Welcome to your mini yoga nidra or nidra vidya.
This is just a short yoga nidra practice that you could do as a break from work or during the day on the weekend or even on your way or I mean before you go to work and it's just meant to kind of help you process and really align with your mind body and breath to help boost your success today,
To help boost your creativity,
To help boost your productivity even because we can't go at 100% all the time.
So having that space for mindfulness actually is more productive than if we try to push push push all the way through things.
And so just get yourself comfortable.
So start to find however you can be comfortable.
I mean if you're sitting on a bus or somewhere you might not be able to lie down or perhaps you can lie down and put cushions under your knees,
A blanket over the body.
Just however you can be comfortable,
However you can access stillness and support yourself right now.
And start to notice the breath and all four parts of the breath.
The inhale,
The exhale and the spaces between them.
Our consciousness does a similar cycle.
Sometimes rising,
Sometimes falling,
Sometimes kind of mellowing,
Other times at the top of its productivity.
We cycle through these layers of consciousness throughout the day and our different layers of thinking,
Identity,
Emotions and energy.
But it's all the times in between,
Those moments in between,
Not the moments themselves,
When we're evolving,
Creating,
Integrating and developing.
So let's start with a box breath,
A four count breath to feel those spaces in between.
Start to inhale to the count of four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Hold for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale for four,
Three,
Two and one.
And hold the breath out for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Evening the breath,
Inhale for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Drawing out the top of the breath there,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhaling for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And dwelling at that space at the bottom of the breath for a little longer,
And one.
Inhale for four,
Smooth and steady,
Two,
One.
Hold for four,
Relax the shoulders,
The chest,
Two,
One.
Exhale for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And land and settle at the end of the exhale,
Three,
Two,
One.
Continue on your own for a few rounds so you can let that count come to a natural rhythm for you.
Evenness between the different parts of the breath can create more evenness in the mind and nervous system,
And help us move through different layers of consciousness,
Referred to as the Koshas in yoga philosophy.
Or perhaps you could relate it to the brainwaves of beta,
Alpha,
Delta.
Some of the longer,
Slower waves start to release things like serotonin and enhance your ease and tranquility,
Help you access your subconscious thoughts,
Not in a literal sense.
It's not that you are able to necessarily see them in words,
But just in a subconscious way you can start to process past memories.
Grief can loosen its hold and tension and grip.
You just find a little bit more freedom and detachment from unhelpful habits and thought patterns.
Releasing that box breath after your next exhale.
And let the breath become a little bit rounder,
Keeping the spaciousness you created in the four-count breath,
But just allowing the corners to soften and smooth now.
So it's more of a circle.
Notice if your shoulders are relaxed in the corners of your eyes,
And just naturally resting at those spaces at the top of the inhale and the end of the exhale,
Nothing forced.
Notice especially how that space at the end of the exhale has no resistance,
No judgment.
They say this is a place of great wisdom.
And now we'll do a body scan.
You can just bring to mind each body part,
Feel it,
Or picture a golden light in it.
Starting with feeling into the right thumb,
The first finger of the right hand,
The second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger.
Then feel all the fingers and the spaces between the fingers.
Feel the palm,
Feel the space you hold in the palm and fingers,
The air,
The kind of shape of the air,
The shape of the negative space.
Feel the wrist,
Right forearm,
Inner elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder.
Feel the whole right arm,
And then feel the right side of the waist from the armpit to the hip.
And then feel the space between the right arm and the body.
And take the attention to the right hip,
Thigh,
The back of the knee,
Lower leg,
Right heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot.
Feel all the right toes,
And then try to feel the space between all of the toes on the right foot.
And take your awareness all the way back to the left thumb.
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger.
Feel the spaces between the fingers.
Feel the left palm and the space in the left palm and fingers,
The space they hold,
The negative space.
Feel the left wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder.
Feel the whole left arm.
Feel the left side of the torso,
And then feel the negative space between the arm and the body.
Bring the attention down to the left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
The calf,
The left foot,
And the toes,
And then the spaces between the toes.
And take the attention up through the back body,
Both heels,
Both calves,
The backs of both knees,
The backs of both legs,
The lower back,
The middle back,
The upper back,
The back of the neck,
The back of the head,
The crown of the head.
Feel the forehead,
The eyebrows,
The space between the eyebrows.
Feel the cheeks,
The inner cheeks,
The tongue,
The teeth.
Can you feel the spaces between the teeth?
And feel the whole space of the mouth.
Feel the space inside the nostrils,
And feel the breath as it comes in through the nostrils,
Into the nasal cavity,
And down into the chest and belly.
Maybe feel that breath cool as it comes in,
Warm as it flows out,
The ebb and flow of the breath.
And that moment when the breath in the nostrils is still,
The slack tide.
You may stay here a little longer.
You may want to sit up and maybe write something down,
Even just writing how you feel,
No judgment,
Even if you just want to write,
I don't know.
Or you may just continue back into your day from maybe a different place of integration of those layers of yourself.
Thank you.
Bye bye.
