Live Recording: Yin Yoga + Yoga Nidra (Jan. 8, 2025)

This track is a recording of a LIVE Insight Timer class on January 8, 2025. You will be invited to think of a word that describes how you want to feel after this practice. That will be the beginning of the process of creating your affirmation for this class and to be repeated during the yoga nidra. No yoga experience is necessary for this class. Grab all the props you need to make yourself comfortable.

This yoga nidra includes a body scan and you will be invited to repeat your Sankalpa, your intention, worded as a positive statement. This track includes drone music in the background and fades into silence.

Transcript

Welcome,

It's Amelia Andaleon with the Spirits to Fit Yoga podcast.

This is a live recording of a session recorded on January 8th,

2025 on Insight Timer.

And the name of this session was called Spirits to Fit Yoga,

To nourish the body,

Mind,

And spirit.

I'll lead you through an opening meditation,

Welcome you,

And invite you to think about a word,

To think about an intention to set for your practice.

And after the meditation,

Move you through a few yin yoga postures.

So grab all the props that you need,

Pillows,

Blankets,

Blocks,

Anything to make you feel comfortable during the practice.

And during the yin yoga practice,

I'll begin to invite you to be as still as possible in the body and awaken aware with the mind to observe and notice.

Thank you for joining me today.

I always appreciate your ratings,

Your views,

Your comments.

Enjoy today's episode.

Peace out.

Welcome to Spirits to Fit Yoga.

My name is Amelia,

And I'm going to be leading you through a practice,

A Spirits to Fit Yoga practice,

Which is going to be partly yin yoga and yoga nidra,

Which is a meditation.

And I'm going to talk a little bit about yoga philosophy as you're holding the yin yoga poses for about three to five minutes at a time.

And I see the sun rays are actually coming in nicely here.

Good evening,

Shelley from Pennsylvania.

Good to have you.

Thank you for the hearts.

Hello from Chile,

Virginia.

Is it cold there,

William?

Matthew from Melbourne,

Australia.

Good to see you.

It's actually,

It's pretty warm today,

But we've been having,

I'm in Northern California.

I'm in near San Francisco.

And I don't know if anybody's from California,

Like Los Angeles,

Close to there.

That's where all the fires are happening and lots of prayers down there for everybody being affected there.

The first responders,

The firefighters.

It's a pretty crazy situation down there in Southern California.

All right,

So get set up for a practice,

For a yin yoga practice and a yoga nidra practice.

So what you might want is,

I've got my yoga mat back here.

I actually am going to suggest two blocks or just something to support underneath your knees or your legs if you need it.

And you can also grab pillows.

You can grab a couple of pillows and grab a couple of blankets.

So if you don't have that,

Go ahead and grab that and just have it ready when we get there.

And then get to your mat.

And we're going to start in a seated position.

All right,

So if you haven't chimed in yet on the chat box,

Feel free to say hello,

Share where you're from today.

And I'll ask a question if you feel like sharing.

So go ahead and close your eyes and just take a couple of breaths.

What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of how would you like to feel after the session today?

It's like what is it that you feel like you're wanting to bring into your life,

Into your experience?

If you feel like putting that in the chat box,

Feel free to type that in.

Refreshed.

Great.

And Matthew,

You're in Melbourne,

Australia.

Is it morning for you right now,

Matthew?

I think it is,

Yeah?

Okay.

Chris?

Yeah,

Morning for you.

Great.

Chris from Greenville,

South Carolina.

So nice to see you.

William,

You want to feel open.

Matthew,

It's summer.

Yeah,

Yeah,

Yeah.

Nice.

Shelly,

Relief.

Yeah,

So if anybody came in,

Chris and anybody else that came in,

I just asked everybody to close their eyes and just think about what is the first word that comes to mind when you think of how would you like to feel at the end of the session or during the session?

All right.

So whether you've typed anything in or not,

Go ahead and make yourself comfortable.

Close your eyes.

Chris,

You want to feel free?

Yeah.

And everybody think about the word you just shared in this box.

And when I look at the words that are here,

I see a connection to freedom from suffering,

A connection to an experience of ease.

And I feel like that could be something that's a common thread between all the words that you shared here today.

And notice how you feel right now.

And compared to the word that you shared,

Like Matthew said,

Refreshed,

You feel refreshed or maybe you don't.

That's why you shared your word.

And William,

Open.

Are you feeling closed?

Shelly said you want relief.

Think about what is it that you want relief from.

And Chris wanting to feel free.

Where is it that you don't feel free?

Well,

Take some time to reflect on that.

And take your time to acknowledge it.

Whatever it is,

A situation.

A relationship,

A work situation,

Whatever it is.

And just breathe into it and send some compassion.

Compassion to anywhere in your life,

Anywhere in your body,

Or you might feel tight.

Or you might be feeling some anxiety or some gripping.

And the opposite of ease,

The opposite of freedom.

And as you breathe and notice how you feel,

Consider every single breath that you're sending compassion.

Compassion towards yourself,

Compassion towards that situation.

And then start to feel the shoulders drop down from your ears as you're exhaling,

Seeing if there's any tension in the forehead and the eyes,

The neck,

The shoulders,

Anywhere in the body.

And let's do a little bit of breath work together.

So take two inhales through the nose,

Inhale,

Hold.

And with the mouth open,

Sigh,

And let it go.

And do that again.

Take two breaths,

Filling up,

Feeling the belly fill up,

Expanding all the way into the upper torso.

And then with your exhale,

Sigh,

Release.

Let it release,

Let something go.

Do that two more times on your own.

As you do this breath work,

Activating your vagus nerve,

Awakening your parasympathetic nervous system,

Starting to relieve any stress.

And then again,

Those of you that shared your word,

Bring to mind,

What would it look like for you?

Matthew,

What does it look like for you?

What do you look like when you're feeling refreshed?

William,

What does it look like for you when it's open,

When you feel open?

Shelly,

What do you feel like and look like and see?

What do you see when you're relieved?

And Chris,

What do you see when you feel free?

I just noticed that I had to spend some time breathing into that intention.

Acknowledge yourself for showing up today to nourish your body and your mind and spirit,

Just by being here,

By being mindful,

By taking this time to be awake and aware.

And bring your hands to your heart and Anjali Mudra,

Thumbs touch into your heart.

Breathe into your intention,

Breathe into your word.

And sigh,

Release attachment to outcomes or results.

Do that again,

Breathe in.

Let go of attachments.

And slowly start to work your way onto your mat and lay on your back.

So I'll be mostly up at the camera talking to you,

But I will go to the yoga mat just to show you this setup.

So as you lay down on your mat,

Again,

Maybe having some props next to you.

Can you see me through these sun rays?

I think you can.

All right.

So as you lay down here,

Lay on your back and first start hugging your knees into your chest.

And stay there hugging your knees and just notice how you feel.

Notice if you feel it in the lower back and the hips.

Notice the weight of the back of the head on the ground,

The back of the shoulders.

Now hold on here in stillness,

Just grabbing your shins,

Laying on your back.

Hold on to the right shin,

Extend the left leg long.

And breathe here,

Five breaths.

With your next inhale,

Switch legs,

Grab your left shin,

Right leg is long.

And breathe five breaths on this side.

So the breath work here is called Ujjayi breath.

You're invited to inhale through the nostrils and exhale through the nostrils.

Breathe in and breathe out.

Let something go.

And now from here,

Pull both knees back into your chest.

And as you rock side to side,

Let's just check in and see how the spine feels,

A little twist.

Bring your right arm out,

Palms facing up towards the ceiling.

Left hand gently grab,

Test the outside of the right thigh and see how it feels when the thighs drop over to the left side.

So this is just a check in,

We're not going to stay here very long.

Inhale back to center.

And let's check in how the spine feels twisting to the other side.

Left arm is up,

Knees over to the right.

So one thing to consider,

If you find that your thighs are way off the floor or if it's challenging or uncomfortable,

If you have the knees trying to touch the ground,

Consider putting a block underneath the outside of your thighs.

You might be using a blanket.

You could roll up a blanket or you can put a pillow under your thighs.

Come back to center,

So this is just a check in.

Now roll over to your side again and press up and take a seat.

So grab what you need.

If you found that you felt tight and you would like blocks or you would like some pillows or blankets,

Go ahead and grab that.

I'm actually going to grab a pillow so I can show you.

Now let's just take a little bit of warm-up.

Let's come into tabletop.

Hands on the ground,

Palms are on the ground,

Hips are stacked over the knees,

Shoulders roughly stacked over the wrists.

I'm going to move the spine.

As you press the hands down,

Round the spine.

With an exhale,

Pressing up towards the ceiling.

Look back towards your toes or towards your belly button.

And as you inhale,

Arch in the spine.

Grind the shoulders down from the back.

And do that again.

As you exhale,

Breathing round in that upper back,

Pressing the hands down into your mat.

Inhale.

Tailbone up towards the ceiling.

Shoulders down from the ears.

Two more times.

So in our yoga practice,

Sometimes,

Go ahead and inhale down.

We might think that it's a stretch class.

We might think that it's a physical practice.

But here as we're moving,

Especially with the ujjayi breath,

What we're doing is moving the energy,

This prana,

This life force to circulate within us.

All right,

Stay where you are.

Let's just do a little bit more stretching before we come into our first pose.

Reach your right toes back and shift forward and back in the arch of the feet and the ankles.

And switch legs.

Just a little stretch in the back of the legs.

And go ahead and sit on your heels,

On the tops of your feet.

And let's stretch the arms and the wrists a little bit.

Interlace your fingers in front of you.

As you inhale,

The palms are right in front of you.

You're facing the palms.

As you exhale,

Push the palms away and round the back.

As you inhale,

Lift the arms up,

Interlacing the fingers.

As you exhale,

Circle the hands down.

So this is a little bit of warm-up before we get into our poses.

Interlace the fingers.

Inhale,

And then exhale,

Round the back.

Inhale,

The arms up.

Exhale,

Circle down.

Two more.

Breathe in.

Inhale.

Exhale,

Rounding back.

Inhale,

Stretching up.

Exhale,

Circling down.

Maybe start to create a little bit more space.

Inhale,

Arms are forward.

Exhale,

Rounding the back.

Inhale,

Reach the arms up,

Stretching,

And then reaching the arms down.

Let's take a little bit of side bends.

And go ahead and go at your own pace.

So I kind of feel like it's,

It reminds me of,

I don't know if you've ever been in a kelp forest or been scuba diving or snorkeling.

Not far from me is Monterey,

California.

And they have these kelp,

These beautiful big seaweed plants.

And they just float side to side.

So kind of bring that energy.

It's just like slowly side to side,

Warming up the body.

Opening up space.

And do it one more time on each side.

And before we go into our first pose,

See if there's anything else you would like to stretch in your own body.

And let's get ready for our first posture.

So I'm going to show you a supported child's pose.

So in yin yoga,

We often use props.

And you don't have to use any props here.

But this is just a suggestion if you would like to try it.

If you want to put a pillow or a bolster underneath your chest,

You can do that.

And if you feel like you need a little bit more height in the front,

You can also stack blocks underneath your pillow.

So just see how this feels.

Knees are out,

Big toes to touch.

Rest your chest down and adjust your support as you need.

And then let's take the left cheek down and relax the palms up.

This feels so cozy.

So create it for yourself so it feels cozy for you.

And this is important because we're going to hold this posture six minutes.

And I'm going to watch the time for you.

I'm looking at the time right now.

After three minutes,

I'm going to invite you to rotate your head to the other side.

And as you're holding the poses,

I'm going to give you a little bit of silence.

And I'm also going to give you a little bit of yoga philosophy,

Just as something to learn,

Maybe something that you didn't know about yoga.

Again,

To remind you that yoga is definitely more than the physical postures.

Okay,

So as you're in this first posture,

Maybe you're supported with your pillow or your blocks.

Palms are facing up.

And notice if there's any tightness in the face or the jaw,

The shoulders.

If it's comfortable for you,

If it's relaxing,

Keep your eyes closed.

And watch your body breathe.

And as you hold these poses,

Because we hold them for a few minutes at a time,

Feel free to adjust your props as you need.

And then settle back in.

Hold and breathe.

And with the palms facing up,

Then we're not gripping with the palms facing down.

There's something about having the palms facing up.

This is also a mudra to energetically being in a reception,

A receptive mode.

It's also a mudra.

A mudra is a hand gesture that can connect to an intention.

And here with the palms up,

It can also be I surrender,

I let go of control.

And you may have different words.

If you surrender to a higher power or to a divine guide,

It might be I let go.

And offered up to the universe,

It might be letting go and not identifying a higher power.

Just notice what's here for you.

In this posture,

What would you like to release and let go?

So as we hold this one more minute on this side with your left cheek down,

On the ground or on your bolster or on your pillow,

Notice if you can relax 10% more.

In yin yoga,

The more we relax the mind,

The more we can be still,

The more we get the benefits of this practice to calm the mind,

Relax the body,

And calm the nervous system.

And in this class,

Just know that I'm guiding you,

That I will give you time to stay in the posture.

I haven't forgotten about you if it feels long for you.

And then I will cue you when it's time to switch to the other side.

Take two more breaths here.

One more breath.

Slowly flip your palms down to the ground,

Facing down towards the mat,

And slowly rotate your head so your forehead is facing the center.

And then slowly press back up on your knees and your hands,

And pause here in a tabletop.

And just see how you feel.

So you might have felt that in your hips,

So you really want to be mindful as we transition out of these poses.

And we take this time to feel what we call the rebound.

It's like now that we've come out of the pose,

How does the body feel?

And let's take a cat-cow as we exhale.

Press your upper back up towards the ceiling.

And as you inhale,

Heart is forward,

Tailbone reaches up.

And then move that a couple more times if you would like.

If you feel like you want to straighten out the legs,

If the body feels like it could use a little bit of space,

Go ahead and do that.

And when you're ready,

Set up on the other side.

Same thing,

Knees are out wide,

Big toes-to-touch option to use,

A support underneath you or not.

And this time,

Palms are up and the right cheek down.

So you stay where you are,

Just relaxing,

Breathing.

And one thing I wanted to share about yoga philosophy,

I'll ask you a couple of things.

The first thing,

You may have heard of Yoga Sthita Vritti Narodha,

Or maybe not,

That yoga is,

The intention of yoga is really to calm the fluctuations of the mind.

It's a set of tools and techniques,

A way of living to calm the agitations of the mind.

And here in this practice,

As you're resting here on your bolster or resting in this child's pose,

As you inhale and exhale,

Watch the inhale,

Watch the body exhale.

And that's one of our tools to calm the agitations of the mind,

Is to give the mind something to do.

So as you're breathing and holding in this posture,

Filling up as you inhale,

Emptying out as you exhale,

Scan the body from the top of the head all the way down to the toes.

And notice if you're clenching,

If there's any unnecessary efforting,

Let that go.

So here on this side,

You have two more minutes on this side.

I have a total of six minutes in this child's pose.

Also giving you this time to be in silence,

To connect to what you feel,

What you see.

Even with your eyes closed,

What do you experience?

And allow yourself to surrender and soften.

So in this final minute in this child's pose,

In this supported child's pose,

Notice if you can relax 10% more,

Surrendering the weight of your upper torso down into the ground or on your support,

Your pillow,

Your bolster.

Letting go of any tightness,

Tension,

Letting it dissolve.

Take five more breaths here.

Take a breath in,

And a breath out.

Slowly place your palms down.

Slowly rotate your head to the center.

And then very slowly come back onto your hands and your knees.

If you want to set your pillow or any support to the side,

Feel free to do that.

Let's just pause and just see how you feel in the body.

Open your eyes.

So another one of our tools is setting our drishti.

So with the eyes,

Let me focus on one spot.

Again,

Giving the mind something to do.

Imagining that you're looking at one dot or maybe there's literally one object that you can look at.

Just keep focusing,

Breathing.

And let's come into a cat-cow.

As you exhale,

Press your hands down,

Press your upper back up towards the ceiling again.

As you inhale,

Drop the shoulder blades down,

The back tailbone up towards the ceiling.

And one more time,

Moving the spine.

And again,

Knowing as you're there in your body,

You may choose to move in a different way that suits you today.

And let's straighten out the knees.

Go ahead and bring your right leg back on the toes,

Stretching out through the arches of the feet on each side.

And when you're ready,

Switch to the other side.

All right,

Now let's work our way on to your back.

So we're not going to do very many poses.

In yoga,

We hold for several minutes at a time,

So we might even only go through three poses in a class,

Three or four.

So in this case,

We're going to come into what I call a reclining tree pose.

And you might want,

I actually need this because I have,

I have something going on with my right hip.

You might want some type of a support that you can grab on the outside of your thigh.

All right,

So lay down.

Have your,

Have your support available if you need it.

And let's come back to what we did in the beginning,

Hugging your shins and just rocking side to side.

Relax your neck.

And let's start with our feet flat on the ground.

Knees are bent.

And just notice how the back feels here.

Take your arms out.

Palms are facing up and close your eyes and watch your breath for five,

Five breaths.

Hug your right shin.

Keep that knee bent.

Straighten your left leg and rest the left heel.

Surrender the weight of the left leg down into the ground.

And set your right foot back down onto the ground and then open up your right leg like you're opening up a wing.

And then maybe have your prop ready.

So when you can,

If you have props,

You can bring it to different heights.

And just notice and get to the height where you can be relaxed,

Where you can feel something and you're also able to relax.

And see if you can feel the back of the buttocks,

The right and left buttocks,

That they're feeling pretty centered or even on the ground.

Notice if you're lifting that left hip up,

How to set that back down.

And if that happens,

That might mean that maybe you need to bring your prop even higher or maybe a little bit closer to that upper thigh.

And sometimes we might want two blocks.

So just see what works for you or a pillow.

Go ahead and close your eyes.

So we're gonna hold this reclining tree five minutes on each side.

So again,

Taking that time to set up in the posture with your props as you need.

So as you're laying here in reclining tree,

Feel the back of the head and imagine that you can feel the weight of the back of the head get heavier.

Maybe notice if you'd like to drop the chin down to your chest a little bit to lengthen the back of the neck.

And feel the backs of the shoulders.

You can take your arms out to a T,

Gives you a little bit more opening and freedom in the front of the chest and the shoulders and maybe even all the way the biceps to the wrist to the palms.

And then bring your attention to that inner thigh.

So the thigh,

The knee that is bent and that outer hip,

Notice if you're clenching at all in the hip,

Let that go.

And also see if you can relax in the inner thigh if that's also clenching,

Let it surrender.

Bring your attention to your left leg and see if you're contracting or flexing that left leg.

Let it be loose and heavy,

No efforting.

And check in.

If you find that the lower back is aggravating you,

What you can do is maybe come up and grab a pillow and put it underneath your left knee.

Or as you're in this pose,

You might keep the left knee bent while your right knee is out to the side.

So if you've grabbed another prop,

Go ahead and settle back in.

So inviting an openness in the body.

And we're also here calming the mind,

Taking this time out for you to let the body be still.

Giving the body time to open up and open up and relax the connective tissues and the hip and the inner thigh and the outer leg.

So we're almost halfway through here.

So we're holding each side five minutes.

So as you continue,

Hold this two and a half more minutes.

I'll share another tidbit about yoga and yoga philosophy.

So yoga is not about,

Again,

The physical postures.

It doesn't mean you have to do a downward facing dog or a headstand or a handstand.

But one thing that is requested is that you get into the state of the body and the mind and the breath that is steady and comfortable.

So just notice right now.

It's like,

Is the body,

Are you able to stay steady and comfortable still in this posture?

Is the breath steady and comfortable?

And with that noticing,

Just giving,

Again,

The mind something to do.

Noticing the physical sensations,

Letting go of efforting,

Letting go of unnecessary contracting.

And at any time,

If the mind wanders or if you're feeling like you're struggling or resisting or fighting,

Notice if that means do you need a prop,

Something to support you in this posture or to give the mind something to come back to the breath.

As you breathe in,

I breathe in.

As you breathe out,

I breathe out.

Checking again,

The back of the head.

Feeling the weight of the back of the shoulders.

And be noticing the arms,

The arms that are out and the palms are up.

Relax the shoulders down from the ears.

And this final 90 seconds,

Let the forehead relax,

The eyes,

The jaw,

The mouth.

Be as still as possible.

Inhale,

Fill up.

Exhale,

Let it go.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Three more breaths.

Now laying down on your back with your right knee out to the side.

With your inhale,

And if you want,

You can take your right hand and help that right leg come back to center.

Go ahead and guide that right foot down onto the ground.

If your left knee is not bent,

Bend that left knee so both knees are facing up towards the ceiling and keep your arms out with palms facing up and just rotate the head side to side.

Relax the neck.

And then settle in the head and maybe tuck the chin under to get a sense of the neck being straight or comfortable.

We're gonna take a counter pose before we do the reclining tree on the other side.

With the palms out and the arms out,

Press your feet down to inhale the hips up towards the ceiling.

Breathe and then pause here,

Feeling that stretch in the front of the thighs.

Feeling the feet rooting down into the earth.

And as you exhale,

Slowly roll down the spine,

One vertebrae at a time.

And do that one more time.

As you press your feet down,

Inhale the hips up.

Breathing,

Pushing your feet down into the mat.

And exhale,

Slowly roll down the spine,

One vertebrae at a time.

Hug both knees into your chest.

Just rock side to side.

We're gonna prepare for the other side.

Well,

This time your right leg is straight.

Right heel is heavy,

The right leg is heavy.

And then with your left foot down onto the ground.

And again,

Do your best to anchor the right leg with the right booty cheek and the left booty cheek down.

Open the left knee out to the left side.

And notice if you would like a prop underneath the outer thigh of the left leg.

And again,

How do you know if you need a prop?

One,

If it's uncomfortable.

So that's the first thing.

But also if you start to feel the lifting of the right booty cheek coming off the ground.

And once you're settled,

Let the arms be relaxed.

Relax the head,

Relax the neck.

So as you stay here,

I'm gonna watch five minutes for you on this side.

So in yoga,

We don't work on just the physical body.

We also work on the subtle body,

The energetic body.

And that can be breathing and moving energy and moving up and down through the chakras.

It can be coming into a physical shape of the pose that lets the body relax to let go of tension.

Sometimes the body holds on to tightness.

And the body can be tight because the mind is tight.

So in today's practice,

We're taking time to slow down to relax the body and the mind.

Calm the nervous system,

Nourish your body,

Mind,

And spirit.

I'm gonna give you more silence on this side.

Now we have four more minutes.

We're gonna stay here as still as possible.

And as you're watching the inhales and the exhales,

Knowing that this is a meditative state of mind,

Observing the breath.

Noticing and noticing.

Letting the body be as still as possible.

Surrender and let go.

Notice if you are falling asleep,

Bring your attention back to notice the breath.

Stay here watching the inhale.

Watching the exhale.

Letting the breath and the body be steady and comfortable.

Mind is awake and aware.

Body as still as possible.

We're coming up into the final 90 seconds on this side.

Notice if you can relax 10% more.

Surrender into this pose.

And again,

If you feel the mind wandering,

Come back to the breath,

Observe the breath.

And maybe repeat yourself as you inhale,

I am present.

As you exhale,

I am calm.

I am present.

I am calm.

In this final 30 seconds,

Notice if you can feel the lungs and the ribcages expand with your inhales.

And watch it soften and release with your exhale.

Watch the ribs expand with the inhale.

Notice the back,

The front,

The sides of the body release with your exhale.

Inhale.

Breathe in,

Fill up,

Expand.

Exhale,

Let something go.

Inhale.

Exhale.

One more,

Fill up.

Exhale,

Empty out.

And then here on your back with your right leg straight,

Your left knee bent,

Go ahead and take your left hand on the outside of that left thigh and invite it to help that leg come back to center.

Left foot is on the ground.

Bring both feet on the ground,

Feet about hip width apart.

Arms are still out to the sides.

And relax the neck and hold here for a couple of breaths.

And notice how the body feels.

So now as we come into one more counter pose before we come into our final posture and a yoga nidra,

Press your feet down as you inhale your hips up towards the ceiling.

And this time,

If you would like,

Also reach the arms up above your head and stretch out as you feel the feet pressing into the mat,

Feeling the thighs and the hips reach up towards the ceiling.

And as you exhale,

Slowly roll down the spine one vertebrae at a time.

And also let the arms slowly rest down next to your sides.

Let's do that one more time.

Press the feet down,

Inhaling the hips and the arms up towards the ceiling,

Feeling the hands towards the wall or whatever's behind you.

Stay here another breath as you really anchor your feet down into the ground.

And then exhale,

Slowly roll down the spine one vertebrae at a time.

Arms rest next to your sides.

Hug your knees into your chest.

And again,

You may want your props or not.

And if you need them,

Go ahead and roll to your side,

Press up and just have them available.

You can reach them with your hand if you need to.

I'm going to grab some props for me.

And then go ahead with your knees in.

We're coming to that same twist we did in the beginning,

But this time I'm going to hold it a little bit longer.

Right arm is out,

Guide the knees over to the left.

And I have a prop that I'm using underneath the outer thigh of my left leg.

And you don't need to stretch so much.

And in fact,

Once you get into the position of your legs,

You can even let go of holding on to the thigh if you want.

And sometimes it's comfortable to hold on with a hand.

It's like you're hooking it underneath the right above the knee,

Behind the knee.

And just notice.

And allow your head to be relaxed.

You can be facing up.

You can look towards the right.

You can even look towards the left.

Just notice what's most relaxing for you right now.

And breathe into what you notice in the side,

The right side of the body.

As you hold this pose,

As you feel the body,

If it starts to open up,

You can remove props.

And maybe the knees go a little bit further to the side.

Maybe.

Just notice.

No judgment.

No criticism.

Just breathing.

Letting the body be as still as possible.

Relax the face,

The shoulders.

Holding these postures and connecting to this breath like a gift.

A gift to your nervous system,

A massage for your nervous system.

A gift to your body and your mind and your spirit.

Slowly inhale back to center.

Grab your shins.

If you want to bring your forehead up to your knees,

Feel free to do that.

Now let's take one final twist.

Left arm is out,

Knees over to the right.

And again,

Maybe a prop or not a prop.

Just notice on the side.

And again,

Position your neck,

Your head,

Where it's comfortable for you.

So notice if the side of the spine has opened.

If you want to remove any props,

We'll hold here for five more breaths.

Unless you want some props,

Go ahead and roll onto your back.

And if you do want to grab props for your final posture on your back,

Go ahead and roll over to your side.

Press yourself up to a seat.

And in your reclining pose on your back,

If you feel like you want to put either roll up a blanket or put a pillow under your knees,

Or you might want to put a pillow underneath the back of your head.

Do you want to put a blanket on top of your body?

Go ahead and lay down for our final posture.

And then I'll complete our yoga nidra.

So when you lay down in shavasana,

I'm not going to stay here laying down.

I'm actually going to sit up as I lead you through the yoga nidra.

But just in case,

If you haven't done it,

You lay down on your back.

And go ahead and let the arms move away from the body.

Let the head be relaxed.

Let the ankles flop out to the sides.

And I like to feel like I'm free falling into my shavasana.

So get yourself set up.

In fact,

I'll bring that visual to you now.

And first take a big breath in.

And a big sigh and let it go.

So with your arms relaxed and your legs relaxed,

Just imagine that you are laying on a cloud that's completely supporting you.

And you can feel it like the perfect cushion to support what is touching.

Any spaces underneath the neck,

The wrists,

The arms,

The knees,

The space underneath the ankles.

Just feeling this perfect cushion for you of support that's meeting your body where it is.

And continuing this breathing and this mindset of my mind is awake and aware.

My body is still as possible.

Staying here,

Entering the state of yoga nidra,

Which is a state of mind and relaxation of the body.

And now bring to mind your word.

Some of you in the beginning of this class,

You shared your word about what is it that you would like to bring into this practice or feel after your practice.

Some of you said refreshed.

Some of you said free,

Relief,

Whatever is your word,

Bring that to mind.

And now word it to yourself in the positive as an affirmation.

You would say,

I am refreshed.

I am relieved.

I am open.

I am free.

Just a few examples of the words you shared here in this space.

So go ahead and think of your word and share it in the positive sense.

Instead of saying,

I wish,

I want,

It's like I am,

As if it's already realized.

And now bring that to mind,

Keeping that energy of that word in the mind and the body.

Just notice the bones of the body.

Imagine that you could feel the weight of the bones in the body,

The density,

The hardness,

The shape.

And now notice the muscles and the skin surrounding the bones.

And notice if the muscles,

Do they feel tight?

Are they loose?

Is the skin,

Is it relaxed?

Just notice.

Five more breaths in silence.

We'll end this yoga nidra,

Repeating your affirmation one more time.

Repeating I am.

Repeating your word.

Stay here with me for three breaths as you inhale,

Starting to wake up the body and the mind.

As you exhale,

Open the mouth,

Sigh.

Sigh with gratitude,

Feeling refreshed,

Feeling open and free.

Inhale,

Fill up again,

Expand even more,

Receiving this energy,

This vitality,

This life force.

As you exhale,

Cleansing sigh.

Release,

Let it go.

And one more time,

Breathing in,

Filling up with gratitude.

Filling up with peace,

Relief,

Openness,

Freedom.

Breathing in your word.

And then sigh with gratitude.

And open your eyes.

The divine in me honors the divine in you.

Namaste.