Welcome to practice.
My name is Sarah and I will be guiding you through this yoga nidra session.
Begin by making yourself as comfortable as possible using any props you might want,
Lying on your back,
On your mat,
Or anywhere else you might feel comfortable and supported.
Take a few moments to move and adjust your body in order to get even a little bit more comfortable.
If needed,
Feel free to move during this practice,
But ideally,
Yoga nidra is practiced in stillness.
Make yourself aware of the space you're in and picture yourself in it.
Are there any sounds coming from outside the room?
Allow your awareness to drift from one sound to the next,
Noticing them,
But not lingering.
Are there any sounds coming from inside the room?
Allow your awareness to drift from one sound to the next,
Noticing them,
But not lingering.
Allow the sounds to fade out of focus.
Become aware of your body resting on the mat.
Surrender the weight of your body to the support of the floor and your props and set an intention to rest.
Set an intention to rest deeply.
Begin to take a few deep breaths,
Focusing on deepening the exhales.
With each exhale,
Allow your body to become heavier,
As if you could sink through the mat and into the earth beneath you.
Soften the skin of the forehead and the space between the eyebrows.
Unstick the tongue from the roof of the mouth.
Notice if you're clenching your jaw,
And if so,
Gently unhinge your jaw,
Creating space between the teeth.
Visualize the legs becoming heavy,
The arms becoming heavy,
The entire body heavy and at rest.
The body at rest.
The entire body at rest.
Now bring your attention to each body part as I say it.
We won't stay in any one place long,
Moving your focus to each part as I say the name.
We begin with the right thumb,
Right pointer finger,
Right middle finger,
Right fourth finger,
Right pinky,
The palm of the right hand,
The back of the hand,
The right wrist,
The right forearm,
Right elbow,
Right shoulder,
The top of the right foot,
Right second toe,
Right thumb.
Now bring your attention to the left side,
The left thumb,
Left pointer finger,
Left middle finger,
Left fourth finger,
Left pinky finger,
The palm of the left hand,
The back of the left hand,
The left wrist,
Left forearm,
Left elbow,
Left upper arm,
Left shoulder,
Left collarbone,
The left side of the chest,
Left waist,
Left hip,
Left knee,
Left shin,
The soles of both feet,
The back of both shoulders,
The space between the eyebrows,
The nose.
Take a big breath in and exhale all the air out.
For the next few moments we'll bring our awareness to the breath.
Inhale and imagine the air entering only through the right nostril.
Exhale the air out the left nostril.
Now inhale into the left nostril and exhale out the right nostril.
Inhale right,
Exhale left.
Inhale left,
Exhale right.
Continue breathing in this way,
Alternately breathing in between the right side and left side and breathing out the left and right sides.
Allow your breath to relax and return to its natural rhythm as you move your awareness to the back of your body.
Feel the entire back body connecting with the surface you're resting on.
Feel the front of your body resting on the back of your body.
Imagine the front body growing heavy,
Sinking down onto the back body.
Feel the back body sinking down onto your mat.
The legs growing heavy,
The arms heavy.
Now feel the legs grow light,
The arms grow light,
The head and neck grow light,
The front body is light,
The back body is light.
Imagine the whole body is as light and effortless,
As delicate as a flower feather.
As if you could rise up off your mat and float in the air.
Now alternate between those two opposites,
Allowing the body to move between states of heaviness and lightness,
Never lingering in one state for too long,
Until finally coming to rest somewhere in between heavy and light.
Allow your consciousness to expand and expand.
And light.
Allow your consciousness to expand to the room around you,
Letting in any sounds in the room and expanding further still to outside of the room.
Picture your body in the room,
The walls are with your eyes still closed,
Begin to slowly move your fingers and your toes.
Your arms and your legs.
Moving slowly and with great care,
Stretch the arms overhead,
Taking a slow long stretch.
Roll carefully onto one side and take a moment here to pause before pressing up to an easy seated position.
Take one more deep breath in and a long breath out and flutter the eyes open.
