Welcome to this Yoga Nidra practice,
Softening the Grip.
This journey invites you to loosen your hold,
Soften effort,
And rest in the spacious awareness that lives beneath every thought.
If you're listening with headphones,
The subtle binaural tones beneath my voice will help your brain drift into deeper layers of stillness and clarity.
Find your position lying down.
Support your head.
Support your knees.
Cover yourself warmly.
Let comfort be your foundation.
Let the body settle.
Let the ground hold you.
Take a slow breath in and a long,
Easy exhale out.
Feel your whole being beginning to soften,
As if the earth is slowly pulling tension from your body,
Strand by strand.
Let your heels fall open,
Arms beside you,
Palms open,
Receptive.
Jaw soft,
Heart soft,
Eyes soft behind closed lids.
Sense gravity,
The gentle weight of your body,
The earth receiving you completely.
No effort.
No agenda.
Just this moment,
Settling around you like warm light.
Now the body is invited to loosen its hold.
Through gentle tension and release,
We'll bring awareness to what's still gripping,
Letting each contraction show its opposite.
Ease.
A quiet unwinding,
Layer by layer,
Breath by breath.
Take a slow breath in through your nose and hold.
Flex your feet.
Squeeze your thighs and glutes.
And exhale,
Releasing everything.
Take a full breath in and pause.
Make fists.
Squeeze your arms,
Your chest,
Your abdomen.
And exhale,
Letting the body relax.
Take your slowest,
Fullest breath in and hold it at the top.
Squeeze your face,
Your chest,
Back,
Arms,
Hands,
Belly,
Legs,
And feet.
Squeeze everything.
Hold it.
And exhale completely,
Letting the whole body soften and settle.
Let the body sink like silk settling over stone.
Before we go deeper,
Allow sankalpa to arise.
A simple truth you want to hold gently in your heart during this practice.
You might choose,
I allow life to flow.
I soften my grip on what I cannot control.
I trust the unfolding of life.
Choose one that resonates.
Let it float softly in your awareness and repeat it to yourself three times with feeling and meaning,
Knowing that it is already true.
Let awareness rest in the space between sounds.
You may notice the faint pulse of the binaural tones,
The soft rhythm beneath the breath,
The gentle hum of life within the body itself.
Rather than reaching for sound,
Allow sound to reach you.
Feel the vibration meeting your awareness,
As if sound and stillness are breathing together.
Now listen beyond the sound,
To the quiet underneath it all,
The stillness that holds every tone,
The silence that never leaves,
Even when sound is present.
Allow yourself to listen to that silence,
The silence inside the body,
The silence inside the mind,
The silence that is not empty,
But full,
Alive,
Vast,
Aware.
Rest there in stillness that doesn't need to be created,
Only remembered.
You are resting in the field where sound and silence meet.
Bring awareness to the breath,
Gentle,
Unforced.
Notice the inhale rising,
Notice the exhale falling,
And somewhere between them,
A quiet moment where nothing moves.
Notice the natural pause,
A soft doorway back to yourself.
Rest in that pause,
Like a feather suspended at the top of the breath,
And again at the bottom.
Now begin to count backwards from 27,
Letting each number guide you deeper into stillness.
Say to yourself mentally,
I am breathing in 27.
I am breathing out 27.
I am breathing in 26.
I am breathing out 26.
Continue in this way,
The breath steady,
Effortless,
Each number dissolving a little more into the quiet.
If the mind drifts,
Or you lose count,
Simply begin again,
Gently,
Without judgment.
With every breath,
The numbers grow softer,
Lighter,
Until they melt completely,
Leaving only breath,
Awareness,
And space.
Let that go,
And let awareness move through the body,
Not thinking about the body,
But feeling it from within.
Let attention drift like light,
Slow,
Steady,
Curious,
Touching each point an awakening quiet sensation.
Bring awareness to the crown of the head.
Feel a gentle hum,
A subtle aliveness there.
Notice the forehead,
Smooth and open.
Right temple,
Left temple.
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow.
The space between the brows,
Quiet and still.
Right eye,
Left eye.
The space behind the eyes.
Right cheek,
Left cheek.
The nose,
Bridge,
Tip.
The soft rhythm of the breath passing through.
Upper lip,
Lower lip.
Corners of the mouth.
The tongue resting heavy in the mouth.
The jaw,
Notice any holding and allow it to soften.
Throat,
Neck,
Spacious,
Open,
Free.
Right shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Palm of the right hand,
Warm,
Receptive,
Thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger.
Ring finger,
Pinky finger.
Feel the whole right arm alive and radiant with awareness.
Move your attention now to the left shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Palm of the left hand.
Right shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Palm of the right hand.
Move your attention now to the left shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Palm of the right hand.
Light at ease.
Right hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the right foot.
Feel its weight,
Its warmth.
First toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Feel the entire right leg grounded,
Spacious,
Still.
Sense the left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the left foot.
Notice its contact with the ground.
First toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Feel the entire left leg soft,
Open,
Relaxed.
Sense the heels,
Calves,
Thighs,
Hips,
Spine,
Shoulder blades,
Back of the neck,
Back of the head.
Feel the whole back body supported,
Cradled by the earth.
Now sense the front of the body,
Open,
Soft,
Receptive.
The meeting of breath and stillness in the heart space.
Feel the right side of the body,
The left side of the body,
The space above the head,
The space below the feet,
The space in front of you,
The space behind you.
Sense yourself surrounded by infinite space,
Spacious,
Boundless,
At ease.
Now feel the entire body at once,
Front and back,
Right and left,
Above and below,
As one continuous field of awareness.
Now sense the breath as movement,
As light traveling through the inner body.
Each inhale and exhale forming a gentle wave,
Effortless,
Luminous.
As you inhale,
Let awareness descend from the crown of the head down to the soles of the feet.
And as you exhale,
Awareness rises from the soles of the feet back up to the crown of the head.
A luminous river flowing through you,
Downward on the inhale,
Upward on the exhale.
Again,
Slowly crown to soles,
Soles to crown.
Continue like this.
Now refine the flow of awareness.
Inhale from the crown of the head down to the ankles.
Exhale from the ankles back up to the crown of the head.
Inhale now from the crown of the head down to the knees.
Exhale from the knees to the crown of the head.
Inhale,
Crown of the head down to the sacrum.
Exhale,
Awareness from the sacrum back to the crown of the head.
Inhale,
Crown of head to the navel.
Exhale from the navel back up to the crown of the head.
Inhale from the crown to the heart.
Exhale from the heart to the crown of the head.
Inhale,
Awareness from the crown to the throat.
Exhale from the throat to the crown.
Now inhale from the crown of the head to the base of the nose where the nostrils begin.
Exhale from the base of the nose to the third eye between the eyebrows.
Again,
Inhaling from the third eye to the base of the nose.
Exhale from the base of the nose to the third eye.
Let that inner current continue on its own.
Breath as light.
Breath as space.
Your body breathing itself.
Your awareness riding the tide.
Let go of following the breath and simply rest in the stillness that remains.
Open,
Aware,
At ease.
Imagine yourself beneath an infinite night sky full of stars.
Soft,
Endless,
Alive.
You are weightless,
Floating,
Held and free at the same time.
Thoughts appear like clouds drifting across the sky.
You do not chase them.
You do not hold them.
You simply watch them pass.
A wide river of silver light flows beside you.
This river is time.
Always moving.
Always carrying.
With open hands,
Effortless,
Gentle,
Place into the river whatever you've been holding.
A story.
A tension.
A name.
A memory.
An expectation.
A feeling you no longer need to grasp.
You don't push it.
You don't force release.
You simply open your hand and the river carries it.
It drifts.
Dissolves.
Becomes light.
And each release creates more space inside of you.
Clear.
Quiet.
Infinite.
Rest in this vastness.
Nothing to grip.
Nothing to fix.
Nothing to hold.
Just awareness.
Wide.
Open.
Free.
Now,
From this deep stillness,
Allow your sankalpa to return.
The quiet truth that lives beneath all striving.
Let it rise naturally,
Without effort,
As a knowing already present within you.
Feel its resonance in your body,
As if it's humming through every cell.
Repeat it silently to yourself three times,
Letting each repetition sink a little deeper.
Let that truth rest softly in the heart.
Feel your breath again,
Gentle,
Natural.
Feel the support of the ground beneath you.
Sound returning.
Light behind your eyelids.
Begin to wiggle your fingers and toes.
Stretch or yawn if it feels good.
Roll to one side and pause there.
Soft,
Slow,
Unhurried.
You have softened the grip.
And in doing so,
You remembered your freedom.
Namaste.
