Welcome to this Yoga Nidra practice to soothe the nervous system and to gently reminding our body and nervous system that we can always return to a place of steadiness and balance.
I'm Mary.
I'm a yoga teacher and a GRE provider.
Tension and trauma releasing exercises.
Yoga Nidra is a deeply calming and restorative practice.
More importantly,
It teaches the nervous system that it's safe to surrender.
Soften and let go.
Often,
When we want to relax,
The mind continues to spin deeper.
Making true rest very difficult.
Yoga Nidra offers us a way to rest deeply without effort.
Before we begin,
Please take a moment to make yourself comfortable.
Using any props you need.
I highly recommend covering yourself with an extra blanket,
Because the body tends to cool down quickly as you enter a deeply relaxed almost sleep-like state.
So before we begin,
Take a moment to settle in,
To make yourself feel comfortable and supported.
To allow yourself to let your body soften and to let the external world slowly fade away.
You start with a preliminary relaxation.
Let's take a gentle,
Slow inhale through the nose,
Allowing belly to rise.
Then gently exhaling through the mouth,
Allowing the belly to fold.
We'll do this again,
In through the nose.
And feel the cold air passing your nostrils,
Down into your throat,
Filling your lungs.
Pause for 1 count.
And breathe out through your mouth.
Again,
Breathe in through your nose,
Feel the sensations of the cold air entering your nose.
Pause for one count and breathe out through the mouth.
And feel the warm air softly leaving your body.
Then we start breathing through the nose.
And out through the nose as well.
And by doing so Again feel the cold air passing your nostrils,
Down into your throat and filling your lungs.
Pause for a moment.
And then breathe out through the nose as well,
Feeling the soft sensations of warm air floating over your upper lip.
We repeat this one more time.
Breathing in through the nose.
Balls at the top.
And breathe out through the nose as well.
This deep breathing is stimulating your vagus nerve.
By focusing on the sensations of the breath.
You train your body to come out of the fight flight and to relax more easily.
On each exhale,
Allow your body to sink and melt down towards the floor.
Softening,
Releasing,
Letting go.
Allow your breath to become effortless and fluid.
Slow,
Steady,
Simple breath.
We're now going to focus on planting our seed of intention,
Our Sankalpa.
Repeat after me silently.
My yoga nidra practice begins at this moment.
I open myself to the practice.
I will stay away.
And I will receive whatever I need today.
We repeat our chencopa three times.
And our Sankalpa for today is,
I feel safe,
Steady and balanced within myself.
I feel safe,
Steady and balanced within myself.
I feel safe,
Steady and balanced within myself.
We will now move through a rotation of awareness through your physical body.
I will name different areas of your body.
Just bring your attention to that area,
Become aware of them.
And bringing global awareness to that area,
So no details or narratives.
Move your awareness to your mouth.
Become aware of your tongue,
Your jaw.
Your teeth.
Your gums.
Feel your lips and the space between your lips.
Become aware of your right cheek.
Your left cheek.
And both cheeks.
Feel your right ear.
Feel your left ear.
And then fill both ears.
Become aware of your forehead,
Temples.
The back of your head.
And the top of your head.
Feel the tip of your nose.
Feel your right eye.
Feel your left eye.
And feel the space between your eyes.
Bring your awareness to your right hand,
To your right thumb.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
And little finger.
Bring your awareness to the back of your hand.
The palm of your hand.
Feel your wrist,
Your forearm and elbow.
Feel your upper arm,
Your shoulder and your right armpit.
Become aware of your ribs.
Your waist.
And your hip.
Bring your awareness to your left hand.
Your left hand thumb.
Second finger.
So much finger.
Fourth finger.
And little finger.
Bring your awareness to the back of your left hand.
The palm of your hand,
The wrist.
Poor arm.
Elbow and upper arm.
Bring your awareness to your shoulder.
Left armpit,
Ribs,
Wisht!
And hip.
Go to the right big toe.
Second toe.
Sew it through.
Fourth double.
Little toe.
Bring your awareness to the sole of your foot and the top of your foot.
Then bring your awareness to your heel,
Your ankle.
Calf,
Knee,
Sorry,
And hate.
Go to the left big toe.
Second toe.
Third row.
For a star.
Little toe.
To the sole of your foot and the top of your foot.
Bring your awareness to your heel.
Your ankle.
Golf.
Knee,
Sorry.
And hit play.
Bring your awareness to your lower back.
Your med bag.
Upper back.
And then to your whole back.
Then move your awareness to your right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade and the back of your neck.
Bring your awareness to the roof of your mouth,
Throat,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone.
Right chest,
Left chest and the whole chest.
Move your awareness to your upper abdomen,
Lower abdomen.
Navel and pelvis.
Feel your whole spine,
The whole head,
Right arm,
Left arm and both arms together.
Feel the right leg.
The left leg.
And both legs together.
Feel the front body.
The back body.
And the whole body.
Be aware of the whole body.
Now bring your awareness to your breath.
Feel the cold air entering your body.
Through your nostrils.
Follow the breath.
As it moves into the chest and abdomen.
Now follow the breath.
As it moves from the abdomen to the chest and back through the nostrils leaving as warm air.
Follow the pathway of your breath.
Feel the breath as it dances in and out your body with each inhale.
And XU.
Now focus on your belly.
When we breathe in.
Feel your belly rise slightly.
And focus on soften as we breathe out.
Inhale,
Belly,
Exhale.
Sofie.
Inhale,
Belly.
Exhale,
Soften.
Then release your breath and become aware of your feelings and sensations.
I am going to call out different feelings and sensations,
And as I do,
Allow yourself to experience them fully.
I invite you to notice opposite sensations or feelings such as heaviness and lightness warmth and coolness.
You don't need to force anything or imagine it strongly.
Just notice whatever is present for you,
And hold both experiences in awareness,
Without choosing between them.
The purpose isn't to change how you feel,
But to observe that sensations and emotions naturally come and go.
By experiencing both opposites with ease,
The body and mind can learn to balance and relax.
If you don't feel anything,
That's perfectly fine as well.
Imagine the warmth of sunlight spreading across your body.
Then imagine a cold night beneath the clear winter sky.
Feel yourself beginning to float in the sky.
Then feel your body sink into a deep dark water.
Now experience pleasure.
And experience feelings of pain.
Experience heaviness.
Experience lightness.
Experience your body becoming restless.
Experience your body becoming calm.
Experience being ungrateful.
Experience feelings of being grateful.
Now imagine yourself resting beneath an open sky.
The Earth supports the whole weight of your body,
And the warmth of the Sun gently touches you.
Warming your body through and through.
A soft warm breeze moves gently across your skin.
Nearby water flows at its own natural pace.
You can hear its gentle movements.
The fragrance of flowers drifts through the air and you notice a feeling of ease,
Of happiness and relaxation.
Nothing needs to be changed.
Nothing needs to be done.
In the distance the horizon stretches wide and clear.
As you rest in the spaciousness of this landscape,
You may feel a tension beginning to float away.
Your body feels soft,
Warm,
Spacious.
There's nothing you need to hold on to.
And perhaps for a few moments You can simply allow yourself to feel safe,
Grounded and at ease.
Any fear of anxiety that may be present can soften in its own time.
And perhaps you notice a gentle sense of gratitude,
Of peacefulness.
Of simply being here.
Take a moment to rest here.
Then gradually allow the image to fade.
And gently return your awareness to the natural rhythm of your breath.
Nothing to change,
Nothing to do.
Simply resting,
Breathing and being.
We repeat our sancopa again 3 times.
I feel safe,
Steady and balanced within myself.
I feel safe,
Steady and balanced within myself.
I feel safe,
Steady and balanced within myself.
Feel your body resting on the floor and notice any contact points with the floor.
Your heels,
Pelvis,
Shoulders,
Arms.
The back of your head.
And let them soften.
Then wiggle your fingers and toes and on an inhale bring your arms up and overhead.
And stretch your body out.
Maybe produce a big yawn.
Then on an exhale float your arms back onto the floor.
Just allow yourself to stay here a little longer,
Or when you're ready,
Bring your feet on the floor Knees are facing upwards,
Then roll over to one side and slowly push yourself up.
To sitting.
We reach the end of the practice and thank you for being here.
Namaste.
