Welcome to this practice of yoga nidra.
First part of this practice is just allowing your body to settle.
So connecting to the earth,
Letting your body feel heavy and supported.
And as you're doing this,
You might notice how your body feels as it's coming to the practice,
How your mind feels as it's coming to the practice,
So noticing the quality of your mind,
The quality of your thoughts.
And noticing all the sounds around you that you can hear,
Both in this recording,
But also in the space that you're in.
I have some cricket friends over here too,
So you might hear some crickets in the background.
They're welcoming you to rest too.
And then I invite you to tune into your breath and imagine that your breath at the bottom of the exhale is like a new moon.
And feeling the emptiness of the new moon,
The promise.
And then as you inhale,
It's like the waxing of the moon,
Expanding to a full moon at the peak of the inhale.
And then as that inhale turns to exhale,
It's like the waning of the moon going back down to the new moon.
So playing around with the phases of the moon in each phase of your breath.
New moon at the base and full moon at the peak.
And I invite you to become really curious about those moments of transition where the exhale turns into inhale.
And where the inhale turns into exhale.
You might notice as you are aware of the breath that your breath grows a little more spacious,
A little slower.
And maybe you can even imagine the phases of the moon as you breathe in and out.
New moon on the exhale,
Inhaling to a crescent moon,
And a quarter moon,
And a gibbous moon,
And a full moon,
To a waning gibbous,
And a quarter moon,
And a crescent moon,
To a new moon.
Now what would it be like to imagine your body as the night sky?
Total darkness.
And as we bring the light of mental awareness and we follow it around the body,
I invite you to imagine that mental awareness as a little star at each point that we come to.
Starting with the tip of the right thumb,
A little star at the tip of the index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And pinky finger.
A star on the inside of the palm and the inside of the right wrist,
Right elbow,
And shoulder.
A star right at the base of the throat between the two collar bones.
And a star inside the left shoulder,
Left elbow,
And wrist.
A star inside the left palm of the hand and at the tip of the left thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And pinky finger.
Floating up past the stars once again in the left wrist and elbow and shoulder to the star at the base of the throat.
And feeling a star behind the center of the breastbone,
Illuminating the whole of the chest,
Light peeking through each of your ribs.
A star behind the navel,
Illuminating your belly.
And a star inside the pelvis,
Illuminating the whole of the pelvic bowl,
The hips,
Right and left.
A star behind the left kneecap and behind the right and inside the right ankle and the left.
And then stars on each of the right toes,
Big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth.
And stars on each of the left toes,
Big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth.
And then traveling to the top of your body,
Passing all the stars that are already there on the way.
Placing a star on the inside of the mouth,
Of the roof of the mouth,
Letting the tongue.
A star at the right nostril on the left and inside the left ear and the right.
A star behind the right eye and behind the left.
And a star behind the center of the forehead.
And finally,
A star at the crown of the head and at the back of the skull.
And as you inhale now,
What would it be like for all of those stars to shine and expand,
Almost like they're moving farther apart from one another.
And then as you exhale,
It's like all of the stars gather at the warmth of the heart center.
So your body is the night sky as you inhale all the stars expanding,
Shining,
Illuminating the body from within.
And as you exhale,
It's like all of those stars gather right at the heart.
Feeling both expansive and single pointed at the same time.
And now I invite you to let your awareness drift wherever it would like to be.
So maybe it wants to keep wandering around the body and maybe it would like to settle somewhere.
But following your inner light,
Your inner teacher and trusting that wherever your awareness settles is right where you need to be.
Feeling held and supported.
Feel your breath in your body.
Notice all the sounds around you that you can hear.
And as this practice of yoga nidra comes to a close,
I invite you to stay here as long as you'd like.
Or if you need to shift back into your day,
You can begin to deepen the breath and slowly welcome some small movements back in.
Stretching out your fingers and toes.
Your wrists and ankles.
But whichever you choose,
Thank you for taking this time to rest.
The light in me honors the light within you and the light within all beings.
Namaste.
