One of my favorite things to do ever is to guide people into deep states of rest.
And that translates to states of peace,
And nervous system regulation,
And maybe even an overall feeling of ease in the body and the mind.
No doubt you've had plenty of time to get settled.
Why don't you close down your eyes or cover your eyes now if you haven't already.
You might reach for an extra blanket.
If you don't have one,
You could cool down a little.
Just making any fine-tuning adjustments to your setup.
Maybe you could snuggle a little something more under your neck or under your knees.
Arriving to your little yoga nidra nath.
Hmm,
Offering of gratitude and appreciation to yourself.
For carving out this time to nourish your being on all levels.
Letting go in the jaw.
Perhaps even the mouth parts a little bit and the tongue leaves the roof of the mouth.
Feel the cheeks relax.
In the forehead,
The brow.
Might you even just get a sense of how your skin is simply resting over your skull.
Welcoming the awareness of the upper eyelid.
Touching the lower.
Feeling that ever so subtle connection between the eyelids.
The sense of the eyes as warm.
As home.
Protected.
The eyes nourish.
When the lids have covered them.
All the tiny muscles and nerves and tissues that animate the orbs of the eyes.
Now going offline.
The whole brain.
Can move into.
More.
Relaxed state.
Especially as far as cognition.
New information to process.
Almost like you're closing down all the tabs that are no longer needed from the day.
Just running on.
A lower mode.
Now let your attention expand into the feeling of the scalp.
And in the back of the head,
Feel where the back of the head meets whatever your head is resting on.
Could you sense the weight of your head,
Like you're surrendering even more,
That every breath just allows the muscles in your neck to let go even more.
Let this warmth,
This awareness spread to the shoulder blades.
Down the bar.
Down the backs of the legs.
To the heels.
Whatever position you've chosen,
Connect with the feeling of the whole backside of the body making an imprint here.
You might even sense a subtle energy.
Or warmth between you and the surface you're resting upon.
Might you feel a weight of your being?
Noticing the flow of your life force energy.
Sensing the breath.
Physical yet energetic aspect of you,
Your animating force.
Notice how the breath moves.
Swirl.
And flows.
Can you imagine your breath like a wave,
Inhaling,
Moving to the top of the head?
And exhaling,
Flowing down the body to the feet.
And back up.
And back down.
Just the experience of the breath as energy,
As a wave.
You might even see shapes or colors.
And this breath,
The doorway to deeper.
State of awareness.
More subtle states of awareness.
Breathing in and breathing out like a wave.
Next time you pass through the area of your heart center,
Can you rest your awareness here?
Healing the space of your heart.
And if you're currently working with a Sankalpa,
Welcome Matt now.
If you're not currently working with a sankalpa or an intention,
You could feel free to make your own right now or use this simple.
Statement.
I allow myself to rest deeply.
When you're ready,
Repeat three times.
As we journey through the process of dis-identifying from our conscious mind,
Our thinking mind.
This Simkhalpa takes hold,
Has power.
And the repetition.
Plants it like a seed.
Our next technique is moving around the body.
Simply place your attention in each area that I mention.
Perhaps you'll feel subtle energy there or just an awareness of that certain spot.
And in this way,
We invite the physical body to soften.
Even more.
We'll be starting out with the right hand thumb.
The first finger.
Second finger.
Third,
And fourth,
All the fingers,
The palm,
The top of the hand.
Sense your whole right hand.
The rest.
Forearm.
ELBOW upper arm.
And shoulder.
The right armpit.
Right shoulder blade.
Right collarbone.
Now the right side of the chest.
The right side of the torso.
The abdomen and waist.
Melting awareness down the body,
The whole of the right hip and glutes.
Could you sense the joint of the hip?
Sign.
KNEE lower leg.
And calm.
Down the top of the foot.
The big toe.
Second toe.
Third,
Fourth,
And fifth.
All five toe.
The ball of the foot now.
VR.
The heel.
Wrap awareness around your whole right foot and now the leg.
Isolate the right half of the body.
The whole right half of the body.
Now slowly move attention to the left thumb.
The first finger.
Second finger.
Sir.
Four,
Unfair?
The palm of the hand.
The whole left hand now.
Sensing the whole left hand.
RARE Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Left armpit.
Left shoulder blade.
Left collarbone.
The left side of the chest.
The left side of the torso,
Abdomen,
And waist.
The whole of the left hip and glutes.
And seeing the hip join.
THIGH Me.
Lower leg.
And go home.
Down full.
To the left,
Big toe.
Second tone.
Stir.
4 unfair All five toes.
The ball of the foot.
Arch.
HYEONG and the left foot as one.
The whole left leg.
Into the whole left half of the body.
Isolating awareness in the whole left side of the body.
Now.
Move to the center of the forehead.
Just resting awareness at the center of the forehead.
To the center of the brain.
The pineal gland.
As if you could feel the pineal gland.
The eye.
Ear.
Reichi.
Left cheek.
You sense just the left nostril.
In the right nostril.
Both nostrils.
Ellipse.
And the tongue.
Become aware of the surface of the tongue.
And the roof of the mouth.
Awareness of subtle sensation inside the mouth.
Awareness expanding to sense the whole scalp.
The whole head.
The whole hand.
The whole body.
Whole head and body.
Trillions of cells.
Organizing.
In line with your highest good.
On the ends of cells shimmering.
The body a vessel of energy.
Begin to feel the energy of your breath.
Feel the whole body subtly moving with breath.
Imagine just the right lung filling and emptying.
As if somehow the left lung was still and the right lung was simply filling and emptying.
And now switch to the left.
Isolating awareness of the left lung like a balloon filling and emptying.
The left lung moving.
Expanding.
And now a sense of what it would feel like with both lungs.
Both lungs filling and emptying.
The breath as energy,
Moving the breath and filling the lungs.
Now switching to the felt sense of just the right nostril,
Breathing in and out.
As if the breath were isolated just in the right nostril.
Create the feeling of just the right nostril and right lung.
Sensing the energy of the breath in these places.
Now can you come back to sensing the breath in both nostrils?
Making the split to feel left nostril,
Left lung.
Both nostrils,
Both lungs.
Now moving the breath up and down the body like before.
This time,
Counting.
10 to 1.
Inhale,
10 to the crown of your head.
Exhale,
10,
Down the body to the toe.
Inhale,
Nine up,
The body to the top of the head.
Exhaling,
Nine down the body to the toes.
Keep going.
Wherever you are with accounting,
Let that go.
Come back to the breath.
Feeling the breath at the nostrils.
Sensing opposites.
Feel the body starting to become very warm.
The body warm,
Perspiring.
On the verge of overheating,
The body is so warm.
And now switch to the body as feeling cold.
The body freezing,
Jumping into an ice bath.
Shivering.
So calm.
Return to the body as hot.
He there.
Perspiring.
The body is hot.
Be turned to body as coal.
Sensing a chill.
Body shivering and freezing.
Come back to warm,
But feel cold at the same time.
Sense the body as hot and cold simultaneously.
Heal them together.
High and calm.
Returning to the feeling of the breath at the nostrils.
Follow my voice.
Allow these images to arise.
Moonlight filtering through pine trees.
A morning mist rising from a meadow.
A hawk circling in a wide blue sky.
Ferns in the forest.
Unfurling their beautiful green leaves.
A crystal clear spring emerging from the earth.
Snow-covered peaks in the distance.
A field of wildflowers moving in the wind.
A winding forest path.
Your feet moving down this winding forest path.
Sensing the earth beneath the feet with every step.
Gravity drawing you into the earth.
Sense yourself walking down a path.
The forest floor filled with fauna.
With plants and trees.
Sounds and smells.
From this path leading you to a clearing.
A sacred circle surrounded by eight oak trees.
You're drawn to this space.
The peace.
The dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy.
The call of birds.
And the sound of a babbling creek nearby.
The soft grass in the circle.
Mesmerizing you,
Bringing you in where you rest.
Imagining the most comfortable place on earth.
Held by the forest.
By the urn.
By the sky.
By the whole universe.
Resting.
As a child in the arms.
Of all that air.
Rest here now.
Dreamy.
You are safe to completely let go.
Hell.
Open and receptive.
To the whisperings of your higher self.
Deeply rusty.
And in this sacred space.
Can you call back your Sankalpa?
Repeating your intention.
Simply resting.
Hmm.
Three more times.
You are one with all that you are.
All that you will become.
Rest here now for a few more minutes.
Now it's time to return from your deep rest practice.
And can you bring your attention back to the breath?
Start to guide the breath to become a little bit deeper.
Fill the lungs all the way to the top.
Then you might start to let your attention saturate the rest of your body.
Noticing the fingers and the hands.
Giving them a little wiggle,
The toes and the feet.
Moving the morale.
Sensing and feeling the whole body coming back online now.
Whole body coming back online.
You might deepen the breath a little bit more.
Waking up from this practice.
Noticing how you're feeling.
Perhaps remembering any wisdom that flowed to you.
Insight.
Or maybe just basking in this deep state of peace.
Maybe you're ready to move on with your evening or day.
You might switch positions and move the body a little bit more.
Exiting your yoga nidra in the way that works for you.
There's no certain way.
It can be very nice to spend some more quiet time with your journal.
Gently stretching your body.
It can also be wonderful to simply open your eyes and look around at the world.
Perhaps even with a greater sense of peace and appreciation.
No matter what's next for you.
I'm wishing you all the very best.
Namaste.
