Welcome to this yoga nidra practice.
My name is Em and I am your guide.
I have created this yoga nidra with the intention of connecting you to your body to slow down your mind and allow your entire being to rest and reset.
So begin to settle in.
You may wish to grab an eye pillow to block out the light or you may place a cushion behind the knees to support your lower body.
Whatever feels most comfortable for you today.
Begin to close down the eyes and bring your awareness to any sounds in your environment and just notice the layer of audio that you can hear either my voice or around you.
There may be a constant hum or a background buzz.
Simply notice the sounds.
As you draw your awareness in,
Take a moment to wonder what brought you here today.
This is your sankalpa or your intention for your practice.
So you can repeat this sankalpa in your mind's eye translating it into an I or I am statement.
And now imagine that you could place your intention,
Your sankalpa at your mind's eye center.
And as you do this,
Allow your awareness to fully absorb any sensations here at your mind's eye center in between the eyebrows.
And as you rest here in this vast open space,
Allow yourself to drop any expectations that you have for yourself for the practice today.
There's nothing more you need to do here.
You simply can rest and allow yourself to fully absorb the awareness of this space behind your eyes and now bring your awareness to your nose and now your right nostril.
Your left nostril.
And notice the flow of air,
The natural flow of air in your nostrils.
And now notice both ears,
Both cheeks,
Both nostrils.
The inside of your mouth,
Noticing any sensations and qualities of the inside of your mouth.
Without changing anything,
Just notice.
Bring your awareness to your jaw position and relax your jaw.
Notice your tongue and bring your tongue into a more relaxed position.
Now bring your awareness down into the center of your throat,
Noticing any sensations here.
And now bring your awareness down to the base of your throat,
Your heart center,
Feeling any energy at your heart center.
And now bring your awareness down into your right shoulder.
Notice your right shoulder,
Elbow,
Wrist,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Your little finger.
Drift your awareness over to your navel center and allow a moment for your awareness to absorb here at your navel center.
Draw your awareness up to your heart center.
Your left shoulder,
Your elbow,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
And your little finger.
Now bring your awareness down to your heart center,
Your navel center,
Your pelvic center.
Drift your awareness over to the right of your pelvis,
Right hip,
Knee,
First toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe.
Drift your awareness up to your pelvic center and absorb it in to your left of your pelvis,
Your left hip,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe.
Now bring your awareness to your body resting as a whole,
Imagining that your awareness could zoom out as you notice your body resting deeper,
Just noticing there's no need to change anything.
Now notice your whole body from the front and now the back of your body.
Allow your awareness to absorb in to the left side of your body,
The whole left side from the top of your head to the tip of your toe.
Now bring your awareness to the right side of your body,
The whole right side from the tip of your head to the tip of your toe.
Allow your awareness to absorb here at the right side of your body and now allow your awareness to float on the surface of your body.
Imagine your awareness can become feather-like,
Just drifting and floating,
Sensing the surface of your body.
And now allow your awareness to absorb deep into your body,
Infusing your body's nervous system with awareness.
Sense all the intricate nerves carrying messages to and from your brain,
Just noticing them with ease and lightness,
As you infuse your nerves and your cells with the healing tones of awareness.
And now notice your breath deep inside the body,
There's no need to change anything,
Simply notice the breath flowing through the terrain of your body,
Imagining your awareness is like an explorer,
Just watching and exploring as you rest.
Notice where you feel the breath most in your body,
And where you feel the breath most out of your body.
Allow your awareness to rest here.
And now on the inhale,
Sense the expansion of your entire body.
Imagine you could experience your entire being expanding outwards,
Taking up space.
And on your inhale,
Feel yourself grounding back into your body,
At ease and resting.
Once again,
Inhale expansion.
And exhale grounded and settled energy.
There's no need to change anything about your breath,
As you inhale the expansion and spaciousness.
And exhale grounding and ease.
Continue breathing this way on your own,
With your natural breath.
And now release the awareness of your breath and bring back to your mind your sankalpa,
Or your intention,
And repeat it in your mind's eye.
Imagining you can collect it again from your mind's eye.
And on your next natural inhale,
Begin to count up to five.
Starting at one,
Inhale one,
Exhale one.
Inhale two,
Exhale two.
Continue at your own pace until you get to five.
And now bring your awareness back to the sounds around you,
Or the sound of my voice,
Tuning in to any audio frequencies that capture your attention here.
And take a deep inhale through your nose and see if you can pick up any hints of aromas in your environment.
And you may wish to place your hands on your heart center and feel into the gratitude for the experience that you've created for yourself here today.
Feel thankful for creating this experience of rest,
Allowing your body to downregulate and be more at ease for the rest of your day.
And whenever you're ready,
You may wish to make bigger movements,
Maybe moving your toes or coming into a stretch with your arms,
Whatever feels wakeful and cozy.
And whenever you're ready,
Open your eyes and allow yourself to come back into the room,
Giving your eyes just a moment to adjust back into your waking life.
The practice is now complete,
So whenever you're ready,
You can come back in,
But take your time and continue trying to bring the feeling of ease back into your day.
