Welcome to this practice of yoga nidra.
Take a comfortable lying position using any supports underneath the knees to ease the lower back and underneath the neck for the head to feel supported.
Place a blanket or something warm over the body to keep it nice and cosy throughout the practice and then settle in with the feet hip distance apart.
Let the feet flop out.
Allow the palms to roll up to the sky,
4-6 inches away from the body.
Lengthen the skull away from the neck,
Allowing the thinking mind to relax.
Take a moment to soften the eyelids,
Soothing the brow and feel the edges of the lips gently turning up.
As the eyes close and settle,
Begin to set the intention of practicing yoga nidra,
Remaining aware and listening to my voice throughout.
Even should there be distractions or thoughts,
Intention to always come back to my voice.
Continuing with this practice,
Resolve not to move,
Keeping only the conscious awareness connected into the experience.
Notice the sounds around,
One by one,
Those in the distance and those closer to the body.
Become aware of sensations on the skin,
The fabrics laying up on it,
The air moving over exposed skin and the breath across the top lip.
Feel the body in contact with its support,
The points of contact touching.
Bring the attention to that point of body contacting the support,
Each point of contact and the support.
Draw to the mind a safe space,
Real or imaginary,
But somewhere that makes you feel safe and secure.
Conjure the feelings and images in the mind and sensations throughout the body with this safe space.
Know that this is here at any time throughout the practice or even in your day should you require it.
And at this time,
Repeating your personal resolve or sankalpa,
That intention that is bound to come true in your life three times in a short positive statement as though you're living it now.
Begin with the word I.
Begin with the rotation of consciousness,
Either visualize or sense feel into the body part as it is named.
Beginning inside the mouth,
Floor of the mouth,
Roof of the mouth,
Inside right cheek,
Inside left cheek,
Hole inside of the mouth,
The tongue,
The jaw,
Sinuses,
Right eye socket,
Left eye socket,
Middle of the mind,
Right ear canal,
Middle of the mind,
Left ear canal,
Middle of the mind,
Back of head,
Crown of head,
Right side of head,
Left side of the head,
Forehead,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Eyebrow center,
Nose,
Top lip,
Bottom lip,
The face,
The head,
Neck,
Base of throat,
Right shoulder,
Right upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Right wrist,
Back of hand,
Palm,
Thumb,
Index finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Right hand,
Right arm,
Right armpit,
Right side waist,
Hip,
Right thigh,
Knee,
Calf,
Ankle,
Foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Right foot,
Right leg,
Right side body,
The whole right side of the body,
Base of throat,
Left shoulder,
Left upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Back of hand,
Palm,
Thumb,
Index finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Left hand,
Left arm,
Left armpit,
Left side waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf,
Ankle,
Foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Left foot,
Left leg,
Left side body,
Whole left side of the body,
Back of the heels,
Back of the buttocks,
Shoulder blades,
Tailbone to base of skull,
The whole of the back body,
Base of throat,
Right chest,
Left chest,
Center of the chest,
Abdomen,
Pelvis,
Pelvis,
Groin,
The front of the body,
The right side of the body,
The left side of the body,
Back of the body,
Front of the body,
The whole of the body,
The whole of the body,
The whole of the body,
Draw the awareness back to the breath,
The breath coming in through the nose and down to the navel and up from the navel and out of the nose,
Follow the breath in through the nose and down to the navel and up from the navel and out of the nose,
Continue from following the breath,
Moving between the nose and the navel.
Release watching the breath and come to a time or imagine in your mind being in glorious bright sunshine,
Feel the sensation in your body of being in glorious bright sunshine,
Observe the sensations of the skin,
The breath and the inside of the body as though in bright sunshine of the midday sun.
Feel yourself or think of a time of being in bright midday sun,
The intensity as strong as you can imagine of being in the bright midday sun and be back in it,
Be there in the strength of the sun's rays.
Bring into the body that connection,
Feeling the sun's rays entering and absorbing into the body.
And then release that sensation and think of a time or imagine being in the depths of darkness,
The deepest darkness that you have experienced,
The darkest night of a new moon,
Feel the body standing out in the darkness,
That experience of the complete dark around,
The middle of the darkest night,
Be aware of the sensations standing or being in that complete darkness,
Conjure that experience and live it right now.
And then release that sensation and come to the point between the eyebrow center.
Visualize and feel into walking into a beautiful garden.
Standing at the entrance of the garden,
Notice its boundaries and its size and shape.
Before taking a step,
Look at the earth,
The quality of the soil and its health.
Live and notice the foundation of the garden in its earth.
How does it feel into the hands and the feet?
Taking a first step,
Witness the red flowers and plants and leaves in the garden.
What are they?
How are they growing?
How could they be cared for?
How could they be taken care of?
Take another step and observe the orange plants.
How could they be cared for and nurtured?
How could they be taken care of?
Looking deeper,
See the yellow plants,
Their condition.
How could they be cared for further?
Walk deeper and observe the rose pink and the green plants.
How do they grow and where?
How do they grow and where?
Coming to the blue plants and where are they?
How do they flower and blossom?
What could be done to nurture these further?
Look for the indigo plants and see the green plants.
See their condition and flowering.
What do they seek?
And where are the white plants?
What do they flower and blossom?
What do they seek to flourish further?
See this beautiful garden of all the colours of the rainbow.
What else can you do to nurture your inner garden?
Repeat the same sankalpa as at the beginning of the practice,
Three times with the same feeling and intention.
And then begin to draw your attention back to the body on the floor,
Feeling the breath in the body.
Become aware of the fabrics touching the skin.
In the air,
Brushing the bare skin and begin to hear the sounds around you.
Those near and those far.
Start to remember the space in which you were in and gently roll over onto one side,
Taking a moment to feel fully present in the body.
And when you're ready and in your own time,
Bringing yourself up to seated,
Gently opening the eyes.
Take a few moments to feel yourself back in your body and ready to continue with your day.
Have a wonderful day.
