Yoga Nidra to Release Stress and Achieve Lasting Relaxation with Dr. Melissa West

This is a yoga nidra to release stress and achieve lasting relaxation. This yoga nidra will neutralize excess stress, slow down your brainwave states, to redirect chronic patterns of stress so that you can achieve lasting relaxation. Hi I'm Melissa from Yoga with Melissa. Today I am grateful to be a guest here on Yoga JP for Sherry and to offer you this yoga nidra. If you come on over to my channel Yoga with Melissa you'll see the chair yoga class that Sherry has created for you there along with lots of other offerings. For today you're going to need a yoga mat, a blanket, a bolster, and an eye pillow. You can do this class lying on the ground, you can rest on your bed, on your couch, or your favorite chair. You can lie down, sit up, whatever is best for you. There's going to be no clothes out today so that you can revel in the profound peace that comes from non-doing. So thank you so much for subscribing to Sherry's channel, for liking this before you watch, and for leaving the comment, I achieved lasting relaxation in the comments. If you would like my seven days of yoga for sleep, this is my best yoga, Ayurveda, self massage, and breath practices to fall asleep and stay asleep. Go to melissas.com sleep, put your email in and I will deliver that right to your inbox. I also have a membership community with over 35 Yoga Nidra audio files and loads of other offerings as well. I'm going to put the direct link to the membership community as well as a downloadable audio file for our members in the show notes and a link for you to become a member if you'd like to access those downloadable audio files, which is just the Yoga Nidra without the YouTube advertising and promotion. It starts right with the spoken guided Yoga Nidra that you can download onto your iPhones, your iPods, your audio devices, and you can listen to it in your ear headphones and your earbuds. So enjoy this Yoga Nidra and thanks again for having me on your channel Sherry. As you rest back to receive this Yoga Nidra meditation to relieve stress and achieve lasting relaxation, remember you are not alone in your experience of stress. Everyone in the world at some point has experienced this feeling. We all feel like we don't have enough time, like we're missing something, like we're trying to catch up to some continually advancing finish line. We're all yearning for this lack of ease to go away. We all have different ways of trying to make it go away by doing more, working more, chasing success, relationships, money, and recognition. You can practice Yoga Nidra by lying on your back if that's comfortable for you. Take as much time as you need to make yourself as comfortable as possible and use any cushions and blankets you have available to support your body. Become aware of any sounds that you can hear in this moment. Notice what you can hear without straining and allow your sense of hearing to expand outwards towards distant sounds, gradually allowing your hearing to come back closer in. Notice how making space for sounds allows you to let go of stress. With your mind's eye, become aware of the space of this room. Imagine the walls, the ceiling, the floor, and your body resting on the floor. Become aware of the position of your body, your legs, your pelvis, your back, your arms, your neck, your head, your eyes, your face. Notice your body lying on the floor in this room. As you rest back, bring your awareness to the back of your body. Invite your body to soften and rest, and notice how the space between the back of your body and earth continue to deepen in their connection. Become aware of your breath. Notice your breath as it flows through your body. Follow your breath as it comes in and expands your body. Follow your breath as you breathe out and your body sinks down and into the ground. As you breathe in, become aware of your breath in. As you breathe out, become aware of your breath out. Each time you breathe out, imagine breathing out all the stress from your body. As you breathe in, breathe in a healing wave of energy through your body, bringing a sense of calm to every cell of your body. Each breath out magically carries away stress and tension. Each breath in brings calm relaxation to every cell of your body. We are going to circulate your awareness through your body now. Imagine this like a skillful energetic acupuncture treatment designed to neutralize excess stress from your body, restoring profound peace. This yoga nidra will redirect patterns of stress, anxiety, worry, and fear and take you into brainwave states where your organ systems will be rejuvenated and regenerated. Begin in your mouth. Feel the sensations in your mouth. Notice the insides of your cheek, your jaws, your tongue, the roof of your mouth, the floor of your mouth, the top of your tongue, the bottom of your tongue, the tip of your tongue, the root of your tongue, your upper teeth and gums, your lower teeth and gums, the whole inside of your mouth. Now notice your nose. Become aware of the nostrils. Notice your left nostril, your right nostril, the inner nasal passages and follow them deep into the side of your head. Become aware of your ears, your right ear, your left ear, both ears together. Noticing the wrinkles and folds of the ears, the backs of the ears, the ear lobes, the ear canals, following the ear canals into the inner ears. Notice your eyes, your left eye, your right eye, both eyes, your eyelids. Notice where your eyelids touch. Notice each eyelash. Become aware of the surface of the eyes and the backs of your eyes. Notice your brain. Notice the front of your brain, the back of your brain, the top of your brain, the bottom of your brain, and your brainstem. Bring awareness to the crown of your head, the top of your head, your forehead, the right side of your head, the left side of your head, your face, the back of your head, the back of your neck, the right side of your neck, the left side of your neck, the front of your neck, and rest in the hollow of your throat. Notice your right shoulder, your left shoulder, and sense and feel your neck and shoulders. Notice your right shoulder, your right upper arm, right elbow, right forearm, right wrist, the palm of your right hand, your right thumb, right index finger, right middle finger, right ring finger, right pinky finger, tip of the right thumb, tip of the right index finger, tip of the right middle finger, tip of the right ring finger, tip of the right little finger, whole right hand, right wrist, right forearm, right elbow, right upper arm, right shoulder, whole right arm resting on the ground. Notice the right shoulder, the left shoulder, and sense and feel your neck and shoulders. Notice your left shoulder, your left upper arm, left elbow, left forearm, left wrist, palm of your left hand, left thumb, left index finger, left middle finger, left ring finger, left pinky finger, tip of the left thumb, tip of the right index finger, tip of the left middle finger, tip of the left ring finger, tip of the left little finger, whole left hand, left wrist, left forearm, left elbow, left upper arm, left shoulder, whole left arm resting heavy on the ground. Notice your head, your face, neck, right shoulder, left shoulder, right arm, left arm sinking heavy into the earth. Notice your chest, upper back, belly, lower back, your whole torso softening, resting, letting go down into the earth. Notice your right hip, right upper leg, right knee, right lower leg, right ankle, right foot, right big toe, right second toe, right middle toe, right fourth toe, right little toe, tip of the right big toe, tip of the right second toe, tip of the right middle toe, tip of the right fourth toe, tip of the right little toe, whole right foot, right ankle, right lower leg, right upper leg, right hip, whole right leg. Notice your left hip, left upper leg, left knee, left lower leg, left ankle, left foot, left big toe, left second toe, left middle toe, left fourth toe, left little toe, tip of the left big toe, tip of the left second toe, tip of the left middle toe, tip of the left fourth toe, tip of the left little toe, whole left foot, left ankle, left lower leg, left upper leg, left hip, whole left leg, both legs resting heavy on the ground, whole lower body heavy, relaxing, softening into the earth. Let your whole body unwind. Breathe into your lower belly. Breathe into your heart center. Feel the hollow of your throat. Become aware of the space behind your eyebrows. Become aware of the crown of your head. Notice your back body resting on the earth, your whole back body resting on the earth, and then feel your whole front body facing skyward and the space all around it. Draw a line down the center of your body. Feel the whole right side of your body, the whole right side of your body, and then feel the whole left side of your body, the entire left side of your body, and then bring your awareness back to your whole body. Feel sensation through your whole body. Notice awareness letting go into itself, unrestricted by time and space. There is nothing to do, nothing to accomplish, nothing left to complete, nothing you easily begin to transition from this place of profound peace and relaxation. Gradually open and close your eyes a few times. Observe and sense this space within and around this threshold. Notice your experience of unchanging presence, awake and aware, across all states of consciousness as you make the slow and gradual transition back. Acknowledge yourself for redirecting the patterns of stress, anxiety, worry, and fear, for taking the time to quiet the inner noise and resting into relaxation and tranquility. When you take the time out for yoga nidra for yourself, you serve all those in your life and beyond. Notice how this practice echoes throughout the rest of your day and into your night. Namaste.