Welcome to your practice.
This is a time for rest,
A time for return.
Yoga Nidra sometimes called conscious deep sleep,
A state where the body lies in stillness as if asleep while the inner awareness remains gently awake.
It is a passage inward guiding you through layers of the body,
Breath,
And mind until you arrive at a quiet center within yourself.
Think of this practice as a refuge,
A sanctuary within,
A place where you can lay down the weight of the day,
Loosen the grip of effort,
And remember what it feels like to simply be.
Let's begin.
Coming into Savasana,
Lay down,
Allow the body to find stillness.
Let the feet fall open,
Arms resting slightly away from your sides,
Palms facing upward if that feels comfortable.
Close the eyes,
Let the ground hold you completely.
Soften the jaw,
Forehead,
And space between the brows.
Let each breath draw you in further.
Nothing to do here,
No role to play.
Gently moving into presence.
In the stillness of Nidra,
We plant a seed in the fertile ground of the mind.
This seed is your sankalpa,
A resolve and a guiding truth.
It is not a wish for tomorrow,
But a knowing of what already lives within you.
Let it rise softly without forcing.
Perhaps a statement that affirms your being such as,
I am steady,
I am safe,
I am free.
Whatever comes,
Let it be simple and true in this very moment.
When you feel it,
Repeat it silently three times as if it's already true,
Placing it gently in the heart and let it rest there like a seed.
Now,
We bring our awareness through a journey in the physical body.
We will touch one point at a time,
Not lingering,
Not analyzing,
Only noticing and moving on.
A gentle sweep of attention,
Our awareness passing through the body,
Bringing your awareness to the center of the forehead,
Throat pit,
Right shoulder,
Right elbow,
Tip of the right thumb,
Index finger,
Right wrist,
Right elbow,
Right shoulder,
Left shoulder,
Left wrist,
Tip of the left thumb,
Tip of the left index finger,
Tip of the left middle finger,
Tip of the left ring finger,
Tip of the left little finger,
Left wrist,
Left elbow,
Left shoulder,
Center of the chest,
Navel center,
Pelvic center,
Right hip joint,
Right ankle,
Tip of the right big toe,
Tip of the right second toe,
Tip of the right third toe,
Tip of the right fourth toe,
Tip of the right little toe,
Right ankle,
Right hip joint,
Pelvic center,
Left hip joint,
Left knee,
Left ankle,
Tip of the left big toe,
Tip of the left second toe,
Tip of the left third toe,
Tip of the left fourth toe,
Left knee,
Left hip joint,
Pelvic center,
Center of the chest,
Space above the head,
Center of the chest.
Sense the whole body all together,
Alive with awareness.
The whole body at once,
Quietly in stillness.
Now let the awareness move from the body into the breath.
The breath becomes the path of attention.
With each inhale,
Awareness flows downward.
With each exhale,
Flows upward.
The breath is effortless,
Natural,
Guiding you through your inner pathways.
Awareness comes to the crown of your head and exhale your breath as if a gentle wave traveling down to the toes.
And then inhale back to the crown and then back to the toes,
Bringing awareness between both.
Now exhale down to the ankle joints.
Inhale back to the crown of the head 10 times.
The breath empties you out as you exhale,
Fills you again as you inhale.
Now we inhale from the crown down to the knees,
Moving once again 10 times between these two points,
Emptying out and nourishing in.
Now exhale down to the pelvis,
The root center,
Back into the crown for a total of five breaths.
The breath empties as you flow out,
Fills you as you flow in,
Smooth and relaxed.
Next we exhale down to the navel center,
Back into the crown for five breaths,
Moving back and forth between each point.
Now breathe to the heart center,
Back into the crown,
Breathing five breaths,
Relaxing deep at the core in the heart region and back up to the crown.
Moving into the throat center,
Inhale back into the crown once more,
Breathing five times.
Release tension from the voice,
The throat,
And then nourishing into the crown of the head.
Now travel from the crown of the head down to the eyebrow center,
Deep at the core of the head.
The entire dome of your head is emptied as you breathe out,
Filled as you breathe in five times.
Brow center,
Back into the head.
Now travel down from the crown of your head to the base of the nostrils.
Inhale here back to the eyebrow center and then back into the nostrils.
We move for 20 breaths,
Back and forth between each point.
Eyebrow center,
Feeling the breath move through the nostrils,
Resting within yourself.
Tend to each breath,
Easy like a stream.
Let go of counting.
Rest in the quiet rhythm of your natural breath.
Resting in the present moment.
Now I invite you to pair the following sensations to refine our awareness.
Feel each quality fully,
Then let it dissolve.
Heavy.
Spacious.
Sinking.
Still.
Sense a single point of light at the eyebrow center.
Let the light rise through the crown into open space,
And then only space,
And then space dissolves.
Bring your inner resolve back into awareness,
Sankalpa.
Repeat again three times silently at your mind's eye.
Let it settle into the heart.
Notice sounds far away.
Sense the contact points with the surface beneath you.
Maybe begin to wiggle the fingers and toes.
And then bigger movement,
Rotate the wrists and ankles.
Maybe gently rock back and forth,
Or side to side.
Coming on to your right side,
And pause here.
Maybe you slowly come up into a comfortable seat,
And allow the effects of the practice to wash over mind,
Body,
Spirit.
Take your time coming out.
Reorient yourself with the space that you're in.
As we take one deep inhale and exhale to seal this time together.
Inhale through the nose.
Exhale.
