So welcome to today's practice of Yoga Nidra.
Come and lie down in your most comfortable and restful position.
Get really,
Really comfortable here.
Taking whatever you need around you to create that sense of comfort.
And give yourself a minute to arrive into practice.
Arrive into your body,
Into this moment.
Know that everything else can just wait outside for this time.
You are giving yourself a time for rest,
To recalibrate,
To realign and to restore your nervous system.
In a world that doesn't stop doing,
Doesn't stop demanding,
Nidra is a place you can come to and simply be.
Nothing is required of you here.
This space,
This time is for you.
All for you.
So take rest,
Take refuge,
Take the gift that Nidra always offers in the stillness you have within.
So feel the weight of your body as you start to unlock and unwind.
Feel the weight of your heels,
Your legs,
Your glutes and your back.
Feel your shoulders drop,
The weight of your arms as they lie by the side of your body,
The backs of your hands as your palms are turned upward and the weight of your head,
Perhaps with a small pillow underneath your neck.
Allow everything to start to let go.
Allow all your muscles to let go.
Your body to soften.
Your face to let go of all the strains of the day.
Your eyes softening.
Your forehead widening.
Your jaw loosening.
Everything letting go.
Now bring awareness to your breath,
Not to change it,
Simply to witness it.
The inhale as a cool,
Soft arrival of air,
Like the faintest ripple across water and then the exhale as a warm release,
Like the wave dissolving back into calm.
And feel your breath travel down to your belly,
Spreading gently outward with each inhale and folding inward with each exhale.
With every out-breath,
Let the whole body soften a little more.
A little more weight,
A little more ease.
Sense that your body has fully arrived and bring your awareness now to the centre of your chest,
Just landing softly in the centre of your chest.
Recognising this inner space,
This quiet pool of calm.
And here form your sankalpa,
Your heartfelt intention.
You may like to use,
I am safe and resting in this calm.
Repeat your chosen intention silently to yourself three times,
Allowing it to settle like a pebble sinking through still water.
We move to rotation of consciousness,
Moving awareness around your body.
We begin at your right thumb and the very tip of your right thumb.
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger and little finger.
See the flow like water in between your fingers and your thumb.
The palm of your right hand,
The back of your hand,
Your right wrist.
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
The right side of your chest,
To your hip.
Your thigh and your knee,
Your lower leg and your ankle,
The sole of your right foot.
Your right big toe and the very tip of your right big toe.
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and little toe.
All the spaces between your toes.
The whole of your right foot,
The whole of your right foot.
Now,
Move your attention to your left hand and to your left hand thumb.
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger and little finger.
And again,
In your mind's eye,
See flow like water in between your fingers and your thumb.
The palm of your left hand,
The back of your hand,
Your left wrist.
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm and shoulder,
The left hand side of your chest,
To your hip,
Your thigh and your knee,
Your lower leg and ankle,
The sole of your left foot.
Your left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and little toe.
The whole of your left foot,
The whole of your left foot.
Moving to the back body,
Bring your attention to both your heels,
To the spaces behind both your knees,
To both your glutes,
To your back,
Your whole back,
Your whole back.
Effortlessly moving your awareness up your spine,
To your shoulder blades,
And your neck and your head,
Your whole head,
Your whole head.
Moving to the front body,
Allow your awareness to land on your forehead,
On your right eyebrow and left eyebrow and the space between your eyebrows.
Your right eye and your left eye,
Right ear and left ear,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Your nose,
The bridge of your nose,
To the very tip of your nose.
Awareness moving effortlessly to your mouth,
Your whole mouth,
Your teeth,
Your tongue resting in the base of your mouth,
Your jaw heavy and loose,
Your throat,
To your collarbones,
Right and left,
And the space between your collarbones.
The right side of your chest,
The left side of your chest,
Your whole chest,
Your navel,
Your abdomen,
Your pelvis,
Your whole right leg,
Your whole left leg,
Both legs together,
Your whole right arm and your whole left arm,
Both your arms together.
Your arms and your legs,
Your chest and your head,
Your whole body,
From the inside out,
From the right to the left,
The top to the bottom,
The left to the right,
The bottom to the top.
Your whole body,
Your whole body,
Your whole body now as one unified field of awareness.
And bring your attention back to your breath.
Notice the coolness of the inhale entering your nostrils and the faint warmth of the exhale leaving.
Observe the belly rising like a soft swell and falling like a gentle retreating wave.
And what might it feel like to lengthen each exhale naturally,
Unspooling like a ripple smoothing itself out into still calm water.
The breath becoming your anchor,
Steady,
Rhythmic,
Reliable.
Your body breathing itself.
Now invite the inhale to flow into the right side of your brain,
Cool water filling a peaceful moonlit pool.
Exhale from the same space,
The water settling into smooth clarity.
And then allow the breath to flow into the left hemisphere,
Inhaling into a clear,
Steady reservoir.
Exhale,
Letting its surface become even calmer.
Now inhale into both hemispheres together.
Exhale as one unified field.
Your entire brain settling into calm,
Settling into rest.
And you might like to invite your breath now to land in your spine,
Inhaling from the base upwards toward your crown,
Like a pure current rising through the center.
And then exhale down the spine to the base,
Like warm water descending in a smooth,
Steady flow.
Let the central axis feel fluid and calm.
The breath moving effortlessly up and down your spine.
Allow awareness of the breath now to dissolve,
As if the water has become so still,
It's no longer seen.
Allow yourself to dissolve into rest.
Bring awareness now to your mind's eye,
Into the dark space behind your forehead,
In between your eyebrows.
Breathe here into this space.
And welcome images here,
Each one appearing on the surface and dissolving back into the depths.
Imagine a tiny flame,
A smooth river stone,
The outline of a leaf,
A clear night sky,
A door gently opening,
A circle of light,
An empty bowl,
A single feather,
Dawn on the horizon,
The murmuration of starlings,
Still calm water.
Still calm water.
Still calm water within.
In this quiet stillness,
In this calm,
Allow everything to dissolve.
Rest in this stillness,
In this pure awareness.
Awareness being aware of itself.
Trust the process,
Trust the practice.
Here,
You really can let go.
We return gently now to your heart center,
To the center of yourself,
Where your Sankalpa was first formed.
And repeat your intention silently,
Inwardly,
Three times.
Allow it to sink deep into your subconscious and let it rest like a pebble at the bottom of your still calm water.
And gradually start to become aware of the room that you are in.
Allow the sounds to come back in.
Notice the temperature of air on your body,
On your face.
The steady support beneath your body.
Bring in a little bit of movement to your fingers and toes,
Like small ripples returning to the surface.
Take a long,
Slow inhale in,
And a warm,
Soft exhale as you return back to your world,
Feeling centered,
Feeling calm,
Carrying the stillness with you into your day or evening ahead.
When you feel ready,
Open your eyes.
Welcome back to your world.
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.
Keep practicing and all is coming.
Thank you.
