You may want to lay on your back or sit comfortably,
Perhaps on a chair,
Feeling that you feel supported.
Check that you are nicely aligned,
Your spine feels long and also allow yourself to feel grounded.
Make any movements or adjustments that you feel you need to that could maximise the level of comfort you're feeling.
And know that you can change position any time if you wish to,
It's absolutely okay.
You may want to close your eyes if that feels good or just soften your gaze and look at nothing in particular.
Perhaps now you'd like to take a nice deep exhale as if the whole of your body is exhaling.
Now take an inhale as if the whole of your body from head to toe is inhaling.
With your next exhale you might like to allow any tension in the body to leave with the breath.
And as you take your next inhale perhaps you feel a sense of calmness and softness enter with the breath.
If you like take a couple more inhales and exhales,
Allow intention to leave and that sense of softness to enter.
Now for our practice,
Today all you need to do is to listen to my voice as best you can.
It's okay if you don't catch everything I say or follow everything I say,
It's perfectly natural to flow in and out of a conscious level of hearing.
If you do start to drift perhaps you would like to tune back into my voice or perhaps you'd like to allow yourself to stay drifting for a little while.
Now I invite you to become aware of any sounds that you hear in the distance,
An awareness of any distant sounds.
Now maybe let your attention shift to any closer sounds,
Perhaps in the same building.
And now to any sounds that you can hear in the same room that you're in.
Maybe allow yourself to develop an awareness of your room.
In your mind picture the walls,
The ceiling,
The floor.
Maybe picture your body and the shape of the way that you're resting in the room.
I'm now going to invite you to become aware of your breathing,
Your natural effortless breath.
Maybe you'd like to spend a moment being aware of the ebb and flow of your breath as you gently allow your inhale and exhale to happen without effort.
If you like just keep on listening to my voice and know that your breath is flowing.
Our practice of yoga nidra begins now.
I invite you to allow your consciousness to take a trip through different parts of your body,
Letting your awareness shift from point to point.
Maybe you'd like to silently repeat the name of the body part after me,
Allowing your conscious awareness to move to that part or maybe just letting your awareness move to that part.
If you wish we shall begin with the area between the eyebrows.
Taking your awareness to the area between your eyebrows.
Now shifting that conscious awareness to your throat.
Now to your right shoulder.
Right elbow.
Right wrist.
Right thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Fourth finger.
The little finger.
To your right wrist.
Right elbow.
Right shoulder.
And to your throat.
Now to the point between your eyebrows.
To the throat.
Left shoulder.
Left elbow.
Left wrist.
Left thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Fourth finger.
Little finger.
Left wrist.
Left elbow.
Left shoulder.
And to the throat.
Now to the heart centre in the middle of the chest.
To the right side of the chest.
To the heart centre.
To the left side of the chest.
And to the centre of the chest once more.
Now to the centre of the torso.
And down to the navel.
Shift that awareness to your right hip.
Right knee.
Right ankle.
Right big toe.
Second toe.
The third toe.
Fourth toe.
And the little toe.
To the right ankle.
Right knee.
Right hip.
And to the navel.
Now to the left hip.
Left knee.
Left ankle.
Left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Little toe.
Left ankle.
Left knee.
Left hip.
And to the navel.
Now to the centre of the torso.
The centre of the chest.
The throat.
And to the area between the eyebrows.
Now shift that awareness to your right leg.
Now the left leg.
Now both legs together.
Take it to the right arm.
The left arm.
Both arms together.
Now to the legs.
Arms.
Torso.
And to the legs,
Arms,
Torso and head.
Together.
The whole body together.
The whole body together.
The whole body together.
And taking that awareness back once more to the area between your eyebrows.
Moving your awareness to your throat.
Right shoulder.
Right elbow.
Right wrist.
Right thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Fourth finger.
Little finger.
Little finger.
Right wrist.
Right elbow.
Right shoulder.
And back to the throat.
Once more to the point between the eyebrows.
And to the throat.
Left shoulder.
Left elbow.
Left wrist.
Left thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Fourth finger.
Left elbow.
Little finger.
Left wrist.
Left elbow.
Left shoulder.
And to the throat.
Now shifting that awareness to the heart centre.
To the heart centre.
To the right side of the chest.
To the heart centre once more.
To the left side of the chest.
To the heart centre once more.
Now to the centre of the torso.
And down to the navel.
Taking that awareness to your right hip.
Right knee.
Right ankle.
Right big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Little toe.
The right ankle.
The right ankle.
Right knee.
Right hip.
And to the navel.
Now to the left hip.
Left knee.
Left knee.
Left ankle.
Left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
First toe.
Little toe.
To the left ankle.
Left knee.
Left hip.
And to the navel.
Now shifting up to the centre of the torso.
And now to the heart centre at the centre of the chest.
Taking that awareness up to the throat.
And then once more to the area between your eyebrows.
Now shift your awareness to the whole of your right leg.
Now to the whole of your left leg.
And now to both legs together.
That conscious awareness moves to the whole of your right arm.
That conscious awareness moves to the whole of your right arm.
Now to the whole of your left arm.
Now to both arms together.
Now be aware of your legs and arms and torso and head together.
The whole body together.
The whole body together.
The whole body together.
If you wish you may want to let your attention on the body dissolve.
And allow yourself to become aware of your breath once more.
Notice that your breath is natural and effortless.
Perhaps follow your exhale and imagine that your breath is moving down your body from your nose to the base of your spine.
And maybe feel your natural inhale as though you're breathing from the base of your spine all the way up to the top of your head.
Perhaps you'd like to let yourself exhale and inhale in this way.
Exhaling down and inhaling up the body.
You may like to imagine that your breath is allowing soft energy to ease the whole of your body as it flows up and down with each of your breaths.
And maybe you'd like to count your breaths.
Starting at 27.
Maybe you'd like to silently say I exhale 27.
I inhale 27.
I exhale 26.
I inhale 26.
Just let yourself stay with your breath moving up and down or with your breath count for the next few moments allowing that flow of energy and ease up and down your body.
Exhale 27.
Just let yourself stay with your breath moving up and down.
Staying with your breath,
Letting that soft energy ease and allowing the flow of your breath to be effortless.
Maybe now you'd like to allow your focus on the breath to fade and perhaps you choose to take a visualisation with me.
If you wish,
Picture in your mind's eye a tree.
It can be any sort of tree that you choose.
Bring to mind the picture of the whole tree.
Its trunk,
The branches,
The leaves,
Even the roots of the tree.
And in your mind,
Maybe you'd like to allow yourself to somehow become the tree.
Perhaps you can feel an inner sense of what it feels like to be this tree.
Allow yourself to be aware of your trunk,
Your branches and your leaves.
Perhaps you can picture the colours.
Maybe you can feel the textures.
And maybe you can even smell the earthy aroma of your tree.
Maybe you can sense a gentle breeze rustling in your leaves or the sun warming your bark.
Perhaps you can hear birdsong.
Notice birds gently rest on your branches and sing.
Just take a moment to be your tree.
Imagine the sensation of all the things that are around you.
Now as the tree,
If you can start to visualise your root system.
Perhaps you're becoming aware of the roots that extend deep into the earth.
Your roots are confidently seeking out nourishment and water,
Keeping you stable and solid even in the strongest of winds.
Perhaps your roots go deep into the earth and perhaps your roots grow wide into the earth also.
Become aware of your root system.
And maybe now you'd like to imagine breathing up through your roots and out through your branches.
Then breathing in the opposite way,
Inhaling through your branches and exhaling through your roots.
Maybe you'd like to repeat this breath as you allow yourself to be the tree.
As you breathe you feel grounded and nourished,
Nurtured and energised by the vitality of the earth,
Drawing up through your roots into your trunk,
Branches and leaves.
Maybe staying with your breath as it draws up and down.
Maybe just letting yourself stay with the sensation of being your tree.
And perhaps you'd like to allow for that visualisation to start to very slowly fade,
But keep in with you the sense of feeling grounded,
Nourished,
Nurtured and energised.
Knowing that you can draw energy from your roots to feed the whole of your body.
And now perhaps you'd like to become aware of your breathing once more,
That natural effortless breath.
And in a moment being aware of the ebb and flow of your breath,
Allowing it to bring renewed energy into the whole of your being as you breathe in and allowing any remaining bits of tension to leave as you exhale.
Now maybe allow your attention to shift to any sounds that are close by in your room.
And now to sounds that may be in the same building.
Now I invite you to become aware of any sounds in the distance,
Seeking out any distant sounds.
And maybe now to the most distant sound that you're able to hear.
You may now wish to develop an awareness of the room around you.
Start to be aware of your surroundings and where you're positioned in those surroundings.
Assign yourself to notice the surface on which you're on and maybe any textures of clothing or blankets on your skin.
Perhaps you notice the temperature of the air as you inhale and exhale.
And maybe your fingers and toes would like to make some gentle movements.
And if you like,
Perhaps taking a nice long breath,
Maybe a stretch too if that feels good.
If you chose to have your eyes closed,
Maybe allow your hands to shield them as they very,
Very slowly open,
Allowing your fingers to divide and very gradually let the light in.
Allowing yourself a few moments to come back to the here and the now.
Keeping with you the sense of being energised and rested.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
