Welcoming Deep Rest (NSDR)

Let go into guided relaxation with this luxurious full-length Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) practice. You will be guided through intention setting, body sensing, breathing, and reflections on emotional opposites. This practice is designed to be done lying down with support under the knees and head. You can use this practice to find relaxation during the day, as a mindful afternoon nap, or in the evening to wind down before sleep.

Transcript

Welcome to this integrative restoration or non-sleep deep rest practice.

We'll begin our meditation in a comfortable posture,

So going ahead and arranging your body so that you feel both supported and also alert and wakeful for going into a deep state of rest and self-inquiry.

You can allow your legs to be heavy and weighted,

And if you're lying down,

Maybe bringing the arms away from the body and turning the palms upwards and finding support along your back body so that your chin remains below the level of your forehead throughout the practice.

This helps the thinking mind to relax.

Feel free to make any other arrangements that would support you,

Such as a bolster or bend beneath your knees,

An eye bag over the eyes,

Or simply removing the glasses.

As you're making these adjustments,

Become aware if you could be even 5 or 10% more comfortable and feel empowered and free to make those adjustments.

During this practice,

You can welcome every experience as a messenger that's inviting you to explore whatever's arising,

Whether that's sensations,

Emotions,

Thoughts,

Or simply the recognition of being spacious awareness.

You can welcome and respond to each messenger that arrives in your guesthouse of awareness with curiosity and openness.

Gently bring attention to your senses as you settle in,

Allowing each perception to come to you,

Noticing sounds around and within your body,

The touch of air on the skin,

Sensations where your body touches the surfaces that are supporting you,

Feeling into sensations within the body,

Seeing if you can sense into a feeling of vibrant aliveness,

This vital life force of the body,

Just as it is.

As we continue to settle in,

You might consider your intention for practice today.

Maybe your intention is to remain alert and attentive,

Or perhaps to inquire into a particular sensation,

Emotion,

Or belief that you're wanting to work with.

Or maybe your intention is to abide as joy,

Being,

Or awareness.

Whatever arises for you,

Fully welcoming and affirming that intention for today's practice with your entire body and mind.

Now,

You might consider your heart's deepest desire,

Wish,

Or mission.

Maybe it's a feeling of life living through you as a deep longing.

This might be a desire for health,

For healing,

For awakening.

A spontaneous desire that you wish to manifest more than anything else during your lifetime.

Something that gives you purpose or meaning.

Seeing if you can affirm and fully experience this felt sense of your heartfelt desire as true in this moment.

Then,

As you're ready,

Setting your heartfelt desire aside and welcoming how it may affirm itself throughout this practice and in your daily life.

Gently shift your attention now to an inner resource,

An inner sanctuary or safe space that you can rest back into to experience the felt sense of unchanging being or the felt sense of well-being in the body.

This is a safe haven or refuge that helps you feel into security and ease.

If it's helpful,

You can invite in people or images.

Maybe an animal,

A person,

An object,

A place in nature.

Any sort of imagery that nourishes feelings of security,

Of peacefulness,

Of ease.

And let these images be a gateway into this felt sense of open,

Spacious,

Timeless being.

Allowing these images to connect you with that felt sense of security if it's available to you.

Knowing that you can return to this inner resource at any time,

Day or night,

During your practice,

Outside of your practice,

Whenever you feel the need to connect with security and ease,

This inner resource can be a part of you to come home to.

And so we'll shift now into sensing the body,

Beginning with the area of the jaw.

Inviting your awareness into sensations around the jaw,

The mouth.

Maybe you can even sense the teeth,

The gums,

The tongue.

Notice if you can welcome sensations throughout the mouth without trying to relax or change anything.

From the inside of the mouth,

You can follow this awareness of sensation into the inner canals of your left ear.

And inside the right ear.

Maybe you can even sense both ear canals at the same time.

Now bringing the awareness to the cheeks,

Feeling the nose and the nostrils.

Bringing awareness to sensations around the eyes,

Starting with the left eye.

And then the right eye.

Now sensing both eyes at the same time.

Letting the eyes be a unified field of radiant sensation.

Now welcoming sensation in the area of the forehead,

Up into the scalp.

Feeling the crown of the head,

And the back of the head,

And down into the neck.

Moving the awareness now gently into the shoulders.

First welcoming sensation in the left shoulder.

Feeling down the left arm,

Into the upper arm and elbow joint.

Feeling down into the forearm and the wrist.

And into the hands and the fingers.

Feeling the entire left hand,

Arm and shoulder now as pure sensation.

Now inviting the awareness into the right shoulder.

Letting it flow down the right arm,

Into the upper arm and elbow joint.

Continuing down into the right forearm and wrist.

All the way into the hands and the fingers.

Feeling the entire right arm now.

From the hand,

Up into the arm,

To the shoulder joint.

As pure sensation.

Now seeing if you can sense both hands,

Arms and shoulders at the same time.

Letting yourself be completely absorbed in radiant sensation.

Now invite the attention into the area of the torso.

Feeling the front of the torso.

And the back of the torso.

You can feel the upper part of the torso.

The middle part.

The lower part.

And sensing the entire torso as one.

Both the front side and the back side.

Allowing it to be a field of radiant sensation.

Bringing attention now into the pelvis and the sacrum.

Feeling the left hip and thigh.

Down into the left knee,

Shin and calf.

Sensing into the ankle,

Heel,

Foot and toes.

Feeling the entire left foot,

Leg and hip now as radiant sensation.

Now sensing into the right side hip and thigh.

Sensing the right knee,

Shin and calf.

All the way down into the ankle,

Heel,

Foot and toes.

Feeling the entire right leg now as radiant sensation.

Maybe even feeling both legs now at the same time as radiant sensation.

Expanding the awareness now to sense the entire body as a unified field of radiant sensation.

Perhaps allowing the entire body to feel at rest and at ease.

As you welcome all the various sensations that are present throughout the body.

Exploring,

Sensing and welcoming without thinking.

Letting the body be at rest and at ease.

And if it's helpful as you sense the body welcoming experience,

You can even interweave your inner resource of being and well-being throughout the body.

Feeling secure and at ease.

As you rest here,

You might note sensations that are present without thinking or judging.

It might be sensations,

Thoughts,

Emotions,

Images.

All coming and going.

All movements unfolding within awareness.

Feeling back into being awareness.

That spacious,

Unchanging awareness in which all of the changing perceptions are arising,

Unfolding and passing away.

Becoming aware now of the body breathing itself.

Sensing flows of sensation and energy as breath flows in and out of the body.

The chest and belly gently rising and releasing with each breath.

Welcoming sensation throughout the entire left side of the body.

Feeling from the head to the toes,

Front and back.

Deep inside and surface sensations.

Welcoming sensation throughout the entire right side of the body now.

From head to toes,

Front and back.

Deep inside and surface sensation.

Now see if you can begin alternating sensation from one side of the body to the opposite side.

At the top of each inhalation,

While gently retaining the breath,

Shift sensation across the midline into one nostril inside of the body.

Exhaling as you sense this nostril inside of the body.

At the top of the inhalation,

Shift sensation across the midline again back into the opposite nostril inside of the body.

Exhaling,

Sensing this nostril inside of the body.

Going back and forth at your own breathing speed.

Shifting from one side of the body to the other with each exhale.

Letting the eyes be soft.

Letting go of thinking and taking your time.

Giving time to this process of inhaling on one side of the body.

Holding the breath as sensation moves across the midline.

Saturating the opposite side of the body with sensation as you exhale deeply.

Feeling the flows of sensation and energy throughout each side.

Playing with this for a few more moments and remembering there is no right or wrong.

Now allowing your intention to inhabit both nostrils in the entire body.

So you're feeling both sides of the body as you welcome flows of sensation and energy coming and going.

As you feel the entire body at rest,

At ease,

It might be helpful to interweave your inner resource throughout your body and your breath.

Feeling back once again into awareness itself.

Spacious,

Unchanging awareness in which all of the changing sensations are arising and unfolding.

Now we'll shift into noticing feelings,

Emotions,

Sensations.

Inviting you to start by bringing attention to and welcoming any sensations of warmth or coolness in the body.

Maybe also noticing areas of comfort or discomfort in the body.

Without thinking,

Just sensing.

You might bring attention to an emotion that's present in your body.

Or perhaps recalling and welcoming an emotion that you're working with in your life.

If it's helpful,

You can recall a memory that helps bring this emotion fully into your body.

Sensing the various sensations that arise with this emotion and how they act on your entire body and mind.

And if no emotion is arising to work with,

Simply be with what's most calling your attention.

If an emotion is present,

Allow it to unfold fully into awareness.

Welcoming thoughts or images that may arise with this emotion without trying to alter your experience.

Where in your body do you feel this emotion?

Where is its center?

What about its periphery?

Seeing if you can welcome sensation from the emotion without trying to alter your experience.

If it's helpful,

You might even welcome the opposite of this emotion.

Maybe notice where in the body do you feel this opposite of emotion.

You can even invite in a memory that brings this opposite emotion fully into your body.

Now we'll play with moving back and forth between these opposites of emotion.

Sensing and welcoming first one and then its opposite as sensation in the body.

If it feels right,

You can welcome both emotions at the same time without going into thinking.

Just experiencing and welcoming how sensing opposites affects body and mind.

If it's helpful,

You can once again interweave your inner resource throughout your body,

Feeling secure and at ease.

As you sense all that's now arising in awareness,

Perhaps you can feel back into awareness itself.

Sensing yourself as spacious,

Unchanging awareness in which all these changing perceptions are arising and unfolding.

Sensing the entire body now as a field of radiant sensation.

Can you welcome any sensations of well-being,

Happiness,

Joy or bliss that might be present?

Almost as if an inner smile were radiating from your heart and expanding throughout the entire body.

Inviting every cell to feel radiantly alive with feelings of joy and well-being.

If it's helpful,

You can recall an image of someone you love or who loves you or a circumstance from your life that invites these feelings of joy and well-being.

See if you can drop the image and be totally absorbed with feelings of joy and well-being throughout the body.

What would it be like now to set aside the thinking minds and welcome the felt sense of being and well-being?

Noticing how being is arising in unchanging awareness.

Now let go and dissolve into being,

Unchanging awareness.

Formless yet undeniable in which all perceptions are unfolding and passing away.

Taking as much time and space as you need as you reflect back upon the journey you've just taken.

Can you welcome the qualities that are or have been present?

Whether they be feelings,

Emotions,

Thoughts,

Sensations.

An unchanging awareness in which everything is arising,

Unfolding and passing away.

As you reflect,

Can you be aware of your deepest heartfelt desire?

Welcoming it as an affirmation of your present reality while noting an intention that supports living this heartfelt longing in your everyday life.

Imagine yourself going about your day while feeling your inner resource of unchanging being and well-being.

Feeling yourself as unchanging awareness in which all the changing activities of your life are unfolding.

Emotions,

Thoughts,

Sensations,

Your personality in this indescribable sense of being,

Unchanging awareness.

Sensing the paradox of being both spacious and vast as awareness without border or boundary.

All the while being this personality that has location,

Center and periphery.

Your body,

Mind and personality free to be just as they are.

Sensing and affirming how in each moment you always know the exact and perfect response to each situation that you encounter in life.

Take your time now as you transition into your waking life.

As it feels right,

You might open and close your eyes several times as you feel your inner resource of unchanging being and well-being.

You might bring some gentle movements back into the body,

Stretching,

Shifting.

Taking your time to return to your eyes open state of waking consciousness.

Allowing yourself to feel alert,

Awake and grateful for taking this time for yourself and the practice of eye rest.

Thank you so much for your practice.