Welcome to this Yoga Nidra.
This Yoga Nidra is designed to help you rest in the liminal space between the year gone by and the year ahead.
We're so busy rushing from one thing to the next that we really take time to pause and to really let everything integrate around us.
Yoga Nidra is based on liminal spaces and the practice itself takes us into the liminal space or the pause space between being awake and being asleep.
Other liminal spaces might be between night and day or day and night and other times where there is a natural pause in the world around us.
And it's in these liminal spaces that we can really rest,
We can really integrate and we can really make sense of the world around us.
So I invite you now to get really comfortable wrapping yourself up if it's a little cool and when you're ready,
We'll begin.
Start by taking a couple of nice deep breaths and some long,
Soft exhalations.
And with these exhalations,
Allowing the whole body to settle down into the surface beneath you.
Bring your awareness to the tips of your toes the tops of the feet the soles of the feet and the legs.
Your lower body is heavy and completely relaxed.
Now feeling your spine feeling your vertebrae one notch at a time softening down relaxing into gravity any tension hilting away.
Your belly soft your chest soft and your heartbeat like a gentle flutter in the background.
The arms,
Backs of the hands,
Palms of the hands tips of the fingers heavy and relaxed.
Feeling the weight of your head your eyes behind your closed eyes the gaze is wide and soft the mouth,
The jaw,
The tongue relaxed.
Your whole body here completely relaxed.
And in this moment ask yourself how do I feel and what do I need?
Now it's better if you don't try to think up a logical answer to these questions but just more a feeling a feeling to acknowledge exactly how you are right now and what do you need and it's likely that your body and your heart know this long before your head catches up and you let go of any thoughts or feelings now as you sink into the surface beneath you allow yourself to be held just like you are sinking into a soft white cloud relaxing the top of your head your left eye,
Your right eye both eyes together your left cheek,
Your right cheek both cheeks together your left ear,
Your right ear both ears together your nose,
Your mouth the whole of your head your left shoulder arm,
Hand,
Finger the left side of the body the hip the left leg foot,
Toe the whole left side of the body completely relaxed and the right shoulder arm shoulder wrist,
Finger the right side of the body the waist,
The hip the right leg foot,
Toe the whole right side of the body the left side of the body the right side of the body both sides of the body together and your back and your spine melting down and your belly and deep inside your belly all of your organs and your chest and deep inside your chest relaxing your heart your whole body relaxing here your whole body held and become aware of your breath gently travelling in through your nostril notice the inhalation the slight pause the exhalation the slightly longer pause and focus purely on the exhalation now and as the air leaves your nostril sense or imagine it dissolving into the world around you just as salt or sugar dissolves in hot water as the air leaves your nostril leaves your body this little part of you moves back into space and stay with this gentle rhythm for a few moments now and if you like you can add a count maybe in for 2 or 4 and then out for 3 or 6 and slowly letting go of any focus on the breath now and bring to your mind what have you been doing this last month this last month what have you been doing how have you mostly been feeling and again don't try to access logical reasoning or thoughts but feel from the heart this last month for you how has it been and then guide your mind back to the month before and the month before that how were you feeling how were you doing maybe images maybe people maybe feelings start to arrive as you guide your mind further and take yourself further back now 4 months ago and 5 months ago and 6 months ago how were you feeling what was going on in your world and take yourself further back now 7,
8 months ago and continue now maybe 9 11 and 12 a whole year ago who were you how were you feeling can you remember your hopes and your dreams and your wishes for yourself and see this whole year as a flash of colour of feelings of ups and of downs and see if you can take one of the ups one thing that happened to you this year and can you bring it to your mind how do you feel in your heart were there people or a person involved and you recall sound or smells maybe colours and the light any details that just appear holding them here and then bring yourself back to this moment this month and this liminal space this is a moment to pause to relax to gather and you slowly look forward and there's spaciousness in front of you there's openness in front of you and each moment and each breath in front of you is a chance for growth for change for love for happiness for ups and for downs and maybe you can imagine yourself taking a step forward maybe you can imagine yourself next week next month how do you want to feel and in 6 months and in 12 months what do you wish for yourself hold this feeling in your heart and repeat I wish for maybe happiness maybe safety or love or something else and repeat it to yourself silently 3 times and know that this is already here and we will move forward from a place of strength and clarity moving forward and we take responsibility for ourselves and we move forward to the clear blue sky of possibility of openness of spaciousness and just like the sunrise always follows the night allow the golden and the pinks and the reds of the sunrise to start to illuminate your body from your feet up your legs casting this golden light up your torso your arms illuminating your face with this beautiful golden sunrise glow and when you're ready you can slowly open your eyes maybe you take a stretch and you know that you're moving forward now carefully slowly gently softly you can take your time to come to sit maybe bringing your hands together or onto your heart take a big breath in and as you exhale knowing that the deep magic of Nidra is moving through the body and you are moving forward thank you for practicing with me and happy new year
