Hello beautiful mother and any householder who's raising children or who's raised her children.
Welcome.
This is a gift of rest for you because you deserve rest.
The most important thing to do now is to get as comfortable as possible.
You can lie down or sit for the rest time.
If you have extra pillows and you're lying down,
Put them under your feet and be as cozy as possible.
When ready,
Close your eyes.
It's time to be good to yourself.
Daring to rest starts now.
You're leaving wherever you've been and entering the portal of rest.
Throughout yoga nidra,
You're invited to follow my instructions,
But every instruction is optional.
It's your choice.
If you do not follow an instruction,
You might want to follow your breath and then return to my voice when ready.
Let's begin by taking a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in and exhale fully.
Inhale again,
And on the exhale,
Open your mouth and sense or imagine your body letting go.
Softening into the surface you're resting on.
Final inhale,
Exhale,
Let go.
Now breath returns to normal.
Simply notice your body breathing.
Awareness of the rise and fall of your belly and chest as you breathe.
Give your body permission on an exhale to let go a little bit more and see what happens.
If your mind feels full,
Sense or imagine on an exhale thoughts releasing from the back of your head into the earth.
Let the earth hold your thoughts right now.
Thoughts releasing.
Now if you have an intention,
A way of being you'd like to move towards,
Repeat this intention three times.
And if you do not have an intention,
If it feels right,
Say to yourself,
I am a rested mother or I am a rested woman.
Three times.
We begin with rotating attention throughout the body to different body parts.
When you hear a body part named,
As much as possible,
Be as present to any sensations at that body part.
It might help to notice a color when a body part is named or simply repeat the body part name to yourself to allow yourself to bring your attention to that body part.
Starting at the space between the eyebrows,
Middle of the throat,
Right shoulder,
Right elbow,
Right wrist,
Right thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Right wrist,
Right elbow,
Right shoulder,
Middle of the throat,
Left shoulder,
Left elbow,
Middle of the throat,
Left shoulder,
Left elbow,
Left wrist,
Left thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Left wrist,
Left elbow,
Left shoulder,
Middle of the throat,
Middle of the chest,
Right nipple,
Middle of the chest,
Left nipple,
Middle of the chest,
Navel point,
Middle of the pubic bone,
Right hip,
Right knee,
Right ankle,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe,
Right ankle,
Right knee,
Right hip,
Middle of the pubic bone,
Left hip,
Left knee,
Left ankle,
Left big toe,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Left ankle,
Left knee,
Left hip,
Middle of the pubic bone,
Navel point,
Middle of the chest,
Middle of the throat,
And back to the eyebrow center.
Rest in stillness at the eyebrow center.
Whole body,
Awareness of the whole body,
Noticing even the most subtle vibration in the body.
Let go even more.
Now start to breathe all the way up to the neck,
And exhale slowly through pursed lips as if you're blowing through a straw.
And again,
Deep inhale,
Exhale like you're blowing through a straw.
Keep breathing like this in your own rhythm.
Deep,
Full inhale,
Slow exhale like you're blowing through a straw.
On the exhale,
Sense or imagine you're releasing any stress,
Any worries.
Now let go of this awareness.
Breath returns to normal.
Be still,
Whole body still,
Every limb relaxed.
More and more,
Begin to sense or imagine yourself fully rested.
Feel this in your whole body,
Feeling yourself completely rested,
A rested woman.
Notice sensations in the body.
Rested woman,
Rested woman,
Rested woman.
And now more and more,
And now more and more,
Sense or imagine yourself worn out,
Worn out woman,
Worn out woman,
Worn out woman.
Feel this.
Notice sensations.
Come back to rested woman,
Sensing or imagining yourself rested,
And then move to worn out woman,
And sense or imagine yourself worn out,
Moving back and forth between rested and worn out,
Rested and worn out.
Notice sensations in your body.
Now release this awareness and be still,
Whole body still,
Each limb supremely relaxed.
Let go.
Begin to sense or imagine yourself lying down in the most serene,
Idyllic location.
You're completely off duty,
Completely off duty.
Nobody needs you.
Notice what you see.
What do you see in this idyllic space?
Sense what's happening.
What do you hear?
You're completely off duty.
There's nothing to do,
Nowhere to be.
Whole body resting in the most idyllic location.
A butterfly arrives.
First she flies to your toes,
Ankles,
Knees,
Hips,
Navel point,
Middle of the chest,
Middle of the throat,
Both hands,
Arms,
Butterfly at the shoulders,
Back at the throat,
Mouth,
Ears,
Nose,
Eyes,
Butterfly at the space between the eyebrows,
Forehead,
And now butterfly is at the crown of your head,
Releasing tension in the whole body.
Whole body is timeless,
Boundless,
Limitless.
If you have an intention,
Repeat your intention now three times.
Very slowly,
Begin to see a council of mothers arrive.
These are mothers that support you.
You may know them,
You may not know them.
They may be mothers in the animal kingdom.
They've arrived to witness you as a mother,
To support you,
And to bless you.
Notice who is in your council of mothers today.
Sense their presence.
A council of mothers receive their blessings.
Your council of mothers may stay or go as you begin to breathe deeply in and out of your heart.
Heart breathing.
On the next inhale through your heart,
Allow the breath to go wherever it wants to go,
And see where it arrives on the body.
What area of the body needs the breath a little bit more?
And wherever your awareness is taken to by the breath,
See if there's a soul whisper,
An image,
A word,
A phrase,
A message for you today.
Listen,
Whatever you received,
Exhale this soul whisper to your heart and let it sit on your heart for a moment.
Notice how it feels in the body,
Whatever you received.
And if you haven't received a soul whisper,
Simply notice how you feel at your heart today with your awareness on your heart.
And if it feels useful to notice an opposite feeling,
Welcome that as well.
A rested mother rests for herself,
And by resting for herself,
Models rest to her family.
She knows that presence is strength,
Soft is strong,
Ease is power.
She is breaking a cycle of fatigue in her family line for herself and future generations.
I am a rested mother.
Now very slowly begin to transition from rest time.
Notice what part of the body wants to move first,
And begin to move that part of the body,
And then another part of the body,
Waking your body up slowly and gently,
And resolving to bring some of this slow,
Gentle,
Restful energy back with you into your daily life.
Noticing how soft the breath is,
Quiet the mind is,
How gentle the heartbeat is,
Opening your eyes and waking up when you feel ready,
Or drifting off to sleep if that feels right.
This completes yoga nidra.
Be good to yourself,
Rested mama.
