Hello,
This is Amanda and I'll be guiding you through your Yoga Nidra practice today.
Welcome to this practice that's designed for stress relief and stress release.
Today's session is an invitation to step out of the busyness of the mind and into a space of deep rest and restoration.
Through guided relaxation,
Breath awareness,
And gentle attention,
You'll give your body permission to release tension and your nervous system a chance to reset.
There's nothing to do and nowhere to be.
Simply allow yourself to rest,
Receive,
And let go.
Begin by lying down in a comfortable position.
You can be on the floor,
A couch,
Or a bed.
Let your body settle naturally.
Allow yourself to ground down.
Allow the ground beneath you to fully support your weight.
As you get comfortable here,
You can place a pillow under the knees,
Under the head and neck.
You can cover yourself with a blanket.
You can cover your eyes with an eye covering,
Allowing yourself to get 1% more comfortable as you settle in for your practice.
Allow the ground beneath you to fully support your weight.
There's nothing to hold,
Nothing to carry.
Simply allow yourself to rest,
Receive,
And let go.
Rest,
Receive,
And let go.
Now take a slow breath in,
In through your nose,
And a long,
Easy breath out.
You can sigh it out if that feels good.
Again,
Deep inhale breath,
Slow,
Gentle,
Easy in.
And then exhale,
Letting the day begin to fall away.
One more time,
Deep inhale breath in.
And exhale,
Sigh it out.
Now you can release any control that you had over the breath,
And just bring awareness to your natural flows of inhale and exhale,
Noticing the breath as it moves in and out of the body.
Now you can imagine each exhale as a release valve,
Letting up pressure slowly,
Steadily.
So inhale,
Gently filling.
And then once you're ready,
Exhale,
Releasing.
Releasing everything that you no longer need to hold on to,
That no longer serves you,
Inhale,
Filling.
Exhale,
Releasing.
Releasing tension,
Efforts,
Mental noise.
One more time,
Inhale,
Filling.
And exhale,
Releasing.
No force here,
Just a gradual and gentle unwinding as you settle into your practice.
As we begin our practice,
I'll invite you to set a sankalpa or an intention for our practice today.
The sankalpa that I'll invite you to use for today's practice is,
I am soft,
I am relaxed.
I am soft,
I am relaxed.
Gently repeat that to yourself three times in your mind,
Planting the seed of intention within.
I am soft,
I am relaxed.
As you continue to breathe in and out,
We'll shift the awareness to the body.
There's nothing you need to do here other than following the sound of my voice,
Bringing awareness to the various parts of your body.
Bring awareness to your forehead,
Soften the space between the eyebrows,
Eyes,
Cheeks,
Jaw,
Let the jaw hang slightly loose.
Neck,
Shoulders,
Allow the shoulders to be heavy,
Allow the shoulders to drop away from the ears,
Right arm,
Upper arm,
Hand,
Fingers,
The thumb,
The second finger,
The third finger,
The fourth finger,
The fifth finger,
The whole hand,
The whole right arm.
Now shifting awareness to the left arm,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Hand,
The left thumb,
Forearm,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
The whole left hand,
The whole left arm.
Now bring awareness to the chest,
Upper back,
Middle back,
Lower back,
Let the belly be soft,
Not held,
Releasing all tension from your belly,
The hips,
The pelvis,
The right leg,
Thigh,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
The whole right foot.
Now bring awareness to your left leg,
Releasing.
Now imagine your body as a container,
Holding on to the stress of your day,
Your week,
Your life,
Without judgment,
Simply noticing.
Now imagine a small opening at the base of the container,
And with each exhaled breath,
A little begins to drain out,
Not all at once,
But a slow and steady release.
The pressure,
Expectations,
Responsibilities,
Anything that feels like it's been weighing on you.
Let it flow out,
Drop by drop.
With each breath out,
Feel yourself releasing,
Becoming softer,
Lighter,
Less burdened.
I'll give you a few moments here with this.
Now bring awareness to the feeling of tightness.
Recall the sensation of holding,
Bracing,
Clenching.
Now shift to ease,
Soft,
Open,
Unguarded.
Feel what it feels like to be easeful and soft in your body.
You can move gently between these two,
Tightness and ease.
Recognizing that your body knows how to soften,
How to relax,
How to feel light and easeful.
I'll invite you to revisit your sankalpa here,
If you set one at the beginning of practice.
I am soft.
I am relaxed.
I am soft.
I am relaxed.
Considering if this is something you'd like to take with you for the rest of your day,
Or perhaps leave here in your practice.
Reminding yourself that you are allowed to rest,
You don't have to carry it all.
Perhaps repeating your sankalpa silently three times without force.
I am soft.
I am relaxed.
Begin to notice your breath again.
Feeling the inhales and exhales move in and out of your body.
The natural and steady rhythm of breath moving in and out of your body.
I'll invite you to take two small inhales followed by an exhale with me here today.
Small inhales in.
As you're ready,
Exhale,
Sigh it out.
Exhale as you're ready,
Sigh it out.
Once more,
Two sips of air in.
And then exhale,
Sigh it out.
As you're ready,
Gently begin to move fingers and toes.
You can wiggle fingers and toes,
Do little wrist circles and ankle circles.
Just gently and slowly waking the body back up.
Perhaps reaching your hands above your head,
Stretching your toes long.
Just beginning to bring awareness back to the body,
Slowly waking yourself up.
Taking your time returning.
And carrying a sense of lightness,
Softness and ease that we've cultivated through this practice with you.
As you're ready,
You can roll to your right side and take a few moments in the fetal position.
Gently and lovingly bringing yourself back to your physical space.
As you're ready,
You can slowly make your way back to a seated position.
And I'd invite you to consider if anything showed up for you in your practice today that you'd like to carry with you for the rest of the day.
Perhaps jot down in a journal.
When you're ready,
You can open your eyes and bring your awareness back into the space around you.
Your practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today and I'll see you again soon.
Namaste.
