Good morning and welcome.
My name is Natalie and this is a yoga nidra practice to start your morning off with some peace and presence.
We'll begin this morning's practice with a slow breath in,
Filling up your body,
A soft breath out,
And a couple more breaths in this same way.
Notice as you fill up any sensations,
Notice how it feels to let out the breath,
Easy breath,
Soft breath,
And taking in another breath of presence,
Filling your body with a little more energy,
Waking up,
And out.
We'll begin this day and this practice with intention sankalpa.
This can be a phrase with an intention that you'd like to bring into your day or into your life and it could sound something like,
Today I am starting again,
Or today I listen to and am present with myself.
You can choose any heart's intention that resonates for you today and once you've chosen the words,
Say them to yourself a few times,
Really feeling them.
Now let go of this heart's intention with a sense of trust and begin to feel your body,
Feel the support beneath you.
Let yourself become still.
We'll move through a slow and gentle body scan,
Starting with the point right between both of your eyes,
Your eyebrows,
The third eye center.
You might sense this space or visualize light in between your eyes.
Allow this light to spread through and over both of your eyes,
A gentle energy of awakening and presence.
Down the bridge of your nose,
Sensing your breath in both nostrils.
Allow this light to light up the space behind your eyes and behind your nose,
Both cheeks,
Right shoulder,
Wrist,
Right hand,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger.
Sense your fingers,
Hand and right arm together.
Come back to the center of your chest,
Sensing this area around your heart space,
Imagining light.
Come over to your left shoulder,
Wrist,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Little finger.
Sense your fingers,
Left hand and arm.
Coming back to the center of your chest,
Allowing this light of a new day to radiate through the space of your heart.
Slowly moving down to your ribcage,
Down the sides of your waist,
Feeling inside of your body,
Your belly.
First toe.
Second toe.
Sense your toes,
Right foot and leg.
Back through your pelvis.
Ankle.
First toe.
Second toe.
Sense your toes.
Left foot.
Now sense both legs.
Both hips.
Sense your tailbone.
Visualize this light and this gentle energy of peace and presence starting at the tailbone and moving up through your spine,
Slowly bringing gentle energy of awakening.
Eventually coming up to your neck.
Take a moment to sense this connection from your tailbone to the base of your skull.
Every time you breathe in,
Allow your breath to travel from your tailbone up to the top of your head,
All the way to the top.
And the exhale comes back down.
Exhale moving down your body.
Allow your breathing to become softer.
Easy breath.
Allow your overall awareness of yourself to become a little softer.
Easy awareness.
Connect to your sense of imagination and imagine that you're sitting on a mountain overlooking the horizon just before dawn.
Notice the soft glow of the blue twilight around you in the peaceful blue hour.
You may notice the cool air and the sounds of the birds starting to sing their morning song.
As you look out towards the horizon,
You see the golden rays beginning to peek out above the horizon.
The dark clouds that once filled the sky above the horizon start to light up with different shades of pink and red.
With each breath you take,
The colors change and the sun fills the sky with light as it greets this brand new day.
Sitting here overlooking this beautiful sunrise,
You feel a sense of trust and inner knowing that no matter what has happened so far,
This day is a day to start new.
And a knowing that this peace and this presence starts right here,
Right now,
On this mountain within you,
Overlooking this horizon of your life and of your future.
Allow yourself to take a few more slower,
Deeper breaths,
Feeling each breath filling your body.
And whether you're choosing to begin moving through the rest of your day or taking more time to rest,
I'd like to thank you for being here and practicing with me today.
May you continue to practice for yourself and may peace be with you.
