Welcome to Yoga Nidra.
Yoga Nidra is a meditation practiced lying down in Shavasana.
So please take a few moments to set up comfortably so that you can enjoy and benefit from the meditation.
Take the time to settle in and find the most comfortable position.
Enjoy your practice.
And any final adjustments that you might need,
Go ahead and make them now.
Go ahead and tune in to your surroundings,
Noticing the sounds that you hear.
Just letting the mind go from one sound to the next,
No effort,
Just noticing one sound,
One by one.
And notice the sounds inside of your body,
Subtle sounds like the sounds of your inhales and exhales,
Sounds in your mouth,
Sounds of the heart.
Be aware of your own sounds.
Now sense the body lying down wherever you are.
Notice any sensations.
Notice the feeling of the body touching the ground or wherever you are.
Now we're going to practice our body skin.
Rotation of awareness,
Sensing the body.
Go ahead and bring your awareness to the right hand,
Tip of your right thumb,
Tip of the index finger,
The tip of your middle finger,
The tip of the ring finger,
And the pinky finger.
Feel the palm of the hand,
Back of the right hand,
The right wrist,
Right lower arm,
The right elbow,
Right upper arm,
Right shoulder,
The right armpit,
Right waist,
Right hip,
Right thigh,
Right knee,
Right shin,
Right ankle,
Feel the top of the right foot,
The sole of the right foot,
The heel of the right foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Your third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe.
Move your awareness to your left hand,
The tip of the left thumb,
The tip of the index finger,
The tip of the middle finger,
Tip of the ring finger,
The pinky finger,
Palm of the left hand,
Back of your left hand,
Your left wrist,
Left lower arm,
Your left elbow,
The left upper arm,
The left shoulder,
Left armpit,
Left waist,
The left hip,
Your left thigh,
Your left knee,
The left shin,
The left ankle,
Top of your left foot,
The sole of your left foot,
And the heel of the left foot,
Your left big toe,
The second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe.
Move your awareness to the back of your head,
Feel the back of your neck,
The upper back,
The middle back,
The lower back,
Feel your entire back,
Feel the spine,
The back of the right leg,
The back of your left leg.
Move your awareness to the top of the head,
Your scalp,
The forehead,
Right ear,
Left ear,
The right nostril,
The left nostril,
The tip of the nose,
Your upper lip,
The bottom lip.
Feel the insides of your mouth,
Feel the tongue,
The upper teeth,
The bottom teeth,
The roof of your mouth,
Feel your entire mouth,
Feel your throat,
Right side of your chest,
Left side of the chest,
The center of your chest,
Your navel,
Lower abdomen,
Feel the right leg,
And feel the left leg,
And feel both of your legs together,
And feel the right arm,
Feel the left arm,
Feel both of your arms together,
Feel the right hand,
Feel the left hand,
And feel both of your hands together.
Now feel your entire body,
Just become aware of all of those parts at the same time.
Feel your entire body.
And now feel your body breathing.
Just notice your inhales and exhales.
Notice your body slightly expand as you breathe in,
Slightly contract as you breathe out.
Feel your body breathing.
Now keeping the natural rhythm of your breath,
Count your breaths back 27 to 1,
So that you're counting on each exhalation.
Every time that you exhale,
Feel the body get heavier and heavier and closer to the ground.
If you lose the count or finish,
Go back to 27.
So no rush to finish your count.
Count your breaths 27 to 1.
And now let go of your count and feel your body resting effortlessly on the ground.
Your entire body is effortless,
So grounded and effortless.
And bring your awareness to your head.
Bring your awareness to your head and the brain within your head.
That space behind your eyes and right inside of your skull.
And sense the weight of your brain.
So much thinking and planning and remembering happens in the brain.
And now let all of that soften.
Let the brain rest in stillness.
Now bring your awareness to the space at the center of your chest.
That space just behind your breastbone and slightly to the left.
And then feel into the area of your heart.
Your physical heart.
And feel how your heart beats beautifully and softly.
And then soften the area of your heart.
Let that space of warmth,
Feeling and connection soften.
And now bring your attention to your lungs snuggled right behind your ribs to the right and left of your heart.
And then feel the breath as it moves in and out effortlessly out of the lungs.
Expanding the lungs like wings inside your chest.
The right lung and the left lung rise in and falling.
And then soften the area of your lungs.
Trust the rhythm of your lungs.
And now move your awareness to the upper right side of your abdomen just beneath your lower rib cage.
Now this is the home of your liver.
A strong vital organ working quietly to cleanse and process and renew.
And now let the area of your liver soften.
No effort,
Just pure presence.
Let the area of your liver soften.
Now bring your awareness to the back of your body to the right and the left of your spine just beneath your lower ribs.
This is the space of your kidneys.
Two quiet organs filtering,
Balancing and restoring.
Now let the space around your kidneys soften and feel into their quiet rhythm.
No need to do anything here.
Just be in pure presence.
And now bring your awareness to the center of your belly.
Your belly is soft and warm,
Alive.
This is the home of your digestion.
Quietly absorbing,
Integrating and releasing where your body no longer needs.
Now feel into your belly just beneath your left ribs.
So much happens here without effort.
Just know that your body knows how to process and how to let go.
And now bring your awareness to your bones.
The inner wisdom that holds your body upright.
And feel the weight and the density of your bones.
The bones of your face and the skull to your spine,
The ribs,
The pelvis,
The arms and the legs.
This quiet wisdom of support.
Feel how the earth receives your bones.
Know that you are grounded,
You are held and you are safe.
And now bring your awareness to the muscles around your body.
The soft tissue wrapping around your bones.
Always ready to move,
To hold and to respond.
Now let the muscles of your body soften.
No action needed,
No effort.
Just ease.
Then feel the muscles of your face soften.
Your neck and your shoulders release.
The back and the belly soft and heavy.
The arms and the legs letting go.
Just let the outer layers of your body melt.
And now bring your awareness to your skin.
The soft boundary between you and the outer world.
Sense the air resting on your skin.
The cool or the warmth in the room.
The touch of clothing or the blanket.
This is your outer layer of awareness.
And now feel your entire body.
Just know that you are complete.
Your body is complete.
Without needing your attention,
It's been doing all of the work.
And offer your body a moment of presence.
And just feel it all.
Feel all of the sensations in your body.
And then feel the wisdom,
The whisper of a gentle thank you to your body.
Feel the whisper of a gentle thank you from your higher consciousness to your physical body.
And continue to feel the body,
Your entire body,
Soften into the ground.
All the way from the organs,
Your muscles,
Your bones and your skin.
All softening into the ground.
And then slowly and gradually start to bring your attention back.
And begin to wiggle your fingers and your toes and bend the knees one at a time and roll into fetal position.
And when you're ready,
Come up to sit,
Keeping your eyes closed.
Take a moment to notice how you feel,
To notice how your body feels.
And take a moment to take the hands together at the center of your chest.
We'll finish closing out the practice with a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
Thank you for your practice.
