Welcome,
This is your invitation to pause.
This won't be a full yoga nidra practice,
But a body scan with some relaxing to bring in a rapid deep rest.
It can meet you wherever you are,
Perhaps feeling a bit overwhelmed or just deeply tired and needing a couple of moments to come back into the body and have a quick deep rest to reset the body,
To reset the mind,
To close the mental tabs,
To rest the body,
Reset the nervous system and return to your day with a bit more vitality.
So when you're ready,
Finding a comfortable place,
Lying down on a bed,
Sofa or the earth,
Closing down the eyes and let's go in,
Allowing your body to get heavy,
To be completely held by the ground below,
Starting by taking two sips of air in through the nose and a gentle sigh out through the mouth.
Let's do that two more times,
Each exhale a gentle release,
Feeling the weight of your bones,
Your eyes,
Forehead,
Releasing tension.
Let the ground do the holding now,
To hold all that you've been carrying,
Even if just for now,
So you can truly rest.
Begin to notice the breath,
Not trying to change it,
Simply watch it.
Each inhale a gentle recharge of energy,
Each exhale a release of what we no longer need to hold,
Inhale bringing in that new fresh vitality,
Exhale release the excess charge in the body,
Begin to gently move your awareness through the body,
As though your attention is a gentle wave,
Bringing calm,
Softness and a subtle refresh of energy to each place it touches,
Starting at the crown of the head,
Just resting your awareness here,
Travelling down to the forehead,
A softening of every muscle in the forehead,
Forehead,
Feel it travelling through the whole scalp,
As it softens the ears,
The eyes,
Feeling all the little muscles and tissues behind the eyes,
Untangle and soften,
The jaw,
Loose,
Relaxed,
The throat,
Feeling the subtle flow of air,
As the throat opens,
As it relaxes,
Letting the awareness slide down the shoulders,
As they drop away from the ears,
Allowing the tension to slide off and be absorbed into the ground.
Awareness moving down through the arms,
Upper arms,
Elbows,
Forearms,
Wrists,
All the way a quiet exhale through the hands,
Perhaps tuning in to any pulsing of energy,
Of your awareness,
In the palm of your hands,
Travelling down the chest,
The belly,
A gentle rise and fall,
Let it be effortless,
Watch,
Feel,
The subtle movement of breath,
Travelling down into the hips,
Heavy,
Grounded,
Shins,
To the soles of the feet,
Feel your whole body as one,
From the crown of the head,
To the tips of the toes,
The entire body resting,
Deeply,
As it's held by awareness itself,
Noticing the breath again,
Feeling the whole body breathing,
Each inhale a quiet charge of life,
Each exhale a soft release,
Feel your whole being,
Quietly,
Restoring itself,
All on its own,
As it rests,
Deeply here,
And as we did at the start of the practice,
Let's take two sips of air in through the nose,
And a gentle sigh out through the mouth,
Begin to sense the edges of your body once more,
The weight of your limbs,
The air on your skin,
Slowly waking the body with small movements,
A wiggle of the fingers,
The toes,
Maybe an overhead stretch,
And just before returning to your day,
Take a moment to feel what you've cultivated here,
A few quiet moments of nourishment,
Of calm,
Of deep rest,
Make the effects ripple outwards through your day,
And when you're ready,
Opening the eyes,
And coming back into the room.
Thank you for joining me today,
Have a beautiful day.
