Welcome,
My name is Natalie and tonight I'm going to guide you through a yoga nidra practice to give you a good night's rest and hopefully some sweet dreams as well.
Take a moment to get comfortable,
Allow your body to sink into stillness and take a slow breath into your body,
Filling up,
And a soft long breath out.
Another slow breath in,
Taking in every part of your day,
And softly letting go of your day.
Allow your attention to rest on your body,
Sensing your body in this comfortable space,
And perhaps noticing the bed beneath you,
Or the blankets,
Pillows,
And notice if your body is carrying any tension at all.
Yoga nidra can give us rest,
And it can also help us and guide us to soften the tension that we carry in our body.
As we begin this practice into sleep,
I invite you to bring forward a heart's intention using a positive and present statement,
And it could sound something like,
I am relaxing my body,
Or I am falling into a deep and nurturing sleep.
Take a moment to connect with your intention,
And then say it to yourself three times quietly,
And after you've said this intention,
Take a moment to really feel it and embody it.
And now we'll move through a body scan,
And as we move through each part,
You can imagine a sense of softening and letting go in each part of your body.
Begin to sense the top of your head,
And slowly,
Gradually move your attention down your forehead.
Sense both eyebrows,
Both eyes,
Cheeks,
Tip of your tongue,
The back of your tongue,
Moving slowly down into your throat,
Sensing your neck,
Right shoulder,
Upper arm,
Palm of your finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Little finger,
And together,
Sense your right arm,
Hand and fingers.
Sense the right side of your chest,
The center of your chest,
Left side chest,
Left shoulder,
Upper arm,
Palm of your left hand,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
And sense your fingers,
Hand and left arm,
Chest,
Ribcage,
Both sides of your waist,
Pelvis,
Sole of your foot,
The top of your foot,
First toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
And connect to and sense your toes,
Right foot and leg,
Pelvis,
Ankle,
Sole of your left foot,
Top of your foot,
First toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Sense your toes and leg all together.
Rest your attention on your tailbone,
Moving your attention up the length of your spine,
Sensing your lower back,
The middle of your back,
Sense the back of your neck,
The back of your head,
The top of your head,
And begin to sense your whole body breathing,
Sensing into this natural rhythm and this soft breath.
Each inhale nourishes your body with exactly what you need in this moment at this time.
Every exhale helps you to let go and to deepen into this state of rest,
Rest being the pathway towards deep sleep.
Begin to imagine the velvety blackness of the night sky,
And in this darkness,
A gentle silver glow and a river of stars that stretch across the sky.
Like a mystery,
It illuminates wonder and it fills your vision to the edge of each peripheral.
Looking around at all of the constellations,
You also see the red glow of Mars,
The green glow of Venus,
And the orange glow of Jupiter.
Above you,
The pearlescent glow of the North Star shines as a guide,
And down below,
Close to the horizon,
You see a crescent moon of deep red.
It slowly descends the sky and takes its last breath for the night before it dips down into the deep blue of the ocean.
All around you,
A dark and peaceful ocean,
The warm waves wash gently over your feet as you watch the night sky and the rippling glow of the universe reflects on the surface of the water.
With each wave,
The blue and green sparkles of the phosphorescence cascades and twirls like it's dancing through the dark water.
You can savor this moment of awe and magic,
This moment of oneness and of presence.
Not too far away,
The warmth of your cozy bed awaits in a quiet and peaceful place.
You clean the sand from your feet and tuck yourself warm into your bed,
And as you pull the blankets over you,
You peek out at the stars just outside your window and savor that connection that you felt tonight,
And you let your head settle into the pillow and let the blankets settle over your body,
Taking a few present soft breaths.
Each exhale sends a ripple of sleepiness and softness through your body,
And you notice the support beneath you and you release the last few places of tension,
Like clouds covering the starry night,
You feel sleep floating towards you as you float into peace.
Your eyes feel a little heavier and your mind restful,
Your heart at peace,
Sinking down into the depths and into the ocean of your consciousness.
The world of dreams carries you along its river of stars towards eternal bliss,
An effortless ride,
Slowly,
Peacefully,
Let it take you there.
