Welcome to this practice of yoga nidra for cooling and renewal.
Lie comfortably on a cool floor,
A light mat or your bed in a dim cool space.
Settle into the traditional Shavasana corpse pose with your palms facing upwards and fingers slightly curled,
Legs hip width apart or spread your arms and legs wide away from your body to allow air to circulate.
Close your eyes and feel the heaviness of your eyelids over them.
Take a deep,
Slow breath in through your nose.
And exhale completely out of your mouth with a soft sigh.
Do this a few more times in the rhythm of your own breath.
Feel on your out breath,
Your body begin to release tension.
Feel the weight of your bones sink into the surface beneath you.
And consciously feel the support that's available.
For the whole back of your body.
Invite your shoulders to let go.
Allow them to drop away from your ears and sink into your bed.
Perhaps snake your spine a little.
And lift your neck very slightly if you can.
And when you lower it back down,
Let your pillow take the full weight of your head.
Let go of any final tensions in your body.
And turn inwards to meet the stillness of your inner body.
All your surroundings quietly embrace you as you become fully immersed in inner stillness.
Let stillness slowly and gently move into your body.
You might imagine it starting at your toes,
Moving up through your feet,
Your calves,
Knees,
Thighs.
Buttocks and base.
You might feel stillness moving into your torso,
Chest,
Heart centre.
Down your arms and out to your fingertips.
You might feel stillness move up through your neck and throat into your face all the way up to the top of the head.
Let stillness deepen like cool water filling a still pool.
Until you rest in the quiet centre of yourself.
Sancalpa.
Bring your awareness into your heart space.
Choose a short positive intention in the present tense.
For example,
My body is cool,
Calm and spacious.
Or I am balanced,
Refreshed and completely at ease.
When you have decided on a sankalpa that suits you for this practice.
Mentally say it to yourself three times.
Let the words sink into your subconscious mind like water into dry earth.
Now move your attention to your natural breathing.
Do not attempt to change it.
Just watch it.
Feel the air moving in and out of your nostrils.
Notice that the incoming air feels slightly cool at the tips of your nostrils.
Notice that the outgoing breath yours a little warmer.
Focus on this contrast for a while.
Now become aware of your left nostril,
The Ida Nadi,
Which governs the cooling lunar energy of your body.
As you inhale,
Imagine you are breathing exclusively through your left nostril.
Visualise this breath as a stream of bright luminous moonlight travelling up to the space between your eyebrows.
Now bring your attention to your exhale.
Imagine your breath softly washing down through the right nostril,
Carrying away all excess heat and tension down the right side of your body and away.
Bring the two together.
Inhale cooling lunar energy through the left nostril.
Exhale and release heat through the right.
When you reach the point between the two eyebrows,
Become aware of the observing self.
Who watches everything you do,
Including this in and out breathing.
With serenity and calm.
Feel your nervous system.
Beginning to slow down.
We will now move awareness through the body.
As each body part is named.
Picture a drop of cool morning dew resting on that exact spot.
Instantly soothing it.
Let your breath flow freely and naturally throughout.
Anytime you feel drowsy,
Lift your chin a little and take a few deeper,
Freshening breaths.
Right hand thumb.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
Fifth finger.
Palm of the right hand.
A drop of cool morning dew resting in the centre of the palm of the right hand.
Back of the hand.
A cooling breeze passing over the back of the hand.
Rest.
Forearm.
Elbow from.
Right shoulder.
The whole of the right shoulder.
Armpit.
Deep inside the core cave of the right armpit.
Right waist.
Right hip.
Right thigh.
Kneecap car.
Ankle.
Top of the right foot.
Sole of the right foot.
Right big toe.
2nd toe Third toe.
4th toe 5th toe over to the left hand thumb.
Second finger.
3rd finger 4th finger 5th finger palm of the left hand.
A drop of cool morning dew resting in the centre of the palm of the left hand.
Back of left hand,
A cool breeze passing over the back of the left hand.
Rest.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Operon left shoulder.
The whole of the left shoulder.
Armpit.
Deep inside the cool cave of the left armpit.
Left waist.
Left hip.
Left thigh,
Left kneecap.
Call.
Ankle.
Heel,
Top of the left foot,
Sole of the left foot.
Left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Fifth toe.
The entire length of the spine.
Back of the neck.
Back of the head.
Top of the head.
Hairline.
Forehead,
Cool and relaxed.
Right eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
The space between the eyebrows.
Right eye,
Left eye.
Right ear,
Left ear.
Right cheek,
Smooth and cool.
Left cheek,
Smooth and cool.
Bridge of the nose.
Tip of the nose.
Open lid.
Lower lip.
Both lips together.
The jaw,
Soft and relaxed.
The throat.
The front of the throat.
A drop of cooling dew in the small basin at the base of the throat.
Right collarbone.
Left collarbone.
Right chest.
Left chest.
Centre of the chest.
The heart centre,
Cool,
Spacious and at peace.
The Naval Centre.
The lower abdomen.
The pelvis.
The whole of the torso.
The hold of the head.
The entire body,
Cool,
Spacious and completely at rest.
The entire body.
Cool,
Spacious and completely at rest.
Now bring your awareness to a dance of temperature within you.
Become aware of the sensation of warmth in your body.
Feel the heat of the room on your skin.
Acknowledge this warmth as a radiant vital force.
The energy of life.
The sun.
And movement.
Feel the expansion that warmth brings to your muscles.
Now introduce a complimentary sensation of coolness.
Imagine a crisp refreshing shade gently sweeping over your whole body.
Like stepping from a bright sunlit path into a cool stone cave.
Feel the deep restorative peace that coolness brings to your mind.
Now hold both sensations in your awareness at the same time.
The vital warmth of the sun and the resting coolness of the shade.
Imagine that they are dancing together.
See how the warmth makes the coolness feel incredibly refreshing.
See how the coolness brings balance to the heat.
You are the vast space that holds both.
Imagine you are walking down a shaded stone path into an ancient forest.
An evening breeze begins to blow across your body.
The breeze is crisp,
Smelling of pine and damp earth.
You come to a clearing.
Where there is a natural spring pool.
The water is perfectly clear.
With a deep silver and cerulean blue hue.
The water is entirely still.
Smooth mossy stones line the edge.
You take off your clothes and step into the pool.
The water is so crisp and refreshing.
You float on your back effortlessly.
The water supports your head,
Your spine and your heavy limbs.
You are completely immersed in coolness.
And you feel the water drawing the heat away from your skin.
Absorbing it down into the infinite depths below.
You look up at the sky through the leaves and watch a single pure white cloud drift by.
You feel perfectly buoyant,
Fluid and cool.
Now slowly bring your awareness back to the physical room.
Feel the surface beneath your body.
Listen to the sounds around you.
Start to bring gentle movement back to your body by wiggling your fingers and toes.
Roll your wrists and ankles and take a deep refreshing breath in.
When you are ready,
Gently roll onto your side.
Pause there for as long as you want to,
Keeping the feeling of coolness and space within you.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
