Hi caregiver, welcome. The Yoga Nidra meditation you’re about to hear was created especially for you. This experience was designed to help you wind down and prepare for a restful night’s sleep. Yoga Nidra is a special type of meditation that supports deep relaxation and promotes overall well-being. It is a guided listening experience to help you systematically release layers of stress and tension from your whole being.
Participation is simple: just follow along and let the sounds wash over you. You don’t need to worry about doing it right or wrong. The goal of Yoga Nidra is to stay awake and conscious as you move into deeper and deeper relaxation. With repetition, Yoga Nidra meditation can help improve the quality of your sleep. But if in this moment you need help falling asleep, it’s ok to use this recording to help you drift off. And if you nod off along the way, that’s fine too. Meet your experience with compassion, no matter how it unfolds.
If thoughts or emotions arise during this meditation, that’s ok. Everything is welcome. Just acknowledge the thoughts and emotions…and then simply let them be. You don’t need to engage with them or push them away. Just welcome whatever arises, acknowledge it, and let it be. Invite yourself to come back to the sound of my voice as often as you need to.
If at any point this listening experience feels uncomfortable or unwelcome, please feel free to pause the recording. You can always come back to it another time if you like.
Before we begin, take a moment to adjust your body or any props you may be using in order to rest as comfortably as you can. After this adjustment, invite stillness into your body. Stillness can help support deeper relaxation, but please remember that you are in charge of your experience. You’re welcome to move any time you need to…and you can simply drop back into stillness whenever you’re ready.
Let’s begin by connecting to your motivation for listening to this Yoga Nidra meditation. What do you most hope to gain from this practice? Maybe relaxation? A sense of calm? Peacefulness? As you explore your motivation, turn your desired outcome into an affirmative statement, starting with the words “I am,” as if it were already true. For example: “I am calm” or “I am deeply relaxed” or “in this moment, I am at peace.” Feel free to use one of these examples or create your own “I am” statement. Don’t worry about finding the perfect words… just choose something that feels like an authentic desire in this moment. Repeat it silently to yourself three times, pausing after each repetition to let the words echo throughout your mind and body.
Feel your body rest into whatever is supporting you. If you like, scan from your head to your feet with an open, curious awareness. What do you notice in your body right now? Are there any places where you feel ease? Are there any places where you feel tension? What about places that feel neutral, or maybe have a lack of sensation? Can you notice whatever is currently showing up in your body with open curiosity? Even if you currently feel discomfort or even pain, can you simply witness it? Try to allow your body to feel exactly as it feels right now, without judging or resisting the experience. Take note of any narrative that arises about your body or how you feel…and then disengage your attention from that narrative…come back to the sensations of your body.
Now invite your awareness to your breath. Without changing how you’re breathing, simply let yourself become aware that the breath is moving in and out. Your body is doing this all on its own. You don’t have to control it or even remember to breathe. You can just tune in to the feeling of air moving gently into and out of your body. Observe with a gentle awareness how your body expands effortlessly when you breathe in, and softens when you breathe out. You can feel your breath as a gentle, calming wave moving through your body with each inhale and exhale…you can feel each breath washing over you like a soothing balm.
Now, if it feels comfortable to you, you can begin to follow my voice guiding your awareness to different points throughout your body. Simply let your awareness land briefly at each place when it is mentioned and then we’ll move on together to the next place. You might or might not feel sensations as you do this—you may possibly experience warmth or tingling or maybe feelings of relaxation where your awareness lands. You might experience a sense of light or glowing at each point. Or there may not be any additional sensations. There is no right or wrong way to experience this practice. Simply follow along with a relaxed, effortless attention.
Begin by bringing your awareness to the space between your two eyebrows. And then invite your awareness to the hollow at the base of your throat. Send your awareness to your right shoulder joint. Now move your awareness to your right elbow. And then to your right wrist. Bring your attention to the tip of your right thumb, tip of your right index finger, tip of your right middle finger, tip of your right fourth finger, and tip of your right pinky. Send your awareness back to your right wrist. Then invite your awareness to your right elbow. And then come back to your right shoulder joint.
Welcome your attention back to the hollow at the base of your throat. Then send your awareness to your left shoulder. Invite your awareness to your left elbow. And then to your left wrist. Welcome your attention to the tip of your left thumb, index finger, middle finger, fourth finger, and pinky. Send your awareness back to your left wrist. Up to your left elbow. And back to your left shoulder joint.
Invite your attention to move to the center of your chest, right behind your breastbone. Then bring your awareness to the right side of your chest. Back to the center. And then to the left side of your chest. Back to the center. Send your awareness down to your navel. Then invite your awareness to the center of your pelvis. Bring your attention to your right hip joint. Move your awareness down to your right knee. And then to your right ankle. Bring your awareness to the tip of your right big toe, second toe, middle toe, fourth toe, and pinky. Then invite your attention back to your right ankle…right knee…and right hip.
Come back to the center of your pelvis. Shift your attention to your left hip joint. Then move your awareness to your left knee. And then to your left ankle. Send your awareness to the tip of your left big toe, your second toe, middle toe, fourth toe, and pinky. Invite your attention back to your left ankle…left knee…and left hip.
Bring your awareness back to the center of your pelvis…up to your navel…then up to your breastbone. Invite your awareness to the hollow at the base of your throat. And then relax your awareness at the space between your eyebrows.
Feel your whole body now. If any sensations of warmth or or relaxation arose during your body scan, send these sensations out into your whole body. If a sense of glowing or light arose for you, invite every cell of your body to glow with that gentle, healing light.
Feel the physical support beneath your body. Invite your body to rest into that support. As your body sinks down into support, feel your wavelike breath moving in and out of your body. Let your body feel solid and heavy, and let your breath feel light and subtle. Feel the contrast between the heaviness of your body and the lightness of your breath. Feel the effortless expanding and contracting of each inhale and exhale. Let the soothing wave of your breath wash over your resting body.
As you rest, can you sense and feel the interconnectedness of your body, breath, and mind? Can you feel that when any one of these aspects of yourself settles, quiets, or relaxes, the others naturally follow? As your body relaxes, so does your breath. And as your breath relaxes, so does your mind. This interconnectedness means that you are supporting your whole being when you support any aspect of yourself.
As you rest, thoughts may still arise, but maybe they are lighter… more transparent. Maybe you can watch your thoughts float away, like wispy clouds in a breeze. As you watch your thoughts come and go, this is your awareness in action. You are both the observer and the observed at the same time. Your body, sensations, breath, and mental activity are always changing, but your awareness is constant. It is always there…peaceful and nonreactive…able to welcome whatever arises…and let it go. Like the beautiful blue sky, your awareness is untouched by the thoughts, emotions, and sensations that pass like clouds.
For the next few moments, invite yourself to rest in the freedom of recognizing that whatever you think or feel is welcome. Your awareness has the capacity to witness all that arises in your mind and body. You have the capacity within yourself to witness things that are comfortable, uncomfortable, and neutral. You can feel these things… and let them be. This is freedom.
If you like, welcome your “I am” statement back into your mind. Repeat it three times slowly and silently to yourself. During this practice, you have planted the seed for this desire to become reality. And you may already feel a shift toward its fulfillment.
As this Yoga Nidra meditation draws to a close, if you are awake and aware, let yourself transition slowly. Observe that your mental activity may have shifted during this practice. Notice if your thoughts or emotions feel quieter or less intense. Now, take a moment to observe the slow, effortless movement of your breath, noting with curiosity how the breath may have changed since the beginning of this meditation. And then welcome your breath to deepen slightly. Take a moment to observe the stillness in your body..…and then gradually invite some small movements into your body, perhaps wiggling your fingers and toes…or very gently turning your head to one side…and then the other. And then let your body take any easy, gentle stretches that feel welcome. Take your time. When you feel ready to transition, gradually blink your eyes open a few times. If you like, place one or both hands on your breastbone to acknowledge and honor your connection to every aspect of yourself.