Welcome to this yoga nidra practice with the intention of guiding you into a state of deep rest and relaxation with the help of the breath.
So make yourself comfortable.
Make any final adjustments and when you feel like you found a good resting position you can take a deep inhale filling up your body with air and maybe sighing out and do this once more if it feels good,
Releasing the body down into the support beneath,
Landing here.
Welcome,
Welcome home to yourself.
And as this is a practice about the breath you can start by noticing your breath,
How it is,
How it feels,
How it moves and flows in and out of the body.
The breath is our companion in this life,
A friend that is always there in every moment and it can tell you quite a bit about how you are.
So as you're resting now,
Maybe with eyes closed,
You might feel the breath changing.
As you're shifting out of doing and coming into the effortless state of being,
Activating the parasympathetic nervous system response in your body,
Rest and digest.
And you can help this process along simply by breathing through your nose.
And this will naturally slow the breath down,
Making the inhale and exhale longer so that you're breathing more with your diaphragm and less with the muscles in your chest and upper body.
Breathing into your belly,
Maybe you can notice this movement in your belly as the diaphragm elevates and descends,
Allowing air to enter and leave the lungs.
Maybe allowing the movement to become smaller,
Softer,
Releasing any control of the breath and just observing it as it comes and goes.
Maybe resting a little deeper into the support beneath with each exhale,
Allowing the body to soften.
And eventually you might like to land with your awareness in your heart space.
And just being here,
Resting in your heart space with your breath is more than enough.
But maybe there's a whisper of a calling,
A longing,
Or a prayer waiting to be heard.
So here's a moment to open yourself up to receiving and to listen to your heart.
And there's an invitation now to journey around your body with the breath.
Maybe noticing the presence of your breath within your body.
Can you feel the breath in the crown of your head,
The forehead,
Temples,
Eyebrows,
In the ears?
Can you feel your breath moving in through your nostrils,
Into your nose?
Can you feel it in your mouth,
In the throat?
Can you feel the breath moving your neck,
In the back of the body,
The upper back?
Is your breath present there?
And how about in the space between your collar bones and shoulders?
Does the breath move your shoulders or upper arms?
And as you journey with your awareness down into your hands,
Can you breathe through your hands?
How would that be?
And letting the awareness travel back up your arms to your shoulders and chest.
How do you feel the breath in your chest?
Can you feel it expanding your ribcage to the front and back,
To the sides?
Can you feel breath entering and leaving your lungs?
And the movement of the diaphragm as it elevates and descends.
Expanding and contracting.
Allowing for air to enter and leave your lungs.
Creating this subtle movement in your belly.
Can you feel your breath moving your belly?
And the pelvic floor?
What if you could breathe through your pelvic floor?
Breathing through your pelvic floor.
Feeling the expansion and contraction in the pelvis,
Buttocks,
Hips.
And letting your awareness travel with your breath down your thighs,
To knees,
Back of knees,
Shins,
Calves,
Ankles,
To the feet.
And can you breathe through the soles of your feet?
How would that be?
To breathe through your feet.
Inhaling through the soles of your feet and letting the air travel up to the space between your eyebrows.
And back on the exhale.
Inhaling through the feet,
To eyebrow center.
Exhaling from eyebrow center to feet.
And maybe you can notice pauses between the breaths or lack of pauses.
But there might be a moment of stillness there between the breaths.
And you can just observe what naturally arises.
And maybe you'll find peace or pleasure there.
And the moment of stillness between the inhale and exhale.
Between the exhale and inhale.
And then breathing from the base of your nostrils to eyebrow center.
Inhaling to the space between your eyebrows and exhaling back to the base of your nostrils in another upward pointing triangle.
And then maybe letting your breath awareness travel in through your left nostril to eyebrow center and out through your right nostril.
Inhaling through your right nostril to eyebrow center.
Exhaling through your left.
Inhaling for the left nostril to eyebrow center.
Exhaling for the right.
Inhaling for the right nostril to eyebrow center.
Exhaling for the left.
You can continue breathing like this if you wish.
Alternating between the left and the right nostril.
Receiving the breath in the space between your eyebrows.
From left to right.
From right to left.
In your pace.
And then breathing through both nostrils to eyebrow center.
And counting each exhale from nine to zero.
And then you can just observe the feeling in your body as you release the breath and the counting.
Maybe noticing that some parts of your body might be asleep.
Or deep in a state of trance.
While your consciousness might still be awake and alert.
Still observing.
Still aware that you're practicing yoga nidra.
And if you like you can land again with your awareness in your heart's space.
And open yourself up to receiving the guidance of your heart.
So here's another moment to listen.
The breath is a bridge that you can cross to come back to an everyday state of consciousness.
And it's time now to come back.
Come back.
Come back.
Come back.
Use your breath to wake yourself up.
To come back into your body.
Maybe making the breaths bigger.
Filling up your body with air.
Allowing for the belly and chest to expand.
Maybe extending the movement into other body parts.
Filling yourself up with new life energy.
Prana.
Feeling how it awakens every cell in your body.
Energizing.
Making you come alive again.
And maybe you'll leave this practice with a new friend.
A friend that was always there.
From the first moment in your life.
And will be there to the very last.
And whenever you need it.
Your breath is there to support you.
To help you regulate.
And find your way back to rest.
This Yoga Nidra practice is now complete.
Thank you so much for listening.
