If you haven't already,
Find a comfortable position lying on your back.
Let your legs fall open naturally.
Find a comfortable position lying on your back.
Let your feet fall open naturally.
Have your arms just a little bit away from your body.
Palms facing up.
Let your eyes close.
Take a moment to adjust.
Wiggle,
Move.
Make sure you're completely comfortable.
You can shift your weight.
Maybe rock your head from side to side a little bit if you need to release tension.
Settle your hips.
Do whatever you need to do to feel completely at ease.
Because once we begin,
The invitation will be to stay as still as possible.
Begin by taking a slow breath in through your nose.
And a long breath out through your mouth.
Again,
Breathing in through the nose.
And out through the mouth.
Maybe even releasing it with a sigh this next time.
So,
Take that deep breath in.
And let it out with an audible sigh.
You can let your breath return to its natural rhythm now.
If your mind wanders during this practice,
That's fine.
If you feel restless at first,
That's okay too.
We want to try to experience the state between being awake and asleep.
This allows our minds and bodies to reset.
To get the full benefit from the practice of Yoga Nidra,
We want to try to remain awake and not drift into sleep.
If sleep finds its way to you though,
That is perfectly natural.
And maybe a signal from your body about what it needs.
As we begin to descend into rest,
I'm going to offer you a simple question.
And I'd like you to let it just drift through your awareness without working to answer.
Meditate on this question.
What do you need most from this practice right now?
Not necessarily a goal or a plan.
Maybe just a quality that you want to carry with you.
Or invite into your life.
Or maybe it's something that you're ready to set down.
Or release.
Let whatever arises in your mind come without effort.
You don't have to search for the answer.
Just feel into it.
It might come to you as a word or a phrase.
A feeling,
An image.
Let it surface on its own.
What do you need most from this practice right now?
Try to hold that answer lightly.
The way that you would cup water in your hands.
We'll return to it at the end of the practice.
Let your awareness settle back into the body that's lying here.
There's nowhere else to be.
Nothing else to do.
You have arrived.
We're going to move through the body now.
Deliberately creating tension.
And then releasing it completely.
This isn't about effort.
It's more about contrast.
Your nervous system learns what release feels like by feeling the difference.
Often we're so tense.
Or we're holding tightness and don't even realize it.
So this practice will help you notice when your muscles are tense.
And what that feeling is.
And what it feels like to release.
Bring your attention to your right leg.
Take a deep breath in.
And as you do,
Squeeze every muscle in your right leg.
Your foot,
Your calf,
Your thigh.
Tighten everything.
Your leg might lift an inch or two off of the bed or your mat.
Curl your toes tight,
Tight,
Tight.
Press that heel away.
And release.
Let it drop completely.
It might even make a little soft thudding sound as you do so.
Feel the difference now.
Notice the warmth,
The weight,
The letting go.
Now let's try with your left leg.
So breathe in.
Squeeze.
Lift.
Create tension in the foot,
The calf,
The thigh.
Curl the toes.
Press the heel away.
Tighten everything.
And release.
Drop it completely.
Let it be heavy.
Both legs together now.
Breathe in and tighten.
Squeezing from your feet all the way up through your thighs.
Hold,
Hold,
Hold.
And let go.
Feel both legs sink down.
Bring your attention now to your right hand and arm.
Breathe in.
Make a tight fist.
Squeeze your forearm,
Your bicep.
Tighten everything from your fingertips to your shoulder.
Hold,
Hold,
Hold.
And release.
Let your arm fall open.
Palm facing up.
Fingers soft.
And now your left hand and arm.
Breathe in.
Squeeze.
Fist tight.
Forearm,
Bicep,
All the way up to the shoulder.
Hold.
And release.
Drop it.
Feel it all go.
And now both arms together.
Breathe in and tighten.
Squeezing from your fingertips all the way up.
Hold.
And let it go.
Both arms are now heavy and open.
Palms facing up.
Now let's try your belly and your chest.
So breathe in.
Draw your navel toward your spine.
Tighten your stomach.
Squeeze in your chest.
Hold it.
And release.
Let that exhale out.
Let your belly soften completely.
Let your ribs open.
And now your shoulders.
Breathe in and lift them up toward your ears.
Squeezing them as high up as they'll go.
Hold.
And drop.
Feel your shoulders fall away from your neck.
And notice the space that is open to there.
And then move to your face.
Take a deep breath in and scrunch everything up.
Squeeze your eyes shut.
Wrinkle your nose.
Clench your jaw.
Tighten every single muscle in your face.
Hold.
And release.
Let your jaw fall slightly open so it's relaxed.
Let your forehead smooth.
Let your eyes rest softly in their sockets.
And now finally,
We're going to do the whole body at once.
So breathe in deeply and tighten everything.
The legs,
Arms,
Belly,
Shoulders,
Face,
Every muscle you can find.
Squeeze.
Hold.
Feel the tension.
And release.
Let it all drop.
Feel the wave of letting go move through your entire body.
And rest like this for a moment.
Notice how different your body feels now compared to when we started.
You might feel heaviness.
Like a relaxed heaviness.
Or a warmth.
A softness.
These are signs of your nervous system remembering what rest actually feels like.
Of deactivating the sympathetic nervous system.
And activating the parasympathetic.
The rest and digest mode.
Now let's move through the body with awareness alone.
As I name each part,
Your only job is to bring your attention there.
Briefly.
Like a flashlight moving across a room.
Don't try to necessarily relax each part.
Or move anything physically.
The tension and release have already done that work.
This is just about noticing.
Bring your attention to your right hand thumb.
Your right index finger.
Your right middle finger.
Your right ring finger.
Your right little finger.
The palm of the right hand.
The back of the right hand.
The right wrist.
The right forearm.
The right elbow.
The right upper arm.
The right shoulder.
The right armpit.
The right side of the chest.
The right side of the waist.
The right hip.
Right thigh.
Right kneecap.
Back of the right knee.
Right calf.
Right shin.
Right ankle.
Right heel.
Sole of the right foot.
The right big toe.
The right second toe.
Right third toe.
Right fourth toe.
Right fifth toe.
Bring your awareness now to your left hand thumb.
Your left index finger.
Your left middle finger.
Your left ring finger.
Your left little finger.
Palm of the left hand.
Back of the left hand.
Left wrist.
Left forearm.
Left elbow.
Left upper arm.
Left shoulder.
Left armpit.
Left side of the chest.
Left side of the waist.
Left hip.
Left thigh.
Left kneecap.
Back of the left knee.
Left calf.
Left shin.
Left ankle.
Left heel.
Sole of the left foot.
Left big toe.
Left second toe.
Left third toe.
Left fourth toe.
Left fifth toe.
And now we'll bring our attention to each part of the body moving upwards.
Starting from your heels.
To your calves.
To your knees.
Your thighs.
Your hips.
The whole pelvic region.
The lower belly.
Upper belly.
The entire chest.
The lower back.
The upper back.
The whole back resting against the floor or mat or bed.
Bring your awareness to your shoulders.
The back of the neck.
The throat.
The ears.
The crown of the head.
The eyebrows.
The space between the eyebrows.
The eyebrows.
The eyelids.
The nostrils.
The cheeks.
The lips.
The chin.
The jaw.
The whole face,
Soft and still.
The whole head.
Become aware of your whole body lying here,
Heavy and still.
Completely supported.
The whole body.
The whole body.
I'm going to offer you two sensations now.
And your only job is to feel each one as vividly as you can.
And then release it when the next one arrives.
Don't think about them,
Just feel them.
Feel heaviness.
Feel your body sinking.
Heavy as a stone.
Pressing down into what's beneath you.
Every limb is dense and immovable.
Heavy.
Completely heavy.
Rested and supported.
And now feel lightness.
Feel your body barely there.
Almost floating.
As if what's beneath you has softened and you're just drifting above it.
Feel lightness.
Effortlessness.
Weightlessness.
And now experience heaviness again.
Dense and still.
Pulled gently down toward the earth.
Heavy and grounded.
And bring your awareness to lightness.
Lightness.
Floating.
Barely here at all.
Feel into heaviness.
Feel into lightness.
Heaviness.
Lightness.
And now let both sensations dissolve.
Let your body simply be whatever it is.
Neither heavy nor light.
Just here.
Body at rest.
Next I want to invite you into some imagery.
Let whatever arises come easily without any effort.
Without analysis.
You're simply receiving.
Imagine a color.
Any color that appeals to you without you choosing it.
Just let this color fill your inner vision completely.
Notice its quality.
Its depth.
Whether it's warm or cool.
Bright or soft.
Just be with this color.
Now imagine the color beginning to move.
Slowly shifting.
Like light through water or clouds drifting across the sky.
Watch the color change without trying to direct it.
See a point of light somewhere in the center of this color.
It's distant at first.
Small and still.
Watch it without reaching for it.
Notice as the light grows slowly brighter.
And as it does,
You notice it has a warmth to it.
Not heat.
Just warmth.
The quality of an early morning sun.
Or a candle in a dark room.
And let that warmth spread from the center of your vision outward.
As you're moving through the color.
Like dawn moving through the sky.
Feel the light as it reaches you.
Feel it as a gentle warmth at the center of your chest.
Let it spread from there.
Slow and easy.
Moving outward toward your body.
Down through your belly.
Along your arms to your fingertips.
Let that light and warmth move down through your hips.
And your legs.
All the way to the soles of your feet.
Feel it move upward through your neck.
Your jaw.
Behind your eyes.
Up to the very top of your head.
So that your whole body is now filled with quiet light.
Still.
And warm.
Completely at rest.
Rest here.
Nothing to do.
Nowhere to go.
Just being.
In this peaceful place that is between awake and asleep.
Begin to let the imagery soften.
And fade.
Return to the darkness behind your eyes.
Return to the body lying here.
Heavy and held.
Remember what came up for you at the beginning of this practice.
That quality that you wanted to carry with you.
Or invite in.
Or something that you were ready to set down or let go.
Let that thought surface again briefly.
And notice if it feels any different now than it did before.
And let it go again.
Knowing it's already part of you.
Begin to feel the weight of your body.
Against what's beneath you.
Notice the temperature.
Notice the temperature of the air on your skin.
Bring your awareness to any sounds that are in the room around you.
And slowly begin to deepen your breath.
Let your inhale grow a little longer.
A little fuller.
And on your exhale,
Let it release completely.
Begin to wiggle your fingers.
Or your toes.
Make whatever small movements make sense to you.
Something gentle and unhurried.
When you're ready,
Take a deeper breath and stretch in any way that feels natural.
Follow what your body wants.
When you're ready,
You can begin to open your eyes.
Let your gaze be soft.
Take a moment before you reach for your phone or move into your next task.
And feel everything there is to feel right now.
Notice this quality of stillness.
And recognize that it's always available to you whenever you need it.
You know where to find it now.
Namaste.
