Hello and welcome to this practice of yoga nidra.
As you find yourself getting cozy and laying back,
Know that for our time together in this practice there is absolutely nothing to do.
There's nowhere to be,
Nobody to answer to,
And that we are also laying down any need to create,
Make,
Resist,
Or rise up just for a moment,
For this moment.
And you can prepare for this now by making any adjustments as a gift to your body and its ultimate experience of comfort.
But only you know.
Resting back into the surface and acknowledging if the act of even taking a moment to rest in this world,
This world full of competing desires,
Heaviness,
Distraction,
Resistance,
Grief,
Chaos,
Expectations,
And demands.
Does this act of rest house any feelings?
This is true.
Take a moment to notice them.
Observe them with gentleness and curiosity.
Beat them,
Any feelings that arise with your breath.
Drawing in your next inhale to the count of three and your next exhale to the count of six,
Repeating this for a few cycles on your own.
And then allow yourself to draw out the count,
Inhaling for four to the end of the breath,
And exhaling for eight to the end of the breath.
And as you do this,
See if you can connect the ends and beginnings of each breath into one seamless flow.
Allowing the difference between the two to almost dissolve,
Fade away.
From breath to breath,
I am at rest.
Here and now,
I am at rest.
I am resting.
With any ease you've found through your breath,
What seems possible throughout your body.
Explore what rest feels like here and there,
Beginning with the crown of your head,
Down to your nose,
Chin,
Shoulders,
Hands,
And the whole of both arms at once,
To your chest,
Sacral center,
Pelvis,
Hips,
Both hips,
Legs,
Feet,
And the whole of both legs at once,
Hips,
Pelvis,
Sacral center,
Chest,
And now back into your heart space.
Here and now,
At rest.
Light and spacious.
See if you can sense into this feeling of rest in your whole body at once.
Now see if you can sense into this feeling of rest in the space surrounding you.
And now back into the whole of your body.
And once again,
Feeling this sense of rest in the whole of the space surrounding you.
And now see if you can feel into this sense of rest throughout your body and around your body at the same time,
Allowing your breath in and out to deeply metabolize this sense of rest,
Enveloped by a lightness that allows all your senses to be at rest,
That allows the world to be at rest.
How does this feel in your heart?
From breath to breath,
I am at rest.
Here and now,
I am at rest.
Here I am resting.
For this moment,
I chose rest and rest chose me.
My willing partner and endless resource that allows me to cultivate rest also in the spaces I occupy,
To meet each moment rested.
So we can all meet each moment rested,
Light,
Whole.
And now see if you might begin to bring this sense of rest into the quality of some sort of physical movement,
Subtly,
Moving perhaps one finger or allowing a soft smile to curve on your lips.
Threading this movement into more movement,
Maybe rolling onto one side.
And when you're ready,
You might open your eyes and sit upright.
Simply take a few more moments to rest.
And with that,
This practice of simply rest yoga nidra is now complete.
