Getting cosy now,
Creating a safe,
Warm yoga nidra nest.
Laying on your back and perhaps covering your body with blankets.
A pillow behind your head and perhaps your knees.
Today we are going to explore your inner refuge.
Your inner refuge is a place where you feel safe and at ease and experience a sense of well-being or peace of mind.
It can be a real or imagined place and is unique to you.
Somewhere that helps you to cultivate these feelings within yourself.
Be sure that your body is completely comfortable.
Adjusting the head,
Neck,
Shoulders,
Pelvis,
Hips so that you can rest completely into the support beneath you.
Let's begin by taking a long breath in through the nose and as you exhale imagine you are fogging a mirror hearing the sound of your exhalation like an ocean wave through open mouth.
Let's do that again with your lips closed three more times.
Letting go of that,
Notice your breath return to its natural rhythm as your body relaxes deeper into the surface beneath you.
Focus all your attention on the breath moving in and out of your body.
Breathing like a continuous sea of waves,
No holding,
Totally fluid and seamless.
Now,
Allow your attention to move through your body following the guidance of my voice.
Imagine your attention fluidly moving from one point to the next creating a stream of awareness flowing throughout your body.
As attention moves,
The body remains in stillness welcoming sensations just as they are without any need to change or make anything different.
Start by placing attention at the centre of the forehead,
The mind's eye base of the throat right shoulder elbow wrist thumb first finger second finger third little finger wrist elbow shoulder base of the throat left shoulder elbow wrist thumb first finger second third little finger wrist elbow shoulder pit of the throat centre of the chest right side of the chest left side of the chest navel pelvic bowl right hip knee ankle sole of the foot big toe second third fourth little toe sole of the foot ankle knee pelvic bowl left hip knee ankle sole of the foot big toe second third fourth little toe sole of the foot ankle knee hip navel heart centre base of the throat mind's eye centre the whole body now,
Radiant with sensation awareness throughout the whole body begin to sense your breath at your belly air moving in and out of the body waves of respiration in and out notice the rise and fall of the breath at the belly easy and rhythmic just sensing the expansion and releasing of the breath with each exhale,
Let yourself settle a little deeper into relaxation letting go of thoughts,
Allow your attention to turn inwards to the sensations happening within your body without changing your breath in any way start to count your inhalation and exhalation inhaling 10,
Exhaling 10 inhaling 9,
Exhaling 9 and continue counting down at your own pace now,
Begin to invite an imaginary place or a peaceful memory to surface where you feel relaxed,
At ease and completely safe to be yourself take your time and allow it to come naturally maybe it's a particular place in nature a beach or forest or meadow or perhaps it's a cosy room or a space shared with a pet or a beloved person in your life that filled you with love and warmth just let that image,
Feeling or memory arise start to notice shape and colour objects or meaningful symbols that evoke feelings of peace allow all senses to awaken noticing the quality of the light any sounds in the environment smells or tastes a visceral experience of your personal sanctuary sensing feelings of calm,
Ease and well-being notice in your body if and where you feel these sensory experiences and any accompanying feelings such as warmth,
Peace or relaxation you might be drawn to a particular object imagine the texture and weight,
The form and colour imagine how it feels to hold it in your hand like a key,
Allowing you to return at any time to open the door to your personal inner refuge now that you are connected with your inner refuge allow yourself to bask in the peaceful feelings you have created begin to drop the imagery and let the feeling strengthen and become more and more familiar with each breath notice where you feel peace and ease in the body as you spend time basking in your inner refuge feel it growing into a powerful and effective tool you can use at a moment's notice experiencing feelings of security within you that are always available any time you need them remembering that this place resides within you you have the key and you can return to your inner refuge any time you want or need to feel peaceful and at ease as you are ready,
Begin to sense the room around you any sounds in your environment the earth beneath your body the air around you the earth beneath your body take a deep breath in and out and again,
Deep breath in and out and start to awaken your body slowly nodding the head,
Moving the fingers and toes and when you feel ready,
Fluttering the eyes open let yourself continue to experience the peaceful feelings that you have created within you as you slowly come back from your inner refuge thank you for practicing Yoga Nidra with me today.
Namaste
