Nidra To Release Tension

In this grounding yoga nidra practice, Nathalie guides you on a journey to connect with yourself and let go. Allow the healing sound of moving water to release any tension and to bring you back to your natural state of calmness and ease.

Transcript

Welcome everyone.

My name is Natali and I will guide you on this healing yoga-nitra journey.

We will move through all layers of your existence,

From the most outer layer,

Your physical body,

To the most subtle layer of your bliss body.

Allow yourself to relax,

Allow yourself to fully address the journey and allow yourself to flow with my guidance.

Take a few moments to settle into your Shavasana posture.

Allow your eyes to close and bring your awareness into your body to feel your posture.

Bring your feet at least hips-width apart,

Allowing your feet to fall to the sides so your legs and your hips can fully relax.

Round your sacrum and both shoulder blades.

Lengthen your spine and your neck.

You can roll your chin from side to side to release tension in your neck.

To create space in your neck,

Roll your chin to your chest,

Inhale here,

And release your head with the exhalation to a relaxed position.

Spread your arms to the sides if possible,

Palms facing upward,

In a receiving posture or resting on your body,

Embracing your sweet self.

Roll your shoulders back and down to ground your shoulder blades and to expand your heart space.

Check in with yourself and see if you are entirely comfortable and then invite stillness into your posture.

And make a promise to yourself to remain still throughout your practice.

Take three deep,

Nourishing and cleansing breaths here.

Feeling your whole body with the inhalation and allowing your whole body to relax with the exhalation.

Inhale,

Feel your whole body and exhale,

Allowing your whole body to relax.

Inhale,

Feel your whole body and exhale,

Relax your whole body.

One more time,

Inhale,

Feel your whole body and exhale,

Let everything go,

Allow your whole body to relax.

Feel your body melting into the ground underneath you,

Surrendering to the earth.

Feel the support from Mother Earth underneath you,

Giving you a sense of safety and comfort.

And then bring your awareness to the sounds around you.

Focus on the noise you can hear that is coming from outside this room.

Knowing that it is outside of you,

Knowing that it doesn't have an impact on you.

Allowing it to be,

Without any reaction,

Being detached from the sound.

Bring your awareness closer now,

Noticing the sounds in this room.

Knowing that it is outside of you,

Being detached,

Observing it with a distance.

Now bring your awareness to the sounds which are the closest to you.

It may be the sound of your own breath,

Or the sound of your heart beating in your chest,

Or your blood pumping through your veins.

Listen to the sound closest to you.

And notice that you can still observe the sound even though your own body is creating it.

You can still listen to it,

You can stay detached,

You can remain the observer.

Allow my voice to be the guide for your practice.

And let it be the only external sound you stay connected to,

Let everything else fade away.

The practice of Yoga Nidra brings you into a very relaxed state,

Similar to the state of deep sleep.

Through the experience of observing the stillness and quietness in the state of deep sleep,

We can connect to our true nature,

To our true self.

To do so,

We need to stay awake and aware though.

It can be helpful to make a resolve to remain aware,

To stop yourself from drifting off and from falling asleep.

Repeat to yourself three times,

Silently.

I resolve to remain aware.

The practice of Yoga Nidra begins now.

Observe the movement of your chest in the rhythm of your natural breath.

Opening,

Expanding with the inhalation.

Relaxing,

Releasing with the exhalation.

And then feel the middle of your chest,

The middle of your heart space.

Feel that you are whole,

That you are complete and perfect exactly as you are.

You have been chosen as a part of this magical universe and you are exactly where you are supposed to be.

Everything that you need to know lies within you.

Feel your heart space and conjure up a feeling of trust and deep gratitude.

We will start this practice by setting an intention.

The intention for our practice is called a sankalpa.

We set a sankalpa to heal limiting beliefs or to plant a seed to bring our potential to life.

The sankalpa brings to the surface what is within you already.

It allows your inner wisdom and hidden aspects of your being to be seen,

To flourish.

Gratitude is a gate opener to a sankalpa,

To our deepest intention.

So continue feeling the middle of your heart space and feeling gratitude.

Gratitude for being alive.

Gratitude for your own breath.

Gratitude for your family.

Gratitude for this moment in which you don't have anything to achieve,

In which you can simply be.

With this feeling of gratitude,

Ask yourself what does your heart desire?

What beliefs are holding you back?

Form a positive I statement to plant a seed for growth or to resolve a limiting belief.

Something like,

I live my full potential.

I am enough.

I am loved.

I am healing.

If nothing comes up,

You are welcome to use any of these or stick with your resolve to remain aware.

Repeat your heart's intention silently three times with full confidence,

Courage and trust.

Now bring your awareness back into your physical body and imagine a golden light in the middle of your chest.

The healing light is softening your heart space and is radiating with every breath you are taking.

Allow the golden light and your awareness to travel into your right thumb.

Feel your right thumb illuminated by the golden light.

Where awareness goes,

Prana flows and healing can happen.

Let your awareness be guided by my voice,

Scanning,

Healing your whole body.

Feel your right thumb lit up by the golden light.

Feel your right index finger,

Middle finger,

Your right ring finger,

Pinky finger and the top of your right hand.

Feel your whole right hand illuminated by the golden healing light.

Feel your right wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Your right upper arm,

Your armpit.

Feel your right shoulder.

Feel your whole right arm,

Shoulder and hand illuminated by the healing golden light.

Feel the right side of your chest and rib cage.

Feel your right waist.

Feel your right hip,

Your right clute.

Feel your right thigh,

Your knee,

Your right shin and calf.

Feel your right ankle,

Top of your right foot,

Your right heel,

Sole of your right foot and all five toes.

Feel the whole right side of your body illuminated by the golden healing light.

And then watch the golden light travel into your left thumb.

Feel your left thumb illuminated by the golden healing light.

Feel your left index finger,

Your left middle finger,

Your left ring finger,

Pinky finger.

Feel the palm of your left hand and the top of your left hand.

Feel your whole left hand illuminated by the healing light.

Feel your wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Armpit and shoulder.

Feel your whole right arm,

Shoulder and hand illuminated by the golden healing light.

Feel the left side of your chest and rib cage.

Feel your left waist,

The left hip,

Your left thigh,

Your left knee,

Shin and calf.

Feel your left ankle,

The top of your left foot,

Your left heel,

The sole of your left foot and all five toes.

Feel your whole left side illuminated by the golden healing light.

Feel both soles of your feet.

And allow the light to travel up your back body.

Feel both heels at once,

The calf,

Space behind your knees,

Both hamstrings,

Both glutes.

Feel your sacrum.

Feel your whole spine.

Feel your back,

Feel your shoulder blade.

And feel the back of your head.

Feel the crown of your head illuminated by the golden healing light.

Feel your forehead,

Your temple.

Feel both ears.

Feel your eye,

The space around your eye.

Feel both eyebrows.

Feel the space in between your eyebrows.

Feel the bridge of your nose,

The tip of your nose.

Feel both cheeks.

Feel your upper lip and your lower lip and where they are touching.

Feel your whole mouth.

Feel your jaw.

Feel the tongue in your mouth.

Feel your whole face illuminated by the golden healing light.

Feel down your throat.

Feel your collarbone.

Feel your chest filled up with golden healing light.

Feel your belly.

Feel your pelvis.

Feel down the front of both thighs.

Feel your kneecap,

Your shin and the tops of both feet.

Feel your whole body filled up,

Nourished with the healing golden light.

Radiating in every single cell.

Healing,

Nourishing every single cell of you.

Feel whole,

Feel complete.

Knowing that you are exactly where you are supposed to be.

Knowing that you are perfect exactly as you are.

Now bring your awareness to the tip of your nose and notice how you automatically start observing your breath.

Feel the movement of your body in the rhythm of your breath.

Feel the expansion of your chest,

Your belly and even your shoulders.

And how everything sinks back with the exhalation.

Follow the flow of your breath with your awareness.

How the air enters your nostril,

Streams down your throat,

Into your lung,

Your belly and all the way back.

And then bring your awareness to the pause at the end of your inhalation and at the end of your exhalation.

There is a little break,

A moment of stillness at the end of your inhalation when you are full and nourished.

And there is a short break at the end of your exhalation when you have emptied yourself.

Observe the pauses.

Observe the space.

Observe the stillness.

As we are moving deeper from your energetic body to your mental body,

Bring your awareness into the space between your eyebrows.

The space where the dualities within you find balance.

Connecting to your essence,

Which is balance,

Which is union.

I will guide you through two pairs of opposites to explore the dualities within and to develop a sense of equanimity.

Try to really dive in the named quality and hold a gentle space for yourself.

Witnessing everything that may arise,

Allowing any sensation and emotion to come to the surface.

Feel heavy.

Feel the heavy weight of your body resting against the ground.

Feel the heaviness in your whole body.

Feel your heavy body sinking into the ground underneath you.

And allow yourself to fully experience the feeling of heaviness.

Now release the feeling of heaviness and awaken the experience of feeling light.

Feel your whole body being light,

So light as if it would be floating in space.

Allow yourself to fully dive in the experience of feeling light.

Release that and bring your awareness back to the space in between your eyebrows,

Feeling balance.

Conjure up a feeling of doubt now.

Feel being in doubt of yourself or the outcome of a situation.

Feel the doubt and observe in which area of your body you can feel it.

Release the feeling of doubt now and conjure up a feeling of deep trust.

Allow yourself to experience having trust.

And observe in which area of your body you can feel the experience.

Feeling whole and complete,

Feeling balance.

Allow yourself to dive deeper into relaxation,

Remembering your resolve to stay aware.

Find yourself standing in a lush forest on a beautiful day,

Feeling peaceful,

Calm and safe.

Look around you and observe your environment.

You are surrounded by powerful and beautiful trees.

The sunlight is shining through the canopy,

Sparkling in magical colors.

You can feel the warmth of the sunlight on your skin.

You can hear the leaves gently shaking in the summer breeze.

You can smell the nourishing earth you are standing on.

In solitude you are enjoying the presence of the tree.

Sinking deeper into this experience and into relaxation with every breath you are taking.

Becoming more aware of your surroundings you start to notice the sound of moving water close to you.

You follow the sound of the water deeper into the forest.

With all your senses you are observing your environment as you are walking through the lush forest.

Until you reach a beautiful little waterfall running into a pond which continues into a creek.

You take a few moments to take in the beauty of the sea.

The exceptional ways the water chooses to run down the rocky surface,

The reflections of the sunlight in the water letting it shine in all the colors of the rainbow and the playful whirls and turbulences in the pond.

Hypnotized by the sound and the patterns of the moving water,

You feel more and more relaxed with every breath you are taking.

Walking closer you notice an inviting looking flat rock next to the pond at the bottom of the waterfall.

You find rest here and sit down on the rock.

You can feel the mist of the water on your skin.

And you sense that it has a healing effect on you.

Curious about the power of the water you put your feet in the water and let your legs dangle here.

The water has a comfortable temperature.

As you are soaking your feet in the fresh water you feel rejuvenated and much lighter.

You can feel that the water has a cleansing effect on your whole being.

It seems as if the water is washing away your blockages and any tension in your body.

With every breath you feel lighter,

Calmer and free.

Allowing the water to wash away anything that doesn't serve you anymore.

Knowing that this healing experience is complete you pull your feet out of the water and let the sunlight dry off your skin warming your whole body.

Feel the gentle warmth spreading in your whole body.

And then feel the warmth in your heart center.

Allowing your breath to become a bit more intense again.

Observing your chest expanding with every inhalation and sinking back with the exhalation.

Embracing the dualities within knowing that your essence is balance,

Harmony and union.

With your awareness at your heart center remember your sankalpa.

The intention you set at the beginning of your practice and repeat it silently three times again.

Plant the seeds to restructure your mind,

The seeds to give direction to the transformative forces in your life.

Take your intention with you and use it on a daily basis and in future practices to allow it to grow and to bring change.

And now feel your physical body again.

Feel it resting against the floor,

Feel its weight and its shape and then invite some movement back into your body.

Move your fingers,

Move your toes,

Circle your ankles and your wrists and then bring movement into your whole body.

Maybe stretch yourself out in a long body stretch or hug your knees in,

Embracing your sweet self.

And then roll onto your right side and rest here for a few breaths.

If you want to stay lying down just rest here,

Otherwise gently come back up to a seated position.

Eyes still closed so bring your gaze down.

The practice of yoga nija is now completed.

Bring your palms together to touch in front of your heart and bow your head in gratitude.

In gratitude for the breath which unites us and in gratitude for your practice.

And together let's bring our hands to our forehead to touch as a reminder to consciously choose loving thought.

Hands to our lips to touch as a reminder to consciously choose loving work.

And back to our hearts to remind us to be compassionate and loving to others but equally to ourselves.

Thank you for practicing with me.

Namaste.

Reviews

So good! Definitely one of my new go to favourites!

Natalie, thank you. I had a tension headache, and now I feel much better. Your voice is beautiful and calming. Namaste. 🙏🏻

Very relaxing, thank you

Beautiful, thank you 🙏🏻

Wonderful guidance ! Perhaps just remind us to cover beforehand (I forgot and had to get a blanket) and give us a bit more time to find and articulate our Sankalpa. Otherwise, it was remarkable and very deep. Thank you so much!

Thankyou Natalie. What a great practice, calming and invigorating at the same time. I will be coming back to this one many times.

Lovely practice
Many thanks
Namaste
🙏

Thank you 🌸🌼🌺for the wonderful Indra meditation 🌷it is a sweet pleasure to do it🙏Namaste 🦋take care