Yoga Nidra: Rewiring Your Nervous System

A guided practice leading you into a 'yogic sleep' in which you bring the body and mind to complete rest, while an aspect of your awareness remains present to the experience. In this state between wakefulness and sleep, your nervous system in particular, experiences a deep sense of repair and recovery.

Transcript

Welcome to your Yoga Nidra practice in rewiring your nervous system. For this practice, You want to be lying down and be completely comfortable. You could do this on the floor with some padding like a yoga mat or a blanket. I suggest placing a pillow or second blanket underneath your knees to support your lower back and possibly something small behind your head to support the back of the skull and the neck. I can also recommend placing a light piece of fabric over your eyes to blind out any light stimulation and to calm the frontal lobe of your brain, Decreasing its activity and possibly also a blanket or sheath over your body to help soothe the nervous system as a whole. Get yourself comfortable lying on your back with your palms facing upward. Shoulder blades softly slide down your back. Allow yourself to settle. Make sure that you are completely comfortable so that you do not have to move for the next 20 minutes or so. Make your last micro adjustments and then move into a place of stillness. Become aware of your body releasing into the support of gravity. Feel your bones becoming heavy. Allow the back of your head to rest heavy. Feel your chest release and the shoulders. And let your hips and your pelvis get heavy. Let the bones of your legs rest heavy. Feel your ankles and knees heavy. Become aware of your breathing, Deep diaphragmatic breaths. Let's do a few of them. Inhaling through the nose, Feel your belly rise. Exhaling through the nose, Feel your belly soften. Inhaling the belly expands, Exhale and the belly folds. Continue breathing like this for eight more breaths or so at your own pace. With each inhalation, The belly rises. With each exhalation, The belly folds. With every inhalation, Breathing in nourishment, Strength, Vitality. With every exhale, Releasing and letting go of any tension. Feel the quality of the inhale filling your up, Belly rises. Quality of the exhale is a deep release. Relaxing fully and completely. Create no effort. Just watching the breath move in and out of your body and feeling the qualities of rest that accompany your breathing. With every round of breath, You become a little bit more relaxed. Now release any technique of breathing and allow your breath to flow naturally. Set the intention that you will remain alert, Awake and aware throughout this practice. Open your awareness to the experience. Tuning in to your heartbeat. Take your attention, Draw inward. Take your awareness into your midbrain, Into the center of your head and invite this area to soften and relax. Then take your awareness down into your throat and invite the space to soften and release. Bring your awareness into your right shoulder joint, Invited to relax and soften. Awareness to your right elbow joint, Relax and soften. Awareness to your right wrist, Relax. To the tip of your right thumb, Tip of your index finger, Middle finger, Ring finger, Little finger. Back to your right wrist, Soften. Right elbow, Feel it heavy. Right shoulder joint, Center of the throat, Relax. Awareness to your left shoulder joint, Invited to relax and soften. Awareness to your left elbow joint, Soften and release. Awareness to your left wrist, Soften and relax. To the tip of your left thumb, Index finger, Middle finger, Ring finger, Little finger. Back to your left wrist, Relax. Left elbow, Feel it heavy. Left shoulder joint, Center of the throat, Soften. Let your awareness move down into your heart center, In the middle of the chest and relax. Let your awareness rest in the center of your chest. Feel the body asleep, Feel the mind asleep, But there's an aspect of your awareness that remains awake. Body sleeps, Mind sleeps, But awareness remains awake. Awareness remains alert and awake, Residing in your breath, Feeling unwavering peace and clarity. Take joy in resting inward, In this state of loving awareness, And then beginning to deepen your breath, Moving the breath out into your extremities, Into your toes and fingers, Gently inviting your body back, Inviting your mind to come back. Take your time, And as you feel ready, Take one hand to your heart, One hand onto your belly, Feeling the rhythm at your core, Feel the connection to the peace inside of you. Let the belly rise, And the belly folds, And then taking your time here, Slowly opening your eyes before moving out into the rest of your day. Namaste.