Namaste,
Welcome.
This is Kristen and this is a short non-sleep deep rest or NSDR experience.
Take a few moments here now to settle into your little yoga nidra nest,
A little cocoon that you may have found in your bed or laying on the earth.
Some even prefer to do this practice from a prone position on the belly or from seated.
Take time to find your most comfortable position and then take a moment from there to settle in to a quiet place of stillness,
Adjusting the pillows and props,
Ensuring that the body feels completely comfortable,
Warm and supported.
You might reach for an eye pillow.
You might even take a moment to tuck yourself in like a mother would to a beloved child.
You might ask yourself if there was one thing that I might do to become even just a little bit more comfortable here.
What might it be?
Taking a nice deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth,
Letting go,
Letting go into the support that exists beneath you here now.
We'll begin to weave in the physiological sigh,
A technique that helps to stimulate,
To activate the parasympathetic response of rest and digest.
On the inhale,
You'll find two sips of air in through the nose,
Followed by a long,
Smooth,
Slow exhale.
With each exhale,
Just imagine the body sinking one inch deeper down into the ground beneath you.
On your next breath in,
Find two sips.
One breath out.
We'll do that two more times.
Two sips in.
One breath out.
Letting go.
One more.
Releasing the entire weight of your body down onto the earth.
As you settle into the natural flow of your breath now,
Continue to ride the waves of the exhale.
Each exhale bringing you deeper and deeper and deeper.
Begin to welcome in a gentle touch of air against the skin.
Places of coolness and places of warmth.
Begin to soften into all of the tiny muscles,
The space around and behind closed eyes.
Softening behind the eyelids.
Allow the eyes to relax towards the back of the head.
Like a wave of relaxation from the eyes,
Across the forehead,
Temples,
Scalp and hair.
Softening into the ears.
The right ear and the left ear.
Notice the ears open and receptive to sound.
Welcoming in sound as vibration.
Noticing all of the different layers of sounds that are present here.
Sounds from within your space.
Sounds from this recording.
The sound of your breath.
Each breath bringing you deeper and deeper into relaxation.
Welcome in the gift of relaxation as the body continues to melt,
To dissolve layer by layer,
Inch by inch down into the earth beneath you.
You might even welcome in a sense of the magnetic pull of the earth's core.
Or a sense of gravity.
Like a warm blanket being draped over the whole body.
Whole body resting deeply now.
For you deserve it.
You are worthy of it.
And we'll begin to welcome in your intention,
Your sankalpa.
You might already be working with an intention.
But if not,
Perhaps you resonate with the following.
I am grounded.
And I am at peace within myself.
Calling in your intention.
Repeat it like a whisper in your mind three times.
Alongside three breaths.
Pay special attention to the ears now.
Focus on the act of listening.
So we begin a rotation of consciousness throughout the physical body.
Awareness moving throughout the internal landscape of the physical body.
Bring all of your awareness to rest now.
At the center of the forehead.
The eyebrows.
Temples.
Cheekbones.
The radiant orbs of the eyes.
Resting.
Tip of the nose.
The gentle flow of air within the nostrils.
The right nostril.
And the left nostril.
The space between the lips.
Tip of the tongue.
Root of the tongue.
Lower jaw relaxing down.
The right ear.
Outer folds and deep within the ear.
And the left ear.
The outer folds and deep within the left ear.
Allow your awareness just for a moment.
To rest in the space between the ears.
Awareness moving down to the back of the throat.
Center of the chest.
Simultaneously now divide your attention into both collarbones.
Both shoulders.
Elbows.
Wrists.
Palms of the hands.
And backs of the hands.
Thumbs.
First fingers.
Second.
Third.
Little fingers.
Sensing all ten fingers.
And the spaces between the fingers.
Reeling your awareness back to the center of the chest.
Heart center.
The rib cage.
Front and back.
Solar plexus.
Navel center.
And the low belly.
Sensing both hips simultaneously.
Deep within the hip joints.
Upper legs front and back.
Knees.
Ankles.
Heels.
Soles of the feet.
And tops of the feet.
Big toes.
Second.
Third.
Fourth.
Baby toes.
Awareness filling all ten toes.
And the spaces between the toes.
Sensing both feet together.
Alive as radiant sensation.
Sensing both feet.
Inside and out.
Awareness filling the volume of both legs.
Inside and out.
Both hands.
Sensing the vital energies present.
Within both hands.
Both arms.
Sensing both legs and both arms.
Together.
Welcome in a wave of relaxation now.
From the crown of the head.
To the tips of the toes.
Awareness.
Abiding within trillions of cells.
Trillions of cells.
Ignited with the light of your awareness.
Energized.
Like multi-dimensional vibration.
From the inside out.
The whole body.
Resting.
Yet awake and aware.
Relax into the vital energies.
The sensations.
The involuntary movements that arise out of stillness.
Just being.
Bringing awareness down to the navel center.
Begin to notice the gentle rise and fall of the belly.
With each breath.
Belly expanding.
And contracting.
Completely effortless.
In the breath.
Sensing the diaphragm.
The rise.
And the fall.
Of the diaphragm.
Sensing the volume of air.
Filling the lobes of the lungs.
Inflating.
And deflating.
Resting here.
In the natural oscillations of the breath.
Allow the breath to soothe.
Your whole body.
Your central nervous system.
Like a soothing balm.
Or a warm cup of tea.
Absorb it in.
From the inside out.
The medicine of the breath.
Relaxing back.
Into the stillness.
Could you imagine resting.
As if you were looking down from above.
Your witnessing presence.
Of what exists here.
What arises.
Within the stillness.
And begin to welcome back in your intention.
Your sankalpa.
Perhaps you used.
I am grounded.
And I am at peace within myself.
Recall it three times.
Alongside three breaths.
As if it existed here in this moment.
What would it feel like.
To be grounded.
To be at peace.
Begin to notice.
The earth beneath the back of your body.
And take a deep breath.
In through the nose.
Out through the mouth.
To the count of five.
Breathe in.
One.
Breathe out.
One.
Breathing in.
Two.
Breathing out.
Two.
At your own pace.
Counting up with each breath.
Each inhale.
Welcome a subtle awakening.
Like an energizing effect.
Take a moment here.
To rest.
A little while longer.
Resting in the essence of your experience here today.
The medicine of non-sleep deep rest.
Or yoga nidra.
A practice that you can experience anytime and anywhere.
To help soothe the body,
Mind and spirit.
With all of my heart,
Thank you.
For without you,
I would not be where I am.
Namaste.
