Welcome to this yoga nidra practice for students.
I invite you to lie on the floor and get as comfortable as you can.
You're welcome to use blankets and pillows and if you have an eye mask or an eye pillow you're welcome to place that over your eyes.
Yoga nidra is a practice that has been proven to help practitioners feel calmer and more relaxed.
It improves the quality of sleep,
Sharpens focus and enhances learning and neuroplasticity which leads to better retention of information.
Therefore yoga nidra is an excellent practice for students to help you as you prepare for exams.
Now as you get comfortable and settle into this practice perhaps you're craving a few full body stretches.
Get rid of any little fidgets or wiggles.
Stretch out anything that needs to be stretched.
Now you might clench your entire body,
Making fists with your hands,
Curling your toes,
Keep squeezing every single muscle in your entire body,
Squeezing your face,
Squeezing,
Squeezing,
Squeezing and let go.
Let's repeat,
Squeezing the entire body,
Squeezing out any stress or tension that you might have accumulated.
Squeeze it all out now,
Don't leave any muscle behind and let go.
And you're welcome to repeat that a few more times if you need to or maybe you'll bring your awareness to your breath,
Perhaps breathing in through your nostrils and then letting a big sigh out through your mouth.
Repeat as needed.
As we go through this yoga nidra practice I want to remind you that nothing is supposed to happen in yoga nidra and nothing is not supposed to happen either.
Your only task is to welcome anything that arises for you,
Be that physically,
Emotionally or mentally.
Recognize it for what it is,
It's just a thought,
It's just a sensation,
It's just a noise and simply be the witness to whatever arises for you over the next few minutes.
I will be inviting you to bring your awareness to different parts of your body and that's all you have to do.
It's normal to fall asleep in yoga nidra and while we try to avoid falling asleep,
If it does happen it's okay.
The part of you that I'm speaking to is always listening,
Even if you're asleep.
As you relax the body,
See if you can become even 10% more relaxed.
Loosen your jaw,
Soften your facial muscles,
Drop your shoulders,
Relax your chest and your back,
Soften your belly,
Drop your hips,
Relax your legs,
Relax your feet,
Relax your arms and your hands.
I invite you to notice what's going on for you in this moment and feel something that feels outside for you,
Something that's outside of yourself.
It could be a noise,
Maybe the sound of my voice,
Maybe the temperature of the air in your room or the feeling of your clothes on your skin,
Anything that feels outside of you.
And bring your awareness to that one thing.
Now notice something that feels inside for you.
It could be your breath,
The beating of your heart or a physical sensation in your body.
Bring all your awareness to that thing that feels inside.
Now bring your awareness back to that thing that is outside of you.
You are aware of something that is outside.
Bring your awareness back to that thing that is inside.
You are now aware of that thing that is inside of you.
Now bring your awareness to the thing that feels outside and the thing that feels inside at the same time.
You are aware of something that is both outside and inside of you.
These things don't always have to make sense.
Remember all you have to do is welcome,
Recognize and witness whatever arises.
But in this moment you are aware of something outside and inside.
Now bring your awareness back to your body,
Your physical body simply lying on the floor.
Now at this point of the practice we will create a sankalpa.
And this is your seed of intention for this practice.
It is a positive statement of truth that is specific and reflected in the now.
So it could be something like I am on the road to and fill in the blank.
Or I have everything inside of me that I need to and fill in the blank.
Or the universe is ready to bless me with and fill in the blank.
So you can create your seed of intention now and repeat this positive statement to yourself a few more times.
Now it's time for us to go to our physical sanctuary.
And this is a place that can be real or imagined.
It can be somewhere that you have been to before or somewhere that you have never been.
As long as it is somewhere where you feel safe and comfortable and you feel at ease in the sanctuary.
So bring to your mind now what does your sanctuary look like?
Are you indoors or outdoors?
Are you alone or with other people?
Maybe you're with an animal.
And as you look around your sanctuary,
Imagine that you're actually seeing it from your own eyes right now.
It's not as though you're looking at it in a photograph or on a screen,
But you're actually there right now.
What objects do you see in your sanctuary?
Examine their textures and colours.
And again,
If you're looking at a you're not thinking about these objects,
You're actually seeing them right now.
See those vivid colours come to life in your own eyes.
What do you smell in your sanctuary?
Allow that smell to come into your nose right now.
What can you taste in your sanctuary?
Feel that taste on your tongue right now.
What sounds can you hear in your sanctuary?
Your ears are actually hearing that sound now.
What is the temperature in your sanctuary?
Allow that temperature to touch your skin as you lie here.
Is there certain clothing that is needed in your sanctuary?
And can you feel that clothing on your skin right now?
Now feel yourself as awareness.
Feel your physical body lying here on the floor.
It's time to layer our awareness even deeper.
So focus on the sensation of your mouth.
There's nothing to do about it.
You're simply feeling the sensation of mouth.
Feel the sensation of lips,
Of tongue.
Now feel your eyes.
Simply noticing the sensation of eyes.
Be aware of them resting in the sockets.
Feel the sensation of nose,
Of ears.
And feel your entire face.
Now bring your awareness to the crown of your head.
Feel your scalp.
Notice how it stretches to the back of your head.
Now feel the sensation of your entire head at once.
It's just a ball of energy lying on the mat.
Bring your awareness to the sensation of neck.
And throat.
Feel the sensation of your left collarbone.
And feel the sensation of your right collarbone.
Feel the sensation of left collarbone again.
Feel your right collarbone.
Now feel the sensation of both of your collarbones at once.
Feel the sensation of your chest.
Maybe you can even feel the soft beating of your heart.
Or the rising and falling of your chest as you breathe.
And feel the sensation of belly.
Remember there's nothing for you to do.
Nothing is right or wrong,
Good or bad.
You're simply welcoming,
Recognising and witnessing anything that is coming up for you.
Bring your awareness to your back.
Feeling your spine from your upper back through your mid-back and into your lower back.
Feel both of your arms.
Tracing the sensation of arms from the shoulders through the upper arms to the elbows and through the lower arms to the wrists.
Feel the sensation of your hands.
Now feel the sensation of your left hand.
Either resting on the floor or maybe on your body.
Just be aware of the sensation of left hand.
Bring your awareness to your right hand.
You are aware of the sensation of right hand.
Bring your awareness back to your left hand.
And bring your awareness back to your right hand.
Now feel both of your hands at once.
You are aware of both the left and the right hand at the same time.
And try not to feel them as two separate objects but feel them as though they are just one object.
You are aware of both of your hands as one object right now.
Now bring your awareness to the sensation of your pelvis.
Nothing to do about it.
You are just aware of pelvis.
Bring your awareness to your legs.
Tracing the sensation from the hip joint through the thigh to the knees.
From the knees through the calves and the shins.
Now feel the awareness of your ankles.
Feel the sensation of your feet.
And feel the sensation of your toes.
Now bring your awareness to your left foot.
Nothing to do about it.
You are just feeling your left foot.
Now bring your awareness to your right foot.
Back to the left foot.
Back to the right foot.
Now feel both of your feet at the same time.
Again,
Not as though they are two separate objects but they are just one object and you are aware of both of them at once as this one object.
Feel your entire body now lying on the floor.
Feel your entire left side of body.
From the left side of your head down to your left toes.
You are feeling the entire left side of body.
Now bring your awareness to the entire right side of your body.
From the right side of the head to the right toes.
Bring your awareness back to your left side body.
Right side body.
Left side body.
Back to the right side body.
Now feel both left and right side of body at the same time.
You are feeling your entire body as one sensation.
One orb of energy.
Void of shape or form.
Your body right now is sensation.
Now bring your awareness to your left big toe.
Feeling the sensation of left big toe.
Now bring your awareness to your right thumb.
Feeling the sensation of right thumb.
Now feel your left big toe and your right thumb at the same time.
They are not two separate objects.
They are just one thing.
And you are aware of both of them at once.
Now bring your awareness to your right big toe.
Feeling your right big toe.
And bring the awareness to the left thumb.
Back to the right big toe.
Back to the left thumb.
Now feel your left thumb and your right toe at the same time.
You are aware of your left thumb and right big toe at the same time.
Now I invite you to feel all four points at the same time.
Feel both of your thumbs and both of your big toes at once.
Come back to the sensation of body.
Now we are going to layer our awareness even deeper.
In this relaxed state your brain is very malleable.
And you have the ability to almost manifest in a sense.
And whatever you think of in this moment because you have practiced Yoga Nidra it has a much higher chance of becoming reality.
Remember if you can think it you can do it.
So I want you to visualize getting the results of your examination.
And just like we did when we were in our sanctuary don't imagine this as if you are seeing it on a screen or you are looking at yourself.
But you are actually there.
This is actually happening right now.
And you are seeing those results with your own eyes.
These results are exactly what you wanted.
Maybe you have even outpassed your expectations.
You have done even better than you thought you would.
And really feel what you would feel in this moment.
Feel that happiness.
That relief.
The joy.
Feel it all throughout your body.
And notice where do you feel these feelings?
If you are feeling relief where can you feel it in your body right now?
If you are feeling joy where is that manifesting in your physical body?
Are you with anybody when you get these results?
See their faces and see the joy they have for you.
See how proud they are of you.
Where are you when you get these results?
And what objects do you see in this place?
What colours and textures stand out from this environment?
See those with your eyes now.
Are there any tastes associated with getting these results?
Perhaps you'll celebrate in some way which will present a taste to you.
Taste that on your tongue right now.
Are there any smells associated with these positive results?
Again maybe you'll celebrate and the place that you celebrate will have a specific scent.
And what do you hear when you get these results?
Hear those sounds right now.
Remember it has already happened.
It's already done.
Now bring your awareness back to your body lying here on the floor.
Feel your head,
Your arms,
Your torso.
Feel your hips,
Your legs,
Your arms,
Your feet.
Because you have practised Yoga Nidra today you will improve the quality of your sleep.
Therefore you'll be more rested as you approach these exams.
You'll sharpen your focus.
You'll retain more of the information that you study.
You'll feel calmer and you'll feel more relaxed.
Now go back into your sanctuary.
See it.
Smell it.
Hear it.
Feel the sanctuary on your skin.
Taste your sanctuary.
Remember that your sanctuary exists within you all of the time.
This feeling of calmness that you feel right now was always within you.
We simply uncovered it with Yoga Nidra.
And any time that you feel as though you need to pause or rest,
Go back into your sanctuary and it will rejuvenate you.
Remember your sankalpa again.
Your intention.
The positive statement of truth.
I am on the road too.
I have everything inside of me too.
The universe wants to bless me with.
Repeat your sankalpa quietly to yourself a few more times.
You've got this.
In a moment I will count backwards from 5 and that will signal the end of our Yoga Nidra practice today.
5 4 3 2 1 Yoga Nidra is over.
