Hello and welcome,
I'm Beatrice and this is a yoga nidra for complete relaxation.
So once you're ready find a comfortable quiet space where you can be for a while without being disturbed.
Then begin to come down to the ground either lying down on your back or if that's not available for you for any reason you can lie on your side or even on your front.
Make sure you make your yoga nidra experience as comfortable as possible.
If you'd like to you can use a cushion under your head or cover yourself if you feel cold with a nice blanket.
Take a moment to notice if your body's comfortable,
Your head,
Your neck,
All the way down through the spine,
The shoulders.
If you're lying on your back you can choose to have your palms up with arms out or your palm on your belly.
If you're lying on your side or any other way you're welcome to keep the arms and hands however feels comfortable for you.
Please make sure your legs are comfortable and your feet and your hips.
And if you feel ready and safe you're welcome to close off the eyes but if that doesn't work for you for any reason you can keep them open just softly gaze either to the ceiling or any other spot that's in front of you.
And before we start in your own way remind yourself the importance of relaxation but also to stay aware and alert throughout the practice.
Starting with asankapa or intention.
This is a positive statement in the present tense so as if you already had this thing or you already were this thing.
So take some time now to find this intention and let it come from the heart rather than forcing it from your mind.
I'll give you a few moments.
And once you have it try to keep it clear and short and repeat it in your mind for three heartfelt times.
You can do so now.
Take a full breath in and as you exhale let your intention go.
Find yourself to stay aware and alert.
And if you'd like to move your body make yourself a little bit more comfortable you're welcome to do so.
Now begin to take your awareness into the body and notice where the back of your head touches the surface supporting it.
Having a direct experience of that contact point and letting the surface completely support your head.
Now move your attention down to the jaw.
And if you feel any tension let your jaw relax,
Separate the teeth,
The lips.
Bring your attention to the eyes.
Find the wear of them resting in the sockets,
Simply feeling them,
Perhaps the air touching your eyelids.
Maybe you can notice colours and shapes coming through the eyelids.
You can focus on this now.
Notice what's come through,
What colours,
What shapes,
With our judgement and if nothing comes that's fine as well.
Now begin to notice sounds around you.
Doesn't matter what they are,
Just notice.
Without judging them as being good or bad,
Nice or not very nice,
Just allow any sound to come to you.
Now start focusing on the sounds farther away from you,
Perhaps outside of the room,
Maybe outside of the building.
Let them come to you.
Begin to notice sounds a little closer to you within the room and around you.
And perhaps you can come so close that you can hear the sound of your own breath.
Listen without judging.
Maybe at the same time you become aware of other internal sounds,
Perhaps the sound of your heart beating.
Just explore with curiosity.
Now begin to expand your attention from the sound of your breath and your internal sounds to the sounds in the room and the sounds outside the room,
Melting them all together and letting them go into the background.
Now begin to find,
Mentally find,
Your right hand.
Notice where it is and how it feels.
And then notice your right thumb,
Your index finger,
Middle finger,
The ring finger and the pinky finger,
The palm of your hand,
The back of your hand,
The wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
The right shoulder.
Going down the right side of your body to the hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel,
Shoulder foot,
Top of the foot,
The big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and fifth toe.
Now the entire foot,
The whole foot.
Now find your left hand,
Noticing where it is and how it feels and your left thumb,
Your index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger and pinky finger,
The palm of the hand,
The back of the hand,
The wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
The left shoulder.
Down the left side of your body to find the hip,
Your left thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel,
Shoulder foot,
Top of the foot,
The big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and fifth toe and now the entire foot,
The whole foot.
If you ever get distracted,
Try not to judge yourself,
Simply bring yourself back to what we're doing.
Move your attention to the back of your body and the base of your spine,
Up to the low back,
Mid back and upper back,
The top of your head,
Coming around to the forehead and now feeling the right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right ear,
The left ear,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
The nose,
The top lip,
The bottom lip and the jaw.
Feeling down the front of your neck,
Your chest,
The upper abdomen,
The navel,
The lower abdomen and back around to the base of your spine.
Just take a moment here to notice how you're feeling right now.
Remind yourself to stay awake and continue on by feeling the right leg,
The entire leg from the thigh down to the foot and your left leg from the thigh to the foot.
And noticing both legs together.
Now the right arm,
The entire right arm and the left arm,
The entire left arm.
And noticing both arms together from the shoulder down to the hands,
Both arms at the same time.
And noticing your face and expanding to feeling the entire head all around.
Now noticing the back of your body,
Sensing the points of contact of your shoulders,
Perhaps your mid-back,
Coming down through perhaps the hips and the back of the legs,
The heels.
Noticing the whole back of the body together.
And coming around to the front of the body.
Noticing anything that might come in contact with it,
Your clothes,
The blanket,
The air against your skin.
Now noticing the front of your body all together.
Now bringing together both the front and the back of your body at once.
Noticing your whole body and how it feels.
Now to relax even more,
Take your attention to your breath.
And for now simply become aware of your breathing.
Noticing the breath as it comes in and goes out.
In and out.
Facing on any sensation that helps your attention.
Just become more and more aware of your breathing.
And take your attention to your face and head again.
And without moving your body,
Take a full breath in.
And as you breathe out,
Let go of the breath and all tensions left in the face.
Around your forehead,
Your eyes,
Down the jaw,
About.
Pay attention to your arms.
Breathe in.
And as you breathe out,
Relax them even more.
Allowing them to become heavy and still.
Notice your legs.
Take a full breath in.
And breathe out to let the legs relax even more.
Now allow your attention to fall to the hips.
And as you breathe in,
Become more aware of your hips and where they are.
Breathing out,
Relax them even deeper.
Let them be heavy,
Let them go.
Bring your attention to the belly.
Take a full breath in.
As you breathe out,
Let all that belly tension release.
Bring your attention to the chest.
Take a full breath in.
And exhale completely,
Letting your chest settle and soften.
Letting all of the muscles relax now and the body relax completely.
Noticing if it feels a little bit heavier than when you started.
Now noticing your breath just for a moment more,
As it is,
Without the need to change it.
Simply notice it coming in and out.
Meaning if you can with the breath and little else.
You can follow the sound of your breath or sensations,
Perhaps the air coming in and out the nostrils or the body subtly moving with the breath.
Just stay with it for a moment.
If you get distracted,
Simply draw your awareness back to your breath.
Now let the attention go away from the breath and come back to your stankalpa or intention,
The one you set at the beginning.
Once you have it again in your mind,
Repeat it for three heartfelt times in the present tense,
In the form of I am or I have.
You can do so now.
Notice how it feels.
Once you are ready,
Take a deep breath in and let go of the breath as you let go of the intention.
Also remind yourself to come back to this intention over and over again for a period of time to notice how it changes over time and into your life.
Now start to become aware of your whole self,
Sensing anything that might be coming to you right now and welcoming sensations.
Becoming more and more aware of your whole body,
Of this space and time,
Sensing your surroundings.
And more and more aware of your presence here in this place,
What's all around you.
And once you're ready,
Begin to gently move your body through some finger movements,
Toes,
The head.
You can gently take a full body stretch,
Moving in any way that feels safe and nourishing for the body,
Perhaps hugging the knees into your chest.
And if you are on your back,
Please roll over onto one side.
Once you're ready,
You can use your top arm to support yourself up to a comfortable seated position.
Take your time here to stretch out,
However it feels good,
Take any small movements or big movements if you want.
If you have your eyes closed,
You're welcome to float them open in your own time.
And really thank yourself for taking this time out of the day to practice.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
I'm really grateful that you did and I hope you join me again soon.
