Welcome to this yoga nidra practice with the intention of releasing the debilitating state of anxiety.
A quiet place,
Ambient,
Calm and preferably with a soft gentle breeze flowing around you.
You may be in bed or you can lie down on the floor,
Preferably on a soft surface such as a carpet.
Cover yourself with a blanket to feel cozy and snug.
Perhaps you will need a bolster under your knees or a small pillow under your head.
Your feet are separated about hip-width distance apart.
Walk your heels down and away from your body so that your back feels soft and relaxed.
Your legs are long and loose and your arms are nestled beside you and your palms are facing upwards in an attitude of surrendering.
If there is one thing I understand it is anxiety.
Unfortunately,
I suffered with anxiety in my youth and many adult years which culminated in severe anxiety attacks.
The severity of the anxiety was once described to me as the experience of having the same level of fear when a gun is pointed to your head.
So the word suffer is not inconsequential.
What healed me?
Primarily the practice of yoga nidra.
Yoga nidra is such a powerful technique in which you learn to rest deeply but at the same time remain conscious and aware.
It is designed to move you through different states of consciousness in a way that allows your body and mind to restore,
Allowing a deep personal shift.
Translated from Sanskrit,
Nidra literally means sleep,
Sleep of the yogi.
However,
It is in fact an awakening,
A method of relaxing that brings you closer to your authentic self.
Your authentic self is not an anxious self and yoga nidra is not sleep as you technically know it.
It is a half waking,
Half sleeping state,
Feeling calm and soothed but at the same time alert and refreshed,
Experiencing physical,
Mental and emotional release,
Completely letting go.
Apprehension,
Fear and panic dissipate.
You take control of the mind,
It doesn't control you.
Your aspiration become a well-being and that is why you are here.
The more you practice this,
The better and freer you will feel.
And so let us reflect for a moment or two.
What is the experience of anxiety?
Do you often feel nervous,
Fearful,
Apprehensive or worried?
Anxiety affects how we feel and behave and can manifest into real physical symptoms.
Mild anxiety is manageable,
Indistinct and can be extremely uncomfortable.
Severe anxiety can prevent us from leading what is considered to be a normal life and can be extremely incapacitating,
Affecting our abilities to function well and to sleep soundly.
Our health greatly suffers so let us focus upon the breath for a little while.
The breath helps ground us and soothe us.
How we breathe is so so important.
See if you can breathe in for the count of six and breathe out for the count of six.
Do this for a little while.
If you need a smaller number to begin with,
Choose one.
Gradually you will build.
You may even be able to go longer than the count of six.
Practice this now.
You will soon hear my voice again.
Now again let us focus on the breath.
This time breathe in for the count of six,
For the count of three,
Breathe out for the count of six.
Do this for a little while.
You will soon hear my voice again but ensure you are not struggling.
In the next moment take a long,
Slow,
Deep,
Quenching breath and reflect upon what I am about to say.
What do you do to create this anxiety?
Do you catastrophize?
Do you expect the worst to happen?
Do you worry about the tiny thing like a scratch on your car,
Losing your socks or getting a cold?
Do you worry all the time about everything?
What if I told you you can heal?
What if I told you that everything will be okay?
What if I told you that worrying is simply useless?
You know that don't you?
But how can you stop worrying or at least minimize your distress?
How can you understand to manage a lot,
A lot better?
It's a waste of time to worry.
It is a joy to live fully,
A joy to live fully in the present moment.
Simply you're thinking too much,
An infinite loop of thought going around and around in your head,
Waking up thinking it,
Going to sleep thinking it,
Whatever it may be.
Shake,
Sweats,
Palpitations,
Feeling heat rise to the surface of the body,
Tension in the muscles,
Pain in the neck and the head,
Backache.
Do any of these sound familiar?
It is true that anxiety may be caused by many factors,
But it is most commonly triggered by stress.
In general,
We cause our own stress by the way we think and our own negative self-talk.
No matter what challenges we face,
It is how we deal with them,
Not what occurs,
That actually defines how stressed we become.
And so now just listen to my voice for a little while as we take the next minutes to let go.
Spread the shoulders and the upper back broadly,
The head from side to side fully,
Slowly and gently,
Completely aware of what you are doing and release the tension from your shoulders,
Neck.
It's very subtle,
Slow and a considered movement.
Relax the root of the tongue,
The wings of the nose,
The sides of the nose,
The bridge of the nose,
Soften the forehead and imagine you are ironing out a worry line or frown lines from temple to temple.
Your eyes are softly closed,
Soften beneath the eyes,
Soften above the eyes,
Soften deep within the eyes and imagine you are softening behind the eyes and now drop the jaw and again and again.
We hold so much tension in the jaw,
Release the jaw and notice what happens to the cheeks as you do this.
Let us release some of the muscle tension that we capture in our body.
Inhale and fill the body with breath,
Exhale and release all tension and fatigue.
It is as though the whole body is melting into the earth,
The earth that supports you.
Release your chatty mind,
Imagine your thoughts splintering out into the universe,
Dissipating in seconds,
Come out of your headspace into your body by shifting your thinking to sensing.
Yes,
You are lying in Shavasana,
Translated from Sanskrit.
This means the corpse part.
This simply implies that you are letting go of habits,
Behaviors,
Thoughts and beliefs that no longer serve you,
That are no longer useful to you.
Letting them die away,
Feel the gentle rhythm of the heart,
Sense the breath flowing through you like a perpetual wave.
Begin to notice the little gaps,
The pauses between each breath and so it is the gentle rhythm of the breath,
The pauses between the breaths,
Those places of silence and stillness.
Notice how you are feeling,
Focus upon this experience and feel your heart expand and expand.
Do this breath by breath,
Thought by thought,
Your breath becoming deeper and deeper.
Enter the next pause and the next and at the same time sensing the gentle pulsing of the heart.
You may sense a flutter like the beating of a bird's wings,
A rustling of leaves in a tree or a gentle wave tiptoeing into shore.
Release,
Let go,
Enjoy this moment.
Thoughts slowly dissipate into oblivion.
Imagine being able to call upon this feeling at any time and so whilst you have been listening to me,
How is your body now feeling?
Are you beginning to get the idea?
Allowing the body to release all that tension and fatigue it collects in its cellular memory and so at this very moment is your body relaxing or is it still a little tense or do you feel calm?
In your imagination draw your attention to your toes,
See your toes,
The tips of the toes,
The surface of the toes,
The back of the toes,
Spaces beneath the toes,
Relaxing my toes.
Toes are retention to the soles of your feet.
You may sense a tingling sensation or a warmth or a quack the soles of the feet.
Completely let go,
Sense the weight of the heels,
The heels becoming heavy and you can sense the weight in the earth's surface as you allow your feet to become heavier and heavier.
Can you sense the spaces beneath the ankles?
Yes,
You can sense space.
Feel the calves,
Yes so often tense.
How can you soften the calves?
Just by breathing into the muscles as you breathe out.
Imagine softening the calves with the very essence of the breath.
Can you sense the spaces beneath the knees?
Relaxing my legs,
I'm relaxing my legs,
My legs are the buttocks.
We hold so much tension in the buttocks.
Feel these large muscles beginning to release.
Feel them drop into the earth,
Dropping more and more,
Deeper and deeper.
And if I gave you a piece of paper and a pencil and asked you to draw the outline of your lower back,
How much of it would be smooth and soft?
How much would be rigid and tense?
What would the outline of the drawing look like?
Would your back be lifted to the sky or would your lower back be soft and falling towards the earth?
Could you entertain softening the muscles that surround the spine,
Vertebra by vertebra,
Starting at the base and ending in the center of the skull?
Can you imagine relaxing these muscles one by one,
Letting go completely,
Releasing muscle by muscle and all the while taking in long deep breaths?
And now,
Bring your attention to your hands.
Wriggle the fingers and see the fingers in your mind's eye.
Flex the fingers one by one.
Sense the palms of the hands.
Notice the textures beneath the backs of the hands.
Relax the wrists.
Sense the spaces beneath the wrists to the elbows,
The upper arms to the shoulders.
Relax the shoulders,
The front of the shoulders,
The sides of the shoulders and around the shoulder blades.
Let go of all burden.
Let go of all worries.
Let go of all thoughts.
Soften the throat,
The center of communication and expression.
Relax the back of the head and feel the relaxation behind the ears and up through the hairline to the crown of the head.
You may sense a tingling sensation or a warmth or a cool at the crown of it.
Now the face.
Soften the cheek,
Beneath the eyes and deep within the eyes.
Can you sense behind the eyes?
Relax the forehead and imagine you are ironing out worry lines and frowns from the forehead,
From the center of the forehead to the temple.
And when you relax the temples,
Notice what happens to the jaw.
And when you soften the jaw,
Notice what happens to the temple.
And now for a little while just remain calm and soft and still and free from all thought.
Just rest.
Just be.
Feel that luxurious drifting of the body and mind.
You may sense a heaviness or a lightness.
Just be.
Rest.
Enjoy.
And remember the words of Charles Spurgeon,
A 19th century preacher.
Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows,
But only empties today of its strength.
And now gently open your eyes,
Take your time and perhaps awaken your body with a long deep stretch to complete your practice.
Yoga Nidra,
If practiced in the morning,
Will bring you new energy for the day.
If practiced before lights out,
It will softly restore you by night.
Yoga Nidra will help release your concerns and worries and grant you new strength and resolve.
A different perspective,
A different life.
Peace to you.
Peace.
Peace.
