Power Nap Yoga Nidra (Live Recording)

A positively restful moment for the middle of your day. As humans, we are evolutionarily hardwired for an energetic dip—a lull in wakefulness—that favors an afternoon nap ('post-prandial alertness dip') even if we haven't eaten. Harness your drowsiness as a renewable energy source with this guided rest and hit reset on the next part of your day.

This guided meditation includes the 61-points body scan and softly guides the practitioner out with an inquiry for how to transition back into the day.

Transcript

Prepare yourself for the practice of yoga nidra.

This recording begins halfway through a live power nap nidra class from November 11th,

2020.

So gather the things you need to make yourself comfortable and supported for shavasana,

As you will be resting on your back for an extended period of time.

Have a blanket to cover the whole body for warmth,

A small pillow or a folded blanket to support the head and the neck,

And perhaps a second,

Larger pillow to slide underneath both knees.

And when you're on your back,

You can cover the eyes with something lightweight and soft.

And we begin already lying supine face upwards in corpse pose.

So by now we should all be resting comfortably on our back.

And if you haven't already done so,

You can cover the eyes or close them.

And then for the setup of how we rest here on our back in shavasana,

Just ensure that the arms are away from the body,

So sliding the arms away from the side bodies,

Minimal contact between the arms and the body.

And you can turn the palms to face up if you'd like.

And then tuning into the legs and the lower body and separating the feet,

At least as wide as the width of the hips,

If not a little bit wider than that,

So the legs can release toward the ground.

And if you have a bolster or a pillow underneath the legs,

Then just make sure that it's set up in a comfortable way.

And then tuning into the neck and the head,

Tucking the chin down just slightly toward the chest.

And we'll tune into the physical posture in a couple minutes.

But for now,

We can arrive together with three breaths in and out,

So conscious breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.

So to prepare,

Take your next breath in and exhale,

Soft release out the mouth.

And two more like this,

So consciously pulling the breath in and exhale to release.

And last one like this,

Full breath in,

Hold at the top of the fullness,

And exhale,

Let it go.

And now you can let go of controlling the breath.

You can step back from that.

So we do this conscious pulling in of the breath so that we can experience the thing that we don't have to do now.

You can let the breath return to its natural automatic rhythm.

As the back body continues to settle into the ground,

Into the support below you,

Place trust within the body that the body knows when to breathe,

It knows when to inhale,

It knows how to release the exhale.

And as you rest here on your back,

Notice the face,

The expression of the face,

If there's a way you can soften the face or let it grow heavier.

And even though you're not controlling the breath now,

You can imagine that the out breath,

The exhale has this softening effect,

This surrendering effect.

So as you pass breath out,

Watch how it also can soften you through the face,

And how it can soften you through the muscles and the tissues and the bones.

And welcome the possibility of this exhale,

Drawing you closer toward the earth.

The forehead is soft and the jaw is non-clenching,

And the ears melt down toward the ground.

And as our senses turn off one by one as we progress and deepen our practice of yoga nidra,

It's nice to just notice them while we can in the beginning so you can tune into your sense of touch,

Maybe noticing the texture of the blanket against the body or the clothes against the body.

Tune into your sense of taste,

Noticing any textures within the mouth.

Your sense of hearing and sound,

You take in any sounds around you in the room or beyond the walls of the room.

And you remind yourself that they're all just sounds,

That there doesn't have to be a judgment of them being good or bad or annoying or distracting.

So start receiving any and all sounds in your environment as what they are,

Simply vibrations entering the brain being perceived as sound.

And with your sense of vision already switched off,

So to speak,

Through the closed eyes,

Tune into your eyes.

Relax back into the eyes,

Allow the eyes to rest heavily in their sockets.

Reminding yourself that this is your time for rest,

Don't need to take in any other external stimulation.

Give up the world of looking for now.

And tune into your physical posture one last time.

Scan the body for any places that are maybe uncomfortable or calling for your attention so you can give in to that urge to move or shift the body now.

Once you've made your final adjustments,

Tell yourself that you are committing yourself to stillness for the remainder of this practice.

Crawl into the experience of stillness and silence as the body continues to open to the floor.

Release the weight of your body into the ground.

Surrendering your body's weight into the floor so that the floor,

The ground,

Can support you now.

And notice the ways in which you are held and supported in this moment.

Welcome yourself here into the pose of the corpse,

Savasana.

The body is defenseless and sinking,

But safe.

And the mind becomes quieter,

More translucent.

And the space around the heart can expand and open up.

You can let your senses retreat inward now as the practice of yoga,

Nidra,

Begins.

And once you've reached this initially relaxed state,

You can drop in the words of your intention if you are working with an intention or sankalpa today,

Your power words.

If you're not sure of what your intention could be,

You can ask yourself the question,

What am I ready to remember about myself?

Or what am I ready to experience more of in my conscious waking world?

And there's no one right or wrong answer.

It's just what feels most true for you today.

And you can even stick with these words in every practice that you do until they start to become an embodied experience,

Like a truth.

If you haven't received the information for your intention today,

Allow it to simply be,

I am effortless awareness.

We will plant the seed of this intention now by simply repeating it to ourselves three times.

And let these words go from your awareness and dissolve around you,

Remain open to the possibility that this intention may make itself known to you at a later time or even change entirely by the end of the practice.

We will now journey awareness through the physical body.

And focus attention on the different body parts I guide you to.

And this rotation of consciousness simply deepens relaxation within the body and in the mind.

So stay tethered to the sound of my voice,

Not necessarily needing to understand all the words that I speak and remain present to where awareness is placed.

We begin at the eyebrow center,

The space between both eyebrows.

And then we rest back into that midway point between the eyebrows.

Then move awareness down into the hollow of the throat,

Center of the throat.

Then awareness moves across the right collarbone and you sense the right shoulder joint.

Center of the right elbow joint.

Center of the right wrist joint.

Now sense or feel the tip of the right thumb.

Tip of the pointer finger.

Tip of the middle finger.

Tip of the ring finger.

Tip of the small finger.

You sense all four fingers and the thumb on the right hand.

Return to the right wrist joint.

Up to the right elbow.

To the center of the right shoulder joint.

Glide awareness across that right collarbone.

Return to the hollow of the throat.

Across the left collarbone into the center of the left shoulder joint.

Center of the left elbow joint.

Center of the left wrist joint.

Now sense or feel the tip of the left thumb.

Tip of the pointer finger.

Tip of the middle finger.

Tip of the ring finger.

And the tip of the small finger.

Sense all four fingers and the thumb on the left hand.

Then return to the left wrist joint.

Up to the left elbow.

Rest in the center of the left shoulder.

Glide awareness across the left collarbone to the center of the throat.

Move into the center of the heart.

Center of the chest,

Deep behind the breastbone.

Walk awareness to the right side of the chest and sense the right nipple.

Back to the center of the chest.

Walk awareness over to the left side of the chest and the left nipple.

The center of the chest.

Now awareness moves down into the navel center solar plexus.

Further down into the pelvic center and feel a breath fill up pelvic bowl.

Move into the right hip joint,

Down the length of the right thigh and sense the right kneecap.

Down the lower leg and sense or feel the right ankle joint.

Sense the top of the right foot and the sole of the right foot.

Sense the right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And the fifth toe.

Sense all five toes at once and the spaces between the toes.

Whole right foot,

Right ankle joint,

Right kneecap.

Center of the right hip socket.

Return to the pelvic center.

Move into the left hip socket.

Awareness glides down the length of the left thigh to the kneecap,

Down the lower leg into the left ankle joint.

You sense the top of the left foot and the sole of the left foot.

You sense the left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And the fifth toe.

You sense all five toes at once and the spaces between the toes.

The whole left foot.

Left ankle joint.

Left kneecap.

Center of the left hip socket.

Rest in the pelvic center.

Return to the navel center.

Feel into the heart center.

Return to the throat center.

Land back into the brow center,

The third eye point,

The space between the eyebrows.

Now the next breath in as you inhale,

Watch the breath travel to the center of the brain.

As you exhale,

The breath travels to the surface area of the forehead,

The midway point.

As you breathe in,

The breath and your awareness travel inward to the midbrain.

As you breathe out,

It travels back to that third eye point between the eyebrows.

Continue observing this breath pattern between the midbrain and the brow center.

Perhaps visualize a golden cord of light that connects the two.

Then let that go and return to the center of the brain.

And see a golden egg.

Golden egg suspended in space,

The center of the brain at the home of the pineal gland.

And release that as you sense the right hemisphere of the brain and the left hemisphere of the brain.

You hold both hemispheres simultaneously in your awareness.

Both right and left sides of the brain at once.

You feel a sense of equanimity and harmony within the brain.

From the center of the brain,

Travel down the brain stem,

Down the spinal cord and land in the throat center.

And see a full moon illuminated in the throat center.

Guide awareness further down and rest fully in the energetic heart center.

And feel the state of the body,

All the individual parts of the body making you whole and complete.

Rest here in the perfection of this moment in time.

Rest within the deep cave of the heart.

Aware of the sound of my voice,

Aware that you are practicing yoga nidra.

Awaken to the state that you're in,

In this platform of the relaxed body,

Settling deeper into relaxation as the body remains still.

Gaze into the dark space behind closed eyelids,

Into the vast and infinite space.

As you rest deeper within the body,

The borders of the body begin to dissolve.

You merge with the experience of the space surrounding you.

Rest within your home frequency of who you are.

Free from personality,

Free from desire,

Aversion,

Distraction.

Allow yourself to absorb this experience of deep rest.

You let it integrate into the bones,

The muscles and the tissues.

Rest now in the spontaneity of the breath without changing it in any way.

Simply notice how the breath is breathing you.

And how the body is being breathed and moved,

Sourced from some invisible but vital life force that moves in and moves back out.

As you grow greater awareness into the breath,

Simply observe how the inhalation rises when it is ready.

Without any force,

The exhale happens with ease.

And then just witness the moment when the breath turns.

Observe that brief gap that lives between the inhale and the exhale.

This nothingness,

This inner stillness.

And invite in a gratefulness or an appreciation for this breath,

For this process that keeps you alive.

As you feel gratitude wash over you and flood your system.

Simple gratitude for this moment in time is enough.

But once you feel into that state is where you can call back the words of your intention.

If it was an I am statement or something unique to you today,

Just simply call back this intention now.

And allow it to fill you up as if you could visualize or feel into this feeling state if these words were to be true for you right now.

You can repeat the words again at least three times.

And as you let the words go and dissolve around you,

You tune into the breath.

And you now choose to consciously reengage with the active side of the breath as you pull a deep breath in and a soft exhale out.

And you'll continue like this increasing the length and the depth and the width of the breath.

Using the breath as a pathway back into the physicality of your body.

As the practice of yoga nidra draws to a close.

It is here that you are aware of the body resting on the ground in Shavasana.

And it is here that you are free to reawaken and reanimate the body in any way that feels most natural.

So we're returning to your sense of touch by sliding the thumbs across the fingertips.

Returning to your sense of taste.

Sliding the tongue across the front of the teeth.

Keeping the eyes closed still.

But eventually we'll all meet on our side.

So taking as much time as you need to transition onto your side in the fetal position.

Maybe inviting in a long wake up stretch before you do so.

But keeping the eyes closed if you can.

Maintaining that intimacy with your inner world for a few moments longer.

And as you rest here on your side in the fetal position,

Choose for yourself how you would like the rest of today to feel or to look.

And when you feel clear on that decision for yourself and not a moment before is when you'll make your way up to a comfortable,

Supported,

Upright seat.

Using the strength of the top arm to support you as you come to rise.

Keeping the eyes still closed.

And when you are resting back on your sitting bones.

Just take a few moments to connect awareness into your roots and how you're grounded in this moment.

And how you're suspended between earth below and sky above.

And you'll take a moment just to thank yourself for showing up for yourself in this space.

And think about how you want to transition back into the rest of your day.

What kind of quality do you want to infuse this transition with?

When you feel ready,

You can drop the chin down toward the chest.

And then slowly open the eyes and just take in what's in your direct line of vision in front of you as your eyes refocus.

Lifting the head up to take in your environment.

Maybe seeing your space through new or refreshed vision.

Thank you everyone for joining me today for this power nap.

My name is Katherine.

And I will let you sign off as you please.

That's it for me today.

Thank you for being here.

Reviews

Always a relaxing and perfect mid afternoon nidra nap. Thank you! 🙏🏻

Very relaxing yoga nidra. I feel revitalised now. Thank you. Nameste 💗

Very helpful, thank you!

Amazing! So glad I stumbled upon this!!

Since. It was recorded live the sound quality is a little wobbly, but the guidance is superb and I found this to be an excellent nap before working a double shift. Thanks!

So helpful I felt so much better after my nap. Thank you so much

Restful and restorative. I really enjoyed this. Thank you❤️❤️

Beautiful & relaxing. Will definitely listen again 🙏

Perfect 🥰

Beautiful. Will look forward to doing this one again 🙏🏻❤️

Simply amazing 🥰

As always Katherine never fails to impress with her talent and skill at making you fall into complete bliss. Wonderful yoga nidra that soothes, relaxes and calms the soul. Thank you for sharing your wonderful gift. Can’t wait for more from you! 💜💫✨

Thank you for this yoga nidra🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻I had been waiting for a day where I needed a power nap, and that did not happen, so I have finally done this first thing in the morning. Good. The sound quality has room for improvement, sometimes an echo, louder and quieter, though your voice feels nice and warm and steady.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Best 30 minutes you can gift yourself with. Refreshes your mind—body & spirit.

Excellent! What a beautiful and powerful session! I look forward to more ... 🌠

Lovely yoga nidra, nice slow relaxing guidance. Thank you x