Free 40 Minute Yoga Nidra Script for Anxiety [PDF]

Preparation

Get ready for yoga nidra. Lie down in shavasana, the dead man’s pose, and make yourself as comfortable as possible. Keep your feet apart and let them flop a little sideways, arms slightly away from the body with the palms of your hands upwards.

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Adjust your blanket, clothes and position, so that you can practise yoga nidra without moving and with no physical discomfort. Please close your eyes and keep them closed. 

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The practice of yoga nidra is the act of hearing and the act of feeling, these are the only important factors.

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In yoga nidra you function on the level of awareness . . . plus the level of listening. In dreams you have no control, in yoga nidra you are the creator of the dream. 

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Say to yourself mentally, ‘I will not sleep, I shall only listen to the voice’ . . . repeat to yourself, ‘I will not sleep.’ 

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Give yourself some time to become calm and steady . . . take a deep breath and as you breathe in, feel calmness spreading throughout the body. 

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As you are breathing out, say to yourself mentally, ‘R-e-l-a-x.’ 

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Relaxation 

Become aware of sounds in the distance . . . become aware of the most distant sounds that you can hear. 

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Let your sense of hearing operate like a radar beam . . . searching out distant sounds and following them for a few seconds. 

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Move your attention from sound to sound . . . without attempting to identify the source. 

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Gradually bring your attention to closer sounds . . . to sounds outside this building . . . and then to sounds inside this building. 

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Now develop your awareness of this room . . . without opening your eyes visualize the four walls, the ceiling, the floor, your body lying on the floor, see your body lying on the floor. 

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Become aware of the existence of your physical body lying on the floor . . . total awareness of your body lying in perfect stillness. 

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Your body is lying on the floor . . . develop your awareness of all the physical meeting points between your body and the floor. 

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Become aware of the natural breath, become aware of the deep, natural, spontaneous breath, do not concentrate for this will interfere with the natural process. 

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Keep on listening to me, and know that you are breathing. 

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The practice of yoga nidra begins now . . . say mentally to yourself: ‘I am going to practice yoga nidra. I will not sleep. I am going to practise yoga nidra.’

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Resolve

This is the time to make your resolve. 

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Simple resolve . . . simple resolve. Please state your resolve clearly with feeling and awareness three times. 

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Rotation of consciousness

Rotate your consciousness through the different centres of the body . . . as quickly as possible; the awareness has to jump from point to point. Please repeat mentally the name of each part after me, and simultaneously become aware of that part. The practice always begins with the right hand . . .

Right side

Right hand thumb, second finger, third finger, fourth finger, fifth finger, palm of the hand, back of the hand, wrist, lower arm, elbow, upper arm, shoulder, armpit, waist, hip, right thigh, knee, calf muscle, ankle, heel, sole, top of the foot, right big toe, second toe, third toe, fourth toe, fifth toe . . .

Left side

Left hand thumb, second finger, third finger, fourth finger, fifth finger, palm of the hand, back of the hand, wrist, lower arm, elbow, upper arm, shoulder, armpit, waist, hip, left thigh, knee, calf muscle, ankle, heel, sole, top of the foot, left big toe, second toe, third toe, fourth toe, fifth toe . . .

Back 

Right shoulder, left shoulder, right shoulder blade, left shoulder blade, right buttock, left buttock, the spine . . . the whole of the back together . . .

Front

Top of the head, forehead, right eyebrow, left eyebrow, the eyebrow centre, right eyelid, left eyelid, right eye, left eye, right ear, left ear, right cheek, left cheek, nose, tip of the nose, right nostril, left nostril, upper lip, lower lip, chin, jaw, throat, right collarbone, left collarbone, right chest, left chest, middle of the chest, navel, abdomen, lower abdomen . . .

Major parts

Whole of the right leg, whole of the left leg, both legs together . . . whole of the right arm, whole of the left arm, both arms together . . . whole of the back, whole of the front, whole of the head . . . together . . . legs, arms, back, front, head, together . . . the whole of the body together . . . the whole of the body together . . . the whole of the body together. 

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Repeat two additional complete rounds.

Body/floor awareness

Develop homogeneous awareness of the whole body . . . and become aware of the space occupied by the body. Become aware of the body . . . and this space that is occupied by your body . . . body and space, 

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Become aware of the whole body and the floor, the whole body in relation to the floor . . . and at the same time become aware of the meeting points of the body and the floor. 

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These are very subtle physical points between body and floor. 

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Feel the meeting points between the back of your head and the floor . . . shoulder blades and the floor . . . the elbows and the floor . . . the back of the hands and the floor . . . the buttocks and the floor . . . the calves and the floor . . . the heels and the floor. 

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Awareness of all the meeting points between the body and the floor, the sensation of all points simultaneously, evenly. 

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Go on feeling these points clearly and distinctly, please do not sleep, continue. 

(long pause) 

Switch your attention to the eyelids . . . feel the narrow line of meeting between the upper and lower eyelids. Feel the sharp points where they meet. 

(pause) Intensify your awareness between the eyelids, (pause) And then the lips . . . centre your attention on the line between the lips, the space between the lips. 

(long pause)

Breathing

From the lips we go to the breath, draw your attention to the natural ingoing and outgoing breath. 

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Feel the breath moving along the passage between the navel and the throat . . . on inhalation it rises from the navel to the throat, on exhalation it descends from the throat to the navel. 

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Be completely aware of the respiration, navel to throat, throat to navel . . . do not try to force the breath, just awareness. 

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Maintain your awareness and at the same time start counting your breaths backwards as follows: ‘I am breathing in 54; I am breathing out 54; I am breathing in 53; I am breathing out 53; I am breathing in 52; I am breathing out 52.’ and so on from 54 to 1 or from 27 to 1. Count to yourself mentally as you follow the rise and fall of your breath from navel to throat and back again. 

(pause) 

Total awareness of breathing and counting. 

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The breathing is slow and relaxed . . . please continue counting.

Awareness of sensations

Heaviness 

Awaken the feeling of heaviness in the body, the feeling of heaviness. 

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Become aware of heaviness in every single part of the body. 

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You are feeling so heavy that you are sinking into the floor. 

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Awareness of heaviness, awareness of heaviness. 

(long pause)

Lightness

Awaken the feeling of lightness, awaken the feeling of lightness. 

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A sensation of lightness and weightlessness in all parts of the body. 

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Your body feels so light that it seems to be floating away from the floor. 

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Awareness of lightness. 

(long pause)

Cold

The experience of cold. Awaken the experience of bitter cold in the body. 

(pause) 

Imagine you are walking on a cold floor in winter . . . your feet feel very cold, you feel cold all over. 

(pause) 

Awareness of coldness, awareness of coldness. 

(long pause)

Heat

Awaken the sensation of heat, awaken the experience of heat. The whole body is hot, the whole body is hot . . . you feel hot all over. 

(pause) 

Recollect the feeling of heat in summer when you are out in the sun with no shade . . . heat all over the body, heat all around the body.

(pause) 

Awareness of heat. 

(long pause)

Pain

The experience of pain, concentrate and try to remember the experience of pain. 

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Any pain you have experienced in your life, mental or physical, recollect the feeling of pain. 

(long pause)

Pleasure

Recollect the feeling of pleasure, any kind of pleasure, physical or mental. 

(pause) 

Recollect this feeling and relive it, make it vivid . . . awaken the feeling of pleasure. 

(long pause)

Check that you are awake. Are you drowsy or sleepy? . . . Make sure that you are not sleeping. Say to yourself: ‘I am awake.’ 

(pause)

Inner space

Withdraw your mind and concentrate on the space in front of your closed eyes, the space we call chidakasha. 

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Imagine before you a transparent screen through which you can see infinite space . . . a space that extends as far as the eyes can see. 

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Concentrate on this dark space and become aware of any phenomena that manifests within it; whatever you see is the manifesting state of your mind. 

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Continue your awareness of this space but do not become involved, practice detached awareness only. 

(long pause) 

Park/temple visualization

Imagine yourself in a park in the early morning . . . the sun has not risen and the park is deserted, except for yourself. 

(pause) 

It is a beautiful park, calm and peaceful . . . walk across the springy grass . . . listen to the birds whistle and call as they welcome in the new day. 

(pause) 

There are gardens of flowers, roses, yellow, pink, red, purple . . . smell their fragrance and see the early morning dewdrops on their petals. Nearby the rose garden is a fishpond . . . goldfish swim in and out amongst the water lilies, see their graceful movements.

(pause) 

You walk between trees, beautiful trees . . . bare trees and trees with leaves,  wide spreading trees and tall stately trees. There is a clearing between the trees . . . in the clearing is a small temple with an aura of light around it. 

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Go to the door, it is cool and dim inside . . . inside on the walls there are pictures of great saints. You sit down on the floor, close your eyes and become still . . . a sense of deep peace and harmony envelops you as the sounds outside fade into the distance.

(pause) 

Continue your awareness of meditation inside the temple . . . stay there for some time until peace and harmony pervade. 

(long pause)

Inner space

Bring your awareness back to chidakasha, bring your awareness to the dark space you see in front of your closed eyes. 

(pause)

Actually this space can also be visualized in front of the forehead, so if you want to explore it a little you can shift your gaze slightly upwards . . . but do not strain. 

(pause) 

Watch the darkness that you see before you very carefully, with detachment, do not become involved. 

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Rest your mind in this warm and friendly darkness . . . if any subtle phenomena manifests, for example colours or patterns, simply take note of these and continue with your awareness. 

(pause) 

If thoughts occur let them come and go but continue watching the dark space, continue this with detached awareness.

(long pause)

Resolve

Now remember your resolve, your sankalpa. Repeat the same resolve you made at the beginning of the practice in the same words and with the same attitude. Repeat your resolve now three times clearly, with feeling and emphasis. 

(pause)

Finish

Become aware of your breathing, become aware of your natural breathing. 

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Awareness of breathing . . . and awareness of relaxation. 

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Develop awareness of your physical existence. 

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Become aware of your arms and legs and your body lying stretched out on the floor. 

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Become aware of meeting points between your body and the floor. 

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Develop awareness of the room, walls, ceiling . . . noises in the room and noises outside . . . take your mind out, become completely external. 

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Lie quietly for a few moments and keep your eyes closed. Start moving your body and stretching yourself . . . please take your time, do not hurry. 

(pause) 

When you are sure that you are wide awake, sit up slowly and open your eyes.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

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