Namaste,
I'm Rosalie and welcome to this short NSDR meditation that stands for Non-Sleep Deep Rest,
A term coined by neuroscientist Dr.
Andrew Huberman and rooted in the ancient practice of Yoga Nidra.
This particular session is designed to be practiced daily as a way to cultivate a sense of ease,
Comfort and well-being within yourself.
You can also use this practice as a way to train the body to deeply rest whilst you keep the mind awake.
This mind-awake,
Body-asleep state is the optimal springboard into deeper states of awareness like Astral Projection,
So you might view this as training if you are exploring Astral Projection with me.
To begin,
Could you lie down and get completely comfortable?
Could you stretch your legs out and let your feet flop to the sides?
Use any props you might need to feel warm and cozy.
You might imagine creating a little cocoon for yourself.
What could you do to be even 1% more comfortable?
And as you settle in,
Allow any tension to drain from the body.
We'll take 3 physiological sighs together,
That's 2 sips of air through the nose,
Long exhale through the mouth,
And again,
Allowing the lips to come together,
Allowing your breath to find its natural rhythm,
With every exhale,
Allowing any tension to drain from the body,
Softening and releasing any tension,
Any gripping in the forehead,
The eyes,
The jaw,
The shoulders,
Could you soften the muscle of your mind,
You might imagine this as unfurling a clenched fist,
Allowing the mind to relax open,
Few,
Softening,
Letting go,
Sinking deeper and deeper into the support beneath you,
And let any momentum from your day just fall away,
Releasing yourself from any thinking,
Planning or analysing,
As you drop fully into the realms of feeling,
Of sensing and listening.
Now could you invite your sankalpa,
Your heart's deepest desire,
Perhaps you're working with your own,
Or perhaps invite the phrase,
Mind awake,
Body asleep,
As I rest deeply within myself,
Could you mentally repeat your sankalpa or this phrase to yourself 3 times,
3 times,
Now let it go,
We will begin now to rotate our awareness through different parts of the body,
Could you allow your attention to glide to each part of your body as I name it,
Creating a cascade of relaxation through the whole body,
As your attention moves,
The physical body remains completely still,
Beginning in the mouth,
Could you bring all your awareness to the tip of your tongue,
The root of your tongue,
The roof of your mouth,
The tip of your nose,
The flow of air in and out to the nostrils,
The bridge of your nose,
The right eye and all the little muscles behind the eye,
The right cheek,
Temple,
The right ear,
The bridge of your nose,
The left eye and all the little muscles behind the eye,
The left cheek,
The temple,
The left ear,
And inside the left ear,
Now the centre of your forehead,
The mind's eye,
Down to the centre of the throat,
The centre of your chest,
The heart space,
Both shoulders,
Wrists,
The palms of both hands,
And all ten fingertips.
Sensing both hands and arms together now,
Sensing the shape and volume of both hands and arms.
Now back to the centre of the chest,
The heart space,
The upper abdomen,
Down to the navel centre,
The belly,
And both hips now,
The ankles,
The soles of your feet,
The big toes,
And all ten toes.
Sensing both feet and legs together now,
Full of sensation and awareness,
And all the way up to the crown of the head.
Could you imagine a wave of relaxation flowing from the crown of the head all the way down to the tips of your toes?
Sensing the whole body here as one,
A body resting deeply now,
So deeply,
As the mind remains awake and alert.
Now could you notice the natural flow of breath in the body,
And feel the body breathing itself.
And without changing the breath,
We'll count the breath down from ten to one.
With each number down,
Allow yourself to shift into deeper states of relaxation.
On your next inhale,
Say to yourself,
Inhale 10,
Exhale 10,
Inhale 9,
Exhale 9,
Inhale 8,
Exhale 8.
Continue all the way down to one in your own count.
Now let the counting go,
Keeping the mind awake and alert,
A body resting deeply,
Could you invite the feeling of heaviness now,
The whole body so heavy,
Sinking deeper and deeper through the surface beneath you,
And now lightness,
Invite the feeling of lightness through the whole body,
The body so light you start to drift upwards,
As light as a feather drifting upwards.
Now could you invite both of these feelings of heaviness and lightness at the same time,
At the same time,
Releasing that now,
And bask here in this feeling of complete relaxation.
Now allow yourself to rest deeply within yourself,
Whilst the mind remains awake and alert.
We'll spend a few minutes here,
Releasing that,
And could you bring your awareness back into the heart space,
Center of your chest,
And take a moment to reconnect to your sankatpa,
Or to the phrase that we said at the beginning of this practice,
And could you silently repeat it to yourself,
Either your sankatpa,
Or perhaps,
Mind awake,
Body asleep,
As I rest deeply within myself.
Repeat this once again,
And really feel this energetically within you and all around you,
Let this permeate every fiber of your being,
And it's time now to come fully back into your body,
Fully back into your space,
But know that this feeling of deep rest is always here waiting for you,
It's just a few breaths away.
The more you practice this mind awake,
Body asleep state,
The more proficient you'll become in these liminal states.
But for now,
Could you reconnect to the support beneath you,
Feeling all the meeting points between your back body and the support beneath you.
Now let's take a nice big inhale together through the nose,
Exhale side out,
And when you're ready,
Slowly begin to awaken the body,
Taking your own time,
Making little movements with the fingers and toes,
The wrists and the ankles.
You may like to give yourself a really nice big stretch,
And take a moment here to tune into the body,
Tune into the mind,
Just notice how you feel,
Notice any shifts,
Any benefits you might have cultivated within yourself during this short practice.
And you might like to set an intention to carry any of these benefits with you into the rest of your day.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
May you be happy,
May you be healthy,
May you be free.
I wish you the most wonderful day.
Namaste.
