Welcome to the practice of yoga nidra.
Please do your best to minimize your distractions.
See if the phone is off,
Maybe the light is dimmed,
If that's comfortable.
Perhaps you want to let those who live with you know that this is your time for healing so they don't distract you.
Maybe you need a blanket or warm socks.
Whatever you need to feel comfortable.
Lie down on your back if this is available for you.
If not,
Find another position that's available and comfortable.
You can even sit in a chair if that works better.
Close your eyes and picture your body either on the floor,
In your bed,
Chair,
Whatever is the surface upon which you are resting.
Feel all the points of contact and all the spaces between your body and the surface.
And now bring your awareness to your feet.
You may want to tense your feet.
Release and tighten your buttocks and release your hands.
Make fists with your hands and then splay the fingers and release that.
Tense your facial muscles and let go of that.
Now we'll create a sankalpa,
A spiritual resolution.
Think of your heartfelt desire,
Your true north and say it in your mind three times in the present tense as if it was already happening.
So it may be my body's cooperating with me or my condition is not stopping me from living a happy life or I realize my full potential.
Maybe I'm positively affecting others or it can be anything that is meaningful and resonates with you.
And feel the meaning of that sankalpa in your body as if you were planting a seed.
The practice of yoga nidra begins now.
I will name different parts of your body and ask you to become aware of them,
To feel them.
So notice the soles of your feet,
Tops of your feet.
Notice the ankles,
Calves,
Shins.
Become aware of your knees,
Thighs.
Now feel whole legs,
Hips,
Buttocks,
Lower back,
Mid back,
Upper back,
Whole back,
Notice the back of your neck,
Back of your head,
Top of your head,
Your face and your whole head.
Notice your shoulders,
Feel your upper arms,
Your elbows,
Your forearms,
Wrists,
Your hands.
Become aware of your abdomen and chest and notice that subtle movement of your chest,
Maybe also the abdomen when you breathe in and breathe out.
Picture yourself in your mind in a position in which you are.
See yourself relaxed and then bring your awareness to the right foot and visualize your breath coming through the right foot,
Up the leg,
All the way to your pelvis,
And as you exhale,
You exhale down the left leg to the left foot.
You can see this breath as light or color.
So you breathe in the right foot into the pelvis and breathe out down the left leg through the left foot.
Inhaling the right foot up the leg and exhaling down the left leg to your left foot.
One more time,
Breathe in through the right foot up the leg to the pelvis and exhale down the left leg to your left foot and we'll switch that and breathe in the left foot up the leg and exhaling from the pelvis down the right leg to the right foot.
So you're inhaling the left leg up and exhaling the right leg down.
Breathing in the left foot up the leg and exhaling down the right leg to the right foot.
One more time,
Breathing in left foot up the leg to the pelvis and exhaling from the pelvis down the right leg all the way to the right foot.
And letting go of that,
Bring your awareness to your right hand and breathe in through the right hand all the way up to the shoulder through the heart center and breathe out from the left shoulder down the arm to the left hand.
Inhaling the right hand up through the heart center and exhaling down the left arm to the left hand.
Breathe in the right hand up,
Up the arm to the shoulder through the heart center and exhaling down the left arm to the left hand.
One more time,
Inhaling through the right hand up the arm through the heart center and exhaling left arm down to the left hand.
And we'll switch now.
So bring your awareness to your left hand and breathe in through the left hand up the arm to the left shoulder to the heart center and the breathe out from the right shoulder down to the right hand.
Inhaling the left hand up to the heart center and exhaling down the right arm to the right hand.
Two more times,
Inhaling through the left hand up the arm crossing the heart center and exhaling down the right arm to the right hand.
Inhaling the left hand up the arm to the heart center and exhaling right arm down to your right hand.
Let go of that practice.
You can visualize your spine now and breathe in through the crown of your head down the spine,
The very base of the spine and breathing out up the spine through your nostrils or the top of your head.
Inhaling through the crown of your head along the spine to the base of the spine and exhaling up the spine to the crown of your head or the nostrils.
Two more times,
Inhaling from the crown of your head down the spine and exhaling from the base of the spine up and again inhaling down the spine and exhaling up.
Now you can breathe in through the hands and feet to the heart center and as you exhale the energy prana expands.
So again visualizing this breath,
This energy as light or color,
Feel as you breathe in the palms of your hands and soles of your feet to the heart center and exhaling allowing the prana energy to expand.
Breathe in through your limbs to the heart and breathe out the prana expanding.
Inhaling to the heart center and exhaling out and one more time breathing in through your hands and feet.
