My name is Susan and I will be your guide today.
Please make the room where you will sleep cool and dark.
Slide into bed and begin to make yourself comfortable.
Cover yourself with your sheets and blankets and adjust your pillows so that your head feels comfortable and supported.
Feel free to rest on your back or on your side,
Depending on what brings you more comfort.
Close your eyes and notice the sensation of your body supported by the mattress and cocooned by sheets,
Blankets and quilts.
Make any final adjustments that you need to get even more comfortable and relaxed.
Feel a moment of gratitude that you have a safe and cozy place to sleep.
Notice,
Once again,
The comfort that you feel under the covers in your own bed.
During most yoga nidra practices,
You attempt to stay awake and aware.
During this yoga nidra for peaceful sleep practice,
Your intention will be to relax and to fall asleep.
Take a deep breath in and as you exhale,
Sigh out the breath and let go of all of your worries.
Visualize them floating off into the night and disappearing.
Take another deep breath and as you exhale,
Feel your body sinking deeper into your mattress.
More relaxed,
Completely supported.
Prepare your mind to savor this night's experience of deep rest and deep sleep.
The practice of yoga nidra begins now.
Feel a wave of relaxation moving through your body from head to toe.
Imagine that someone you love or an angel or God or mother nature is running a nurturing hand over you.
Start by imagining this loving hand smoothing over the crown of your head.
Imagine this hand wiping away all tension from your forehead,
Softening the muscles in your eyes,
Your cheeks,
Your lips.
Feel that touch in the back of your head,
Melting away all tension from your scalp.
Feel the touch of these loving fingers on the sides and back of your neck,
Noticing the softness in the tissues and how that release brings relaxation to your mind.
Continue to visualize this caring hand moving down the front and back of your body,
Touching and massaging each area,
Releasing any tension or discomfort along the way until the tissues soften and just melt.
Sense the mental and physical relaxation you are experiencing as nurturing fingers move slowly down your body.
Now please take a moment to set an intention for your practice.
Something related to nighttime healing and or sleep.
Some examples of an intention might be,
I am relaxing and descending into a calm sleep or I am allowing myself to rest and sleep peacefully,
Or I am sleeping peacefully and my body is healing so I can awaken feeling refreshed.
Take a moment now to say this intention to yourself three times.
Now we will do a rotation of consciousness experience where you will focus on different parts of your body.
As I mentioned,
Each part,
Bring your awareness to that space without moving that part of the body.
Start by bringing awareness to your right hand.
Relax your right hand,
Thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger.
Relax the back of your right hand,
Palm,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Right armpit,
Right side of the rib cage,
Right side of the hip,
Right by kneecap,
Shin,
Ankles,
Top of the right foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Now bring awareness to your left hand.
Relax your left hand,
Thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger.
Relax the back of your left hand,
Palm,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Left armpit,
Left side of the rib cage,
Left side of the hip,
Left thigh,
Kneecap,
Shin,
Ankles,
Top of the left foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Now draw awareness to the back of the body.
Relax your right heel,
Left heel,
Right calf,
Left calf,
Right hamstrings and buttocks,
Left hamstrings and buttocks.
Allow the lower back to soften.
Relax the middle back,
Upper back.
Sense the whole spine and back softening,
Sinking and melting down into your mattress.
Relax the back of your neck,
The back of your head,
The crown of your head.
Relax your forehead,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
The space between the brows,
Right eye and eyelid,
Left eye and eyelid.
And now soften all the tiny muscles around your eyes.
Feel them relaxing and releasing and letting go.
Relax your right nostril,
Left nostril,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Chin,
Front of the throat,
Right side of the chest,
Left side of the chest,
Abdomen,
Pelvis,
Pelvic floor.
Notice the whole front of the body and the face relaxed.
Sense the whole back of the body relaxed.
Be aware of your whole body,
Your whole physical body relaxed,
Free of tension,
Melting down into your mattress,
Supported and comfortable.
Now bring awareness to your breath.
Notice it's easy rise and fall.
Visualize gentle waves in the sea,
Rising and descending.
Allow your breath to just flow like those natural waves in the sea.
Sense and hear your breath fluid,
Comfortable,
Slow,
Bringing deep relaxation to your body with your breath.
Now,
Please count down from 18 to one as you breathe,
Inhale belly,
Rib cage and chest rising 18 exhale belly,
Rib cage and chest descending 18 inhale body expanding 17 exhale body softening 17.
Now continue counting on your own.
If you get to one before I give further instructions,
Please start over with 18.
Again,
If you lose track of your counting,
Please also begin again with 18 and start counting down.
Now release your focus on counting.
Draw your awareness to your eyebrow center point,
Your space of consciousness,
Your chidakasha.
This third eye chakra space is your pathway to pure awareness.
You may see colors and shapes in this space right now.
I will mention a series of scenes.
Allow images of each one to appear in this screen in your consciousness.
Awaken your imagination without attaching judgment.
Glowing sky over mountains before sunrise,
Ocean waves crashing on the sand,
A line of pelicans gliding over the water,
A dog curled up asleep on a rug,
Torrential rain in the middle of a rain forest,
A frog floating in a pond.
It's glowing eyes just above the surface.
A toddler with curly golden hair hugging a tree,
Iridescent purple and green feathers on a hummingbird,
A waterfall tumbling over rocks,
A seed sprouting from soft,
Dark earth.
It's green shoot stretching toward the sun,
A group of yogis chanting,
Ohm,
A deer net craned forward,
Drinking water from a creek,
A turtle sunning itself on a log,
An elderly woman sitting on a park bench,
Writing in her journal,
A Saguaro cactus trunk and arms plump with water after a recent rain clouds in the sky,
Glowing red and orange during a brilliant sunset,
A mother hugging her child,
A full moon rising over the sea,
Casting a path of light across the water,
A person sliding into bed,
Feeling content,
Peaceful and grateful for another day of life.
Now allow yourself to descend into a deep state of meditation.
Continue to journey inward more and more inward.
And now I invite you to return to your intention for this practice,
Your intention for nighttime healing and or sleep.
Say this intention to yourself three times.
And now turn this intention over to the universe and know that you will have a restful night,
A quiet,
Safe,
Comfortable,
Secure,
Protected,
Resting,
Relaxed,
Healing,
Restored.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
