My "Final" Yoga Nidra Teach For Ally Boothroyd's Training

This Yoga Nidra is suitable for anyone. I take the time to get you set up, give alternative suggestions for finding comfort, and attempt to invite you into experiencing ever new joy. I hold you in loving kindness while you relax and experience your consciousness while I gently ohm three times.

Enjoy!

Transcript

Okay,

So I'm going to welcome everyone to my final Yoga Nidra teach.

I'm really excited to share some of what I've learned with you and I have so much faith in this practice.

It's been really life-changing for me.

I love how this is an effortless practice.

You don't have to practice focusing and trying so hard and sitting up straight.

You're welcome to adjust your position to make yourself most comfortable.

So for example,

If you were laying flat on your back,

You might start to feel some lower back pain after a while,

Then you can roll over onto your side.

Or if you're so uncomfortable that you can't find a comfortable posture laying down,

You can sit up.

One of my favorite seated postures is using the wall,

So you have the wall to lean on and that makes a really big difference,

Giving your body the support.

At this moment,

I invite you to prepare yourself for the restorative practice called Yoga Nidra.

Finding pillows and blankets,

Getting yourself ready,

You lay down on the yoga mat.

You could go to your couch or your bed even,

So you can be most comfortable.

Once you're ready,

You begin to settle down into your comfortable posture,

Laying on the floor or wherever you feel most able to rest,

Perhaps with a bolster or pillows under your knees and support under your head.

Take your time and get comfortable.

Notice the room you're in,

Your surroundings,

Any sounds in the room,

And make adjustments to encourage you to experience deep rest.

You may want to close curtains,

Turn lights down,

Put on your essential oil diffuser,

Get your favorite blanket.

Some people love a little eye pillow or covering over the eyes.

Take this time and prepare your Yoga Nidra nest.

Once you've gotten yourself comfortable,

Ask,

Is there any adjustment you could make to get even more comfortable?

Give yourself this gift of self-care,

Taking time and attention to get your body the support that it craves.

We will find a very supportive posture here,

Laying down or seated,

And if you need to move at any time during the practice,

Please know that finding your comfort is allowed and so important.

Don't hesitate to change your position if you need to.

You can lay on your side or get another blanket or even sit up at any time.

As you find yourself becoming more and more still,

Notice the temperature of the air in your room,

Any sounds you can hear,

And allow yourself to settle,

Feeling the body breathing.

Your body is not moving,

But your air is.

Feel the natural movement of your breath as you inhale and exhale,

Body expanding as you breathe in and contracting as you breathe out,

With no effort or forcing involved,

Feeling the body relaxing onto the support underneath you.

Know that all is well for you in this moment,

Feeling gravity assisting your body to release now and become a little closer to the support underneath your body.

I will now introduce you to a very calming breathing technique,

The psychological sigh,

Which has been shown to help calm your nervous system and will help your body to surrender to relaxation.

Very simply,

Start with two sips of air through your nose,

Hold slightly at the top and open the mouth,

Let go of your air,

Sighing out.

Then two more times,

Letting go with open mouth.

One more.

Notice yourself listening to the sound of my voice and follow along.

The practice of Yoga Nidra will begin now.

Yoga means union,

Your body,

Mind and spirit coming together,

And Nidra can be understood as experiencing your own consciousness through intentional practice.

Anchor down to the sound of my voice and allow yourself to relax,

Your body becoming heavy.

Feel where your body meets the surface underneath you,

The points of contact between you and your Nidra nest.

Today we will go on a journey inside your being and there is nothing you need to do but listen to the sound of my voice and follow along.

There is no correct way of being in Yoga Nidra,

You can't do this wrong.

Notice listening to the sound of my voice and trust you are held in loving kindness.

Feel your ears listening to the sound of my voice and for its meaning.

Try and sense the vibration of the sounds that are coming to you with the little hairs inside of your ears.

Feel the strong vibration in your body.

Notice how the sound is moving and travels.

Listen closely and imagine your ears opening to the sound of my voice.

Now I will introduce the concept of working with the guiding light and intention or in Sanskrit it's known as Sankalpa,

Which can help your body and mind to find new levels of well-being.

This is always a simple statement that can be powerfully effective in rewiring the brain.

We say our Sankalpa,

Always in present tense,

A great place to start could be I accept myself exactly as I am.

Say your heart's desire now in your mind,

Whispering it to yourself three times.

I will say different body parts to you and as I do allow your mind's eye to bring attention there.

Let yourself feel what is already there in the body with no judgment as this may be subtle.

It is okay if you don't feel anything when prompted,

Just imagine that you do and follow along.

If you become distracted as the mind often does,

Come back to the sound of my voice.

Begin to sense your lips,

The top lip and the bottom lip,

The space between the lips.

Feel that the top lip is resting on your top teeth,

The bottom lip in front of your bottom teeth.

Feel the tip of the tongue resting at the back of the teeth,

The roof of your mouth where the tongue touches,

The inside of your cheek,

Your right cheek and then the left cheek.

Feel the root of the tongue and swallowing down the throat into the heart space,

Feeling your chest before moving down the center line of the front body to your belly button,

Then right side pelvis,

Right hip.

Experience the feeling of your right hand,

Your right palm,

The palm of your right hand,

The back of the hand,

The wrist,

Your arm,

Forearm,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Chest.

Back to the right hand,

Feel your thumb,

Right first finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Whole hand,

All the way up the arm,

Across the chest to right side torso,

Waist,

Down the right leg,

All the way to the right ankle,

Feet and toes.

Feeling the sensation of the whole foot and then focus now on your right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and fifth toe.

Feel whole right side of the body bathed in the energy of your attention.

Now switch sides to feeling your left hand,

Palm,

The palm of your left hand,

The left palm and the back of the left hand,

Then your thumb,

Pointer finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Whole hand and arm,

Up all the way to the left shoulder and chest,

Then down left side torso to your waist,

Your hip,

Down the leg,

All the way to the ankle,

Feet and toes.

Feel the sensation of your left foot and focus now on your big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and fifth toe,

Whole left side of the body,

See the left side of your body bathed now in the natural energy of your attention.

You can understand the energy of your body and sense it with the breath as you become tuned into the body breathing,

Feeling how the body is moving like waves in the ocean,

With the breath coming into the body just like the waves come into the shore and then naturally moving out again.

Your body made of mostly water is doing what comes most naturally and we are observing how we are like the tides and how the energy of the moon moves us as we move without moving through the breath,

Sensing the air coming in as light and the air moving out as taking any unwanted residue away from the body.

Sense the air and see in your mind's eye the air is light,

First filling the body and then letting go as we exhale,

Sensing the body as energy.

Come back now to sensing the left side of the body,

Your attention radiating and vibrant on the left side,

Whole left side of the body together at once,

Then feel the opposite side,

The right side lights up with the energy of your attention,

Vibrant,

Feel the aliveness of the right side of your body.

Then back to left side once more,

Feeling the left side vibrant.

Back to right side and feel the energy there in your physical body,

Laying down,

Listening before you feel both sides,

Left and right together,

Feeling your whole body,

Whole body,

Whole body.

Now you see yourself moving into a natural environment,

Your favorite place in the world.

It could be the ocean,

A beach,

The woods,

Or waterfall,

Anything goes,

It's up to you.

Look down at your feet now and see yourself there,

Standing,

Grounded and ready to explore your inner sanctuary.

Take a moment to look up,

See if you can see light from the sky,

Smell the scent of any foliage,

Feel the ground,

The earth,

Sense its texture or moisture.

Can you feel the wind in your hair?

What can you smell in the wind?

Sense any nearby creatures?

What can you hear in the distance?

Feel gratitude for this wonderful wisdom that you carry inside yourself.

Feel your natural connection to nature.

Focus now on your ears,

Listening to the sound of my voice.

I will introduce some sounds now,

Some sound vibration will come into your being through your ears and you'll listen to first hear the sound and the silence.

Witness yourself watching for the gaps.

For it is in the gaps where we can welcome in ever new joy,

Joy that is not dependent on circumstances and events,

Joy that is your birthright and dwells within you.

Sensing gratitude for this intentional practice of experiencing your consciousness with me,

Come back to feeling your body,

The whole body,

The weight of the body as it is laying down,

Resting,

Supported,

Comfortable and remember your intention,

Your heartfelt desire and saying your sankalpa three times to yourself.

The suggestion I gave you was,

I accept myself completely.

Say that heart's full of vow inside your mind three times now,

Allowing your focus to come back out again from your internal practice.

Listen for the sounds around you,

Sounds around you,

Sounds in your room and sounds in the distance.

Feel the back body as it is resting,

Becoming aware again of the whole body as we come back into our waking lives.

See yourself resting there and witness that you have been in a deep state of relaxation and acceptance of yourself.

Then feeling the energy again in your body as you prepare yourself now to gently move,

Knowing that you can return to this place inside yourself at any time.

You could start by moving your fingers and toes,

Giving them a wiggle,

Perhaps a stretch and a yawn.

If you're laying down,

You can roll to one side,

Hugging your knees into your body,

Gently giving yourself a few moments here until you feel you are ready to use your top hand and push yourself up into seated posture.

You may rub your hands together and give yourself a face massage,

Forehead,

Jaw,

Chin,

Until your hands come together naturally into prayer pose,

Bowing gently with the heartfelt knowing that the light in me sees the light in you.

Namaste.