Welcome to a short practice of yoga nidra for instant calm and tranquility.
You may begin to prepare yourself for this practice by finding a comfortable position,
Laying down either on a yoga mat on the floor or your bed.
Find a naturally relaxing position,
Laying in the position of savasana or on your back,
With legs hip width apart and palms facing up.
You may keep yourself warm with a blanket over your body.
Now allow your eyes to gently close as you relax your whole body.
Beginning from relaxing your shoulders,
Your neck,
Your arms,
Your hips,
Your back,
Chest,
Knees,
Legs,
Ankles,
Fingers and finally toes.
Relax the muscles on your face,
Smoothing over any tension in your expression.
Allowing the tension in your body and your face to melt away and soften.
You may now begin to release tension within the muscles of your body,
Let go of any pent-up anxiety and emotion.
Begin by focusing on the rise and fall of the breath,
Breathing in fully,
Filling the entirety of your lungs and belly.
And then exhaling fully through your mouth with a sigh,
Like you're emptying yourself of all negativity.
This time as you take a full breath in,
Clench up your fists,
Curl your toes,
Scrunch your face and squeeze all the muscles in your body.
And as you breathe out,
Let go of both the breath and the tension in your muscles.
Continue this for a couple of breaths,
Tensing up your face and body as you inhale and relaxing fully and completely when you exhale.
And with every breath,
Imagine you are purifying and cleansing yourself of pent-up emotion,
Feeling lighter and lighter each time you release.
Remember that in this moment you are safe,
That you can allow yourself to let go completely in this practice.
And slowly bring your attention to your sense of sound,
Beginning by noticing the sounds around you in your immediate environment.
Whatever it may be,
Allow yourself to simply notice and observe them without judgment.
Become a vessel and let the sounds pass through you like a stream of consciousness.
You may now bring your attention to the sound of your own breath,
The air passing through your lungs and into your belly as you inhale and exhale deeply.
You may also start to notice the beating of your own heart,
Whether it is fast or slow.
And now just bring your awareness gradually back to your natural breath.
May you proceed to bring your focused attention throughout the whole physical body for a practice of body rotation.
Beginning with the right side of the body,
From the right hand,
Counting the fingers,
Starting from the thumb,
One,
Two,
Three.
Now the palm of the right hand,
Back of the hand,
The wrist,
The lower arm,
The elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Right side of the body,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Ankle,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot.
And starting from the right big toe,
Counting one,
Two.
And now focusing attention on the whole right side of the body,
The whole right side of the body.
With the left side,
Beginning from the left hand,
Counting the fingers,
Starting from the thumb,
One,
Two,
Three.
The palm of the left hand,
Back of the hand,
The wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left side of the body,
The waist,
The hip,
The thigh,
Knee,
Ankle,
Sole of the left foot,
Top of the foot.
And starting from the left big toe,
Count one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And the whole left side of the body.
And when you are ready,
Gently direct your awareness to observing the natural breath.
Let us inhale fully into the belly and exhale out of the nose.
With each breath in and breath out,
Begin to count backwards from ten,
Maintaining a relaxed focus throughout this exercise.
Together,
Let us breathe in for ten and out.
Breathe in for nine and out for nine.
In for eight and out.
In for seven and out for seven.
And just continuing on with your own pace.
And if you find that you lose count,
That your mind wanders,
Just then gently bring yourself back to ten.
And gradually return your awareness to the natural flow of the breath.
Extending this awareness to your body and just feeling how relaxed it is,
Sinking into the ground beneath you.
Allowing yourself to rest and for all your efforts to fade away,
Returning to a natural state of calm.
Maintaining your awareness of your physical body and the natural breath,
Bring your attention back to the sensation of air against your skin,
Your face and the flutter of your eyelashes against your cheek,
The back against the floor,
The arms,
Legs,
Fingers and toes.
Feel the blanket on your chest providing insulation and warmth to your body.
Sink back into bodily awareness.
And now gently turn your focus to the sound surrounding you.
Slowly turn your attention from your mind's eye back to your external environment.
And as you feel ready,
Slowly begin to move or stretch the body,
The arms,
The legs,
Wiggling the fingers and toes.
You may gently turn the neck and head as you roll over to the right side.
Find a comfortable spot,
Taking your time,
Slowly bring yourself up into an upright position.
And allow your eyes to flutter open,
Allowing the slightest bit of light to peek through.
We are now at the end of our yoga nidra practice.
May the rest of your day be filled with calm and equanimity.
