I invite you to find a comfortable seat and settle in and you can do this practice preferably lying down or even in a reclined chair or seated whichever is most comfortable for you and you may want to get a couple of blankets,
Pillows,
Whatever may support you and your body to become that much more comfortable and easeful.
Just taking a couple moments to set up your yoga nidra nest and as you get settled in,
Wiggling around just for a moment just to get that much more comfortable and during this practice we'll be focusing on releasing and relaxing the body so as to rest for the next 20 minutes or so while remaining awake and alert.
So if you get sleepy at any time you can wiggle around or keep your eyes open or just set the intention to listen to my voice while keeping awake and alert throughout the practice.
And now we'll begin the practice of yoga nidra,
Otherwise known as yogic sleep or rest.
First we'll just begin to check in with the physical body just as it is,
Just noticing and perhaps intentionally relaxing the head,
The forehead,
The jaw and even the tongue relaxing and you may want to even yawn a couple of times to release and let go of the stored tension in the jaw where often times we hold stress just letting that go in a conscious yawn and then as that dissipates allowing the shoulders to draw down and rest and be held by the earth the entire back supported by the earth just allowing the arms to rest from the shoulders through to the fingertips just hanging doing nothing and both legs from the hips through to the soles of the feet resting and relaxing into the earth and then letting that go bringing your awareness to the breath and consciously inviting a deeper inhale so as to expand and long following the breath all the way through to the crown of the head pausing at the crown of the head just for a moment and then releasing the breath through a sigh a sigh out through the mouth and again a deep inhale expanding the lungs following the breath all the way through to the crown of the head pausing at the crown of the head just for a moment and then letting the breath go in a sigh out through the mouth and one last time taking a deep breath soft and relaxed all the way up through to the crown of the head pausing here and then letting it go through a deep song out through the mouth and at the end just letting that go maybe taking another yawn to release any additional or any tension existing in the jaw through a yawn and then just noticing here the natural rise and fall of the breath as it goes in as it goes in riding the wave and as it goes out following the in and out breath like a wave in the ocean and not trying to change the breath in any way we're just simply noticing it in our awareness just as it is and then allowing that to dissolve we'll bring a gentle awareness to the heart space to set an intention or plant a seed a spring seed for our practice today for the season so putting it in language that is in the now the present tense so just give that a couple of moments to allow your intention or your seed to arise naturally and as words surface stringing those words into an intention that's in the present tense and then repeat it silently three times and then allowing that to dissolve in the background of your awareness as we come to bring our awareness to the physical body and rotate our awareness across the somatic body beginning with bringing all of your awareness to the crown of the head crown of the head resting and relaxed and then drawing the awareness down to the forehead and just noticing all the lines of the forehead dissolving into rest as you have all the time in the world here resting the eyes both eyes resting and relaxing back into the sockets just noticing how the gravity just naturally softens into the cheekbones to rest and relax both ears resting and then the energy naturally drawing down to the jaw on either side of the face lips resting the tongue relaxed the lips relaxed the whole face softening resting and noticing the energy drawing down to the throat the neck relaxed down into the shoulders the shoulders relaxed and resting and noticing the upper back and inviting any and all tension of the upper back to dissolve and rest the upper chest resting and just noticing the center of the chest softening relaxed drawing the energy over to the right shoulder the upper arm drawing the energy down to the elbow the lower arm the right wrist down through to the palm of the right hand the thumb the first finger the second finger the third finger and the fourth and the last and the last finger the entire hand resting the whole of the right arm relax from the shoulder right through to the fingertip and then allowing that to dissolve bringing your awareness back up to the right shoulder across the right chest to the center of the heart and pausing here softening the heart drawing the energy over to the left chest the left shoulder drawing the energy down to the left upper arm elbow lower arm wrist palm of the hand thumb first finger second finger third finger and fourth finger the left hand softened and relaxed now the entire left arm from shoulder through to the fingertip relax and rest bringing your awareness back up the left shoulder across the left chest to the center of the heart bringing the energy down to the belly soft belly relaxing down into the lower back to the pelvis over to the right hip down to the upper leg the knee lower leg ankle the sole of the right foot and down to the tips of the toe now bringing the whole leg into your awareness at once from the upper leg the hip down through to the tips of the toe resting relaxed now bringing your awareness over to the left hip down to the upper leg the knee the lower leg ankle sole of the left foot down to all the tips of the toes now bring your awareness to the entire left leg at once the hip through to the sole of the foot resting relaxed now letting that go bringing your awareness now to the back body resting on the floor being held by the earth noticing the head the back body and all the spaces touching the floor or the earth the buttocks the back of the legs the heels supported the entire back body in your awareness and how it's naturally supported soaking that in just for a couple of moments and then notice the front body the face the chest the arm the legs and then allowing that to dissolve and just for a moment noticing the weight of the back body of the body as it sinks more deeply into the earth noticing any density weightedness in the back body in the head the upper back the buttocks the heel the back of the feet all of your awareness on weightedness or the areas where you're thinking into the earth rounded into the earth allowing that to dissolve bringing your awareness to the front body and notice lightness and airiness or spaciousness as though you could your whole body begins to float like a feather or a cloud all of your awareness here on lightness spaciousness a feather light or paper-thin kind of sensation allowing that to dissolve and now noticing both weightedness and lightness in the body at once and then allowing that to dissolve naturally and now bringing your awareness to the whole body at once from the crown of the head to the tips of the toes resting deeply and relaxed doing nothing nothing to do just be and then bringing your awareness to the heart space and remembering and calling back up your intention that spring seed and repeating it silently and as we complete our practice today calling up your gratitude for your practice or gratitude for the season gratitude for this time that you've taken to rest or sensing into any positive emotions like tranquility peace or maybe even excitement or a general sense of well-being just taking a moment to soak that in and to also know that our practice doesn't end here we can take with us the benefits of the practice and bring it to our next task or just allow it to ripple out into the day and the days to come so thank you for your practice and we'll see you again soon
