IRest Within My Inner Resource Of Ease

In this iRest practice, we explore peace or ease as a felt sense that is always present. Notice how peace may arise first as an idea or image, then move into the body as a feeling. Throughout the practice, this sensation is returned to, as a resource that we can turn to when needed.

Transcript

So take this time to continue getting yourself comfortable.

This I-Rest practice will be focusing on inner resource and body sensing.

So as you're adding in all of these props and cozy blankets,

Know that at any point in the practice,

If your body is uncomfortable,

You are welcome to move and change positions.

There is no exact way that you have to be for this practice.

Take a few breaths,

Open to curiosity of how your body is feeling in this moment,

Making the little adjustments.

This clothing is knotted up under here,

The ponytail that's at the back of the head,

You might remove that or loosen it.

We're just noting any movement or shift that might make the body just a little bit more comfortable.

And begin to open to the idea of living life,

Purpose and meaning,

Connection,

Love.

That might evoke a certain image or picture in your mind.

There might be a word or a feeling.

What would it feel like if life was living through you?

And if there's a small intention,

A little piece of living in this flow of life,

That you might want to bring to this particular practice.

Might state that to yourself,

Maybe it's,

I'm feeling peace and calm,

Or I'm open to the possibilities of this practice,

Or something else.

And then start to notice where the body is beginning to feel more settled and calm,

Welcoming a sense of peace,

Tranquility.

You might have an image that joins to point the way like a little pointer,

Being at the beach watching waves at the shore or in a forest with these strong trees,

The stability of mountains,

The warmth of the sun.

Just noting as you add on these pieces,

These sensory elements of your own picture,

Calm,

Quietude,

What does it look like?

What elements of nature are present?

Are there sounds,

Smells?

What's the temperature?

What does the ground beneath you feel like?

If you were in this image,

And then turning attention more deeply,

If this image lived inside of your body,

Is it localized?

Global?

Does it have edges or center?

What does calm feel like?

What within you is centered?

What does calm feel like what within you is centered,

Grounded,

Might be a sense of quietude or stillness,

Might be a shimmery aliveness.

But this inner resource,

This safety net inside is something you can turn to at any point,

Through the feeling through the image into the felt sense,

Coming home to yourself.

And you can come back to this at any point or you can even just stay here with this or begin to bring attention to sensations of your mouth,

Noting the teeth and gums,

The roof of the mouth and the floor of the mouth,

Inner walls of the cheeks,

The sensation of the tongue,

And noting the space inside the mouth,

Feeling your way back to the jawbone and the hinge,

The inner ears,

The external ears,

Noting the whole skull and its weight resting on the surface beneath,

Muscles of the face.

There's nothing to fix or change.

Sensation of the muscles throughout the cheeks,

Around the eyes,

Mouth,

The feeling of the nostrils as air moves in and out,

Noting if there's a tendency to move the nose,

Noting if there's a tendency to create breath,

Simply following breath as it moves in through the nostrils,

Down through the throat,

Note if it comes to land somewhere in the torso,

Staying with sensation of the torso as you exhale.

Is there a still quietude,

A calm presence inside at the very end of the exhale?

And if so,

Does that bring about any images,

Words,

Feeling of tranquility,

Joining the idea and feeling your way down through the torso,

Front and the back,

Down into the hips,

The sensation of the bones heavy and dense,

Meeting leg sensation,

The upper legs and lower legs,

Feeling the feet and the toes,

Noticing even the space between the toes,

Above the feet,

Below the feet.

And foot sensation is meeting the spaces around,

Certain translucency,

Intermingling the space,

The skin,

A loosening of the boundaries,

The feet and the legs,

The legs heavy,

Warm,

The torso,

Both front and back,

Side and side,

Vast sensation as breath flows in and out,

A vitality and aliveness that may give way to quietude,

Stillness flowing with each breath,

The shoulders lighting up as sensation,

Noticing the upper arms and the lower arms,

Sensation of hands,

Fingers,

Noticing the spaces between fingers,

Above hands,

Below,

Hand sensation,

Perhaps growing more vast,

Spacious,

A field of feeling,

Softening of the borders and boundaries of skin,

As hand sensation meets the spaces around,

Feeling your way back through the bones of the arms,

Heavy,

Dense,

The muscles around the bones,

Soft and warm,

Joining back with the sensation of breath,

Releasing the doing as you follow breath to the end of the exhale,

Simply pausing in that stillness,

Whenever breath arises,

Welcoming that softening of sensation of flow,

Breath free to come and go,

Into the spaces around you and deep inside,

Noting at any point in the journey of this breath,

If there's a little hint,

A little moment,

A glimpse of this quiet peacefulness,

Stillness,

Nuding through the journey of the breath,

If there are moments,

Glimpses,

A vital force of life,

Shimmery,

Effervescent,

Moment to moment,

Staying with breath and with these moments,

These glimpses,

Life living through you and the quiet stillness of coming home to yourself,

Nothing to strive for or change,

Each breath,

Its own journey,

Its own flow,

Familiar,

Yet fresh and new,

And as breath continues to come and go,

Continues to come and go,

In the field of sensation in the body,

Flows,

Changes,

Drifts,

There might be a moment of recognizing,

Feeling an emotion or a thought that's just really wanting to be seen or heard,

Nothing to create,

Nothing to push away,

Simply welcoming what's already here and noting how this may arrive as a companion,

Joining you on this journey and then drift away on its own,

And you may find yourself sinking in a little deeper,

Or touching back to a feeling of peace or opening to joy,

Deep contentment,

Feeling what's present and noting the space around and between thoughts,

Feelings,

You may find attention drifting into the background,

Into the quiet stillness,

The spaces between breath,

Between thought,

And letting go,

Drifting into the quietude of these pauses,

And then noting what brings you back into the movement of thought or feeling,

Is there something here,

Some feeling or sensation that's longing to be noticed,

Longing to be felt,

Letting this begin to carry you back into the sensations of your body,

And the movement of breath,

The feeling of the heart,

And taking your time as you return back to this localized space with the borders of the skin and the surfaces beneath you holding you,

Touching back,

A feeling of peace,

Ease,

The thoughts and images that join it,

And in your own time begin to carry this with you,

As you journey back to the room,

Noting the temperature of the air around you,

The sounds of the room and far off in the distance,

As senses open back to this space,

Taking your time as movement slowly comes back online,

The body emerging back to the movement and activity of life,

Taking your time.

Reviews

A very deep, and seemingly simple nidra. Thank you.

Listened during wakeful wee hours of the morning. Very restful. I didn’t fall asleep but was glad of the very gentle ending. 7/24/23