Beginning this yoga nidra to calm the nervous system in a comfortable lying down position.
Letting your eyes close or your eye gaze to become soft.
Beginning this yoga nidra in a place that is safe for you to enter a deep state of rest.
During your yoga nidra practice,
Welcome every experience as a messenger.
I am your guide on this journey and you are your own best teacher.
Bring attention to your senses,
Allowing each perception to come to you.
Sensations where your body touches the surface underneath you.
The earth rising up to meet your body,
Supported by the ground beneath you.
And recall your intention,
Your sankalpa.
You might arrive on your phrase,
Uttered in the positive and present tense.
Or you might work with the sankalpa I offer you.
I have the inner strength and resilience to support myself throughout my journey of life.
I have the inner strength and resilience to support myself throughout my journey of life.
Repeating your sankalpa three times,
Silently in your mind.
Fully welcoming and affirming your intention with your entire body and mind.
Bring attention to your inner resource,
Your safe haven of peace and tranquility.
Turn your attention to a visualization of a place in nature.
A place from memory or from your imagination.
A place in nature that nurtures feelings of being secure,
Peaceful and at ease.
Resting back and being absorbed into the image that arises in your mind.
Without judgment or the need for perfection.
There is no right or wrong answer.
Feel yourself travelling through this place in nature.
Where does your body meet the ground?
What lies beneath you?
What are the sights around you?
What are the smells around you?
What are the sounds around you?
The fragrance of the plants.
The ripples and flows of air touching your skin.
Perhaps you sense the sound of trickling water,
Cascading water.
Perhaps you sense the sound of birds in the distance,
Waking the world with their song.
Images that create feelings of being secure,
Peaceful and at ease.
The felt sense of well-being throughout your body.
Know that you can return to this inner resource at any time,
Day or night.
And throughout your practice of Yoga Nidra.
Whenever you feel the need to be totally secure and at ease.
Now allow my words to be your words as you rotate attention throughout your body.
Left shoulder.
Left upper arm.
Elbow.
Forearm.
Wrist,
Palm and fingers.
The entire left arm.
Right shoulder.
Right upper arm.
Elbow.
Forearm.
Wrist,
Palm and fingers.
The entire right arm.
Welcoming both arms at the same time.
Upper chest and back.
Mid chest and back.
Belly and lower back.
Ceiling and floor of the pelvis,
Sacrum.
Letting go of thinking.
The entire torso alive,
Breathing.
Left hip.
Thigh.
Knee,
Shin and calf.
Ankle,
Foot and toes.
The entire left leg.
Alert.
Attentive.
Sensing the right hip.
Thigh.
Knee,
Shin and calf.
Ankle,
Foot and toes.
The entire right leg.
Welcoming both legs at the same time.
Sensing the front of the body.
The back of the body.
Left side.
Right side.
Sensation deep inside the body.
On the surface.
Welcoming the entire body.
And if helpful,
Interweave your inner resource,
Your safe haven of peace and tranquility.
Be aware of the body breathing itself.
Flows of sensation and energy as breath flows in and out.
The inflow and outflow of the breath through the nostrils.
The chest and belly gently rising and releasing.
The expansion and softening of the ribcage.
Begin alternating sensation from one side of the body to the opposite side.
Like this.
At the top of each inhalation,
Shift your attention across the midline into the left nostril inside of the body.
Exhaling,
Sense the left nostril inside of the body.
At the top of your next inhale,
Shift your attention across the midline into the right nostril inside of the body.
Exhaling,
Sense the right nostril inside of the body.
At the top of your next inhale,
Shift your attention across the midline into the left nostril inside of the body.
Exhaling,
Sense the left nostril inside of the body.
Going back and forth at your own breathing pace.
From one side of the body to the other.
Letting go of thinking.
Welcoming sensation first in one nostril inside of the body,
Then the other nostril inside of the body.
Now shift your attention into both nostrils and the entire body.
Welcome flows of sensation and energy coming and going throughout the body.
The entire body breathing itself.
Expanding in all directions.
Inwardly.
Outwardly.
Breathing freely,
Fully with ease.
And softly and lightly attentive to all that is now present.
Letting go of thinking.
Simply resting.
And if helpful,
Interweave your inner resource.
Staying with the flows of energy and sensation that are present as your body breathes itself.
Not analyzing,
Simply welcoming sensation.
And everything to be just as it is,
Without trying to understand or change anything.
Take a moment to reflect on the journey you have just taken.
Be aware of your intention,
Your sankalpa once more.
Repeating it three times silently in your mind.
And take your time now to transition into your waking life.
Sense the room around you.
Feel your body on the earth.
Begin to open and close your eyes.
Returning to your eyes open state of waking consciousness.
Alert.
Awake.
Take a moment to be intentional about transitioning from this part of your day.
And into the rest of your day.
Perhaps affirming why you choose to practice yoga nidra.
Begin to move your body.
And know that you might be more sensitive to light,
To sound.
In the hours following this yoga nidra.
And offering you the invitation to invite in gratitude.
For taking this time for yourself.
