Yoga Nidra For The Summer
This guided Yoga Nidra invites you to slow down and rest deeply, aligning with the expansive and energising nature of summer. Through breath awareness, body scans and visualisation, this practice supports release, clarity, and inner spaciousness. Ideal for cooling the nervous system and finding a moment of pause during the brighter months.
Transcript
Welcome to this yoga nidra for the summer.
This practice invites you to slow down and rest deeply,
Even in the brightest of the summer months.
Through breath and body awareness and visualisation,
We'll move toward a sense of spaciousness and ease,
Cooling the nervous system and reconnecting with your inner self.
So begin by finding yourself in a comfortable reclined position if that works for you today.
And before we really truly settle,
We're going to do some progressive muscle relaxations.
So we'll begin by tightening and tensing all the muscles in the face,
The jaw,
Mouth,
Scrunching,
Tightening all the muscles in the face,
Holding,
Holding for a few moments and release.
And now tensing and squeezing all the muscles in the torso,
The arms,
The shoulders,
The hands,
The whole of the torso,
The belly,
The chest,
Really tightening and tensing,
Holding,
Tensing all those muscles and release.
And now in the lower body,
Contracting,
Tightening all the muscles from the hips down,
The buttocks,
The legs,
The feet,
Scrunching toes,
Holding,
Clenching all the muscles in the legs,
Holding,
Clenching and release.
And now every muscle in the body,
The entire body,
Squeezing,
Contracting the whole body all at once,
Holding,
Tightening,
Tensing,
Face,
Arms,
The torso,
The lower body,
The feet,
Hands,
All the muscles,
Holding,
Tightening and release.
Releasing,
Relaxing the muscles throughout the entire body.
And now rubbing your hands together vigorously,
Generating heat in the palms of the hands,
Vigorously rubbing the hands together and then placing them over the heart,
Feeling the warmth soaking into the heart space from the hands,
Spreading out into the chest,
Imagining and feeling the warmth flowing into the rest of the body,
All the way to the fingers and toes.
Noticing how this warmth feels.
Is it comforting or uncomfortable?
And staying with that sensation for a moment.
And then beginning to find a place in the body that feels cooler than the rest.
Perhaps imagining the toes or the fingers dipping in cool water,
Holding awareness with that sensation for a few moments.
And if it feels comfortable to do so,
Starting to imagine the sensation spreading into the rest of the body.
Refreshing,
Cool wave spreading over the body.
Refreshing coolness spreading throughout the body.
And now finding that warmth within the body again.
Noticing where in the body you feel that.
In the heart space again or somewhere else.
And then finding the coolness again.
And finding a place of balance between the warm and cool.
A comfortable midpoint for you.
Where the two sensations can coexist.
Finding a neutral,
Comfortable midpoint to rest in.
And now if you haven't already,
Releasing the hands in a comfortable position.
Taking up space on your mat.
Spreading out.
And taking a moment to get super,
Super comfortable.
And if you would like to incorporate a sankalpa,
Which is a heartfelt resolve or intention,
You can choose one now.
So summer is often associated with expansion,
With warmth,
Vitality,
Creativity,
Abundance and the heart.
So I'll give some examples of what you might want to incorporate into your sankalpa.
We want our sankalpa to be affirmative and said in the present tense.
So it could be something like,
I am open and receptive.
I radiate warmth and compassion.
I embody creativity and confidence.
Or I welcome growth and transformation.
So you're welcome to choose one of those or to find your own.
And if this is not something you're comfortable with doing,
You're welcome to use this time just to rest in stillness and silence.
But we're going to otherwise be repeating the sankalpa three times in the mind.
So taking a moment now,
If you'd like to do so,
To repeat your sankalpa.
We're going to now be doing a 61 point meditation.
And as I mentioned,
Each part of the body,
Draw all of your awareness to that space.
You might like to imagine a glowing light highlighting that spot,
Whatever colour naturally comes to mind.
So starting at the centre of the forehead,
The base of the throat,
The right shoulder,
Right elbow,
Right wrist,
Right thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
The right wrist,
Elbow,
Shoulder,
Base of the throat,
Left shoulder,
Left elbow,
Left wrist,
Left thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Left wrist,
Elbow,
Shoulder,
Base of the throat,
Centre of the chest,
Right side of the chest,
Centre of the chest,
Left side of the chest,
Centre of the chest,
Right wrist,
Navel,
Pubic bone,
Right hip,
Right knee,
Ankle,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth,
The little toe,
The right ankle,
Right knee,
Right hip,
Pubic bone,
Left hip,
Left knee,
Left ankle,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe,
The left ankle,
Knee,
Hip,
Pubic bone,
Navel,
Centre of the chest,
Base of the throat,
Centre of the forehead,
And imagining all of those points glowing together,
The whole body glowing and shining like the sun,
The whole body connected,
Unified,
Relaxed,
And in this state of relaxation,
Start now to become aware of the breath once again.
Aware of the breath moving through the body,
Feeling the heart space expanding and spreading with the breath,
With the inhale,
And contracting with the exhale.
With each breath there is an expansion and a contraction.
Picture the heart space expanding,
Taking up space with each breath,
Expanding with each breath.
The heart space alive,
Radiant,
Expansive.
The heart space expansive,
Expanding with each breath.
And we're going to now take a journey to some place in our mind's eye,
A place that feels safe and comfortable,
A place where we can take up space,
Spread out and relax.
Maybe it's a wide open landscape,
A prairie,
Or a meadow in full bloom,
Or a coastline,
Or a desert,
Maybe it's somewhere else,
Taking a moment to conjure up this place in your mind and utilise your senses here.
What does it feel like in being here?
Perhaps the sun is shining on your skin,
Perhaps you feel a gentle breeze blowing,
What's the temperature of the air,
What sounds do you hear?
What's the texture of the earth beneath your body or your feet?
What colours do you notice?
Take up space here,
Taking a moment to rest and enjoy this place,
Or to explore,
Whatever it is you need here,
Find it,
Enjoy it.
Treasure it,
And take your time,
Taking your time as you visualise and experience,
And in this place maybe your body starts to take up even more space,
Expanding into the environment you're in.
Filling up the place,
Until your vision is obscured entirely by your own expansive being,
And then your awareness drifts back gently to the room that you are in.
And again you might start to become aware of the surface you are resting on,
Your surroundings,
Maybe your breath begins to expand again,
Your heart space expanding.
You begin to notice the texture of the ground beneath you,
The feeling of your body resting against the earth,
As the body begins to wake once again,
Breath expanding,
Awareness expanding.
And maybe imagining once again that sensation of coolness spreading over the body,
Beginning with the fingers and toes,
Again imagining dipping into a cool body of water.
Letting that coolness spread throughout the entire body,
Nourishing,
Cooling,
Easing,
Breath expanding,
Awareness expanding.
And movement gently starting to re-enter the body,
Beginning fingers and toes,
Moving head left to right,
Taking a full body stretch,
And beginning to re-enter your day.
With a newfound sense of balance and ease.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
