Revolutionary Rest Yoga Nidra
We've been taught that we need to keep pushing to "get" anywhere in life, but what if the reverse was true? What if the very thing we actually need most - to settle our wired nervous systems, to help our body feel safe, to calm our mind is to REST. Revolutionary Rest is a deeply relaxing and restorative Yoga Nidra experience, combining body and breath to come into stillness and just be.
Transcript
Welcome to revolutionary rest,
A yoga nidra to throw off your worries,
Provide relaxation to your body and restore your soul.
Coming into a laying down position in whatever position is most comfortable for you.
Either in the traditional shavasana on your back or on your side,
Your belly.
Take the time to take any last-minute wriggles or tweaks,
To grab another pillow or cushion behind your knees or whatever it would take to become even more comfortable.
And as you're taking those last few moments,
It's taking an overall scan from head to toe,
Become aware of any tightness or tension,
Any discomfort and again just make those little tweaks to invite the release of tension,
To surrender to this moment.
Not in the past,
Not in the future,
Just here and now.
Once you've done this initial scan of your body,
Just taking your awareness to the outside environment,
The sounds that you can hear,
The smells that you may be able to perceive,
Any taste in your mouth,
Any sensations,
Where you are in the room you're in or outside,
The feel of the surfaces underneath you,
Where your body comes into contact with the bed or the ground,
The rug or the grass where you're lying.
In releasing your awareness of those outside sounds,
Turn your attention once again to your inside environment.
And as we begin our journey into a beautiful yogic sleep,
Allow a guiding word or phrase to capture your attention,
To capture your intention for this time that you're investing in your rest,
In settling your nervous system and helping your body to feel safe and your mind to feel calm.
It may be a simple word like peace,
Or a phrase more like letting my need to please others go.
We'll come back to this word or phrase at the end of our yoga nidra,
Kind of like a steering or an intention or a place where your beautiful subconscious mind can sit and marinate for the next few days.
And as we let that guiding word or phrase go,
You're going to follow my voice to each of the different parts of the body.
Just allow my voice to guide you,
And if you find yourself drifting into different awarenesses or thoughts,
It's totally fine.
When you're aware,
Just come back to my voice,
Back to your body.
Bringing your attention to the sole of your left foot,
The sole of your left foot,
The big toe,
The second toe,
The middle toe,
The fourth toe,
And the little pinky toe,
The outside blade of the left foot,
The top surface of the left foot,
The inside of the left foot and arch,
Your ankle bones,
The bottom of the left leg,
The shin,
The calf,
The back of your left knee,
The front of your left knee,
Your whole knee joint.
Now resting your attention on the back of your left leg,
Your hamstring,
Your inner thigh,
Your quad at the front of your left leg,
The outside of the left leg,
The whole of the left foot,
Lower leg and upper leg,
All deeply relaxed.
Bringing your attention now to the sole of your right foot,
Your right big toe,
And your second big toe,
Your middle right toe,
Your fourth right toe,
And your pinky,
The skin and the surface area between each of your right toes,
The whole of the sides and the top of your right foot,
Your right ankle bone and heel,
The whole of the bottom of your right leg,
Your right calf,
Your right shin,
Your right kneecap,
Behind your right knee,
The top part of your right thigh,
Your inner thigh,
The outer side of your right upper thigh,
The back of the right leg,
Your whole right leg and foot,
Deeply relaxed.
Bring your attention to the back of your pelvic region,
The bones of your pelvic bowl,
Your hip bones,
Your pubic bone,
All of the organs sitting in the bowl of your pelvis,
The whole of the front half of your torso,
All of your inner organs,
Your ribcage,
Your beautiful heart and heart space,
Both of your collarbones,
The tops of your shoulders,
Your shoulder blades,
The back surface of your torso,
The back of your ribcage,
Every single one of those beautiful vertebrae that provides structure to you every day,
All the way down the back surface of the body to the tailbone,
The whole of your torso,
Front and back of your body,
Internal organs,
Heart space,
Lungs and ribs,
Deeply relaxed.
Now bring your attention to the top of your right arm,
Your right shoulder,
Your right bicep and tricep,
Your right elbow,
Your right forearm,
Back and front,
All of the beautiful muscles,
Ligaments and tendons that make up your right wrist,
Your right hand,
All of your fingers,
Your right thumb,
The back surface of your right hand,
The palm of your right hand,
Your whole right shoulder,
Arm and hand,
Deeply relaxed.
Bring your attention to the top of your left arm,
Your left shoulder,
Your left bicep and tricep,
Your left elbow,
The front,
Sides and back of your left forearm,
The intricate web of tissues and bone that make up the whole of your left hand,
Your left palm,
Your left fingers,
Your left thumb,
The whole surface of your left hand and arm,
Back and front,
Deeply relaxed.
Now moving your attention to the back of your neck,
The base of your neck where the vertebrae of your spine meet your neck,
Stepping up in your awareness around each of those vertebrae,
Leading up to the base of your skull,
The whole of the back of your head,
Your scalp,
Your skull,
The sides of your skull and scalp,
Each of your beautiful hair follicles,
All deeply relaxed.
Bringing your attention to your forehead,
To the bones that make up your eye sockets,
To your cheekbones,
To your jaw,
To your nose,
Your upper lip,
Your bottom lip,
Both of your beautiful eyes and your temples,
All deeply relaxed.
Moving your attention to your chin,
Underneath your chin,
The front part of your neck,
The little dip that we have at the base of the neck between our collarbones,
Bringing your attention to your voice box,
The seat of truth,
And each of the vertebrae surfaces at the front of your neck,
Climbing once again back to your beautiful skull,
The whole of the external and internal surfaces of your neck and skull,
Deeply relaxed.
And finally,
Bring your attention to your beautiful brain,
Nestled in amongst your protective skull and your scalp.
Imagine you can bring your attention to just the left hemisphere of your brain,
Moving your attention to the right,
Back to the left,
Back to the right,
And now sensing your whole brain,
Both hemispheres,
Deeply at peace,
Deeply relaxed.
And finally,
Bring your attention to your left ear,
And then your right ear,
Returning to the left and the right.
Your whole head,
Neck,
Skull,
Brain,
Mouth,
Nose,
Eyes,
Ears,
Voice box,
Deeply relaxed.
And finally,
Bringing your attention to the whole back surface of your body,
The whole front surface of your body,
The whole exterior of your body,
The whole interior of your body,
And a deep sense of relaxation and restoration.
Moving your attention to your breath,
With no need to manipulate or make it any different to how you find it.
Just tracing gently with your attention,
Your inhale and your exhale.
Noticing that each time you breathe in,
You can breathe in that word or anchor phrase,
And you can breathe out anything that could be out of alignment with your intention for yourself.
No need to think,
Just releasing and trusting that the power of your intention is literally filtering in and out what to inhale and keep,
And what to exhale and let go.
Imagining with your breath now that you can trace a golden light that travels with your breath.
As you breathe in through your nose,
If it's comfortable,
Or your mouth,
Tracing with this golden light the in-breath,
Into your chest,
Into your ribs,
Into your belly,
And exhaling through your mouth,
Releasing,
Relaxing,
Surrendering,
And letting go.
Keep following the golden light on the in-breath,
Following it on the out-breath.
Just in your own time,
No need to make it deeper or longer,
This is about comfort.
Anchoring the beautiful awareness that just simply observing your breath at any time during your day.
At any time that you feel unsteady in your thoughts,
Or maybe not as connected to your body and breath as what you'd like.
So now,
Bring your senses to a place that you really,
Really love to be.
Use your five senses to paint the picture,
The smells,
The tastes,
The feelings,
The senses on your skin.
Perhaps you're on a beach,
Or in a rainforest,
Perhaps you're with people that you really love to spend time with.
Notice what you can see in this vision,
The colours that you're aware of,
Who's here with you,
Maybe you're by yourself.
Whatever comes to mind is perfect.
And as we did before,
Turning up your five senses to connect with the sounds that you can hear in this place that you love.
The feeling on your skin of any senses that you're aware of.
Any tastes,
Any other input that can make this place as real as possible to you.
Notice how your body feels,
How your emotions feel in this space.
And again,
Similar to travelling with the breath and the golden light,
Knowing that this place that you're imagining right now can become a sanctuary.
This place that you're imagining right now can become a sanctuary.
It can become your private oasis or recharge or retreat.
It can become somewhere you visit.
To come home to yourself,
Back into your body.
Tuning yourself inwards rather than outwards.
Tapping into the power you always have to create.
A vision of where you feel completely safe,
Completely comfortable,
Completely free to be yourself.
As you find yourself sitting in this sanctuary or oasis.
Perhaps bringing your attention back to your guiding word or phrase.
The intention you set for yourself.
And from this safe,
Deeply relaxed,
Comfortable sanctuary that you've just created for yourself.
Is there another level of awareness or understanding that's calling you from this space about your intention?
Maybe it's a message from your heart.
Maybe it's an invitation to be more still or to even physically visit the place that you're imagining right now.
I'll leave you for a few moments.
Just to allow any awareness that would like to float to the surface.
Beautiful.
Letting go of the picture of that sanctuary.
Knowing you can return whenever you'd like.
And perhaps one of your honoring devotions to yourself can be returning to that sanctuary.
Returning to that sanctuary.
Maybe once a day or maybe whenever you're feeling a bit discombobulated or frustrated or however it is that you feel when you're not feeling calm and at home in yourself.
Gently now turning your awareness.
Back to being aware still with your eyes closed.
Of the room or the place that you find your physical body.
Imagine you can see yourself laying where you are.
And you're gently becoming aware of any sounds in the outside environment.
The feel of the surface that you're laying on.
Maybe the blanket over the top of you,
The clothes you're wearing,
The pillow behind your head.
Any smells to be aware of.
Any input from your outside environment.
Gently inviting a small amount of movement in your hands and feet.
If you've got the space maybe taking a nice big stretch or whatever other movement your body is seeking.
And taking a moment before you gently open your eyes to bow to yourself in appreciation for taking some time for revolutionary rest.
For settling our nervous systems,
Letting our body feel safe.
Our mind to calm.
To restore our energy.
And to come to a point of deep and profound presence with our own self.
Take your time coming back into the room gently opening your eyes.
And may you be at peace.
