Yoga Nidra For Anxiety & Overwhelm: Feel Safe

This is your safe space, where you can let go of any worries, heaviness and tension and just surrender to the healing power of yoga nidra practice. This gentle meditation will take you on a journey into deep relaxation, where you'll be guided towards more peace through soothing breaths, body scan, visualisation and stillness. Let your mind soften, let your body totally melt and enjoy a space just for you!

Transcript

Welcome. Before we start, Just know that this space is only for you. That you are held and supported here. That you can let go of all that heaviness, Of the fear that you are holding and open up to receive more peace and healing. Make yourself comfortable into your yoga nidra shape. So it might be lying down on your back, On your bed or on the yoga mat. Adding any blankets or pillows. Anything that makes you feel a bit more cosy, Warm and supported in here. And before we go deeper into the body scan and relaxation, Wherever your hands are, Can you bring them onto your lower belly. Take 3 deep breaths here to this space, Grounding yourself in this present moment. And then bringing them higher onto your ribs, Feeling your ribcage as you breathe, Naturally expanding and falling. And then bringing your hands onto your chest, Maybe one on top of the other and taking those soothing heartfelt breaths. Opening to receive love and sending that love to your whole body, Reminding yourself that love is always here for you. And then the last part of this breath, Bringing your hands higher on top of your head, Maybe just onto your forehead. Wherever they fall, Let them rest there and taking a couple more breaths here. This is a beautiful grounding sign for your nervous system, Letting it know that it's time to rest, That it's safe to switch into that parasympathetic mode. And then just let go of your hands, Place them alongside your body, Let your arms rest heavy, Feel your legs resting, No effort needed. And then just noticing your facial muscles, Your jaw, Maybe force a big yawn to really stretch the jaw muscles or move the jaw around like you are chewing gum, Just to soften that tension and clenching through the jaw. And then just really slowing down, Releasing any movement and coming back to stillness, Creating this safe cocoon for yourself, Whatever heaviness you're carrying in your shoulders, In your heart, In your mind, Just know that it's not necessary to hold onto it, That you can slowly start taking off that heavy backpack of your thoughts, Of emotions, Just let it rest, Let yourself soften. And from here we're going to connect with our sankalpa, The intention for this practice, The intention that comes from the heart. So maybe you are already carrying a sankalpa, Connect to it, Or otherwise just simply inviting those words quietly into your mind, I am held and supported by the earth, I can rest deeply here, I am held and supported by the earth, I can rest deeply here, Repeated three times in your mind. Lovely, We're going to go through our body scan now, So just keep following my voice, Switching your awareness from one point to the other, Staying present here, Starting with your right hand, Feeling your right thumb, Second finger, First finger, Second finger, Third finger and your little finger, Feel the inside of your palm and the back of your hand, Your right wrist, The forearm, The elbow, The space inside the elbow, The right upper arm and the shoulder, Let your whole arm rest here, Then your left thumb, The first finger, Second finger, Third finger and the little finger, The inside of your palm and the back of your hand, Your left wrist, The forearm, The upper arm, Your left shoulder, Let your whole left arm rest here, And then moving to your right toes, The big toe, Second toe, Third toe, The fourth and the pinky toe, Feel the sole of your foot, The top of your foot, The right ankle, Then the left toes, The big toe, Second toe, Third and fourth, Then the little toe, The sole of your foot, The top of the foot, Then the left ankle, The right ankle, Bringing your awareness now to your face, Feeling the top of your nose, Then your right nostril, The left nostril, Feel the space inside your nose, Deep inside both nostrils, Then your right ear, The earlobe, The folding of the ear, The inside of the ear, Deep inside the right ear, Then your left ear, Earlobe, The folding of the ear, The space inside the ear, Deep into the left ear canal, The left ear canal, Relaxing your top lip and the bottom lip, Letting your tongue just rest gently, Relaxing the whole inside of your mouth, Your mouth, Your jaw, Even your teeth, Then your right eye, Feel the space deep behind your eye, And the left eye, Space behind the left eye, Then the middle of your forehead, The middle of your throat, The middle of your chest, Relaxing the whole chest and your heart space, The middle of your navel, And then your pelvis, Feeling your right and left hip softening, Your groin relaxing, The tailbone relax, And then feeling your lower back, Middle back, And the upper back, The muscles supporting your back, All resting now, Feel the back of your right leg, The calf, The heel, The thigh, Back of the knee, The left heel, The calf, The thigh, Back of the knee, Back of your right arm, And the left arm, Back of your head, Relax the whole back of your body now, From the top to the bottom, Let it be supported and still, And then the whole front of your body, From the top all the way down, Soften your chest, Your rib cage, Your navel, Your whole belly, And the front of your legs, Feel both of your legs together, Right and left leg together, Feel both of your arms together, Right and left arm together, Feel your whole body together now, Your whole body resting, Your whole body supported, Your whole body relaxed, And then we're going to totally let go of the body, Just let it rest here while staying aware, Keeping the awareness inside of your heart now, Into that loving heart space centre, And we're going to take 11 breaths here, Now, With each breath you are softening a little bit more, With each exhale maybe 5 or 10% more relaxation and softening, 5, Exhale 11, And inhale 11, Exhale 10, And inhale 10, And continue the count now by yourself, Surrendering to the energetic space of the heart, Breathing through here and now, And release that breath, You don't have to count anymore, Keep following my voice now as I guide you through shifting of sensations practice, So, Invite the feeling of heaviness, Your body is heavy, Everything is heavy, What colour does the heaviness have, What feeling is that, Let it be there, And then shift the awareness to lightness, Your body is light as a feather, You're feeling that lightness through your heart, You're feeling expansion, And then shift back to heaviness again, Heavy body, Heavy head, Heavy feeling, And back to lightness, To softness, How light can you feel, How light and soft can you be here and now, One more time to heaviness, And back to lightness and softness, Lovely now inviting the feeling of cold in your body, How does shivering cold feel, What colour does it have, Feel it here inviting those sensations, And then shift to warmth, To the feeling of heat, The fire within you, That warmth that is spreading through your whole body, And shift back to coldness, Freezing cold, Your hands are freezing, The whole body is cold and cold around you, And back to heat, Back to that warmth as the sun all around you and within you, What colour does it have, How does that energy of warmth feel within you, And back to coldness again, Freezing cold, And back to that heat, Back to that inner fire, To the warmth, Soothing and comforting warmth, Let it spread through you like honey, And let go of any sensations now, Keeping yourself neutral, You are just observing, Staying awake and aware, And let's just shift your attention in your mind's eye, Just inviting a quick visualisation of these objects, Listening to my voice, Letting yourself imagine the first thing that comes and letting it go, See a candle, A candle in front of you, Then a starry night, A starry sky, A moon, A shiny full moon, A sunset, A beautiful beach with sunset, A tree standing tall in front of you, A table, A simple table, A cup of tea in your hands, A glass of water, A grass, Green grass and your feet on the grass, A smiling child, A painting, Simple painting, The vast blue sky, A big field full of sunflowers, And a candle again, And let go from all these pictures from your imagination, Just let yourself be in the emptiness, To remind be empty a canvas that has not been painted yet, And let go from all these pictures from your imagination, Beautiful, When you're ready start slowly deepening your breath, Coming back to a little bit deeper inhales and a longer exhales, And let this fresh breath spread through you, Coming back to your intention, I am held and supported here, I allow myself to rest deeply, And feel free to stay here longer if you wish to keep resting, Otherwise invite a little bit of movement into your toes, Into your fingers, Into your neck and your head, Feeling like a newborn with that new and fresh energy, Maybe a little bit lighter, Now that there is no need to hold on to all the heaviness, You can always choose to come back to peace, Maybe stretch the arms over your head, And when you're ready just remember very slowly and gently bring yourself up. Thank you so much for this practice, For listening, For your presence, I always appreciate your feedback so much so feel free to share here, Thank you and have a lovely rest of your day or evening. Namaste.