If we haven't met before,
My name is Kumari and I'm the Relaxationist.
And I'm here to do exactly that,
To guide you through this effortless practice of deep rest and just let you have some time to recalibrate,
To recuperate,
To balance.
Maybe you've never practiced yoga nidra before.
This could be someone's first time.
So first things first,
You'll want to get as comfortable as possible,
Really in any position that works for you.
It's about quieting the mind and connecting with the deepest places within you.
Some might call it your soul or your inner being.
And also if you're new,
This is an effortless practice.
There's nothing you need to do.
And really what this practice gives is a chance to really let go and rest.
And on every level of your being,
This is beneficial.
Your physical body,
All your muscles relax.
Your heart rate evens out.
Your blood pressure becomes more level.
Everything's in your body just comes to rest and then your brainwaves also start to change and they can become slower.
And this is really where a lot of the medicine of rest lies.
So I hope that you enjoy our practice.
I'll bring you out of it.
So if you're someone that's planning on going to sleep after this,
Just know that I am going to be guiding you out of it.
Let's begin.
Sensing yourself in your space.
Just double-checking that you're warm enough,
That the pillow is tucked in just right or whatever you're using for your head.
It's just right.
Check in on your lower back.
It might be nice to put something under your knees if you're lying on your back.
Check in again with the arms and the hands.
Are they truly resting effortlessly?
Just welcoming yourself to this time and space for deep rest.
Are there any sounds in your space?
Can you hear sounds through the microphone in my space?
Feeling the air moving in and out.
A sense of your own presence here.
A sense of the stillness that's already happening.
Feeling the weight of your being.
Feeling the warmth of your being.
Could you let go a little more in your jaw?
Perhaps sliding the jaw from side to side or opening and closing the mouth.
Letting the tongue relax.
Sensing the muscles in the face.
Starting to imagine with every exhale the head getting heavier and the skin just hanging over the bones.
Sensing the skull and the brain quieting,
Slowing down cognitions now.
There's nothing you need to do here anymore.
Moving into the practice knowing that you're always welcome to shift and accommodate for your body's comfort.
You take a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in now.
Take two more full breaths.
The body innately knows how to rest and craves it.
Think of this as hygiene for your nervous system.
Hygiene for your brain,
Your heart,
Self-care.
Take three little sips of breath in with a long,
Slow exhale out.
Let's do that again.
Just holding your breath at the top.
Hold.
Three,
Two,
One.
Tuning in to the simplicity of your stillness.
Tuning in to your heart space.
This is the phase where we create a sankalpa or an intention.
Maybe you're working with a sankalpa.
You can create a sankalpa from practice to practice.
If you don't currently have your own sankalpa,
You could create an intention.
Or you could use the phrase,
I allow myself to rest deeply.
Take a moment to cultivate your intention.
Repeating this three times as you're ready.
When we're in this relaxed state of being,
Planting the seed of what we desire becomes very powerful.
The quieter the natural mind,
The conscious mind is.
The more truly this intention reaches the deepest depths of our knowing.
We'll move around the body now.
By placing attention on the different areas that I mentioned.
The body easily lets go.
You might even feel subtle sensations in certain areas.
Allowing to let whatever arise,
Arise.
We're starting at the right hand thumb.
And the index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
And pinky.
The palm.
Awareness saturating the palm and all five fingers.
Now slowly move your attention over to your left thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
And pinky.
The palm.
The palm and all five fingers of the left hand.
Now can you sense both palms and all ten fingers.
Both palms,
All ten fingers together.
And now the wrist.
The right elbow.
Left elbow.
Both shoulders.
Now sense both the arms in their entirety and the hands.
Both arms and hands together.
To the center of the throat.
The center of the chest.
The solar plexus.
Navel.
The right hip.
Left hip.
Right ankle.
Left ankle.
The sole of the right foot.
The heel,
The arch,
The ball.
Sense the sole of the right foot.
The big toe.
Second toe.
Third.
Fourth.
And fifth.
The sole of the right foot.
The sole of the foot and all five toes.
And transfer attention to the sole of the left foot.
The heel,
Arch,
And ball of foot.
The big toe.
Second toe.
Third.
Fourth.
And fifth.
Sensing all five toes on the left foot.
And the sole of the left foot.
Now feel both feet at the same time.
Both legs.
Sense the base of the spine.
Now an awareness of the spine from the base to the skull.
Feel the back of the head.
The top of the head.
The center of the forehead.
And the third eye center.
The nostrils.
Sensing the surface of the tongue.
And all the teeth.
Sense the whole skull.
And the whole head.
The ears.
The hair.
The hair follicles.
The hair follicles.
The whole body.
The whole body radiant with energy.
The body shimmering.
Alive trillions of cells.
The whole body radiant.
Return to feeling the breath at the nostrils.
Feeling the action of the breath.
Just effortlessly flowing like the tide.
The tide rolling in and out.
The tide rolling in and out is the breath.
Seeing the breath as a light.
Maybe a white light moving in and out of the nostrils.
And then a white light all the way up to the top of the head.
And a light all the way down the body.
Sense,
Feel,
Or imagine the breath as an energy.
As a light.
Flowing through your whole body.
With each inhale.
With each exhale.
Feel the wave,
The energy of the breath.
Moving in through the nose to the top of the head.
And down the whole body.
On us flowing smoothly.
In and out the body.
Now changing to count every breath from ten backwards until one.
Inhaling ten.
Exhaling ten.
Inhaling nine.
Exhaling nine.
All the way down to one.
Exhale.
Taking you deeper.
Now wherever you're at,
Let go of the counting.
Come to sense the breath again at the nostrils.
Just watching the breath in and out the nostrils.
As if you were simply witnessing the breath moving in and out.
Now reignite awareness of the right arm and hand.
Sensing the palm and all five fingers.
The whole right arm and hand.
And feel a weight to the right arm and hand.
Feel a heaviness in the right arm and hand.
And can you sense the left hemisphere of the brain?
As if you could feel the left hemisphere of the brain.
Feel these two places simultaneously.
Right arm and hand,
Left hemisphere of the brain.
Together.
And let go.
That awareness now moves to the left arm and hand.
The left palm,
All five fingers.
Subtly vibrating.
Left arm.
Is the left arm as a little heavier?
A little more relaxed?
Left arm and hand.
Right hemisphere of brain.
Right hemisphere of the brain now.
As if you could feel the brain.
And together,
Left arm and hand,
Right hemisphere of brain.
Feel them equally.
Simultaneously,
Same time.
Both equally.
And can you return now to the nostrils?
Feeling the breath here.
Connecting with the backside of the body.
Feeling the warmth.
The connection.
The body sinking down into the earth.
Drawing a white light around the body.
From the crown of the head down the right side of the body.
To the ankle.
The white light across the toes.
And up the left side.
To the left shoulder.
And crown of the head.
See the body circled in white light.
Drawing another circle of white light around the body.
And another.
White light permeating the whole body.
The body a shimmering,
Crystalline matrix of white light.
And through these eyes,
The scene of thousands of stars in the midnight sky.
Stars twinkling.
Big and small.
A blanket of light.
Aware of the most subtle shimmering in this blanket of stars.
Reflecting off of each other.
You are a shimmering blanket of light.
The vastness of the moon.
Beaming into the ether.
The earth.
Strong and steady.
The inner knowing of the light that is the true essence of this being.
This being of light drifting in the universe.
Drifting in this space of pure connection.
To all that is.
Aware of messages arising.
Guidance open and free and available in this space of pure consciousness.
Resting back even deeper now.
Floating in the light of the whole universe.
Oneness.
It's here in this space.
The Sankalpa can be planted again.
Could you call back to mind your intention?
Your Sankalpa?
Whispering it back to yourself several more times.
Now it's time to return from this yoga nidra journey into deep breath.
Find the feeling of the breathing.
Deepening your breath.
Affirming your aliveness.
Through a full breath in and out.
Now taking two sips in.
Connecting with the fingers and starting to move them around a little bit.
Waking up the physical body.
After moving in to that place of deep breath.
Just moving the ankles,
The toes.
Waking the body and the conscious mind coming back online.
Sensing the space around you.
The feeling of whatever you are resting upon.
Maybe now it's time to start to stretch or change position.
If you're moving on with the next segment of your day or your evening,
Come back to consciousness at your own pace.
You might even reflect on your experience.
Did anything come up?
Maybe it's just a felt sense of the bliss of deep rest,
Of quieting the mind.
Resting in the knowing of the benefits you've offered your body,
Your mind,
Your spirit through this practice.
Yoganidra,
A balm to the human condition.
Just know that this practice serves you in so many ways,
Seen and unseen.
It's my hope that you'll come back to it often.
The effects are cumulative.
Your resiliency elevated.
May you feel peace for the hours and days that come through this time of sweet,
Sweet connection to your innate true nature.
Let's take a few cleansing breaths together.
Inhaling through the nose.
Sighing it out.
Again.
Thank you for allowing me to guide you.
Know there is a resonance between us that grows and expands.
The energy of all of us,
Like acupuncture for the collective and conscious for the earth.
Know that you are loved.
I hope that you are feeling amazing.
I hope this session helped you release tension in your body and your mind,
Making you feel like you have a clean slate,
A clean,
Fresh,
New outlook on your day or evening.
Until next time,
Thank you so much.
