Welcome to your yoga nidra session.
You can do this any time of the day to refresh or before bedtime to prepare for sleep.
So if you haven't yet,
Please find a place to lie down comfortably in a shavasana pose,
With arms just out to the side,
Away from the body,
Not touching the body,
Backs of the arms along the floor,
And legs out just a little wider than the hips.
You can lie in the bed or the floor on a rug or mat,
Ideally somewhere comfortable,
Cozy,
Somewhere you feel like you're safe and you can relax and be at ease.
And take a moment to set yourself up.
Make sure you can remain warm.
You might want to cover with a blanket or put on some socks.
Or if you're in a bright room,
You can place something light over the eyes.
And put a pillow or bolster support under your knees if your lower back or knees are feeling tender.
And you might want to place a thin pillow or blanket,
Something soft under your head.
Another option is that you could put a rolled up towel under your neck instead,
In which case you may not need the pillow.
Just make sure you feel really comfortable and you can stay here for a little while.
Now feel how nice it feels to set aside this time to relax.
Allow the body and mind to be at rest.
Nothing to think about,
Nothing to do for the next little while.
And now simply notice the breath.
Notice its quality.
See what it feels like as it enters and leaves the body.
Now take a deep breath in through the nose and on your exhale,
Release the jaw and open the mouth.
Release the breath with a voiced sigh.
Couple more like that.
Exhaling nose,
Exhaling mouth.
And relax the jaw.
You can wiggle it a little bit side to side.
Roll the head gently to one side.
And now the other.
Slowly gently.
Now back to center.
Inhale and draw the shoulders up towards the ears and exhale,
Roll the shoulders onto the back body.
Another like that.
Inhale,
Draw shoulders up towards the ears and exhale,
Roll the shoulders onto the back body.
On your next inhale,
Lift up both arms just about an inch or two off the floor or mat.
Make fists with the hands,
Engage the arms completely.
Another breath here.
Engage,
Engage,
Squeeze and on the exhale,
Release.
Drop the arms down.
You can roll the wrist a couple of times,
Both directions.
And find the back of the arms at rest on the bed or the mat.
Now commit to stillness in the arms.
On your next inhale,
Feel the chest and belly expand all directions and exhale at the end to higher front of the body soften.
Another deep inhale here.
Fill the belly like a balloon expanding in all directions.
As you exhale,
Just feel relief and softness.
Another couple like that.
On your next inhale,
Squeeze the buttocks,
Lift the buttocks and hips up.
Engage fully.
Another breath here.
Squeeze the buttocks,
You can squeeze,
Lift up the pelvic floor and as you exhale,
Release the butt completely onto the earth.
Soften the buttocks,
Soften the hips.
Soften the pelvic floor and perineum completely.
Another round of breath here to notice this softening effect.
And on your next inhale,
Flex the feet back towards the shin,
Activating the calf muscle.
And exhale,
Relax the calf muscle.
Relax the leg.
And on your next inhale,
Point the toes,
Really point,
Point,
Point,
Stretch out the foot.
And on your exhale,
Just release that.
And rock the feet side to side if you like.
Now let the legs be still and at rest.
Let the legs anchor the body in stillness.
Now set the intention to remain aware to what is happening alongside the intention to deeply release and relax awareness and relaxation.
The combination of these two states is the state of yoga nidra.
And now let's further tune into the breath.
Allow fresh energy to come in with the inhale.
Your next inhale,
Feel as if the breath is flowing up through the soles of the feet.
Allow the breath to bring you closer to the earth as you exhale.
A couple more like that.
Feel the breath flowing up the soles of the feet and the inhale.
And allow the breath to bring you closer to the earth as you exhale.
No,
Keeping with that.
As you inhale,
The breath flows up through the soles of the feet and let the breath travel up the back of the body.
And as you breathe out,
Let the breath travel the front of the body and out the soles of the feet.
We'll do this a few times more as you inhale,
Breath flows up through the soles of the feet,
Up the back of the body.
And as you exhale,
Let the breath travel the front of the body and out the soles of the feet.
And we'll do like that.
Prana.
Prana is the vital life force that exists within each of us independently of the body.
It exists within each of us and independently of the body.
We consciously breathe through different parts of the body and allow this powerful energy to enter and nourish us.
Just breathe and feel.
Let your awareness to roam and feel the different parts of the body touching the floor.
Feeling the lower part of the body very heavy and feel the earth coming up to support you completely.
Release to the sense of gravity and groundedness,
Becoming heavier and heavier,
Sinking into the earth below you.
And now we will begin to rotate the awareness through the body and simply be present to sensation.
So allow my words to help you rotate the awareness through the body and simply be present.
Bring your attention to the forehead.
The third eye point in between the eyebrows and slightly up.
Now to the top of your head.
Feel any sensations there.
They do not need to have shape or form.
There is perhaps a pulse or sensation present.
And sense a radiant sensation at the back of the head.
Now your eyes,
Your eyelids.
Simply note any feelings,
Sensations.
Your nose,
Cheeks,
The inside of your mouth,
Tongue,
Soft palate.
Even the teeth.
Relax.
Be present to the wetness inside of your mouth and a sense of softening.
Your jaw,
Release your jaw.
Be present with any energy.
Now into your mind,
Into your midbrain,
Experience sensation here.
Now your ears all the way into your ears.
Notice the sensation.
Notice any sounds coming in and out,
Any internal or external sounds.
Sounds have content and they also have energy.
Simply experience them now.
Notice what is present as you tune into your own internal architecture.
If you feel like you're falling asleep,
See if you can tune yourself into this experience of being awake and aware and also fully relaxed and devoid of the need to do anything other than feel and be present.
Now move the awareness down to the shoulders.
See how you can release some residual tension stored there in the part of the shoulders.
You're ready to let go anything stuck there.
See if you can release what you've been holding there on each exhale.
Now let the awareness travel to the chest,
The breasts,
The whole upper torso again.
Now awake to sensation in the torso,
The upper torso.
Down to the abdomen and abdominal organs,
Feeling any movement,
Subtle pulsations.
And down to the pelvis,
The pelvic floor,
Perineum,
Soften and note sensation.
Let the awareness travel to the front of the hips,
All sides of the hips,
Front,
Back,
Inside the hip joint.
And the buttocks release what you've been holding there,
Deep,
Deep residual tension in the hips.
Release it now.
Now down the legs,
Front,
Back,
Sides of the legs,
All the way down to the feet.
Soles of the feet,
Top of the feet,
Toes,
Pulsing sensation.
What are you present to right now?
And now the whole left side,
Now the whole right side.
Now let both sides come together,
Feeling whole and complete.
Right now in this moment,
Whole and complete.
Notice sensation,
Notice the breath as sensation,
Naturally flowing into and out of the body.
You are the observer of these sense experiences.
Simply be awake and alive to presence,
That knowing presence that inhabits the body,
That experiences itself as sensation,
Emotion,
Thought.
It's actually free and creative amongst this experience.
Just be awake and alive to this experience as you rest in presence.
With the breath,
With the sensation of being embodied,
Simply let any thoughts flow,
Feelings flow.
I'll give you four minutes of absolute silence to be with this sense of flow,
Flowing sensation,
Flow of feelings,
Flow of awareness.
Emotional.
.
.
.
Now,
Return to the experience of breath.
Inhale the next breath into the belly and let the belly drop on the exhale.
Two more like that with an emphasis on the inhale to awaken the body.
Now the next few breaths,
Feel as if you are breathing through the soles of the feet,
Up the back of the body and exhale the breath down the front of the body and out the soles of the feet.
Feel free to sigh the breath out.
It is ideal to come out of the state of yoga nidra slowly and gently.
So keeping the eyes closed,
Continue to inhale and exhale deeply.
When you're ready,
You can slowly move the toes,
Fingers,
Legs and arms.
And just gently,
Barely roll the head side to side.
Once you're ready,
Roll your whole body to one side and take a few breaths there,
Welcoming any thoughts that come to mind,
Any sensations present in the body.
Simply allow whatever is there to be there.
Just be with this refreshed state for a moment.
And as you're ready,
You can make your way to a seated position very slowly,
Place hands together at the heart or continue to lie down where you are.
You can drift off into a nap or sleep.
If you're sitting up and going into your day,
Just take a moment to thank yourself for your practice today.
Enjoy this sense of ease.
And I'd like to encourage you to keep returning to the breath,
Deepening,
Elongating the breath,
Expanding the belly like a balloon in moments throughout the rest of your day.
