Welcome to this yoga nidra for deep sleep.
Allow yourself to settle into a comfortable lying position on your back,
Supported by pillows or blankets if needed.
Let the arms rest gently at your side with the palms facing up or down,
Whichever feels most restful to you.
The legs are relaxed with the feet falling open naturally.
Close your eyes and give yourself full permission to rest.
This is your time to be.
There is nothing to do,
Nothing to achieve and nowhere to go.
Allow yourself to arrive here and now with your full presence into this practice.
Feel the support of the surface underneath you and take some gentle breaths in and out through the nose.
Arriving more fully with every exhale.
We begin this practice with coherent breathing.
It's a steady rhythm of breath that helps to balance and regulate your nervous system and prepare your body to rest.
So we are breathing in for five counts and breathing out through the nose for five counts.
So allow yourself to exhale all the air out and let's begin.
So breathing in for two,
Three,
Four,
Five and breathe out for two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Inhale two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Exhale two,
Three,
Four,
Five and continue counting on your own in your own mind.
With each inhale you feel the breath expanding into your belly and chest and with each exhale you feel the body soften and surrendering a little bit more.
If your mind wanders and start to think about something else then gently return to the counting and we stay here just a little bit longer.
Let the breath now return to its natural rhythm.
And we begin now to scan the landscape of your body.
Noticing any areas of tension and areas of ease and softness.
Where do you feel tightness and where do you feel spaciousness?
Now sense the temperature of your body in different areas.
So which body parts feel cool and which one feel warm.
And allow these opposite of sensations to just be and coexist at the same time.
And finally notice where the body is still and where there are some subtle movements like the rise and fall of the breath or the gentle pulse of your heartbeat.
You don't need to change any sensations.
Witness with curiosity the body as it is.
Alive,
Intelligent and always communicating.
Now bring your attention to your face and do your best to sense the muscles around the eyes.
Let the eyelids grow heavy and soft.
And feel any tightness in the corners of the eyes begin to release.
Allowing the space between the eyebrows to widen and smooth.
Now bring your awareness to the cheeks,
The small muscles around the nose.
Feeling the hinge of the jaw and let it soften.
Perhaps allowing the teeth to part slightly.
Let your tongue rest heavily inside the mouth.
Feel the throat soften and the back of the neck lengthen.
Now bring your attention to the scalp and sense the skin on the top of your head.
Let it relax and widen as if your whole head is expanding into spaciousness.
Now gently bring awareness to the front body.
Moving from the crown of the head downward.
The forehead,
The soft skin of the eyelids,
The cheeks,
The lips and chin,
The chin,
The throat.
Feel the chest rise and fall with the breath.
Feel the space around the heart soft and open.
The belly relax completely.
No holding,
No effort.
Bring attention now to the front of the arms,
The biceps,
Elbows,
Forearms,
Palms of the hands and fingers.
And now the front of the pelvis.
Moving down the thighs,
Knees and shins,
Top of the feet and the toes.
The front body is receptive and open.
Now feel the breath as a subtle flow moving through your central channel.
So that space just in front of your spine and behind your organs.
The breath is like a gentle current that travels from the base of the spine up to the crown of the head.
And then as you exhale from the crown down to the base.
So as you inhale,
Imagine the breath rising up the central channel to reach the crown of the head.
And as you exhale,
Feel the breath descending through the central channel down to the base.
The breath flowing up and down.
A quiet,
Effortless wave.
So let go of controlling and simply do your best to sense the flowing rhythm of the breath.
Now,
As you keep your awareness to the soft front body and the fluid and moving central channel.
Then also expand your awareness to include the back of the body.
So feel the back of the head,
Back of the neck,
Shoulder blades gently settling into the support beneath you,
The upper back,
Mid-back,
Lower back.
Feel the back of the arms,
The back of your hands and fingers,
And now the back of the pelvis,
Heavy and grounded.
Back of the thighs,
Knees,
Calf,
Heels sinking deep into the surface underneath you.
The back body is solid,
Supportive and strong.
And feel how this strong back body holds you up.
Now bring these layers together in your awareness.
The front body,
Soft and open.
The central channel,
Flowing and subtle.
And the back body,
Strong and steady.
Let your attention hold all three layers at once.
A full,
Rich sense of the entire body.
And rest here for a moment in this unified awareness.
The whole body breathing and resting.
You are supported.
You're safe.
You are resting.
Now imagine a warm golden light like honey beginning to flow in through the soles of the feet,
Warm and healing.
It slowly fills the feet,
Spreading into the ankles,
Gently melting tension as it moves up through the calves,
Knees and thighs.
Washing through the pelvis,
The hips,
Releasing all energy and fatigue.
It rises through the belly and chest,
Soothing the heart.
And then down the arms,
Into the hands and fingertips.
This warm golden light spreads up through your neck,
Jaw and face,
Softening the eyes,
The scalp,
Until your whole body is aglow with this golden healing light.
This light dissolves any tension,
Worry and gripping.
Each cell in your body is being nourished and restored.
Let yourself drift into deep sleep.
Remain in this stillness for as long as you need.
