You're very welcome to this yoga nidra created especially for the overthinkers.
The self-doubters.
Anyone who's ever thought they're just not very good at meditation.
As a chronic over-thinker myself.
When I first started meditation,
I spent an awful lot of time wondering whether I was doing it right.
Whether I was thinking too much.
Was I supposed to be able to empty my mind?
And generally making meditation much harder for myself than it needed to be.
And that's one of the reasons I think yoga nidra can be such a good place to start.
You don't need to empty your mind here.
You don't need to concentrate perfectly.
I am going to guide you through the whole practice.
So all you really need to do is get yourself comfortable.
Listen.
.
.
And follow along as best you can.
Take a little time now to really get yourself comfortable.
Yoga Nidra is often practiced lying on your back.
But if lying on your side or stomach.
Or even sitting feels better for you today,
Choose that position.
And if you'd like to add a pillow or a blanket for a little extra coziness.
Or even an eye mask to block out some of the light.
Go ahead and do that now.
And as you begin to settle.
Notice if there's anything you could adjust to make yourself even 1% more comfortable.
Moving an arm or a leg.
Shifting the hips.
Rearranging how your clothes are sitting against the skin.
Even adjusting the volume of this recording.
Taking a little extra time here to Let the body become as effortless as possible.
Can really make all the difference to the practice.
And when you are ready.
Allow your eyes to gently close.
Feel the back of the body and the points where it touches the surface beneath you.
The head and shoulders.
Back and boom.
Legs and heels.
Releasing the body into the support beneath you.
Allowing gravity to do its job and becoming aware of the ears listening.
Perhaps hearing something in the distance.
Something a little closer.
The sound of my voice.
Nothing you need to specifically listen out for.
Just noticing,
Hearing,
Happening all by itself.
Bring your attention to the forehead.
And see if you can release a little tension here.
Allowing the muscles of the forehead to smooth out.
And towards both eyes.
Their tiny muscles around and behind the eyes.
Releasing effort to the jaw.
Notice where the teeth are touching.
And if they are.
Allowing a little space to appear between them.
Whole jaw beginning to soften.
Awareness moving down through the neck now.
Into both shoulders.
And if they've crept up towards the earth.
Gently letting them drop again.
Arms resting heavy hands no longer needing to hold or grip anything.
And take a slow comfortable breath in through the nose and as you breathe out through the mouth see if you can lengthen the exhale letting the breath out slowly and steadily again breathing in through the nose and a longer slower breath out through the mouth And one more time.
Breathing in.
And out.
Noticing the body settle deeper into whatever is supporting you today allowing the breath to return to its own natural rhythm.
And before we go any further,
There's one more thing worth knowing if you're completely new to this.
Your mind is going to wonder.
You might suddenly remember something you need in the supermarket.
A message you haven't replied to yet.
Something that needs sorting tomorrow.
Or even realize you've completely missed the last two minutes of what I've been saying.
And that's not a problem.
It's completely human.
And noticing that your mind has wandered.
And bringing your attention back to the sound of my voice is all part of the practice of meditation.
So whenever you do notice that your mind has gone off on a tangent,
Just come back to my voice and pick up from wherever we are.
We're going to move awareness through the body now.
And there's nothing you need to move physically.
As I name each area,
Just allow your attention to follow.
Beginning with the right hand.
Allowing all your awareness to settle.
In the whole right hand.
The palm.
Back of the hand.
Sensing the tip of the thumb.
Tip of the first finger Second.
Third for it.
Sensing all five fingertips together.
To the right wrist.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Across the upper chest to the left shoulder Upper arm.
Elbow.
Forearm.
Wrist,
And the whole left hand.
Palm.
Back of the hand.
Sensing the tip of the thumb.
Tip of the first finger.
Second.
Third.
4,
All five fingertips together.
Sensing both hands and arms together now.
Awareness through which both hands and arms to the center of the chest.
Upper belly.
Lower belly.
Pelvis.
To the right hip.
Right thigh me.
Shin.
Ankle Heal.
So not the right foot top of the rice first.
Tips of all items.
Sensing all five tips together.
The whole right foot.
Back through the ankle.
Shin,
Me.
Bye.
To the left hip.
Left thigh.
Me.
Shin.
I'm cold.
Heal.
So look for it.
Top of the first tips of all five toes Sensing all five toes together.
The whole left foot.
Awareness throughout both the feet and legs now Sensing both legs together.
And allowing awareness to gently expand from the feet and legs throughout the torso both arms and hands the neck,
Face and whole head.
Until you're sensing the whole body together now and from this awareness of the whole body.
Begin to notice the natural breath.
Without changing it in any way.
Bring your attention to the nose.
Feeling the air as it enters.
And as it leads again.
You might notice a slight difference in temperature at the nostrils.
Maybe a little cooler as you breathe in.
And a little warmer as you breathe out allowing awareness now to move down towards the chest.
And noticing here the gentle movement of the ribs.
Expanding as you breathe in.
Softening as you breathe out Just noticing.
To the belly feeling the gentle rise and fall Natural in and out.
Just noticing.
Nothing you need to control.
Body breathing all by itself and letting go of the tension of the breath now.
And bringing your awareness back to the whole body.
And from this place of whole body awareness Could you imagine a feeling of effort?
Throughout the whole body.
As if the entire body we're holding on.
Gripping nothing you need to physically change here just imagining that felt sense of effort throughout the whole body And letting that go now.
To welcome a feeling of ease.
As though the whole body were letting go of any effort.
No longer needing to hold on.
Or try whole body at ease.
And once again,
Bringing back that feeling of effort.
Perhaps imagining that every cell in the body were bracing.
Holding on.
And now welcoming back ease as if the whole body were opening up making room for a sense of spaciousness.
Whole body effortless.
And now seeing if you could invite both feelings to be present in the body knowing that there is nothing to get wrong or right here.
Just imagining both effort and ease.
To be present together at the same time.
And letting go of both feelings now allowing the whole body to simply rest.
Nothing you need to concentrate on.
The whole body resting now support it.
I'm beginning now to bring your awareness back to the room.
Noticing the sounds around you beginning to bring a little movement back into the body.
Perhaps slowly opening and closing the hands.
Taking a fuller breath in here through the nose.
And a long breath out through the mouth.
And when you're ready,
Taking whatever stretch or movement feels good.
Before gently allowing the eyes to open.
And taking a little time before you move on with the rest of the day.
Thanks so much for practicing with me.
