can hear the sounds in your own body,

Your own breath flowing in and out of your lungs,

And maybe even your heart beating in your chest.

Now let go of any sounds you hear and return back to your body.

We will now begin a systematic journey through your body to bring your awareness to different body parts.

Please say the name of each body part silently to yourself as soon as you hear them named.

Visualize and feel that part of your body without moving it.

We will begin the practice on the right side.

So feel your right hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

And the little finger.

Palm of your hand,

Back of your hand,

The wrist,

The forearm,

The elbow,

The upper arm,

Your shoulder,

Armpit,

The right waist,

The right hip,

The thigh,

The knee,

Calf,

Ankle,

The heel,

The sole of the right foot,

The top of the right foot,

Your right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

All five toes together.

Feel your whole right side of your body,

Whole right side.

And then moving your attention to your left hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Left waist,

Left hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the left foot,

Top of the left foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

All five toes together.

Feel your whole left side,

Your whole left side.

Now go to the back of your body,

The right heel,

The left heel,

Right calf,

Left calf,

Right thigh,

Left thigh,

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

Lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

The entire spine,

The right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head.

Moving up to the top of your head,

Your forehead,

Your right temple,

Left temple,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Middle of the eyebrows,

Your right eye,

Your left eye,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Both lips together,

The whole mouth,

The chin,

The jaw,

The throat,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

Upper abdomen,

Navel,

Lower abdomen,

Right groin,

Left groin,

And the pelvic floor.

Feel the whole right leg,

The whole left leg,

The whole right arm,

The whole left arm,

The whole face,

The whole head,

The whole torso,

The whole body,

The whole body,

The whole body lying heavy on the floor.

Now bring your awareness back to your breath.

And first,

Just let your breath flow naturally in and out of your nostrils.

Notice the temperature of the air as you inhale and as you exhale.

Feel your belly rising on the inhale and softening and falling back towards the floor on the exhale.

Now begin to count your breath backwards,

Starting from 24.

Inhale,

24,

Exhale,

24.

Inhale,

23,

Exhale,

23.

Inhale,

22,

Exhale,

22.

Continue in your own pace,

Counting each cycle of breath.

If you fall out and lose your count,

Simply start again back at 24.

Let go of your count now and just allow your breath to return to a natural rhythm in and out of your lungs.

Now imagine your whole body becoming very light,

As though your body could float away from the floor and towards the ceiling.

Your head is light and weightless.

Your limbs are light and weightless.

The torso is light and weightless.

The whole body light and weightless.

You are rising higher and higher away from the floor.

Now imagine your body becoming very heavy.

Feel the heaviness in all parts of your body.

Each part is becoming heavier and heavier and heavier.

The head is heavy.

The limbs are heavy.

The torso is heavy.

The whole body is heavy.

It's so heavy that it is sinking down into the floor.

Now awaken the experience of cold in your body.

The experience of chilly cold.

Imagine you're outside in winter without enough clothing.

You feel this chilly cold permeating your entire body.

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

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

You feel heat radiating onto your skin.

Heat all around your body.

Now recollect the experience of anxiety,

Intense anxiety and worry.

Feeling this stress in your mind and in your body,

But do not concentrate on its source.

Create the experience of anxiety as clearly as possible.

Now allow the feeling of complete calm to envelop you.

Manifest the experience of calm in your entire mind,

Body and emotions.

You are relaxed and aware and you are completely calm.

Now bring your awareness to the space,

The center of your forehead,

To your third eye center.

And let your eyebrows be soft,

No tension in your brows,

Completely smooth and soft.

Smooth skin on your forehead.

Just keep your focus on your third eye center,

Right in the center of your forehead.

I will now name a number of different things.

You should picture these objects and things as best as you can on the screen of your third eye.

There is no right or wrong.

If you find yourself unable to imagine or picture an object,

Just simply move on to the next.

Picture a candle burning.

Picture a candle flickering in the wind.

A palm front uncurling for the very first time.

A drop of water on a leaf.

A high snow-capped mountain.

A river running down the side of a snow-capped mountain.

Cold wet rocks.

Sand on a beach.

The ocean waves crashing against the sand.

Dark sky at night.

The moon in the sky at night.

The moon reflected over an ocean at night.

The most perfect sunset.

A heartwarming sunrise.

A forest floor,

Bare feet walking on a forest floor.

Tall trees,

Great giants.

Rough bark.

Green leaves.

A field of brightly colored flowers.

A candle burning.

The sun shining in the middle of the day,

Warmth on the skin.

Thunderstorm rolling across the sky.

A pristine lake.

Rain coming across,

Droplets forming on the surface of the lake.

A flower-bottom opening.

Campfire at night.

Tapping in the woods.

Sun rising over a mountain.

Moss on a stone.

Damp earth.

Rainforest trees.

And a candle burning,

Flickering in the wind.

Your body lying heavily on the floor.

It is time now to repeat your sankalpa,

That same statement that you made at the beginning of your practice.

So allow your sankalpa to surface and repeat it three times silently to yourself now,

With conviction as if it was already true right now.

Now come back to the feeling of your breath flowing in and out of your nostrils.

Maintain your awareness of breath and at the same time let your awareness return back into your physical body.

Your body is relaxed and laying heavy on the floor.

Feel the temperature of the air on your skin.

Feel the container of your skin and the clothes and the props that are touching you.

Notice the heaviness of your body as it rests on the floor and take your awareness into all the points that are touching the floor,

The back of your heels,

Thighs,

Buttocks,

Shoulder blades,

Back of your arms,

Hands and your head.

Without opening your eyes yet,

Just start to visualize the surrounding room and the walls around you.

Imagine where you are in the room and all the other objects and people that are around you.

And very slowly,

Gently start to bring some movements into your fingertips and your toes.

Just wiggle the fingers,

Wiggle the toes.

Maybe gently rock your head a little bit side to side to let out your neck.

And then start to make the movements a little bigger,

Moving your hands,

Your wrists,

Your feet,

Your ankles.

Just take your time,

There's no rush,

No hurry.

Just slowly and gently waking up your body again.

Take any stretches,

Maybe a full body stretch,

Whatever stretch your body is craving for.

To slowly wake up.

And then when you're ready,

Roll over to your right side and just stay on your right side for a few moments in your fetal pose.

And then use the support of the floor and your hands to press yourself up to a seat with as little movement as possible and trying to keep your eyes closed.

Let your head come up last.

Taking a nice tall seat,

Your spine growing tall all the way up to the crown of your head and you're rooting down to the sitting bones.

And then gently bow your chin to your chest and ever so slowly and gently allow your eyes to open to a soft gaze on the floor.

And then start to take in more and more of your surroundings as you lift your gaze.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Namaste.