Hello,
I'm Kerry Mackay and welcome to another yoga nidra.
And this one comes to you from the Hebrides.
So thank you for joining me here.
I am sitting beside a beautiful white sand beach with seals on the rocks,
Lots of swirling kelp,
Birds,
Sheep.
And the sun is sliding in and out behind the clouds and the sea is turning from turquoise to silver.
And yoga nidra is the practice of conscious awareness and whatever you're bringing today,
The invitation is to allow it to be held within the energy of this location.
So whatever you're bringing,
It's not too much.
And whatever arises for you within you during the practice,
It's held safe and it never could be too much.
All is welcome.
So we're simply practicing awareness and actually now that you've arrived,
There's nothing really to do.
You can simply be guided by my voice and your attention may drift in and out and that's fine.
And the first thing is simply to settle.
So scan your body and see if there's a way for you to be a shade more comfortable.
Is there something you need to adjust?
Settling down into your supports,
You're probably lying down.
You may need cushions and blankets.
So welcome here.
This time is just for you.
Inviting the body to settle the mind to settle.
So become aware of the back of the head and wherever the back of the head is touching,
Invite the touch to be just a little more restful.
And then you can scan down the back of the body.
Being aware of all the places that touch whatever surface you're lying on.
I'm just nuzzling into that touch and letting the body go just as much as it wants to.
So behind the shoulders,
The ribs,
Perhaps the pelvis,
The legs,
The feet,
The arms.
Take a breath and just imagine the out breath invites more softening into the places that touch.
And you're arriving here ready for this practice of yoga nidra.
We're going to allow the shifting tides,
White sand and the swirling kelp to feed into our consciousness to help take everything into a place of safety.
So come back to the breath again and let the breath be in its natural rhythm however it wants to be right now.
I'm just observing the breath gently in and out.
And let the next out breath invite the body to rest a little more into the ground.
And you might like to imagine that you are lying on the white sand.
Incredibly soft.
Just the right temperature for you.
We're going to go around the body,
Bringing your awareness to each place.
And it's simply enough to take your attention to the places that I mentioned.
So take your attention to your right hand.
Be with the right hand for a moment.
Perhaps imagine that the sun slides out from behind the clouds and it lands on your hand offering warmth and the warmth comes straight to the bones radiating into the bones of the hands.
Perhaps the right temperature for you nourishing inviting the bones to drop into rest.
The sun bringing rest warmth straight to the bones of the right hand and the spaces between the bones.
The spaces between the fingers and then bringing this warm sunshine up into the wrist the right wrist up the right arm to the right elbow.
The bones of the arm receiving the rest and the nourishment from the warm sun.
Warm sun on the white sand coming up to the shoulder now the bones of the arm.
The restfulness coming through the collar bone into the right side of the chest the rib cage front and back.
Allow this warmth to radiate dropping the bones into more rest and then the right side of the waist front and back.
Taking your attention down into the pelvis the right side of the pelvis the right side of the belly receiving the invitation to rest a little more feeling the warmth of the sun come into the bones of the pelvis and then the right hip a sense of space and then warming the bones of the right leg all the way down to the knee and then down the lower leg to the ankle.
The sun shining all the way down the right leg now to the ankle and then the foot and all the tiny bones of the foot to receive this nourishment and this warmth and they receive the permission to rest right now and all the spaces between the bones and then the toes of the right foot the spaces between the toes.
Your awareness gently flowing into all these places imagining the warmth perhaps imagining lying here on the white sand with the sun arriving on the body offering rest.
The whole of the right leg now the whole of the right arm the right side the whole right side of the body resting in warmth the bones letting go.
And then we're going to come to the left hand the sun comes out on this side bringing this warmth into the bones of the left hand the left palm the spaces between the bones inviting rest.
So the sun invites the bones of the left hand to gently relax receive the radiating warmth just the right temperature for your hand coming into the spaces between the bones into each finger and thumb and the spaces between as the hand is invited to let go completely and rest.
And then moving up to the left wrist the bones of the lower arm bringing rest to the elbow and the bones of the upper arm and then the left shoulder the left shoulder along the collarbone to the left side of the chest the ribs front and back the warmth spreading through the spaces between the ribs and then bringing your attention slowly down to the left waist front and back receiving this radiating touch of sunshine down into the belly and the pelvis on the left side the bones of the pelvis inviting deeper rest and settling through those bones and then into the left hip down the left leg the thigh bone the knee the lower leg receiving the caress of the hebridescent Indian sun down into the ankle and then all the bones of the feet the left foot the spaces between the bones bringing your gentle awareness here inviting these places to let go now in the toes of the left foot and the spaces between the toes there's nothing to hold on to you're practicing yoga nidra it's simply your guided awareness around the body the whole left foot the left foot and the leg the whole left leg the whole left arm both legs bathing bathing in the warmth and the nourishment in this magical place then come to your sense of the pelvis the left side of the pelvis the right side the bones of the pelvis meeting in the center at the pubic bone invite a sense of the sun reaching the bones of the pubic bone this junction between left and right warm spacious and then at the back of the body the junction at the sacrum warmth on both sides the whole pelvis invited to rest the bones receiving this gentle heat and then come to the tailbone let your consciousness arrive in the tailbone lying here on the white sand as the sand warms up with the sun and then you can take your attention slowly up the spine all the way to the head all the bones of the spine invited to rest as they receive the sunshine one by one all the way up to the neck and into the head the whole spine sunshine flowing through the bones and the spaces between the whole spine and then coming up into the head all the way to the top of the head the sunshine reaching the top and inviting the bones to rest rest into the supports beneath the bones letting go the forehead the cheeks the jaw the bones around the back and the sides of the head there's no need to hold on you're safe to let go in this practice held within conscious awareness of yoga nidra all the bones receiving the sunshine and then you can let your attention come to the center of the forehead just above where the eyebrows meet imagine this meeting place receives the warmth and the space and the invitation to soften and this place is often called the third eye your center for inner wisdom your mind's eye so right now what is there to see in your mind's eye the softly inviting some awareness of what's there what does your inner vision have to say right now whatever arises you can just let that be held gently there's no way it could be wrong everything is welcome here even if it's nothing and take your attention softly to the breath inviting the breath to be in its natural rhythm not changing the breath at all just observing the in breath and the out breath in breath out breath the whole body is invited to rest now as we lie here bathed in this imaginary sun all the way from the hebrides warming the bones inviting the bones to let go to be supported from underneath there's no need to hold on whatever arises in the practice and whatever you're bringing with you today could never be too much it's always held safe so bring your attention softly back to the center of the forehead feeling the sense of sunshine there inviting this place to softly rest back and then finding your next out breath and with the out breath take your awareness down to the heart and land in and around the heart for a moment it's being with what's there the heart right now let the breath come with ease as you stay with the heart for another moment longer perhaps going a little deeper with the heart and then waiting for an in breath to arrive and let the in breath guide your attention back up to the third eye center of the forehead out breath sweeps your attention back down to the heart in breath back to the third eye out breath down to the heart perhaps you imagine the warmth of the sun sweeping up and down between these two places inviting the bones to rest the breastbone the ribs the chin sweeping up and down with the in breath and the out breath no rush and the next time you breathe out perhaps you can go beyond the heart with the out breath all the way down to the lower belly breathing in back up the body through the heart to the center of the forehead breathing out gliding your attention all the way back down to the lower belly breathing in back up breathing out going down this time going down all the way to the knees left and right knee breathing in back from the left and right knee all the way up to the single point between the eyebrows breathing out slowly sweeping down to the knees and this flow of nourishment rest and perhaps warmth sweeping up and down and when you're ready with the next out breath you're going to go all the way to the left and the right foot so it's like a triangle that spreads wider at the base breathing in all the way back up to the third eye breathing out flowing down to the left and the right foot and you can carry on with this sweeping down the body breath softly slowly gently breathing back in all the way to the third eye and then the next out breath all the way down to the feet taking your time being in the rhythm of your own breath the invitation is to drop a little deeper into the center of you so wherever the center of you feels like today drop your attention inward and downward into the center just be here for a moment into the center of your being letting a sense of rest arrive in the center of your being what does your inner vision have to tell you now as you drop deeper into the practice and is there somewhere or something that would like your attention for a moment where does your awareness want to go right now is there something that you're avoiding or a place that's drawing you in and just be guided by your intuition and let go into that place or that energy or that topic or that thought with a sense of curiosity and allowing and just be there resting your attention here bringing the warmth of the sunshine with you and could you perhaps create all this in a little more kindness just for a moment and then letting that go and coming back to the breath finding the rhythm of the breath again letting the breath be in the places that touch the surface that you're relying on connecting back with the sense of the weight of the body and the sense of touch knowing that you're fully supported from underneath practicing yoga nidra together and allowing your experience of the practice today to be completely welcome and before we begin to transition is there something else that your inner vision in your third eye would like you to know perhaps it's a sense of your sun kalpa your heart's desire is there something to know right now in these last moments of the practice having made the space having invited rest what else is here and whatever arises or perhaps nothing at all let it be so softly nourished by the sun the warmth the invitation to rest perhaps picturing the white sand the rocks drying out as the tide recedes the kelp swirling and the seals resting and to see herself switching between turquoise and silver ripples swell waves still areas rough areas all the different textures and shades of the sea all present in the same location the same moment and every single quality is all part of the sea so beginning to come back to your breath one more time gently holding the breath in your attention and then letting go and focusing on what you left ear right ear far away sounds near sounds and do you perhaps have a sense of the sound and the rhythm of your own heartbeat and then moving back to your sense of touch feeling all the places that contact the surface beneath and perhaps bringing a tiny amount of movement into those places testing out your weight bringing in awareness of the space that you're in right now any objects any sense of the air moving light coming in through the eyes or the eyelids and we're coming back to our senses now to gently make the transition to finish the yoga nidra moving back to the everyday energy beginning to let go of the hebrides of the beach of the rocks coming back into your space into your body the front the back the sides and perhaps inviting a sense of stretch movement wiggle the jaw maybe move a little perhaps there's a yawn or a sound that you might want to make and you can do whatever feels good for you right now and we're going to finish the practice now you can continue gently coming to so your yoga nidra practice is now complete.
