This is your Nidra practice.
Prepare now for a deep relaxation,
Rest,
And a reset.
Take a comfortable position,
Lying down,
Legs at a comfortable distance apart,
And your palms facing upward if this feels comfortable for you.
Consider using a small pillow beneath your knees,
Under your head,
And a blanket to keep you warm and comfortable.
If you fall asleep,
That's okay,
But it's best to stay awake and be guided by the Nidra process to get the most out of it.
To begin,
Bring your awareness to your breath and simply notice the sensation of breathing.
Take a few gentle inhales and exhales,
Noticing the subtle movements of the body as the breath moves in and releases out.
Deepening the breath now,
Making the exhale longer than the inhale,
Settling further into the here and now with each exhalation.
On the next exhale,
Empty the breath completely.
On the next inhale,
Fill your lungs comfortably and completely,
Then seal your lips to hold the breath for a few seconds.
Open the mouth and let it go with an audible exhale.
Once more,
Emptying the lungs completely.
Full,
Deep inhale,
This time sealing the lips,
Holding the breath,
And squeezing every muscle in the body,
Clenching the fists,
Arms,
Legs,
Curling the toes,
Squeezing the buttock,
Activating the core,
Even scrunching the face,
Squeeze all the muscles.
Open the mouth and an audible exhale.
Let it all go.
Do this once more in your own count,
Releasing any tension with the breath.
Inhaling and squeezing every muscle in the body,
Pausing for a moment and then letting it all go.
Breathing naturally now,
Releasing any effort or focus,
Following the breath and grounding more into the present moment with each exhalation.
Imagining yourself expanding and taking up space where you lay,
Expanding your presence,
Your energy,
And letting go just a little more with each conscious breath.
Inhaling fully and as you exhale,
Feeling the plane of contact between your back body and the floor colliding more and more.
Noticing the subtle points of contact between your back body and the floor.
Bringing your awareness now to the sensation of sound,
Expanding your awareness outward as wide as you can,
And tuning your hearing to notice the sounds furthest away.
Scanning the space for sound,
Simply witnessing it without getting caught up in it.
Noticing one sound and then letting it go and moving to the next.
No need to interpret the sound or decide if it's good or bad.
Practicing observation and letting go of the interpretation.
Simply bearing witness to the soundscape around you and continuing to breathe a natural and fluid breath,
Allowing the sensation of sound to ground you more and more.
Tuning your awareness now gently inward,
Noticing quieter sounds,
Moving from one subtle sound to the next.
Allowing the sensation of sound to bring you closer home to yourself.
Observing the delicate nature of sound and tuning your hearing more and more to the most subtle and quiet sounds.
Maybe you can hear your breath or your heartbeat.
Noticing the sensation and then letting it go,
One conscious breath at a time,
Resting in pure awareness.
At this stage in the practice,
The attention will move through the physical body,
Journeying from one body part to the next and then the next.
Bring your full attention to the body part and perhaps visualizing or silently repeating the name of the body part throughout the journey,
Maintaining a natural,
Relaxed and fluid breath.
Bring your full awareness to the right hand thumb.
Full attention is on the right hand thumb.
Awareness moves to the right hand index finger,
The middle finger,
The ring finger,
Little finger.
Attention on the palm of the right hand,
Back of the right hand,
The wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm.
Attention is on the shoulder,
The armpit,
Right side of the chest.
Attention is on the right side of the chest,
The waist,
Right hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Sole of the right foot,
Top of the right foot,
The right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Becoming aware of the whole right side of the body,
Resting awareness on the whole right side of the body,
Simply noticing.
Bringing full awareness now to the left hand thumb.
Full attention is on the left hand thumb.
Awareness moves to the right hand index finger,
The middle finger,
The ring finger,
The little finger.
Attention on the palm of the left hand,
The back of the left hand,
The wrist,
The lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm.
Attention is on the shoulder,
The armpit,
Left side of the chest.
Attention is on the left side of the chest,
The waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Sole of the left foot,
Top of the left foot,
The left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Resting in the awareness of the whole left side of the body,
Grounding with the awareness of the whole left side of the body.
Bringing full awareness now to the right heel.
Becoming aware of the left heel.
Moving awareness now to the right calf,
The left calf,
The back of the right knee,
The back of the left knee,
The back of the right thigh,
The back of the left thigh,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
The spinal column.
Attention is on the whole spinal column.
Moving to the tailbone,
The lower back,
The middle back,
Upper back,
Left shoulder blade,
Right shoulder blade.
Awareness is on the space between the back of the neck,
The back of the head.
Experiencing the whole body now.
Resting in the awareness of the whole body.
Full attention now on the top of the head,
The forehead,
The right temple,
The left temple,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Eyebrow center.
Attention is on the eyebrow center.
The right eye,
The left eye,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Whole nose.
Attention is on the whole nose.
On the upper lip,
The lower lip,
The line where the lips meet.
Experiencing the lips together.
Right side of the jaw,
Left side of the jaw,
The chin,
Front of the neck,
Throat pit,
Right side of the chest,
Left side of the chest,
The heart center,
Upper abdomen,
Lower abdomen,
The navel center.
Experiencing the right side of the pelvis,
The left side of the pelvis,
The whole pelvic floor.
Experiencing the whole pelvic area.
Noticing both legs and feet together.
Grounding with the sensation of both legs.
Awareness moves to both arms and hands together.
Grounding with the sensation of both arms.
Noticing the whole torso.
Grounding with the sensation of the torso.
Noticing the whole right side,
The whole left side.
Noticing the whole right side of the body,
The whole left side,
The whole back,
The whole front.
Resting the awareness on the whole body together.
Experiencing the whole body together.
The whole body.
Directing the awareness now to observing the breath in the abdomen.
Watching as the belly rises and falls with each inhalation and exhalation.
Taking this moment to connect to breath.
We are now going to add a count to this practice.
Counting the breath from 20 down to 0.
Beginning together with a full exhalation from wherever you are.
And then on the inhale,
The belly button rises for 20.
On the exhale,
The belly button falls for 20.
Inhale,
The belly button rises for 19.
Exhale,
The belly button falls for 19.
Inhale,
Belly button rises 18.
Exhale,
Belly button falls 18.
Continuing in this way,
Watching the rise and fall of the belly button with each inhale and exhale.
If your mind wanders and you lose count,
Simply notice it and gently come back to the breath and start over from 20,
Counting back down to 0.
If you make it to 0,
Invite your awareness to start again from 20.
Staying awake as loving awareness,
One conscious breath to the next.
Now,
Wherever you are in the count,
Letting it go and releasing any effort with the breath,
Returning to center and keeping the awareness on your internal world,
Connecting with the sensation of expansion.
Allowing the mind to be at rest and simply being.
You have arrived.
You are home.
Resting in pure loving awareness.
Inviting the attention back to the breath now and following it as it moves in the body.
Deepening the breath little by little and expanding your awareness bit by bit.
Noticing the weight of the body on the surface beneath you.
Noticing the weight of the blanket and the gentle sensation of air on the skin.
Tuning your hearing now and witnessing any sounds around you.
Widening the awareness to the sensation of sound and the space around you.
Remembering where you are and that your nidra practice is now coming to an end.
Deepening the breath more now,
Beginning to bring some small movements to the body.
Moving the fingers and toes and when you are ready,
Slowly make your way to your side.
Take as long as you need to fully come back.
Sit up when you are ready.
Thanks for joining me in this practice.
We'll connect again soon.
