Welcome to this Yoga Nidra practice.
My name is Renée and I'll be your guide today.
Lay on your back with your arms a bit away from your body in a neutral rotation.
If you choose to sit in your chair,
Feel how relaxed and supported you are by your chair.
Press your arms into the floor and allow your chest to rise as your shoulder blades hug onto your back.
When you're sitting in a chair,
Feel how you kind of press your shoulder blades together and move your chest forward.
Release down and let your eyes settle into the sockets,
Lips part and let the back of your tongue drop away from the roof of your mouth.
Allow the fingertips to gently curl,
Your feet to flop.
Feel your body release into the earth or into the chair.
You want to remain as still as you can for this practice,
So take your time of letting go and making any adjustments needed.
You are welcome to move any time during the practice to make yourself comfortable,
But try to move slowly.
Slowly close your eyes now and remember,
It is better to get comfortable than to lie or sit distracted in discomfort.
As we begin the practice of Yoga Nidra,
Don't worry about what you should be feeling or how deep you are going to go.
Tell yourself that you're going to listen to the sound of my voice and you're going to remain awake.
Know that everything that I say is an invitation.
If my words don't resonate with you,
Just take a moment and pick your own words.
Stay in balance with yourself,
With your own energy.
Tune into your sense of hearing,
To the sounds around you.
Take in the most distant sounds you can hear.
Something outside your room,
As far out as you can hear.
There's no need to seek it out,
Just open up your awareness to receive,
Acknowledge and release.
Jump from one sound to the next.
Now move in a little closer,
Into your room.
Perhaps the sounds of the walls,
The floors,
Maybe an animal that is walking around.
And again,
Jump from one sound to the other.
Moving closer,
The sounds within your body,
Your breath,
Your heartbeat,
The movement of your clothes when you're settling in.
As you move to your inner landscape of your mind,
Allow there to be a sense of coming home,
Of turning in,
A safety,
A comfort.
Remind yourself that you're going to stay awake.
You are going to listen to the sound of my voice and stay awake.
At any time you need to change the story,
My words,
The awareness,
Or leave the practice,
You are welcome to do so.
You are in charge and can open your eyes at any time and re-enter at any time.
We are going to begin to move through a rotation of consciousness.
Your body will remain still while your mind eye follows my guidance.
If you can't see or feel the part of your body you hear,
You can silently repeat it back to yourself.
See a white light shining,
Really bright and pure.
Watch as it sits below your feet and begins to rise up into your toes and then spread through the soles of your feet,
Over the heels,
Into the ankles.
And bathe both feet in pure white light.
Let the light rise up your legs,
Filling the chins and calves.
It glows into both knees and shines into the upper legs,
Your thighs and hamstrings and then all the light pools into your pelvic floor,
Flooding it in pure white light.
The light begins to shine up into the tailbone,
Lightening up each vertebrae as it rises.
It pauses at the sanctuary and shines out.
The light pours into the whole pelvic bowl and hips.
Draw the light back in and watch as it rises up to behind the navel and shines out into the belly.
It fills up your lower back.
So much light,
Filling your organs and drawing back into the spine to rise all the way to the heart and then shine out onto the heart,
Into the lungs and filling your ribcage.
The light shines through the whole belly and chest.
The upper back you are bathed into light and it all draws back to the spine to shine into your throat,
Filling the neck and it cascades down over the shoulders and pours down the front of your arms into the elbow creases,
Through the forearms and over your wrists to fill the palms into the light.
Let it flow down into the thumbs,
Second fingers,
Third fingers,
Fourth fingers and fifth fingers.
Fill the backs of your hands in light and watch as it shines up the backs of your wrists,
Through the forearm arms,
Over the elbows and back over the triceps,
Through the shoulders and back to the spine.
The light rises all the way to the top of your spine and watch as the light stretches through the roof of your mouth and into the brain.
Bathing the brain in pure white light,
Cleansing the conscious mind,
The subconscious mind and the unconscious mind.
Let it float up to the crown and pour over the forehead,
Shine into the brows,
Over the eyes and nose,
All the way over the upper and lower lips.
Watch the light spread over the cheeks,
Through the jaws and each ears and wash over the back of your head until the whole body is bathed in this pure white light.
The whole body together,
The whole body.
Remind yourself you are going to stay awake and bring your awareness to your breath.
Don't change it.
Just feel the gentle inhale and exhale.
And just take a breath in with me and make this beautiful M sound which will help you to open up your chest and your heart chakra.
Take a breath in.
Begin to count backwards from 11.
The light rises and falls.
11.
Rises and falls.
10.
If you lose your place,
Just start over again.
You are counting back from 11.
And if you lost your place,
Just start over again.
Now let go of the counting.
There is nothing that you need to make up.
And remind yourself that you are going to stay awake.
And you are going to listen to the sound of my voice.
And if you drift off,
That's okay.
Just come back when you remember.
Begin to awaken the sensation of heaviness in your body.
Let your body grow heavier and heavier with each passing moment.
It is as though you were being filled up with sand.
Your heels are heavy.
Your legs are heavy.
Your hips are heavy.
Your spine feels heavy.
Your arms are heavy.
Your head is so heavy.
You couldn't even lift a finger if you tried.
Awaken the sensation of heaviness.
The whole body.
Heavy.
Now awaken the sensation of lightness in your body.
Feel how the sand is leaving your body and you are being filled up with air.
So light.
Floating from the ground,
Your heels are light.
Legs are light.
Hips are light.
Spines are so light.
Arms are light.
Your head is light.
You are floating like you're weightless.
Awaken the sensation of lightness.
Your whole body is light.
Let go of the feeling of lightness.
And awaken a feeling of expansion.
Expansion in the whole body.
Space in your joints.
Space in the muscles.
Expanded in your mind and thoughts.
Expansive emotionally.
Fully experience a state of expansion.
Now release that and awaken the feeling of contraction.
How does your body feel while being contracted?
What comes up with it?
Awaken the sensation of contraction in the physical body.
Feel contracted in the mind and thoughts.
Contracted emotionally.
Fully immerse yourself in the feeling of contraction.
And now move back into that feeling of expansion.
The expansion in the body.
Space in muscles and joints.
How does it feel?
Where does it take you?
Release this feeling and move back into feeling contraction.
Let this sensation go and tap back into the expanded feeling.
Can you also invite the feeling of contraction?
Feeling expanded and contracted at the same time.
And let it go.
Just release it all.
Just stay connected with your breath and just feel the relaxation.
Now we begin to move through some different images.
Allow whatever comes up to move up spontaneously.
Without any attachment.
Without emotion or story.
It may be an image,
But it could be a smell or a sound or a feeling.
Let it float up and then release it moving on to the next as quickly as I move through them.
Take a breath in and let it go.
Rainbow spreading across the sky.
Climbing a mountain.
Sunrise over the river.
Dancing your heart out.
Belly laughter.
A wise elephant sharing his stories with you.
Your favorite book.
A blank page.
Waves crashing into the shore.
Meditation.
The smell of fresh air on the pavement.
A lullaby.
A deepening breath.
Crowd cheering.
Singing along to your favorite song.
Wind blowing through your hair.
Silver crescent moon.
Thousand-petaled lotus flower.
Inspiration.
Unconditional love.
Trust.
Surrender.
Wisdom.
Let all of this go and remind yourself.
You are going to remain awake.
Now see yourself in a rainforest.
The beautiful big trees.
Some of the branches go really low.
And some of the trees have their roots all the way out so that you can see.
You feel a childlike energy coming up.
And you start skipping over the roots of these trees.
It's a wonderful day and you feel like you can take deep breaths in.
Your spine is straight and your shoulders are down.
You feel this beautiful smile on your face.
The joy,
The happiness of a day within this beautiful rainforest mountain.
Just keep relaxing and walking.
You're connecting with the sounds around you.
The different smells.
And then you're picking up that there is a river close by.
You feel the invitation to go and check out this river.
And intuitively you walk towards the sound.
And then the closer you get you see this beautiful calm river.
On the banks it has beautiful plants and flowers and there are birds and butterflies flying around.
Here the sun comes to play.
You feel a little bit of a wind going through your hair.
While you're walking on the side of this river you notice a bridge.
You keep walking towards the bridge.
And then you feel this invitation,
Although you can't really see yet.
But on the other side there is a beautiful animal waiting for you.
You start to walk across the bridge and notice that there is someone walking towards you.
You feel an excitement in your body.
And a calmness and a recognition at the same time.
It feels that out of nowhere this beautiful animal walks towards you.
And it makes you happy.
You're walking towards this beautiful animal and you introduce yourself and ask the name of your animal.
Just listen or feel into the sensations that are being presented to you.
You feel how you are touching your animal and hugging it.
And it's fun to play and jump around.
You ask this beautiful animal,
Are you my guide?
And what is it that you are supporting me with?
And just listen and take a moment in to just really receive.
You drop in deeper.
You feel that instant connectedness.
Your ability to just step into the consciousness and the information that comes to you so easily.
What this animal is trying to share with you.
Allow yourself to sit in this space to know that you are safe and well.
When you feel that your conversation comes to a close,
You ask your animal,
What kind of signs do you give me to pay attention to?
You feel how these answers are being absorbed by your heart.
And you're saying goodbye to your beautiful animal.
And you both start to walk back to the other side of the bridge.
Back to the flow of the river of your day.
Here sitting with the river,
You are ready to work with your sankalpa.
The seed or an intention.
If you have one already,
You can continue to use it until it manifests in your life.
But if your encounter with your animal has shifted or changed your intention,
Your sankalpa,
It is good to connect with what wants to come forward for you.
It is a quality you are looking to bring into your life.
Something that you feel strongly connected to.
That you are deeply desiring.
Something you feel an emotional connection to.
It will be stated as if it already exists in your life.
You will put it into positive terms.
Some examples that could be is,
I give and receive love unconditionally.
I am open to seeing signs.
And tapping into my body.
For guidance,
Tap into your own words and feelings and senses.
When you have found your sankalpa,
See it being written across the stream of your mind three times.
In your own handwriting.
It may also come in other forms,
Like an image or a sound.
See or hear it clearly.
And just wait for it to come.
Like with any seedlings,
It just takes time.
Love and patience.
Allow your breath to begin to deepen.
And feel yourself coming back to your room.
To your space and your body.
Keep your eyes closed for a little bit longer.
Just wiggle your fingers and point and flex your feet.
Stretch your arms over your head.
And if you are laying down,
Draw your knees and roll to the side.
When you are laying down,
Gently push yourself up.
And sit up straight.
Keep your eyes closed and bring your hands in front of your heart.
And just pause.
And thank yourself for showing up in this practice today.
For making time to connect with your animal guide.
And connect with your inner wisdom.
For really listening and truly hearing with your own senses.
I am grateful that you have spent time with me as well.
And let me be your guide in this Yoga Nidra practice.
My name is Renee from Sagittarius Way.
And Namaste.
Welcome back.
