This article is a yoga nidra FAQ on setting intentions & sankalpas for making durable positive changes effectively.

Yoga nidra is rapidly gaining in popularity these days, mostly because it’s so blissfully exhilarating.  Yoga nidra (pronounced nih-drah) means “yogic sleep” and is an ancient yoga practice with benefits supported by modern-day science.  It’s a powerful experience of progressively relaxing and restoring physically, energetically, mentally, and emotionally that naturally opens us to accessing our intuition, unconditional joy, and deep restorative peace.  It’s very refreshing too.  In fact, one hour of practice is equivalent to four hours of sleep.  See more documented benefits of yoga nidra here.

The yoga nidra process also makes it completely possible to clear out useless habits and bring about positive and durable changes to your lifestyle and positive personality changes by using a sankalpa at the start and the end of the practice.  A sankalpa is a special intention, a self-selected resolve that you choose yourself.  It’s a sacred vow and promise you make in support of your highest truth. Sample sankalpas are “I am courageous,” or “I have confidence,” or “My life is worthwhile.”   It’s a quality that helps you become or do something worthwhile with your life.  Likewise, it can be a reflection of your True Self such as “I am conduit of love,” or “My true nature is peace.”

How yoga nidra helps you make behavior changes and enables you to develop positive personal qualities.

“Our day-to-day frame of consciousness (beta brain waves) makes it extremely difficult to make and maintain our good intentions because they crash into our long term conditioning, habits, and social pressures,” as reported in Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief (New Harbinger Publications, 2015).  “Through no fault of your own, your mind is simply not very receptive to making these changes.  During yoga nidra, we knowingly, consciously, and consecutively experience different types of brainwave levels that are receptive to change that include alpha, theta and delta frequencies and are associated with levels of consciousness.  The level reached during yoga nidra depends on the depth of your experience.  When we implant a resolve in the subconscious mind, useless thoughts and behaviors can be weeded out and the conditions are created for significant and transformative change to take root and grow.”  Success is fortified by staying with the same sankalpa from practice to practice until it becomes a reality and takes root.  Consistency counts.

Setting Intentions & Sankalpas

Time is set aside at the beginning of yoga nidra for a sankalpa to reveal itself naturally instead of intellectually.  Making intellectual sankalpas rarely yield results.  In other words, one that you “should” make or one to please others.  Instead, have one that resonates and rings true with you.  Go for a balance between letting it come to you intuitively and thinking it through.  Furthermore, you could have one specific to help with weight loss, getting more exercise or stopping an unhealthy habit, but it’s advised that you pick a grander quality instead.  In doing so, the behavior change is likely to happen anyway and you will also reap many more benefits.  For example, if you choose kindness as your sankalpa, true self-kindness will lead to eating better and exercising more by being kinder to yourself in support of your health.  In addition, kindness will naturally bring on generosity, patience, and other positive qualities.

Word your sankalpa positively, in the present tense, clearly, and concisely.  Keep it consistent.  Back it up sincerely with gratitude and inner will.  If using “I am” seems too challenging or too mindboggling, try adding “more and more” to it.  For example, “I am content, more and more.”

Sample Sankalpas:

• I am kind.
• I am trusting.
• I am accepting of my feelings. Or, I accept unhappiness as part of my human experience.
• I have abundance.
• I am grateful for a peaceful nature.
• I embrace all of who I am.
• I enjoy life fully.
• I welcome health and wellness.
• My true nature is joyful.

Using a Sankalpa during Yoga Nidra.

A sankalpa is first silently said at the beginning of your yoga nidra experience and with your whole heart.  It helps if you use your senses to imagine what it would be like if it were already true.  Once again, repeat your sankalpa several times near the end of yoga nidra.  Namely, when you are totally at ease and in the fertile delta brainwave state, and before coming back to full awareness.  This is when your brain is most receptive.

Outcomes

I had my doubts about the effectiveness of using a sankalpa, especially when writing Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief, so I put it to the test with a variety of students.  Much to our delight and satisfaction, results started rolling in.  Find out for yourself by reading their stories in the book.  Better yet, try it yourself.  Please let us know about your experience.

How to Experience Yoga Nidra:  

Like all worthwhile things, regular practice yields the best results.  It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Listen to Yoga Nidra Meditations: 24 Scripts for True Relaxation | Audible – iTunes – Amazon
2. Read about it and get free audio downloads in Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief (New Harbinger, 2015).
3. Experience yoga nidra on video/audio.
4. Attend a virtual yoga nidra class held weekly on Zoom.
5. Take a yoga nidra teacher training course and earn a certificate.
6. Get yoga nidra downloads here.

Resources: Books, Recordings & More

Get yoga nidra downloads here.

NEW! Yoga Nidra Meditations: 24 Scripts for True Relaxation

Experience peace and deeply restorative rest that heals your body, mind & spirit. Features 24 Yoga Nidra scripts written by author Julie Lusk and 12 of the world's master teachers. Enjoy 6 levels of relaxation for a joyful meditative experience. Learn to use yogic sleep to revitalize your inner reservoir of intuitive understanding and unconditional joy. Audiobook available. CLICK the blue title link above to find out more...

Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation & Stress Relief - Print Book & Audio download

Yoga Nidra can stop tension in its tracks with a wonderfully, powerful & unique state of deep relaxation, mental clarity & insightful awareness. These practical, empowering relaxation exercises, meditations that soothe and visualizations that renew are based on classic yoga and backed by modern science. They’ll help you unwind, replenish, and feel refreshed with durable peace and unconditional joy. CLICK the blue title link above to find out more...

Yoga Nidra Essentials CD

Find your calm spot. Brighten your energy. Enjoy a more meaningful life. Experience 6 levels of relaxation. Reclaim optimal health for your body, mind & heart. Laura says "My focused mind easily. I was 100% worry-free. It's wonderful." By Julie Lusk, 6-time author. Digital downloads available.

Author: Julie Lusk, M.Ed., E-RYT 500

30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery and Inner Healing – Volume 1

by Julie Lusk

• Are you looking for a handy relaxation, imagery and meditation book  for stress relief?
• Do you want to get the most out of relaxation, imagery, and meditation?
• Do you want to help yourself and lead others with these scripts for relaxation, imagery, visualization & more?

Finally.  The perfect book!

PRINT BOOK: 30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery & Inner Healing - Volume 1 - Print Edition

Are you looking for a handy relaxation, imagery and meditation book for stress relief? Here's the perfect book! Help yourself and lead others with these scripts for relaxation, imagery, visualization & more. Easy-to -follow scripts are here to * Achieve deep, positive relaxation * Benefit from stress relief * Healing guided imagery * Awaken intuition * Increase self growth and understanding. CLICK the blue title link above to find out more...

EBOOK Edition: 30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery & Inner Healing - Volume 1 - eBook Edition

Are you looking for a handy relaxation, imagery and meditation book for stress relief? Here's the perfect eBook! Help yourself and lead others with these scripts for relaxation, imagery, visualization & more. Easy-to -follow scripts are here to * Achieve deep, positive relaxation * Benefit from stress relief * Healing guided imagery * Awaken intuition * Increase self growth and understanding. CLICK the green title link to find out more...

♥ Customer Rating from Barnes and Noble  ♥

Perfect for Meditation

“I use this book at work to run meditation groups. It is very diverse so that I have many choices to chose from based on my client population. I had another copy of it but used it so much it finally fell apart, this is a replacement.”  Posted July 28, 2009, 10:44 AM EST
[WPCR_INSERT]

Easy-to -follow scripts are here to help you

• Achieve deep, positive relaxation
• Benefit from stress relief
• Healing guided imagery
• Awaken intuition
• Increase self growth and understanding

Table of Contents for 30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery, and Inner Healing

Volume 1

by Julie Lusk
Whole Person Associates

Becoming Relaxed

Feeling calm, relaxed, and centered is a foundation for any guided meditation. In fact, relaxation is healing in and of itself.

Physically relaxing the body first, before using guided imagery, increases people’s ability to concentrate and allows their minds, hearts, and spirits to be more open to the meditation. A feeling of harmony often results.

For many people relaxation is a new experience. It is important that people practice the physical form of relaxation and spend ample time with it until feeling relaxed becomes natural and easy.

The exercises in this section focus on physical relaxation. Use them on their own or combine them with an imagery exercise from one of the other sections.

• Progressively Relaxing while Sitting in a Chair
  Designed for people sitting in chairs, this progressive relaxation exercise focuses on tensing and relaxing the different muscle groups. (20 minutes)
• Breathing for Relaxation and Health
  Effective relaxation requires proper breathing. In this script, participants concentrate on their breathing by focusing on what their bodies are doing as they take in deep breaths, hold them, and slowly exhale. (10 minutes)
• 1 to 10
  In this brief script, participants lie on their backs and tense their muscles as they count from 1 to 10, then release the tension as they count back down to 1. (5 minutes)
• The Magic Ball
  In this visualization script, participants imagine they each possess a magic ball that travels over, under, and through their bodies, relaxing their muscles as it goes. (20 minutes)
• Total Relaxation
  An eclectic introduction to some of the most popular relaxation techniques, Total Relaxation includes breathing, progressive relaxation, visualization, and body scanning. Use a part or all of this script as a short relaxation exercise prior to a guided meditation in one of the other sections of the book. (10 minutes)

Nature and the Environment
Being connected to the natural world–the ocean, forest, sky, and mountains–is for most people both relaxing and healthy. The guided meditations in this section help people find their connection with the natural world and thereby learn about forgiveness and love.

Note: Before beginning any script, describe to the participants what images you will use. If they make anyone feel uncomfortable, select an alternate script.

• The Sea
  In this script, participants relax by taking an imaginary journey along a beach, listening to the birds and waves and watching a brilliant sunset. (5 minutes)
• Simply Sailing
  In this script, participants imagine setting sail from a quiet dock, experiencing the sea with all its beauty and challenges, and reaching an island paradise. They are invited to release unnecessary personal ìbaggageî and return to the dock with a newfound energy. (25 minutes)
• A Day in the Life of Another Creature
  In this relaxation and visualization script, participants let go of tension and then explore the wildlife found around a pond, first through the perspective of an animal or insect, and then from the human perspective. (20 minutes)
• The Beach
  In this script, participants imagine they are on vacation, strolling along a quiet ocean beach, free of the usual daily pressures and hassles. (5 minutes)
• Flying with the Eagle
  In this script for kids (and for the young-at-heart), participants leave their homes through a secret door, travel to the forest of a magnificent Mother Eagle, and go for a ride on her back. (15 minutes)
• Oak Creek
  In this script, participants experience and feel a personal connection with the energy and the healing power of the earth and sky. (10 minutes)
• The Night Sky
  In this script, participants imagine looking at the stars of a clear night sky and feeling their minds expand into the infinite expanse of space. (8 minutes)
• Ocean Waves
  In this script, participants dissolve their worries and troubles by imagining they are listening to the rhythm of the ocean waves. (12 minutes)

Inner Answers
Taking the time to regularly explore and reflect upon the inner world of intuition, feelings, and thoughts can be uplifting and is a sure path to personal, emotional, mental, and spiritual growth.

The guided meditations in this section help people get in touch with their intuitive inner selves so that they may find answers to lifeís questions from within.

• Your Inner Adviser
  In this meditation, participants have a conversation with their inner advisor to develop their intuitionómaking decisions based on gut feelings rather than on reactions to social influence. (18 minutes)
• Fortune Cookies
  In this script, participants tap into their intuitive selves by imagining that they are reading messages contained in fortune cookies. (12 minutes)
• Your Inner Child
  In this script, participants get to know, communicate with, and learn from their inner child. (5 minutes)
• Time Travel: So What Do You Want to Do for A Living?
  In this script, participants imagine the future to discover potential career paths and living conditions. (20 minutes)

Healing
Integrating the mind, body, emotions, and spirit opens up vast inner resources of intuition, wisdom, and personal power.

So many of us live as if fragmented–thinking of one thing, saying something else, acting one way publicly, while feelings, moods, and emotions provide a constantly changing and inconsistent undertow.

The guided meditations in this section focus on using the mind to heal the body and emotions and to bring thoughts, words, actions, and feelings into harmony and alignment.

• Love, Joy, and Optimism
  In this guided meditation, participants journey down a private path; encounter their own personal guide and shadow; feel love, joy, hope, and optimism; and learn to accept themselves no matter what is going on in their lives. (30 minutes)
• Healing Yourself and the Universe
  In this script, participants relax and feel protected as past hurts and negativity are released and forgiven through the experience of being surrounded by a healing, loving light. (20 minutes)
• Sun Meditation for Healing
  In this script, participants experience the healing power and energy of the sun as they imagine it warming and relaxing them. (5 minutes)
• Vitamin T Imagery
  In this script, participants absorb Vitamin T, the nurturing nutrient found in healthy touch, by imagining they are receiving a massage. (18 minutes)
• Food for Thought: Imagery for Weight Control
  In this script, participants learn to think differently about food, about dieting, and about themselves by stimulating their ability to make informed choices. This script is designed to take the struggle out of weight loss and weight maintenance while increasing the joy that should accompany positive changes. (15 minutes)
• Breastfeeding
  In this guided meditation, mothers visualize the miraculous nursing process while nursing their babies. (10 minutes)

Personal Growth
Using imagery to encourage self-esteem, offer positive affirmations, focus on personal growth and development, and increase people’s ability to imagine sights, sounds, and other physical sensations are the main goals of these guided meditations.

• Addiction to Wellness
  In this script, participants seek physical, mental, psychological, and spiritual wellness. Positive self-esteem is nurtured. (10 minutes)
• Body Image Visualization
  In this visualization script, participants picture their own body images and practice positive affirmations to promote self-esteem and inner beauty. (25 minutes)
• OM Visitation
  In this script, participants meditate on the word ìOMî to help them connect with people they love, but who are far away. (5 minutes)
• The Blue Period
  In this empowerment script, participants observe their lives to discover trends and patterns that are occurring. This script parallels the way an art historian might look at a painterís life. For example, Picasso had his Blue Period, Pink Period, Cubist Period, and a dozen other periods throughout his life. Your life passes through phases as well. (20 minutes)
• You Are a Child Again
  In this script, participants imagine they are children again. Children who have fun playing and moving, are confident and self-assured, and unconditionally loved. (5 minutes)
• Flower Meditation
  In this visualization script, participants increase their ability to imagine seeing, touching, smelling, and feeling. (20 minutes)
• A Meditation of a World Vision
  In this guided meditation, participants experience their connection to the life-force of the universe by lying on the ground and imagining the earth ís energy coming through them. (15 minutes)

PRINT BOOK: 30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery & Inner Healing - Volume 1 - Print Edition

Are you looking for a handy relaxation, imagery and meditation book for stress relief? Here's the perfect book! Help yourself and lead others with these scripts for relaxation, imagery, visualization & more. Easy-to -follow scripts are here to * Achieve deep, positive relaxation * Benefit from stress relief * Healing guided imagery * Awaken intuition * Increase self growth and understanding. CLICK the blue title link above to find out more...

EBOOK Edition: 30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery & Inner Healing - Volume 1 - eBook Edition

Are you looking for a handy relaxation, imagery and meditation book for stress relief? Here's the perfect eBook! Help yourself and lead others with these scripts for relaxation, imagery, visualization & more. Easy-to -follow scripts are here to * Achieve deep, positive relaxation * Benefit from stress relief * Healing guided imagery * Awaken intuition * Increase self growth and understanding. CLICK the green title link to find out more...

Yoga Nidra Articles

• Yoga nidra FAQ 
• How to make positive changes that last using intentions (sankalpas) with yoga nidra.
• Benefits of yoga nidra
• How to practice savasana, the relaxation pose
• Sleep and yoga nidra Why 1 hour of yoga nidra practice is equivalent to 4 hours of sleep.
• Yoga nidra to improve your brain.  It’s fascinating!
• Free recording to experience the power of yoga nidra 
• Journaling prompts for yoga nidra 

Class Info & Registration Links 

• Yoga Nidra Online Classes – Totally relax. Put your physical, mental, and emotional stress to rest.  All classes. 
  
• Yoga on Demand – Have video classes to watch anytime, anywhere. Plans available for Yoga Nidra, Hatha Yoga & Combos.
• Class Downloads – Get your favorite Hatha Yoga + Nidra classes to download for keeps
• Personal Lessons – Get a private 75 minute lesson + video to focus on whatever you want! The video is downloadable for keeps. Contact Julie Lusk  for details.
• Yoga Nidra Teacher Trainings Workshops
• Free recording to experience the power of yoga nidra 

Books

• Yoga Nidra Meditations: 24 Scripts for True Relaxation | Print | Audiobook | eBook
• Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief |Print | eBook
• Visit the Julie Lusk Amazon Author Page to see almost everything

Audios 

• Audio Recordings | MP3’s | CDs | Downloads || Amazon | iTunes, etc.
• Class Downloads  | Get your favorite Hatha Yoga + Nidra classes to download for keeps
• Visit the Julie Lusk Amazon Author Page to see almost everything

---

Contact 

• Contact us anytime
• Free Wholesome Resources Newsletter from Julie Lusk