Welcome to your yoga nidra practice.
Find a comfortable place to rest in Savasana.
Give your body whatever support it needs.
Perhaps a bolster beneath your knees,
A blanket over you.
Something soft beneath your head.
Close your eyes if that feels comfortable or soften your gaze.
Take a moment to adjust.
Throughout this practice,
You are welcome to move.
Open your eyes.
Or return your attention to the room.
Let your comfort guide you.
Feel where your body meets the earth.
Allow a little more of your weight to settle.
Notice your breath just as it is and inhale arriving.
And exhale leaving.
There is nowhere else you need to be.
Today we rest in the strength of the women who surround us and we honor the women we have each been.
If you would like,
Offer yourself this intention.
I honor who I have been.
I trust who I am becoming.
Repeat it silently three times,
Or choose words that feel true to you.
Imagine yourself resting within a circle of women.
Perhaps you sense the women who have loved you or simply a circle of steady,
Welcoming presence.
You do not need to hold the circle together.
For now,
Allow yourself to be held within it.
Feel the quiet strength of women listening.
Witnessing.
And making room for one another.
Let your awareness move gently through your body.
There is nothing to change.
Simply listen and notice.
Your right hand,
Palm,
Fingers,
Wrist.
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Your left hand.
Palm,
Fingers,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder.
The back of your head,
Your face,
The space around your eyes,
Your jaw,
Your throat,
Your chest,
Your belly,
Your pelvis,
Your right hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Foot,
Your left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Foot.
Feel the whole body resting.
The whole body breathing,
Supported by the earth.
Bring your awareness to your physical heart.
You might sense its rhythm or simply know that it is there.
A quiet rhythm that has carried you through every moment of your life.
Faithful,
Constant,
Always here for you.
Let radiant energy flow freely through your heart and all the vessels within and surrounding it.
Now sense your emotional heart.
The place that has known love and longing.
Tenderness and loss,
Courage and uncertainty.
Notice whether there is anything you have been holding here today.
You do not need to name it.
Or change it.
With your next exhale,
See if you can soften around it.
If self-doubt is here,
Let it be met with kindness.
If forgiveness is here,
Let it come in its own time.
Your heart has room for what is true in this moment.
Bring your awareness to the center of your chest,
Your spiritual heart.
Imagine a soft warm light there.
With each inhale,
It gently brightens.
With each exhale,
It settles.
Let that warmth spread across your chest and shoulders,
Down both arms,
Into your palms and fingertips.
Let it move through your belly and back,
Your hips and legs,
All the way to your feet.
Sense it surrounding your whole body,
Reaching every part of you.
You are held in love.
You are surrounded by love.
You are love.
In your mind's eye,
Imagine a place that feels peaceful to you.
Perhaps a garden,
A quiet room,
Or a clearing beneath the trees.
You may sense a younger version of yourself there.
Perhaps you see her clearly.
Perhaps you only feel that she is near.
You do not need to revisit anything painful.
You can meet her from a comfortable distance.
Notice what it feels like to offer her the warmth you have just felt in your heart.
She lived with what she knew then.
She found her way through days you have already traveled.
In some way,
She helped bring you here.
Imagine laying flowers at her feet.
Offer her the sweetness of honey.
Let incense rise gently into the air.
You may offer forgiveness if it is available or you may offer her your silence.
Listen.
Perhaps other women you once were come to mind.
The woman who was uncertain.
The woman who was brave.
The Woman Who Needed Rest.
The Woman Who Kept Going.
Lay flowers at their feet too.
Honor them,
Bless them,
Let them be.
They are the bones of the temple you sit in now.
They are rivers of wisdom.
Leading you toward the sea.
Feel all of who you have been resting within the strength of who you are today.
Begin to notice your breath again.
Feel the support beneath your body.
Listen for the sounds in the room.
And sounds beyond it.
Feel the air against your skin.
Notice where you are resting.
And sense the circle of women around you.
Return once more to your intention.
I honor who I have been.
I trust who I am becoming.
Take a deeper breath in.
Begin to move your fingers and toes.
Perhaps stretch your arms overhead or move in any way your body would welcome.
When you feel ready,
Bend your knees and slowly roll onto one side.
Rest here for a few breaths,
Giving yourself time to return.
Use your hands to gently guide yourself up to a comfortable seat.
Let your head come up last.
Notice how you feel.
There is no need to put your experience into words.
Bring your hands together at your heart.
If that feels right.
May we make peace with the women we once were.
Maybe listen to their wisdom.
Bless them.
And carry their strength with tenderness into the lives we are living now.
May the light of the divine healer shine everlasting light upon you and may you always know that you are loved.
Namaste.
