Week 6 Relaxation Technique - iRest

iRest is a breathing and visualiztion technique that will deeply relax our mind and body. The U.S. Department of Defense conducted research at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on the efficacy of iRest, an adapted form of Yoga Nidra developed by Richard Miller, PhD, to help combat veterans. It has since been used for service members, first-responder, and family members successfully to reduce stress and fall asleep.

Transcript

This is the Week 6,

62 Romeo Relaxation Technique with Janelle.

Use this technique each night before bed.

This iRest practice is designed to help you just fully relax or even drift off into sleep.

So choose whatever position that you'd like to be in for this practice.

Grab any comforts that you may need here,

Any blankets or pillows,

And just gently allow yourself to wiggle in,

Getting as comfortable as you can be here in this moment.

And once you feel like you're in that nice comfortable space,

Notice if there's maybe any last little adjustments or wiggles that you might make to make yourself perhaps five or even ten percent more comfortable than you already are.

Take your deepest breath of the day here,

Nice long inhale,

A nice long complete exhale,

And then just allow your body's own natural breathing rhythm to come in here,

Letting all control of the breath to let go.

Just allow the whole body here to breathe itself naturally.

Let the muscles soften and relax.

And we'll begin by opening all of our senses,

At first feeling the whole backside of the body and where it's in contact with the surface that it's in contact with,

Whether it's a chair,

Maybe your bed.

Notice the weight of the body and how it's completely supported here.

And then bring your attention to the front side of your body,

Perhaps noting where you're covered by your clothes,

Clothes,

The texture of the clothes where they meet the skin,

Or perhaps the gentle weight of a blanket if you're covered.

And then notice those areas that are uncovered,

Perhaps noticing the gentle glide of air across any exposed skin.

And just allow all of this tactile sensation to land on you here just as it is.

Nothing that needs to change,

Nothing that needs to be fixed here in this moment.

And then we'll open our sense of hearing,

Just gathering the sounds that are around you and your space,

And maybe noticing sounds that are occurring outside of your space.

And just notice how when the mind hears sound,

It tends to engage and try to figure out what it is.

So here's an opportunity then to allow thinking mind to begin to rest and just allow those perceptions of sound to come to you.

Sound gently travels to the ears and travels out.

Nothing that needs to be changed or fixed in this moment.

Just welcoming sound as it comes and it goes.

And we'll bring our attention to the mouth,

Noting any flavors that may still be lingering here from whatever you last ate or drank,

Any smells in the nose,

Maybe any leftover perfumes or lotions or shampoos that you may have used today that still resonate on the skin.

And we'll bring our awareness to the eyes.

If the eyes are softened or closed,

You may begin to notice some colors and shapes on the back of the eyelids.

And then you may start to notice the images that move across the movie screen of the mind as they attach to your thoughts and your ideas,

And sensations and sounds as that all arises and falls in the mind.

Again,

Nothing needs to be changed or fixed here.

Just welcoming all of these sensations as they come and they go.

And this is a really nice space to perhaps set an intention.

So your intention could be something you need or want in your life.

It could be something that you send out to someone who needs something.

It could just simply be for the world around us in general.

And if nothing comes up as an intention here for you,

That's perfect too.

Just be here in each moment with each breath.

And then we'll set that aside.

And we'll begin to create an inner resource here.

So the inner resource is simply a place that you can bring to mind where you feel completely secure and at ease.

And it can be any place at all.

It could be a favorite vacation that you've been on,

A place that you visited before.

It could be a place that you've always imagined visiting and what it might be like when you're there.

It could be simply at home,

Maybe with someone who you love and who loves you.

It could be any place at all that invites that feeling of deep comfort and ease into the body and mind.

And once you've chosen that space,

Begin to open all of your senses into it.

So have a look around in this inner resource of yours and notice what you see here,

Noting colors,

Shapes,

Maybe objects that are here,

Noting whether you're inside or maybe you're outside.

And how does it feel on the skin in the space?

Is it warm?

If you're outdoors,

You might feel the warmth of the sun on the skin,

Or it might be cool,

Noting whether you're peacefully here in solitude by yourself,

Or maybe you're by yourself,

Or maybe you're surrounded by your tribe.

All those people who love and support you no matter what.

There might be smells and tastes in this space.

Maybe someone's cooking your favorite food.

He might be drinking your favorite beverage.

There might be sounds here that you recognize,

Maybe sounds of nature that really resonate with you.

And then take a moment and layer in all of these elements until you feel like you can fully step into this inner resource of yours and feel what it's like to be here.

That sense of peace and ease throughout the entire body and mind.

And you can choose to stay right here if you wish for the rest of this practice.

There's no right or wrong way to do this.

Otherwise,

We can set the inner resource aside,

Knowing that it's always here to step back into any time that you need it.

And now allow my voice to be your voice as we begin to rotate our attention throughout the body.

You may feel sensations.

You might feel absolutely nothing.

Just note that whatever you experience is perfect just as it is.

We'll begin today in the jaw,

Just noting the hinges of the jaw,

Left and right.

And run awareness along the jaw line all the way to the tip of the chin and up towards the upper and lower lip,

Noting that fine line in between where they meet.

Then we'll travel into the mouth,

Noting the density of the teeth,

The gums,

The tongue,

The ceiling and floor of the mouth,

Sidewalls.

And allow your awareness from inside the mouth to travel towards the left and right inner ears,

Following sensation all the way through to the outer folds and architecture of both ears,

Noting both ears at the same time,

Both ears heavy,

Relaxed,

At ease.

And then bring your awareness to the bridge of your nose and allow sensation to broaden out over the left and right eyes,

The left and right cheeks,

The left and right temples,

The left and right eyebrows,

Noticing the muscles behind the eyes as they release back and down.

And allow the mechanism of the eyes here to relax and release from the world of looking and seeing.

And bring your awareness to the front of your eyes,

And bring your awareness to the forehead,

Maybe noting where the forehead ends and the hairline begins.

Awareness along the scalp,

All the way to the back of the head and neck,

Sensation inside the throat and the entire face,

Head and neck,

Soften and relax,

The whole head resting,

Releasing and relaxing.

And perhaps allow thinking mind to relax even further here,

Maybe imagining thinking mind like a muscle as it gently softens all the way to the back of the head as the head rests sweetly into the surface that's supporting it.

And bring your awareness to the notch at the base of your throat,

Perhaps noting the coolness of the in-breath and the warmth of the out-breath as the body is breathing itself back and forth behind the notch at the base of your throat.

And from the notch at the base of the throat,

Allow your awareness to glide out the left and right collarbones all the way to the shoulders,

And awareness travels down the upper arms to the elbows,

And awareness glides down the forearms to the wrists,

Perhaps sensation here in the palms of the left and right hands,

And allow that awareness to radiate all the way out towards the fingers,

Noting the weight of the thumbs,

Second fingers,

Third fingers,

Fourth fingers,

Pinky fingers,

The space in between each finger,

The backs of the hands,

As both arms from fingertips all the way to the shoulders soften and relax.

No tension,

No strain,

Both arms resting heavy and at ease.

And from here,

Bring your awareness into the upper chest,

Noting the heartbeat,

The heartbeat slow,

Steady,

And regular,

And allow awareness to drift all the way through to the upper back,

Bringing awareness now to the mid-chest,

Noting the gentle glide of the ribs in and out as the body is breathing itself.

And on an exhale,

Allow awareness to drift all the way through to the mid-back,

Bringing awareness down to the belly and abdomen,

Noting the whole belly warm and soft,

And allow that warmth to drift all the way through to the lower back as the whole torso,

Front and back,

Softens and relaxes.

No tension,

No strain,

The whole torso resting heavy and at ease.

And bring awareness down to the hips and pelvis,

Noting the weight of both hips here as they draw down into each glute.

And awareness glides down the backs of the hamstrings all the way to the backs of the knees,

And awareness glides down the calves all the way to the ankles.

And perhaps noticing any sensation that may be occurring here in the soles of the feet,

And allow that sensation to radiate all the way up towards the toes,

Noting the weight of the big toes,

Second toes,

Third toes,

Fourth toes,

And pinky toes.

The space in between each toe,

The tops of the feet,

And both legs from heels all the way up to the hips,

Soften and relax.

No tension,

No strain,

Both legs resting heavy and at ease,

Noting the whole body globally here as a field of sensation,

The whole body softening,

The whole body releasing,

The whole body letting go into the surface that's supporting it.

And see if you can notice everything that is now here within your awareness,

All of the thoughts,

All of the ideas,

All of the imagery,

Sensations,

And sounds as that all rolls across the movie screen of the mind.

And then see if you can take a step back and be the observer of all of that,

Stepping back into that open,

Spacious awareness that's always here observing in stillness,

Even as things arise and fall within your awareness.

And be aware of the body breathing itself,

The natural rise and fall of the belly with the breath as the whole body is breathing itself.

And from here,

We'll begin counting backwards from seven to one as the body spontaneously breathes in and out like this.

Seven,

Inhaling,

Belly rising.

Seven,

Exhaling,

Belly releasing.

Six,

Inhaling,

Belly rising.

Six,

Exhaling,

Belly releasing.

Continuing on counting backwards from seven to one with your body's own natural breathing rhythm,

Counting,

And the body breathing itself.

And then allow the counting to fall away,

But remain attentive to the body as it spontaneously breathes in and out,

Noting the whole body being breathed,

The whole body breathing itself naturally and effortlessly,

The whole body being breathed.

And from here,

Bring to mind a memory image of someone who you love and who loves you that invites a feeling of joy,

Wholeness,

And well-being into your body.

And then allow the memory image to subside,

But allow this feeling of joy,

Wholeness,

And well-being to emanate from the heart and expand out to all areas of the body,

To the face,

To the arms and hands,

Filling the whole torso,

Legs,

And feet,

The whole body radiantly alive with this feeling of joy,

Wholeness,

And well-being.

And rest here,

Noticing how there's absolutely nothing you need to do,

Nowhere in particular you need to be in this moment,

Nothing that needs to be changed or fixed,

Just this delightful state of being in each breath,

In each moment,

And allow everything to be just as it is.

I-Rest was developed as an adaptation of Yoga Nidra and tested at Walter Reed Army Medical Center with combat veterans and showed a very high effective rate.

Since then,

Many practitioners have gotten I-Rest certified,

And it has been shown to have a significant impact on your ability to relax,

Slip into a hypnagogic state,

And fall asleep.

Sleep well.

Reviews

This was a very good iRest yoga nidra. I fell asleep the first time I listened at bed time. But when I listened during the wakeful wee hours I stayed awake for the whole thing. Was very relaxed as it gently finished but was startled when a male voice suddenly came in to give factual information about iRest. I could do without that abrupt shift.