You may want to lay on your back or sit comfortably,
Maybe on a chair with your back supported.
But either way,
Just check your spine is nicely aligned and that you feel grounded.
Perhaps you'd like to make some movements or adjustments that you feel could maximise your level of comfort.
Remembering that you can change your position at any time if you feel that you want to.
It's okay,
We don't have to stay still.
If it's comfortable for you,
You may want to close your eyes or maybe just soften your gaze.
Just gently gazing at nothing in particular.
Now maybe you'd like to take an exhale as if your whole body is exhaling.
And inhale as if your whole body is inhaling.
As you exhale,
You might like to try and let go of any tension in the body.
Maybe inhale as if you're inhaling refreshed energy.
Maybe a sense of calm and softness.
If you like,
Take a few more inhales and exhales.
All you need to do is listen to my voice as best you can.
It's okay if you do not hear or follow everything I say.
It's perfectly natural to flow in and out of that conscious awareness of hearing.
If you do drift,
You may want to just gently tune back into my voice.
Or if you prefer,
Just allow yourself to say drift in for a while.
I invite you now to become aware of any sounds in the distance.
A gentle awareness of distant sounds.
Maybe now let your attention shift to any sounds closer.
Maybe any sounds you can hear inside the room in which you're in.
And perhaps you'd like to develop an awareness of your room.
In your mind,
Picture the walls,
The ceiling,
The floor,
And your body.
The shape of the way that you are resting in the room.
I invite you to become aware of your breathing.
Natural,
Effortless breathing.
Maybe spend a moment being aware of the ebb and flow of your breath.
If you like,
Just keep listening to the sound of my voice and know that your breath is flowing without effort.
Our practice of yoga nidra begins now.
Now we move to rotate our attention around different parts of the body.
I invite you to allow your conscious awareness to take a trip through different parts of your body.
Letting your awareness shift from point to point.
Maybe you feel you'd like to silently repeat the name of the body part after me.
Taking your conscious awareness to that part.
Or maybe just letting your awareness move to that part.
I'd like you to take your awareness to your forehead.
Moving that awareness down to your throat.
Shift that awareness to your right shoulder.
Right elbow.
Right wrist.
Tip of the right thumb.
Tip of the right index finger.
Tip of the right middle finger.
Tip of the ring finger.
Tip of your right little finger.
To your right wrist.
Right elbow.
Right shoulder.
And back to your throat.
Now to your left shoulder.
Left elbow.
Left wrist.
Tip of the left thumb.
Tip of the left index finger.
Tip of the left middle finger.
Tip of the left ring finger.
And tip of the left little finger.
To the left wrist.
Left elbow.
And left shoulder.
And move that awareness back to your throat.
To the centre of the chest.
The right side of the chest.
Back to the centre of the chest.
To the left side of the chest.
And back to the centre of the chest.
Down to your navel.
And now to your lower abdomen.
Take that awareness to your right hip.
Your right knee.
Right ankle.
Tip of the right big toe.
Tip of the right second toe.
Tip of the right middle toe.
Tip of the right fourth toe.
Tip of the right little toe.
To your right ankle.
Right knee.
Right hip.
And lower abdomen.
Now to your left hip.
Left knee.
Left ankle.
To the tip of the left big toe.
Tip of the left second toe.
Tip of the left middle toe.
Tip of the left fourth toe.
And to the tip of the left little toe.
To the left ankle.
Left knee.
And left hip.
Now move in the awareness to your lower abdomen.
Now to the navel.
Up to the centre of the chest.
To the throat.
And once more to the forehead.
We're going to shift our awareness to different parts of the body once more.
Starting at the forehead.
Then to the throat.
To the right shoulder.
Right elbow.
Right wrist.
Tip of the thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
And little finger.
To the right wrist.
Elbow.
Shoulder.
And back to the throat.
Now to the left shoulder.
Left elbow.
Wrist.
Tip of the thumb.
Tip of the index finger.
Tip of the middle finger.
Tip of the ring finger.
Tip of the little finger.
To the wrist.
Elbow.
And shoulder.
Now to the throat.
To the centre of the chest.
To the right side of the chest.
To the centre.
To the left side of the chest.
To the centre.
Down to the navel.
And then to the lower abdomen.
Taking that awareness to the right hip.
Right knee.
Right ankle.
Tip of the big toe.
Second toe.
Middle toe.
Fourth toe.
Little toe.
To the ankle.
Knee.
Hip.
And lower abdomen.
Once more to the left hip.
Left knee.
Left ankle.
Tip of the big toe.
Second toe.
Middle toe.
Fourth toe.
And little toe.
To the ankle.
Left knee.
And left hip.
Once more to the lower abdomen.
To the navel.
To the centre of the chest.
To the throat.
And back to the forehead.
If you wish,
Letting the attention on the body dissolve.
And allow yourself to become aware of your breath once more.
Your breath is natural and effortless.
I'm going to invite you to move your awareness of the breath between two points in your body.
Please feel free to follow my suggestions.
Or to just stay with that simple awareness that you are breathing.
If you wish,
Breathe as if you're exhaling from the top of your head down to your toes.
And as if you're inhaling from the toes up to the top of your head.
Now,
Start to exhale from the top of the head to your ankles.
And back.
Next,
Exhale and inhale from the top of the head to your knees.
Now,
Exhale in and inhale in from the top of your head to the base of your spine.
Next,
Allow the breath to move between the top of the head and the navel.
And now,
Inhale in and exhale in from the top of the head to the center of the chest where the heart center is located.
Now,
Inhale in and exhale in from the top of the head to your throat.
And now,
Breathe in from the top of the head to the bridge between the nostrils.
And now,
Inhale and exhale between the space in between your eyebrows and the bridge between your nostrils.
Now,
Allowing that breath to move from the top of the head to the bridge between the nostrils and back.
Now,
Inhale in and exhale in from the top of the head to the throat.
Exhale and inhale from the top of the head to the heart center in the chest.
Exhale and inhale from the top of the head to the navel and back.
And now,
From the top of the head to the base of the spine.
Allowing that inhale and exhale to move from the top of the head to the knees and back.
And letting that breath move from the top of the head to the ankles and back.
And now,
Breathe in as if exhaling from the top of the head down to the toes and as if inhaling from the toes all the way up to the top of the head.
Now,
Just gently allow the focus on your breath to softly be let go.
Now,
If you wish,
You can join me for a visualization.
If you prefer,
You can just focus on the sound of my voice and not what I'm saying.
If you wish to join me,
I'd like you to start to visualize that you are in a garden.
It could be a garden that you know or a garden that you create in your mind's eye.
Perhaps you see a traditional cottage garden or maybe somewhere much more exotic.
Notice the temperature outside in your garden.
Maybe it's a warm,
Sunny summer day.
Perhaps there's light rain you can feel on your face.
Or maybe it's a late evening near the summer solstice and it's pleasantly cool and still quite light.
Notice how it feels on your skin to be outside in your garden.
Perhaps you can hear the sounds of birds chirping or singing.
Maybe there's the gentle hum of bees as they collect pollen.
Perhaps there's the sound of crickets or cicadas around you.
Or maybe all is quiet.
Perhaps there's a fountain with softly trickling water that you can hear.
Take a moment to notice any sounds you can hear in your garden.
And now let yourself become aware of any smells you notice around you.
Maybe the smell of freshly cut grass.
Or blooming fragrant roses or lavender.
Let yourself breathe in any aromas you have created in your garden.
Are there any animals in your garden?
Perhaps you can see red kites circling above.
Or maybe little coltits or sparrows hopping around.
Maybe you can see bees busily moving from flower to flower,
Hauling pollen to take back to their hive.
Can you see a birdbath or seed in your garden?
Perhaps you can see a bird splashing,
Having fun in the birdbath.
Or maybe delicately pecking seed from the ground or from a bird feeder.
And now notice where you are in your garden.
Are you sitting,
Laying or standing or even walking?
Perhaps you can feel the lush green grass under your feet in between your toes.
Maybe you can see structures in your garden.
Possibly an arch with rambling plants.
A comfortable sun lounger.
A greenhouse or pretty summer house.
Perhaps there are areas of texture like stones or gravel.
Take a moment to notice any man-made structures and textures.
Now let your attention move to the plants in your garden.
Maybe you can see flowers of every colour or maybe your garden is mostly greens.
Perhaps your garden consists of vegetables and herbs.
If you wish,
Have a wander around your garden and take note of the different colours and shapes of the flowers,
Leaves and trees you find around you.
Pausing anywhere,
You feel you'd like to gaze a little longer.
Perhaps reaching out and touching or smelling any of the plants that you wish.
Spend a little while here wandering or in stillness,
Enjoying this perfect garden that you have created.
Now just allowing your visualisation to fade but know that you can return to this lovely place that you've created anytime you wish to.
Just by reconstructing it in your mind's eye.
Maybe now slowly become aware of your breathing once more.
Natural,
Effortless breathing.
If you wish,
Spend a moment being aware of the ebb and flow of your breath.
Letting it bring renewed energy into the whole of your being.
Maybe now letting your awareness and attention shift to any sounds in your room,
Close by.
And now to any sounds in the same building but a little further away.
Now I invite you to become aware of sounds in the distance,
An awareness of any distant sounds.
And now maybe the most distant sound that you can hear,
Seeking it out like a radar.
You may now want to allow yourself to develop an awareness of the room,
The walls,
The ceiling,
The floor.
And start to become aware of your surroundings and where you are positioned in those surroundings.
Maybe visualizing yourself in that room,
In the position that your body is in.
And maybe your fingers and toes would like to make some gentle movements.
Maybe giving them just a little wiggle to let the body start to get some little awake feeling.
And if you like,
Take a nice long breath and maybe a stretch too if it feels good.
If you chose to have your eyes closed,
Maybe allowing your palms to shield your eyes as they open.
And then slowly dividing the fingers to gradually allow the light in.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
