A Rest, To Recover, To Fall Asleep (Yoga Nidra)

Welcome to this short meditation with the purpose of getting a deep relaxation,

A rest,

Recharge yourself or it might help you to fall asleep in the evening.

So this meditation is a variation of Yoga Nidra.

Yoga Nidra is often called sleepless sleep,

Where we end up with that state,

That in-between awake and being asleep.

So this meditation we're gonna do onto our back.

You can lie on your yoga mat,

You can lie onto your bed if it's in the evening and really make yourself comfortable.

You can have a blanket on your head,

A pillow under your knees and a blanket to cover yourself with to keep yourself warm.

An eye pillow if you have or a scarf to cover your eyes with.

Soften your jaw,

Soften your eyes behind your eyelids,

Soften your ears.

Allow the shoulders to get a little bit more heavy down towards the ground.

The arms to be placed where it feels more comfortable for your shoulders and the rest of the body.

The legs to roll open and the feet to soften.

We're gonna start this meditation by listening to the sound we hear around us.

So take a moment to receive whatever sound you hear in your surroundings and see if you can continue to the next sound and the next,

Not getting stuck with just one sound,

Moving the awareness around,

Listening to the different sounds.

From there start to move the awareness to the sounds you hear inside of yourself.

Listen to your breath,

Your inhale and your exhale.

It might be some other sounds you hear,

The sound of yourself swallowing,

The belly that makes some sounds.

And now start to move your attention to the right hand,

Right thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

The palm of your right hand,

The top of your right hand,

Right wrist,

Right elbow,

Right shoulder,

Right armpit,

Right waist,

Right hip,

Right knee,

Right ankle,

Top of your right foot,

Bottom of your right foot,

Heel of the right foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

The whole right side of your body.

Move the awareness to your left hand,

Left thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of your left hand,

Top of your left hand,

Left wrist,

Left elbow,

Left shoulder,

Left armpit,

Left waist,

Left hip,

Left knee,

Left ankle,

The top of your left foot,

Bottom of your left foot,

Heel of the left foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

The whole left side of your body.

Now move your awareness to the back of your head,

Your neck,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Your spine,

Right butt,

Left butt,

Top of your head,

Right side of your head,

Left side of your head,

Forehead,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

In the middle of your eyebrows,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

The tip of your nose,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Top lip,

Bottom lip,

Chin,

Throat,

Right side of your chest,

Left side of your chest,

The belly.

Rest your awareness in your belly.

Notice the rise and the fall of the belly as you breathe in and out.

Rest your awareness there and count your breaths from 11 down to zero,

Where one inhale,

One exhale is one breath.

Next inhale and exhale is the next breath.

If you lose count,

You start over from 11.

Let go of the count wherever you are and move the awareness down towards your feet.

Feel your feet getting heavy,

Heavier and heavier.

The feet get so heavy so you couldn't lift them from the floor if I asked you to.

Heavy as lead,

Sinking down more and more into the earth,

Creating that imprint.

The legs heavy,

So heavy,

So heavy,

So now both legs and your feet are so heavy so they couldn't move if I asked you to move them.

Your hips heavy,

Your upper body so heavy,

Heavy,

Heavy down,

Heavy as lead,

Sinking down deeper and deeper into the ground,

Through the mat,

Into the floor,

Into the ground,

The earth.

Arms heavy,

Hands,

Fingers so heavy,

Like your head so heavy,

So the whole body is now so heavy that you did this big,

Big mark down into the earth and then feel your head getting light,

So light so it's almost flying over the mat,

So light like a feather.

The arms so light,

Your hands,

Fingers so light,

Just resting on top of the mat,

So light.

The upper body is so light,

The hips,

Legs and feet,

It's like you're floating above the mat,

So light like feather,

Like a cloud in the sky.

And then the body gets heavy again,

Heavy as lead,

Sinking through the mat,

Through the floor,

Down into the earth,

So heavy.

And then the body gets light again,

Like that feather that's just resting on top of the mat.

And now see if you can rest in that lightness and heaviness at the same time.

Allow yourself to rest there in that feeling of lightness and heaviness at the same time.

As you now hear my voice again,

Begin to move your awareness back to the contact with the earth.

Your breath,

Notice the movement the breath creates in your body.

Being with that sensation for a moment,

Starting to wake up a little bit more again.

And when you're ready,

Start to take a little bit deeper breaths in.

You can also start to move your fingers and your toes to gently wake the whole body up.

In your timing,

Your pace.

If it feels natural and comfortable to reach your arms overhead,

You can do that and stretch through the whole body from your fingertips down towards your toes.

From there,

You can bend your knees,

Place the soles of the feet into the mat.

You can stay there or you can hug your knees in closer to your chest and move a little bit gently side to side.

When you're ready,

Start to roll over to one side,

The side that feels more natural in this moment to roll down to.

Rest there for a few breaths.

And now as you're going to take yourself back up to a seated position,

Use your arm,

Your hand in front of you to really take the support from the ground.

And allow the head to be the last to come up.

Find a comfortable seated position and feel the contact to the ground through your sit bones and the crown of your head that wants to meet the sky above you to get that length through the spine and the breath to be able to flow freely.

Pause here for a moment and notice the sensation in your body-mind after this rest,

Relaxation.

And now place your hands together in front of your heart center.

Bow down towards yourself to honor yourself for taking this time to rest,

Relax,

Maybe sleeping a little.

Open your eyes towards a point,

Rest your gaze there to receive just that point.

And when you're ready,

Lift your gaze,

Receive the whole room,

The surroundings you are in,

And I wish you a wonderful,

Beautiful day.

Namaste.