Welcome to your yoga nidra practice.
Make sure that you are comfortable and ready to begin.
Take anything that you need to ensure that you will be warm and comfortable as you practice and bring yourself into a position that you'll be able to rest in that won't be distracting for your body.
If shavasana feels good for you make your way into shavasana but if you know that you won't be able to lie comfortably on your back for the duration of the practice move into another position that feels better for you.
See if you can make yourself so comfortable that you might even be able to forget that your body is there at all as you rest today.
And as your body begins to settle feel into the feeling of your body resting into the surface beneath you and feel into the safe support of that surface holding your body.
As you breathe in and out feel every exhalation carrying away tension from your body.
Every exhalation guides your body a little more deeply into relaxation.
Now move your awareness to the nose and watch the breath flowing in and out of the nose.
Feel the sensation of the air as it brushes against the insides of the nostrils every time you breathe in and out.
And the ears,
Bring the awareness to the insides of the ears and feel the sensation of the air on the insides of the ears.
And with the awareness inside the ears notice any sounds that are happening around you right now and just take a moment to acknowledge the sounds.
Without getting too involved in what they are or where they're coming from just observe the sounds that are there and know that they won't disturb you as you practice today but that every sound can only assist with your relaxation.
And now picture yourself in a beautiful safe place in nature on a warm summer's day.
See yourself lying in your favorite natural surrounding warmed by the golden sun above you and see that environment filled with all of the things that help you to feel safe,
Secure and at peace.
If there's anything that could help you to feel even more safe,
Even more peaceful,
Welcome those things into your environment.
And now feel into your body and feel the feeling of safety intensifying within your body.
Feel that feeling of safety growing inside every part of your body.
Welcome it into every cell.
And know that you can always come back to this feeling of safety at any time if you need to during the practice.
Now move your awareness to the heart and as you rest the awareness at the heart welcome the golden sunlight from the sky above you into the center of your heart.
Keeping the awareness here at the heart if you have a sankalpa invite your sankalpa to arise now.
Without forcing it allow your heart's prayer or vow to arise naturally however it comes for you.
And if you don't have one just rest here at the heart center welcoming the warm sunlight into your heart.
We're going to take a journey around the body now.
Just allow the awareness to rest at each point as it's named.
We'll begin at the tip of the tongue.
Rest the awareness at the tip of the tongue.
And the whole of the tongue.
Awareness on the whole of the tongue.
The roof of the mouth.
The bottom of the mouth.
The teeth.
The gums.
The upper lip.
The lower lip.
The chin.
The jaw.
The right ear.
The left ear.
The right cheek.
The left cheek.
The inside of the right nostril.
The inside of the left nostril.
The nose.
The tip of the nose.
The eyebrow center.
The right eyebrow.
The left eyebrow.
The right eye.
The left eye.
The right temple.
The left temple.
The forehead.
The top of the head.
The back of the head.
The back of the neck.
The right shoulder.
The right upper arm.
The right elbow.
The right lower arm.
The right wrist.
The palm of the right hand.
The back of the right hand.
The right hand thumb.
The right index finger.
The right middle finger.
The right index finger.
The ring finger.
And the little finger.
The palm of the right hand.
The back of the right hand.
The right wrist.
The right forearm.
The right elbow.
The right elbow.
The upper arm.
The right shoulder.
The right side of the chest.
The right side of the abdomen.
The right waist.
The right hip.
The right thigh.
The right knee.
The right shin.
The right calf.
The right ankle.
The right ear.
The sole of the right foot.
The top of the right foot.
Each of the right toes.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
The whole of the right foot.
Rest the awareness at the top of the right foot.
The whole of the right foot.
The whole of the right leg.
The whole of the right arm.
The whole of the right side of the body.
Now move to the left side.
Bring the awareness to the left shoulder.
The left upper arm.
The left elbow.
The lower arm.
The left wrist.
The palm of the left hand.
The back of the left hand.
The left hand thumb.
The left index finger.
The left middle finger.
The left ring finger.
The left little finger.
The palm of the left hand.
The back of the left hand.
The left wrist.
The lower arm.
The elbow.
The upper arm.
The left shoulder.
The left wrist.
The left side of the chest.
The left side of the abdomen.
The left waist.
The left hip.
The left thigh.
The left knee.
The shin.
The calf.
The left ankle.
The left heel.
The sole of the left foot.
The top of the left foot.
The left toes,
One.
Two.
Three.
The whole of the left foot.
Bring the awareness to the whole of the left foot.
The whole of the left leg.
The whole of the left arm.
The whole of the left side of the body.
And now moving up the back of the body,
Bring the awareness to the right heel.
And the left heel.
The back of the right knee.
The back of the left knee.
The right buttock.
The left buttock.
The whole of the spine.
The right shoulder blade.
The left shoulder blade.
The back of the neck.
The back of the head.
The top of the head.
And moving down the front of the body,
Move to the forehead.
The right eyebrow.
The left eyebrow.
The left eyebrow.
The eyebrow centre.
The right eye.
The left eye.
The right ear.
The left ear.
The right cheek.
The left cheek.
The nose.
The tip of the nose.
The upper lip.
The lower lip.
The chin.
The jaw.
The right collarbone.
The left collarbone.
The space between the collarbones.
The right side of the chest.
The left side of the chest.
The centre of the chest.
The right side of the chest.
The navel.
The lower abdomen.
The right hip.
The left hip.
The right knee.
The left knee.
The left ankle.
The right toes.
The left toes.
And the whole of the body.
Awareness on the whole of the body.
The whole of the body.
See yourself walking through a forest at night time.
It is midsummer eve and the silver moonlight filters through the treetops,
Illuminating the abundance of summer plants and flowers that surround you.
You wind your way between the trees and ahead of you you see a bright light.
You walk through the trees towards the light and find yourself entering into a clearing with a bright fire burning in the centre of the clearing.
You sit beside the midsummer fire and welcome the warmth of the flames and as you rest beside the fire the flames burn away any impurities,
Any blockages,
Anything that no longer serves your journey forwards through life.
You step away from the fire and continue onwards through the forest.
You wind through the trees and find yourself approaching a pool of water.
The silver moonlight glimmers upon the surface of the water.
You gaze into the depths of the pool.
What do you see?
You step away from the pool and continue to walk through the forest.
Sunrise is approaching and as it becomes lighter all around you,
You see the colours of the forest appearing.
The abundance of plants,
Flowers and trees gently become illuminated.
By the light of the rising sun.
You step out of the forest finding yourself at the top of a hill and you look towards the horizon to see the rising sun just beginning to appear.
You watch the midsummer sun slowly make its way up into the sky.
And you welcome the sunlight as it shines onto your body,
Illuminating the whole of your body.
The light of the midsummer sun shines into your heart,
Illuminating your heart.
And you become aware of a small flame burning at the centre of your heart.
With every breath the flame at your heart grows.
Each inhalation feeds the flame until it grows into a burning fire at the centre of your heart.
Keeping the awareness at the fire at the heart centre.
If you have a sankalpa,
Invite your sankalpa to arise again now.
Welcome it as it arises vividly from the burning fire at the heart centre.
And if you don't have one,
Keep the awareness at the heart and observe the fire.
And before you complete the practice,
Take a moment now to acknowledge gratitude for the abundance of things in your life that you have to be grateful for.
Keep the awareness at the burning fire at the heart centre and welcome the impressions of the things that you are grateful for as they arise very naturally.
There's no need to force anything to happen and no need to force a feeling of gratitude.
Just watch the fire at the heart and watch what arises naturally.
And now very slowly begin to turn the awareness back outward.
Send the awareness out to the sounds that you can hear and just acknowledge the sounds that are around you without getting too involved in any one sound.
Just observe that they're there.
Feel into the feeling of.
.
.
Feel in.
.
.
Feel into the feeling of the air against your skin.
The feeling of your clothing or blanket against your skin.
The feeling of your body resting into the surface beneath you.
And watch the breath flowing in and out.
Follow the gentle rising and falling of the chest as your awareness returns to your body.
And now begin to make some small movements with the fingers and the toes,
The hands and the feet.
And when you feel ready,
Give yourself a stretch in any way that feels good for you.
When you're sure that you're wide awake again,
Slowly blink your eyes back open.
Your practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
Thank you for listening.
