Yoga Nidra For Rest And Rejuvenation

Let this really be a time for you.

Sometimes it can be hard to let go of our concerns,

Our worries,

Our to-do list,

What happened during the day.

And if that's the case,

Just be patient with yourself.

Maybe imagine those items like luggage or packages and you can just leave them at your doorstep.

You can always return to unpack them later if you want.

As you're lying in a comfortable position,

Try to make sure you're aligned from head to toe,

Meaning you're not skewed more over to the right or the left in one direction.

Try to aim for a little symmetry.

And then just let yourself relax into the supports beneath you.

Feel that the more you let go,

The more the earth comes back up to support you.

With each exhale breath,

You feel yourself sinking further and further,

Letting go a little bit more with each breath.

The practice of Yoga Nidra is a practice of hearing and feeling.

And these are the two important factors.

In Yoga Nidra,

You function on the level of awareness and listening.

You become the creator of your own dreams.

Say to yourself mentally,

I am practicing Yoga Nidra.

Say to yourself mentally,

I will stay awake for Yoga Nidra.

And in this practice,

It's best if the body can remain still to reduce outside sensations.

But of course,

If you become uncomfortable,

You may move to a different position.

But say to yourself mentally,

I will try to remain still for Yoga Nidra.

Take a deep breath in.

And with the exhale,

Think letting go.

Doing this a few more times on your own,

Mentally repeating the mantra letting go with each exhale.

And begin to listen for sounds.

Listen for sounds in all directions.

And notice what kinds of sounds you hear that are outside the room.

Listen for the sounds that are inside the room.

Listen for sounds that are close to your body.

And listen for the sounds of the body,

The sound of the breath,

Maybe digestion,

The heartbeat.

And in your heart space,

Feel your heart's desire.

Something that you would like to be true for you in your life.

In Sanskrit,

This is called the Sankalpa.

It's an intention or an affirmation.

And it's a seed we plant within ourselves during the Yoga Nidra practice.

So feel in your heart this desire for yourself.

See it happening for you.

And then repeat your Sankalpa three times mentally with full confidence that it will come true for you in your life.

Now we move on to the rotation of consciousness through the body.

A body part will be named.

And as each part is named,

Bring your awareness to it.

It might help to visualize or mentally repeat the name of the body part.

Whatever works for you.

Keep the body still and move your consciousness only as each part is named.

We begin with the right hand thumb.

So bring all your attention and awareness to the right hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Whole right hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Right side of the ribcage,

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Back of the knee,

Shin,

Calf muscles,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Arch of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Stay awake and aware.

And bring your awareness now to the left hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

The whole hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Left side of the ribcage,

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Back of the knee,

Shin,

Calf muscles,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Arch of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Bring your awareness now to the lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

The whole spinal column,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head,

Top of the head,

Right temple,

Left temple,

The whole forehead,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

The eyebrow center,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Bridge of the nose,

Tip of the nose,

The whole nose,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Teeth,

Tongue,

Gums,

The whole mouth together,

Chin,

Jawbone,

Throat,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

The hollow between the collarbones,

Right chest,

Left chest,

Center of chest,

Navel,

Upper abdomen,

Lower abdomen,

The whole right leg,

The whole left leg,

Both legs together,

The whole right arm,

The whole left arm,

Both arms together,

The whole right side of the body,

The whole left side of the body,

The whole front of the body,

The whole back of the body,

Awareness of the whole body together,

The whole body together,

The whole body together.

Now see yourself as if you were looking in a mirror.

See your entire self from head to toe as if you were looking in a mirror.

See yourself from all sides,

The front,

The back,

The left and the right profiles.

Notice the colors of your clothing,

The expression on your face.

See yourself as if looking in a mirror.

Now let that go and bring awareness to your breath.

See if you are asleep or awake and bring all your focus to your natural breathing.

Feel the belly rise as you inhale and the belly fall as you exhale.

Inhale,

The belly rises and exhale,

It falls.

And as you follow that rhythm of the breath,

Start to count backwards as so.

Inhaling 27,

Exhaling 27.

Inhaling 26,

Exhaling 26 and so on.

Counting backwards from 26 to zero with full awareness of breath at the belly.

If you lose the count,

Just start again at 27.

Complete awareness of breathing and counting,

Counting and breathing.

Now let go of the count and awareness of breath at the belly and just let yourself breathe naturally,

No counting involved.

And then see if you can cultivate a sense of heaviness.

Cultivate a feeling of heaviness in the body.

Let yourself feel completely heavy like a stone or lead.

Let yourself completely give in to gravity,

Feeling yourself sink and sink into the supports beneath you.

Feel heavy in the body.

Now let go of heavy and come to lightness.

The body is completely light now,

Light like cotton,

Like a cloud,

Lighter than air.

Feel your entire self,

Incredibly light,

So light,

You're even beginning to lift up from the supports beneath you.

Feel lightness in the body.

Now let go of lightness and see if you can feel cold.

Let the body feel cold.

Perhaps there are areas like the nose or fingers that are already a little cold.

Can you take that sensation of cold and make it travel to other parts of yourself?

Let yourself feel cold in the body.

Now release any feelings of coldness and instead feel heat.

Feel a sensation of hotness in the body.

Let yourself feel very warm and even hot like you are in a sauna or outside on a summer's day.

Perhaps there is already an area within yourself like the navel that's hot.

See if you can spread that sensation to your entire self,

Feeling heat in the body.

Now let go of heat and notice if there are any areas of discomfort in the body.

Is there anywhere within yourself that feels a sense of discomfort?

Let yourself go into that discomfort and experience it.

Do not shy away from the discomfort,

But experience it fully.

Now shift your focus and awareness to comfort.

Are there places within you that feel very,

Very comfortable?

Let your awareness and attention rest there in those areas of comfort.

Perhaps you can cultivate that sense of comfort,

Comfortableness in other parts of yourself as well.

Experience being comfortable.

Now let go of that sense of comfort and come back to breath awareness.

Tune into the natural breath again.

Tune into if you are asleep or awake.

And now draw your attention to your mind space.

Bring your focus to the area in front of your closed eyes,

The screen of your mind.

This is called the Chittakasha,

Meaning the mind space.

Let yourself be a witness here,

An observer.

Watch the screen before you.

And notice what appears,

If anything at all.

Let yourself be a curious discoverer in this mind space,

Exploring all it has to offer.

Now see in this space,

A sunny field full of fresh flowers and a bright blue sky.

And in the center of this field is a well.

Walk over to the well.

The well is dark and deep,

But you can see along its sides,

There are rungs,

Which you could use to climb down into the well.

And so you decide to take this adventure,

Climbing over the side of the well,

Taking hold of the rungs and climbing deeper and deeper into the darkness.

Eventually all the light fades around you.

All you can hear is the sound of your footsteps down the well,

The sound of your breathing and your heartbeat.

But you continue further and you can see there is a dim light.

You go closer towards it and reach the bottom of the well.

There is a tunnel there.

And you follow this tunnel until it opens into a cavern underneath the ground.

Within the cavern are the large roots of trees intertwining with one another.

And it's dimly illuminated with some sconces of fire along the walls.

You look at these giant tree roots,

Wondering how old these trees might be.

And then you notice at the far end of the cavern,

A little boat and a spring where water is emerging.

It forms a little stream leading through a tunnel and you get on the boat and ride it through the stream underneath the ground.

The stream eventually merges outside into a lovely scene,

But you find it is raining outside.

The rain is warm and you let it soak your skin and clothes.

You get out of the boat and onto the shore and begin walking.

As you do so,

The clouds begin to clear and you can feel the heat from the sun.

Heat waves are forming from all the humidity around you.

But the sun and the heat begin to dry you completely.

Begin to hear the sound of bells tinkling in the wind.

You follow the sound of the bells which lead you through a path in a small woods.

The path takes you to a temple with a large dome and you can see the chiming wind chimes outside of it,

The bells that are tinkling.

You enter the temple and it is a wide,

Spacious area.

It seems empty except for a table in the middle with a small candle.

You make your way towards the candle.

You watch the candle flame dance about.

And as you do,

The temple seems to melt away.

It is just you and the candle flame,

Darkness all around you.

You notice the candle flame seems to be moving with your breath.

You see the wax dripping down the candle and with each drop of wax that drops to the table,

It seems like any cares or concerns melt away along with it.

As the candle melts,

Feel any concerns,

Pains,

Worries melt away along with it.

Now see this candle flame transform from being on a table in front of you and instead reside within your heart.

Feel the candle flame in your heart and remember in your heart your sankalpa the statement you made at the beginning of the practice.

Repeat your sankalpa again three times mentally knowing that it will manifest in your life.

Recall the journey that you took and notice the essence of your true self that you experienced on this journey.

Notice your faculty of wisdom and perception that you will use to bridge this vision of your true self into your daily life.

Notice your thoughts and feelings as you envision yourself here lying on the floor at this place and this time,

The place where your Yoga Nidra journey began.

Begin to feel the breath and see if you can notice it in each part of the body.

See if you can feel the breath in the fingers and the toes.

Feel the breath in the entire body and feel yourself completely within the body again,

Noticing the points of contact between the body and the floor,

The sensation of the clothing on the skin,

The temperature around you.

And say to yourself mentally,

The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

Begin to make small movements in the body,

Wiggling the fingers and the toes,

Circling the wrist and the ankles in one direction and then the other,

Gently moving the head side to side and taking a big stretch from head to toe.

Like you're just waking up in the morning.

Before you rise to a seated position,

Take a moment to say something kind to yourself,

Thanking yourself for your practice today,

Taking time to rest and reconnect with you.

When you're ready,

You can come back to a seated position,

Gently opening the eyes and taking in all the sights around you.