Hi,
I'm Christy Kelly and welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra,
An invitation to return home,
Home to yourself.
We're living in a period of immense challenge,
The noise of the environment in which we live is loud,
Fatiguing and exhausting.
And with exhaustion comes depletion,
Which often means we cannot be present for ourselves or others in a way that is responsive.
It can feel as though every moment is filled with something or other and I feel that we can all relate to this in one way or another.
This practice of Yoga Nidra is an invitation to reconnect with the power of the pause.
You're welcome to practice lying down,
Echoing a traditional Shavasana-like shape or perhaps you'd prefer to be seated.
No matter the choice you make,
Ensure that you are supremely comfortable,
Making use of any props such as bolsters and blankets to support this.
The veil of the eyelids softly close and perhaps you'd like to cover the eyes with an eye bag or a scarf or if you're more comfortable,
The eyelids partially close,
The gaze is softened.
Give your weight to the unwavering support of Mother Earth,
Allowing yourself to be held within her gentle caress.
And as you allow yourself to be held within the heart of Mother Earth,
Call back all parts of you across all time and space,
Past and future,
To the here and now,
Returning to yourself.
You bring the left hand to the heart and the right hand to rest on the left.
Become conscious of your breath as it moves in and out of the body,
Noticing the rise and the fall of the chest.
And in these initial few moments,
Become aware of what it is that you bring to the practice,
How you feel,
The quality of thought,
Your energy levels.
Make a gentle agreement to honor the truth of how you feel within this moment.
Allow this to be,
Even if it's not quite how you would like it to be.
The practice of yoga nidra begins now.
It is common to move in and out of conscious hearing throughout the guided practice,
So you may not feel you can recall the entire practice.
Make a gentle agreement with yourself to remain awake,
Yet if there are periods where sleep begins to envelope you,
Know that the deepest parts of you are always listening.
Trust that you will receive exactly what you need.
There will be moments of silence.
Know that I am here and I will guide you.
We'll begin by setting an intention for practice.
It becomes the seed we wish to grow within life.
The intention is stated in the present.
It is positive,
Concise and uses the powerful words I am and then the quality desired.
And silently state your intention three times.
And if nothing arises,
Allow spaciousness to become the seed of your intention.
Gently bring your awareness to the face and softening your features with tenderness.
Bring your palms to lightly cover the eyes.
The eyes are soft behind the veil of the eyelids.
Gently circle the eyeballs clockwise three times and then anti-clockwise three times.
And when you have finished,
Release the hands and allow the eyes to sink into the embrace of the skull.
And consciously rest in the skin of the forehead unfurling any tension,
Softening.
Allow your awareness to rest at the inside of the mouth and the jaw hangs loose at the hinge joints.
Gently swallowing and giving up any unspoken words.
The neck begins to relax and the hollow of the throat is expansive.
Your awareness rests with the shoulders.
The weight of the shoulders begin to yield with gravity.
And your awareness begins to move from the shoulders down the length of the arms toward the palms of the hands.
Sinking toward heaviness.
Your awareness rests at the center of the chest.
The heart rests into the cradle of the rib basket.
Your awareness begins to move down the stairway of the spine toward the belly.
Becoming alive to the center of the body.
Your awareness then moves toward the pelvis.
Your awareness inhabits the length of your legs and your feet.
The heaviness draws you into the earth.
Resting into stillness.
The front body begins to sink toward the back body.
Sinking into the gentle caress of Mother Earth.
Become aware of the gentle flow of your breath.
The constant rhythmical ebb and flow.
The rise and fall.
Constant motion.
In the incoming breath and the outgoing breath.
The outer world completely fades as your inner consciousness organizes itself into focus.
Begin to expand your awareness to include the pause at the height of the incoming breath and the pause at the base of the outgoing breath.
In the in breath and the pause at the height of the in breath.
In the out breath and the pause at the base of the out breath.
The fluidity of breath moves throughout your entire being,
Saturating you with life and vitality.
Begin to attune to the height of the in breath,
Becoming aware of the pause and if this sense eludes you,
Allow the idea of it to be there.
Attune to the out breath,
Becoming aware of the pause at the base of the out breath,
Before the incoming breath takes hold once again.
Here you are attuning to the in breath,
The pause at the height of the in breath,
The out breath and the pause at the base of the out breath.
With each inhalation,
Notice how it feels to receive and at the height of the inhalation,
Notice how it feels to be within the space of receiving.
And as the out breath moves throughout you,
Notice how it feels to give.
And at the base of the out breath,
Notice how it feels to be within the space of giving.
The gentle relationship between the in breath and receiving,
How it feels to be in that space of receiving at the height of the in breath and observing the relationship between the out breath and how it feels to give and how it feels to be in that space of giving at the space and the base of the out breath.
Rest into the rhythm of the breath.
Rest into the rhythm of the breath.
Resting into the pause which unites the inspiration and the expiration,
The rhythm of life.
You're resting into the pause,
The space of non-doing,
Of receiving.
The pause,
The catalyst to unite your inner and outer world.
Hold the idea of your intention silently dropping into it and silently repeat your intention three times.
Sense the energy of your intention permeating every cell of your being.
And feel it moving throughout your body.
And if your intention eludes you,
Allow the spaciousness of the magic of the practice to be there.
And silently repeat to yourself the following.
As I meet the pause,
My body begins to harmonize and my mind becomes clear.
As I meet the pause,
My body begins to harmonize and my mind becomes clear.
As I meet the pause,
My body begins to harmonize and my mind becomes clear.
Begin to attune to your breath,
The inhalation,
The pause at the height of the in-breath.
Before the out-breath moves throughout your being,
The pause at the base of the out-breath becomes known.
Rest your awareness with your heart.
And it's as though the breath begins to move in and out of the space of the heart.
The spaciousness of the pause allowing space to illuminate the unseen,
The unheard.
You're creating space to begin to listen.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
We're tuning to the breath in the steady constant flow,
Gentle and soothing.
Inhabiting the breath becomes an invitation to embrace the pause.
And as the pause becomes more and more familiar,
You begin to connect with how it feels to live with responsiveness.
The rhythm of the breath drawing you back to the present moment.
Consciousness begins to pervade the physical body.
You're sensing into the parts of you connecting with the earth.
You're sensing into form,
Density and shape.
Returning to this time and space.
Becoming more and more aware of the world around you,
Whilst simultaneously maintaining your internal connection.
And if you are lying down,
Making your way to a comfortable seat,
The heart leading away.
And as the body-mind orients itself in this upright seat,
The left hand makes its way toward your heart and the right hand rests on the left.
And in this moment,
Honouring all that you were,
All that you are,
And all that you are yet to become.
