So,
Welcome everyone.
My name is Nola Bloom.
This is the practice of Yoga Nidra.
Breathing into balance.
And this practice is an invitation to gently return to balance within your body,
Your breath,
And your inner landscape.
When we feel a little out of rhythm,
When the mind is busy and the body feels slightly unsettled,
This is a space to soften and recalibrate.
A space where breath becomes your guide,
Leading you back towards steadiness and ease.
Allow the body to settle now.
Lie down and make yourself really comfortable.
You may place a cushion beneath the knees or underneath the head.
Just allow the arms to rest wherever they feel at ease.
Close down the eyes.
And take a moment to just feel the body resting.
Notice the points of contact between the body and the ground beneath you.
Allow the shoulders to soften and the jaw to release.
Feel the natural weight of the body settling deeper into relaxation.
And now bring awareness to the natural rhythm of your breath.
The gentle rise and fall of the chest and belly.
Each inhale arriving softly.
And each exhale releasing a little more tension from the body.
And let the breath begin to move in a slow and steady rhythm.
There's nothing you need to do for this practice.
Just follow the sound of my voice and allow yourself to be gently guided inward.
Now imagine yourself resting on a quiet tropical beach at dusk.
The sand is soft beneath your body.
The air is warm and still.
You can hear the sound of gentle waves moving in a steady rhythm.
Feel as though that rhythm is moving through you.
Breathing and resting.
Resting and breathing.
Allow your sankalpa,
Your heartfelt intention,
To gently arise.
It may come as a word,
A feeling,
Or quiet sense within the body.
A truth that already lives within you.
And if no words arise,
Simply repeat this intention.
I return to balance within myself.
And allow these words to settle softly in the body like a seed resting in fertile soil.
We now begin rotating awareness through the body.
Sensing the living field of sensation present in every part of you.
Bring awareness to the crown of the head.
A gentle touch of air across the scalp.
Awareness settles at the space between the eyebrows.
The third eye.
The center of our intuition.
Feel the eyes soft.
The face at ease.
Awareness drifts to the throat.
The quiet bridge between breath and expression.
Awareness now moves to the right shoulder.
Closed down the upper arm.
Elbow.
Wrist.
And arrives at the palm of the right hand.
Sensation gathers in the palm.
Spreads through the fingers.
Until the entire right arm becomes one luminous field of sensation.
Return gently to the throat.
Move to the left shoulder.
Flowing down through the upper arm.
Elbow.
Forearm.
Wrist.
Until you arrive at the palm of the left hand.
Sensation gathers there.
Spreads through the fingers.
Until the entire left arm becomes one luminous field of sensation.
Bring awareness now to the chest.
Notice the breath moving here.
A gentle rise and fall of the chest.
A sense of space gently opening across the heart.
Breathing into balance.
Allow the breath to soften anything that feels held here.
Each breath gently guiding you back towards balance.
Awareness drifts to the belly.
Rising and falling like slow ocean tides.
A soft expansion here on the inhale.
A gentle settling on the exhale.
Awareness settles into the pelvis and the hips.
A deep bowl of the body.
Resting gently.
Attention moves down the right leg.
From the hip.
To the thigh.
Through the knee.
To the ankle.
Arriving at the sole of the right foot.
Sensation spreads through the sole and into the toes.
Until the entire right leg becomes one luminous rounded sensation.
Awareness moves down the left leg.
From the hip.
To the thigh.
Through the knee.
Down the calf.
To the ankle.
Arriving at the sole of the left foot.
Sensation spreads through the sole and into the toes.
Until the entire left leg becomes one field grounded sensation.
Sense the whole body at once.
From the crown of the head to the soles of the feet.
From the fingertips to the heart.
One unified field of living sensation resting peacefully.
Now feel the whole body becoming heavy.
Warm sand supporting every curve as muscles soften and bones settle.
The back of the body melting gently into the earth.
Steady and grounded.
Now feel lightness.
The body soft and buoyant.
As though the breath is lifting you from within.
Awareness floating through the limbs.
Spacious and open.
Again feel the body heavy.
Weight sinking down.
Supported.
Stable.
The whole body resting deeply.
Now light again.
A subtle lift through the chest.
Ease spreading outward.
A gentle rising from within.
Now heavy.
Dense.
Grounded.
Effortless.
Spacious.
Now sense both qualities together.
Grounded heaviness.
Spacious lightness.
Meeting in balance.
Like the steady rhythm of the ocean tides.
Bring awareness now more fully to the breath.
Feel the inhale entering the body.
And the exhale leaving the body.
Each breath gently guiding you towards balance.
Each inhale gathers steadiness.
Each exhale softens what is ready to release.
The breath moves through the chest.
The belly.
The whole body.
Balancing.
Soothing.
Regulating.
Allow the breath to deepen in its own natural way.
You are not breathing.
Your body is being breathed.
Rest in this experience.
Feel the breath moving through you.
Gathering steadiness on the inhale.
And softening on the exhale.
A quiet rhythm.
Restoring balance with every breath.
Awareness drifts deeper now.
Into the landscape of the mind.
Thoughts begin to arise and dissolve.
Like ripples forming and fading across the surface of the water.
Watch this movement.
Thoughts arising.
Thoughts dissolving.
Feelings arising.
Feelings dissolving.
Simply witnessing the gentle movement of the mind as it comes and goes.
And beneath this movement,
Sense a deeper steadiness.
A quiet space that remains untouched.
Awareness drifts even deeper now.
Into the quiet space beneath thought.
The changing movements of the mind.
Sense the part of you that already knows balance.
A presence that lives within you.
Felt in the breath.
Felt in the body.
Felt in the stillness that holds everything together.
Allow this deeper knowing to expand gently.
Like light spreading through the body.
A quiet recognition of balance unfolding within you.
Rest in simple presence.
A quiet,
Open awareness.
Spacious and unbounded.
And complete as you are.
Resting in the ease of being.
A gentle sense of peace moving softly through the body.
Awareness open and expansive.
Return now to your sankalpa.
Let it arise once more from this deeper space within you.
And if no words appear,
Simply use the intention.
I return to balance within myself.
And feel the meaning of these words moving through you.
Moving through the body and breath.
Settling into every layer of your being.
Allow this intention to root itself gently.
Carried by the steadiness you have cultivated here.
Begin to slowly return.
Feel the ground beneath you.
And the gentle weight of the body resting.
Awareness back to the breath.
Gentle rise and fall of the chest and belly.
And bring small movements into the fingers and toes.
Keeping a sense of softness and ease.
Stretch the arms up overhead.
A nice big awakening stretch.
Draw the knees up and gently rolling to one side.
Pausing here for a moment of integration.
Carry the sense of balance with you.
Knowing it is always available.
Always only one breath away.
Namaste.
Namaste.
