Welcome to this yoga nidra practice for rest and healing.
Begin by finding a comfortable space to lie down,
Making sure that you won't be disturbed and ensuring that you are as comfortable as possible,
Perhaps having a warm blanket or the support of a cushion behind your head or under your knees and just taking these first few moments to make any adjustments.
For this practice we want to come into a place of stillness.
This isn't to say that you can't make any adjustments or move if you become uncomfortable but just taking these first few minutes to really move around and find that sweet spot of comfort making sure that your spine is straight and placing your arms beside you.
However if it feels more supportive you can always place your hands on your body as a gesture of comfort,
Just feeling into what feels good today for this practice and as you slowly come into the energy of stillness just allowing those shoulders to begin to drop away from the ears,
Softening that jaw,
Allowing the tongue to relax in the mouth,
Moving your awareness to the surface below,
Just drawing your attention to the floor or perhaps the bed beneath you and just noticing the point of contact between your body and that surface supporting you,
Holding you and can you give yourself,
Your body permission to sink just a little bit deeper into that support.
Nothing to do and nowhere to be but right here in this space of rest allowing any thoughts to come and go knowing that is completely normal during this practice to be distracted by thoughts and any time that happens maybe anchoring back with the phrase I am practicing yoga nidra.
So gently moving your awareness now to any sounds that you can hear,
Beginning with any sounds that you can hear nearby,
Perhaps in the room that you are currently in,
Simply noticing without judging the sounds,
What can you hear.
Moving that awareness now to any sounds that you can hear further away in the distance and releasing that awareness of sound now and bringing your attention to your breath,
Simply noticing that breath move in and out the body without changing,
Without fixing,
Noticing as the air moves in and out perhaps noticing the temperature of the air that you breathe in is cooler and the air you breathe out being warmer and just gently beginning to perhaps deepen that breath.
So continuing to breathe in and out through the nose but maybe elongating that exhale ever so slightly and breathing in just a little bit more deeply and beginning to count the breath down from 21.
So as you inhale breathing in 21,
Breathing out 21,
Breathing in 20,
Breathing out 20.
Continuing that count on your own now and if you lose track of the count starting again from 21,
Letting go of that counted breath and gently coming back to a normal breath now releasing the breath awareness.
Inviting an intention in for this practice today so this could be an I am statement,
Something that you wish to embody or experience more of.
Planting this little seed in the subconscious so perhaps it could be I am rested and replenished,
I am healthy and vibrant,
Allowing that intention to come up naturally and repeating it to yourself in your mind three times.
Trusting that intention will be taken care of.
Moving now into our body awareness.
So rotating your awareness with each body part that I name,
Bringing your full attention to that part of your body.
Beginning with the right side and starting with right hand thumb,
Bringing all your awareness to your right hand thumb.
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
The palm of the hand,
The back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Top of the foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Sole of the foot,
Entire right side of the body,
Bringing your awareness to the left hand side of your body.
Beginning with left hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Top of foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Sole of the foot,
Entire left side of the body.
Moving your awareness now to the back body.
Beginning with right heel,
Left heel,
Right calf,
Left calf,
Back of right knee,
Back of left knee,
Right thigh,
Left thigh,
Right glute,
Left glute,
Lower back,
Middle back,
Upper back,
Entire length of the spine,
Shoulders,
Back of the neck,
Back of the head,
Crown of the head,
Forehead,
Right temple,
Right eyebrow,
Right eye,
Left temple,
Left eyebrow,
Left eye,
Right cheekbone,
Right cheek,
Right jaw,
Left cheekbone,
Left cheek,
Left jaw,
Nose,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Chin,
Roof of mouth,
Throat,
Front of neck,
Right side of chest,
Left side of chest,
Heart centre,
Ribcage,
Upper abdomen,
Lower abdomen,
Pelvis,
Pelvic floor,
Awareness of entire right side of the body,
Left side of the body,
Of the body,
Front of the body,
Entire body awareness,
Entire body awareness,
Bringing the intention that you set at the beginning of this practice and repeating it in your mind three times,
Gently bringing your awareness now to your breath,
Observing the breath moving in and out,
Moving your attention now to any sounds that you can hear in the distance,
Bringing attention to any sounds that you can hear nearby,
Perhaps in the room that you are in,
Awareness of sounds and becoming aware now of the points of contact between your body and the support beneath you,
Having awareness of the space that you are in and very gently bringing in some light movement and wakefulness back into the body,
Perhaps starting small by wriggling the toes and the fingers,
Allowing that movement to get a little bigger,
Perhaps taking a full body stretch and you can roll over onto one side if that feels comfortable and whenever you are ready,
Slowly opening the eyes,
Coming back into the space that you are in,
Back into this present moment,
This yoga nidra practice is now complete.
