Welcome,
My name is Natalie and today's yoga nidra practice is to cultivate some nurturing compassion and care for self.
As we practice cultivating more compassion and empathy for others in our lives,
We can do this by bringing it into our own practice and finding compassion and empathy for ourselves.
And in this way,
Through this practice of yoga nidra,
We can plant the seeds of compassion and empathy into the deeper layers of our consciousness.
Now you can choose a heart's intention or sankalpa to begin your practice today.
And following the theme of compassion and care for self,
This may sound something like I love myself,
May I be at peace,
Or I am enough.
You might even place your hands on your heart space and repeat some of these words to yourself a few times.
And now take a moment to let these words become an embodied feeling inside of you.
We'll begin our gentle journey through the layers of consciousness,
Starting with the body scan.
As you move your awareness through each part of your body,
Following my voice,
You can bring in a loving acceptance and some compassion for each part of your body.
If there are any parts of your body that feel difficult to love and accept,
Then just practice feeling neutral awareness for that part.
Over time,
The feelings of acceptance and love may become a little easier.
Begin at the point between your eyebrows,
The third eye center.
A gentle and loving awareness and acceptance for this part.
Let your awareness move down to your eyes,
Nose,
Cheeks,
Jaw,
Mouth,
Tongue,
Both shoulders,
Upper arms,
Elbows,
Forearms,
Wrists,
Both hands.
Sensing into all of your fingers and coming to the tips of your fingers.
Practicing a loving energy,
Feeling your hands.
Allow this soft acceptance and loving energy to flow through and fill your arms.
Gently move your attention down to the space in the middle of your rib cage,
The solar plexus.
Sensing into breath and the movement of your ribs.
Let your attention sense into the sides of your waist and your navel center,
Two inches or so below your navel.
Sensing the space around and within with a loving energy.
Gently move your awareness down through your pelvis.
Sensing into both hips,
Both thighs,
Knees,
Lower legs,
Ankles,
The tops of both feet,
The soles of the feet.
Sense all of your toes and the tips of the toes.
Now some compassion and loving kindness for your feet.
For your legs.
Slowly bring your awareness to the base of your tailbone and begin to feel your lower back,
The middle of your back,
Upper back,
The back of your neck,
The back of your head,
Both ears.
Let your loving awareness fill the top of your head.
And slowly let this awareness and nurturing compassion for self fill your entire physical body from the top of your head flowing down.
You allow your awareness to rest and land on your breath and you breathe self-compassion into every corner and into every part of your body.
Moving down through the layers,
Become aware of your emotions,
Feelings and thoughts.
Acknowledge any resistance that may be present for you.
Give these feelings of resistance,
Compassion and acceptance.
You may also invite in other feelings like patience,
Forgiveness,
Acceptance and if you're able to,
Love for yourself and who you are.
Begin to visualize an empty garden of only soil.
You start to kneel down and you place your hands on the earth to feel its grounding energy.
You begin to gently dig through the earth with your hands,
Moving around the soil,
Feeling its warmth,
Feeling its life.
And inside of your pocket,
A small package of seeds.
Each seed represents compassion,
Patience,
Self-acceptance and self-love.
As these seeds are planted and nurtured with water and sunlight,
They'll start to grow.
They'll become a resource for you,
But also something that is shared with others.
One by one,
Taking your time,
You sprinkle each seed into the earth and then cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil.
Feel a sense of trust that these seeds will grow within you and eventually blossom.
Let this trust be the water to nurture your garden.
And let this trust be the sunshine that shines down within you.
Visualizing the seeds within you eventually blossoming into beautiful flowers and nourishing food.
Allow any leftover images in your mind's eye to gently fade away.
Allow your attention to soften.
Allow yourself to rest completely.
From here,
You may allow yourself to gently drift into sleep.
Take a moment to acknowledge this practice that you experienced.
If it was challenging,
Offer yourself some compassion.
Thank you so much for being here with me today.
And may you give yourself care,
Love,
And rest.
