Hello and welcome to today's meditation.
My name is Victoria and I'm one of the meditation teachers here at Insight Timer.
Before we begin,
Take a moment and give yourself props for showing up for yourself in this way.
Taking this time out to invest in yourself has so many benefits.
Now take a beat to cultivate gratitude for your current actuality.
You are clean,
You are dry,
You are safe,
You're warm,
Cool and if you're at the beginning of this meditation it means that for the next while there is nowhere you need to go,
Nothing you need to do and no one you need to be.
It's just you and your practice so give yourself full permission to relax,
Rejuvenate and enjoy.
Take some time now to feather your nest.
Comfort is queen.
How can you become 5% more comfortable than you are right now?
How can you become 10% more comfortable?
Take some time to fidget,
To move,
To adjust and as you dissolve into complete physical comfort gently find stillness as we begin by bringing attention to the five senses.
We start with a sense of physical touch.
Take notice of where your body meets the surface you're resting on.
Give attention to every part of the body that's in contact with the floor,
Mat,
Bed or sofa and if you need to take one more adjustment to get as comfortable as you possibly can.
We move into sight,
Wiggle the eyeballs and let them find gentle stillness.
What can be seen on the back of closed eyelids?
Relaxing darkness,
Visions of memories of the day,
How can you let them fade away?
Move attention now to sound.
What can be heard by attentive ears?
The soothing tones of this music track,
The tone of my voice,
Maybe some background noises of your surroundings.
Observe the noises,
Accept them and let them go.
Now taste,
Wiggle and relax your jaw,
Wiggle and relax your tongue and let it rest easy.
What can you taste,
If anything at all?
And finally smell,
Is there a definitive aroma filling the nostrils?
Can you feel the coolness of air swooshing in or the warmth of air leaving nourished lungs?
Rest here,
Take notice of your breathing exactly as it is.
Do not judge it,
Do not change it,
It is what it is.
Pay attention to the rising chest and allow this rhythmic movement to expand into your diaphragm and belly.
Begin now to allow the breath to slowly elongate on the out-breath.
With each breath you take,
Take just a little longer on the out-breath each time.
This elongated out-breath signals safety to your nervous system and supports the body into slipping into rest and digest mode.
From this activation the body can better absorb nutrients from your food,
Circulation and immunity are improved,
The body's natural detoxification process and even metabolism are increased.
Can you feel the particles of bliss chemistry flooding your body?
Can you feel relaxation wash over you as the body releases dopamine,
The neurotransmitter of pleasure,
Serotonin,
The neurotransmitter of happiness and GABA,
The neurotransmitter of calmness?
If it feels right,
Take a deep relaxing breath to confirm your present relaxed and meditative state,
Letting any last nugget of tension melt away.
Now from this open receptive place it's time to set an intention.
This can be something simple that you might like to experience during this meditation or something bigger that you would like to come into fruition in your life.
In preparation to state your intention,
Take a beat,
See what bubbles up for you,
Allow it to take shape and form into something you can almost sense.
Now formulate a statement as if this vision has already materialized for you.
State it in the present tense to yourself three times and then let it go.
As we move into a full body scan,
Get ready to give your body the attention and focus it deserves.
As I name each body part you can either pay attention to the sensation in that area.
Is it cool,
Warm or tingly?
What's it in contact with?
How relaxed is it?
You can also engage your brain in visualization.
Perhaps it lights up in gold,
Fills with love or glows with warmth.
If you drift or lose track,
That's okay.
You will always receive the meditation you need on this day and you can just join in whenever you rejoin the flow.
We always start Yoga Nidra with the right thumb.
Let's begin.
Right thumb,
Right forefinger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Right palm,
Back of right hand,
Wrist up to elbow crease,
Forearm to outer elbow,
Outer arm to top of shoulder,
Inner arm to underarm,
Right side of the body,
Right hip,
Right buttock,
Right back of thigh to knee crease,
Right thigh,
Right kneecap,
Right shin,
Right calf,
Right ankle,
Right sole of foot,
Right top of foot,
Right little toe,
Fourth toe,
Third toe,
Second toe and right big toe.
Making the jump now to left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe,
Top of left foot,
Left sole of foot,
Left ankle,
Left calf,
Left shin,
Left kneecap,
Left thigh,
Left knee crease and back of thigh,
Left buttock,
Left hip,
Left side of body,
Underarm and inner arm,
Shoulder and outer arm,
Elbow to outer lower arm,
Elbow crease to wrist,
Back of hand,
Left palm,
Little finger,
Left ring finger,
Left middle finger,
Left forefinger,
Left thumb.
Now directing attention to the very root of the body,
Shower your sex region with presence,
Bladder and womb,
Stomach,
Small of back,
Solar plexus,
Middle back,
Chest,
Upper back,
Shoulders and collarbone,
Back of neck,
Throat,
Back of head,
Jawline,
Lips,
Top lip,
Cheeks,
Nose,
Eyes,
Temples,
Third eye,
Forehead,
Top of head and your crown.
Imagine the top of the head is glowing with warm relaxing energy,
Perhaps like warm honey or an amber warmth in light.
Allow that warmth and relaxation to build in intensity.
When you're ready,
Allow that warmth to flood down the body,
Washing any lingering tension,
Stress or unwanted energy away.
As you rest,
Aglow with rejuvenating particles of bliss chemistry from your adrenal glands,
Allow yourself to drift into a deep restorative sleep.
Thank you for listening,
It's been an honour to practice with you today.
Sleep easy.
