Welcome to this yoga nidra meditation for anxiety.
Please come to a comfortable position seated or lying down.
Taking a moment to get nice and cozy,
Your body well supported.
Knowing you have full permission to shift your body at any time during the meditation to cultivate even 1% more comfort.
And as we begin here,
I invite you to receive my guidance as it feels best for you.
My words point you in a direction of experience but receive them as it makes sense for you.
And to begin here by taking the palms and rubbing your palms together to build some nice warmth and heat in your palms.
When you feel this warmth,
Bring your palms over your face.
Nice palming here to help our body shift,
To help the mind begin to quiet.
Feel a sense of your body drinking in this warmth and this warmth helping to soften the facial tissue,
Your eyes,
The little muscles around your eyes beginning to relax.
The muscles around your lips beginning to soften.
Take a few breaths to drink in the warmth from your palms.
And now please bring your palms down towards your body,
Perhaps at the hips,
Wherever it's comfortable for you.
So you now feel the weight,
The warmth of your palms here,
Lower in the body towards belly,
Hips.
We do this as an invitation to invite your breath to flow.
Nice and slow and low,
Lower in your body to perhaps fill and empty belly.
Begin to cultivate a nice slow steady breath in and out of your belly.
Just receiving this as it feels comfortable for you.
It's going to be accessible in this moment with the hands simply guiding your breath to flow a little lower down towards your belly.
Over time beginning to feel more breath flowing in and out of belly.
So know this,
This is enough.
This breath that flows in and out of your belly.
A nice slow steady calming breath as best you can.
Inhale and exhale.
Inhale and exhale.
Now as you take your next inhale at the top of your inhale,
Hold your breath in.
Just pause for a moment.
Nice and then exhaling at the end of your exhale.
Hold your breath out.
Just for a moment.
Inhale at the top of the inhale.
Hold your breath in.
A pause.
Exhale at the end of the exhale.
Hold your breath out.
And last time inhaling at the top of your inhale,
Hold your breath in.
Pause.
And as you exhale,
Just return to the natural flow of your breath.
No pause.
Inhaling and exhaling.
Inhaling.
Exhaling.
Know this is enough.
You are enough.
This breath,
This moment.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Simply breathe.
Simply be.
This is enough.
This breath.
This moment.
Simply breathe.
Please let your awareness open up to move through your body to notice any sensations you're experiencing,
Any thoughts that you are noticing or feelings.
Just begin to notice what you are experiencing in this moment.
Be unwilling to judge it.
Familiar,
Unfamiliar,
Pleasant,
Unpleasant.
Let all that go.
Simply notice what you notice.
A sense of coming to deeper presence.
So that with the awareness that arises,
With what you notice,
You can begin to cultivate an intention for this nidra meditation.
An intention,
A positive affirmation of what you choose to experience as you release anxiety.
Of how this may feel in your life as anxiety eases.
How will this show up in your life?
Set for yourself an intention and repeat it three times.
Returning your awareness to your breath.
Simply inhale and exhale.
Your hands,
Arms may rest where they are or let them move out to where it is most comfy for you.
Together we'll move your awareness through your body.
And as I guide you,
We will just pause in each area and offer this simple breath.
Beginning down at your feet,
Awareness comes to your feet,
Your right foot,
Your left foot.
Both feet together held in your awareness simultaneously.
Simply breathe.
Awareness flows up to your legs,
Your right leg,
Your left leg.
Both legs together.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Awareness flows to your hips,
Your right hip,
Your left hip.
Both hips together.
Simply breathe.
Awareness flows to your hands,
Your right hand,
Your left hand.
Both hands simultaneously.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Awareness now flows through your arms and shoulders,
Right arm and shoulder.
Left arm and shoulder.
Both arms and shoulders together.
Simply breathe.
The front of your torso,
Belly,
Ribs,
Chest,
Lungs,
Heart.
The back of your torso,
Spine,
Kidneys,
Adrenals,
Shoulder blades.
Front and back of torso,
Whole torso held in your awareness.
Simply breathe.
Awareness flows up to fill your neck,
Your throat.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Awareness fills your face,
Your chin,
Bottom lip,
Top lip.
Both lips together.
Right nostril.
Left nostril.
Both nostrils together.
Right eye.
Left eye.
Both eyes together.
Right ear.
Left ear.
Both ears together.
Awareness fills your whole face,
Your whole head.
Simply breathe.
Awareness now flows out to fill your whole body.
Your whole body fills with your awareness simultaneously.
Whole body.
Simply breathe.
As your whole body rests,
Bring your awareness to your mind's eye.
Imagine in mind's eye,
And you see a beautiful,
Spacious blue sky.
Can you imagine a fluffy white cloud floating through the sky?
And your body laying on this cloud floating through the open sky.
Can you feel a sense of spaciousness?
Lightness?
Let this image fade and can you now imagine a small box?
A small box that you try to squeeze your body into.
The muscles of your body tightening up,
Trying to squeeze into this very small space.
Can you feel this squeezing,
This tightness?
And then once again,
Let this image fade and return,
Call back the image of the spacious sky.
Can you imagine floating on a fluffy white cloud through the spaciousness of the open sky?
Feel this openness,
Spaciousness through your body.
Let this image begin to fade and can you see a busy city street?
New York,
Toronto,
A busy city street to look and see all these people rushing,
Busy.
To imagine yourself in the midst of the rush,
In the midst of the hectic pace to perhaps feel a sense of your heart,
A meeting of your breath going faster to feel the busyness,
The rush of this place.
And now let this image fade and can you now imagine a beautiful park,
Children at play,
People strolling through the park,
The beautiful trees to feel a sense of ease.
Can you see the enjoyment of smiles on people's faces as they perhaps picnic,
Lay on blankets soaking up the sun?
Can you imagine yourself here feeling the ease,
The calm,
The enjoyment of just being in this beautiful park?
Now invite this image to fade and can you imagine the most peaceful,
Beautiful place,
One that you know or that you create,
A place of great beauty,
Of peacefulness,
Perhaps a beach,
A garden,
Allowing whatever arises naturally or recollecting a place you love.
To imagine yourself here to see the colors,
To hear the sounds,
Perhaps water flowing,
Perhaps smelling flowers,
Earth.
Allow yourself to create here or remember the beauty,
The peacefulness,
The calm and know this,
This is a safe place.
This is your place that you are creating,
Remembering as you choose,
As perhaps you choose to invite beings,
Animals into your space.
Now this space is timeless,
This is simply a beautiful inner sanctuary of being.
Where you can receive the beauty,
The calm,
The ease,
The safety of this inner sanctuary.
Let your body find a place to rest here,
A place to just lie down perhaps in a hammock or sit against a tree.
Let yourself be in this beautiful inner sanctuary,
This oasis of calm,
Peace.
Let your body receive drink in all that it offers you.
To feel your body absorbing drinking in the calm,
The ease,
The gift of simply being.
A beautiful radiant self here open to receiving.
As you rest.
You may choose to rest here,
This may feel complete for you knowing you can return at any time.
Simply rest and receive the gifts of this beautiful inner sanctuary you've created.
I thank you so much for the honor of guiding you through this meditation.
Om Shanti,
Deep peace,
Namaste.
