Welcome to this Yoga Nidra.
I want you to start by lying down.
Make sure that you are beautifully comfortable.
You will be lying down for the entirety of the Yoga Nidra,
So make sure that you have maybe something soft underneath your head,
Maybe a bolster underneath your knees,
And that you are warm and comfortable.
So begin to become aware of your body as you lie down.
Begin to feel comfortable to release tensions and increase your awareness of your environment.
So just be aware of where you are,
Very aware of yourself settling your body down.
So thinking about the room that you're in,
The preparations that you've made to make yourself comfortable.
And then finally as you lie down,
Soft and supported,
Become aware of your breath.
So in this stage of initial relaxation,
We are interested in noticing how we can be aware of moving from the external awareness to a more subtle internal awareness.
As you gently close your eyes and allow your body to settle with the breath,
Giving yourself a few maybe deeper breaths just to allow your body to sink and for your awareness to withdraw inwards.
So now it is time for you to set your sankalpa.
We want to use this short statement based on our heart's deepest longings.
So focus on what that may be.
It's just a short statement that may be quite general or it may be very specific.
But whatever we say to our sankalpa,
It is something that we greatly desire to achieve.
So take a moment to repeat your sankalpa or resolve to yourself a few times with full faith and belief.
So we're now going to begin a journey of awareness throughout the body.
Moving your awareness through different parts of your body as soon as you hear them named.
We will begin on the right side as you bring your awareness to your right hand thumb,
Your second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger and fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
The shoulder,
The right side of the chest,
Your right waist,
Your right hip,
Your right thigh,
Your right knee,
The right calf,
Right ankle,
The top of the foot,
Your right big toe,
Your second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Moving to the left side,
To the left hand thumb,
Your second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
The palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Your upper arm,
Your shoulder,
The left side of the chest,
Left waist,
Left hip,
Left thigh,
Left knee,
Left calf,
Left ankle,
Left heel,
Sole of the left foot,
The top of the left foot,
Your big toe,
The left second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
And now to the back of your body,
To the soles of your feet and the heels,
The right and left back of the calves,
The back of your knees,
The back of your thighs,
Your buttocks,
Your lower back,
Your middle back,
Your upper back,
The entire spine,
The right shoulder blade,
The left shoulder blade,
The back of the neck,
The back of the head,
The top of the head,
Your forehead,
Your right temple,
Left temple,
Right ear,
Your left ear,
Your right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Space between the eyebrows,
Your right eye,
Your left eye,
Your right nostril,
Left nostril,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Your entire mouth,
Your chin,
Your jaw,
Your throat,
The right collarbone,
The left collarbone,
The upper chest and the lower chest,
Your upper abdomen,
Your navel,
Your whole abdomen,
Your whole torso,
The whole body,
The whole body.
So prove to yourself that you are awake by moving your right toes.
You are awake and you are aware.
You are practicing Yoga Nidra.
So bring your attention and awareness to your breath and count your breath.
One breath in,
One breath out,
Two breath in,
Two breath out.
Continue to count your breath.
Bring your attention to your inner senses,
To your inner energy centres,
To the breaths that you take in and expel out.
Taking your awareness now inside to your energy centres,
To your chakras.
So embodying and feeling into the energy rather than just simply the location.
So feeling into the sense of safety and security at your root.
Allowing yourself to feel safe,
Stable and secure to your sacral chakra,
Where you are able to feel your emotions without any fear.
To feel your desires up into your solar plexus,
Where you can sense your power,
Your seat of energy.
Allowing yourself to embrace that energy within.
Now up into your heart centre,
Where you feel your love and your gratitude for your life,
For your body,
For your intelligence and your awareness.
Then up into your throat,
Where you embrace your ability to communicate,
Express yourself.
Breathe into each of these areas.
Up into your third eye,
Where you tap into your higher energies,
Your intuition.
Focus into your breath as you draw your attention upwards to the crown.
Feeling that connection with all things.
In this stage of our yoga nidra,
We are releasing any tension,
Releasing any anxiety.
If you begin to feel into the stress that lives within your body,
Take a breath,
A deep breath in and imagine those areas becoming relaxed.
Focus your attention into whichever of your energy centres you feel needs to become soft and loose,
Gentle,
Free and calm.
Inhale all the calmness into your system and exhale all the tension and stress out.
Breathe in all the relaxation,
Breathe out all the worries and fears.
Imagine a huge light of positive energy circling around you in protection.
Imagine yourself safely cocooned inside this circle of protection,
Where you are peaceful,
Stress-free,
Free from all anxieties.
Feel into the security,
The calm and the safety here.
Enjoy the way you feel in this space and as you sit in this place of safety and peace.
See how those feelings of anxiety or tension or worries simply melt away.
This is your secure,
Protected space that is free from all worries and tensions.
And now I'm going to call out a number of different things and I want you to visualize them on a level of emotion,
Memory and imagination as it resonates with you.
Jump from image to image and do not linger on any for too long.
Cool clear water,
Vibrant sunset,
Far tall mountains,
Traffic lights,
A good night's rest,
Deep breath,
A beautiful garden,
A deep blue sky,
A relaxing afternoon,
A cat stretching,
A warm hug,
A doctor's office,
Your reflection in a mirror,
A meditating Buddha,
Mother,
An ancestral home,
Laughing with friends,
The sound of my voice,
Your body lying comfortably and relaxed.
So now I want you to think back to your sankalpa and repeat your sankalpa three times in your mind with focus,
With clarity and determination.
As you do so visualize your sankalpa taking shape.
Feel your sankalpa bearing fruit,
Becoming successful.
Reinforce this resolve.
This promise to yourself will sink deep into your subconscious mind and now the subconscious mind has the task of prompting us regularly to help us make our resolve reach fruition.
So gradually come back to the feeling of your breath flowing in and out of your nostrils.
Become aware of your physical body,
Your body relaxed and lying on the floor.
Feel into the different parts of your body that are on the floor and taking your awareness into all the points that are touching.
So the back of your heels,
Your calves,
Your thighs,
Your back,
Your shoulder blades,
Your arms,
Your hands and your head.
Bring your attention to the sounds that you can hear,
The sounds of your breath,
Any sounds around you,
The sound of my voice.
See if there are any noises outside the room,
Sounds that you can hear without straining and then moving your awareness back into the room and before you open your eyes visualize the room in which you are lying.
See where you are in the room and all the objects that are there around you.
So as you bring your awareness into your physical space just lie quietly until you feel ready to move.
Do not rush out of your yoga nidra.
Start by slowly moving your hands,
Your fingers,
Your toes.
Take your time,
There is no rush.
Make sure that you feel fully awake.
Take a moment to really acknowledge how you feel.
Notice the effect of the yoga nidra and only when you feel ready do you bend your knees and carefully roll over to your right side.
Spend a few moments here revisiting your practice.
Take a moment to really absorb the feelings of safety,
Security,
Calm and peacefulness.
Use your hands to push yourself up from the floor and slowly sit up into any comfortable position.
Take a deep inhalation and then exhale out completely.
Bring your palms together,
Rub your palms together until they are warm.
Transfer those warm palms onto your heart center and then take the warmth of your palms to your eyes.
You can rub your palms together again as many times as you need to generate that heat and place your palms on any part of your body that might want comfort,
That might need healing.
And finally bring your palms in front of your eyes,
Open your eyes and look into your palms as you gently blink your eyes open.
Thank you.
Your yoga nidra practice is now complete.
