Hello,
And welcome to Day 13 of Insight Timer's Building Healthy Habits Challenge.
Let's take a moment to get settled.
Close your eyes.
Take a deep breath in and exhale out.
Let's dive into today's healthy habit.
Welcome to the Building Healthy Habits Challenge here on Insight Timer.
During this challenge,
You're getting to know a wide range of different wellness techniques and self-care possibilities to help you craft support that works for you.
My name is Jennifer Piercy.
Rest and sleep rhythms are kind of like the substratum that everything else flows from,
Whether we choose to meditate upon them or not.
Part of their multidimensional healing richness comes from their clearing powers.
Today I invite you to become curious about something called yoga nidra,
Which can help this clearing take place more easily,
More deeply,
And with larger awareness.
Yoga nidra points to both preparatory practices and a state of expanded realization into deep,
Dreamless sleep and the echo space beyond.
This expanded awareness also threads through other sleep stages and into liminal spaces,
All the layers of our being and really our whole lives.
Consciousness is often conflated with only being awake.
In yoga nidra,
Whether you feel awake,
A dream,
Asleep or anything in between,
Can you feel the part of you that is aware?
The unchanging part that watches as change comes and goes?
That's what we will explore as we taste some of the preparatory pathways for the state of yoga nidra in this short practice,
Which you can use any time as a way to decompress and clear space.
So be comfortable.
I recommend lying down,
But you can be in any stable,
Easeful position.
This simple act of slowing down is such a beautiful self blessing.
You are gifting yourself profound and layered nourishment,
Physically,
Energetically,
Mentally,
Emotionally,
Creatively,
Soulfully.
Every single part of you is welcome to rest in belonging,
Just as it is.
With each exhale,
Any effort,
Totally free to release with wild abandon.
Exhaling into planes of support and contact.
Exhaling into gravity.
As if the heavier you can become,
The more support rises up to meet you.
When you exhale,
Can you feel your body's magnetic connection to the deep center of the earth?
Like you are bowing in reverence to the most magical instrument in the world.
What is it like to rest awareness in the heart space?
Between your next inhale and exhale,
If you like,
Hold briefly.
Make a wish in that holding space.
On an exhale,
Release it completely.
Rest the non-doing which makes space for whatever wants to arise effortlessly.
Notice the inhale at the point of fullness,
The exhale at the point of emptying.
Can you feel the subtle energy pulsing in the stream of each breath?
Invite your felt sense to drop into communion with sensation.
The vibration at the top of the head,
Forehead,
Eyebrows,
Space between eyebrows,
Eyelids,
Edges of eyes,
Corners of eyes,
Orbs of eyes,
Space behind eyes,
Back of skull,
Backs of ears,
Inner ear,
Drums of ears.
Can you feel your breath gently vibrating eardrums?
Nose,
Floor of nostrils,
Mouth,
Left side tongue,
Right side tongue,
Midline,
Left side tongue,
Midline,
Surface of tongue,
Space above,
Underside of tongue,
Space below,
Tip of tongue,
Center of tongue,
Base of tongue,
Root of tongue,
Entire body of tongue,
Hinge of jaw,
Lower jaw.
Can you feel your jaw gently touched by breath?
Can you feel your chest,
Heart,
Throat,
Vocal folds,
Back of neck,
Collarbones,
Shoulder bones,
Chest,
Heart?
Can you feel heart in hands?
Pulse in fingertips?
Breath flowing from fingertips to heart?
Whole body pulse.
Can you feel the luminosity of the moon?
Whole left side of body.
Whole right side of body.
Can you feel the solar energy like the sun?
Vibrant,
Conscious,
Midline.
The vibration of the spine as the inhale flows.
On exhale,
Can you feel space between eyebrows expand?
The vibration of the spine as the inhale flows.
On exhale,
Can you feel the throat field expand?
The vibration of the spine as the inhale flows.
On exhale,
Can you feel the heart field expand?
Can you feel the awareness that watches?
The sensation of meeting points that support you.
The touch of air on skin.
And if you feel ready,
Slowly open and close the eyes a couple of times,
Soaking in the light,
Then soaking in the dark again,
Moving gently back and forth.
If you want to linger here,
Take your time.
Notice the stillness that can flow into movement.
Transitions carry an energy into what follows.
This practice is now complete.
Wishing you many restful blessings.
