Yoga Nidra for Health & Vibrance

So now preparing yourself for the practice of yoga nidra.

Lying on your back,

Your feet about hip distance apart,

And gently let them fall to the sides as they will.

And if you need a support under your knees to protect your lower back like a pillow or blanket,

You can definitely do that.

You're gonna be in this position for about 30 minutes.

And just allow your body to relax and find your arms falling gently to the sides,

Not touching your body necessarily,

And the palms pointing upward.

And allow your shoulders to relax into the floor.

And your head should be supported in some way.

If you have a blanket or pillow under your head,

And allow your chin to tuck gently into your chest to clear the air that you're breathing in through your nose and out through your nose.

And continue in that way and make any final adjustments at this time.

And we're gonna begin tonight with some progressive muscle relaxation.

So on your next inhale,

Begin to squeeze the foot and the calf and the upper leg,

Thigh and hamstrings.

And then we're gonna take a deep breath in and we're gonna take a deep breath out.

The upper leg,

Thigh and hamstring muscles,

Squeeze them on your next inhale.

Flex them as tight as you can.

And hold that breath and release.

And again with the right leg,

Thigh,

Foot,

Buttock.

Inhale,

Squeeze and release.

Now onto the left leg and foot.

Inhale through the nose,

Squeezing the foot,

The calf,

The leg,

The buttock,

And sigh it out the mouth.

Once again on the left side of the body,

Squeezing the foot,

Calf,

Thigh,

Buttock on the inhale and sigh it out the mouth.

Moving to the right hand and arm.

Let's make a fist with the right hand and the arm trembling as you inhale,

Shoulder flexed,

Squeeze and sigh it out the mouth.

Once again on that right hand and arm,

Squeezing into a fist,

Shaking the lower arm,

Upper arm,

Shoulder blade.

Inhale and sigh it out the mouth.

Inhaling in the right arm now,

Hand,

Lower arm,

Upper arm,

Shoulder flex,

Sigh it out the mouth.

Again with the left fist,

Lower arm inhaling fully,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Sigh it out the mouth.

Now into the chest and abdomen area.

Flex the abs but inhale,

Flex the chest while inhaling,

Squeeze,

Tighten,

And sigh it out the mouth.

And sigh it out the mouth.

Again,

The abdomen,

Starting at the lower abdomen,

Upper abdomen,

Chest,

Inhale and sigh it out the mouth.

Now move to the face,

Scrunch the lips up toward the nose and the brow down toward the nose,

All into a small and compact as you can while inhaling through the nose and sigh it out the mouth.

Once again,

Scrunch the lips up towards the nose,

The brow down toward the nose,

Inhale through the nose and sigh it out the mouth.

Now moving to the backside of the body,

Squeeze starting at the feet,

Calves,

Hamstrings,

Buttocks,

Lower back,

Upper back,

Shoulder blades,

Inhaling fully and sigh it out the mouth.

Once again,

Like that,

Begin at the feet,

The calves,

Hamstrings,

Buttocks,

Engage the lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

Shoulder blades into the floor and sigh it out the mouth.

Now let's squeeze the entire body starting at the feet,

The legs,

The abdomen,

The chest,

The arms,

The face,

Fully squeeze,

Inhale and release.

Once again,

Like that,

Begin at the feet with the inhale,

The calves,

Up to the legs,

The abdomen,

The chest,

The arms,

The face and release out the mouth.

Allow your body to come to a new stillness.

Feel the body as if it's sinking into the floor.

It's heavy and sinking into the floor and like you were laying on wet sand on a beach.

You're not feeling well.

You were laying on wet sand on a beach.

Feel the weight of the bones,

The points of contact that they're making.

Feel the feet,

The heels,

Feel the backs of the calves,

Backs of thighs,

Buttocks,

Upper back,

Shoulder blades,

Back of the head,

Feel them melting into the floor.

Now become aware of the space that's not touching the backside of the body,

The backside of the body,

The heels just above them.

There's a space,

The back of the knee,

Space.

Maybe the lower back,

Space,

The neck,

Space.

Now become aware of your breathing,

In through the nose and out through the nose.

Feel the sound of the breath as it rushes into the lungs,

Fills them,

Expanding,

Fresh,

Pure oxygen,

Fresh,

Pure oxygen,

Providing that life to your body.

And on the next exhale,

Feel the body pushing carbon dioxide out of the body.

Continue like that for three more breaths.

And now become aware of the sounds inside the body,

The sounds of digestion,

The sound of heartbeat,

And just listen.

Listening to the sound of the body,

Nowhere to be,

Nothing to do,

Just listening.

Now let that go.

At this point in the practice,

Bring about a positive intention or a life-affirming statement.

It's known as a sankalpa.

And tonight we're going to use the sankalpa,

I am healthy and vibrant.

I am healthy and vibrant.

Repeat this to yourself mentally three times with force and vigor.

I am healthy and vibrant.

Now let that go.

At this point in the practice,

Bring awareness to body parts.

As I name the body part,

Bring your full awareness into that body part.

Mentally say its name,

Bringing awareness to the right side of the body,

The right arm into the right hand,

And bring full awareness to the right hand thumb,

The right hand thumb.

Mentally repeat to yourself right hand thumb.

Continuing on,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Side of chest,

Side of waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Ankle,

Sole of foot,

Top of foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

The whole right side of the body.

Bring awareness to the whole right side of the body.

Moving to the left side of the body.

Bring awareness to the left hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Side of chest,

Side of waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Ankle,

Sole of the left foot,

Top of foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

The whole left side of the body.

Bring awareness to the whole left side of the body.

Moving to the back side of the body,

Let the naming of the body part go,

And feel awareness in the right heel,

Left heel,

Right back of knee,

Left back of knee,

Right back of thigh,

Left back of thigh,

Right hip,

Left hip,

Spinal column from pelvis to midbrain,

From midbrain to pelvis,

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

Lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

The space between the shoulder blades,

Back of neck,

Back of head,

Crown of head,

Forehead,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

The eyebrow center,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Tip of nose,

Bridge of nose,

The whole nose together,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Line where the lips meet,

Both lips together,

Teeth,

Tongue,

Gums,

The whole inside of mouth,

Right jaw,

Left jaw,

Chin,

Neck,

Throat pit,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Right chest,

Left side of chest,

The heart center,

Upper abdomen,

Lower abdomen,

The navel center,

Right side of pelvis,

Left side of pelvis,

The whole pelvic area,

Right leg and foot,

Left leg and foot,

Both legs and feet together,

Right arm,

Left arm,

Right hand,

Left hand,

Right arm and hand,

Left arm and hand,

Both arms and hands together,

Torso,

Neck,

Head,

Torso,

Neck and head together,

Back of body,

Front of body,

The whole body,

Bring awareness to the whole body,

Awareness in the whole body.

Now let that go.

At this point in the practice,

You will come aware of your breath.

On your next inhale,

Begin counting down from 27.

Counting will follow as such.

Inhale,

27.

Exhale,

27.

Inhale,

26.

Exhale,

26.

Continue until one is reached.

If the count is lost,

Begin at 27.

Inhaling,

27.

Exhaling,

27.

Inhaling,

26.

Exhaling,

26.

Now let this go.

And on the next inhale,

Bring about the feeling of smallness.

Small.

Small as if shrinking.

Shrinking to the size of a pinhole,

Imagine the body becoming small.

Imagine the world from a feeling of smallness.

Feel the body as if it were becoming small.

Hear the sounds as if small.

Smell the smells from the perspective of smallness.

And on the next exhale,

Bring about the feeling of largeness.

Feel the body growing large,

Ever expanding,

Like a balloon.

Largeness.

Feel the body growing large.

Feel sensations as if the body were large.

The sounds of the world around,

From the perspective of largeness.

The smells from the perspective of largeness.

Encompassing the world,

Largeness.

And on the next inhale,

Let that feeling go.

At this point in the practice,

Images will be named.

See them on the movie screen,

Behind your closed eyelids.

Imagine the image in as much detail as possible.

And then let the image go.

A bear bouncing a ball on its nose.

The smell of coffee brewing.

The sound of a baby laughing.

A car squealing its tires.

An eagle soaring the sky.

Clouds forming.

Rain falling against your skin.

A distant thunderclap.

A rainbow.

Winning a race.

Scraping your knee.

Snow falling on the skin.

The smell of fresh flowers.

Now let these images go.

And at this time,

Bring about the sankalpa.

I am healthy and vibrant.

And repeat this mentally to yourself three times.

I am healthy and vibrant.

Bring about the feeling of health and vibrance.

Saying it with force and vigor.

I am healthy and vibrant.

And at this time,

Begin to become aware of your body in the space.

Perhaps the position you're laying in,

In the room.

Maybe the orientation of the room around you.

Begin to deepen the breath slightly.

And this time,

You can introduce movement into the extremities with all the fingers and the toes.

Maybe moving the arms and the legs,

Whatever feels good to you right now.

If it feels good,

It's available to you,

Roll over onto the right side into the fetal position.

Just imprint that you're healthy and vibrant.

Know that that is in the universe now and it played for you.

Also know that you've been practicing yoga nidra and the practice is now complete.

When you feel ready,

And in your own time,

Make your way to a comfortable seat.

Thank you for joining me tonight.

I hope you sleep well.