The Yoga Nidra Project

008 Yoga Nidra: 61 Points Exercise (Inner travelling through the body)

The Yoga Nidra Project

Show Notes

This is a simple, bare bones yoga nidra practice, without music.

The practice of Shavayatra is also known as the 61 points exercise, and is a form of yoga nidra from the Sri Vidya tantra tradition of the Himalayas. It helps us to deeply relax and enter into pratyahara, or sense withdrawal, and merge awareness between the body and the mind. An experience of energy like a network of throughout the body may be felt. The invitation is to just be with anything you experience.

The practice involves briefly resting your attention, on each of the 61 points, as you hear them named. These 61 points correspond with energy-rich areas of the body, known as marma points.

Script is adapted from the description of the practice provided on https://swamij.com/

thumbnail photo by Bruce Christianson, courtesy of Unsplash

Comments and feedback on this and other episodes are always welcome. This podcast is an offering to all who listen, in a world and a time where cultivation of our own personal sanctuary of inner peace and wellbeing is becoming as urgent as it is elusive. If you have any feedback at all, please email me [email protected].

with love,

Phoebe

More from The Yoga Nidra Project

Jan 8, 2026

Join me for a seated practice of box breathing - a powerful gateway to calm. This is a newly edited version of a previous episode that was taken down by Spotify due to the music included making it read too much as a music track and not like a true podcast episode. I've left the music out, and kept the originally intended script, with kinder timing for the breath counts, hopefully making it a more accessible practice.

Jun 27, 2025

Welcome back to the in-between state of yoga nidra. This practice is intended to create space for healing, of body, mind and spirit - by accessing the body's innate wisdom, and the natural intelligent process that is already occurring at every moment in the body. We explore a healing visualisation and some gentle bell sounds are used during the practice. Please let me know your thoughts and any feedback, I'd love to hear how you experienced this practice.

May 22, 2025

In honour of slow mornings, of grounding and centring, this practice is intended to support you in creating a stronger energy body and helping to reduce a feeling of being easily drained and burnt out. With repeated practice, you might find you feel the sanctuary within yourself throughout your days, and those around you sense and be inspired by your quiet strength and calm. In tending to ourselves, we become a healing presence to others. Offered with deepest love and reverence for all of our healing, may each of us contribute to the world becoming a better place for all sentient beings.

Dec 30, 2024

Welcome back to the in-between state. This practice is in the structure taught and recommended by Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, whom is a constant reference point for me in the creation of healing, gentle yoga nidra practices. You can learn more about her here: https://www.yoganidranetwork.org/.

Nov 25, 2024

This is a seated to lying down practice that includes Chandra Bhedana pranayama, or moon-piercing breath. It is intended to connect with the lunar channel in the body, known in the subtle anatomy of yoga as Iḍā nāḍi.

See all episodes →