Hello and welcome to your yoga nidra practice.
So take a moment to get yourself comfortable and ready for your practice.
Call in any supports that you might need like a blanket or a pillow,
Maybe something to cover your eyes and finding,
Discovering a shape that allows you to breathe well.
So whatever that looks like or feels like for you,
A shape in your body that allows you to breathe well.
This shape hopefully creates a sense of freedom around your ribcage,
Your belly,
Your neck and throat.
Inviting your body to settle now in your own pace,
In your own timing.
Releasing effort from the physical body,
Letting go of the effort and the muscles big and small,
Letting go of effort in the bones big and small.
Laying these bones down on the earth now to be held and to be carried for a little while by the earth herself through this floor,
Through perhaps this building all the way through.
Welcome and as you settle here and now just know that my voice will guide you through the process of yoga nidra.
There is no need to pay too much attention.
There is no need to pay any attention.
You're invited to soften into your place,
Into yourself.
Just allow my voice to be here as a sound in your space.
As you settle deeper and deeper,
Notice the rhythmic movements of your breath cycle.
Perhaps you'll take a few deeper breaths and a sigh.
Perhaps just noticing the breath as it is,
Letting the breath be as it is as if you were a witness to your breath and to your body breathing itself.
Witnessing the breath and noticing the breath coming in and going out at its own pace,
Its own rhythm.
Each breath in carrying life force energy riding into the body.
Each breath out carrying life force energy and all that is no longer needed out of the body.
Inviting a gentle inquiry,
An open inquiry.
Where might you feel the breath?
Where now might you feel the breath?
Perhaps the breath can be felt in one place or many places.
Where might you feel the breath?
What might the breath look like as it comes in,
As it goes out?
What might the breath look like?
How might you imagine the breath?
Can the breath be heard?
How might the breath sound?
If the breath could be heard,
What might it sound like?
Letting go of the breath now will welcome attention around the body visiting each place in turn.
Bring your attention to your right hand thumb,
The forefinger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
The fingers and thumb of the right hand,
Back of hand,
Palm,
Wrist,
Forearm and elbow,
The right upper arm,
Shoulder and armpit,
Right ribs,
Right waist,
Hip and buttock,
The groins of the right side,
The thigh,
Top and bottom,
The knee,
Kneecap and back of knee,
Calf muscle,
Shinbone,
Right ankle,
Top of foot and sole and all the toes.
1 2 3 4 and 5.
Welcoming attention through the whole right side of the body and now the whole left side.
The tip of left hand thumb,
Forefinger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
Back of hand,
Palm,
Wrist,
Forearm and elbow joint,
The left upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit and side ribs,
The left waist,
Hip and buttock,
The left groins and thigh,
Top and bottom,
Kneecap and back of knee,
Calf muscle,
Shinbone and ankle,
Top of left foot,
Sole of foot and all the toes.
1 2 3 4 and 5.
The whole left side of the body,
The whole left side and the whole right side.
So both sides together.
Both sides together.
Now the back of the body,
The two heels,
Backs of knees and buttocks,
The lower back,
Middle back,
Upper back and shoulder blades,
The whole length of the spine,
Back of neck,
Back of head,
Back of top of head,
The very top of the head,
The whole back body welcomed in attention.
The whole front body,
The forehead,
The two eyes and eyebrows,
The two cheeks,
Upper lip,
Bottom lip,
The whole face and ears,
The throat,
The whole chest,
Right side of chest,
Left side of chest,
The whole chest,
The whole belly,
The left side of belly,
Right side of belly,
The whole belly and pubic bones,
The whole front of this body welcomed in attention.
The whole front and the whole back.
Both back and front together.
The whole body welcomed in attention.
How might that be to welcome the whole body now into this restful space?
Letting this go,
Bringing your attention to the tip of your nose,
The left nostril,
The right nostril,
Observing the breath coming and going perhaps through the nostrils.
How might it be to welcome breath awareness through the right nostril and out through the left nostril,
In through the left nostril,
Out through right nostril.
How might it be to welcome the breath to alternate between the two nostrils as if you could weave breath and attention through the two nostrils alternately back and forth at whatever pace feels perfect and effortless.
As the breath comes in,
It could touch the space between the eyebrows,
Forming an upward pointing triangle between the nostrils and the space between the eyebrows.
Drawing breath and attention along this upward pointing triangle.
The invitation now is to expand this triangle,
To breathe in through the whole right side of arm and nostril to the space between the eyebrows.
Breathe out through the whole left nostril and arm,
Inhaling back to the space between the eyebrows and alternating the breath between the two nostrils and arms.
Breathing breath and attention along this larger upward pointing triangle.
The invitation now is to expand the triangle even larger now to breathe between the two sides of the body in whole.
Breathing in through the whole right side,
Leg,
Trunk,
Arm and nostril.
Breathing out through the whole left side.
Breathing in through the whole left side and out through the whole right side.
Alternating between sides with breath and attention.
How might that be in an effortless flow?
How might it be to breathe through the whole body alternating between sides?
Letting all of this go now.
Bring your attention to the space between the eyebrows,
Settling here in the center and to the space in the center of your chest.
Settling here in the center of the chest,
The heart space.
Taking just a spacious moment now to welcome any intuitive wisdom from within you to arise spontaneously in any form.
Welcoming the wisdom of your being,
The intuitive wisdom of your heart,
The natural wisdom of this body.
Welcoming wisdom from within you to arise now in any form.
Just to be here is enough.
Just to be here with your heart,
With yourself is more than enough.
Nothing to do.
As this practice of yoga nidra edges toward a close,
Just becoming aware of your body resting here in its place.
Feeling all those places where you touch the ground.
Perhaps taking a deeper breath or two or three and just ever so gently breathing yourself awake from the inside out in your own time.
Inviting a bit of movement back into the fingertips,
The toes or the tongue.
Perhaps opening the nostrils and welcoming scents and aromas.
Stretching and yawning.
Sealing this practice off in any way that you please.
Sometimes it's nice to ground a palm over your body just to crack the eyes open and return to the space that you find yourself in.
This practice of balancing breath between the two sides,
Welcoming your place of center is now complete.
I hope it's nourished you.
Thank you so much for listening.
Go well.
Jai Ma.
