Hello my name is Dennis and this is a practice of yoga nidra.
We'll begin with some simple breathing practices and this one is called protected by angels.
Make yourself as comfortable as you possibly can,
Lying down.
Even those tiny adjustments can do a lot.
And this practice is called protected by angels.
It was a bit inspired by the philosopher and writer Rolf Waldo Emerson and his say self-reliance.
And I think if you if you follow your path you eventually feel like you're being somehow protected and escorted by angels.
But it doesn't go in a straight line.
You have to go through ups and downs.
You fall out of the path and then you get back into the path.
So I guess it was inspired by life itself.
And the track also contains a soundtrack called angels that was recorded by me in my little log cabin.
So we're going to do a couple of extended exhales.
So taking one inhale through the nose and a long exhale through the mouth.
About four or five seconds in and maybe six,
Seven or eight seconds out.
And you don't have to count.
So breathing in.
Exhaling through the mouth.
Long exhale.
Telling the body to relax as much as possible but not more than you can.
And again.
Breathing in.
Long exhale.
And again.
Breathing in.
Long exhale.
And let's do double inhales and a long exhale through the mouth.
So the first inhale is about 70% of the inhale and the second one is about 30.
So breathing in for one and one more breath on the top of that one.
And exhale.
And again.
Breathing in again.
Exhale.
Softening the shoulders.
Again.
Exhale.
Softening the jaw.
Going into your natural breath again.
Just observing the inhale and the exhale.
The body takes care of you automatically.
And we're not gonna try to achieve anything.
I think once you let go of that it happens on its own.
But we're gonna continue to trust in the path.
In our own paths.
Bringing forth the sankalpa.
Your heartfelt desire.
Perhaps you want to bring up something that motivates you.
Perhaps a metaphor for a ship.
So one example is I trust that my ship will reach the harbor.
So bring forth your sankalpa.
Repeating it three times mentally.
Imagine walking into a snowy forest.
Peaceful and quiet.
The only thing you hear is your steps in the snow.
It's dark.
But you don't feel scared.
You feel like you're being taken care of somehow.
Among the trees.
You see a light.
And when you walk a little further towards that light.
You see that it's a it's a fireplace.
And you see that there's angels dancing around the fireplace.
Flying around the fire.
One of the angels fly towards you.
A smile on her face.
Kindness in her eyes.
Pointing towards a cradle.
A big cradle by the fireplace.
So you walk towards that cradle.
And you lie down.
Protected by angels.
Your garden angels on your path.
And the angels are sending out light from their fingers.
The first point of light.
Reach your heart.
Center of your heart.
And you bring some awareness to your heart center.
Another angel sends out a point of light at your throat center.
Another point of light on your chin.
Left cheek.
Right cheek.
Both of the cheeks.
Upper lip.
Lower lip.
Both of the lips.
Top of the tongue.
Back of the tongue.
Left nostril.
Right nostril.
Both nostrils.
Just observing your natural breath.
Left eye.
Right eye.
Both of the eyes.
Between the eyebrows.
Allow yourself to look inwards.
Even if there's fear to look inwards.
Allow yourself to rest.
Relaxing the forehead.
A point of light.
Melting down all the tensions in your forehead.
Crown of the head.
Back of the head.
The brain muscle.
A point of light.
Making you relax that brain muscle.
Let the thoughts come and go.
It's okay.
It's okay.
Left shoulder.
The right shoulder.
Dropping down.
Both shoulders.
Left upper arm.
Elbow.
Lower arm.
Wrist.
Palm of the hand.
Top of the hand.
Thumb.
Second finger.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Center of the chest.
Upper right arm.
Elbow.
Lower arm.
Wrist.
Palm of the hand.
Top of the hand.
Right thumb.
Second finger.
Third.
Fourth.
And a pinky finger.
Center of the chest.
Upper back.
Shoulder blades.
Resting on Mother Earth.
Protected by angels.
Mid back.
Lower back.
The base of the spine.
Rooted.
Safe and warm.
Solar plexus.
Melting down all the tension in the solar plexus.
Abdomen.
Same thing here.
Softening the abdomen.
As much as possible.
Right now.
And if there's any tension left,
It's okay.
Just bring some awareness to that tension.
Inside the left hip.
Left upper leg.
Knee.
Lower leg.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole of the foot.
Top of the foot.
Big toe.
Left foot.
Second toe.
Third.
Fourth.
And a fifth.
Pelvic bowl.
Inside the right hip.
Upper right leg.
Knee.
Lower right leg.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole of the foot.
Top of the foot.
Big toe.
Second.
Third.
Fourth.
And a fifth.
Pelvic bowl.
Abdomen.
Solar plexus.
Center of the heart.
Center of the throat.
Between the eyebrows.
Crown of the head.
Feeling the body against the earth.
The whole body.
Protected by angels.
The whole body.
One point of light.
United.
An open awareness in the whole body.
And the mind.
With kindness towards yourself.
You accept how you feel in the body and in the mind.
Right now.
It is what it is.
And it's okay.
Again,
Observing that natural breath.
And the angels start to lift up that cradle.
Flying up among the top of the trees.
Sky full of stars.
The milky way.
The angels dancing like northern lights in the starry sky.
Singing sweet melodies to soothe your heart.
To soothe your body and mind.
Giving you a feeling of feeling safe.
Balanced.
And on your path.
In the whole body.
And to show you how it feels to feel lost.
They're sending you a feeling of being alone.
Cold.
In the whole body.
A feeling of sadness.
Again,
Going back to feeling balanced.
Happy.
And safe.
In the whole body.
Once again.
Going back to feeling cold.
Lost.
And a sense of sadness.
In the whole body.
And now feeling both of these sensations.
Both balanced,
Safe and warm.
And cold.
Lost and sad.
Simultaneously.
And feeling how you can learn from both.
You're most likely gonna go through hard times and good times.
But both will teach you something.
Both has its meaning.
Even through the hardest of times.
When it's hard to feel that glimpse of light.
It's gonna shift.
If you let it.
If you keep trusting in yourself.
Even when the wind is cold and harsh.
Keep going.
Keep going.
Bring your goodness out into the world.
We wanna see it.
Now the angels put you down again.
On the ground.
Beside the fireplace.
You bring forth your sankalpa one more time.
If you wanna use the example,
That's alright.
You can also use your own.
And the example was,
I trust that my ship will reach the harbor.
Repeating the sankalpa three times.
Inside of you.
Waking up slowly and gently.
Rising up from the cradle.
Imagine yourself rising up from the cradle.
Walking out of the woods.
The sun is rising.
Another day has begun.
Another chance.
There's always another chance.
Stretching out the body.
Taking a breath in through the nose.
And a shorter sigh of relief on the exhale.
Again.
And one more time.
Flutter the eyes open.
Whenever you're ready.
Thank you so much for practicing with me.
Again,
My name is Dennis Holmström.
And you're welcome back anytime.
