For today's practice of Yoga Nidra,
You'll only need your body and either a yoga mat or the floor,
So go ahead and either pause or find your way to lying flat on your back.
And today,
Your focus is just to develop a deep state of relaxation simply by lying and listening to my voice.
Yoga Nidra is a practice of awareness and a practice of listening and being only.
Go ahead and come back into softening the body again.
So feet are probably about hip distance apart.
Let them relax.
Maybe wiggling your hips.
Palms are upward towards the sky,
Bringing the hands about six inches away from the body.
Softening your face again,
The eyelids around the eyeballs.
Compress them gently so your forehead can soften and then relax.
Take a big inhale through the nose and then sigh it out.
Another inhale through the nose,
Another open mouth sigh out.
And then let the mouth shut.
The lips gently touch,
Drawing up at the ends,
Inhaling and exhaling out of the nose.
Allow the tongue to soften into the base of the mouth and feel your body connecting to the floor,
Anything that's supporting it.
Let your body just continue to soften into this support.
And as you soften down,
Just begin to become aware of the sounds around you,
Just acknowledging them one by one,
Bringing security into the space that you're in.
And then draw your attention to the textures touching your skin,
The fabrics,
Or maybe the air brushing past,
The air brushing on your top lip as you exhale.
As you inhale and exhale,
Becoming more aware of this air across your top lip.
Start to become aware of the sensation of your breath moving in your body and where in your body your breath is moving in the chest and the stomach.
As you settle into the breath and where it is,
Allow each cycle to soften the body further and deeper.
Allow the ground to support you as you relax more into this support.
And as we come to start the practice,
Set the intention that you'll remain aware of my voice throughout,
That should your mind wander,
It will come back to my voice hearing the words and just follow the instructions,
Allowing the softness of your breath to reassure you that whatever you need is what will happen.
Allowing the experience to serve you in the best way possible today and now.
Now bring to mind a place,
A space,
Or perhaps even a person in your life.
It can be real or imaginary,
Whatever space,
Place,
Or person that makes you feel safe.
Visualize and feel the sensation of being in that space or with that person.
And really create those feelings of safety around you and know that this safe place is there for you at any time throughout the practice or in daily life should you need it.
Now bring your intention to a personal resolve.
This would be your intention,
Something that you wish to come true in your life.
Maybe if you're feeling unwell,
It could be to be healthy,
Or maybe it's to resolve a conflict within yourself or with others,
Whatever it is.
It could be simply be present or brave,
Just whatever your intention is.
You want to feel it deeply and formulate it into a short sentence in the present tense as though you're living it in this very moment.
And if you can't think of an intention,
That's not a problem.
Just enjoy the space and maybe the intention to get the most out of this practice.
Repeat whatever your intention is to yourself three times in the present tense at this moment.
And the practice begins.
We're going to start by taking a rotation of consciousness around the body.
And this is a rapid succession of body parts.
You'll either visualize or notice the sensation moving quickly,
Keeping your focus just on the body part as an observation,
Sending your attention and your thoughts there as I name them.
We'll begin inside the mouth,
Right inside cheek,
Left inside cheek,
Roof of the mouth,
Back of the mouth,
Bottom jaw,
Top jaw,
The teeth,
The tongue,
The whole inside of the mouth,
The whole inside of the mouth,
The sinuses,
The right eye socket,
The left eye socket,
The space behind the eyes,
Right ear canal,
Right ear,
The space behind the eyes,
Left ear canal,
Left ear,
The space behind the eyes,
Back of the head,
Crown of the head,
Right side of the head,
Left side of the head,
Forehead,
Right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Nose,
Top lip,
Bottom lip,
The line where the lips touch,
Chin,
Face,
The whole head,
The whole head,
The whole head,
The neck,
The base of the throat,
Right shoulder,
Right upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Back of the right hand,
Palm of the hand,
Thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
Right hand,
Right arm,
Right armpit,
Right side,
Right hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf,
Shin,
Ankle,
Heel,
Top of the foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Right foot,
Right leg,
Right side body,
The whole right side of your body,
Base of the throat,
Left shoulder,
Left upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Back of the hand,
Palm of the hand,
The thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
Left hand,
Left arm,
Left armpit,
Left side,
Left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf,
Shin,
Ankle,
Heel,
Top of the foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Left foot,
Left leg,
Left side body,
The whole left side of your body,
Base of the throat,
Right chest,
Left chest,
Abdomen,
Navel,
Pelvis,
The front body,
Right shoulder,
Left shoulder,
The spine,
Right buttocks,
Left buttocks,
The back body,
The head,
The arms,
The legs,
The torso,
The right side,
The left side,
The front,
The back,
The whole of your body,
The whole of your body,
The whole of your body.
Come back to that awareness of the breath underneath the nose,
Awareness of the breath moving in and out of the nostrils.
Concentrate on the movement of the breath in and out,
Keeping your attention on the breath and the nostrils,
Begin to count backwards from 27 with each cycle of breath.
If you lose count,
You go back to 27 and begin again.
You'll count like this,
Breathing in 27,
Breathing out 27,
Breathing in 26,
Breathing out 26,
Breathing in 25,
Breathing out 25.
Continue on your own,
Remembering to restart if you lose count.
Keep going with the practice,
Counting the breath.
It's now time to release counting and leave the breath.
Coming to a visualization of a number of different items.
Things will be named in reasonably rapid order,
Trying to develop a vision of them at all levels.
Feeling an awareness of emotion,
Using the imagination as best as you can,
Seeing what comes up with the words.
Relax if you do not manage it,
You just keep on practicing and returning.
So come to the space between your eyebrows,
Sending your attention there.
Visualizing,
Burning candle,
Burning candle,
Burning candle.
Endless desert,
Endless desert,
Endless desert.
Pyramid,
Pyramid,
Pyramid.
Snow topped mountain,
Snow topped mountain.
Endless desert,
Endless desert.
Pyramid,
Pyramid,
Pyramid.
Snow topped mountains,
Snow topped mountains,
Snow topped mountains.
Extreme rain,
Extreme rain,
Extreme rain.
Clouds drifting,
Clouds drifting,
Clouds drifting.
Birds flying,
Birds flying,
Birds flying.
Stars at night,
Stars at night,
Stars at night.
A coffin beside a grave,
A coffin beside a grave,
A coffin beside a grave.
A coffin beside a grave.
Full moon,
Full moon,
Full moon.
Your face in a mirror,
Your face in a mirror,
Your face in a mirror.
Keep the attention in this space between the eyebrows,
Just resting it there for the moment,
Noticing any colors or shapes that manifest,
Just letting them drift by.
Bring your attention back to the sensation of your body connected to the earth,
The mat,
Whatever is supporting you.
Now is the time to repeat your personal resolve,
Repeating it the same as you did at the beginning with full awareness and feeling three times,
Do not change anything.
State that to yourself now.
Release all efforts and start to draw your mind back to the breath,
The easy breath of the body.
Bring awareness back to your body lying relaxed on the floor.
Your breath is quiet,
Slow and soft.
Become aware of the shape of your whole body.
Become aware of your body and the room that you're in,
Imagining the wall and the ceiling and the floor.
See your body lying on the floor.
Become aware of your surroundings,
Keeping the eyes closed,
Naming sounds.
When it feels comfortable to you,
You can start to move very slowly.
As you bring attention and movement back in,
There's no rush.
Wiggling fingers and toes,
Rolling wrists out and ankles out.
Maybe eventually taking a full body stretch.
Take your time as you come out of this meditation.
Just as you might come out of Savasana,
You might want to roll to one side.
You might stay right where you are.
There's no rush here.
But know that our practice together has ended and it was so lovely to spend this time with you.
Thank you again.
Namaste.
