Welcome to your practice.
Make sure that you are comfortable and ready to begin.
Do whatever you need to do to be sure that you're going to be warm and comfortable as you practice today.
See if you can make yourself so comfortable that perhaps you might even forget that your body's there at all as you rest.
And as your body begins to settle,
Bring your awareness to the breath and take some long,
Deep breaths.
With each exhalation,
Feel your body relaxing a little more deeply.
And now see the breath washing over your body like a wave.
As you inhale,
The wave washes from your feet up to your head.
And as you exhale,
It washes from your head back down to your feet.
With every exhalation,
Feel that wave carrying away anything that you don't need to take with you into the practice.
Any thoughts or worries from today.
Anything you've been doing today or that you have to do later.
Allow the wave to carry away anything that isn't going to serve you as you practice.
And now send the awareness out to the sounds that are happening around you.
And just observe the sounds.
Let the awareness jump from sound to sound without getting too involved in any one sound.
Just acknowledge that they are there.
And know that none of the sounds are going to disturb you,
But that they can only help to support your practice.
And just take a moment now to acknowledge that this is your time for your rest and reflection.
And there is no way that you can get this practice wrong.
You can follow the guidance of my voice for as long as that's useful to you.
But you are also free to drift away.
And if you fall asleep,
It just means that your body needs some sleep and is taking advantage of this time of rest.
This practice is designed to help you to explore making a decision.
But there is absolutely no need to come to a definite decision or make any kind of commitment today.
This is your space to explore without boundaries or consequences.
To connect with your natural insight and creativity and to just be open to whatever comes.
So if you do have a decision that you are exploring in the practice today,
Just bring that into your awareness now and take a moment to acknowledge it.
And now let it go and give yourself permission to surrender into the practice.
Now see yourself resting into a safe,
Peaceful,
Beautiful place.
Somewhere where you feel completely at ease,
Completely secure.
You might like to recall a place that you know where you always feel safe and secure.
Or you might like to imagine a situation that meets all of the conditions that you would need to feel absolutely safe and at peace.
Welcome that safe,
Secure environment as it arises around you.
And feel the sensations that arise inside your body with that feeling of safety.
Intensify the feeling of safety within your body.
Feel it as vividly as you possibly can.
Welcome the feeling of safety into every single cell of your body.
This is your feeling that you can always come back to at any time if you need to during the practice.
The feeling of absolute safety and security,
Peace and well-being.
We're going to take a journey around the body.
Bring the awareness to rest at each point as it's named.
Beginning at the eyebrow centre,
Rest the awareness at the eyebrow centre.
And the throat,
Rest at the throat.
The right shoulder.
The right elbow.
The right wrist.
The tip of the right hand thumb.
The tip of the right index finger.
The tip of the right middle finger.
The tip of the ring finger.
The tip of the little finger.
The right wrist.
The right elbow.
The right shoulder.
The throat.
The left shoulder.
The left elbow.
The left wrist.
The tip of the left hand thumb.
The tip of the left index finger.
The tip of the left middle finger.
The tip of the ring finger.
The tip of the little finger.
The left wrist.
The left elbow.
The left shoulder.
The throat.
The centre of the chest.
The left side of the chest.
The centre of the chest.
The right side of the chest.
The centre of the chest.
The navel.
The lower abdomen.
The right hip.
The right knee.
The right ankle.
The right big toe.
The second toe.
The third toe.
The fourth toe.
The little toe.
The little toe.
The right ankle.
The right knee.
The right hip.
The lower abdomen.
The left hip.
The left knee.
The left ankle.
The left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Fifth toe.
The left ankle.
The left knee.
The left hip.
The lower abdomen.
The navel.
The centre of the chest.
The throat.
The eyebrow centre.
The top of the head.
Rest the awareness at the top of the head.
Bring the awareness to the breath.
Follow the natural flow of the breath as it enters and leaves the body.
Watch the gentle rising and falling of the chest with each inhalation and exhalation.
And now begin to count the breaths backwards from 27 to 0.
Like this.
Breathing in 27.
Breathing out 27.
Breathing in 26.
Breathing out 26.
Breathing in 25.
Breathing out 25.
And so on,
All the way to 0.
If you make a mistake,
Or if you reach the end,
Go back to 27 and start again.
Continue following the breath and counting.
Now leave your counting and invite the feeling of certainty to arise.
The feeling of certainty.
To help bring the feeling,
You might like to recall a time when you felt very clear,
Very certain about something.
Or you can just allow the feeling to arise by itself.
The feeling of certainty.
Observe what you feel inside your body with the feeling of certainty.
Feel it vividly.
Intensify the feeling.
The feeling of certainty.
And now the feeling of uncertainty.
Invite the feeling of uncertainty to arise.
Perhaps recalling a time when you felt unsure and doubtful,
Or just allowing the feeling to come by itself.
The feeling of uncertainty.
Feel it vividly.
Uncertainty.
Welcome the feelings that arise inside your body with the feeling of uncertainty.
The feeling of uncertainty.
Certainty and uncertainty together.
Now invite the feelings of certainty and uncertainty to arise inside the body at the same time.
Feel the sensations that arise with the feeling of certainty and the sensations that arise with the feeling of uncertainty together.
Welcome them both.
Intensify those feelings.
Certainty and uncertainty together.
Certainty and uncertainty together.
The feeling of restriction.
Invite the feeling of restriction to arise.
Perhaps by recalling a time when you felt very restricted,
Very limited,
Or by allowing the feeling to come by itself.
Welcome the feeling.
The feeling of restriction.
Intensify the feeling as it arises inside the body.
Restriction.
The feeling of restriction.
And the feeling of freedom.
Now invite the feeling of freedom to arise.
Recalling a time when you felt very free and unlimited,
Or by just allowing the feeling to come by itself.
The feeling of freedom.
Feel into the sensations that arise inside the body with the feeling of freedom.
Intensify those feelings.
The feeling of freedom.
Welcome the feeling of freedom.
Restriction and freedom together.
Now welcome the feelings of restriction and freedom as they arise inside the body at the same time.
Feel those feelings vividly together.
Restriction and freedom.
Welcome them.
The feelings of restriction and freedom together.
Restriction and freedom together.
See yourself walking along a pathway through a forest.
Surrounded by trees,
Plants,
Birds and animals.
You walk along the path,
Aware of your surroundings.
And you find yourself approaching a fork in the path.
With one pathway leading towards the left.
And one pathway leading towards the right.
And you are aware that,
Right now,
There are no big consequences to taking either pathway.
You have plenty of time to explore each one with complete freedom and curiosity.
Begin to walk down the pathway towards the left.
Follow that path as it winds into the forest.
What do you find there?
Make your way back to the fork in the path.
And now begin to walk down the other pathway.
Towards the right.
Follow that path as it winds its way into the forest.
What do you find there?
Now see yourself walking through a beautiful garden.
Surrounded by flowers,
Trees,
Bushes.
And at the bottom of the garden is a tall wall.
With a large door set inside it.
You slowly turn the handle.
Open the door.
And step inside.
What do you find there?
And before you complete the practice,
Take a moment now to create a vision of your happiest,
Healthiest self.
At your most whole and free.
See yourself moving through your day with joy,
With peace.
Doing everything that you want to do with ease and enthusiasm.
See yourself gracefully overcoming any obstacles.
Making decisions with confidence and clarity.
And now invite your safe,
Secure space that you created at the beginning of the practice to arise around you once again.
See that safe,
Peaceful environment arising all around you.
And feel the feeling of safety growing inside your body.
Intensify that safe feeling.
Feel it as vividly as you possibly can.
Welcome the feeling of safety into every single cell.
This is your feeling that you have created for yourself.
And that you can always come back to at any time if you need to.
In your practice and also in your life.
Safety.
Security.
Absolute peace and well-being.
And now slowly begin to turn the awareness back outward.
Notice the sounds that are present in your environment.
And just let the awareness jump from sound to sound.
Without getting too involved in any one sound.
Just acknowledge that those sounds are there.
And feel into the feeling of your body resting into the surface beneath you.
Feel the feeling of your clothing or your blanket against your skin.
And watch the breath gently flowing in and out.
And as you breathe in,
See the breath flowing into your hands and feet.
And start to make some small movements with your fingers and toes.
Begin to move your wrists and your ankles.
And when you feel ready,
Give yourself a stretch in any way that feels good for you.
Take your time.
There is no rush.
When you're sure that you're feeling wide awake again,
Slowly blink your eyes back open.
Your practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Thank you for listening.
