iRest Yoga Nidra For Progressive Relaxation

This is 30 minutes of guided meditation moving through progressive relaxation of the body to help you manage stress and anxiety and experience relaxation. This iRest Yoga Nidra is offered to help you manage your experiences of stress and anxiety as they manifest in physical symptoms. Progression relaxation takes you on a journey throughout the body to safely explore sensations of tension and ease.

Transcript

As you settle in to your seat or to your restful position,

Give yourself a breath or two to feel into any part of the body that might be experiencing discomfort or tired or tightness or tension and give yourself permission to modify.

If you could be 5 to 10% more comfortable,

What would you need to do?

Perhaps sliding a bolster or blanket under your knees to create ease and spaciousness in your lower back or letting your arms and legs go wide on the earth so that you feel really spacious and at ease.

And as you feel yourself settle into stillness,

Take a moment to let your senses come online,

To feel the senses begin to expand,

Noticing any light playing on your inner eyelids,

Noticing any sounds in your body or in the room around you,

Feeling into the texture of fabric on your skin,

Noticing any smells in contact with your nostrils as you breathe in,

And any tastes lingering in the mouth from your day,

Allowing your relationship to this moment and to yourself to begin to widen and deepen.

And from this widening and deepening connection to yourself,

Take a moment to affirm a sense of welcoming and a sense of gratitude for this time that you've carved out for your practice,

Allowing this sense of welcoming and of gratitude to move through the body,

Perhaps inviting gratitude into those places where the body still feels the need to hold itself,

And inviting a little bit of softening,

A sense of permission to let yourself relax.

From this place of welcoming and gratitude,

Set your intention for your practice,

Allowing any word,

Phrase,

Or image bubble up to the surface of your awareness.

And then setting that word or phrase or image in the present tense.

And if no specific intention is surfacing,

You can always take as your intention the phrase,

I am awake and aware,

Or I am present.

Setting an intention that will allow you to give your practice your wholehearted attention.

This intention serves as an anchor to the practice and to yourself when the mind wants to drift away.

So take the next three slow deep breaths to state your intention to yourself three times in the present tense.

Feel deeply into this intention and into your willingness to be with what is.

And acknowledging that your intention is always here for you,

Allow yourself now to move deeply into the space of your heart.

And for the next few breaths,

Simply enjoy the gentle beating of your heart,

Feeling into the texture of your heartbeat,

That pulse of life as it vibrates through you.

Simply as you rest into this space,

Your heartfelt desire may begin to surface.

Your heartfelt desire is your life's deepest longing for how it wishes to show up,

How life wishes to be lived through you.

Rather than trying to reach out and seek an answer,

What would it feel like to simply allow the body to be at rest,

To enjoy the texture of your heartbeat a moment longer,

And to allow any information that already resides within you to make itself known,

Knowing that it might take weeks or months or even years to get clear on your heartfelt desire.

And so as any words or images or phrases surface,

Can you place them in the present tense again,

So that perhaps your heartfelt desire comes to life as something like,

I am healthy,

I am whole,

I am at peace.

Take the next three slow deep breaths to connect to your sankalpa,

Your heartfelt desire,

Repeating it to yourself.

Now allowing your heartfelt desire to be just as it is in the body and in this moment,

Turn your attention back to the physical body and feel into any place in your body where you sense ease,

Where you experience a felt sense of comfort,

Safety,

Security.

Perhaps you feel this through the grounding of your back body into the earth.

Maybe you feel it in the softness of your belly.

Know that this felt sense of security is your inner resource and that it is always available to you throughout your practice or in daily life when you feel overwhelmed or you want to reconnect to your own inherent wholeness.

As you feel deeply into this physical experience of ease and safety,

Allow any words,

Images or memories associated with these feelings to surface.

This will invite your inner resource to resonate more deeply and take root.

And if this feels like the right place to be today,

Stay with your inner resource and allow it to continue to flesh out.

Otherwise,

As you're ready,

Bring awareness into your mouth.

Feel sensation of the space within your mouth,

Sensation of the gums,

The teeth,

The walls of the mouth.

Welcome sensation now in your inner ears,

The ear canal and out into the architecture of the ears.

Sense into the nose,

The left nostril,

The right nostril,

The left eye,

The right eye.

As you're ready,

Open your mouth,

Stick out your tongues,

Open your eyes wide,

Bring tension into your face,

Mouth wide open,

Jaw,

Ears,

Nose,

Eyes,

Forehead and scalp.

The skin of your face and scalp stretch tight.

Hold tension for a few moments and then release completely.

Wiggle your head,

Wiggle your mouth and jaw.

And then notice what sensations are present in the head,

Mouth and jaw,

Allowing all sensations to be completely known and aware in your presence.

As you're ready,

Bring awareness into the back of the neck and the shoulders.

Keeping the mouth,

Jaw,

Face and head completely at ease,

Welcome tension into the neck and shoulders.

Squeeze into the neck,

Hold the shoulders tight.

Focus tension into the neck and shoulders while keeping the rest of your body completely at ease.

Hold for a few moments and then completely release the neck and shoulders.

Shake the shoulders gently and give the body up completely to the support of the floor.

Notice all sensations that are present.

Bring sensation now into the left upper arm,

Elbow,

Forearm,

Wrist,

The left hand and fingers.

The entire left arm,

Hand and fingers alive with sensation.

Slowly curl your left fingers into the palm,

Tightening your hand into a fist.

Bring that tension now into the wrist,

The forearm,

The elbow and upper arm,

Biceps and triceps and tension,

Building tension into the entire left arm.

Keep the right arm,

Face and head completely relaxed,

Left arm completely in tension for a moment and then release the left arm.

Take the left arm and hand,

Wiggle your fingers and then settle into stillness.

Notice what sensations are present here.

Feel the support of the surface beneath your left arm,

Mouth,

Ears,

Eyes,

Shoulders and neck completely at ease,

Aware of any and all sensations that are present in the body.

Notice sensation now in the right upper arm,

Elbow,

Forearm,

Wrist,

Right hand and fingers.

Slowly curl the right fingers into your palm,

Tightening into the fist,

Bringing that tension into your wrist,

Forearm,

Upper arm,

Biceps and triceps and tension,

Building tension into the right arm as you allow the left arm,

Face and head to remain completely at ease.

Right arm completely in tension for a moment and then release the right arm.

Wiggle your fingers,

Shake the right arm and hand and then settle into stillness.

Feel the support of the surface beneath your right arm,

Aware of any sensations that are here in this moment.

Mouth,

Ears,

Eyes,

Face and head completely at ease,

Neck and shoulders completely at ease,

Arms and hands completely at ease.

Sense now into the space of the upper chest,

The middle of the abdomen,

The lower abdomen and pelvis.

Sense the space between your shoulder blades in the upper back,

Sensing the mid back and the broad expanse of your rib cage and sensing into the lower back.

Notice sensation emerging in the whole torso and then beginning to tighten from the base of the torso,

Squeezing into the belly and abdominal walls,

Squeezing into the sides of the waist,

The upper chest,

Building tension into the entire torso front and back,

Squeezing into the buttocks,

Sacrum,

Low and mid back,

Upper back and the space between your shoulder blades.

The entire torso and pelvis,

Front and back in tension,

Mouth and head relaxed and arms at ease.

Feel the tension in the torso for another moment and then completely release.

Allow the entire torso to be at ease and to feel supported by the ground beneath you.

Notice what's present now and when you're ready,

Bring your awareness to the left hip,

Noting sensation in the left hip and thigh,

The left knee,

The lower leg,

The left ankle,

Foot and toes.

Begin curling the left toes,

Squeezing into the foot,

Bringing tension into the lower leg,

The upper leg and the left hip.

The rest of the body completely at ease,

Left hip,

Leg,

Foot and toes completely in tension for another moment and then release.

Shake out the left leg,

Wiggle the left toes and give that left leg up completely to the support beneath it.

Moving awareness now into the right hip,

A welcoming sensation in the right hip and thigh,

The right knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Right foot and toes.

Begin to curl the toes,

Building tension through the foot,

Ankle,

Lower leg,

Building tension into the upper leg and right hip.

The rest of the body completely at ease,

Feeling the tension through the right leg,

Foot and toes.

Hold that tension for another moment and then completely release.

Shake out the right leg,

Wiggle your right toes and give that right leg up completely to the support beneath it.

Sense the whole body,

Welcoming this global awareness of sensation,

Sensing into that pulse of life emanating from the center of your heart space.

Sensing the body front and back,

From head to toe.

As you're ready,

Begin to build tension into the entire body,

Squeezing into the toes,

Hands into fists,

Allowing the tension to gently build as you squeeze and engage and contract.

Bringing tension even into the face once more,

Sticking out your tongue,

Opening the eyes wide,

Tension into the scalp and the back of the neck.

Feel the entire body in tension,

Welcome that tension for another moment and then completely release.

Give the entire body up to the support beneath it.

Sense what's here now,

Sensing the wholeness of your body,

The body as three dimensional sensation.

Notice how as sensation comes and goes,

The body continues to breathe.

Feel the body breathing itself.

Without any effort on the part of your mind,

On the part of your consciousness,

This breath continues to ebb and flow.

And observe the natural flow of air in through your nostrils,

Throat,

Rib cage.

The natural flow of air out from the belly,

Rib cage,

Chest,

Throat and nostrils.

And as you observe this flow of air,

Can you begin to feel into the place where breath makes contact with your body?

This might feel like the temperature of the air in your nostrils in the back of the throat.

This might feel like the natural rise and fall of your abdomen or your chest as you breathe.

But without thinking,

Can you allow yourself to simply feel your way into this?

To sense that place where body and breath make contact.

Notice when feeling slips back into thinking.

And root yourself back in the sensation of the breath.

This experience of breath as a physical sensation.

Feeling into this gentle harmony between the breath body and the physical body.

And invite your attention to remain grounded in the experience of breath through the body.

Notice what it feels like to be a witness to your breath.

And if your mind wanders off,

Gently and lovingly invite it back.

Inviting yourself back into the flow of the breath.

The rhythm of your breath.

Sensing however subtle or nuanced it may be today.

That place where the breath touches the body.

I'm going to invite your inner resource to resurface.

Sensing back into that felt experience of comfort,

Ease and safety in your body.

Noting the inner resource as a physical experience,

A physical sensation in the body.

Acknowledging anything that might be here in this moment.

And noting any new sensations,

Memories or images that are here joining your inner resource.

Sensing your felt sense of safety and ease.

Welcome the feeling of being at home with yourself.

Just right now.

Notice what it's like to be here right now.

Breathing deeply into this presence that animates us into your own aliveness.

Broadening this sense of attention as you check in with any sensations that are now surfacing in the body.

Having space for these sensations to arise in your awareness.

And if it feels right for you,

Gently invite one specific sensation to become more present in your attention.

Perhaps it's a feeling of coolness or coldness somewhere in the body.

Maybe you feel warmth.

Perhaps there's an experience of heaviness or lightness somewhere in your body.

Allow that feeling to become more vibrant in your awareness.

Does that feeling have a form?

What is the texture of that sensation?

Does it have a periphery?

Is it deep or shallow?

And as you become familiar with this sensation,

Now locate its opposite in the body.

So if you felt coolness,

Now find warmth.

If you felt a sense of heaviness,

Where can you find lightness or buoyancy?

Without thinking your way through,

Let yourself simply feel into the body,

Into sensation.

And let this sensation become fully flushed out.

Notice if it has a center or a periphery.

What is its texture or depth?

And then come back to the original feeling and notice how it may have changed.

In your own time,

Move your awareness back and forth between these opposites at your own pace.

Without merging,

Rather holding space for both aspects of this experience.

Without thinking,

Just sensing.

And notice when sensation dissolves back into thinking.

Gently taking note of any thoughts that are arising.

With curiosity and kindness,

Let yourself rest back and simply notice thought without the need to change or define anything.

And as these thoughts ebb and flow,

Notice if there's a preference within you for that thought to be here or not be here.

Allow your thoughts to simply be as your breath continues to flow.

Inviting back your inner resource and from this felt sensation of comfort,

Ease and security,

Invite in a sense of joy.

And from the inner resource,

From that felt sense of security and ease,

Comfort and safety,

Allow that sense of joy to begin to expand.

Give it permission to permeate throughout your being.

And perhaps even sensing a smile beginning to spread across your lips.

In this space of joy,

Can you feel back into your felt sense of security and ease?

This sense of being with yourself.

Noting that you are the observer now of everything in your presence.

Sensation,

Emotion,

Memory,

Thought,

Breath and even joy.

Acknowledging everything just as it is.

You are the spacious awareness in which everything is coming and going.

Feel yourself return time and again.

Feel yourself find your way back to your inner resource.

And notice if there's any new information available to you.

Welcoming back your heartfelt desire.

And here too,

Notice if there's any new information available to you.

Anything that can help you live your heartfelt desire off the mat and out in the world.

With eyes closed,

Gently begin to invite your attention back into the body.

Letting your awareness begin to settle in this space and in this moment.

Sense the space around you,

The ground beneath you.

Sense once more the texture of your heartbeat as you begin to deepen your breath.

Inviting sweet gentle movement into your fingertips and toes.

And as you're ready,

Eventually coming back to a wide awake state of being.

Reviews

A good one if I dont think I'll sleep