Welcome to Yoganidra.
You can make your way,
Come to lie down onto your back making sure that you feel supported so that your body can relax.
You may like to drape a blanket over your body,
Perhaps something light to rest over your eyes.
Separating your heel bones so that they sit a little wider than your hip bones.
Taking your arms down beside you and turning your palms to face up,
Making sure that your fingertips are not touching anything.
Making your final adjustments so that you can settle into a place of stillness.
As you come to lay down,
Notice how there is a real surrendering of the weight of your physical form.
Making sure that your jaw is soft,
Your lips can be together but allow your teeth to be separate.
Your eyes are closed but your eyelids are wide.
Let go of any holding,
Any tension in your physical body and just allow yourself to be held.
I'd like you to begin just by observing the sounds around you.
Not touching to nothing,
Expecting nothing,
Just experiencing sound as vibration moving through the airwaves.
It comes and it goes.
Not labeling anything,
Not attaching to anything,
Just allowing the sound to move in and out of your awareness.
I'd like you to draw your attention just to your skin now.
Feeling the place where your skin meets the air around you,
The gentle impression of a boundary.
You might notice that at this point when we perceive our skin,
We perceive it from the outside in.
This is one of the reasons that the yogis believed that the mind was not inside the body but rather all-pervading and everywhere.
Just continue another moment here,
Just feeling your skin.
Let it become soft,
Let it become heavy.
Very gently drawing your attention in a little closer,
You can allow it to rest on the breath.
Having drawn your attention from the outside in,
You might find that the breath is shallow and you can just allow that to continue.
There is no need to control,
To change anything.
As you continue to breathe,
Just listening,
Noticing.
Letting go a little more,
Holding on to less and less.
As the sensations in your body begin to become more and more apparent,
You can let go even of those observations and just feel the floor holding you.
Gently relaxing,
Completely supported.
The body can rest deeply so that we allow the mind to soften and relax.
As you continue to rest in this place,
Just bringing your attention to the third eye center,
The very middle of the brain.
You can feel or sense a point of light here,
Softening that entire region.
Your breath flowing there.
And then you can allow your attention to move now to the point of light in the hollow of your throat.
As your breath flows naturally there,
Restfully awake.
And aware.
Perceiving this point of light now in your right shoulder.
The point of light in your right elbow,
Your right wrist,
The tip of your right thumb,
Point of light,
Body resting.
Point of light in the tip of your right index finger,
Your right middle finger,
Your right ring finger,
And your right pinky finger.
Point of light,
Body quiet,
Mind quiet.
Returning your attention to the point of light in your right wrist,
Your right elbow,
Your right shoulder,
The point of light in the hollow of your throat.
Point of light in your left shoulder now receiving your breath.
Your left elbow,
Your left wrist,
The tip of your left thumb,
Point of light,
Body resting.
The tip of your left index finger,
Your left middle finger,
Your left ring finger,
Your left little finger.
Returning now to the point of light in your left wrist,
Your left elbow,
Your left shoulder,
The point of light in the hollow of your throat.
Body resting,
Mind resting.
The point of light in the heart center now receiving your breathing.
The right side of your chest,
Point of light,
Body quiet.
The point of light in your heart center,
The point of light in your left chest,
The point of light in your heart center,
Softening,
Releasing.
Feeling the point of light in your navel center now,
Softening your whole belly,
Breath flowing even,
Steady,
Soft.
The point of light in the center of your pelvis,
The point of light in your right hip now,
Breath flowing there.
Your right knee,
Point of light,
Body quiet.
Your right ankle,
To the tip of your right big toe,
Point of light.
Your right second toe,
Your right third toe,
Your right fourth toe,
The tip of your right little toe.
Point of light,
Body effortless.
Returning to the point of light in your right ankle,
Your right knee,
Your right hip,
The point of light in the center of your pelvis,
Softening,
Opening.
The point of light in your left hip,
Body quiet,
Mind quiet.
Your left knee,
Point of light,
Your left ankle,
To the tip of your left big toe,
Point of light,
Body quiet.
Your left second toe,
Your left third toe,
Point of light,
The tip of your left fourth toe,
The tip of your left baby toe,
Point of light,
Body still,
Mind still.
Returning to the point of light in your left ankle,
The point of light in your left knee,
Your left hip,
Breath flowing.
Point of light in the center of your pelvis,
Breath soft,
Body soft.
Your navel center,
Point of light,
Body so quiet.
The point of light at your heart center,
Softening,
Opening,
Breath flowing,
Effortless.
The point of light at the hollow of your throat,
Returning to the point of light at your third eye center,
The very middle,
Middle of the brain,
Body resting,
Mind resting,
Breath flowing effortlessly.
Feeling your body resting,
The body sleeps but the mind remains spacious and alert,
But soft.
Sensing these points of light,
Your body as a constellation resting on the earth,
No effort,
No holding.
Feeling your whole body heavy and soft,
Letting there be a lightness to your heart and your lungs as you breathe,
Allowing the ripples of relaxation to permeate your skin,
Your body.
Very gently you can begin to become aware of sound once more.
You're seeing the sounds that come and go,
The sounds in the distance,
The sounds a little closer by.
Again just experiencing sound as vibration moving in and out of your awareness.
Feeling the sensation of the air against your skin,
Your clothes,
Against your skin.
Feeling the place where you begin and the outside world ends.
All the sensations at your edges,
At your periphery.
From your skin,
Guiding your attention in a little closer once more just to your breath.
This time you can slowly begin to deepen your breathing,
Allowing your breath to stretch,
To elongate with each inhale and each exhale.
Very gently you can run your thumb along the tip of each finger,
Awakening a sense of touch in your body.
Slowly you can invite a little more movement through your hands,
Through your feet.
Maybe slowly,
Gently turning your head from side to side.
Very gently you might hug your knees into your chest very slowly.
When you feel ready you can roll over to your preferred side,
Any side is fine.
As you come to rest on your side,
Taking your time,
Pause here and give yourself another moment,
Another full minute here just to let the weight of your body drop.
Feeling the support of the earth beneath you.
Very,
Very slowly,
Very gently you can guide yourself back up into a sea.
