And perhaps shuffling around just a tiny bit more.
That if there's a micro adjustment,
That could make this even 1% more comfortable for you,
You know it's worth it here.
And then.
Let's take one sigh altogether.
Inhaling through the nose.
Open mouth release.
And then letting go of needing to do anything with your breath.
In fact,
It becomes the opposite.
That you soften through the center of your body.
That way your breath can flow freely.
Involuntarily.
As if you were sleeping.
Scanning the body one final time.
Just to see if there's a last adjustment.
That could bring you into that commitment.
Of stillness.
Now you have the knowledge that you have complete free will to move.
But you choose stillness.
As an act of turning towards winter.
Mother Nature's season of stillness.
Let that echo.
Into the chambers of your body.
And your mind.
And then committing to the practice of yoga nidra.
That you vow to yourself that you will stay awake.
Stay present.
Listening to the sound of my voice.
I'm feeling me.
Points of contact.
Between your body and the floor.
The back of the head.
The shoulder blades,
The backs of the arms,
Parts of the spine.
The buttocks.
Backs of the legs.
Back of the heels.
That all these points of contact deeply hold you here.
Feeling completely held.
Remembering.
The more you let go.
The more you experience support.
And then mentally.
Repeating the Sankalpa.
I turn towards the season of slowness.
And then open.
To the sensations of Earth.
First,
Opening to the sensation of sight behind the closed eyes.
Picture the room that we're in.
The walls,
The ceiling.
The floor,
Objects,
Even the people.
Visualize the room that we're in.
And then opening.
To the sensation of sound.
And picking up any sounds in this room.
And then moving even closer to the body.
And sensing any sounds of your own body.
Perhaps the rhythm of your own heartbeat.
The gentle sound of your own breath.
And then opening.
To the sensation of touch.
And feeling the weight of the fabric on your body.
You've been feeling the temperature of the air that touches your skin.
Even feeling the sensation of the breath moving in and out of the nostrils.
And then again.
Experience the contact of your body in the floor.
The contact of your closed eyelids,
The upper eyelid and the lower eyelid.
Even the contact of your lips.
And then mentally.
Drawing a circle.
Around your body.
A cocoon here.
And with this circle,
Nothing disturbs your mind,
Your body.
Your mind does not interact with anything external.
Again,
Cocoon yourself here.
And then softening.
Through the brow.
Through the eyelids.
Even softening through the jaw.
And the tongue.
Soften through the throat,
The vocal cords.
Even through your chest and your abdomen.
Softening through your hips,
Your buttocks.
All the way,
The legs into the feet.
Soften your whole body from head to toe.
And then without doing anything.
Simply allow your awareness to move into your right thumb.
Your right index finger.
Your right middle finger.
Right ring finger and right pinky finger,
All relaxed.
The palm of the right hand and the back of the right hand.
Move your awareness into your right wrist.
Right forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Even the underarm.
Moving your awareness into your right ribs.
Right sideways.
And the right hip.
Even sensing your whole right thigh,
The front of it.
The back of it,
The inner seam and the outer seam.
Of your right thigh.
Sense your whole right knee joint.
The front and the back.
Even all the complexities in this joint.
And sense it softening here.
Sense your right shin and your right calf muscle.
Your right ankle.
Top of the right foot.
And the sole of the right foot.
The heel,
The arch,
The pad.
You're right,
Big Toe.
Second toe,
Middle.
Fourth,
And pinky toe.
All relaxed.
Even sense the space in between the toes.
And again.
Without changing or doing anything.
Allow your awareness to shift into your left thumb.
Your left index finger,
Your left middle finger,
Left ring finger,
And left pinky finger.
Back of the left hand and palm of the left hand.
You're awake.
You're breathing and your awareness is in your left hand.
The left wrist.
The left forearm.
The elbow and the upper arm,
All relaxed.
Even the underarm.
And into the left ribs.
Left side waist.
Left hip.
Into the left thigh,
The front of it.
Inner seam and outer seam of your left thigh.
Sense your whole left knee.
The complexity of this joint.
Support it here.
Sense the top of your left foot.
The sole of your left foot.
The heel.
The Arch.
Even the pad of your left foot.
Left big toe.
Left second toe.
Third.
Forth.
And left pinky toe all relaxed.
Even the space between the toes.
You're awake,
You're breathing.
And all of your awareness is in your left foot.
And then travel to the calf muscles.
The back of the knee.
The back of the thighs.
Even the right buttock.
And the left buttock.
The lower back.
The middle of your spine.
And the upper back.
Sends all the muscles on the right side of the spine.
All the muscles on the left side of your spine.
Sense your whole spinal column.
From the tailbone.
All the way to where your neck meets your skull.
Sense your whole spinal column.
Supported here.
Right shoulder blade.
Left shoulder blade.
Back of the neck.
Back of the head.
Crown of the head.
You've been sensing your forehead.
Center of the eyebrows.
You know what I'm saying?
All the muscles.
Around your right eye.
The eyelid.
The cheekbone even.
And then sense all of the muscles.
Around your left eye.
The eyelid,
Even the temple,
The cheekbone.
Sense the bridge of the nose.
Tip of the nose.
Right nostril.
Left nostril.
Both nostrils.
Upper lip.
Lower lip.
And the inside of the mouth.
The tongue.
The gums,
The teeth,
The roof and the floor of your mouth.
And then mentally.
Trace a line from your right ear across your jaw all the way over to the left ear.
And sense your whole jaw soft and relaxed.
Front of the neck.
The throat.
Even your vocal cords.
Move your mind into your chest.
The right side of the chest.
The left side of the chest.
Even your lungs.
And all the chambers of your heart.
Sense your upper abdomen.
Middle and lower abdomen.
In fact,
Sense all of the organs within your abdomen here.
Sensing them supported by this practice.
The hips and the pelvis,
All relaxed.
And then sense your whole body.
The feet.
The legs,
The hands,
The arms,
The whole trunk.
Your neck and your head.
Sense your whole body fully supported here.
And sense your whole body.
Resting.
Mirroring this season of slowness.
And feel your body.
Resting in this fertile darkness.
Not the void.
But the incubation of winter.
The darkness of the soil.
The darkness of the womb.
The darkness before dawn.
And even the darkness in the seed.
That is gathering strength.
Witness your body here.
Resting in this season of stillness.
Slowness.
And that fertile winter darkness.
And for a moment.
Know that this is a time of not doing.
No need to know.
Decide.
Or bloom.
You enter into the invitation of rest.
And sense that you could witness your body from above.
And take in this mental image of your body fully resting here.
And then again.
Mentally repeating.
The Sankalpa.
I turn towards.
The season of slowness.
And feel your body.
On the earth.
All the contact points of your body and the earth.
Opening to the sensation of touch and feeling the blanket.
The clothing on your skin.
Opening to the sensation of sound and taking in any sound within this room.
Behind the closed eyes.
Open to sight.
And picture the room that we're in.
Walls,
Ceiling,
Floor,
Objects,
Even any of the people around you.
Remembering.
That you've been practicing yoga nidra.
The practice is coming to an end.
So one last time.
Take in that image of your body resting here.
In that fertile darkness of winter.
The season of slowness.
And begin to deepen your breath.
Allowing the inhale to fill your center a little bit more.
And the exhale to sweep through you.
Invite the smallest of movements into your fingers.
And your toes.
You might even start to slowly take the head from side to side.
Starting to add any of your own movements.
No need to rush this.
Eventually you'll hug your knees in toward your chest.
You might rock.
You might sway.
Already feeling that sweet hug to self just for coming here this evening.
To then eventually roll over onto your side.
Pausing.
In the fetal position.
As you're here,
Remembering where you just were.
Remembering that feeling.
Of dipping into this essence of winter.
And with that.
.
.
Start to make your way up into a seat.
To close down our time together.
Feel free to leave the eyes closed or at least the eyelids heavy.
And simply taking these last few moments just to notice how you feel.
Not needing to judge,
Just noticing.
And one last time.
Mentally repeating the sankalpa.
I turn towards the season of slowness.
Invitation to bring your hands into prayer.
And bowing inwards towards your incredible body.
And a sense of gratitude for all of these practices that remind us of our capacity to slow down,
To mirror nature.
In the tradition of Yoga Nidra,
Hari Om Tat Sat.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
