Let's begin this yoga nidra practice.
Start by finding a comfortable place to sit or lie down.
Taking any movements you need to right now to get comfortable.
And let's bring our attention to our breathing.
Feeling the belly rise with each inhale and deflate with each exhale.
Perhaps visualizing the breath coming in through the nostrils,
Down the throat,
Through the lungs and into the diaphragm,
Causing the belly to rise.
As you exhale,
Feeling the breath moving out of the diaphragm,
Through the chest,
Through the back of the throat and out through the nose back into the room.
Continuing this steady pace of breathing as we enter our visualization.
Imagining yourself now sitting or lying on a beach.
The soft sand warming each part of the body that's touching the ground.
A light breeze is blowing across your skin and you can hear the crashing of the waves and the chatting of the seagulls.
In your mind's eye now,
So just in your imagination,
Opening your eyes and just in your imagination if you're lying down,
Coming up to a seated position,
Taking in the world around you,
Looking up at a nice blue sky with a few white fluffy clouds giving you a little bit of shade to protect you from the sun.
Seeing the azul blue colors of the sea in front of you,
The white caps of the waves crashing into the shore.
Smelling the salty sea air that's all around you now.
And again now in your mind's eye and your imagination standing up,
Digging your toes into the sand,
Feeling its warmth and its pliability beneath you.
And then beginning to move one foot in front of the other,
Walking towards the water's edge.
Dipping your toes in the water and feeling the coolness on your feet contrasting with the hot sand that we were just walking on.
Noticing the muddy feeling now of the wet sand beneath your feet.
And the cool water crashing against your ankles.
Starting to walk now along the beach,
Staying close to the shore so that the water occasionally tickles your feet.
Moving slowly you have nowhere to go and nowhere to be,
Just enjoying this beautiful day in nature.
As you look around the beach,
Seeing the high palm trees,
Little brown monkeys swinging between the big flat leaves,
You notice you have the whole beach to yourself today.
No one is around but you and you just have this time to explore and to relax.
You continue walking,
The ocean to your left,
The trees to your right.
And in a moment you stop walking because you've noticed some sand crabs scuttling around in front of you.
You take a moment to crouch down and look at them,
They're sort of red and translucent shells shining in the sun as they dive in and out of the sand.
You continue walking,
Hearing the laughter of the monkeys and the twittering of the birds.
The breeze a little bit stronger on your face now as you're walking closer to the water.
And that comforting,
Salty sea air just enveloping you.
Noticing how it feels to be in this place at this moment.
You continue walking a little further along the beach,
Seeing a giant tortoise lumbering about.
Its feet look almost like dinosaurs feet.
It's just moving slowly and nodding its head.
You see a marine iguana scampering across the sand,
Sticking its nose in the water,
Looking at you curiously.
Knowing that you are welcome and comfortable here with these animals and with this nature surrounding you.
Once you walk a little bit further you come across a small shack.
It's got a counter and a wooden roof and you notice that they are selling coconut water.
You go and purchase a coconut and pick up the shell,
Feeling its rough outer edges in your hands.
You take a sip of the refreshing coconut water hydrating you and cooling you on this warm sunny day.
You take your drink to go sit under one of the trees.
Noticing how you feel from head to toe as you sip on your slightly sweet drink.
Scanning the body for any feelings of tension,
Of pain,
Of lightness or of looseness.
Not trying to change anything as we sit here in our beautiful surroundings.
Just noticing how the body feels being in this place completely safe and at ease.
Then as you finish your drink,
Placing the coconut beside you,
Returning to your comfortable position whether that was lying down or seated.
Beginning to return your focus to your breath but perhaps still noticing the light breeze and the salty sea air around you.
And as we begin to return to our present surroundings,
See if you can bring something from this place in our mind back with us.
Whether it's feelings of comfort or safety or happiness.
Whether it's the warm weather,
Being surrounded by nature,
Feeling relaxed.
Whatever it is,
Choosing one or two things that you would like to bring these feelings with you back to your day,
Back to the room where your body is presently.
And then let's return there,
Coming back to the present moment,
To your body as it is.
Noticing the parts of your body that are touching the ground,
Whether that's your sit bones or the back of your body.
Now back in this world,
Let's do another scan,
Moving from the top of your head to the tips of your toes,
Taking in anything you're feeling,
Especially noticing the areas of your chest and your shoulders where many of us carry tension.
Not trying to change anything but perhaps just noticing what it feels like to be in your body at this moment and what it feels like to have brought something with you,
One of those feelings with you from our yoga nidra practice.
We're going to come out of our yoga nidra now,
But if you do have more time,
You're welcome to stay in this place between the two worlds for as long as you need today.
And when you do finish your practice,
Perhaps setting yourself the intention to bring whatever it is you brought back from the worlds,
From the land of yoga nidra with you,
Seeing if you can bring that with you maybe for the next 10 minutes or one hour or maybe the rest of your day.
When you're ready to come out of the practice,
You can slowly start to take some movement,
Maybe making some circles with the wrists and the ankles,
Maybe rolling your head in circles or looking from side to side.
And then very slowly when you're ready,
You can open your eyes and return to a seating position if you were lying down.
That concludes our yoga nidra practice for today.
Thank you so much for joining me.
