Gratitude Yoga Nidra

This is a 25-minute yoga nidra practice inspired by the positive psychology practice of gratitude. Practice at any time of the day to help you feel relaxed and, hopefully, a little bit more positive in yourself.

Transcript

Welcome to this Yoga Nidra which is inspired by the theme of gratitude.

So gratitude is a practice from positive psychology and there is research in the positive psychology field that has shown that gratitude practices such as gratitude journaling or writing gratitude letters can help to cultivate psychological and subjective well-being.

So for this yoga nidra practice find a comfortable position to practice in so you can lie down on your back in your bed or on the floor using cushions to support your head and maybe under your knees and making sure that you're warm enough perhaps covering yourself with a blanket or covering your eyes with an eye pillow or a scarf.

You can practice any way you wish maybe even seated or lying on your sides just take a moment to make yourself really comfortable.

This yoga nidra should feel really relaxing but if anything at any point makes you feel uncomfortable then all you need to do to come out of it is just open your eyes and maybe bring a bit of movement to your body and you'll be out the nidra space.

Take from this practice whatever you need from it tonight or today so come into it with no expectations or ideas of what it might be like and just remember that there's no right or wrong way of practicing anything that you do is exactly what you needed to do today.

And maybe take a moment to make yourself five percent more comfortable adjusting your cushions or adding another blanket whatever it is you need trying to be in a position that you can remain still for the next 20 minutes or so but if at any point you need to move then please feel free to move and taking a couple of slightly longer exhales and with every exhale see if you can release a little bit more with every exhale allow the thoughts of the day to be released with every exhale let go of any thoughts of what's coming up relax your feet your hips soften your belly completely so notice if you're holding on at all and allow it to be completely soft relax your shoulders and soften your jaw so if that means that your mouth is a little bit open your tongue has moved just allow that to be so that the jaw is completely relaxed and soften the space between your eyebrows and in your mind's eye just bring your attention to three things that you're grateful for today just from today or from the recent past so something that happened in your day that you're grateful for and it doesn't need to be anything big anything dramatic just simple things like something you ate or stroking a pet someone's smiling or something that someone said something you read or just being able to practice this yoga nidra right now just three things and then let them go connect with a feeling in the body that comes up when you think of these three things notice where you feel the sensation perhaps your belly or your chest maybe there's a sense of warmth or tension the sensation perhaps your belly or your chest maybe there's a sense of warmth or tingling and as we take our journey through the body in our body scan see if you can direct your attention to the part of the body and notice what you feel sensing whatever comes up and imagine that you can direct that same sense of warmth or other feeling that came up for you when you thought of the things that you were grateful for to direct that same feeling to the part of the body that you've got your attention to starting with the toes of the left foot the sole of the left foot the left ankle left shin left calf left knee front and back of knee left thigh left hip feel your whole left leg left leg left knee and feel that sense of warmth that came up in your gratitude practice for the whole left leg now travel down to the toes of the right foot the sole of the right foot the right ankle the right shin the right calf the right knee front and back of knee the right thigh and the right hip feel the whole right leg the whole right leg and find that same sense of warmth that came up in your gratitude practice for the whole right leg now feel both legs together both legs together feeling grateful for both legs now bring your attention to your belly feel the left side of your waist the right side of your waist the right side of your waist feel your chest your left armpit your right armpit feel the tip of your spine your lower back middle back upper back feel your whole torso and direct that same attention of gratitude that same feeling for your whole torso now bring your attention to your left shoulder left upper arm left elbow left forearm left wrist feel the palm of your left hand the back of your left hand the fingers of your left hand feel your whole left arm feel the palm of your left hand your whole left arm and feel that sense of gratitude that same sensation for the whole left arm bring your attention to your right shoulder now right upper arm right elbow right forearm feel your right wrist the palm of your right hand the back of your right hand the fingers of your right hand the palm of your left hand feel your whole right arm feel that sense of gratitude whatever that feels like for you for the whole right arm and for both arms together bring your attention to the back of your neck the back of your head feel your throat the inside of your mouth feel the left and right eye the left and right ear feel the whole head and feel that same sense of gratitude for the whole head and now for the whole body the whole body now bring your attention to your breath notice where you feel the breath most strongly so maybe bring your attention to your belly or your lower ribs feeling that gentle rise and fall as you breathe in and out without watching the breath or listening to the breath just feel the breath as it enters and leaves your body feel the body breathe itself feel the body fill with breath without any effort maybe feeling a sense of rocking comforting internally as the breath travels in and out of the body just following the breath following the feeling of breath coming in and out without changing the breath the rhythm of the breath or the depth of the breath just allow it to naturally flow as you breathe in and out and now let go just following the breath and in your mind's eye bring back to your attention the three things that you picked at the start of this yoga nidra the three things that you're grateful for from today or the recent past and if you didn't pick three things bring them back to your attention now and just picking one of these three things and really making it clear in your mind's eye just exploring it with all your senses starting by noticing what you can see noticing who's there in this moment what else is there around you where you are any shapes,

Colours,

Objects trying to picture it as clearly as you can noticing any sounds any smells any tastes noticing what you can feel on the surface of your skin and then bring that feeling internally and notice what you can feel in your body exploring where you feel that feeling whatever that might be maybe in your belly or your chest that feeling of gratitude for this moment and just sitting with that feeling that sensation for a few more moments and now we'll begin our slow return back take a couple of deeper inhales and with every inhale perhaps feeling the body coming back becoming a little bit more awake feeling the contact of your body with the ground or your bed the fabric of your clothes against your skin becoming aware of your body in the space sensing the space around you but keep the eyes closed for now take another slightly deeper inhale and if you're ready bring a little bit of movement to your fingers and toes maybe moving your neck if that feels good if you're ready taking a deep stretch maybe bringing the arms above your head maybe hugging the knees into your chest and if you're lying down slowly making your way back up taking a little bit more movement in a seated position before opening your eyes coming back into the space thank you for joining me I hope you enjoyed this have a wonderful rest of your day