Welcome to your practice today.
Welcome to this Yoga Nidra for a rest day.
Today is your rest day.
As the practice begins,
Acknowledge.
That you've made time and space in your life.
And in your workout routine.
To rest.
You've shifted things around.
You've reorganized priorities towards yourself.
Your body.
And your overall well-being.
By making this time.
In space.
For rest.
For these next.
Moments there is nowhere to go and there is nothing at all to do.
If you need to change your phone into Do Not Disturb or close a door,
A curtain,
Now is the time in the practice.
To do those things as you prepare.
And slowly shift into a settling of the physical body.
The practice itself does not have a goal.
But if there was a goal.
It would be.
Comfort.
And ease.
So as you settle your body.
Let comfort and ease be the priority.
Making sure every part of the body.
Is in the right position.
The temperature of the body is just right.
Let the support beneath this body.
Is just right in all conditions around you.
Are just right.
Everything is arranged by you,
For you.
To let go.
Perhaps you're still moving from vertical to horizontal.
And maybe you have arrived.
Being horizontal in this body and just noticing that shift or noticing.
What it is like to be horizontal.
As this practice continues,
Nothing is required of you during the practice.
There's nothing to accomplish.
Nothing to do.
And therefore you cannot do it wrong.
There is no performing.
Nothing is expected of you.
There is nothing to measure.
Nothing at all to gain.
No effort is required from you.
How would it be to remember?
Your last workout before this rest day.
Perhaps you can still sense within this physical body that exertion.
That doing.
The effort,
The energy.
And how simply being here now.
Can balance all of that power.
With the power of rest.
The power of simply resting here.
Where there is not anything to lift.
There's nowhere to run to.
There's nothing to hide.
Push or pull.
No lunging,
Squatting,
Hinging,
Or rotating is required of you.
There's nothing to be strengthened.
Nothing to improve.
Simply resting this physical body is more than enough.
And now gently shift your attention.
To your breath.
Without changing it.
Simply noticing this breath breathing you.
And in the most gentle way.
Perhaps allowing the exhale to lengthen.
And as you lengthen that exhale.
It is as though you could give the weight of the body down to the earth,
Breath by breath.
The great planet beneath you.
Able to hold all of you.
As you exhale and give your weight.
Physical weight of this body down to the earth,
Notice that you are simultaneously receiving.
Receiving the invitation.
From below.
To be held.
To be supported.
And to be carried.
Throughout this practice.
Exhale and release this physical body into rest.
The whole body shifting towards resting.
On this rest day.
Here and now.
You have arrived.
And now.
For some mini moments.
Bring attention to listening.
The sounds around you.
No need to label them.
Or know what they are.
But simply to receive sounds around you.
Far away.
And here in this room.
The sound of your own breath.
Can you hear it?
Receiving the touch of sounds.
Shifting your listening inwards.
And inner listening.
Experiencing listening.
Within your inner world.
How does a horizontal body sound?
From the inside.
Are no right answers and no wrong ones.
Simply.
Listening to.
How does a horizontal body sound on the inside?
This practice continues with an invitation to take awareness around the body.
A rotation of conscious awareness.
Into the muscles,
The bones,
The joints,
And tissues,
And the fluids that make up this physical body.
As though your awareness could offer.
The gift of deep rest to the whole body and to all of its detailed parts.
And through,
Rest.
A restoration,
A repair process.
A replenishment.
This body the gift of rest.
Beginning with the right hand.
All the fingers and the joints within the fingers of the right hand.
Offered the gift of rest.
Spaces between the fingers.
Palm of the hand and the back of the hand.
The whole hand.
Not needed to grip or hold anything.
This hand given the gift of rest.
Offer rest to the right joint of the wrist.
And the forearm,
A resting elbow.
Upper arm.
The right shoulder and armpit together.
The whole right arm gifted rest.
Through tissues and bones and fluid,
This whole right arm may it rest.
Take awareness over and through the right ribs.
Through the bones of the ribs and the spaces between.
Through the muscles of the ribs and the fascia.
May this right side of the ribcage rest.
And taking awareness into the waist and the whole right hip.
This whole right hip joint.
May it rest.
The right thigh,
The front and the back.
Right kneecap.
And the back of the knee.
The shin.
In the calf.
The ankle.
Heel and sole of the foot.
Arch of the foot and the top of the foot.
And all toes.
And the joints of the toes and the right foot,
This whole right leg from hip to toe tip.
May it rest.
It has nowhere to go and.
.
.
Nothing to do.
May this right leg rest.
And the whole right side of the body.
May it rest.
Shift awareness to the left hand,
Fingers.
The joints within the left hand of the fingers.
To the tips of the fingers and the spaces between them.
The palm of the hand.
Back of hand,
Whole left hand.
Welcome to rest.
The left wrist and forearm.
A resting elbow.
Upper arm,
Shoulder and armpit.
The whole left arm from shoulder to fingertips.
May this left arm rest.
And flowing from the armpit.
Down into the ribs on the left side,
The bones of the ribs.
The muscles between.
The fascia and tissues on the right,
Left side torso.
Into the waste.
And into the left hip joint,
This whole left hip joint.
May it rest.
Take awareness to the thigh,
The front and the back.
The left kneecap.
And back of knee.
Shin path.
Ankle.
Heel,
Sole of foot.
Arch of the foot.
The top of the foot out to the toes with all the small joints of the toes.
With all of the tiny bones that make up the left foot.
And the muscles and tissue,
Tendons,
Ligaments.
May this whole left foot rest.
And the whole left leg from hip to toe tip.
Nowhere to go.
No walking,
Running.
Moving of any kind,
May this left leg rest.
And the whole left side of the body.
Welcome to rest.
Take awareness to the tailbone on the back of the body and trace.
The length of the magnificent spine within the body.
All of the outward curves.
And the inward curves of the spine.
Tracing the spine up to the top of the head and back down.
Each curve of spine.
Holding intelligence.
This magnificent spine.
May it rest.
Take awareness to the buttocks and the whole backside of the torso.
May this whole backside of the torso rest.
Back of the neck welcomed into rest.
Back of the head and top of the head.
Forehead.
Eyebrows and eyes.
May these eyes receive rest.
There's nothing to see or study or take in through these eyes.
May they rest.
May the nose rest in a rhythm of a natural soft breath.
Both cheeks at rest.
The joints of the jaw.
Into the very heart of the jaw joint.
May the jaw.
Simply rest.
Out to the outer ears and inner ears.
No instructions to receive.
No sounds needed.
To be heard or paid attention to.
May these ears Rest.
And taking attention and awareness in through the ears to the very brain,
The very center of the brain.
And the whole brain.
And may this whole brain rest.
The whole face welcomed into rest.
The tongue inside the mouth.
The teeth and gums,
The whole inside of the mouth and the lips.
This whole face.
Welcome to rest.
Front of the neck.
And the chest.
And behind this chest,
The lungs and the heart.
No blood to be pumped excessively.
No heavy breathing required.
A natural,
Soft breath and a steady,
Resting flow of blood.
In this cardiovascular system.
May it rest.
May all the organs within rest.
And the bones of the torso.
Belly and the abdomen,
Lower back.
Into the pelvic bowl.
And the grind.
Made this whole body.
Simply rest.
From the skin down and through to the muscles.
And the bones.
And the connection between.
The ligaments and tendons.
May the fascia of this body rest.
May the fluids rest within this body.
May all of the tissues and fluids of this body rest.
And may each tiny cell of the trillions of cells that make up this physical body,
May they receive of welcoming.
In to rest.
On this rest day.
This whole body.
At rest.
And this practice continues.
As you welcome your attention back to witnessing the breath.
The breath breathing you.
Noticing the natural rhythm of breath.
Each exhale allow the body to become a little heavier.
Let your attention rest on the exhale.
Exhale and the body becomes heavier.
And shift your attention to the inhale.
With each inhale.
Imagining this body.
Light.
As light as air.
As light as a puff of smoke,
As though it could nearly float upwards,
Weightless.
Inhale the body.
As light as air.
And allow your awareness to pendulate between.
Sensing heaviness on the exhale.
And welcoming a lightness through the body and the inhale.
Exhale heavy.
Inhale,
Light.
Resting and receiving.
The power of rest.
And as this practice continues.
Inviting the eyes of the mind to come awake.
An inner seeing.
This does not necessarily mean visualizing.
But simply experiencing.
Experiencing the workout that brought you here to your resting.
Perhaps it was earlier today or yesterday or the previous day.
The exertion,
The strength,
The effort,
The energy.
Alive inside your body.
Right now.
Your previous workout alive within you.
Maybe you sense this physical power.
A kind of resource.
And shift your experience to this moment.
Here and now,
The body resting.
The body in a state and a space of non-doing.
And how would it be to sense the power in that?
Power of non-doing.
The power of allowing.
Power of recovery.
The power of rest.
The power of this workout and all workouts previous living inside this body.
While simultaneously experiencing the power of resting here and now.
Strength and softness.
Effort and ease.
Doing and non-doing.
Exertion and recovery.
Both belonging to you,
Both a part of the practice.
Begin a slow return towards listening.
Allow your listening to rest.
On the inside of the body,
In your inner world.
How does a rested body sound from the inside?
Simply listen.
How does a rested body sound on the inside?
And as this practice begins to circle back towards an ending.
A return to the breath,
Just as the exhale supported you in settling your body.
Tuning in to your inhale to support you in coming more awake.
Deepening your breath.
Hearing your breath.
Allowing your breath to become deeper.
Fuller.
Louder.
Your sense of touch coming awake.
Sensing this body,
A whole field of sensations.
Remembering through your sense of touch the support beneath you.
Sensing the deeper breaths moving through the body.
And perhaps inviting a little movement.
As your senses come awake.
With each inhale,
More energy.
Inhaling,
More wakefulness.
Gently returning to the whole body.
And maybe noticing inside the mouth the taste of rest within the mouth.
The taste of restfulness.
How does rest taste?
And with your next deeper breath,
Noticing the scents in the air.
Noticing if anything is familiar.
Anything subtle.
Allowing the sense of smell to come awake and then when you are ready.
Let your eyesight return.
Let the light in when the time feels right.
Moving slowly,
Returning gently.
Bringing with you whatever the body has received from this practice,
The power of rest.
The power of recovery.
As you return from this practice of rest on with your day,
Remembering.
Rest is not the absence of practice.
Rest is a part of the practice.
Returning is the practice and now this practice is complete.
Thank you for your practice today.
Thank you.
For your practice.
