Hello guys,
I'm Christiani and I am very glad to be here to guide you into a yoga nidra practice.
Yoga nidra is also known as the yogic sleep.
It is equivalent to eight hours of solid rest.
There is nothing that you have to do besides finding a deeply comfortable position.
For me personally,
I like to have my knees propped up on top of pillows.
It can also be a rolled up blanket.
And also a little bit of support for your neck.
Nothing too big because we want to keep the natural curvature of your cervical spine.
Ideally,
We don't fall asleep throughout yoga nidra and yet you have total permission to do so.
Knowing that you cannot fail here.
Actually,
You cannot fail.
Period.
In anything and everything.
Because it's all an opportunity for us to grow,
To expand and evolve.
Back to our yoga nidra.
Finding comfort is primordial here.
If throughout the practice you must move,
It's okay.
Do it gently.
No big movements.
And whenever something doesn't feel right or that something doesn't align for you,
Remind yourself that this is just a practice.
They're right here,
Right now.
All is well.
And you're safe.
So now that you are in your comfortable position,
I want to make sure that you are comfortable,
Right?
Taking a last check-in with your body.
Where could you soften a little bit more?
So it's like fine-tuning your comfort even deeper.
As I mentioned during the yoga nidra,
You can move if you want to.
Just make sure that you do it slowly and gently.
I will guide you through the practice and you do not have to listen to everything I say.
It is perfectly okay if you drift off sometimes so that my voice just becomes a safe sound in the background Towards the end of this nidra,
The invitation is to visualize or feel an imaginary place in nature in summertime.
I will then guide you through a walk in nature.
And if any of the images or sensations come up,
Feel free to ignore any suggestion and have your own experience.
So now bring your awareness to your breath.
Inhaling through the nose and allowing the abdomen to expand.
And exhaling through the mouth with a big sight,
Relaxing the whole body.
Again,
Inhale through your nose,
Create space,
And exhale softening.
Do it one more time at your own pace.
Body scan.
We will begin our body scan.
When I mention a body part,
Bring your awareness there.
And if you like,
Imagine feeling each part of the body mentioned with a golden warm nurturing light.
We will start with the top of the head.
Bring your awareness to the forehead,
The right eye,
The left eye,
Both eyes together.
Awareness to the nose,
The mouth,
The tongue,
The teeth,
The right cheek,
The left cheek,
Both cheeks together,
The right ear,
The left ear,
Both ears together,
The back of the head,
The neck,
The throat.
Now bringing your awareness and focus on the right side of the body.
A golden light gently touching the right shoulder,
The upper right arm,
The right forearm,
And the right hand,
The right thumb,
The right indicator finger,
The middle finger,
The annular finger of your right hand,
The pinky finger of your right hand,
The whole right arm.
Awareness to the right armpit and the outside of the ribs and the waist.
Awareness to the space between the outside of the upper body and the arm,
The right side of the chest,
The right side of the abdomen,
The right hip,
The right thigh,
Lower leg,
And right foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe of the right foot,
Third toe of the right foot,
Fourth toe of the right foot,
Pinky toe of the right foot,
The whole right leg,
The right side of the pelvis,
Lower back,
Upper back,
The whole side of the body,
The whole right side of the body.
And notice if there is a difference or similarity between the sensations in the right and the left side of the body.
We will now bring the awareness to the left side of the body.
A golden light gently touching the left shoulder,
Left upper arm,
Left forearm,
And left hand,
The thumb of the left hand,
The indicator finger of your left hand,
Third finger of the left hand,
Annular finger of the left hand,
Pinky finger of your left hand,
The whole left arm,
The left armpit,
The left side of the ribs and waist.
Awareness to the space between the side of the body and the arm,
The left side of the chest,
The heart,
The left side of your abdomen,
The left hip,
Left thigh,
Left lower leg,
And left foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Left third toe,
Left fourth toe,
And left pink toe,
The whole left leg,
The left side of the pelvis,
Lower back,
And upper back,
The whole left side of the body.
Noticing if there is a difference or similarity between the right and the left side of the body.
Awareness of the whole body,
The whole body,
The whole body glowing with this beautiful golden light gently touching the whole body.
Now let your awareness rest at the soles of the feet for a moment and just observe how it feels.
If there is no sensation at all,
That is also an observation.
If you want,
When you breathe in,
Imagine drawing energy up through the soles of the feet,
Along your legs,
Hips,
Upper body,
All the way through your shoulders.
As you exhale,
Energy moves in the opposite direction,
From the shoulders all the way down and out through the soles of your feet.
Inhale from the soles of your feet to your shoulders and exhale from the shoulders to the soles of the feet.
At your own pace,
Breathing like a soft wave that gives you energy and that washes anything you don't need away.
And now letting go of the awareness of the breath.
Oppositions.
We will now explore if any part of the body feels a little warmer than the rest.
In case that you can't find anything special,
You can choose to focus on the heart,
For example,
And imagine a nurturing warmth in there.
And now,
Notice if any part of the body feels a little cooler than the rest.
In case that you cannot find anything special,
Then you can choose to focus on the sensation between your upper lip and nose.
Perhaps the air is slightly cooler.
As you inhale,
You will now bring your attention back to where it felt warm and then back to where it felt cool and then back to where it feels warm.
And imagine that the warmth is expanding in the body and when the warmth reaches the area that feels cooler,
Then these two merge.
The warmth meets the cool,
Perfect temperature,
Balance,
Equilibrium,
And let go.
Images and free flow.
The invitation now is to see or feel that you visit an imaginary place in nature,
A place where you feel calm and grounded.
So,
Imagine walking in a beautiful meadow in summertime.
What flowers do you see?
What colors are they?
And how do they smell?
You decide to explore this magical place and you can choose to continue walking along the meadow or take a shortcut through a small forest.
If you chose the forest,
What do the trees look like?
Shafts of sunlight shining through the top of the trees and it feels extremely peaceful here.
And you hear birdsong and you may hear the sound of rippling water and you start walking towards that direction.
What does the path look like?
How does it feel underneath your feet?
Maybe you're wearing your hiking shoes.
Maybe you are barefoot.
Maybe the ground has soft moss.
Maybe dried leaves.
And you reach the water.
Perhaps it is a brook or a lake or a small waterfall.
Perhaps it is the ocean.
You choose to sit down and enjoy the tranquility and you feel a soft and comfortable breeze against your skin.
Here you can sit for a while if you want or maybe you choose to dive into the water and swim for a while as the water feels soft like silk and the temperature is perfect.
And now visualize sitting next to the water again feeling refreshed,
Feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin and you choose to get up and continue walking.
And after a while you reach a secret garden.
There is a small gate almost hidden by bushes and trees and it creaks as you open it.
And you step in.
It is so beautiful.
It is so peaceful in there.
Among the weeds there are also beautiful flowers and berries and fruits.
What do you see?
You may choose to use your highly intelligent,
Brilliant and creative mind to see a swing and a bench and you choose one of them and you sit down feeling so relaxed,
Liberated and free.
Feeling the soft breeze again in your skin.
The soft breeze that brushes against the hairs in your arms.
The soft breeze that brings sensual,
Touching,
Beautiful scents of the flowers in this secret garden.
A deep sense of relaxation takes over you with the knowing that you can always come back to this space.
We start our return leaving this beautiful secret garden tucked in so whenever you feel the need to rest you come back here.
We are now going to return.
Please remember to pause after each suggestion I make.
And now,
Initiating our slow and gentle return,
Start by going outward,
Listening to the sounds around you.
Feeling your body,
Feeling your breath,
Softly and gently bringing some minute movement to your fingers,
To your feet.
Maybe you want to stretch your arms over your head and yawn.
Do what feels good to you.
If it feels nice,
Draw your knees up to your chest and rock from side to side.
Roll over into your favorite side,
Taking a deep breath and an exhale.
And within your next inhale,
You're going to start pressing yourself up to seat.
Once you arrive to your seat,
Take a moment to notice all that might be there for you to notice.
Bowing your head towards your heart,
Bringing your hands together into your chest in sign of gratitude for yourself for taking this time to rest and relax.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Thank you so much for choosing to practice with me and it is always an honor to be present here.
Have a beautiful day or afternoon,
A restful night of sleep.
Thank you.
