Welcome!
This Yoga Nidra is to help release tension from your physical body and ultimately your mind because body and mind go hand in hand.
Yoga Nidra is a meditation practiced lying down in Shavasana and it's really important that you sit up comfortably so that you can enjoy the meditation.
So go ahead and take the next few moments to settle into your space.
Place a thin pillow or folded blanket right under your head to keep your neck neutral and your head cushioned.
Place a bolster or pillow right under your knees to alleviate the lower back.
Cover yourself with the blanket to keep you nice and warm and to enhance relaxation.
Whenever you find a spot,
Close your eyes and spread the arms out and away from the body with palms facing up.
Press the upper arms into the ground to help your chest open just a bit more.
Separate the feet wider than hip distance,
Heels in,
Toes out.
And begin to tune in by noticing your body on the ground.
Just notice the feeling of your body touching the ground.
Notice all of the meeting points between the body and the ground in that space between the body and the ground.
Be aware of your body in the ground.
Now we are going to set an intention for our practice.
So you can repeat the following affirmation after me and then you can repeat it to yourself three more times.
I am grateful for my body's ability to fully relax,
Release tension and restore balance.
I am grateful for my body's ability to fully relax,
Release tension and restore balance.
Go ahead and repeat it to yourself three more times.
And now we are going to practice a body skin rotation of awareness.
For this practice,
All you do is bring your attention mentally to the area of the body that I mentioned.
The body will stay still and the mind will go from one part to the next.
No effort to keep up.
Go ahead and bring your awareness to the right hand,
The tip of your right thumb,
The tip of your index finger,
The tip of your middle finger,
The ring finger,
The pinky finger,
Palm of the right hand,
Back of the right hand,
Right wrist,
Right lower arm,
Your right elbow,
Right upper arm,
The right shoulder,
The right armpit,
The right waist,
The right hip,
The right thigh,
Right knee,
Right shin,
Right ankle,
Feel the top of your right foot,
The sole of the right foot and the heel of the right foot,
Your right big toe,
Your second toe,
Your third toe,
Your fourth toe and the fifth toe.
And move your awareness to the left hand and the tip of your left thumb,
The tip of your index finger,
The tip of your middle finger,
The ring finger and the pinky finger.
Feel the palm of your left hand,
The back of your left hand,
Your left wrist,
Left lower arm,
Your left elbow,
Left upper arm,
Your left shoulder,
Left armpit,
Left waist,
Your left hip,
Left thigh,
Left knee,
Left shin,
Left ankle,
Feel the top of your left foot and the sole of your left foot and the heel of your left foot,
Your left big toe,
Your second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and fifth toe.
And move the awareness to the back of the head,
The back of your neck,
Back of the right shoulder,
Back of the left shoulder and now feel your spine,
Feel the upper back,
The middle back,
The lower back,
Feel your entire back,
The right butt cheek,
The left butt cheek,
Feel the back of your right leg and the back of your left leg.
Move the awareness to the top of your head,
Your skull,
Your forehead,
Feel the right ear,
Feel the left ear,
Feel the inside of your ears,
Feel the outer rims of your ears,
The right cheekbone,
The left cheekbone,
The right nostril,
Your left nostril,
The tip of your nose,
Your upper lip,
The bottom lip,
Feel the tongue,
Your upper teeth,
Your bottom teeth,
The roof of your mouth,
Feel the inside of your mouth,
Feel the outside of your mouth,
Feel your entire mouth.
Now feel the throat,
Right side of your chest,
Left side of your chest,
The center of your chest,
Your navel,
Your lower abdomen,
Feel the right leg and feel the left leg,
Feel both of your legs together,
Feel the right arm and feel the left arm,
Feel both of your arms together,
Feel the right hand,
Feel the left hand,
Feel both of your hands together,
Now feel the right side of your body and feel the left side of your body,
Feel the front of your body,
Feel the back of your body,
Feel the outer layer of your body and now feel the insides of your body,
Be aware of the insides of your body,
Your bones,
Your muscles,
Your organs,
The blood going through your system,
Just feel your entire body,
Feel all of those parts at the same time,
Feel your entire body.
And now feel your body breathing,
Move your attention to your nose,
Observe the feeling as the air moves in and out through your nose.
And now keeping your attention at the nose,
Count your breaths backwards 27 to 1.
So you're counting on each exhale.
Every time that you exhale,
Feel that your body gets heavier and heavier and closer to the ground.
And count your breaths 27 to 1,
Counting on the exhale.
And now let go of your count and recreate feelings of heaviness.
Imagine your body so heavy that you're sinking into the ground.
Your body is heavy as if your bones were made of steel and you couldn't lift one finger.
Your body is so heavy that you're sinking down into the ground.
Your feet heavy,
Ankles heavy,
The legs are so heavy,
Hips heavy,
Your torso is heavy,
The arms are heavy,
The hands are heavy,
The head is heavy,
Your whole body is heavy.
And now begin to feel lightness.
Your body is so light as if your bones were made of feathers and you were floating from the ground.
Your body is so light you can barely feel the ground.
And the whole body is light,
Your head is light,
The arms are light,
The hands are light,
The torso is light,
Your hips light,
Your legs light,
Ankles light,
And your feet light.
Your whole body is light.
Now go back to the feeling of heaviness sinking down into the ground.
And now go back to the feeling of lightness floating from the ground.
And now welcome both feelings at the same time,
Heavy and light.
Welcome both.
Now begin to feel your body on the ground.
Your body is so effortless,
So grounded and effortless.
Feel the body lying down effortlessly on the ground.
And now begin to observe any tension coming from your body,
Any feelings,
Any sensations.
See if you can observe them one by one without judgment,
Without resistance.
Observe the feelings,
Sensations in your body right now.
No effort,
Simply observe.
Notice them one by one.
And now ask yourself the question,
What am I feeling right now?
And keep observing.
Simply insert the question,
What am I feeling right now?
And now ask yourself,
Who is aware of these feelings?
Who is aware of these feelings?
And now go back to the intention that you set at the beginning of the practice.
I am grateful for my body's ability to fully relax,
Release tension and restore balance.
I am grateful for my body's ability to fully relax,
Release tension and restore balance.
Repeat it to yourself three more times.
And now start to bring your awareness back.
Begin to wiggle the fingers and toes and sway the head from one side to the other.
Bend the knees one at a time so the soles of your feet are flat on the ground.
And pause.
Roll to the right into fetal position and curl in.
Feel free to stay there longer if you wish.
Whenever you're ready to close out your practice,
Come up to sit,
Keep your eyes closed.
Take another moment to feel your body and notice how you feel.
Whenever you're ready to close it out,
Take your hands together at the heart,
Lower the chin down to the chest.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
And then out through your mouth.
Thank you for your practice.
