Hello everyone,
My name is Michelle Sutherland and I welcome you to today's practice.
Today's practice is yoga nidra,
Which means yogic sleep.
It is a practice of deep meditation and relaxation.
It is very beneficial for people with busy minds,
Busy lives,
In a very busy world.
This is an opportunity to completely relax and to give your mind and body some rest.
So let's set up for this practice.
Please find a comfortable position,
Preferably on the floor or in the bed.
Make sure your phone is off for the next 20 to 30 minutes.
We'll be together.
Find a comfortable position in savasana.
Make sure your feet are hip width apart and your palms are facing up the way.
You may want a pillow just underneath your knees or a bolster and for your head just perhaps have a blanket just folded over once just to give you a little bit of elevation.
It could be a small pillow as well,
But just a little bit of elevation in your head.
Make sure that you're warm enough as well.
You may want to get a blanket or a shawl or something just to cover you because the body temperature can drop when you do this practice.
So please make sure you just cover yourself,
Tuck yourself in and just become super,
Super comfortable.
And firstly,
Let's just bring awareness to the breath.
Notice that you're breathing and just take a few gentle inhales and exhales through your nose.
No,
Let's take a full deep inhale together.
When the breath is filled,
Seal the lips,
Hold the breath and now your mouth and release with that.
And let's take a full breath in again.
Seal the lips,
Hold the breath.
This time squeezing all the muscles of the entire body,
Your fists,
Curl the toes,
The muscles,
The arms,
The legs,
The core,
Chest,
Abdomen,
Scrunch your face up,
Squeeze all the muscles,
Open your mouth and let it go.
And again,
Full breath in,
Seal the lips,
Squeeze all the muscles,
Hands,
Arms,
Feet,
Legs,
Core,
Chest,
All the muscles of your back,
Neck muscles,
Scrunch the face and then let it go.
Now just breathing gently.
Every breath just simply let go and relax.
Imagine that you're a pool of water just expanding out onto the floor.
Feel the contact of your back on the floor and just feel that expansion.
Now let's bring your awareness to the dimension of sound.
Let's activate your hearing.
Let's go outside of the room,
Farthest away that you can hear,
Listening for the sounds that are loudest and the farthest away.
Notice each sound and just pay attention to that sound and then just let it go.
And then move on to another side.
Really explore that outer space.
Moving consistently from sound to sound.
There is no need to judge the sound or decide if it's good or bad or unpleasant or pleasant.
Just listen.
This is pure active listening.
Just hear the sound.
That is enough.
Now let's bring your awareness closer to yourself.
Perhaps come back into the room or the area that you're in and pay attention to the more subtle signs.
Perhaps discover your own personal signs.
It could be the gentle ringing in your ears,
Your heart beating,
The blood moving through your veins.
Perhaps you can hear the sound of your own breath.
Stress your attention here.
Let's bring attention to the sound of your own breath.
Just rest here for a moment.
Now just letting that go,
We are going to bring awareness and attention to the physical body.
So starting with the right hand side of your body,
Just bring attention to your right hand thumb.
Bring all the attention to your right hand thumb.
Let's move this attention through the body.
Move it to the index finger,
The middle finger,
Ring finger,
The middle finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
The right side of the chest,
The waist,
The hip,
The thigh,
The knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Entire sole of the right foot,
The top of the right foot,
Your right leg,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
The whole right side of the body.
Pay attention to the whole right side of the body.
Now let's move to the left hand side.
Bring all your attention to the left hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
The palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
The wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left side of the chest,
Waist,
The hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
The sole of the left foot,
The top of the foot,
The left big toe,
The second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
The whole left side of the body,
The whole left side of the body.
Now let's bring our attention to the back of the body.
Bring your attention to the right heel,
The left heel,
Right calf,
Left calf,
Back of the right knee,
Back of the left knee,
Back of the right thigh,
Back of the left thigh,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
The spinal column from tailbone all the way to midbrain,
Midbrain all the way back to tailbone,
Lower back,
Middle back,
Upper back,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
And all the space between,
Back of neck and the back of the head.
Now let's bring our attention to the front of the body.
Let's start at the top of the head,
The forehead,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
The eyebrow center,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
The bridge of the nose,
Tip of the nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Both nostrils,
The whole nose,
The upper lip,
The lower lip,
Line where lips meet,
Both lips together,
Teeth,
Tongue,
Gums,
Whole mouth,
Right side of jaw,
Left side of jaw,
Chin,
Front of neck,
Throat,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Right side of chest,
Left side of chest,
Your heart center,
Upper abdomen,
Lower abdomen,
Navel center,
Right side of pelvis,
Left side of pelvis,
Pelvic floor,
Whole pelvic area.
Now let's bring attention to the whole right leg and foot,
The whole left leg and foot,
Both legs and feet together,
Whole right arm and hand,
Whole left arm and hand,
Both arms and hands together,
Whole torso,
Neck and head,
Torso,
Neck and head together,
Whole right side,
Whole left side,
Whole back,
Whole front,
Whole body together,
Whole body together.
Now let's bring our awareness to our breath and the abdomen.
Just watch as the belly rises and falls with each inhale and exhale.
We're simply going to breathe in and out for 20 counts and paying attention to the belly button as it falls and rises.
So let's start off at 20 and just count down to zero.
Let's begin.
Okay.
Make sure to stay awake,
Stay committed to the practice.
Observe the rise and fall of the breath and the belly button.
If you've lost count from 20,
That's okay.
Just return back to 20 and count down to zero.
Now wherever you are in the practice,
Just let go of your breath.
Let go of this count.
Guide your attention now towards the nostrils.
Observing the breath firstly at the tip of the nostrils.
Just noticing that subtle touch as the breath enters and exits the tip of the nostrils.
Perhaps you can feel the difference in temperature as you inhale and exhale.
Let's bring a count to this practice.
Let's start from 10 with full inhale and exhale breaths,
Really focusing the breath at the nostrils.
Staying awake,
Staying committed to this practice,
Continue to observe the breath at the nostrils.
Inhale and exhale.
If you've lost track or lose track,
Just return back to 10 counts and make your way to zero.
Now wherever you are with this count,
Just let it go.
With any effort with your breath at the nostrils,
Just let it all go.
Keep the awareness internal to yourself,
Allowing the mind to be at rest.
There is nothing to do,
Nowhere to be.
Allow your awareness simply to rest.
RIong.
Let's gently bring the attention back towards the breath now.
Observing the touch of the inhale and exhale.
See if you can feel the sensation of air upon your skin,
Whether that's the body,
The face.
And feel the weight of your body on the floor.
Feel the blanket or shawl that's covering you.
Trace a line around the perimeter of your body,
Really becoming aware of the outline of the body and the position of your body in the room.
See if you can hear the sound of your own breath.
See if you can hear any other signs in the room.
Start to become aware of the signs outside the room,
The signs of the day.
Remembering where you are and remembering what time it is.
Knowing that you have been practicing yoga nidra and the practice is now coming to an end.
Bring awareness to your breath and take a deep inhale.
Breathing awareness into your arms,
Legs,
Hands,
Feet,
Fingers and toes.
The next time you take a breath,
Just start to wiggle your fingers and toes.
Have a little stretch and then gently roll onto your right side.
Taking as long as you need.
Whenever you feel ready,
Slowly come up to sitting.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
Let's all take our hands to our heart center and bow in gratitude and grace and honoring this traditional yogic practice.
And also honoring ourselves for taking the time to be here,
Fully here,
Present in the moment.
And giving yourself this time to meditate and relax.
Haryu untat sat.
