Welcome,
Welcome,
Welcome to this practice of Yoga Nidra.
Take some time to find your place of deepest comfort,
Your Nidra nest,
And depending on how many blankets or pillows you have around you,
A low support for your neck,
Or put a bolster underneath your knees,
Anything you need to really be as comfortable as possible as we prepare for practice.
And if you have an extra blanket,
It's always lovely to place the blanket on top of you and tuck it in around the edges of the body and over the feet to really give a sense of containment,
A little cocoon for yourself.
Lie with your arms by your side or gently on your belly,
With your feet falling ever so slightly apart,
Everything beginning to let go into comfort.
And this really is the only requirement of the practice of Yoga Nidra,
Is to be as comfortable as you possibly can.
Let go of all judgement,
All expectation.
Just simply arrive in the present moment and when you feel you've reached your place of deepest comfort,
Perhaps ask yourself if there's anything you can do to make yourself just that little bit more comfortable.
And take the invitation to close your eyes or lower your gaze and just arrive into this moment and allow yourself to be just as you are,
Knowing you are so very,
Very welcome,
Just the way you are.
Make a resolve to stay awake through this practice,
But if at any point your body wants to go to sleep,
Don't fight it,
Just do whatever your body needs today.
Trust yourself and just allow the process to happen.
I'll be guiding you through practice with my voice and I'll bring you back to everyday awareness at the end,
But again if at any point you want to let go of my voice,
Just trust yourself.
And likewise if you want to let go of any invitation to visualisation that's made through practice,
You know what's best for you.
Your body knows best.
And remember there's no right way to do nidra.
You don't need to know anything beforehand,
Just be present.
And again just let go of all judgement and all expectation.
And just trust yourself in this practice,
Your practice.
Take what you need and leave what you don't.
Remember you can't get this wrong.
You are giving yourself an incredibly precious gift by making this time for yourself the very best self-care for both your body and your mind.
A chance for you to enter a state of deep rest,
To restore and rejuvenate.
And all you need to do is simply be.
So now gently enter stillness,
As much stillness as your body can give today.
There's nothing for you to do.
Just to be here is enough.
Nowhere to go,
Nowhere to be,
No one to tend to other than yourself.
Nothing or no one else needing your energy or your attention.
You can just let go.
Let go of all the thinking and the doing and instead invite a sense of feeling and being.
And begin to feel the weight of your body start to sink into the ground knowing you are completely supported and completely held.
Yield to the ground and take your rightful space to rest.
Allow your muscles to relax,
Your face to soften,
Your eyebrows softening,
Your eyelids softening,
Your eyes relaxing back into their sockets,
Your temples letting go of all tension,
Your jaw becoming soft,
Your teeth and your tongue relaxing.
Everything letting go.
Just feel your shoulders release as the weight of your world is put down for this time.
Your chest gently opening with a sense of soft release,
Your belly free and easy,
All tension gone,
No more holding on.
Feel your hips opening as you sink deeper still into the ground beneath you,
Your legs relaxing,
Letting go of all tension,
All the way down to the very tips of your toes,
Everything letting go.
And now fill your belly with a deep breath in through your nose,
Take a little more air into your chest and now hold your breath for one,
Two and then sigh it out through the mouth and just let it go.
Breathing deeply into your belly again,
Feeling it rise on the inhale,
Take a little more air into your chest and holding for one,
Two,
Sigh it out and let it go.
Continue in your own time with your own breath,
Knowing every breath carries the whole of life itself.
Letting the breath soften now,
Moving back into a more natural rhythm,
No stress or control on the inhale or the exhale.
Just let the breath be,
Inhaling and exhaling effortlessly through your nose.
And bring your attention to your breath,
Observe and notice the sensations inside the body as you take in this beautiful fresh air,
Filling your body,
Your whole body,
Everything to nourish your body,
Your whole body,
Your beautiful whole body.
And on the exhale notice how everything softens that little bit more,
Your muscles losing their grip on your bones,
Your tissues and fascia relaxing into space,
Everything letting go,
Tensions dissolving away.
And notice perhaps coolness in the air as you inhale and maybe a warmth on the exhale as the air leaves your body through your nose.
Breathe in from the ocean of air that surrounds you and exhaling let it go.
Become aware of what's going on inside your body,
Notice any space where perhaps energy feels a little blocked or maybe there's still a little tension and breathe into that space,
Breathe into each and every space within.
Notice the breath itself as sensation,
A wonderful vibrant sensation.
Notice how your breath has a continuous cycle like the sea with its waves rolling in and rolling out,
Always flowing with no effort needed,
The body breathing itself.
Become aware of your body lying here in this space without opening your eyes or lifting your gaze,
Bring into your mind's eye the space that your body is lying in,
See through your mind's eye the walls,
The door,
Windows perhaps,
Just observe yourself in this space,
This safe and peaceful space.
And begin to notice the sounds around you,
They might be sounds from the external world,
Maybe the sound of traffic or the ticking of a clock,
Or perhaps you hear the sound of your own breath inside your body moving effortlessly in and out of your body with ease.
Without any judgement just be aware of the sounds that are all around you,
Just curious and just observe.
Now,
Notice the sensations of your blankets on your body,
Your clothes,
Those places where the air lightly touches your body and the places which are all wrapped up,
Cocooned in your knee to your nest.
Again,
Without any engagement just observe with a sense of curiosity.
Take an invitation now to come to your centre of wellbeing within your body and feel where this resonates within your body.
Azraya,
Your sacred sanctuary within,
The centre of yourself,
Perhaps it's your belly or your heart centre.
Trust yourself where you feel this to be,
Your centre,
Your home within yourself,
Your centre of wellbeing.
And breathe into this space,
Opening up your centre of wellbeing with your breath.
And know this is a safe place,
A pure space,
Somewhere you can go back to at any time during this practice.
And notice in this space a beautiful golden light,
A pulsing warm light,
Alive and vibrant,
Radiant,
Your resource of the infinite.
And breathe into this space,
Breathe into your light.
And now I'd like to invite you to meet your Sancalpa.
The word Sancalpa comes from San meaning our connection with our highest truth and Calpa meaning vow.
Our Sancalpa is very personal,
Something only we can connect with and recognise within ourselves.
But when we feel it,
We know it.
It's our deepest heartfelt desire,
Our life purpose,
That which matters the most.
Take some time now to allow your Sancalpa to present itself to you.
What resonates deeply for you?
How do you want to live your one wild and precious life?
What attribute do you want to cultivate for that?
In the space that follows,
Be patient and trust whatever unfolds.
And when you feel your Sancalpa rise within you,
Connect with it.
Welcome it into every cell of your being.
Really feel it and embody it with every sense.
Creating a short positive statement that encapsulates your Sancalpa in the present tense and starting with the words I am,
Repeat it silently to yourself three times.
And if nothing comes today,
Maybe just stay with your centre of wellbeing,
Your home within yourself,
Honouring that place which you know to be your true source within.
And allow yourself to rest in this feeling of completeness,
Resting in this feeling of wholeness.
Now return to your centre of wellbeing,
Your home within yourself,
Wherever you resonate that to be.
See your golden light in that space.
Your steadfast golden light,
Always there for you.
We'll now go around the body naming different points and I invite you to take your light to each place,
Illuminating and sending its infinite abundance to each and every place around your body.
Place your full awareness of your light on each place,
Starting at the right hand thumb,
The very tip of your right hand thumb.
See your beautiful golden light ever so gently and delicately illuminate the very tip of your right hand thumb.
And then on your first finger,
Second finger,
Third finger and little finger,
Your thumb and fingers together.
Then see your light drop ever so gently into the palm of your hand,
The back of your hand,
Your right wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
The right side of your torso,
Your right hip,
Thigh,
Knee and the space at the back of the knee,
Lower leg,
Right ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
The very tip of your right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and little toe.
All your toes together.
Feel the entire right side of your body fully connected,
The entire right side of your body fully aware.
Now bring your attention to your left hand and see your beautiful golden light gently drop onto the very tip of your left hand thumb,
Illuminating,
Radiating onto your first finger,
Second finger,
Third finger and little finger,
Your thumb and fingers together.
The palm of your hand,
Back of your hand,
Your left wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
The left side of your torso,
Your left hip,
Thigh,
Knee and the space at the back of the knee,
Lower leg,
Left ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
The very tip of your left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and little toe.
All your toes together.
See your golden light illuminate the entire left side of your body.
Feel the entire left side of your body fully connected,
The entire left side of your body fully aware.
Now take your attention to the soles of your feet.
See your light illuminate the soles of your feet with your mind's eye and now the heels,
Your calves,
The backs of your knees,
Your hamstrings,
Glutes,
Your lower back,
Middle back,
Shoulder blades,
All the way to your neck,
The back of your head,
All the way to the crown of your head.
Feel your light soar up the entire back of your body to the very,
Very top and then drop down onto your forehead,
Radiant and luminous,
Everything softening and unfolding.
Your beautiful warming light falling gently onto your right eyebrow,
Your left eyebrow,
Your right eye,
Your left eye and the space between your eyebrows.
Everything soft and spacious.
The light shining brightly now on your right ear,
Your left ear,
Your right cheek,
Your left cheek,
Your nose and the very tip of your nose,
Your lower lip,
Your upper lip,
Both lips together,
Your chin,
Your throat,
Your right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
The right side of your chest,
The left side of your chest,
Your right groin,
Your left groin,
The whole of your right leg,
The whole of your left leg,
Both legs at the same time,
Both legs together,
The whole of your right arm,
The whole of your left arm,
Both arms at the same time,
Both arms together,
The whole of your back,
The whole of your front,
The whole of your back and front together,
The whole body together,
Inside,
Outside,
To the left,
The right,
The back,
The front,
Everything radiantly shining,
The whole body together,
The whole body together at ease.
With your mind's eye,
Move your attention around inside your body,
However you'd like,
For every inch of your body,
Every muscle,
Tissue and cell.
Maybe you do this with big,
Sweeping movements,
Or with smaller,
More curious exploration.
Perhaps you move your attention from the left of your body to the right,
Or from the front to the back.
However you move your attention around your body,
Be curious without engagement,
Just observe.
Start to breathe into your body from the left side,
Breathing out to the right.
Your entire left side of your body fills up with air,
And then exhaling,
Let everything go from the right side of your body.
In and out.
In and out.
And now switch so your inhale comes from the right side of your body,
And then exhaling,
You just let it go through the left.
Inhale and fill the entire right side of your body with air,
Letting everything go through the left.
In and out.
In and out.
Feel the inhale and the exhale through both sides of your body.
In and out in perfect balance,
In perfect alignment.
A continual cycle of breath.
Now start to feel a sense of emptiness,
Of there being nothing inside the body or out.
Completely empty.
And then have a sense of fullness,
Of completeness,
Of being completely and utterly full.
And move between these states of feeling complete emptiness and then complete fullness.
Fullness and then emptiness.
Now hold both together in your mind's eye.
Emptiness and fullness together.
Fullness and emptiness together.
Begin to notice those parts of your body which are connected to the floor and those which are not.
Sense your legs connecting to the floor and being supported by the floor.
And then the little space behind your knee.
Your buttocks and the little space at the top of the thigh.
Your back long and flat on the floor.
And the little space at the small of your back,
Lifted ever so slightly from the floor.
Your head heavy and rested and the space at the back of your neck.
Just observe becoming aware of your body lying here in this space and the space that your body is in.
In your mind's eye see a single drop of water.
One single drop.
And watch as this single drop of water lands in a small stream that's flowing just in front of you.
One single drop.
Landing ever so gently in the small stream before you.
Connecting and flowing now as part of the stream.
You see further ahead that the stream connects to a river,
A wider expanse of water moving and flowing effortlessly.
Finding its way wherever their space and filling the space with ease.
Nothing stopping the water from flowing as it eases its way around and through any obstacle in its way.
Simply flowing,
Effortlessly flowing.
You see along the riverbank that the water's open further still,
Now into the ocean.
A vast expanse of water.
Calm and peaceful as far as the eye can see.
Your one drop of water now part of the unbounded,
Endless and abundant sea.
And like this one drop of water,
Know that you too are interconnected with the unbounded,
Endless abundance of life.
You are not a single drop in the ocean.
You are the entire ocean in one single drop.
Sense an invitation for you to step into the sea.
Feel how warm and soothing the waters are on your feet and your legs as you walk in from the softest of sand.
Perhaps you choose to stay in the shallows or allow yourself to walk in further and leaning back,
Float gently off into the clear,
Warm blue waters,
Allowing yourself to be held by the sea.
And relax here,
Knowing you are being held,
Knowing you are being nourished,
Cleansed and healed by the waters of the sea.
Your sea of infinite abundance,
Of all there is.
And remember abundance isn't anything to acquire or achieve.
It's something we tune into,
Something we can dive into.
Abundance is always there.
And the easiest way we can access abundance is when we notice and give thanks for all the wonderful things we already have in our lives.
So rest now in your own abundance and your gratitude for all the gifts of your life.
Bringing your attention now to the space between your eyes,
I'm going to name a few images and as they're named try to visualise them.
If you can't,
Don't worry and again if there's anything suggested which doesn't sit well with you,
Just trust yourself to focus on what's right for you today.
With your awareness on the space between your eyes,
Imagine gentle waves of the sea.
The tide flowing effortlessly in and out.
Billowing clouds in the sky.
A white rose.
The blue sky of a sunny morning.
A peaceful dark night lit up with moonlight and stars.
A white sandy beach.
A field of vibrant wild flowers.
The drizzling rain.
Candlelight from a single flame.
A mountain stream.
A red butterfly.
A single drop of water falling from a leaf.
A garden full of flowers.
The rising sun.
A sailing boat.
A verdant green forest with tall trees.
The sound of a bell ringing.
A large lake.
A summer's day.
A high mountain with snow-capped peaks.
A beautiful sunset.
A single pebble being dropped into a still pool of water.
A carpet of autumn leaves.
A stormy night.
A sunflower.
A waterfall.
A full moon.
A single stag on the moor.
A field of lavender.
A quiet space to call your own.
Now return to your experience of yourself in this moment,
Here and now,
To this breath.
Notice all your senses dissolve in the complete inner silence.
The boundaries of your being melting into pure awareness.
Be the observer of all that is unfolding within you.
Resting here as pure awareness in the freedom of simply being.
May today there be peace within.
May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.
May you use the gifts that you have received and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content with yourself just the way you are.
And as you lay in this state of grace,
Remember to follow your own inner wisdom.
Your own inner truth.
Your own inner bliss.
Take a moment now to be grateful for having given yourself this time.
This time for deep rest.
And be grateful for your incredible body.
Be grateful for its innate ability to rest and renew all by itself.
I'm returning now to our sankalpa,
Our heartfelt desire.
That which matters the most.
Repeat your statement again three times,
Silently to yourself.
And really embody your intention.
Your deepest heartfelt desire.
Recognising what a gift it is to feel this quality.
A full embodiment of this quality.
And remember you can always return to this feeling whenever you want,
Just through your awareness to breath.
Drawing your attention back to your breath again,
Notice it flowing through your nostrils with ease.
Breathing softly,
Rhythmically and naturally.
Feel your floating back to everyday awareness.
And emerging to the surface of everyday awareness.
Take another long inhale through your nose,
Filling your whole body with beautiful fresh air.
And exhaling,
Sigh it out through your mouth and just let it go.
Allow an awareness of your whole body as you come back into this space.
Feel your clothes and the blankets that cover you.
Notice the sensation of your whole body on the floor,
At ease and at complete rest.
Keeping your eyes closed,
Start to imagine the external space around you.
And slowly,
With no rush,
Drift back into this space.
Inviting the effects of this practice to stay with you as you return back into your body,
Into this space.
Maybe gently start to give a little movement in your fingers and your toes.
Waking up your body as you return to this space.
And when you feel fully awake,
Gently blink open your eyes,
Roll to the right and just stay on your side for a few moments.
There's no rush,
Take all the time you need.
Using your left hand to slowly push the floor away from you,
Come to a seated position.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
