Welcome to the practice of yoga nidra.
Welcome home to yourself.
Noticing now a real connection with the capacity of letting go of your exhale.
This feeling that when your exhale goes out,
A sense of all those places of your body that is being held and received by the earth herself.
As if you could let go of the weight of your head,
Your arms,
All along your spine,
Through your buttocks,
Down into your feet.
Every breath that goes out is a release and you feel the earth herself holding you.
Let yourself be held.
Every breath that comes in is a welcome,
A vitality and spaciousness unfolding inside of you.
And now with the next breath that leaves,
Let's welcome a great big sigh.
There isn't anything you need to be doing.
There isn't anywhere you need to be going.
There are no deadlines to meet.
There is no one to please.
You've given yourself the permission to do nothing at all and this is your practice of yoga nidra.
There isn't any way to do this wrong because there isn't anything at all to do.
And if your body feels glad and ready to be in stillness,
To receive nourishment,
Then let your body settle back into whatever is the most delicious place to land and to receive the gift of rest and stillness.
Welcome to the safe,
Protective and nurturing space that is your practice of yoga nidra.
Let your mental awareness now be,
I am practicing yoga nidra.
I am practicing yoga nidra.
I am practicing yoga nidra.
Invite now in the center of your heart a feeling of gladness,
A seed of thankfulness for this blessed opportunity to practice yoga nidra.
And from this gladness,
Hear the voice of your inner teacher and align with your sankalpa,
Your heartfelt intention.
This is a positive I am statement,
The essence of who you are,
Which could be I am love,
I am joy,
I am abundance.
Whatever your heartfelt intention is,
Let it rise with the breath of your heart and if nothing in particular comes to surface,
Allow an openness to receive whatever heartfelt guidance or wisdom your inner teacher,
Your heart has to offer you.
We begin now to guide the light of mental awareness around your physical body as if your body is the fertile soil and land of the earth that is brimming full of plants,
Trees and little sprouts.
And your drops of consciousness are like little droplets of water that begin to moisten this land,
Allowing the land that is full of this plants,
Leaves,
Grass and vegetation to begin to flower and bloom.
We start at the root of your tongue,
Let a flower begin to emerge and blossom there.
The tip of your tongue,
The roof of your mouth,
The bottom of your mouth,
The inside of your left cheek,
A little blossom appears,
The inside of your right cheek,
Little petals begin to flower,
Your right ear,
The lobe of the ear,
The shell of the ear,
Inside and all around the ear,
Little petals,
These flowers begin to blossom,
To bloom and unveil themselves.
Your left ear,
The lobe of the ear,
The shell of the ear,
Inside and all around your ear,
Little flowers begin to blossom,
The back of your head,
The crown of your head,
Your forehead,
Your right eyebrow,
Your left eyebrow,
The space between your eyebrows,
Your right eye,
Your left eye,
The bridge of your nose,
The tip of your nose,
Let a little flower unveil there,
Your right nostril,
Your left nostril,
Your right cheek,
Your left cheek,
The space between your nose and your upper lip,
Let a tiny flower begin to emerge there,
Your upper lip,
Your lower lip,
Your chin and all along the fertile soil of your jaw,
Let little flowers begin to blossom and bloom,
The center of your throat,
Your right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Right shoulder,
Left shoulder,
Your right arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Center of your palm and all five of the fingers of your right hand,
Your thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger and your little finger,
Let little blossoms begin to emerge and flower,
Your left arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Center of the palm and all five of the fingers of your left hand,
The thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger and your little finger,
The center of your heart,
Let a flower begin to blossom there,
Your right lung,
Left lung and the center of your navel,
Let a blossom begin to emerge and bloom,
Three fingers below your navel,
Your right hip,
Left hip,
Your right buttock,
Left buttock,
The space in your groin,
Your right thigh,
Knee,
Calf,
Shin,
Ankle,
Heel,
The rainbow arch of your right foot,
The ball of your right foot and all five of your toes of your right foot,
The big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and your little toe,
Your left thigh,
Knee,
Calf,
Shin,
Ankle,
Heel,
Rainbow arch of your left foot,
The ball of your left foot and all five of the toes of your left foot,
The big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and your little toe,
From head to toe,
From toes to head,
The fertile soil and land of your body is now covered with a bed of flowers in full,
With your next exhale feel heavy as if like the roots of all of these flowers descending and rooting down into the earth's core,
With your next inhale feeling light like the little flower petals emerging and growing effortlessly upwards towards the heavens,
Towards the sky,
With every exhale feeling heavy and rooted,
With every inhale feeling light and expansive,
Continue to alternate between these extremes a feeling of heaviness and lightness with the next five breaths and now invite both extremes to be held simultaneously in your consciousness feeling that you are both heavy and rooted like the roots of all of these blossoms that are connected with the earth's core and at the same time light bright and expansive like the flower petals emerging and growing upwards towards the heavens,
Towards the sky,
Feel both of these extremes in your consciousness at the same time and now gently let go of this practice and notice the natural weight,
Shape and form of your physical body,
Now draw awareness to the center of your heart,
Feel in the center of your heart a flower in full bloom,
Its petals widespread and as you inhale feel that you are gathering nourishment and light inwards into the center of your heart where this petal is as you exhale you let this nourishment feed this blossom that is you so that you can begin to shine,
To radiate and to blossom outwards into the world,
Every inhale is a gathering in to the center of you,
Every exhale is a blossoming out into the world,
Continue to alternate between these extremes for the next five breaths,
Now begin to invite both extremes to be held simultaneously in your consciousness,
Feeling that you are both gathering light and nourishment into the center,
The core of your being and at the same time by receiving this nourishment you are blossoming out into the world and sharing your beauty,
Your truth with the world,
Feel both of these extremes at the same time in your consciousness,
Now gently let go of this practice and notice the natural texture quality and length of your breath,
As you notice the natural texture,
Quality and length of your breath,
Become aware of your breath as a dear friend,
This dear friend you've known for so long,
This dear friend you've known since the moment you were born,
Each time you inhale you welcome and embrace this dear friend and each time you exhale you bid this dear friend goodbye with no formality,
Letting your breath come and go effortlessly,
For the next nine breaths count each of your exhales from nine to zero,
If you lose track of the counting it doesn't matter,
What matters is that you let your mind rest with each breath let's begin,
Now become aware of having been practicing Yoga Nidra,
Let your awareness be,
I have been practicing Yoga Nidra,
I have been practicing Yoga Nidra,
I have been practicing Yoga Nidra,
Know that the nourishment,
Protection and healing that you received through your practice of Yoga Nidra,
It stays with you even as this practice comes to an end,
With your next exhale let your awareness reside deep in the center of the blossom,
That is deep in the center of your heart,
With the next inhale let your heartfelt intention rise with the breath of your heart,
Hear the voice of your inner teacher,
Your heart,
Connect with your Sankalpa,
Your heartfelt intention,
Become open to whatever guidance your heart has to offer you,
Allow an embodied experience of this guidance as your lived reality,
As you are here now,
You are welcome to continue to linger here communing with your inner teacher,
Hearing,
Aligning,
Seeing,
Living your heartfelt intention,
If you feel you would like and are ready for this practice to gradually come to an end and slowly allow your breath to become more audible,
Gently begin to let your body move with your breath,
Let these sounds and the sound of my voice awaken you to a more everyday state of consciousness,
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete,
You may gently arise and stretch and bring this feeling of blossoming with you into the rest of your day and the rest of your life
