Today's yoga nidra practice can be used at any time to help bolster our resilience to the stresses of life.
Resilience is our ability to recover,
To bounce back after challenging times,
To experience stressful events and situations and come out of the other side.
It's our ability to cope when the winds of life blow us off course.
Towards the end of the yoga nidra I will read a short poem by Lileshuri or Lal Ded,
A 14th century Kashmiri mystic poet.
So now is the time to gather everything you might need.
Perhaps warm socks,
A pillow,
A blanket or duvet,
Maybe a bolster or some cushions for beneath the knees.
You might like to lie on the floor,
The sofa or the bed or maybe somewhere outside.
Yoga nidra is a practice of yogic sleep.
It can be practiced at any time of the day.
It's a guided relaxation that might put you on the border between being awake and being asleep.
A place where you can rest deeply and get all kinds of benefits like creativity and stress relief.
There will be short periods of silence for you to have your own experience and let go into the practice.
Although it's called yogic sleep,
The intention isn't always to actually go to sleep.
We're hoping to surf the interface between waking and sleeping.
If you do fall asleep then that's perfectly alright.
It might just be that that's what you really need more than anything else right now.
Know that there's no way to do this practice wrong.
There isn't anything to be done.
Just to be here resting the body and the mind is more than enough.
You'll find that thoughts will come and go.
Just allow that to happen.
Seeing if you can step back from the thoughts and guide your awareness back to the practice and back to the sound of my voice.
There might be times when you're very aware of the words that I'm saying and other times when my voice is just a murmur in the background.
So the first part of the practice is to get really comfortable.
That might mean lying on the back or on the side if you prefer that.
If you're lying on the back I recommend having a pillow beneath the head and a bolster or some cushions beneath the knees which just allows the lower back to settle.
Just making any last minute adjustments now and then inviting stillness to settle in over the body.
And the invitation is to close the eyes.
And letting there be a welcome now for any sounds that can be heard.
Or if there aren't any sounds then just welcoming the silence.
Perhaps you can hear sounds from far away outside the space where you are right now.
Perhaps sounds from inside the room.
Sounds from within the body.
The sound of the breath.
Noticing all of the sounds without any labelling or judging.
Just noticing.
And feeling the touch of air upon the skin.
Noticing the texture and the temperature of the air upon the skin.
And feeling all of the places now where the body is held and supported by the earth beneath.
And each exhale now breathing down through all of those points of contact.
As if you might give away the whole weight of the body down to the earth below.
We will use an intention in this practice,
What we call a sankalpa.
An intention in yoga nidra is a wish for something positive in your life or a statement of your values and how you want to live.
You might wish to choose a sankalpa around resilience.
Something like I quickly adapt to change or I am strong and capable.
If this doesn't resonate with you then you can just spend the time relaxing and breathing.
If you want a sankalpa but nothing's coming at the moment you can spend the time listening inwards for your intention to arise.
But if you have your sankalpa it's best phrased in the present tense as if it's already happening and repeating it three times in the mind.
And then gently letting that go.
Next we will allow our awareness to travel around different parts of the body.
We don't need to move that part or do anything other than allow our awareness to rest there.
You might just focus on the different body parts or you might like to imagine that you could somehow place resilience around all of the parts of the body.
So beginning at the point between the eyebrows,
Imagining that you could place resilience at the point between the eyebrows.
A little hollow at the base of the throat.
Resilience at the right shoulder.
The right elbow.
The wrist.
Resilience at the right hand thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
Middle finger.
The wrist.
The elbow.
The shoulder.
And back to the base of the throat.
Placing resilience at the left shoulder.
The elbow.
The wrist.
The left hand thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
And little finger.
Going back up through the wrist.
The elbow.
The shoulder.
And the base of the throat.
Placing resilience at the heart centre.
The left side of the chest.
The right side of the chest.
Resilience at the navel.
The centre of the pelvis.
The right hip.
The right knee.
The ankle.
The right big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
And the little toe.
Moving back up through the ankle.
The knee.
The hip.
And centre of the pelvis.
The left hip.
The knee.
The ankle.
The left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
And the little toe.
The ankle.
The knee.
The hip.
The centre of the pelvis.
The navel.
The heart centre.
The base of the throat.
The eyebrow centre.
Resilience infusing the whole body.
The whole body.
The whole body filled with resilience.
Inviting the awareness now to rest upon the breath.
Just observing the natural rhythm of the breath as it moves in and out of the body.
Feeling the breath coming in.
And the breath going out.
Noticing now the turning points of the breath.
The top of the inhale.
And the little pause at the end of the exhale.
And now noticing the whole cycle of the breath.
The inhale.
The pause at the top of the inhale.
The exhale.
And the pause at the end of the exhale.
And then gently letting that go.
Imagine now that with every inhale we could fill the body with resilience.
So much so that it radiates out beyond the boundaries of the body.
And with every exhale gathering up that resilience into a single point at the navel.
And alternating between these two states now with every breath.
So inhaling,
Radiating the resilience out to fill the whole body,
Even beyond the body.
And then exhaling,
Gathering the resilience up to that single tiny point at the navel.
And then seeing if it's possible to hold both those two states in our awareness at the same time.
Feeling full of resilience,
Radiating,
And expansive at the same time as gathering the resilience in,
Feeling concentrated and contained.
And then letting all of that gently go.
Resilience to stand in the path of lightning.
Resilience to walk when darkness falls at noon.
Resilience to grind yourself fine in the turning mill.
Resilience will come to you.
And then gently guiding the awareness to the heart center,
Bringing to mind the San Calpa or intention that you set at the beginning of the practice.
Repeating it yourself three times in the present tense as if it's already happening.
And if you don't yet have a San Calpa,
Then just enjoy relaxing and breathing.
And then gently letting that intention go.
And having a sense of the whole physical body lying here.
Just allowing any sounds that can be heard just to come to the ears without any judging or labeling.
Perhaps you notice the sound of the breath or other sounds from within the body.
Perhaps some sounds from inside the room.
And perhaps you can hear sounds from further away outside the room.
Having the touch of the air upon the skin,
Perhaps noticing the warmth of the body beneath any covers or clothing.
And starting to take a deeper breath now,
A deeper in-breath.
Bringing some gentle movement to the fingers and the toes.
Just gently starting to wake the body back up.
Seeing any movement or stretch that feels delightful right now.
And in your own time,
Opening the eyes and making your way up to a seated position.
So this practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Thank you for listening.
