Welcome to your yoga nidra nap.
This nidra is meant to help revitalize and refresh you when you're feeling sluggish and mentally drained,
The same way a nap might give you that boost of energy your mind and body might need midway through your day.
Since this is a nap nidra,
I'll be bringing you back into your body to awaken you and be present at the end.
But in the case you go into a very deep sleep,
You may want to set an alarm if you have somewhere to be after this practice.
With that being said,
Let's move forward to why we're here and what this nap can do for you,
For your mind and your body.
On average,
As adults,
We get around six hours or less of sleep per night.
And as we know,
Sleep doesn't come easy to many of us,
Whether it's that you can't fall asleep or you can't stay asleep,
Or maybe it's both.
This could be due to not having enough hours in your day to get sufficient sleep at night.
Maybe it's because you can't relax your mind when you finally lay down to fall asleep.
Or maybe you work night shift in your body doesn't get a true recovery when you sleep during the day.
Whatever the reason might be,
There is a space where yoga nidra can come into play to make a great change in your energy levels.
Nidra can help your mind and your body feel restored in a period of time to help you make up for those lost hours and revitalize you when you need it the most.
Now,
With all of that being said,
Let's find a quiet space to plug in,
Get cozy,
And set your mind up for a space that you can really revitalize,
Reset,
And renew.
Let's begin by lying down on a mat on the floor,
Or you could lie in your bed as well.
Maybe put a pillow under your head and your neck for support.
Maybe a towel or a mask over the eyes to give you a dark space to practice in.
A blanket over your body is sometimes nice as our internal temperatures tend to drop as we go into this practice.
You can put something under your knees to allow the low back to release and give support.
Your arms can be by your sides,
The palms up.
Feel the fingers naturally curl and the feet fall out to the sides.
Your toes relax and your ankle joints release.
Taking a deep breath through the nose,
Feel the belly fill up.
Hold that breath at the top.
Once you're there,
Open your mouth,
Exhale.
Feel that release go through every muscle of your being.
Just within that first breath,
Notice how your body is already beginning to relax.
We'll do this a few more times with these breaths.
This allows your vagus nerve to release,
Which allows anxiety to come down.
Continue with a deep breath in through the nose.
Allow that belly to fill up as you hold it at the top.
Give yourself a moment before you open your mouth to exhale and release.
Give yourself space to do this.
As you're taking these belly breaths,
Notice if your jaw is clenching.
Allow the jaw to unclench.
Let your tongue release from the roof of your mouth.
Feel the eyes rest heavy in their sockets.
On every exhale,
Allow the facial muscles that break they need here and now and let that tension just melt away.
Allow any extra jitters to come out of the body.
Come back to a normal breath.
Find complete stillness.
Try not to allow any movement while we move through this Nidra practice.
If you do feel the need to move,
Try and do it with purpose.
Make it slow and try and keep your body in this relaxed and released state of mind.
As you lie here,
We will begin with your sankalpa.
The sankalpa is the intention you set for yourself.
This intention can be set for this practice in the moment or you can set it for your day after you wake up.
Repeat this sankalpa three times to yourself.
You're welcome to set this sankalpa yourself or you can use the one I'll provide.
You can also choose to not use a sankalpa at all and continue to relax in the space we are building.
The one I'm providing you,
If you choose to use,
Is this.
I am letting go of all thoughts that don't serve me so I feel clarity in my mind and rested in my body.
We'll say this three times to yourself and really think about what we're saying.
I am letting go of all thoughts that don't serve me so I feel clarity in my mind and rested in my body.
Again,
I am letting go of all thoughts that don't serve me so I feel clarity in my mind and rested in my body.
One more time,
Repeat your sankalpa to yourself and as we move on,
Take that sankalpa with you.
Moving into our next phase of this Nidra,
We will begin to move our awareness around parts of our body.
In this style,
We're going to go back and forth to each side of the body so we utilize both sides of the brain,
Off and on,
Bringing your attention and awareness to each area without moving any actual body parts.
Bring your awareness to the right eye,
Left eye,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right jaw,
Left jaw.
Focus in on your jaw.
Once again,
Unclench your teeth,
Relax your tongue,
Feel a breath come into your body and exhale out gently.
Moving down,
Right shoulder,
Left shoulder,
Right elbow,
Left elbow,
Right wrist,
Left wrist,
Right hand,
Left hand.
Notice your hands are relaxed,
Fingers might be gently curled,
No tension.
Bring your attention up to your chest,
Your whole chest.
Move down to your belly,
The whole belly,
Into the pelvis,
The whole pelvis.
Breath in,
Feel that breath in the belly,
Relax out.
Right hip,
Left hip,
Right knee,
Left knee,
Right ankle,
Left ankle,
Right foot,
Left foot.
Allow your feet and your ankles to relax and tension removes.
Bring your awareness to the whole right side of the body,
The whole right side of the body.
Now bring your awareness to the whole left side of the body,
The whole left side of the body.
Think of a line going down the entire body from the top of the head,
Down through the toes,
Separating the body from right and left.
You're able to feel the right side of the body only.
Imagine everything in the right side of the body,
The energy moving.
Now allow yourself to feel everything in the left side of the body.
Energy moves to the left side of the body.
Continuing on,
Bring your awareness up to the top of your head.
Now down the back of the neck,
The cervical spine.
Now through the mid-back,
The thoracic spine.
Down through the low back,
The lumbar spine.
Your awareness comes down to the tip of your tailbone,
The coccyx.
Imagine awareness and energy moving up and down the spine from the top of the head to the tip of the tailbone.
Bring awareness to the entire body together,
The entire body together.
Feel the energy through the entire body.
Your body is in a very relaxed,
Deep state in the moment.
We will bring in a counting portion of this nidra.
You will bring in your mind and awareness to the number 15.
The number 15.
You'll bring in an inhale and in your mind say 15.
You'll begin to count down from that number every time you take an inhale.
If you lose count,
Start back at 15.
If you get to 1,
Begin counting back up from 15.
Going down to 1.
I will get you started and you can take over as we go.
Inhale,
15.
Allow for your exhale.
Inhale,
14.
Exhale.
Inhale,
13.
Exhale.
Continue on at your pace,
Counting to yourself in silence,
And I'll be back.
You'll hear my voice again shortly.
Allow for the space of silence as you melt into your mat.
Come back to my voice wherever you are.
Take note of your breath and the space you're in.
Maybe you've drifted off.
So begin to breathe a little deeper as you come back to the voice around you.
Deep breath in through your nose,
Bringing energy to the body and to the mind.
Hold it for a moment.
And exhale out.
Do this at your own pace one more time.
Take the biggest deep breath in.
Bring that energy into the body.
Hold the breath in.
Feel the belly rise.
Release it out.
If you're ready,
We will begin to awaken your physical body as the mind is now trickling back.
Start to bring awareness back to the hands by wiggling the fingers.
Then awareness to the feet by wiggling the toes.
Fingers and toes begin to get energized.
You can now bring your arms up over your head,
Taking another deep breath in.
As you reach your arms over your head,
Stretch out.
Stretch the toes in an opposite direction from the hands as if you're pulling the body apart in opposition.
Big stretch.
Big breath.
And release.
Bring your arms down if you'd like.
You can slowly begin to blink the eyes open and welcome your mind and body back to the present moment where you now feel energized and ready to take on your day.
Take this energy you built in your body and use it in whatever capacity you feel fit.
That may be to go to bed.
That may be to continue on in your day.
Or maybe you'll just lie here in silence for a while,
Coming back to that sankalpa you set at the beginning.
Whether it was the one I set or one of your own,
Bring it back and continue with it for your day or your evening.
Thank you for joining me.
Namaste.
