Hello there.
Thank you for joining me.
Mark Rowland And this is a Yoga Nidra practice.
For those evenings when your body feels tired but maybe your mind is still busy.
For the next little while.
I'll guide your attention through different parts of your body.
Then toward the natural rhythm of breathing,
To allow you to settle into a deeper state.
Of rest.
There is nothing you need to achieve here in no particular way that you are supposed to feel.
You can follow my voice for as long as you're awake and if you do drift into sleep before we finish,
That's absolutely fine.
There will be no bell or instruction to wake you at the end so just make yourself comfortable close your eyes whenever you're ready.
And we'll begin.
Start by finding a comfortable position lying down,
You might be resting on your back.
With your arms alongside your body.
Or you may prefer to lie on your side.
Choose whichever position feels the most natural for you to sleep.
Take a moment now just to adjust your pillow,
Your blankets and the position of your legs.
And if there's anything else you need to change to become more comfortable.
Do that now.
And once you are settled.
Allow your body.
To remain where it is.
Notice the places where you are making contact with the bed the back of your head against the pillow.
The weight.
Of your shoulders.
The position of your arms and hands.
You're hit.
You like.
And the places where your feet are resting.
You don't need to press yourself down into the mattress.
Simply notice how the surface beneath you is already supporting your weight.
Now bring your attention towards your face.
Notice the tiny muscles around your eyes,
Allow your eyelids to remain comfortably closed.
Without squeezing them together,
Let your forehead soften.
Notice your jaw.
And if your teeth are pressed together.
Allow them to separate slightly.
Letting your tongue rest comfortably inside your mouth.
There's no need to hold any particular expression.
Notice your shoulders.
If they are raised or tense,
Allow them to settle.
Let your hands rest without gripping or holding anything in your hands.
Your breathing can remain completely natural.
There's no need here for a deep breath in no reason to change its rhythm.
These next few minutes your body can simply be at rest.
You may still be thinking about the day.
There may be a conversation returning to your mind,
Unfinished tasks,
Or things that you're anticipating about tomorrow.
Just know that.
You don't have to work through any of those thoughts tonight.
When you notice your attention has wandered.
Simply return to the sound of my voice.
And the sensations.
In your body.
There is nothing wrong with becoming distracted.
Each time you notice,
You can begin again.
With the next instruction.
Before we begin moving our awareness through the body.
You might like to offer yourself one simple intention.
Silently in your own mind.
I can rest now.
And once again.
Aye.
Can rest now.
We're now going to move awareness through different parts of the body.
This is a traditional part of Yoga Nidra.
Sometimes called the rotation of consciousness.
You won't need to move any of the body parts I mention.
Just listen to each one.
Notice where it is.
And allow your attention.
To move with my voice.
There is no need to concentrate intensely.
And if you lose track.
Simply pick up.
Wherever we are.
Let's begin with the right hand Bring your attention.
To your right thumb.
Notice the right thumb.
Of your index finger.
Your middle finger.
Your ring finger.
And your little finger.
Become aware of all five fingers together.
Now notice the palm of your right hand the back of the hand.
Your right wrist.
The length of your forearm.
Your elbow.
YORUPPURAM and your right shoulder.
Become aware of the whole right arm.
Resting in its position.
From the shoulder.
All the way down.
To the fingertips.
Now move your attention.
To your left hand.
You're left thumb.
The index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
And the little finger.
Noticing the palm of your left hand the back of the hand.
Your left wrist,
Your forearm.
Your elbow.
Your upper arm.
And your left shoulder.
Becoming aware of your whole left arm.
Notice how it rests.
Notice its weight.
There is no need to change its position.
Now bring both arms into your awareness together,
Both shoulders.
Both upper arms.
Booth Elbows your forearms,
Your wrists.
Your hands,
All ten fingers.
Allow the arms to rest completely.
Now move your attention down toward your right leg.
Beginning with your right hip.
Notice the muscles around the hips The upper part.
Of your right thigh.
The front of the thigh.
Back of the thigh.
Your right knee.
The area just below the knee.
Your shin.
Your calf muscle.
The right ankle.
Your heel.
The sole of your right foot.
The top.
Of your foot.
And now,
Each toe.
The big toe.
The second toe.
The third toe.
The fourth toe.
And the little toe.
Becoming aware of the whole right foot.
The whole right leg.
From the hip all the way down to the tips of your toes,
Notice that your leg is resting it doesn't need to hold you upright or carry you anywhere.
For now.
It has nothing to do.
Move your awareness across to your left hip.
Notice the left hip.
The upper part of your thigh.
The front of the thigh.
The back of the thigh.
Your left knee.
The area just below the knee.
Your shin.
Your calf muscle.
Your left ankle.
The heel.
The sole of your foot.
The top of the foot.
And now,
The toes.
You're big too.
Second toe.
You're fed too.
Or the toe.
And little toe.
Noticing the whole of the left foot.
The whole left leg.
From the hip,
To the toes.
Now become aware of both legs together.
Both hips.
Both thighs both knees.
Both lower legs,
Both ankles.
Both Feet.
Notice the weight of your legs being supported by the bed.
You can allow the muscles to remain completely inactive,
There is no need to stretch them,
No need to make them relax.
Just notice how they feel when nothing is being asked of them.
Now bring your attention towards the back of your body.
Notice the back of your head the place where your head meets the pillow.
Become aware of the back of your neck.
The muscles on either side of your neck.
Your right shoulder blade.
Your left shoulder blade.
The broad area across your upper back.
Notice the middle of your back.
The muscles along either side of your spine.
Your lower back.
Of your pelvis.
You're right.
Butt it.
You're left,
Buttock.
Become aware of the entire back of your body,
Notice the different points of contact with the surface beneath you,
Some places may feel heavier than others,
And some may barely even be touching the mattress.
There's no need for everything to feel the same.
Simply allow your weight to be safely supported.
Now bring your attention around to the front of your body,
Noticing the lower part of your abdomen,
The area.
Around your navel.
Your upper abdomen.
Notice the natural movement taking place here as you breathe.
The abdomen rising a little.
And settling again.
Become aware of your lower ribs.
Your upper chest.
The area around your heart.
Notice the centre of your chest.
Your collarbones.
Your fruit.
The front of your neck.
Now move your attention towards your face notice your chin,
Your lower lip.
Your upper lip.
Corners of your mouth.
Your cheeks,
The right cheek.
The left cheek.
Bring your attention to your nose,
The tip of your nose.
The space around your nostrils,
You're right,
Aye.
Your left eye.
Both eyelids resting closed.
Your right eyebrow.
Your left eyebrow.
The space between your eyebrows.
Your forehead.
Your tempos.
Your ears.
Your scalp.
And the crown of your head.
Become aware of your whole face.
The muscles of your face no longer need to express anything at the moment.
Your eyes don't need to look at anything and your jaw.
Doesn't need to hold itself in any particular position.
Let your face be at rest.
Now we'll move through the body once more but this time a little more broadly.
Bring your awareness to your right hand,
Your whole right arm.
Your left hand.
Your whole left arm.
Both of your shoulders.
Your chest.
Your abdomen.
You're back.
Your pelvis.
Your right leg.
Your left leg.
Both feet.
Your neck.
Your face.
And your head.
Now allow your attention to include the whole body at once,
From the top of your head.
To the tips of your toes.
Notice.
Your body lying here.
Breathing,
Resting,
Supported.
You don't have to hold all of these sensations in your awareness,
Just notice the body as a whole,
Exactly as it is.
.
.
If an area of your body still feels tense.
There's no need to struggle with it.
Can notice tension without trying to remove it.
You can notice discomfort.
Without giving it all of your attention.
And you can notice the parts of your body.
That are already comfortable.
Warm and settled.
Your body doesn't need to reach a perfect state of relaxation before you are allowed to sleep.
It can rest as it is.
Now allow your attention to move away from the individual part of your body,
Bring it towards your breathing,
There is nothing particular you need to do just notice that your body is breathing.
All on it's own.
Air entering.
Air leaving,
You see you don't have to make the next breath happen.
Your body.
Knows how to breathe while you are awake.
It will continue to breathe.
As you fall asleep.
.
.
Notice where the movement of breathing is easiest to feel for you.
It might be around your nostrils.
You may notice the air feeling a little cooler as it enters.
And a little warmer as it leaves.
Or perhaps you notice the slight movement of your chest.
The ribs expanding and settling.
You may feel the gentle movement in your abdomen,
Choose one place where the breath feels easy for you to notice.
Now for a little while simply follow the natural movement of breathing.
Noticing the beginning of an in-breath and follow it as it continues.
Notice when the breath changes direction and then follow the flowing out breath.
Allowing it to finish in its own time.
Notice how another breath begins.
Don't need to breathe more slowly,
You don't need to breathe more deeply,
You even if your breathing is irregular,
Shallow or changing from one moment to the next.
.
.
You can leave it alone and simply observe.
You breathe in the body responds.
.
.
As you breathe out.
The body responds again.
The muscles of breathing are working without any conscious effort from you.
Your task is to simply notice.
Now begin to notice the brief moments between breaths.
The moment after breathing in before the out breath begins.
The moment after breathing out.
Before the next in-breath arrives.
Don't try to artificially lengthen either of these moments,
Just become aware of them when they occur naturally.
They may be very brief and that is perfectly fine.
As you continue to rest,
You may find yourself following my voice less closely.
You may hear some words clearly and then lose.
.
.
The next few.
You may begin to think about something completely unrelated or notice images appearing in your and this often happens as we approach sleep.
There's no need to pull yourself back into full alertness.
Allow your breathing to continue naturally and let your attention become less.
Effortful.
Now notice the feeling of weight in your body.
Begin with your hands noticing how they rest feel the weight of the forearms You're a prong.
And your shoulders.
Now notice the weight of your legs the heaviness of your thighs,
Your lower leg.
And your feet.
Notice your head resting against the soft pillow,
The back resting against the mattress there is nothing you need to lift or support.
Allow yourself to experience this sensation of heaviness.
You don't need to try to make yourself heavy.
Just notice the natural weight that is already present.
Your body can become less active now.
The muscles that have carried you throughout the day.
Can rest now.
The hands that have been working and holding things can just remain still.
.
.
The legs that have carried you from place to place,
Have no distance left to travel tonight.
Now notice any sensations of warmth.
Perhaps you can feel the warmth of bedding around you.
The temperature of your hand.
The warmth around your shoulders or your chest,
There may also be cooler areas.
Perhaps the air against your face,
Or that slight coolness around your nostrils as you breathe.
There is no need to make one sensation replace another.
Allow warmth and coolness to exist present together,
Wherever you find them.
And now return to the feeling of the whole body.
Noticing how little effort is required to remain here.
The body is supported.
Breathing continues.
Your heart continues to beat.
So many of the things that keep you alive are happening without any of your conscious involvement.
For a while you can give up the effort of directing your attention so carefully,
You can just allow the mind to wander a little.
You don't need to keep checking whether you are relaxed enough.
Oh weather.
Or whether sleep is any closer.
Even if you remain awake you are giving yourself time to rest here.
Notice how your body feels now compared with when we began,
There may be more heaviness,
Your breathing may have become slower.
You may simply be more aware of the bed beneath you.
Just know that whatever you notice is enough.
And for a few moments allow the whole body to rest.
Without following any further instructions.
As you continue resting imagine that you are lying somewhere completely comfortable and familiar.
Somewhere you feel safe enough.
To sleep.
You don't need to picture the surroundings in great detail,
Just.
.
.
Simply imagine being in a place where the temperature is comfortable,
The light is low,
And there is nothing requiring your attention.
There is nothing you need to listen out for,
Nothing you need to prepare for the day has reached an end.
And whatever remains unfinished.
Can be left.
Until tomorrow.
Imagine the light becoming a little dimmer.
The room around you growing still,
You can feel the comfortable weight of your bedding.
Your head resting on the pillow.
Your body settled comfortably into its natural position,
Now imagine that the thoughts passing through your mind are becoming less important now,
You may still notice them.
Maybe a memory from earlier.
An idea about tomorrow.
A few words or images appearing,
Without any obvious reason at all.
There's no need to follow any of those.
And there's no need to try to push them away either.
Just let them pass through your awareness.
Without asking anything of you.
Your mind has spent the day responding to the world,
Remembering things,
Making decisions,
Solving problems,
Anticipating what might happen next,
For now.
None of those at all require your participation.
You can leave the thinking mind to settle in its own time.
Notice the feeling of your body resting heaviness in your arms.
The weight.
Hope you liked it.
The gentle movement of breathing.
Everything can remain just as it is,
You may be beginning to experience that familiar feeling of drifting.
Moment when you're aware of your surroundings then,
A moment when your attention moves into a thought or abstract image.
And then perhaps back.
To the sound of my voice.
There's no need to hold on.
There's no need to hold on to being awake allow these moments to come and go.
And go naturally.
We are coming toward the end of the guided part of this practice.
From here there will be less and less for you to follow.
You can allow my voice to become part of the background,
You don't need to listen closely anymore.
Feel the pillow supporting your head,
The bed supporting your body.
Notice how comfortable it can be.
Just to remain still.
Your hands are resting.
Your shoulders are resting,
Too late.
They are resting too.
Your breathing continues without any effort whatsoever from you.
There's nowhere else you need to be,
Nothing that needs to be decided,
You my friend have done enough for today.
If thought continue let them continue they don't need your attention If you're still awake,
Then that's okay too.
You can rest without having to make sleep happen feel the weight of your whole body,
Notice the natural rhythm of breath.
Allowing your awareness to become less engaged,
Less focused.
You can stop following my words whenever you're ready.
There's nothing more you need to remember.
Nothing more you need to practice.
Allow yourself to drift.
Resting.
Comfortably.
Breathing,
Breathing naturally.
Letting sleep arrive in its own time.
Leave you now,
Friend,
To rest.
Happy dreams.
