Welcome to a yoga nidra practice on establishing your personal boundaries.
Take a moment to make yourself comfortable lying on the ground on a yoga mat.
You could also be lying on your bed.
Let your feet separate slightly wider than your hips.
Make sure the lower back has space.
Drop your shoulders.
And relax your head,
Letting the back of the skull rest back against the support beneath you.
And allowing the subtle and natural flow of your breath to take over your awareness.
Soften your jaw and the chest.
Let your awareness rest in the chest.
And following the natural stream of your breath moving in and out of your body.
For this practice,
I'd like you to really draw inward.
Be completely here with you.
Letting everything outside of this moment take a step back.
Knowing that you can return to everything that you need to attend to after this practice.
But for this moment,
Being completely here with yourself.
Let yourself settle,
Drawing completely inward,
Continuing to allow the breath to flow at its natural pace,
Let it stream in and out of your nose,
Continuing to rest your awareness in your chest,
Deeply connecting with yourself.
Allow yourself to become quiet and still,
And with this awareness in your chest resting inside of yourself,
Let this awareness expand through the ribcage,
Through the lungs.
Let it touch your heart,
Space between the shoulders.
Feel the breath pushing up against your ribs,
Against your skin,
Against your physical boundary.
And then relax and soften the whole right side of your ribcage.
Right side of the waist,
Right shoulder joint,
The right upper arm,
And the right elbow,
Right forearm,
Soften the right wrist,
And soften and relax the whole right palm,
Softening through all the fingers on your right hand into the fingertips,
Allowing your breath to move in and out of the chest.
Soften and relax your left ribcage,
Left side of the waist,
And your left shoulder joint.
Relax your left upper arm and the left elbow,
Forearm,
Left wrist,
Soften and relax,
Whole left palm of your hand,
All the fingers on your left hand,
All the way into the fingertips,
Continuing to allow the breath move in and out of your chest,
Softening from the ribcage down into the abdominal wall,
Softening the area around your navel and behind the navel.
Relax into a space deep down into the pelvis,
Between the hip bones,
Letting your awareness rest here between the hip bones and the space deep down in the pelvis.
And have a sense of resting and bathing in the space of your pelvis,
In your inner resourcefulness.
Relax your right hip,
Right thigh,
Right knee,
The right calf and the right ankle,
The whole right foot,
Sole of the foot,
And all the toes of your right foot.
Relax your left hip,
Left thigh,
The left knee and the left calf,
Left ankle and the left foot,
Sole of the foot and all the toes of your left foot,
Continuing to allow the breath to move in and out of the body in its own unique rhythm,
Feeling and sensing yourself in your entirety,
Further softening your skin,
Softening the skin of your entire body,
Remaining completely connected to this moment,
To yourself.
Now letting the breath float up through your neck,
Through the throat towards your chin.
Let the breath expand into your face and ears.
Let the breath move up into the head,
Expanding the skull gently on the inhalation.
Let the head soften on the exhalation.
Let the whole body soften on the exhalation.
Release your temples and the forehead,
Letting your awareness float on your breath,
Penetrating your entire body and the brain,
Being completely here with you now,
And continuing to soften with every breath,
Gently feeling the breath push up against your ribs,
Against your skin,
And then letting the breath expand further and fill up the space around you,
Around your body.
Allow your breath to take up space,
Allowing your body to take up space and your being to take up space,
Being completely here with you now,
Nourishing yourself in your own presence,
Connected to this moment.
Let the breath feed down into your toes,
Into the fingers and the fingertips.
Let this expanded breath feed and nourish your entire body,
Your entire being,
Filling yourself up,
Being completely here with you now.
Nothing to do,
Nowhere to go,
Being completely here with you now.
Slow stream of breath in and out of your nose,
Resting,
Connected to yourself,
Grounded in yourself,
And then slowly continuing to allow your breath to deepen.
Become aware of your body once more.
Feel the body in its physical form,
Coming back to your senses.
Notice the feeling of the clothes on your skin.
Feel the ground or the support beneath you.
And remaining grounded in this felt sense of yourself.
Begin to slowly move your toes and your fingers.
You may gently want to move the head or the neck.
And then bringing your knees up into your chest and turning over to lie on your right hand side.
And whenever you feel ready,
Bringing yourself up to a seat,
Taking a moment to allow your blood pressure to normalize.
Take another one or two deeper breaths at your own pace.
Reorienting yourself back into the space around you,
Into the world around you.
And then remaining anchored within yourself.
Take a gentle moment to close this practice.
You can draw both hands together in front of your chest in prayer position.
Thank you for your practice.
Namaste.
