Hello,
I am Keri Shaw and this meditation practice has been designed for you to practice maybe mid or late afternoon.
So if you're feeling that afternoon slump or just needing a little bit of a pick me up,
This yoga nidra practice is absolutely for you.
It is a short yoga nidra practice as far as yoga nidra goes and you won't need to prepare yourself too much,
But if you do have the opportunity to come into a super comfortable position,
Maybe laying down or sitting back on a nice comfy couch or wall,
That would be fantastic.
But you can just as easily practice this in your chair,
At your desk,
At work.
So if you need to take a minute to set yourself up,
Simply pause this recording and come back and press play when you are ready.
So to begin,
We will bring our awareness to the sensation of the whole body.
Maybe the parts of the body that are connected to the surface beneath you or behind you.
You might like to begin to slowly soften the gaze or close down the eyes as you consciously experience the weight of the body becoming a little heavier,
Starting to bring your awareness now to the sensation of the breath in the belly,
Noticing how the breath subtly creates movement in the body,
Even though your body has arrived in this stillness,
This heaviness.
Noticing the natural rhythm of the breath and the rise and fall of the belly.
See if you can begin to extend the length of your exhalation just a little more than the inhale,
Shifting the awareness to the sensation of the breath at the heart center,
Seeing if you can drop your awareness a level deeper to notice the sensation here,
A much more subtle sensation than in the belly,
Visualizing the breath traveling past this space deep into the lungs as you inhale and as you exhale feeling a slight heaviness at the heart center.
Shifting your awareness now to the sensation of the breath in the nostrils,
Tuning into the subtle difference of the temperature here,
The inhale a little cooler than the exhale.
Letting go of the awareness of the breath,
Start to shift your awareness to sounds that you can hear,
Maybe these sounds are close to you like the sound of your own breath,
Or the sound of my voice,
Or you may be able to detect sounds further away outside the space that you are in.
If you are somewhere where it is busy and loud outside the space in which you find yourself,
Begin to tune into these sounds without lingering for too long on any one sound and shift your awareness from sound to sound,
Seeing if you can collect these sounds as vibrations of energy without identity.
As you let go of these sounds you might like to take a moment to set a sankalpa.
A sankalpa is a short positive statement spoken as if it already is so,
A little like an intention or a mantra.
You can repeat this sankalpa to yourself in your mind a few times here.
Letting go of your sankalpa,
Knowing that that intention will be carried with you throughout the rest of this practice and maybe beyond.
As we begin to take ourselves on a journey of a rotation of consciousness,
I will guide your awareness to different parts of the body and as I do begin to visualize a bright white light activating at the part of the body that is spoken and each spot,
Each place of light beginning to connect to the other.
As we journey through this rotation of the body,
If it may feel like it is going a little fast for you,
That's completely okay.
Please know that you're still receiving all the benefits of this practice even if you do start to tune out a little.
And we'll begin bringing our awareness to the palm of the right hand,
Visualizing light activating at the center of the palm of the hand and noticing sensations that you feel here.
The back of the hand,
Right hand thumb,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger and the pinky finger.
The whole of the right hand,
The whole of the right arm,
Right shoulder,
Armpit,
Right side of the ribs,
The waist,
Outer edge of the right hip,
The whole of the right leg,
Sole of the right foot,
Top of the foot,
The toes,
The whole of the right foot and the whole of the right side of the body,
Bright with light.
Softening and letting go.
Bringing your awareness now to the palm of the left hand,
Light activating at the center of the palm of the left hand,
Noticing the sensations you feel here.
Back of the hand,
Left hand thumb,
First finger,
Second,
Third finger and the pinky.
The whole of the left hand,
The whole of the left arm,
Left shoulder,
Armpit,
Left side of the ribs,
The waist,
Outside edge of the left hip,
The whole of the left leg,
Sole of the left foot,
Back of the foot and the toes.
The whole left side of the body,
Bright with light,
Softening and letting go.
Bringing your awareness now to the base of the spine,
The belly,
The middle back,
Both ribcages,
The upper back,
The chest and the space at the heart center,
Back of the neck,
The throat,
Jaw and cheekbones softening,
Skin on the forehead,
Eyebrows,
Eyelids,
Tip of the nose,
Both nostrils,
The lips,
Teeth and tongue.
And the whole of the face,
Bright with light,
Softening and releasing,
Letting go of any tension or tightness.
Top of the head,
The whole body,
The whole body filling with a bright white light and bringing with it a sense of warmth and safety and energizing,
Beautiful feeling,
Enveloping the whole body.
Begin to visualize that light reaching beyond the realms of your body to the space that you are in,
Filling that space with the same sense of safety,
Of energy,
A vibrant bright and beautiful energy.
At the end of this meditation and as you go about your day,
You can carry this energy with you,
This vibrant beautiful energy,
Visualizing that it is with you wherever you go,
The whole body feeling alive and vibrant,
The whole body safe and beautiful.
Trust that this energy is available to you at any time and as you begin to bring your awareness back into the space,
Once again noticing sounds that you can hear surrounding you,
Carry this energy with you,
Take it into the rest of your day.
When you feel ready,
Take a really big stretch in any way that feels good for you.
Being really gentle with yourself as you come out of this meditation and back into your day,
Being sure to take time out to practice little meditations and practices just like this.
Whenever you're feeling like the day has gotten the better of you or you're just in a bit of a slump,
You can always come back to this meditation and press play to re-energize your day.
