Welcome,
My name is Kristen and this practice is a yoga nidra designed to support deep rest in sleep.
You may drift in and out of awareness and that is perfectly fine.
There is no need to stay awake.
There is no need to follow every word.
Simply allow the sound of my voice to guide you.
Begin by settling into a comfortable position,
Ideally lying down.
Allow the body to be fully supported here,
Wherever you find yourself residing at this time.
Just make any small adjustments now so you won't need to move or shift later,
Taking all the time you need to become as comfortable as possible.
Let the eyes gently close down,
Settling into the darkness behind closed eyes,
Allowing the jaw to soften,
The tongue resting easily in the mouth away from the teeth,
The shoulders melting away and down from the ears.
Deeper and deeper into relaxation.
As you are relaxing your whole body,
Give yourself permission to rest.
There is nothing else you need to do tonight.
Bringing gentle awareness to your breathing now,
No need to change how it is currently,
Just simply noticing the natural rhythm of your inhales and exhales.
Feel the breath entering the body and leaving the body,
Grounding you further and further down into stillness.
With each exhale,
Imagine the body sinking deeper into the surface beneath you,
And if you can imagine all the way down into the earth,
As if the earth is cradling you.
If it feels supportive,
Allow the exhale to become a little longer than the inhale,
Signaling to your nervous system that it is safe to let go.
Breathing in and breathing out.
From this quiet place,
Allow yourself to bring forth the sankalpa,
A gentle intention for rest and sleep,
Keeping it simple and in the present tense,
Soft and reassuring.
You may feel called to borrow a phrase such as,
I am safe and supported.
My body knows how to rest.
I surrender to sleep.
Choose the words that feel most nourishing to you and silently repeat your sankalpa three times,
Allowing it to settle beneath the surface of the mind like a seed planted in fertile soil.
Gently releasing your sankalpa now,
Trusting it will continue working on its own through the whole session.
We'll now begin to rotate our awareness through the body,
Allowing your thinking mind to completely fall away here and allow yourself to move into the feeling tones of the body,
Just sensing and gently feeling.
As you bring your awareness to each part of the body,
Picturing a grounding anchor from that body part all the way down magnetized into the earth's center.
Helping to ground you into a deep state of peace,
Calm and nourishing rest.
Starting with the right hand,
Feeling into the right hand and just releasing and letting go.
And then sensing that grounding energy in the right thumb and the left thumb,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
And pinky.
Feeling the whole right hand surrendered and released away,
Filled with this deeply grounding energy.
Moving up and sensing into your right wrist,
The center of your right forearm,
The pit of your right elbow,
The center of your right upper arm,
The center of your right armpit,
All the way up to your right shoulder.
So your entire right arm,
From the top of your shoulder all the way down to all the tips of the fingers on your right hand is heavy,
Released and relaxed.
Moving your awareness now to your left hand,
Just releasing and relaxing away.
Sensing that grounding energy pulling you down into the safety cocoon of the earth.
Sensing into your left thumb,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
And pinky.
Feeling the whole left hand just released and relaxed away.
Drifting deeper and further down into stillness.
And continuing to bring that stillness and ease into the center of your left wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Armpit,
And left shoulder.
So from the top of your left shoulder all the way down to the tips of the fingers on your left hand,
All the way down to the tip of your thumb,
Forearm,
Elbow,
And right shoulder.
Sensing the whole back part of your body now,
Releasing and relaxing away.
Letting any tension or tightness just melt down and inviting peace and stillness in.
Bringing your awareness to the upper back,
Allowing it to completely release and relax down.
Sensing the lower back,
Releasing and relaxing down.
The whole spine resting effortlessly,
Releasing the need to support you at this time,
And settling down into softness and stillness.
Feeling the backs of the legs magnetized down deep into the earth.
As your heels sinking down,
All of the back points of your body sinking and relaxing down,
Allowing rest and relaxation to enter into every layer of you.
Moving on to the front part of the body,
Sensing a smooth energy moving through the forehead,
Releasing and relaxing any expression in the face.
Your eyes resting back into the sockets,
Softness flowing in through the cheeks,
Your jaw unhinged and loose,
And the whole right and left side of your face.
Sensing a gentle air flowing through your nose,
Allowing all the senses to come to rest,
And just feeling that grounding energy moving down to the center and pit of the throat,
Lowering down to the center of the chest,
And just sensing into your heart and its gentle drumbeat,
Allowing a soft rhythm to help lull you into sleep.
The gentle rise and fall of both your upper abdomen and through your core in your lower abdomen.
As your breath continues to become softer,
Deeper,
Infusing an extra blanket of stillness,
Spaciousness,
And comfort.
And as this wave of relaxation moves all the way down through the pelvis and the hips,
Rolling down through the right leg,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf,
Ankle,
Foot,
And all the toes on the right foot.
And then sensing into the left leg and inviting in that same wave of relaxation and peace all through the left leg,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf,
Ankle,
Foot,
And all the toes on the left foot.
And feeling the whole body at once,
Resting,
Heavy,
Supported,
And safe.
Safe to just release and let go into deep rest.
Moving into a sequence of gentle opposites now to assist in neutralizing and settling down the mind.
Start by gently inviting a sense of heaviness as if the body is made from warm sand,
Settling downward.
Then invite lightness as if the body is floating effortlessly,
Where heaviness and lightness can exist together.
Now noticing warmth,
A comfortable warmth spreading through your whole body.
And then becoming aware of a coolness of air through the nose,
Fresh,
Calm,
And soothing.
Sensing both warmth and coolness existing together.
Now allowing both to fade,
Returning to neutrality and ease.
Now that your body is resting deeply,
Imagine yourself as a calm,
And a place that feels deeply safe and peaceful.
A place where sleep comes easily.
It may be real or imagined,
This place of yours.
And just noticing the dim,
Gentle quality of light.
The stillness.
The quiet.
Perhaps you are lying somewhere soft and warm.
Perhaps there is a sense of being protected,
Held,
Watched over.
In this place,
Your body does not need to stay alert.
Your mind does not need to remain active.
Nothing is required of you here.
You can simply rest deeply into peace.
A place to become part of the background.
You do not need to follow any words or instructions anymore.
Rest in silence.
In the comfort of velvety darkness.
In ease.
If thoughts arise,
Let them drift away like distant clouds.
If sleep comes,
Allow it.
If you remain aware,
That is fine too.
If you remain awake and listening,
Know that deep rest is still happening.
You may return to your breath.
You may return to your breath.
Or quietly repeat your sankalpa in your mind once more.
I am safe and supported.
My body knows how to rest.
I surrender to sleep.
Feel the quiet flowing air around you.
Feel every part of your being with peace.
Allow yourself to sink even deeper.
Carried by the gentle rhythm of your breath.
Letting the day,
The thoughts,
The worries all drift away.
You are safe.
You are supported.
You can rest now.
And in this rest,
Healing,
Calm,
And renewal quietly will unfold within you.
Namaste.
