Welcome to this yoga nidra for the motor cortex.
Welcome to this short pause in your day to settle the physical body that moves.
This body scan is great for if you've had lots of physical movement in your day.
If you feel a sense of restlessness throughout the body,
This is a great practice to bring some balance into the whole body,
Into the nervous system that's responsible for moving the body,
That moves the muscles,
Which moves the bones and that moves the joints through the body.
We'll take conscious awareness around the body in this body scan.
Beginning with the left hand thumb,
Become aware of your left hand thumb and all the joints in the thumb,
Each joint softening into rest with your presence of awareness.
And bring awareness over into the index finger of the left hand,
All the joints softening all the way up to the tip of the finger and the middle finger and the ring finger.
Little finger on the left hand,
All the joints resting in the whole hand,
The whole left hand,
Fingers and thumb together.
Let awareness rest inside the wrist joint,
Right in the heart of the wrist and travel up the left arm into the elbow joint,
Finding the very heart of the elbow joint and the left shoulder,
The whole left shoulder joint softening.
And the ribs,
Each rib with its ability to flex and receive the incoming breath and to soften down as you exhale,
All the ribs on the left side and the waist.
And take awareness down into the left hip joint,
To the very heart of the hip joint on the left side,
And down through the center of the left leg into the knee and down into the ankle and the foot,
And out to the toes,
To the big toe and all of its joints,
And the second toe,
And the third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
All left foot toes together,
And the whole left foot,
The whole left foot,
And the whole left side of the body,
All the joints on the left side of the body softening in for resting.
Shift awareness over to the right side of the body,
Over into the right,
Into the right hand thumb,
With all of its joints softening down for rest.
And the right hand index finger,
And the middle finger,
Ring finger,
And little finger,
All fingers and thumbs together on the right hand,
The whole right hand softening in for resting.
And the wrist,
The very center of the wrist joint,
And up through the arm into the elbow and up to the shoulder,
Into the very heart,
Center of the shoulder joint,
And down into the right ribs and feeling their ability to move with breath,
Each wave of breath,
Welcoming movement on the right side ribs and the waist,
Down into the very heart,
Center of the right hip joint,
Down through the right leg into the knee and the ankle,
And the right foot,
And out to the toes,
Into the big toe,
With all of its joints,
Each joint softening.
And the second toe,
The third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth little toe,
Resting.
The whole right foot,
And the whole right side of the body,
Resting.
The whole right side of the body,
Resting.
And take awareness to the back side of the body,
And rest awareness right on the tailbone,
Feeling the tailbone.
And then trace awareness of the length of your spine,
Beginning with the tailbone.
As the curves of the spine move outwards,
Breathe in.
As you follow those curves of the spine that move inwards,
Breathe out.
Tracing the length of your spine,
Connected to the rhythm of your breath,
All the way up and over the head,
Over the skull,
Right into the space between the eyebrows.
And once you get there,
Then breathe your way all the way back to the tailbone.
And as you come to rest on your tailbone,
Then sense and feel the whole spine,
The length of the spine,
And all of the joints throughout the spine,
Softening in for rest,
The whole spine.
And then bring awareness up the spine,
Up the back side of the body,
Over the head,
And into the face,
And feel the jaw,
Resting,
The jaw,
And feeling the front of the neck,
And over the front side of the body,
The collarbones,
And feeling a gentle sliding of the collarbones,
Connected to your breath,
Breathing you,
And feeling the ribs on the front side of the torso,
Connected to the sternum,
With their ability to be moved by a breath.
And take awareness down the front side of the body,
Onto the front of the pelvis,
To the pubic bone.
And then feel your whole body,
Feeling the whole body,
The whole body,
With all of its joints resting,
Every joint connected to the skeletal system,
Each bone of the body resting,
And each muscle resting throughout the body,
The whole body resting,
Welcoming rest,
Welcoming this pause of rest.
Begin to welcome yourself back out of rest,
Into more wakefulness,
A slow,
Mindful wake up of the whole body.
Beginning out at the fingertips,
Beginning to stretch the fingers,
Stretching out into the palms of the hands,
Fingers stretching awake,
And deepening your breath,
Waking up the ribs,
And the sides of the torso,
Waking up the whole chest,
And the upper back.
And bring some movement into the toes,
Waking up the toes,
And stretching the legs longer,
By pointing or flexing the toes,
And waking up the muscles of the spine,
By gently turning your head from one side,
Then over to the other,
And waking up the whole body.
When it feels right,
You can stretch your body awake,
Out of yawn,
All sounds are welcome,
In this waking up process,
As you deepen your breath,
Each breath in,
Bringing more wakefulness to the whole body,
Each breath in,
Listening to that breath coming in,
Feeling its expansion,
Bringing wakefulness in and around to the body,
Welcoming yourself back,
And welcoming yourself home.
Thank you for choosing to pause and rest today.
Thank you for your practice.
