Welcome to this yoga nidra.
When you're ready,
Come and lie on your back.
So you may wish to cover yourself with a blanket to maybe place an eye pillow over your eyes.
And then just position the feet slightly apart and let them relax to the sides.
Gently tuck the shoulders under the body and allow the spine to roll back down.
Position your hands a comfortable distance away from the body.
Maybe with the palms turned upwards or have them resting on the belly.
Position your head in line with the spine.
So in the practice of yoga nidra,
The body should remain still and relaxed and yet the mind conscious and alert.
If you feel like you need to move the body at any point during the practice,
Start by watching that desire.
First of all,
It may be that that desire just dissolves away after a short time.
But if the desire keeps coming back and you need to move the body,
Do so slowly and mindfully.
And then return to stillness as soon as you can.
Do not worry if you fall asleep.
You cannot practice yoga nidra incorrectly.
Just listen to the sound of my voice and allow your body and mind to become relaxed.
To help ease the body into this relaxation process,
We will begin with tension and release.
So first of all,
Just bringing the arms and the hands into your awareness.
And then begin to tighten and tense the arms and hands.
So squeezing everything nice and tightly clenching the fist,
Squeezing the biceps,
Holding it there.
And then as you exhale,
Release to let go.
And on the next exhale,
Relax even more.
Again,
Bringing the arms and hands into your awareness.
Begin to tighten and tense the arms and the hands,
Holding everything there,
Squeezing tightly.
And then exhale to let go.
And on the next exhale,
Release even more.
Now bringing the legs,
The feet and the hips into your awareness.
And on your next inhale,
Tighten and tense the legs,
Feet and hips,
Holding,
Hold it and exhale to let go.
And on your next exhale,
Release even more.
Again,
The legs,
The feet and the hips on the inhale begin to tighten and tense the whole lower half of the body,
Squeezing as tightly as you can.
And then exhale to let go.
And on the next exhale,
Soften even more.
Now bringing the whole body into your awareness.
As you next inhale,
Tighten and tense the entire body,
The hands,
Legs,
Arms,
Feet,
Face,
Toes,
Fists,
Tighten,
Hold it.
And exhale to release.
And on your next exhale,
Relax even more.
Now making any final adjustments to the body and the clothing so that you can be as comfortable as you can.
Move into a point of stillness and take a few deep inhalations.
And as you exhale,
Start to feel the body becoming heavy and relaxing down into the surface on which you are laying on.
Allow the forehead to soften,
The eyes to rest back in their sockets.
Let all expression leave the face as the cheeks and mouth gently relax towards the floor.
Release the jaw and unlock the tongue from the roof of the mouth.
In the practice of yoga,
Nidra,
The sankalpa is what plants the seed deep in the subconscious.
So the transformation and healing can spontaneously occur.
Now it is time to focus your attention inward and really search your heart for what you truly wish to be realized.
Create a sankalpa or a determined resolve based on what you wish to manifest in your life.
This affirmation should be positive and in the present tense.
Take a moment to organize the wording to be as simple and direct as possible.
If the sankalpa does not present itself to you now,
This is okay.
Do not rush this process.
You can either practice today with no sankalpa or you may wish to use this one.
I treat myself with love and compassion.
Now repeat your sankalpa three times silently in the mind with enthusiasm and as if it were already true.
We now come to a phase of rotating the awareness around the body.
As I name various body parts,
Just rest your awareness there.
You do not need to move the body.
Do not stay on a certain part for too long.
Maintain a sense of momentum as we move from body part to body part.
Become aware of the right hand,
Right hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
The right wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Right shoulder,
Armpit,
Right ribs,
Waist,
Hip,
Right shoulder,
Right shoulder,
Right ribs,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Right shoulder,
Right shoulder,
Right shoulder,
Ankle,
And the whole of the right foot,
Top of the foot,
Sole of the foot,
All five toes,
The right big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth,
And fifth toe,
The whole of the right foot,
The ankle,
Knee,
Hip,
Pubic bone,
Navel,
And the center of the chest.
Moving the awareness to the left hand,
Left hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Left wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Left shoulder,
Armpit,
Ribs,
Waist,
Left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Hip,
Left shoulder,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
And the whole of the left foot,
Top of the foot,
Sole of the foot,
All five toes,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth,
And fifth toe,
The whole of the left foot,
The ankle,
Knee,
Hip,
Pubic bone,
Navel,
And the center of the chest.
Awareness to the crown of the head,
The forehead,
The right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
The center of the eyebrows,
The right ear,
Left ear,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
The nose,
Tip of the nose,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
The teeth,
Tongue,
Jaw,
The nose,
The chin,
And the throat,
Awareness to the back of the head,
Back of the neck,
The right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
The upper back,
Middle back,
Lower back,
And the entire length of the spine,
Bringing your awareness now to the whole right arm,
The whole left arm,
Both arms together,
Awareness to the whole right leg,
The whole left leg,
Both legs together,
Awareness to the whole right side of the body,
Awareness to the whole left side of the body.
And now bringing the awareness to the whole body,
The whole body,
The whole body resting on the earth.
Now bringing your awareness to the natural and spontaneous breath.
Feel the way the body moves with the breath.
Notice how there is no effort required.
It's as if the body just breeds itself.
Now moving your awareness to the space behind the eyelids,
Watching,
Observing,
Maybe you see darkness,
Maybe lights,
Colors,
Or images.
Just stay with what's there for a few moments and then let it go.
Try not to label anything that comes up or past judgment.
They are only images.
Better know how.
And now letting go of watching the space behind the eyelids.
Bringing your awareness back to your sankalpa,
Which you used at the beginning of the practice.
Now repeating your sankalpa again three times with the same enthusiasm and determination which you did in the beginning.
Now,
Begin now very slow,
Very gentle,
Return back to the surface.
Start by becoming aware of the sounds that you hear furthest away in the distance.
Noticing the raw textures of the sounds.
Noticing the sounds that you hear inside the building.
And the sounds closest to you.
Begin to feel your body.
Feel the contact points between the body and the surface that you're laying on.
Take your time.
Allow a few deeper inhalations to enter the body.
Start to bring in the idea of moving the body.
And then when you feel ready,
Begin by wiggling just one finger.
And then another.
And another.
Then slowly letting that energy move into the palm of the hand.
Up the arm.
Begin to wiggle the other fingers.
Allow the energy to come into the palm.
Up the arm.
Then begin to wiggle the toes.
Rotate the ankles.
Continue to allow a few of those deeper breaths to come in.
Then start to move the body a little more as you begin to wake yourself up.
You may wish to stay lying for a little while longer.
Otherwise maybe bring the knees into the chest.
Or stretch the arms overhead as if you're waking up from a deep sleep.
Making sure you take your time before you sit up.
So just rolling over onto one side first.
Take a moment there.
Just allow a bit of time to observe now how the body feels.
To observe the mind.
And the breath.
Softly blink the eyes open.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
