Welcome to this Yoga Nidra for loosening the grip of apprehension,
Anxiety or any tension in anticipation of the future.
Before we begin,
You might take a moment to acknowledge the transformative power of this practice.
Know that it will benefit you,
And during this time that you have carved out for yourself in your busy day,
I invite you to welcome and do your best to accept whatever might arise within you during this practice.
Whether an unwanted emotion,
Anxious thoughts or sensations,
Meet them with welcoming attitude rather than resistance.
Attempting to force a state of calm is a type of rejection and resistance that gives rise to physical and mental unrest.
Counterintuitively,
Welcoming leads to spontaneous transformation.
Find a comfortable place to lie down,
Make sure that you are warm and once you're ready,
Gently close your eyes.
We'll start off by releasing tension in our physical body by tightening and squeezing the muscles,
So go ahead and tense every muscle of your right leg,
Raise it up a few inches,
Even more and release,
Then squeeze the muscles of your left leg,
Lifting it,
Tightening it even more and release.
Then bring your attention to your buttocks and pelvic floor,
Squeeze them tightly.
As you continue to breathe normally,
Hold,
Now with a big inhale fill up your belly with air,
Inflate it as a balloon,
Hold the breath and in your own time release it through the mouth.
Now one more big inhale into your lungs,
Hold the breath,
Letting it out through the mouth,
Great.
Now go ahead and tense your right arm,
Stretch and spread all the fingers.
As you're lifting the arm up slightly,
Make a fist,
Tighten it and release the palm facing up.
Let's soften the lefty now,
Spread all of the fingers of your left hand,
Stretch the arm,
Making it maximally tense,
Then lift it up a few inches,
Make a tight fist and release the arm sideways with the palm facing the ceiling.
Now I'll guide you into deeper and subtler levels of relaxation through the bumblebee sound and breath.
Inhale through your nose and with the exhale from the back of your throat make a deep humming sound,
Sense the vibrations in your lips,
In your throat,
Inhale,
Exhale with deep humming sound,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Once again inhale through your nose and exhale,
Last one,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Allowing your breath to return to its natural rhythm.
Now if you wish to set an intention for this practice,
You may do so now.
See if any of these resonate with you.
I accept and allow my fears and anxieties.
Everything is as it should be.
I accept myself just the way I am.
Repeat your intention now,
Silently,
Three times.
Now we are going to rotate the awareness through the physical body,
Moving away from the realm of thinking into feeling,
Sensing.
In case your attention strays away,
Just continue scanning the body right where you find yourself.
Bring all of your awareness to your right thumb,
Index,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Palm of your hand,
Back of the hand,
All of the fingers of your right hand and all the spaces between your fingers,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Right side of the waist,
Right hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
Shin,
Ankle,
Right heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Right big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
Little toe,
All of the toes of your right foot and guide your awareness to your left hand,
Sense your left thumb,
Index,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
All of the fingers of your left hand and spaces between the fingers,
Palm of the left hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Armpit,
Left shoulder,
Left side of the waist,
Left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
Shin,
Ankle,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
Little toe,
All of the toes of your left foot and bring all of your awareness to the top of your head,
Forehead,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Space between the eyebrows,
Right eye and eyelid,
Left eye and eyelid,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Bridge of the nose,
The sensation of the air coming into your nose with the inhale and effortlessly flowing out with the exhale,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Space between the lips,
Inside of your right cheek,
Inside of the left cheek,
Tongue,
Roof of the mouth,
Feel the sensations in your whole mouth,
Sense your jaw,
Chin,
Neck,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Right side of the chest,
Left side of the chest,
Center of the chest,
Upper belly,
Lower belly,
Navel,
Sense your whole pelvic area,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
Your lower back,
Middle back,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Feel your whole spine from the tailbone all the way up to the back of the neck,
Back of the head,
Crown of the head and then sense your whole right side of the body and the left side of the brain,
Whole left side of the body and the right side of the brain,
Sense the whole right leg,
Whole left leg,
Whole right arm,
Whole left arm,
Whole torso,
Whole face,
Whole head and the entire body.
Your body soft,
Your mind soft.
Because we want to be smiley happy people all the time,
Having fears seems unhealthy and rather unpopular.
But instead of trying to attack our fears,
We need to work with them,
Meaning to feel anxiety without getting anxious about it.
By allowing the anxiety to be present,
We can stop getting hooked in by each anxious thought or sensation and simply observe it as a curious witness rather than a victim.
When our attitude towards fear becomes more welcoming and inquisitive,
There is a shift that occurs.
Instead of spending our lives tensing up as if we were in a dentist's chair,
We learn that we can connect with the freshness of the moment and relax.
Breathe is an ongoing practice of compassionate inquiry into our thoughts,
Emotions and moods.
Now it's time to repeat the intention from the beginning.
I accept and allow my fears and anxieties.
Everything is as it should be.
I accept myself just the way I am.
It is only when we begin to relax with ourselves that meditation becomes a transformative process.
When we relate with ourselves without harshness,
Can we let go of harmful patterns.
I hope this yoga nidra has helped you to reconnect and get in touch with your body.
Now in your own tempo start moving your toes,
Fingers,
Moving your head from side to side,
Transitioning back in your own time.
And I'd like to round this practice with a sprinkle of loving kindness.
May you be happy,
May you be well,
May you be free from suffering.
Namaste.
