Yoga Nidra For Pregnancy And Bonding With Baby
21-minute Yoga Nidra for preggy mamas who are planning a natural birth. This yoga nidra will help you release tension and relax your whole body while bonding with your baby through a visualisation. It's inspired by Uma Dinsmore-Tuli and it will help with settling the nervous system by creating an inner sense of peace and stillness.
Transcript
Welcome to your practice of yoga nidra.
This is a yoga nidra for pregnancy and for bonding with your baby.
So initially ensure that you place the physical body in such a way that you'll be able to rest absolutely still,
Absolutely comfortable for the next 20 odd minutes.
You can either be lying on your left hand side or wherever you feel comfortable.
The main idea of whichever posture you've chosen is for you to be comfortable enough to avoid any physical movement during the practice.
If you feel uncomfortable or need to move,
Please do so.
Try to move with awareness and try not to disturb the peace and stillness that you'll be creating.
So allowing the body now to settle into a comfortable state of stillness and quietness.
Take the focus on your mental attention to the gentle rise and fall of an easeful,
Natural breath.
Observe the breath as it enters the nose and observe the breath as it leaves the nose.
Let the breath settle into a gentle and natural easy rhythm.
And as the breath and the body settle into a resting state.
Allow also for the mind to follow the example of the breath and the body,
So that the full focus of the mental attention can be under the instruction for this practice.
So to begin,
Allow the quiet mind to pass a little resolve,
A sun culpa that allows for all the visualization and practices that follow to be planted into the fertile soils of the relaxed mind.
So allow the relaxed mind to be assertive and attentive.
Setting your resolve now and repeat your resolve three times mentally with focus,
Awareness and a sense of gratitude as if it's already come true.
Now with that resolve in place,
Allow the body to be in complete stillness while the mind travels around the physical body.
There is no physical movement,
But it is as if the light of the mind's attention comes to shine briefly on each part of the body in turn,
As it is mentioned.
Begin by drawing the attention to the right side of the body.
Become aware,
Relax and release all tension in the right hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the right hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit.
Right side of the chest,
Right waist,
Right hip,
Right thigh,
Right knee,
Right calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
The whole right side of the body.
The whole right side of the body.
Draw now the mental attention to the left hand side of the body and become aware in turn now,
Relax and release all tension in the left hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And little finger,
Palm of the left hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left side of the chest,
Left waist,
Left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
The whole left side of the body.
And now draw the attention of the body to become aware of the whole of the head,
The right arm,
The left arm,
Right leg,
Left leg,
And take the attention down to the right heel,
Left heel,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
And become aware of the base of the spine.
The small of the back,
Middle back,
Upper back,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade.
The point between the shoulder blades,
Become aware of the back of the neck,
Back of the head,
Back of the top of the head,
The very top of the head,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
The middle of the eyebrows,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
The nose,
The bridge of the nose,
The tip of the nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Teeth,
Tongue,
Jaw,
Throat,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Right side of the chest,
Left side of the chest,
Middle of the chest,
Upper abdomen,
Lower abdomen.
The whole curve of the belly,
The rounded curve of the belly,
Right groin and the left groin and the pubic bone.
Be aware now of the whole body.
Be attentive and alert of the whole body,
The whole of the physical body.
Feel it resting on the floor.
Let the body rest while the mind remains alert.
Keep listening to my voice while feeling the complete physical body resting,
Resting in complete stillness,
The whole body resting,
But your mind remains alert and your mind keeps following my voice.
Awaken now the sensation of great heaviness.
Feel that the body has become extremely heavy.
Feel that each limb is immensely weighty,
That the whole body now has become so heavy that the body can make an indentation in the floor beneath.
Actually feel the sensation of extreme heaviness throughout the whole body,
Throughout the whole of the physical body now.
There's no blood,
No bones,
Just stone or lead.
Your body is heavy,
Heavy,
Heavy.
Letting go of the heaviness,
Awaken the feeling and the sensation of lightness.
Experiencing the sensation that the whole of the body has become very light indeed.
Feel that the whole of the body is so light that it might simply just float away up from the floor beneath.
Simply just float away from the floor like it could be wafted by a breeze like a leaf.
Actually experience the sensation of lightness throughout the whole physical body now.
As light as a feather,
As light as a feather.
And then leave off the sensation and remain alert and attentive.
Direct the mental focus to the natural flow of the breath.
Follow the breath in through the nose and out the nose.
Follow the breath in through the nose to the back of the throat,
Into the lungs and from the lungs out the throat,
Out the nose.
Notice that the air going in through the throat is cool and dry but the air leaving the body is warm and moist.
Noticing with every inhale that the belly rise and with every exhale that the belly gently falls down.
Inhale the belly rise,
Exhale belly fall.
Start to count the breath now backwards from seven.
In such a way,
I am breathing in,
Seven,
Belly rise,
I am breathing out,
Seven,
Belly fall.
Continue counting the breath backwards from seven all the way down to one.
And do not worry if you make a mistake,
Just start again from seven.
Counting the breaths one by one,
Back from seven to one.
Following the belly as it rise and fall on the rhythm of the breath.
And now letting go of the breath counting.
Keep the awareness on the breath as you follow it in through the nose,
Back of the throat and into the lungs,
Out the lungs,
Back of the throat and the nose.
Letting go of the awareness of the breath and bring your awareness to the space behind your closed eyes,
What we call the Chitakash.
Direct the mental focus to the mind's eye and see in the mind's eye the image of your baby,
The unborn child within the womb.
Be precise and attentive on the size and the shape of your baby's body.
See the posture of how your baby is lying,
Perfectly positioned for ease of delivery.
With the head down,
The spine curved towards the belly,
Arms and legs and chin neatly tucked in the top of its head fitted neatly closely into the neck of the womb,
As if the cervix just fitted around the crown of the baby's head like a little hat closely fitted around the skull.
And on this perfectly positioned baby,
On the face of this little baby is a contented smile.
See the smile on the face of your baby and direct the mental attention now towards the whole of the baby's body as they are perfectly positioned in your womb.
See the baby's head tucked in firmly,
Seated in the neck of the womb,
Ready to exit.
Take the attention down to your baby's right shoulder,
Right arm and right hand.
See the perfectly formed fingers on baby's hand,
Thumb,
Index finger,
The middle finger,
Ring finger and the tiny little binky finger.
Take the attention now to the left shoulder,
Left arm and hand.
See the perfectly little formed fingers on baby's hand,
The thumb,
The tiny index finger,
The middle finger,
Ring finger and the binky finger.
Trace the attention along the baby's spine as it curves towards the buttocks and tailbone.
Become aware of your baby's right leg,
Knee,
Ankle,
Right foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and little toe.
Onto the left leg,
Left knee,
Left ankle,
Left foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe and fifth toe.
Take the attention back up the curve along the spine,
Come to the back of their head,
Top of their head,
Forehead,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Nose,
Bridge of the nose,
Tip of the nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Lips and mouth.
See the baby's chin tucked in neatly into its chest.
Carry the attention down towards baby's belly,
The umbilical cord and to the placenta.
See this perfectly formed being lying in complete stillness inside its watery home in the optimal position ready for an easy entry into this world at the appropriate time.
And with this little mental image of your baby in mind,
Agree between you for the easiest way for them to arrive at the appropriate time,
When you're both ready and when you'll be delighted to meet each other.
Let this image remain clear and use the next few moments to allow any communication that needs to occur between you and your unborn baby simply to happen naturally,
Either with words or feelings or just remain conscious of each other's presence.
And in this conscious presence,
Allow whatever communication that needs to happen to occur between the two of you now.
And then allow any communication that needs to occur between you now and the other.
And then allow for the communication now to come into a natural closure.
Let the image of your baby fade away as you become aware of the natural flow of your breath.
Become aware of the natural rise and fall of the belly as you breathe.
Feel that each breath in nourishes you and your baby.
With every exhale,
Feel yourself come into a state of rested repose.
Allow the breath to become a little louder so that you can hear the in and the exhale.
And allow the sound of the breath to be your guide back to the present moment where you are lying in perfect stillness.
Revisit the resolve you made at the beginning of the practice now.
Repeat the resolve word for word three times mentally with the same awareness,
Focus and gratitude.
Knowing that with the willpower you're cultivating with your yoga need to practice that this resolve will surely come true and come to fruition.
Repeat your sankalpa now.
Make the breath even louder now.
Allow the breath to be the bridge back into the present moment.
Feel the body lying on the floor.
Feel your whole body lying in perfect stillness and start to wake up the body by wiggling your toes,
Wiggling your fingers.
Rub the thumb into the tip of each of the fingertips,
Reawakening each of the elements.
Move your wrists and your ankles.
Release the head from side to side.
Move gently with yourself.
And when you're ready,
Stretch up your whole body using an inhale,
Stretching up,
Opening up the body,
Wakening up your body.
And release to the side.
Rolling onto either side.
Support yourself to come back to a seated position.
Try to keep your eyes closed.
Rub your palms together to create and generate heat and bring the warm palms over the closed eyes.
Allow the heat to draw into the sockets from your palms.
When all the energy has been absorbed,
Blink your eyes open underneath the cupped palms,
Letting some light open the fingers,
Letting some light open the fingers and gently drop your hands down again.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete and you are ready for the rest of your day.
Adiós,
Tat tat.
