Hello,
Welcome back.
I'm Sarah,
A somatic facilitator and coach,
Here to help you build nervous system resilience so you can live up to your fullest potential with ease and confidence.
I'll be guiding you through meditation,
Breath work,
Visualization,
And deep rest so that you can explore the pause between where you've been and where you're going.
Welcome to liminal space.
Today we'll be exploring a yoga nidra,
A practice that softly pulls you into this concept of liminal space,
The in-between.
Neither asleep nor awake,
Not doing,
Not striving,
Just simply being.
I'd like to invite the weaving of non-grasping,
Something we call a parigraha in yoga.
We live in a world of accumulation,
Quantity over quality,
More information,
More productivity,
More self-improvement,
More urgency,
More,
More,
More.
We gather so much that slowly and subtly we learn to grip with tight fists and tense bodies.
So as we focus on a parigraha,
We will focus on the exhale,
The letting go,
The non-grasping.
We'll notice the difference between breathing as an act and breathing as a happening.
Moving from doing to allowing.
Exploring what it means to let go through the breath.
Our breath is a great teacher in letting go because we cannot inhale forever.
The exhale will always return.
So finding a comfortable position,
Lay on your back.
Allow your body to be supported.
Let your feet to simply fall open.
Arms resting by your sides,
Palms facing up,
Open to receive.
If it feels comfortable,
Allow your eyelids to grow heavier and relax.
Perhaps they close.
Take a slow inhale through your nose and a steady exhale through your mouth.
Feel the body arrive and settle.
There is nowhere else you need to be.
You are here.
You are present.
In yoga nidra,
We plant a quiet seed,
A sankalpa,
An intention.
Not anything forceful or something to achieve.
Just a remembering.
Repeat your sankalpa to yourself a few times.
Give it permission to land without effort.
We'll start by moving our awareness through the body.
Just simply noticing and witnessing if there's any subtle gripping.
We'll start with the right fingers.
The palm of the right hand.
The back of the hand.
The wrist.
Elbow.
Shoulder.
The right ribs.
Waist.
Hip.
Knee.
Ankle.
Your right foot.
Toes.
Your left fingers.
The left palm of the hand.
Back of the hand.
The wrist.
Elbow.
Shoulder.
Left ribs.
Waist.
Hip.
Ankle.
Left foot.
Left toes.
Feel the back of the body and the spine.
The belly.
Shoulder blades.
The heart space.
Soften.
Let your edges thaw.
Notice the jaw.
Gentle gap between the teeth.
The body mirrors your environment.
Holding has been learned.
Gripping is not necessary.
Bring awareness to the natural rhythm of your breath.
Observe your inhale.
Does it lift high into the chest?
Does it feel like an action?
A reaching?
Notice if there's effort.
Take one slightly fuller inhale.
Feel the expansion in the lower ribs.
Hold it gently at the top.
Feel the tension building.
And understand that you cannot inhale forever.
And now slowly exhale.
Release through pursed lips as if you're blowing out of a straw.
Feel the ribs drawing inward.
The shoulders dropping.
The belly softening.
The exhale is a letting go.
A surrender.
And letting go is not a weakness.
It is intelligence.
And again,
Inhale naturally.
And this time let your exhale be longer.
Unruffle.
Unrushed.
Unhurried.
Just gentle.
As if you were delicately placing something down.
Each exhale a soft unfolding.
A quiet return.
Breathing not as doing,
But being breathed.
Gently clench both fists.
Feel the effort of gripping.
The forearms engaged.
And the shoulders subtly braced.
Notice the energy it requires to hold.
Let the fingers fall open.
Feel the difference as the body is moving.
As the body melts.
Clench again.
Perhaps gripping a little tighter this time.
And release.
This holding and letting go.
Just really feeling the difference here.
And then this time tensing through the legs and the lower body.
Holding.
Grasping.
And then soften.
Drop.
And then again,
One more time.
Tightly contract the lower body.
Feel this constriction.
And then gradually relax into the earth beneath you.
And just observe how this balance between effort and ease felt.
Your nervous system learns safety in the letting go.
We can think of this by imagining you are holding a cup filled to the brim of water.
So full,
If you moved,
That it would spill.
And this cup of water holds your responsibilities.
Your unread messages.
The expectations you carry.
The opinions you try to manage.
Notice the weight of it.
How heavy it feels.
Now imagine gently tilting the cup.
Not dumping everything.
Just allowing a little to trickle over the top.
Feeling the water gently running down the sides of the glass.
And over your fingers.
You've created just enough space to move without it spilling.
Enough space to breathe expansively.
You feel your hands lighten.
Your shoulders soften.
And your energy start to radiate throughout your body.
You do not have to carry everything.
You do not have to respond to everything.
You do not have to solve everything.
This forcing,
This grasping,
This striving.
It's not necessary.
Life is just like nature.
It moves in seasons.
Receiving,
Releasing,
Taking in,
Letting go.
Being witness to your natural breath again.
Your inhale arrives.
Your exhale leaves.
Without force,
Without grasping.
This is a Parigraha.
Not rejection,
Not withdrawal,
Not weakness.
Just simply non-clinging.
Trust your exhale.
Feel the weight of your body supported.
Feel the stability beneath you as you are held.
Rest here for a few moments.
And when you feel ready,
Start to deepen your breath slightly.
Bring awareness to the gentle hum of the world around you.
The sounds in the distance.
The temperature of the air.
The smell of the space.
You feel your senses start to awaken.
And then gently twinkle fingers and toes.
Take any movement the body is urging for.
And when it feels good to do so,
Slowly fluttering your eyelids open.
Keeping your gaze still.
Soft.
Notice how you feel.
Not empty,
But lighter.
You cannot inhale forever.
And you do not need to hold it all.
The more you cling,
The less space there is to receive.
Ask yourself where you can weave a Parigraha into your life this week.
Rest well,
And I'll see you next time.
