Inner Refuge Visualization: Coastal Maine Beach

This is a yoga nidra practice using the technique asraya, also called inner refuge or inner resource. This technique uses the mind/body connection to create a somatic sense of peace, relaxation, and well-being. During this practice, you'll be guided through breath awareness, connection to your senses, a body scan, and visualization. Finally, you'll be invited to bring your own memories and discover a personal inner refuge. The guided visualization in the recording is based on a real place - Beauchamp Point in Rockport, ME. It is the place that inspired my very first inner refuge when I was just beginning my personal yoga nidra practice. I hope you will find this place as beautiful and inspiring as I do!

Notes: female voice, ocean waves background sound during the visualization, no background music. Most background noise is edited out but you will hear birdsong.

Ocean wave recording purchased from Chris Collins | Indie Music Box

Transcript

You can practice yoga nidra in any position that's comfortable.

I do recommend laying flat on your back either in a traditional shavasana with arms and legs resting on the ground or you can add in some supports either pillows under the knees,

Pillows behind the neck.

It can even be nice to set a small pillow underneath your hands and if it's not comfortable to be on your back you might also lay on your side perhaps in a fetal position or even practicing in a comfortable chair is fine.

The invitation today is to rest in a comfortable stillness but please know your body is the guide.

You are your own best teacher so if you find it difficult to remain still you can move.

You might shift position or even do some gentle stretching during the guidance.

So coming into the position of your choice and you might begin to close down the eyes or perhaps you have a covering across the eyes.

Finding comfort for your physical body and beginning to notice the back of the body sensing the back of the head,

The length of the spine,

Feeling the connection of your shoulders and your hips.

Sensing the connection between the back of the legs and the support beneath you.

And perhaps making any small adjustments here you might add a prop for support or perhaps even take away a prop.

Noticing if you could find a sense of balance between the left and the right side of the body.

Noticing if there's any small adjustment you could do to become even one percent more comfortable.

And a welcoming stillness into the body now.

You might affirm to yourself that you are in a comfortable stillness right now.

You might affirm to yourself,

I am practicing yoga nidra.

I invite my body to rest.

I invite my mind to slow down.

I invite my mind to slow down.

And I remain awake and aware throughout this guidance.

Draw your attention to the rhythm of your breath.

Just observing,

No need to change anything.

Following the rhythm of your inhale and exhale.

Shifting your attention towards sensation,

The sensation of your own breath.

The sensation of your own breath.

And perhaps focusing on the sound of your breath.

And could you begin to deepen the inhale and lengthen the exhale.

Drawing the breath down into the belly.

Sensing the belly rise with the inhale and fall with the exhale.

Taking one more deep breath into the belly here.

And now drawing that breath into the middle ribs.

Feeling the ribs expand side,

Front,

And back.

Expand side,

Front,

And back.

Drawing this breath to the ribs.

Sensing that global expansion of the ribcage.

Now drawing your awareness to the top of the chest.

And sensing the breath moving through the top of the lungs.

Sensing that forward lift and rise.

Now I invite you to bring in Dhirga Pranayama,

The full yogic breath.

Breathing in,

We expand the belly,

The middle ribs,

And fill the chest.

And exhaling,

Everything softens together.

It may feel like welcoming a wave of breath through the torso.

Inhaling to the belly,

Ribs,

Chest,

And sigh it out.

And each of these full breaths is a gentle nudge to our nervous system to slow down.

We are safe to be,

We are safe to breathe.

Filling the belly,

Ribs,

And chest.

Taking three more of these full Dhirga breaths.

Letting everything wash out,

Wash away.

And letting the natural rhythm of your breath return.

And perhaps you notice this technique of Dhirga Pranayama.

And I invite you to deepen your relaxation,

Shifting from the thinking mind to the mind.

And I invite you to let go of all of the negative thoughts that you may have in your mind.

And I invite you to let go of all of the negative thoughts that you may have in your mind.

Shifting from the thinking mind into sensing and feeling.

Bringing attention to the ears.

Noticing the sounds in your space.

Receiving sound without any effort.

And drawing attention to the tip of the nose.

Receiving any fragrance or aroma in your space.

And drawing attention to the inside of the mouth.

Sensing the tip of the tongue.

And sensing the length of the tongue.

And perhaps you could drop the tongue to the bottom of the mouth.

And noticing sensation along the jawline.

And imagine you might smooth any tension in the jaw,

Just erasing any tightness or holding in the jaw.

And imagining you might erase any tension remaining in the face.

Your awareness flowing across the forehead,

The temples,

The cheeks,

Sensing into the scalp.

And now welcoming your attention to rest between the eyebrows,

The center point between the eyebrows.

Again,

Imagine yourself erasing any distracting thoughts,

Any lingering thoughts.

Letting them go.

And invite yourself to come away with me on vacation as you imagine yourself in a peaceful,

Small village next to the Atlantic Ocean.

And a beautiful,

Sunny day to explore a local secret.

And could you imagine yourself standing at the start of a path?

And on one side of the path is a rocky granite outcropping.

And the other side of the path is lined with pine trees.

And it's just a small dirt road.

But as you stand here,

You can smell the scent of the pines.

And you can smell the salty tang of the ocean.

And you hear the waves crashing.

And there's a lazy hum of summer insects,

Bumblebees buzzing.

And that sound of summer life.

And as you choose to walk down this path,

You begin to see the ocean coming into view.

And there's a collection of stones,

Smooth and worn granite stones,

Like nature is creating a stairway for you to go down to the beach.

Climbing down these stones,

You place a hand for support.

And sense warm,

Smooth,

Supportive stone.

And one of these stones is very large.

A granite boulder,

And the top is completely flat and smooth.

Flat and smooth.

It's the perfect place to lay down and rest in the sun.

Could you imagine your whole body resting on a smooth,

Warm stone?

Almost like you are in a sauna.

Feeling that warmth.

Soaking in through the skin,

The muscles.

Such a soothing and healing effect to soften the muscles.

And imagining soaking in that heat through the back.

Feeling it soothe away any tension through the shoulders.

And welcoming that warm and relaxing sensation to travel down the length of your spine.

Through the mid-back and the low back.

And sensing that warmth at the base of the tailbone.

And as I guide a rotation of awareness through the body,

Could you imagine bringing warmth and comfort to each point in your body?

To each point in your body.

Bringing that warmth and comfort to the right hand.

The palm of the right hand.

The right hand thumb.

First finger.

Second finger.

Third finger.

And small finger.

The back of the right hand.

The right elbow.

And the right shoulder.

Welcoming a sense of warmth and comfort through the entire right arm.

And the right side of the chest.

The right side of the waist.

The right hip.

The right knee.

The right ankle.

The top of the right foot.

The big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

And small toe.

And the sole of the right foot.

Welcoming warmth and comfort through the entire right leg.

And right side of the body.

Imagining the whole right side of the body becomes soft and effortless,

Deeply relaxed.

And shifting attention to the left side,

Sensing the left hand,

The palm of the right hand.

The palm of the left hand.

The left thumb.

The first finger.

Second finger.

Third finger.

And small finger.

And the back of the left hand.

The left elbow.

And left shoulder.

Welcoming warmth and comfort through the left arm.

And the right side of the body.

And the left side of the chest.

The left side of the waist.

The left hip.

The left knee.

The left ankle.

The top of the left foot.

And sensing each of the toes,

The big toe,

The second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And small toe.

The sole of the left foot.

Sensing the whole left leg.

And welcoming warmth and comfort through the left side of the body.

Perhaps the right side of the body.

Perhaps imagining and perhaps sensing the left side of the body becoming softer at ease.

Deepening into rest.

An awareness of the entire body.

From the head to the toes.

Sensing the whole body together.

Could you sense the whole body resting?

Feeling secure and grounded.

And continuing to explore this inner refuge.

Imagining ourselves resting next to the ocean.

And beginning to imagine the sounds of this space.

Hearing the waves.

Rhythmic.

Soothing.

Bringing to mind the sound of ocean waves.

And welcoming in other sounds of the sea.

The sound of seabirds.

The sound of insects.

Humming and buzzing.

The sound of wind.

Moving through pine trees.

And sounds farther in the distance.

Of children laughing.

Sounds of splashing,

Swimming,

Jumping into the ocean.

Squeals of delight.

And perhaps an awareness of other people sharing this space.

A family having a picnic.

Children playing in the waves.

A couple with their chocolate lab.

The dog excitedly prancing and chasing a stick into the ocean.

Returning.

Shaking his fur coat.

And beyond the physical sensations of this place,

There is a feeling of playfulness.

A feeling of joy.

A feeling of peace.

A feeling of freedom that you could choose to rest,

You could choose to play,

To swim.

You are completely free here to do exactly what your body wants and needs.

And in this place,

There is a timeless feeling.

As if the outside world has paused and you might stay as long as you need.

And as you stay in this place next to the sea,

You might begin to welcome your own memories,

Your own personal experiences.

And perhaps the landscape begins to shift from a coastal main beach to a place that is personally meaningful to you.

And as this place arises within you,

Begin to layer your own personal experiences with it.

And as this place opens up within you,

Begin to layer your own memories.

Connecting to that feeling in your body of being at peace.

Feeling of being on vacation.

Nobody wants anything from you.

You can simply be.

We'll rest for a few minutes in silence as you allow this place to unfold within you.

If you would like to continue resting here,

Please stay as long as you need.

And if you're ready to close the practice,

Begin to deepen your breath,

Taking a long inhale and a short exhale like this.

And each inhale brings you back a little more alert.

Beginning to wake up and coming back into your body,

Sensing the support beneath you and beginning to turn your senses outward,

Becoming more aware of the space around you.

Noticing any sounds in your room.

Noticing the sensation on your skin,

Your clothing or blanket,

Perhaps the touch of air on your skin.

Coming back from our meditation session,

Beginning to bring movement back to the body,

Starting in the fingers and toes.

You might clench them and open them,

Perhaps bringing some circles or stretching overhead.

And then just bringing your attention back to the center of your body.

I'm bringing slow and intentional movement back to the body.

And when you feel ready,

Beginning to flutter your eyes open,

You may even hold your palms over the eyes to help you transition back to the light in your space.

And you may begin to transition to a seated position.

And let's close our practice with hands at heart center,

Bowing our head for a moment in gratitude.

Thank you to all of the teachers who have come before us,

Who have continued to grow and share these practices so that we may benefit today.

And thank you to each of you here for joining in this practice and cultivating peace and rest for yourself.

I'm wishing you a beautiful rest of your day.

From my heart to yours,

Namaste.