Namaste.
Find a comfortable position,
Laying down on the earth or in your bed.
Take a moment to affirm what you are doing.
I am entering into the practice of yoga nidra.
And notice what intention you might be carrying into this particular practice.
What's needed here?
What does my body need?
Sensing into that.
What does my mind need?
My whole nervous system,
Sensing into that.
And notice if there's anything you could do,
Any adjustments you could take to be a little bit more comfortable.
Begin to welcome the room and sense the environment around you.
Sensing the touch of air on your skin,
Coolness or warmth.
Notice where your body touches the surface that's lending support.
Awareness scanning through your body ever so gently.
And begin to notice any tension that's not necessary in this moment.
For instance,
In the hinges of the jaw,
Sensing deep inside the ear.
In the eyes,
They may carry tension from thinking,
From the thinking mind.
But you soften the eyes,
The tissues behind the eyes,
The shoulders,
And the shoulder blades.
Welcoming the different sounds that are coming from outside of the room,
Sounds inside of the room,
Sound of your own breath,
Your own body.
Letting the body be just as it is.
Welcoming the body with the same loving attention,
The same adoration that you would welcome a beloved child or a dear friend.
Welcoming the body to lend in this moment.
Might you begin to feel the basic life force of the body,
Throbbing,
Pulsing,
Warmth,
The vibrating of the body itself,
Sensing the body resting,
Just resting as being,
Not doing or thinking,
Just being.
Spacious awareness.
Let your whole nervous system,
Your whole body and mind rest for a moment,
Nothing to do,
Nowhere to go.
Sensing both the shimmering,
Pulsing,
Underlying life force and begin to feel or sense that beingness.
You might even invite the phrase well-being,
The felt sense of well-being.
And might every part of your intention be to pair and weave well-being and being into everything else.
Every thought,
Emotion,
Experience paired with this underlying sense of innate wholeness,
Innate well-being.
I'm scanning through the body.
For the next few moments,
Begin to invite your body to connect to the element of earth,
The earth element.
If it feels right for you,
You might imagine your body like the trunk of a giant tree fallen in the woods.
Heavy,
Solid,
A mighty tree resting in the earth,
Imagining your body sinking deeper into the soft ground all around you,
Inviting the fragrance of the soil and the moss,
The leaves,
The fragrance of the earth itself,
Any lingering aromas in the distance.
The fragrances of wood,
Earthy tones,
And welcoming also the sounds,
The sounds of the forest,
The symphony of wildlife,
Symphony of elements,
Wind in the trees.
You might imagine a babbling brook in the distance,
Noticing the ears listening,
Allowing your body to become even deeper and deeper relaxed,
Softening into the element of earth,
Cradled by the support of the earth,
And welcoming the whole matrix of roots and rocks beneath your body,
Feeling the interconnectedness of the root system of all of the trees reaching up in all directions towards the sky,
Inviting the qualities of the earth itself,
The abundance,
The beauty,
The intelligence,
The nurturing quality,
The maternal quality,
The unconditional support beneath you,
The unconditional love,
Welcoming each of these qualities of the earth into your own body,
Sensing your own body as a microcosm of the macrocosm,
As above,
So below,
Allowing your whole body to bathe in the healing energy of the earth,
The sounds,
The fragrances,
And begin to scan awareness through the physical body,
Noticing the sensations inside the mouth,
Relaxing the tongue,
Parting the jaw,
Noticing the flow of air inside the nose,
The light beyond the eyelids or the darkness,
The sensations of the eyes themselves,
The tissues behind the eyes and around the eyes,
Welcoming the right eyebrow,
The left eyebrow,
The entire forehead,
Sensing the scalp and the hair,
The whole right ear,
The earlobe,
The folds of the ear,
Deep inside the right ear,
The whole left ear,
Earlobe,
The folds of the ear,
And deep inside the ear,
Noticing the sinuses and the flow of air moving into the throat,
Noticing the out-breath,
The in-breath,
And begin to draw your attention down into the lungs,
Feeling the lungs filling with the element of air and emptying out.
As sensation,
The volume of the lungs shifting as you breathe,
Welcoming the right shoulder,
The upper arm,
The elbow,
The forearm,
The wrist,
The palm of the hand,
The back of the hand,
Thumb,
First finger,
Second,
Third,
And pinky finger,
All of the fingertips,
The right hand,
Feeling the palm and inside of the hand,
Feeling the hand from the inside out,
And welcoming the whole right arm simultaneously,
Shimmering with sensation,
Giving time for awareness,
To feel its way across,
Feeling your way over to the left shoulder,
The upper arm,
The elbow,
The forearm,
The wrist,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
And the right hand,
Left thumb,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third,
Pinky finger,
All of the fingertips,
The left hand,
Palm of the hand,
And deep inside the hand itself,
Feeling the hand from the inside out,
And the whole left hand and arm simultaneously,
Noticing,
Sensing,
And giving time for awareness to transition to the diaphragm,
Center of the belly,
Noticing a subtle rise and fall as sensation,
Welcoming all of the internal organs within the belly with loving attention,
With that same adoration that you might have for a beloved child or dear friend,
Sensing the pelvis,
The pelvic bowl,
The right hip,
The thigh,
Front and back,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel of the foot,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Big toe of the right foot,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth,
Pinky toe,
The entire right foot inside and outside,
Alive with sensation,
Already happening sensation,
The foot and the entire right leg simultaneously,
Shimmering with awareness and sensation,
Giving time to feel your way from the right leg all the way across to the left hip,
Notice if the eyes try to get involved,
And you feel your way across and relax the visual cortex,
The left hip alive with sensation,
The left thigh,
Front and back,
The knee,
The lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel of the foot,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth,
Pinky toe,
All five toes,
The left foot,
The entire foot coming alive with sensation,
Already happening aliveness,
Vibration,
The whole left foot and leg together,
Simultaneously,
Alive with radiant sensation,
And sensing the whole front of the body,
The entire front of the body,
And sensing the entire back of the body sinking into the earth,
The entire right side of the body,
The entire left side of the body,
Both hemispheres of the body simultaneously,
Sensing the body as one cohesive field of sensation,
Bring awareness to the ebb and flow of the breath,
Allowing prana to flow throughout the body,
Trillions of cells breathing,
Buzzing with aliveness,
Sensing the ebb and flow of the breath,
Setting aside thinking,
Dissolving into being,
Feel the weight of the body on the earth,
Welcoming back a sense of the room around you,
Laying quietly,
Noticing the effects of the practice of yoga nidra on the body,
On the mind.
This is still going on?
Laying here for as long as you need to.
Or slowly waking the body up one small gesture at a time.
Fingering the fingers,
The toes.
Thank you for practicing yoga nidra with me today.
For soothing your nervous system in this way.
You can think of yoga nidra like a hygiene for the nervous system.
Something to be practiced regularly.
Luka samasta suki no bhavan tu.
May all beings be happy,
Healthy,
Peaceful,
And free.
If you'd like more yoga nidras from me,
Please type namaste in the comments or let me know how you feel.
Have a beautiful day.
Namaste.
