Hello,
My name is Brenda and I will be guiding you today through a sleep meditation,
Also known as a yoga nidra practice.
In yoga nidra,
You want to be fully reclined on your back.
So whether you're taking this practice on the couch,
In your bed,
On the floor,
Start to make your way there and really feel like your limbs are taking up space.
So allow the heels to kind of be further apart,
Perhaps wider than your hips,
And just let the arms fall a few inches away from your body.
Palms can be facing up and it might feel nice to drape something over your eyes like a light scarf or a light towel.
The yoga nidra practice will take you somewhere between awake and asleep,
Known as the hypnagogic state.
And so if at any moment you lose me,
Don't feel like you have to make anything up.
If you fully fall asleep,
Embrace it.
As your eyes are now perhaps fully closed,
Allow the face to soften,
The tongue to soften,
The shoulders to release down.
And then just start to bring your awareness to the sounds around you,
Noticing any sounds near or far,
Simply bouncing your awareness from sound to sound.
Imagine like your inner ears are just widening and capturing all the various hums that may surround you.
We don't need to analyze what they are,
We're just simply observing.
And start to bring your awareness a little bit closer to yourself and noticing the sounds within your own self,
Noticing the sounds of your own inhale and your own exhale,
And perhaps noticing any other sounds within you.
Now begin to bring your attention to the space between your eyebrows.
Just slowly bring your awareness there and imagine this gentle tapping right at the center of your brow point,
Your third eye.
And perhaps it's like a gentle drop of water tapping the center of your forehead.
And that gentle drop of water starts to move down,
Softening down towards your cheeks,
Down to your lips,
Softening the jawline and the tip of your chin,
The front of your throat,
The sides of your neck,
Your collarbones,
Your shoulders,
Your upper arms and elbows,
Forearms and wrists,
Back of the palms,
Center of the palms,
Center of the palms and all 10 fingers in your hands.
Bring the attention back into the center of your chest,
The center of your belly,
The front of your hips,
The back of your hips,
Tops of the thighs,
Backs of the thighs,
Knees,
Shins,
Calves,
Ankles,
Tops of your feet,
Soles of your feet,
Heels,
And all 10 toes.
Now your entire body has been gently touched by your awareness,
That gentle drop of water that started at the tip of your brow point.
And now slowly with your attention bring it back to your belly space,
A couple inches above the belly button.
And you'll begin to count backwards from the number 11.
And so you'll count 11 inhales and you'll count 11 exhales.
And if at any moment you lose count,
Simply go back to the number 11.
And if you finish your count before we enter the next part of our practice,
Go back to the number 11 as well.
Pausing wherever you are,
Bring the attention back to the belly,
The space of our center itself,
Sometimes referred to as our solar plexus.
And I want you to see if there is an intention that you want to hold for yourself in this moment.
An intention can be anything from a word to a phrase to a statement,
An image,
A color.
There's no right or wrong for your sankalpa,
Your intention.
Let that go for a moment.
Let your intention just float away from your consciousness and bring your attention back to the center of your forehead,
The brow point,
Observing the screen of your mind as we take on the practice of pairing of opposites.
As you listen to my guidance from opposite directions,
Just observe what happens to your body.
What's playing in the screen of your mind without judgment or analyzing or just present with this experience.
Begin to imagine like your body is so hot.
It's a very hot day.
You can feel the sun beaming on you.
You might even feel like there's a little bit of sweat.
This heat is rising up,
Flushing your cheeks,
Your shoulders,
Arms are feeling really warm.
Now invite the sensation of feeling very cold.
Imagining this winter storm.
As you brace the cold,
You feel this big breeze in your face.
And then once again,
Feel this rush of heat.
You just stepped into the sauna.
It's so hot.
You can feel it at your core.
And then opposite of the sensation of feeling very cold,
Your fingertips are cold.
Your nose and ears feel cold.
Like you just stepped into an ice bath.
And bring the sensation of heat rising back up.
You just stepped into a hot bath.
Your entire body feels submerged in heat.
Imagine your body now feeling very heavy,
Heavy to the ground.
The heels feel heavy.
The hips feel heavy.
The shoulders feel heavy.
The arms are heavy.
They can't move.
The back of the head is grounded down.
Now invite the sensation of feeling light and lifted.
Light as a feather.
Your limbs feel so light.
Almost like they're floating.
And then heavy.
Heavy as lead.
So heavy.
And then light as a feather.
Lifting up in spirit.
Arms are so light and fingers are light.
And then once again,
This heaviness of feeling rooted.
Heels,
Arms,
Torso.
And now invite the sensation of feeling grounded and stable and courageous.
So proud into your core,
You feel this.
And feel the opposite of this fear and agitation.
Pleasant perhaps.
And then pair the opposite with grounded,
Rooted,
And stable in your voice and your purpose.
And then bring the sensation of feeling and your purpose.
Bring the attention back to your belly space now.
And you'll begin to count backwards once again from the number 11.
Counting 11 inhales and 11 exhales.
Slowly allowing yourself to just bask in the quietness now.
Bask in your practice and sleep.
