Welcome to this guided practice of Yoga Nidra.
My voice will guide you through the practice.
The mind is aware and able to follow my voice and flow comfortably and easily,
Sensing from point to point and resting deeply.
In Yoga Nidra,
We encourage the body to completely let go and relax.
So take your time,
Position yourself comfortably,
Lying down on your back,
Place pillows under your knees and head and cover yourself with a blanket as your body temperature may drop as you relax.
Let's begin the Yoga Nidra.
Adjust your legs into a comfortable position.
Allow the feet to soften and roll outward.
If it feels comfortable,
Let the arms rest beside you with fingers open and relaxed,
Palms facing upward or slightly inward.
And now gently close your eyes and allow yourself to rest back so comfortably now.
You can use my voice as a guide and turn your attention within as I invite you to rotate your attention around the various parts of the body.
Now let yourself settle even deeper into this stillness,
Making any final small adjustments to your body.
Bring your awareness to your chest and notice the gentle rise and fall.
Your chest expands when you breathe in and relaxes when you're breathing out.
You are simply noticing the rate of your breathing,
Perhaps slowing down as you breathe in relaxation and letting go as you exhale,
Allowing for the breath to take its own natural rhythm.
Now bring your attention to your face,
Softening and allowing for the jaw to soften and relax.
The corners of your mouth to form a gentle smile.
Now bring your awareness to your heart center,
The center of your chest.
Allow yourself a few moments here,
Connecting with soothing sensations in your heart.
And again aware of that gentle rise and fall of your breath.
Enjoying the natural rhythm and finding this breathing to be soothing and calming,
Letting go a little more into becoming more and more relaxed.
Now I would like you to set an intention for this practice.
A sankalpa.
A sankalpa is a short positive resolve,
Something you wish for yourself.
Perhaps something like,
I rest here deeply within my body and mind completely relaxed.
So take a moment now to create your own sankalpa.
What is your intention for yourself?
What do you want to invite into your life?
We will use a sankalpa at the beginning and the end of the practice.
So I'd like you to repeat silently to yourself three times,
Your intention,
Your sankalpa.
That's good.
Now bringing the attention back again to your body and allow for your attention to sit with each part of the body as I speak to it.
So you're allowing for a gentle flow from one point to the next,
Using my voice as your guide.
Tip of the tongue.
Root of the tongue.
Right cheek.
Left cheek.
Top lip.
Bottom lip.
The space between the lips.
The right eyebrow.
The left eyebrow.
Centre of the eyebrows.
Right ear.
Left ear.
Listening.
Both ears listening together.
Right eye.
Left eye.
Right nostril.
Left nostril.
Both nostrils breathing.
Whole of face.
Centre of throat.
Right index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
Little finger.
Thumb.
Palm of hand.
Back of hand.
Wrist.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Armpit.
Right waist.
Right hip.
Thigh.
Knee.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole of the foot.
Top of the foot.
Big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Little toe.
Whole right arm.
Whole right leg.
Whole right side of the body.
Deeply relaxed.
Left hand.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
Little finger.
Thumb.
Top of hand.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Armpit.
Left waist.
Left hip.
Thigh.
Knee.
Calf.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole of foot.
Top of foot.
Left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Little toe.
Whole left arm.
Whole left leg.
Whole left side of the body.
Deeply relaxed.
Now feel the right arm and the left leg together.
And the left arm and right leg together.
Now bringing the awareness to the back of the body.
Heels.
Calves.
Buttocks.
Lower back.
Middle back.
Upper back.
Back of neck.
Back of head.
Now sense the whole body.
Aware of the whole body.
The whole body deeply relaxed.
Now bringing your awareness back to the breath again.
The natural gentle breath.
Feeling the expansion of the whole body as you inhale.
Now counting your breath silently from 1 to 10.
When you inhale,
Count 1.
When you exhale,
Count 1.
Next inhale 2.
Exhale 2.
Continue in this way until you reach the number 10.
Now allow all the sensations to dissolve.
Bringing your attention to the space behind your closed eyes.
And visualize the following images.
A candle flame.
Clouds in the sky.
Snow-capped mountain.
Waves breaking on the beach.
A butterfly.
A cascading waterfall.
Birds flying across a sunset.
Twinkling stars in the night sky.
An inner sanctuary.
Allow for the images to dissolve and bring your attention back to the area of your heart.
Connecting to these lovely feelings of relaxation and warmth in your heart.
As we come to the end of the practice,
You might like to repeat your intention silently three times.
May this be true for you.
So as we end the practice,
Become aware again of yourself in your room.
Your body resting.
Connecting to any sounds that you can hear in the room or outside.
You become aware of your eyes closed.
You might like to wriggle your fingers and toes and gradually reorientate yourself fully connected with your body.
Starting to move.
Ready for your everyday activities.
As you open your eyes back in the here and now.
Thank you.
