Celestial Yoga Nidra For Sleep

Welcome to this Celestial Yoga Nidra practice for deep restful sleep.

This practice invites an easeful transition for sleep or any life transitions.

Begin by releasing your body into comfort.

You may wish to lay on your back with arms out by your sides,

Legs apart with feet rolling out or select a position to find comfort.

Use pillows under the knees,

Under the head and a blanket over the body for warmth.

Adjust yourself so that you feel so comfortable that your desire to move is none.

If it feels right for you,

You can close your eyes.

Yoga Nidra is a time for complete relaxation,

A time where we can let go of concerns about the past for now,

Or any worries about the future,

Letting go of everything that is not in present time.

In Yoga Nidra,

There is no need to do anything at all,

Only to allow the senses to rest and practice listening to the instructions as they are given.

This practice is your practice.

You are in control of your experience.

If at any time you wish to release this practice,

You are welcome to open your eyes and enjoy moments of breathing and disregard the instruction.

Let's begin the practice.

Sense yourself connected to the earth's energy beneath you and within you,

Feeling grounded and supported.

Feel the front of your body softening towards the back of your body,

The back of your body softening into the earth.

Notice the points of contact between your body,

The earth,

Heels on the earth,

Calves on the earth,

Thighs on the earth,

Buttocks,

Earth,

Back,

Earth.

The whole spine softening,

Feeling fully supported,

Shoulders,

Arms,

Hands,

Head.

Feel the whole body resting in the support of the earth beneath you.

In your mind's eye,

See the vast sky above you.

Breathe naturally in and out as you sense the spacious sky expansive above you and the good earth supporting you from below.

Now let's set a sankalpa,

A sankalpa from your heart.

Sankalpa is our deep intention empowered by the heart in collaboration with all layers of the mind.

Sankalpa can represent a gift.

You would like to be in the world,

Positive change you'd like to make,

Or a statement or deepest desire for yourself in this life.

It is brief and in a few words and stated in the present tense.

A few examples are,

I live in harmony.

I offer love to all.

I embody joy.

I create beauty.

See what your heart has to say for you.

Now say your sankalpa now to yourself three times.

Say it with deep intention.

Let your whole being feel and trust it will come to pass.

Next we'll use the mind to travel through the body.

Allow your awareness to float effortlessly from part to part as it's named.

There's no need to move your body.

Simply allow your awareness to go to each part.

Perhaps you imagine seeing a tiny sparkling star.

Touch each place as you hear the name.

Let that tiny shining star bring ease and peace to each part it touches mentally.

Begin on the right side with the right hand thumb.

Right hand thumb.

See a sparkling star resting at the right hand thumb.

Index finger,

Sparkling star.

Middle finger,

Star.

Ring finger,

Star.

Little finger,

Star.

The fingers and thumb together.

Sparkling stars.

Right palm,

Touching the palm,

Sparkling star.

Back of the right hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow.

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

The whole right arm.

See sparkling stars filling the whole right arm.

Remain effortless,

Relaxing.

Right armpit,

Side,

Waist,

Hip.

Front of the right thigh,

Back of the right thigh.

Knee,

Back of the knee.

Right knee,

Shin,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole.

Right big toe,

Star.

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

All toes together.

The whole of the right leg,

Bright and filling with shining stars,

Sparkling.

Now the whole right side,

Sparkling and full of tiny stars.

The whole right side.

Relaxation through the whole right side.

The whole right side.

Go to the left side.

Left hand,

Thumb,

Star.

Index finger,

Star.

Middle finger,

Star.

Ring finger,

Star.

Little finger,

Star.

The fingers and thumb together.

Sparkling stars.

Left palm,

Touched by a shining star.

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder.

The whole of the left arm,

Bright and filling with sparkling stars.

The whole of the left arm.

Remain effortless.

Left armpit,

Side,

Waist,

Hip,

Front of the left thigh,

Back of the left thigh,

Knee,

Back of the knee,

Shin,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole.

Left big toe,

Star.

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

All toes together.

The whole of the left leg,

Bright and filling with sparkling stars.

The whole of the left leg.

Now the whole of the left side.

See the whole left side,

Sparkling and full of tiny stars.

The whole left side,

Relaxing.

The whole left side.

Next to the main parts.

Whole right arm,

Full of sparkling stars.

Whole left arm,

Full of sparkling stars.

Whole right arm,

Full of sparkling tiny stars.

Both arms together,

Tiny sparkling stars.

Whole right leg,

Stars sparkling.

Whole left leg,

Stars bright and sparkling.

Both legs together,

Tiny sparkling stars.

Go to the back.

Tip of the tailbone.

Lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back.

Right shoulder blade.

Left shoulder blade.

Whole spine.

See the whole spine filled with sparkling stars.

Whole spine shining.

Back of the neck,

Back of the head,

Top of the head.

A small sparkling star growing larger and brighter at the top of the head.

See the light expanding in all directions,

Shining and sparkling from the crown of the head into infinity.

Center of the forehead star.

Right temple star.

Left temple star.

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow.

Space between the eyebrows,

Sparkling star.

Right eye filled with sparkling stars.

Left eye,

Tiny stars sparkling.

Nose,

Right cheek.

Right cheek,

Left cheek.

Right ear,

Left ear.

Upper lip,

Lower lip.

Lips together.

Chin,

Throat.

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone.

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest.

Center of the chest.

The whole of the heart space filling with stars.

Upper abdomen,

Navel,

Lower abdomen.

Expand the awareness into the whole body.

The whole body filling with tiny sparkling stars.

See the whole body shining.

The whole body shining.

Your whole body filled with tiny brilliant sparkling stars.

Your body of light,

Peaceful,

Relaxed.

Held fast in the universe.

Sense the body transcending.

The mind transcending.

The individual transcending.

Time and space transcending.

Take your attention to your breath.

The free and effortless breath.

Notice how the body naturally rises and falls with each breath.

Feel the belly rise on your inhalation.

Feel the belly fall on your exhalation.

Feel the chest rise on your inhalation.

Feel the chest fall gently on your exhalation.

Inhaling and exhaling.

Effortless and at ease.

Next,

See if you can generate the sensation of cold in the body.

The sensation of cold.

Shivering cold fingers.

Cold toes.

Cold face.

Cold air in the nostrils.

Feel the whole body very cold as an icy winter's day.

Let the full experience of cold fill the body.

Shivering icy cold.

Remember fully how it feels to be cold all over the body.

Allow icy cold to touch your skin,

Your arms and legs.

Feel your insides shivering.

Let the feeling of cold subside now.

Now see if you can create sensation of warmth in the body.

The sensation of intense warmth in the body.

A flushing warmth.

Hands and feet very warm.

Feel the whole body very warm.

The whole body warm on a summer's day in the sunshine.

Remember fully with all of your senses how it feels to be very warm.

Face,

Neck,

Sweating.

The whole body full of warmth.

Let the feeling of warmth subside now.

Now bring your mind the feeling of tension.

Muscular tension.

Tension in the muscles.

Bothersome tight tension.

Perhaps there was a time when your shoulders were very tense.

Recall the tension.

Sensations of tension.

Allow the memory of tension to feel and spread through the muscles in your face,

Your chest,

Your arms and legs.

Experience the intense feeling of muscular tension.

Allow it to exist for this moment.

Release the feeling of tension and invite instead sensation of complete relaxation.

Relaxation of all the muscles.

Releasing and free.

Remember a time when you were completely relaxed as though floating on air.

Recall the complete relaxation.

The complete absence of tension.

You might allow the memory of that feeling of relaxation to spread through the muscles of your face,

Chest and into your arms and legs.

Feel the complete freedom of pure relaxation.

Allow it to exist for this moment.

Follow the breath as you enjoy complete relaxation.

Let us begin a journey in the mind.

If you would like,

See yourself walking along a pathway up a grassy hill.

It's time of the sunset on a warm,

Tranquil evening.

You watch as the sun slowly dips below the horizon.

The sky is turning muted shades of orange and yellows.

The slope of the hill is gentle and the fresh grass feels tender under the feet.

As you pass some bushes,

You hear the rustle of birds roosting.

The relaxation rhythm of your step carries you into the outlook at the top of a hill.

You sit down and feel the soft cushion of the grass and recline into the earth to gaze up at the beautiful sky.

You see pastel streaks above and gradually they dissipate and fade into lavender twilight.

Your crickets start to chirp,

The sound of nature settling and readying itself for a good night's sleep.

In the distance you see a glowing end of moonlight beginning to rise above the hilltop.

You watch the moon take over as it rises high into the sky.

Pure moonlight is slowly growing brighter and brighter,

Shining in the twilight sky.

The moon's light covers you like a warm blanket.

You feel comforted by the celestial face who has watched carefully over you night after night your whole life.

Sense the darkening sky opening its arms to you,

Cradling you gently in your restful repose.

Now you spot planetary points of light as they begin to show and dot in the night sky.

Mercury,

Saturn,

Jupiter.

Your breath is easeful as you watch the sky grow darker.

Nightfall is near.

You sense Mother Earth turning to welcome the night.

A dazzling twinkle catches your eye.

It's a star,

Sparkling light gracing the sky.

Then there is another twinkling star and another star and another and more and more tiny sparkling stars appearing one after another.

The darkening sky is sprinkled with starlight.

Countless stars shining.

You see galaxy upon galaxy of stars.

Look at the whole night sky full of stars.

Experience this peace as you rest with complete ease.

Look to the faraway edge of darkness and see there is a shining star lift and begin to fly.

Watch as it glides slowly through the universal skylight.

Recall your sankalpa from the beginning.

Say it with your mind repeating it three times.

Extend it out to the shooting star that moves slowly across the starlit sky.

Feel full of confidence and trust as you send your sankalpa brightly into the sky.

Let the shining star carry your sankalpa all through the night.

Now allow your attention to return to the flow of your breath.

Feeling your breath moving in and out of your body.

Becoming aware of the presence of your inhalation and the presence of your exhalation.

Observe how the breath moves the belly and chest in and out.

Expand your awareness to include the rest of your body,

Your arms,

Legs,

Head.

Full upper body.

Full lower body.

Aware of your entire body lying on the floor or bed.

Notice how you move as breath moves in and out.

Let yourself linger with any feelings of peace and ease.

If you would like to remain lying as you are here for some time,

Enjoy the experience of deep restoration and self-care for as long as you'd like.

When you're ready,

Begin to make minor movements if coming out.

With your hands and feet,

Light movements,

Gentle movements of waking.

When it's time,

Come to a seated position.

If you feel led,

Offer yourself a quiet bow.

Bow to your beloved and peaceful heart.

Here we complete the practice of Yoga Nidra.

Wishing you peace and blessings for the rest of your evening or day.

See you soon.