A Yoga Nidra Practice For Feeling Safe

A calming Yoga Nidra practice focused on creating and sustaining a deep feeling of internal peace and safety. The practice includes visualizations to create a feeling of safety outside and inside your body, exploration of the opposites of comfort and discomfort, and repetition of the affirmations "I am safe. I am secure. I am held."

Photo by Vera Barus

Transcript

Welcome to your yoga nidra practice.

Make sure that you have everything you need to feel warm and comfortable as you practice today.

Take any support that you need,

Any blankets or pillows and bring your body into a comfortable position to rest in.

If it feels good for you to lie in shavasana,

You might like to come into shavasana,

Lying on your back with your legs open to a little wider than hip distance apart and with your arms at your sides,

With the palms of the hands facing upwards.

Or if shavasana doesn't feel like the most comfortable position for you to rest in today,

Choose another position that feels better for you.

Support yourself as much as you need.

See if you can make yourself so comfortable that you might even forget that your body's there at all.

And if at any time you do feel the need to move during the practice,

Be mindful to move slowly and carefully into a more comfortable position without disturbing your resting body too much.

As you begin to settle,

Just take a look around you to ensure that you are safe and that you feel safe to enter into this time of deep relaxation.

Note any features in your environment that bring you that feeling of safety.

Familiar items around you.

A closed door or window.

The security of your blanket around you.

And when you are sure that you are feeling safe and ready to enter into your relaxation,

Allow your eyes to gently close if and when they feel ready.

As you become comfortable and settled,

Feel your body becoming more relaxed.

Take your awareness down into your feet and feel the muscles in your feet relaxing.

Feel your feet letting go,

Surrendering into relaxation.

Move the awareness to your ankle and feel your ankles relaxing and releasing.

Tension melting away from your ankles.

And your calf.

Your knee.

Feel the muscles around your knees releasing and relaxing,

Letting go of any tension from the day.

Feel the muscles in your thighs releasing,

Relaxing,

Letting go.

Feel your legs relaxing completely.

Tension melting away from your legs.

And your hips.

Feel your hips relaxing and releasing.

Tension melting away from your lower back.

Your upper back.

Your shoulders.

Feel your arms relaxing.

Your upper arms.

Elbow.

Lower arms.

Wrists.

Hands.

And all of the fingers completely relax,

Letting go.

Feel the back of your head becoming heavy.

Your jaw relaxing.

Your face softening.

And with every breath feel the whole of your body becoming more relaxed.

More peaceful.

With every breath your body becomes more deeply relaxed.

Feel the breath gently flowing in and out of your body.

And as the breath moves in and out,

Picture the breath like a wave washing over you.

As you breathe in the wave washes from your feet up to your head.

And as you breathe out it washes from your head back to your feet.

With every exhalation feel that wave washing away any remaining tension from your day.

Washing away anything that doesn't serve your deep relaxation.

Bring the awareness to the insides of your ears.

Feel into your ears and feel any sensations on the inside of your ears.

Can you feel the touch of the air on the insides of your ears?

And with the awareness inside your ears notice any sounds that are present in your environment right now.

Allow your awareness to jump from sound to sound without getting too involved in any one thing.

Just acknowledge that those sounds are there.

And know that none of the sounds are going to disturb you as you practice.

But that they can only help you to relax even more deeply.

And just take a moment now to acknowledge that this is your time for you and for your relaxation.

And there is nothing that you can do to get this practice wrong.

You can listen to my voice for as long as that is useful for you.

But you're also free to drift away and ignore me at any time.

And if you fall asleep it just means that your body needs to sleep.

And is taking advantage of this time to replenish and rejuvenate.

This is your time and your practice.

And there is no way that you can get it wrong.

Your practice of Yoga Nidra begins now.

As we move through the stages of relaxation today we will be working to cultivate a deep sense of safety,

Peace and well-being.

So take a moment now to make the intention to experience that deep feeling of safety as you practice today.

And now invite a safe and secure space to form all around you and inside you.

Feel the security of the surface beneath you supporting your body as you enter into relaxation.

And know that your body is held and supported by the air.

What do you need to feel safe?

If there is a colour that especially brings you a feeling of safety and tranquility See that colour surrounding you like a protective bubble.

If there are any objects or memories that make you feel safe,

Invite them into that bubble.

Feel into the feeling of safety that arises inside your body as this safe protective space forms all around you.

And intensify that feeling.

Feel that feeling of safety expanding into every part of your body.

Into your arms and your hands.

Your feet and your legs.

Your internal organs.

Feel that feeling of safety entering into every single cell.

And resting with that deep feeling of safety,

You might like to repeat the following words to yourself.

I am held.

I am safe.

I am secure.

I am held.

We'll now begin the rotation of consciousness around the body.

Bring the awareness to rest at each point as it's named.

Beginning 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 jaw.

The cheeks.

The nose.

The eyes.

Bring the awareness into the eyes.

Into the eyeballs.

The eyelids.

The eyelashes.

The eyebrows.

The eyebrow centre.

The forehead.

The top of the head.

The back of the head.

The right shoulder.

The right upper arm.

The right elbow.

The right lower arm.

The right wrist.

The right hand.

The right thumb.

The right index finger.

The right middle finger.

The right ring finger.

The right little finger.

Bring the awareness to the left shoulder.

The left upper arm.

The left elbow.

The left lower arm.

The left wrist.

The left hand.

The left thumb.

The left index finger.

The left middle finger.

The left ring finger.

The left little finger.

Bring the awareness to 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 thigh.

The right knee.

The lower leg.

The right ankle.

The right heel.

The sole of the right foot.

The top of the right foot.

And each of the right toes.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Move the awareness to the left hip.

The left thigh.

The left knee.

The lower leg.

The left ankle.

The left heel.

The sole of the left foot.

The top of the left foot.

Each of the left toes.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Now rest the awareness on the whole of the right leg.

The whole of the right arm.

The whole of the right side of the body.

The whole of the left leg.

The whole of the left arm.

The whole of the left side of the body.

And the whole of the body together.

Awareness on the whole of the body together.

The whole of the body together.

The whole of the body together.

Bring the awareness to the centre of the chest.

And follow the gentle rising and falling of the chest as the breath moves in and out.

Follow the expansion of the chest with the inhalation.

And the contraction of the chest with the exhalation.

Picture a tiny pink ball of light at the centre of the chest.

With each inhalation the pink light expands into the chest.

And with each exhalation the pink light contracts again.

See the pink light expanding into the whole of the chest with each inhalation.

Contracting back into the chest with each exhalation.

And see the pink light expanding into the rest of the body.

Inhale the pink light into the abdomen.

Into the shoulders.

Into the legs.

The arms.

The feet.

The hands.

The head and the face.

With every inhalation the body fills with pink light.

With every exhalation the pink light contracts back into a tiny ball at the centre of the chest.

Feel into your body.

Feel into the comfort of your resting body.

Feel into the feeling of comfort.

Observe all of the places where you feel comfort inside the body.

The feeling of comfort.

Intensify the feeling.

Feel it vividly.

Welcome it.

The feeling of comfort.

And now the feeling of discomfort.

Feel into any places in your body that feel uncomfortable.

Observe the feeling of discomfort.

Welcome the feeling.

Intensify it and feel it vividly.

The feeling of discomfort.

And are you able to feel both of those feelings together?

Can you feel the feelings of comfort and discomfort inside your body together?

Comfort and discomfort together.

Bring the awareness to the centre of the chest.

The heart centre.

Rest the awareness within the piece of the heart centre.

Here you are safe.

Here you are free.

I am safe.

I am secure.

I am held.

I am safe.

I am secure.

I am held.

I am safe.

I am secure.

I am held.

Welcome the feeling of safety that you cultivated at the beginning of the practice as it arises around you and inside you once again.

See yourself surrounded by protective colourful light.

Surrounded by all of the things that you need to feel safe.

And feel the feeling of safety that still exists inside every cell of your body.

This is your feeling that you have created for yourself and that you can rest into at any time that you need it in your practice and in your life.

Picture yourself carrying this feeling out into the rest of your day and into your life.

See yourself moving through your daily activities carrying this feeling of safety with you.

See yourself facing any challenges knowing that you are safe and secure.

See yourself flowing through life with ease with the deep knowledge that you are always safe and held.

I am safe.

I am secure.

I am held.

I am safe.

I am secure.

I am held.

I am safe.

I am secure.

I am held.

And now slowly begin to turn your awareness back outwards.

Notice any sounds that are present in your environment.

Allow the awareness to jump from sound to sound without getting too involved in any one thing.

Just acknowledge that those sounds are there.

Feel the feeling of your body resting into the surface beneath you.

The feeling of the air against your skin.

And the feeling of your clothing against your skin.

Your blanket against your skin.

And in your mind can you picture your body lying peaceful and still.

Resting deeply.

Begin to deepen the breathing as you prepare to end the practice.

Make some small movements with your fingers and your toes.

With your wrists and your ankles.

Take your time,

There is no rush.

When you are ready,

Give yourself a big stretch in any way that feels good for you.

And when you're sure that you're wide awake again,

Slowly open your eyes.

Your practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

Thank you for listening.