Hello and welcome to this Yoga Nidra.
My name is Annie Ray and this is a space for when the body feels fatigued or heavy and low on energy.
Or perhaps it's just in need of some deep nourishing rest.
Then I invite you to arrive exactly as you are,
However you might be feeling.
This is your time to soften,
To rest.
And to be gently guided.
Into the state of Yoga Nidra.
So gently arriving into this practice.
And allowing yourself to settle.
Taking a moment to get everything you need.
And to arrange the body so it feels as supported and comfortable as possible.
And that might be lying down or reclining.
And just making any small adjustments that might bring a little bit more ease to the practice.
You might like a cosy blanket,
A pillow behind the head or behind the knees.
And perhaps an eye mask to block out the light.
And depending on how you're feeling today.
Just let the body guide you so you can listen closely or lightly.
Or you can just let the words and my voice drift in and out.
Even resting with half attention is enough here.
Are gradually allowing the weight of the body.
To be received now by the surface beneath you.
Letting the body know that it doesn't need to hold itself up right now.
It could just start to let go.
And as it's starting to let go,
Just gently bring your awareness to your breath.
We don't need to change anything.
Or do anything big right now,
Just noticing the quiet movement of air in and out.
Perhaps noticing where you feel it in the body.
And a rise and a fall of the belly.
Or perhaps the cool sensation under your nose on the exhale.
Or your ribs expanding.
We're going to take a few rounds of the gentle humming breath now.
And of course,
All of these prompts are optional.
If something doesn't feel right to you,
Then you can just breathe and rest in the moment.
Whatever feels good for you.
So humming can be a great simple way of inviting the nervous system towards a calmer,
More restful state.
The vibration of the hum stimulating the vagus nerve combined with the slow,
Easy,
Gentle and lengthened exhale.
Signal safety to the body and gives it something steady and soothing to feel.
And when we're fatigued,
We're not looking.
To force the body into feeling different.
Or giving it any demands or expectations to feel a certain way.
We just want to offer the body these cues that in this moment it's okay to soften.
And it's safe to rest right now.
So take an easy breath in through the nose,
And as you breathe out,
We're going to allow that soft hum as a release.
Breathing in.
And we're not pushing the breath or.
.
.
Trying to make the sound last as long as we can.
We're just letting the vibration travel through us and you might feel it in the face or the throat or perhaps the chest.
So again,
We'll take an easy breath in,
Humming gently as you breathe out.
And perhaps noticing the vibration more than the sound itself and where you feel that in the body.
So I'm going to give you a moment now to take some rounds in your own time.
And just finishing up your last breath.
And then letting the humming go.
And allowing the breath to return to its own natural rhythm.
And beginning now to make less and less effort with the breath.
Allowing it to become really soft.
And bringing a lightness to it,
Seeing if you can make it a little quieter.
You might imagine there's something very light beneath the nose.
Like a feather.
And the breath is so soft.
Hardly disturbs it.
Just an easy.
.
.
Flowing,
Quiet breath.
And perhaps noticing the exhale.
Softening and releasing.
And allowing the inhale to come naturally on its own.
And then if at any point this doesn't feel comfortable for you,
Just returning to your natural breath.
Letting everything be exactly as it is and just doing.
What feels best for you.
In these moments.
And this isn't strained or forced.
It's just really inviting some gentle,
Easy waves.
Of breath.
Now beginning to become aware of the surface beneath you.
And the way it meets the back of your body.
The back of the head.
And the shoulders.
The arms.
The mid back.
Lower back.
Hips.
Tracing down the legs.
And into the heels.
Sensing the shape of the body being held.
As if the ground beneath you is holding and protecting you during this practice.
And it's giving the nervous system the space to unwind.
Moving from being.
In the thinking mind.
Of coming into feeling in the body.
And I now invite you to bring simple intention for the practice,
Also known as a sankalpa.
This is something gentle and kind,
Especially if you're feeling fragile and you need some extra love today.
There's no need to search for it and if nothing comes then you can stay resting.
Or you might like to use the phrase,
I meet my body as it is today.
And you can quietly repeat that three times now.
And perhaps offering yourself a small moment of compassion and acceptance.
Especially if things have been feeling difficult for you.
We'll now begin a slow movement of awareness throughout the body.
You may feel a sensation in the body part that I name,
Or you might not feel anything at all.
But just resting your attention there and noticing.
It's a beginning in the mouth.
Feeling into the tongue resting in the mouth.
The tip of the tongue.
The root of the tongue.
The tea.
The gums.
And feeling into the inner cheeks.
I'll pull it.
The lower lip.
The whole mouth together.
The jewel.
The hinge of the jaw.
And allowing some space between the teeth.
Moving your awareness to feeling both of the ears.
The outer ears.
The inner is.
And just gently noticing any sounds in this moment.
The nose.
The bridge of the nose.
The flow of the breath at the nostrils.
Seeing if you can feel the warm air on the inhalation.
And the cooling breath.
On the exhalation through the nostrils.
The eyes.
The eyelids.
And the space behind the eyes.
And just seeing if you can bring some softening behind the eyes.
The forehead.
And the space between the brows.
And the temples.
The crown of the head.
In the back of the head.
The throat.
The front of the throat.
And the back of the throat.
Moving down into the chest.
Feeling the gentle rise and fall.
And feeling the energy of the heart space.
The upper back.
And the shoulder blades.
Space between the shoulders.
Now bringing your awareness into the right arm.
The upper arm.
The elbow.
Forearm.
And the rest.
Palm of the hand.
Back of the hand.
Um.
.
.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
And the fifth finger.
Back to the palm of the hand.
And the rest.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
And now bringing awareness to the whole of the right arm and the hand together.
And feeling into all of the sensations of that area.
Moving down to the ribcage on the right hand side.
The ways.
The whole of the thigh.
Runny.
Lower leg.
The ankle.
The right heel.
Top of the foot.
Soul of the foot.
Big toe.
Second toe.
Bird.
Fall.
And the fifth toe.
And now expanding awareness into the whole of the right leg and the foot together.
And now feeling into the whole of the right side together.
The whole of the right side.
Now feeling over into the left side of the body.
Starting with the left arm.
The upper arm.
Elbow.
Forearm.
The wrist.
Home.
Back of the hand.
The thumb the second finger.
Third finger.
And fourth finger.
The fifth finger back to the palm.
The wrist.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Now the whole of the left arm and the hand together.
And down into the ribcage.
The Waste.
The whole of the thigh.
The knee.
Lower leg.
And cold.
Heel of the foot.
And top of the foot.
And the soul of the foot.
Feeling into the big toe.
And the second toe.
Third toe and the fourth toe.
And the fifth toe.
Now expanding into the whole of the left leg and the foot together.
And then feeling into the whole of the left side of the body.
Bringing your awareness and feeling the sensations of the left side of the body.
Now bringing our attention back into the centre of the chest.
Your heart centre.
This is our emotional and our spiritual centre.
They're just sensing into the energy here for a moment.
And perhaps now imagining the energy from the heart centre expanding throughout the whole of the body.
Sensing the body as one whole field of energy.
Not separate parts.
And if awareness drifts throughout this or if you Lose the thread.
It's absolutely okay.
You can just drift in and out as much as you need.
And now just noticing the body breathing.
Not the idea of the breath,
But really seeing if you can feel into the movement of it in the body.
The subtle rising of the belly.
A soft falling,
Like a tide.
Coming in.
And out.
And allowing this movement to just happen on its own.
Not trying to change anything.
I'm just noticing the weight of the whole body now.
Not holding anything up.
Just allowing the surface to take away all that tension.
And then just feeling into the places where the body is being met by the surface beneath you.
For tracing down the back of the head.
The shoulders.
The arms.
The legs and heels.
And I now invite you to notice the spaces within that.
So it might be the space beneath the curve of the neck.
Or the space underneath the knees the small spaces between the fingers and the toes.
Or maybe if you're sitting.
Where your legs don't hit the surface,
Just feeling into that.
And just gently noticing.
You don't have to force yourself to find anywhere.
Just exploring to see if you can feel any of those small spaces.
Feeling the weight of the body on the surface and that contact.
And then feeling into the space between that.
And then expanding that awareness.
And noticing the space around your body.
To the space just beyond the outline of your body.
Seeing if you can feel into that.
And perhaps even sensing into that energy field surrounding you.
Allowing the edges of your body.
To soften a little into the space around you.
That boundary between your body and the space.
Becoming less distinct.
And as always,
If it doesn't feel right for you,
You can just simply stay with the breath and rest here.
If you'd like to,
Perhaps sensing into the body and the space around it as one continuous field.
No need to work out where one ends and the other one begins.
You don't need to hold yourself there.
You can just.
.
.
Relax and let yourself be held.
And for us to go even deeper into this restful state.
I'm going to invite you to count back from 10.
You don't need to force this or concentrate on the numbers perfectly.
If you lose track,
You can simply let yourself drift.
And then return back to 10.
Just let each number be another invitation.
To settle a little more deeply into that breath.
Almost like going further and further down a set of stairs.
Into even deeper calm and relaxation.
And of course if you would like to just rest here and breathe and be still,
Just do whatever is most nourishing.
For you.
And so we'll count 10 on the inhale.
And 10 on the exhale.
Letting the body be heavy.
Inhale for nine.
Releasing the exhale,
Counting nine.
Allowing yourself to soften even further.
And I'll allow you some space to do this now in your own time.
And if you reach one.
You can either breathe and rest or you're welcome to start again at 10.
And now just simply resting here in this moment.
If your mind has wandered,
That is absolutely fine.
Rest is still happening beneath the surface,
Even if you don't feel it.
And perhaps you're in a dreamy,
Restful space.
And just allowing that and really deepening into it.
And so from this quiet place,
If it feels available.
Just returning to your Sankalpa that we set at the beginning of the practice and repeating it three times now.
Perhaps he used the phrase.
I meet my body as it is today.
And as we come to the end of the practice.
I welcome you to continue resting or sleeping or drifting quietly for as long as you need.
You're ready to start reawakening.
Of starting to deepen the breath.
Take a moment,
Notice how you're feeling.
Whether that's physically,
In the mind or perhaps in the nervous system.
Maybe there's a shift.
Or maybe there isn't,
And either is completely fine.
The main thing is that you're giving yourself and your body the gift of rest.
And that is a very loving thing to do,
Especially when you're feeling fatigued or you've got low energy.
So just giving yourself some appreciation for showing up today and doing this.
Beginning to start wiggling the fingers and the toes.
Perhaps having a big stretch if that feels good.
Moving the head from side to side.
Reaching the arms up.
And slowly rolling onto the side of your body.
Gently opening the eyes.
Starting to orient yourself back into the room that you're in.
Noticing what you see and what you hear.
Engaging the senses again.
Bringing yourself back into the environment.
Thank you so much for taking the time to pause and rest with me today.
My name is Annie Ray and I really look forward to resting and regulating with you again soon.
