Welcome to Yoga Nidra.
Go ahead and lie down in Shavasana.
Place a bolster or pillow under your knees to support your lower back.
Place a thin pillow or folded blanket under your head to keep your neck neutral.
Cover yourself with the blanket to help you relax even more and to keep you warm throughout the meditation.
Once you lie down,
Separate the feet wider than hip distance with your heels turning in and your toes turning out.
Spread the arms down and away from your body with your palms facing up.
Go ahead and take the next few moments to make any adjustments needed.
Make sure that your body is even,
Warm and comfortable.
As your body begins to settle,
Start to establish that state of total effortlessness where you're lying down effortlessly on the floor.
You're not trying to concentrate,
You're not trying to keep up,
Where you're effortlessly listening to the meditation.
As you begin to settle,
Start to notice your body on the floor.
Notice that space between body and floor.
Notice the connection between your body and the floor.
The back of your head on the floor.
Back of the arms on the floor.
Back of the hands on the floor.
Upper back on the floor.
Middle back on the floor.
Sacrum on the floor.
Buttocks on the floor.
Heels on the floor.
Notice your whole body on the floor.
And now start to notice your body breathing very effortlessly.
Notice your inhales and notice your exhales.
And now without changing the breath,
Start to count your breaths back 11 to 1.
So you're counting effortlessly on each exhale.
Every time that you exhale,
Your body sinks deeper and deeper into the ground.
Count your breaths back 11 to 1.
And now let go of your count.
We are going to practice rotation of awareness.
For this practice,
We are going to use a warm golden light to rotate awareness around the body.
Body will stay still and the mind will move from one part right to the next.
Bring your awareness to your toes.
Visualize a warm golden light spreading around your toes.
Now spread the light over to the tops of your feet,
Soles of your feet,
And the heels.
Visualize your feet covered in this warm golden light.
Now spread the light over to your ankle joints,
The shins,
And wrap the light around the calves.
Visualize your lower legs covered in this warm golden light.
Now move the light over to the knee joints,
Tops of the thighs,
Back eyes,
And the buttocks.
Visualize your legs covered in this warm golden light.
Now move the light over to the hip joints,
The sacrum,
And the lower abdomen.
Visualize your pelvic bowl covered in this warm golden light.
Now move the light over to your navel,
That space a few inches above your belly button.
Visualize that warm golden light spreading around the rib cage.
And then move the light over to the center of your chest.
Visualize the center of your chest and your heart space covered in this warm golden light.
Visualize your torso covered in this warm golden light.
Now move the light over to the center of your neck.
Visualize the light spreading around the back of your neck.
Now visualize the light spreading to the tops of the shoulders,
Upper arms,
Elbows,
Lower arms,
Wrists,
Palms of your hands,
And back of the hands.
Visualize the light spreading around the thumbs,
Index fingers,
Middle fingers,
Ring fingers,
Pinky fingers.
Visualize the light spreading around the back of the hands.
Visualize your hands covered in this warm golden light.
Now move the light around the back of the wrists,
Back of the forearms,
Back of the elbows,
Back of the upper arms,
And again around the shoulders.
Visualize your arms covered in this warm golden light.
Now move the light again to the center of the neck,
Middle of the eyebrows,
Forehead,
And then spread the light around the eyes,
Temples,
Cheekbones,
Nose,
The mouth.
Visualize your face covered in this warm golden light.
Move the light over to the top of your head,
Back of the head,
And back of the neck.
Upper back,
Middle back,
Lower back,
Sacrum,
Buttocks,
Back of the thighs,
Back of the knees,
Lower legs,
Ankles,
And again around your feet.
Now visualize your entire body covered in this warm golden light.
Visualize your whole body covered in this warm healing golden light.
Now move the awareness to the center of your chest.
Visualize a warm golden light right at the center of your chest.
As you breathe in,
Notice the light expand like a bubble coming out of your chest.
And as you breathe out,
Notice the light draw back to your heart.
As you breathe in,
The light expands.
As you breathe out,
The light comes back to your heart.
And now keeping your awareness right at the center of the chest,
Count your breaths backwards 27 to 1,
So you're counting effortlessly on each exhale.
Every time that you exhale,
Body and mind go into a state of deeper and deeper relaxation.
If you lose your count or finish,
Go back to 27 and start over.
So no rush,
No effort to finish the count.
Count your breaths back 27 to 1.
And now start to let go of your count.
And now bring your awareness to that space between the eyebrows.
Imagine that you're staring at a dark screen.
Observe and welcome the thoughts passing through the screen of your mind.
And now slowly and gradually begin to bring your awareness back.
Start to wiggle your fingers and wiggle your toes,
So you slowly add in movement back into your body.
Bend your knees one at a time,
So the soles of your feet come flat on the floor.
And then when you're ready,
Roll to the right side and pause.
Set up in a fetal position.
Feel free to stay here longer in fetal position.
When you're ready,
Use your left hand to press you up to sit.
And take your hands together at your heart center.
Lower the chin to your chest.
Take a deep breath in and deep breath out.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
