Namaste.
This is Ali and this is a short guided yoga nidra practice.
You might lie down and get comfortable and use this guidance when you need a pocket of pause throughout your day or a little reset for your nervous system to bring clarity to the mind and regeneration to the body.
Take the next moment or two to fine tune your comfort for deep rest and what I sometimes refer to as a portal into peace.
Ensure that your body feels completely supported and as you settle in,
Take a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth,
Allowing your whole body to sink into the support of the earth and settle into the natural rhythm of your breath.
Could you take a moment now to consciously welcome a softening into the muscle of your tongue,
Releasing into all of the little micro muscles around the jaw,
All of the intricate little muscles around and behind the eyes.
Relaxation flooding through the whole face and into the scalp.
You might even imagine the two hemispheres of your brain like tensed up muscles that you could relax and soften open,
Letting your attention cascade down from the head into the heart,
Letting attention land in the center of your chest,
Dropping into this sacred space of your heart.
Taking a moment here to welcome your Sankalpa,
Repeating it mentally or simply welcoming it as a feeling,
A felt sensation in your body,
The truth of this desire of the heart spreading through every cell.
If you do not have a particular Sankalpa that you're working with,
You might welcome the phrase,
I am entering into a portal of peace.
I am resting deeply,
Body,
Mind,
And spirit.
And now,
A rotation of consciousness,
Allowing attention to flow from different points of awareness throughout the body,
Starting at the mind's eye center,
Center of the forehead,
The tip of the tongue,
The root of the tongue,
The center of the throat,
The base of the throat,
The center of the heart,
The right side of the chest,
Right shoulder,
Elbow,
Wrist,
Center of the palm,
Tip of the thumb,
Tip of the second finger,
Third,
Fourth,
The back of the hand,
Wrist,
Elbow,
Shoulder,
Shoulder blade,
The center of the heart,
The side of the chest,
Left shoulder,
Elbow,
Wrist,
Center of the palm,
Tip of the thumb,
Tip of the second finger,
Third,
Fourth,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Elbow,
Shoulder,
Shoulder blade,
Center of the heart,
Center of the solar plexus,
The low belly,
The base of the spine,
The right hip,
Knee,
Ankle,
Sole of the foot,
All five toes,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Over to the left side hip,
Knee,
Sole of the foot,
All five toes,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Base of the spine.
Could you feel the naturally occurring rhythm of your breath as you're sensing the base of the spine?
On the next inhalation,
Could you imagine breath and energy flowing up the spine?
On the exhale,
Breath and energy flowing down towards the tailbone.
On the inhale,
Breath and energy flowing up the spine.
On the exhale,
Breath and energy flowing down towards the crown of the head.
On the inhale,
Breath and energy flowing down towards the crown of the head.
On the exhale,
Breath and energy flowing down towards the crown of the head.
On the exhale,
Breath and energy flowing down towards the crown of the head.
Just imagining as if a wave of energy could flow up the back body as you inhale,
And flow over and down the front body as you exhale.
Inhaling up the back body,
Exhaling down the front body,
And releasing that breath.
Let yourself simply rest here,
In a sense of spacious presence,
And from this space of deep,
Deep rest,
Could you welcome back your sankalpa.
Once again.
Maybe stating it internally,
Or simply feeling it.
Could you begin to welcome the sensation of inhalations rolling into exhalations?
Noticing the shape of your body and the surface that you're resting on.
Welcoming any sounds in your space.
Beginning to reorient to your surroundings ever so slowly.
Could you take a deep breath in through the nose,
And then release slowly through the mouth.
You might start to wiggle the fingers,
The toes,
Or you might touch the forefinger to the thumb,
And feel the sensations between the thumb and each fingertip.
Fingertips innervated for so much sensation.
And just noticing that.
You might start to add more movements as you're ready.
Maybe taking a big stretch,
Or hugging the knees in and gently rocking on the back body.
And might you notice how you feel in this moment,
Allowing yourself to simply bask in all of the beneficial biochemicals,
Neurotransmitters,
And energies that have been boosted throughout this practice.
Allowing yourself to simply rest and simmer in this synergy of beneficial biochemicals which may feel like you've entered into a portal of peace.
There may be a sense of feeling calm or grounded in the nervous system,
Or clarity in the mind.
Or a sense of feeling deeply rested in this short period of time.
A sense of being nourished by deep rest.
And you might take a moment here to make a vow to yourself to carry any of this peace or calm that you've created forward into your day,
Into your interactions,
Into your relationships in the world.
Once again,
Thank you so much for joining me here today.
May you be happy,
May you be healthy,
May you be peaceful,
May you be free.
Namaste.
