Breath As A Friend Yoga Nidra

An 18 minute yoga nidra, imagining the breath as a friend, that comes along with you for the journey through the body. This nidra is perfect for anytime of day, and offers a practice in self-compassion too.

Transcript

Welcome to this practice of yoga nidra.

I invite you to get nice and cozy.

Grab any blankets,

Pillows,

Warm layers you might like and come into any position that feels like it is open to receiving rest.

And as you're settling in,

Maybe there's a yawn or a sigh.

Know that at any point if you need to shift or wriggle to find a more comfortable position,

Feel free.

This is your practice.

But as you begin to settle in,

Notice the feeling of the support beneath you.

And maybe imagine the parts of your body that are touching that support growing heavier.

So it's like the earth is welcoming your body.

Your body meeting the earth and the earth meeting your body back.

Notice how your limbs are positioned on either side of your body.

Maybe you found yourself in a symmetrical position,

Maybe asymmetrical.

There's no right or wrong,

Just noticing how you settled.

Tracing your body on the earth.

Open your ears to all that you can hear both in this recording and in the space that you're in.

Welcoming in everything that you can hear as part of your practice.

Maybe noticing that there's nothing that you need to do for new sounds to arrive.

They just come and go as they please.

See if you can listen for the sound that feels the farthest away from you.

The most distant sound you can hear.

And then shift your awareness to the sound that is closest to you.

Maybe sounds that are within your own body.

Noticing the sound of your breath.

And as you notice the sound of your breath,

See if you can also notice where the breath seems to be living,

Where you feel it the most.

Maybe you feel it in your nostrils.

Maybe there's a temperature associated with that.

Maybe it feels cooler as you inhale and the breath enters through your nose.

Maybe it's warmer on the exhale.

Or maybe the opposite of that.

Maybe you feel your breath in your throat.

Maybe in your chest.

Maybe you can sense your breath at your ribs on the inhale,

The ribs expanding outward into space,

Taking up space.

And as you exhale,

The ribs draw down and in.

Maybe you feel your breath in your belly.

Inhale,

Filling up like a balloon.

Exhale,

Emptying out.

Maybe you feel the breath at all of those places and every space in between.

What would it be like to feel breath right at your heart space?

Taking a moment just to pause here.

And rather than trying to add something to this moment like an intention or a desire,

What if you were to just accept this space as it is right now,

Just listening in to how it feels at this moment with no agenda.

And then from here,

I invite you to imagine that the breath is like a friend and will travel around the body with the breath bringing it with us at each point we come to.

Starting right at the heart space where we are now and then traveling up to the space between the collarbones,

That little pool between the right and left collarbones.

Bringing the breath to the right shoulder and the left and then back to that pool right at the center and up through the throat.

Maybe feeling your breath inside your mouth bringing awareness to the top of your mouth,

The roof of your mouth and the tongue,

Letting the tongue relax,

Letting there be space between the upper and bottom rows of teeth.

Bringing awareness to the upper lip and the lower lip and the space between the lips.

Breath at the right nostril and the left.

The left cheek and the right.

The right ear and the left.

Letting the breath glide up through the nose space between the eyes the right eyelid and the left.

The right eyebrow and the left.

The space between the eyes,

The forehead the temples left and right.

Imagining that the breath is blowing through all the hairs on your head like wind through trees and following the breath back down along the back of the skull,

Down the neck down past the shoulder blades right and left to the low back left and right.

Breath at the tailbone the left buttock and the right,

Down along the backs of the thighs,

Behind the knee behind the shins to the right heel and the left.

Breath along the sole of the left foot and the right right big toe,

Second,

Third fourth,

Fifth,

And all the spaces in between.

Curling around the left foot left big toe,

Second,

Third,

Fourth,

Fifth and all the spaces in between.

Bringing your friend the breath over the tops of both feet to the right ankle and the left,

The left shin and the right.

Swirling around the right knee and the left,

The left thigh and the right.

The right side of the pelvic bowl coming up to the right hip and the left side of the pelvis to the left hip.

Meeting at the navel feeling breath in the belly and breath right underneath the ribcage and then feeling the breath expand through the right ribs and the left feeling the breath move through the heart space up to the right shoulder,

Elbow down to the wrist feeling breath at the tip of the right thumb index finger,

Middle finger ring finger,

Pinky finger breath in between each of the fingers and swirling in the palm of the right hand and then as if there's a sweep of wind through the body,

Feel that breath come all the way back up your right arm to the right shoulder,

Right collarbone crossing over the pool right at the base of the throat over to the left collarbone left shoulder,

Left elbow and wrist,

Tip of the left thumb index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger pinky finger and all the spaces in between the fingers on the left hand breath,

Swirl in the palm of the left hand and then like a breeze it moves up the left arm to the shoulder across the left collarbone to the pool at the base of the throat take a deep inhale and as you exhale the breath comes straight back to the space of the heart and here take a moment to bow to your friend the breath noticing how your body feels and then imagine for a moment that you have a bird's eye view of your body so it's like you are above your body looking down at your rested self and what would it be like from this space to greet yourself as a friend so offering yourself the same amount of grace that you would give to a friend of yours seeing yourself from above and what would it be like now to see yourself from below so imagining that you're below your body looking up at the back side of your body same thing just a different angle slightly different perspective looking up at your rested self offering yourself grace compassion and what would it be like to hold both of these perspectives at the same time so seeing yourself both from above and below so seeing your rested self from a distance and from here let your body feel heavy as you notice the support that you are resting on let your body feel heavy almost like it's making an imprint in the earth and keeping the eyes closed or soft begin to sense your relationship to the room around you your relationship to the floor your relationship to the walls if there are walls your relationship to the ceiling or the sky seeing yourself in space and seeing yourself in relationship with space and as this practice of yoga nidra comes to a close if you have somewhere to be or your attention is being called elsewhere I invite you to deepen your breath maybe stretch and wriggle and start to come to or if you'd like you can stay in this space and keep resting but whatever you choose just a reminder to go slow and take this slowness with you the light in me honors the light within you and the light within all beings thank you for sharing your practice,

Namaste