Welcome to this experience of yoga nidra for PTSD.
Find yourself coming to a comfortable position lying on your back.
Perhaps some height underneath the knees and padding under the head.
Close your eyes and quiet your mind.
Be still.
Let go of all thought,
Worry,
And tension.
Give yourself fully to a higher power.
Relax.
Rest and let go.
Breathe in fully and exhale with a deep sigh.
Again,
Inhale fully and now let go even more.
Feel a sense of peace and contentment in your heart.
We will begin with lifting and dropping the limbs.
Lift the right foot and leg one inch off of the surface beneath you and continue to breathe.
Hold the leg,
Hold,
Hold,
And drop the foot and leg as you exhale.
Let go completely.
Feel heaviness flooding the leg.
Lift the left foot and left leg one inch off of the surface beneath you.
Continue to breathe.
Hold the leg,
Hold,
Drop the foot and leg down as you exhale,
Letting go completely.
Feeling heaviness flooding the leg.
Now tense and lift the buttocks,
Hips,
And pelvis off of the surface beneath you.
Hold,
Keep holding,
And let go,
Drop.
Feel the whole body letting go.
Surrender to gravity.
Now make fists and contract the arms until they lift off of the surface beneath you.
Hold,
Keep holding,
Contracting the arms,
Making fists,
Hold,
And let go.
Let go completely.
Surrender to the field of gravity pulling you down deeper,
The boundaries of the body dissolving as you sink.
Now imagine a place you like to be,
A place where you feel peaceful,
Calm,
Relaxed,
Or quiet,
A place where there are no concerns about the future or past,
Simply an overwhelming experience of the rightness of things.
It doesn't have to be a real place.
It could be a place that you create for yourself right now,
Perhaps sitting on a beach watching the ocean,
Smelling the salt air and hearing seagulls,
Or sitting on top of a mountain looking out over a valley that goes on forever.
Trust whatever image arises in your awareness.
Now imagine yourself in this place.
Look around.
As you breathe,
See or sense the whole picture,
The feelings,
Sights,
Sounds,
And smells of this place becoming more and more real to you now.
Choose a comfortable spot on the earth to sit or lie down.
Perhaps it's a soft bed of moths or a hollow in a white sand beach that holds your shape.
Allow your body to relax as the earth supports you.
No need to hold yourself up.
Look around at the colors and shapes and imagery in your vision.
Take them all in,
Feeling through bodily sensations what it is to be in this safe place.
Breathe in the air of this place.
Notice the scents.
Listen to the sounds around you,
Both distant and close,
Prominent and subtle.
Enjoy this beautiful place,
Surrounded,
Protected in this place where you can deeply rest.
Notice how your whole body responds.
Feel how peaceful and calm you are.
You'll be more relaxed,
More contented than ever before.
Filled fully by the experience of being safe and nurtured by the environment around you.
Now notice something about where you are to help you find calm in all situations.
It may be the feel of the sun on your face or a small object,
Such as a shell,
A round stone,
Or a flower.
Notice whatever that is and bring it back with you.
Remember,
You can return to your safe place anytime you want or need to.
Release your attention and allow it to float freely throughout your experience.
Notice how it may gravitate towards a thought.
Move to a sensation or rest on the breath.
Make no effort to interfere with or control attention.
Simply watch as it spontaneously and effortlessly moves among the various experiences present in each moment.
Now bring awareness to the breath.
Become aware of your natural breath pattern without trying to control or change it.
Just watch and observe the movement.
You may find the breath to be fast,
Maybe slow,
Maybe deep or shallow.
Whatever is happening,
Relax and witness the breath.
Remain connected to every breath in,
Every breath out.
Whole body breathing in,
Whole body breathing out.
If any thoughts come into your mind,
Just let them go and come back to awareness of the breath.
Belly rising as you inhale,
Belly falling as you exhale.
Now feel that the breath is becoming very quiet,
Very still.
Becoming more relaxed and peaceful with each breath.
Muscles softening,
Melting,
Feeling good in every way.
Feel yourself overcome with a deep sense of peace.
As I name each body part,
Feel it being overcome with an overwhelming sense of heaviness.
Both feet,
Like bricks.
Calves and knees,
Heavy,
Solid,
Like concrete.
Thighs and hips,
Like sandbags pulling you down.
Abdomen,
Chest and back,
Gravity pulling you down.
Breathing deeper,
Surrendering the weight of the spine.
Shoulders,
Arms and palms,
Very heavy.
So heavy that even if you tried to lift them,
You couldn't.
Your entire head weighted like a rock.
Now experience your whole body sinking deeper and deeper.
Give your body completely and totally to the field of gravity.
Exerting its pull everywhere.
Dropping deeper into stillness and silent awareness.
Now as I name each body part,
Let it become empty and light.
Both feet,
Buoyant.
Calves and knees,
Vacant.
Thighs and hips,
Hollow,
Spacious.
Abdomen,
Chest and back,
Weightless,
Effortless.
Shoulders,
Arms and palms,
Like hollow beads.
Head,
Clear,
Open space.
The whole body,
An empty vessel.
Always present,
Constant and relaxed capacity,
Whatever fills you.
No resistance to any energy moving through.
Allowing it all to simply come and go.
Sense the sheer tingling lightness of your energy body.
Feel your energy body growing lighter,
Its presence stronger.
You are safe and secure in the energy body.
Experience the freedom of this new dimension.
Sense the body completely at peace,
Resting in stillness.
As just one of the many objects inside awareness.
Recognize you are not the physical body.
Experience yourself free of the limitations of body and mind,
Past and future.
Remain deeply established in awareness.
As you again relax into your physical experience.
Feel the whole body lying in stillness.
Here,
Your intentions are fulfilled with effortless ease.
Allow this intention to be received into every cell of your being.
I experience my body in balance,
My mind at peace.
I experience my body in balance,
My mind at peace.
I experience my body in balance,
My mind at peace.
Allow this intention to go to the deepest levels of recognition with no hesitation.
Know that your higher self recognizes,
Honors,
And accepts your intention.
Have faith and trust that it has been heard and is being acted upon by the higher power of source within.
Know that releases,
Shifts,
And changes that need to take place are happening independent of your doing.
Now slowly feel yourself beginning to rise to the surface of awareness.
Notice the rising and falling of your breath.
No effort or control on your part.
Slowly begin to come back to awareness of your physical body.
Feel the sensation of your body lying on the surface beneath you.
The quality of the air as it touches your skin.
When you feel the impulse,
Begin to move and stretch your body as if awakening from a restful sleep.
If the impulse is to remain still,
Do so.
When you are ready,
Gently roll onto your right side with your eyes closed.
Take your time.
No rush.
Feel yourself held in the comfort,
Safety,
And protection of the womb of existence.
Now bringing your intention back into awareness.
I experience my body in balance,
My mind at peace.
Regardless of what you may or may not recognize,
Know that something deep within has shifted.
Keeping the eyes closed as much as possible,
Slowly use the strength of your arms to bring yourself up to a comfortable seated position.
Notice how your attention is automatically and effortlessly held in meditation.
Take a deep breath in and as you exhale,
Allow the eyes to softly open.
Coming back to this time and space.
This yoga nidra has now ended.
Namaste and Jai Bhakwan.
