Welcome,
This is Kate.
Welcome to today's practice of Yoga Nidra.
Come to lie down in Shavasana on your back,
Legs a little apart,
Arms slightly away from your body,
Palms turned upward.
Let your eyes close softly and bring your attention to your breath.
Breathing in and out of your nose if comfortable.
Feel your whole body lying here.
Let the surface beneath you take your weight fully.
Your heels,
Your calves,
The backs of your thighs,
Lower back,
Shoulder blades,
The back of your head,
Each part releasing down onto the earth.
Invite your inhale now to land in your belly,
Long slow inhale and a smooth gentle exhale.
And releasing on every exhale as you sink deeper and deeper onto the ground.
And return to effortless breathing in and out of your nose with complete ease.
Effortless ease.
During practice you will remain awake and aware following the sound of my voice.
Remember Yoga Nidra is the art of awakened sleep,
Of conscious rest.
Stay on the threshold.
And now make any last adjustments if you need before becoming completely still.
From this moment on stillness is the practice.
Welcome your awareness inside now.
Just let the outside world drift away and drop within.
This is your time.
Here you are safe.
Here you can let go.
This practice has been created to remind us we always have a place of stillness within.
A calm refuge we can always come home to.
Here you are invited to put down your load.
To allow any stress and worry to fade away.
Any anxiety to ease.
And to drop into your center,
Into your own still waters and find rest.
Now is the time to plant your Sankalpa,
Your heart's resolve.
A short,
Positive,
Present tense statement.
Not a wish for the future,
But a truth you are choosing to affirm right now.
Let your Sankalpa surface now.
Feel it rather than think it.
And in the space of a moment,
That will soon follow,
Repeat it silently to yourself three times.
And then let it go.
Moving to rotation of consciousness.
Hear the name of each body part and move your attention there briefly.
Just notice.
Be aware.
Move your full awareness and attention now to your right hand and to your right hand thumb.
First finger.
Second finger.
Third finger and little finger.
The palm of your hand.
The back of your hand.
Your wrist.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Armpit.
Right side of chest.
Right side of waist.
Your right hip.
Thigh.
Knee.
Shin.
Ankle.
Top of your right foot.
Big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
And little toe.
Now,
Move your attention to your left hand and to your left hand thumb.
First finger.
Second finger.
Third finger and little finger.
The palm of your left hand.
Back of hand.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Armpit.
The left side of your chest.
The left side of your waist.
Your left hip.
Thigh.
Knee.
Shin.
Ankle.
Top of your left foot.
Big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
And little toe.
Moving your attention to your back body.
Your right heel.
Left heel.
Right calf.
Left calf.
Back of the right knee.
Back of the left knee.
Right glute.
Left glute.
Lower back.
Middle back.
Your right shoulder blade.
Left shoulder blade.
The back of your neck.
The back of your head.
Moving to the front of your body.
The crown of your head.
Your forehead.
Right temple.
Left temple.
Right eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
The space between your eyebrows.
Right eyelid.
Left eyelid.
Right eye.
Left eye.
Right ear.
Left ear.
Right nostril.
Left nostril.
The tip of your nose.
Upper lip.
Lower lip.
Your chin.
Right cheek.
Left cheek.
Jaw.
Throat.
Right collarbone.
Left collarbone.
And the space between your collarbones.
Right side of chest.
Left side of chest.
Your whole chest.
Your heart space.
Solar plexus.
Your navel.
Your lower belly.
The whole of your right arm.
The whole of your left arm.
The whole of your right leg.
And the whole of your left leg.
Your whole back.
Your whole front.
Your whole body lying here at rest.
Your whole body.
Your whole body.
Complete as one.
What might it be like now to move your full awareness and attention back to your breath?
What does your breath feel like here?
Moving in and out of your body.
Notice your breath.
Feel the soft rise of the belly on the inhale and the gentle fall on the exhale.
Witness your breath.
Now count the breath backward silently from 18 to 0.
18 with the inhale.
17 with the exhale.
And if you lose count,
Simply return to 18 and begin again.
No need to achieve anything here other than to be aware.
Be inside every breath.
And then let go of the counting and simply rest.
Go deep into your stillness now.
That sense of quiet.
Of a soundless silence within.
Or a still,
Calm lake.
As though the world has stepped back.
Just for a moment.
To let you be.
And now,
Without effort,
Become aware of the slightest of movement in your body.
Perhaps the gentle rise and fall of your breath.
Or the subtle rhythmic pulse of your heart.
Now return to stillness.
Not an absence of movement,
But a vast,
Spacious awareness that holds it all.
And then,
Once more,
Feel the movement.
Let it be there.
Your breath.
Your heartbeat.
The faint ripples of life itself moving through every cell.
And perhaps this movement begins to carry warmth.
A soft,
Golden warmth rising from within.
Let this sensation spread throughout your whole body.
Your chest.
Your belly.
Your arms and your legs.
A warm,
Luminous glow moving through your whole body.
A now coolness.
Fresh and spacious.
Like stepping into shade on a summer afternoon.
A pleasing coolness that clears and settles.
Not cold,
But cool.
Refreshing.
Easy.
Back to warmth.
Let it be generous this time.
That golden,
Honeyed warmth spreading from the chest outward.
All the way to the tips of your fingers.
The soles of your feet.
The crown of your head.
Warm.
Held.
Glowing.
Now bring to mind a time of ease in your body.
It needn't be dramatic.
Perhaps a quiet morning.
A moment of rest.
Recall it now.
Not as a memory of only your mind,
But as a feeling.
A stored memory in your body.
That sense of okayness.
Of being,
Even for just this moment,
Enough.
Safe.
Held.
At ease in your own skin.
And now remember a time of tension.
Of anxiety.
Let this land gently.
The tightness.
The sense of something unresolved.
Simply let it be there.
As sensation.
As energy.
As information passing through.
And now recall ease.
Call it back.
A still,
Warm,
Wide sense of ease moving through your whole body.
You have known this.
Your body knows this.
Let it return.
And once more tension.
The unnamed unease.
You are not fighting it.
You are not becoming it.
You are simply observing it.
Let it be information,
Not identity.
And now let go.
Let go of stillness and movement.
Of warmth and coolness.
Of ease and anxiety.
Go beyond the opposites.
Beyond the back-and-forth the mind calls,
Experience.
And rest in the vast open sky of your true nature.
This is what you are.
Imagine the following images in your mind's eye.
Allow whatever comes to arise quickly.
Without effort.
Don't dwell or analyze.
Receive each lightly.
And trust what comes.
Imagine a candle flame burning quietly in a dark room.
A child sleeping soundly at peace.
The color blue.
A deep,
Spacious blue.
An open hand letting something go.
The night sky full of stars.
A door gently closing.
A vast lake at dawn.
Still and quiet.
There is something beyond,
Much more wonderful,
Which is neither being nor not being.
It is a state of pure awareness.
Beyond limitations of space and time.
Go beyond the limitation.
Go beyond space and time.
To the calm,
Still waters within.
We return again to Sankalpa.
Repeating your resolve from the beginning of practice.
From the deep place you've touched in this practice,
Allow your Sankalpa to rise again now.
Feel it.
Let it be real.
Believe it.
Become it.
Repeat it three times silently with your whole heart.
Know that you have dropped your Sankalpa inside,
Into the deepest,
Still waters of your being.
And watch as the ripples spread out far and wide to every area of your life.
Notice your breath once again.
Become aware of your body here in this space.
Feel its weight,
Its warmth.
And behind your closed eyes,
Recall the room you're lying in.
The walls.
The windows.
Deepen the breath.
A fuller inhale and a long sighing exhale.
And let the exhale carry everything that is ready to leave.
Again,
A full breath in and sigh it out.
One last deep breath.
And this time,
As you sigh it out,
Allow everything you no longer need to fade away.
Become aware of sounds in the room.
Sounds maybe further away.
The world gently returning.
Bring a little movement back into your body.
Wiggle your fingers,
Your toes.
Perhaps take a little stretch.
Perhaps take a little smile.
Do take a moment to thank yourself for taking this time to practice today.
Keeping the benefits of this practice with you as you return to your world.
Gently,
Slowly,
Whenever you are ready.
Open your eyes.
Welcome back.
Remember what we choose to focus on will ripple out to every area of our lives.
So be mindful,
Be purposeful,
And most of all,
Be kind.
And may the peace which passes all understanding keep your heart and mind in the knowledge and presence of love.
This practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
Thank you for taking your time to practice with me today.
