30-Minute Yoga Nidra - The River's Edge

This is a 30-minute Yoga Nidra using the imagery of the River as a way to deepen the sense of Ease and Flow in your body and your life.

This is a full Yoga Nidra with music and nature sounds that touch down into all 6 Subtle Selves.

Find yourself in a comfortable place where your body can be fully supported and you can be effortless in your present moment and join me for a sacred journey down to the River's Edge.

Transcript

Welcome to this yoga nidra,

Focusing on ease and flow.

We're gonna be working with some imagery of the river,

The river bed,

River stones,

And the river's waters.

So taking a moment to get comfortable,

To find a place where you can surrender your body to the surface beneath it.

It may mean that you're laying down or you're in your bed.

You might be on a yoga mat or in an easy chair.

You might want to bring a pillow behind your head or neck,

A pillow under your knees or under your ankles.

You may want to get a blanket for warmth,

Maybe an eye pillow to block out the light.

So settling in where you can release and let go and surrender the effort that we put into our bodies.

Yoga nidra is an effortless practice.

So finding a place where you can let go and just be present.

And once you've found that place,

Just beginning to acknowledge the places in your body that you hold on and letting them go.

The back of the head,

The jaw,

The root of the tongue,

The shoulders,

The hips,

The heels of the feet.

Taking a moment to open your ears up from that inner place,

Listening to all of the sounds in your space,

The sound of my voice,

Of the music on this recording,

Allowing yourself to come into the present moment,

Noticing what feeling tones are present in your body,

In your heart.

And taking a few deep breaths,

Inhaling through the nose,

Into the belly and the ribs and the chest,

Opening your mouth and sighing it out.

You may want to bring some voice to that sigh or you may not want to.

Inhaling deep into your belly,

Expanding your ribs and your chest,

Opening your mouth and sighing it out.

Releasing back and down.

Anything that you don't need,

You don't need to hold.

This is effortless.

Inhaling deep into your belly,

Expanding your ribs and your chest,

Opening your mouth and sighing it out.

And just taking a moment to let your attention settle on your heart space.

In Yoga Nidra,

We work with a sankalpa.

A sankalpa is the heart's intention,

The heart's true north.

So taking a moment to ask,

What is my heart calling for?

Taking a moment to listen to what your heart is asking for.

A sankalpa is an intention stated in the present in a positive way.

Usually beginning with I am,

Two very,

Very powerful words.

You might use the sankalpa,

I am at ease in my body.

I am at ease in my life.

I am finding ease within my body and my life.

You can choose to use your own sankalpa or one of those.

And just taking three deep breaths and on each inhale,

Repeating that sankalpa to yourself and then exhaling.

Three times,

Repeating your sankalpa.

I'm going to bring you through a rotation of consciousness with my voice.

So as I bring your attention to a body part,

I wonder if you could see that body part as a river stone,

Still and sunken in a riverbed and your attention as the river's waters flowing over that river stone,

Starting in the heart space,

The heart space as a river stone,

Still and sunken in and your attention like the waters of the river flowing gently over it,

The center of the throat like a river stone,

Your attention like the river's waters,

The tip of the tongue,

A river stone,

Your attention like the waters of a river rolling over,

The inside of the right cheek,

Inside of the left cheek,

The roof of the mouth,

The tip of the nose,

The right eye,

Globe of the eye,

All the little muscles behind the right eye,

The eyebrow,

The temple on the right side,

The right ear,

Right inner ear,

The space between the ears,

A river stone,

Sunken and still and your attention like the waters of the river rolling gently over them,

The left inner ear,

Left ear,

Left eyebrow,

All the little muscles behind the left eye,

The globe of the eye,

The left eye,

The space between the eyebrows,

The mind's eye like a river stone and your attention gently flowing over the surface like a gentle rolling river,

The scalp,

The back of the neck,

The center of the throat,

The heart space,

A river stone,

Solid and still and your attention gently rolling over it like the waters of the river,

Right shoulder,

Elbow,

Wrist,

Palm of the hand,

A river stone,

The waters of your attention gently rolling over,

The right thumb,

The tip of the first finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

All five fingers of the right hand,

River stones as your attention washes gently across their surface,

Wrist,

Elbow,

Shoulder,

Heart space,

Left shoulder,

Elbow,

Wrist,

Palm of your hand,

A river stone,

Still as the waters of your attention flow across the surface,

Tip of the left thumb,

Tip of the first finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

All five fingers of the left hand like river stones and your attention flowing gently across the surface,

Wrist,

Elbow,

Shoulder,

The heart space,

The waist,

Belly,

Pelvic bowl,

Like a river stone,

Your attention gently flowing over it like the waters of a river,

Your right hip,

Knee,

Ankle,

Bottom of the right foot,

All five toes like river stones in the river bed,

The waters of your attention gently flowing over each,

Ankle,

Knee,

Hip,

The whole right leg,

The pelvic bowl,

The left hip,

Knee,

Ankle,

The bottom of the left foot like a river stone,

Your attention like the gentle waters of the river.

All five toes of the left foot,

Ankle,

Knee,

Hip,

The whole left leg,

A river stone and your attention like the gently flowing waters of the river across its surface,

The pelvic bowl,

The belly,

The heart space,

The entire right side of the body like a river stone,

Still and sunken,

Your attention like the waters of the river flowing gently over its surface,

The whole right side of the body and the left hemisphere of the brain,

The whole left side of the body,

A river stone,

Your attention flowing like the waters of the river,

The whole left side of the body and the right hemisphere of the brain.

The whole body like a river stone in the river bed,

Your attention gently flowing over the surface like the waters of a river,

The whole body,

Allowing your breath to be at ease with you.

This flow,

Breathing in your own time,

In your own beautiful rhythm,

Noticing your inhale and your exhale,

Allowing your breath to be like the flow of that river in its own cadence,

Inhaling and exhaling.

Might you begin to inhale through your right palm into the heart space and when you exhale,

Exhale from the heart space down to the left palm and might you then inhale through the left palm into the heart space and exhale from the heart space down through the right palm.

In your own time,

Inhaling through the right palm to the heart space,

Exhaling from the heart space to the left palm and then back again,

Inhaling through the left palm to the heart space and exhaling from the heart space to the right palm,

Feeling your breath move through you like the currents of the river.

Might you begin to feel where in your body you can sense this flow of energy,

The movement of the river and allowing that to recede.

Where in your body do you feel the stillness of the river stone?

Where do you feel the quiet stillness and safety of the river stone?

Sensing once again where you feel the flow of the river,

Where you feel the flow of energy,

Where you feel the fluid movement in your body and back to where you feel the stillness,

The quality of the river stone,

Safe in its river bed.

Might you take a moment to feel both sensations at the same time,

The stillness of the river stone and the flow of the river in your body?

Can they live together within your body?

The forest floor,

Tree roots beneath bare feet,

A river bed,

The place where water meets the earth,

A dark sky,

Sounds of the night,

The movement of a river,

A shadow's play across its surface,

A river stone in your palm,

Allowing yourself to be here in this sacred place,

Bringing back to your heart center the Sankalpa that you began this journey with and repeating it to yourself three times on an inhale each.

It may have been,

I am at ease in my body.

I am allowing ease in my life and taking a moment three times to repeat your Sankalpa to yourself each on an inhale and slowly in your own time,

Beginning to feel the air in your nostrils as you breathe,

Beginning to feel the air move through your body and beginning to deepen the breath,

Beginning to inhale into the belly,

The chest and the ribs.

And exhaling,

Inhaling deeper into your belly,

Your ribs and your chest and opening your mouth and sighing it out.

And one more time,

Inhaling deep into your belly,

Your ribs and your chest and sighing it out.

Ah,

You may want to wiggle your toes or your fingers and take a full body stretch,

Fluttering your eyes open.

If you're ready,

You may want to have a journal or a notebook to write something in about your journey today.

And as always,

I love and appreciate comments or feedback on my Yoga Nidras and my offerings.

And thank you so much.

I feel so honored to be able to walk people through this amazing journey of Yoga Nidra.

And I feel especially honored to bring you to the river's edge.

Namaste.

Reviews

That was so lovely; felt at ease in my body and trust I will bring ease to my life and all my relationships…thank you

That was wonderful! Thank you I I look forward to returning to this journey and exploring what else you have to offer.

This is the perfect power nap for @basscoast.ca festival! Namaste

💚🦉🧚‍♂️

I am at ease in my body, mind and spirit. Namaste 🙏

Beautifuly relaxing nidra with gorgeous imagery! 🙏💚