This is a brief introduction to Yoga Nidra,
What is it,
And why.
This is an aware and awake meditation.
Great clarity can arise from it,
But it can also be a really soothing way to rest or even fall asleep.
Yoga Nidra meditation can actually be more replenishing than sleep itself.
To practice Yoga Nidra,
You don't need to have any specific beliefs.
Just know that you are safe and can relax in the comfort of the practice.
This practice harnesses the body and mind's natural processes of sleep,
The natural things that your body and mind do when you're falling asleep in a healthy way.
Regular practice of Yoga Nidra helps create a witness perspective,
So thoughts and emotions and triggers are,
There's a little bit of space around them.
Most important is that you know all of you is welcome here.
Every thought,
Every feeling,
Every sensation.
You don't need to eradicate any parts of you or suppress any parts of you to be here.
So let's get started.
Take a moment to just feel what is underneath you,
Whether that's a chair or the bed,
Yoga mat.
Feeling the support of the ground underneath that.
And notice how much you can relax into that support.
And underneath the floor or the ground,
See if you can imagine,
Sense or feel into the massive body of the earth.
This planet earth that's holding you,
That's coming up to meet you.
Taking a moment to see if you can feel how deeply the earth is supporting you with just the perfect amount of gravity for you to not float out into space or be crushed against the earth.
During this Yoga Nidra,
If your attention loses itself,
It's perfectly normal.
It doesn't matter at all.
If you find yourself in thoughts,
Sounds or physical sensations,
Just notice and then return to my voice.
This is a guided practice.
There's nothing you need to know,
Nothing you need to get.
And you're invited to follow my voice,
But you always have permission to not follow any instructions.
Instead,
You might just follow your breath and then return to my voice when you feel ready.
Taking a nice deep breath in,
As you start to turn to your senses,
Bring your attention to the inside of your mouth and feel your sense of taste.
You might see if you could empty the mouth of any tension or holding.
Just filling the mouth with awareness and sensation,
The sense of taste.
Then let your attention flow from the mouth to the ears,
Noticing your sense of sound and hearing.
You might notice that you can pick up on layers of sound some in the far distance,
Some sounds closer nearby you.
Listening not only with your ears,
But really your whole body listens.
Sense of hearing.
And now let attention flow from the ears to the nose as you feel the touch of breath inside the nostrils,
Letting any fragrance or odors come to you.
Sense of smell.
You might even notice if the air seems more dominant in one nostril than the other.
And then let your attention flow from the nose to the eyes.
Your eyes might be lowered or completely closed.
Just let yourself give up the physical eyes,
Committing them to rest from the world of looking and seeing,
Instead turning to internal vision.
Decompressing all the muscles around the eyes,
The forehead,
The temples,
Letting the eyeballs almost fall back and down within the skull as your internal vision becomes more sensitive and expansive.
Moving now from eyes to skin and the sense of touch.
Seeing if you can feel the whole skin of the body,
Sensitive,
Receptive.
Perhaps you notice a touch of air against your skin,
Maybe places of warmth or coolness.
Noticing where your clothes meet the skin.
Sense of touch,
Sensing textures,
Temperatures.
All five senses wide open.
And we will now rotate attention throughout the body fairly rapidly,
Which allows the mind to rest.
So when you hear a body part,
Sense that body part as much as possible.
Sense where it is in space or anything else you notice about that body part.
And it may be useful to repeat the name of the body part to yourself.
Starting in the mouth,
The teeth,
Floor of the mouth,
Ceiling of the mouth,
Right inside of mouth,
Left inside of mouth,
The lips,
The tongue,
Back of the mouth,
Bottom of the jaw,
Top of the jaw,
The whole mouth.
Moving to the nose,
Tip of nose,
Sinuses,
Right ear canal,
Right ear,
Right ear lobe,
Left ear canal,
Left ear,
Left ear lobe.
Sensing the back of the head,
Top of the head,
The forehead,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Sensing the space between the eyebrows.
Moving to the right eye socket,
Left eye socket,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Whole head,
Sensing the whole head.
Sensing the neck,
The collarbones,
Right shoulder,
Right upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Back of hand,
Palm,
Right thumb,
Forefinger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
Whole right hand,
Whole right arm,
Back to the collarbones and left shoulder,
Left upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Back of hand,
Palm,
Left thumb,
Forefinger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
Whole left hand,
Whole left arm,
Back to the collarbones,
Right side of chest,
Right side of waist,
Right hip,
Right thigh,
Knee,
Calf,
Shin,
Ankle,
Right heel,
Sole of foot,
Top of foot,
Right toes,
Right side of the body,
Back to the collarbones,
Left side of chest,
Left side of waist,
Left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf,
Shin,
Ankle,
Left heel,
Sole of foot,
Top of foot,
Left toes,
Left foot,
Left leg,
Left side of the body,
Back of the body,
The whole back,
The whole torso.
Now sensing again the whole head,
Torso,
Right arm,
Left arm,
Right leg,
Left leg.
Now sensing the whole body.
The whole body.
Sensing the whole body.
Awareness of the whole body.
And more and more sensing the space beyond the body.
As far as you can.
And now return to the body.
Awareness of the whole body.
Can you go deeper still and feel the energy behind or underneath these sensations of the body?
What is your experience of the body now?
Is it solid?
Is it open?
Does it have a center?
Does the body have edges?
Relaxing into the direct experience of the body in this moment.
And now becoming aware again of the breath.
Inhale and exhale.
From this place noticing any wisdom that might be coming to you.
This might be a word,
An image,
Or a phrase.
Just letting any wisdom or message arise into your awareness.
Trust whatever comes,
Any message from your inner world that is ready to be revealed.
Listening.
And if nothing comes,
Trust that it's okay.
And taking a nice deep breath in.
As I count out from five up to one,
You start to emerge from this yoga nidra.
So five,
Deepening the breath as you reconnect to the body.
Your body here in the room.
Four,
Letting all of your consciousness slide back into the body.
Three,
Calling your energy back into the body now.
Two,
Bringing this lovely,
Relaxed,
And aware feeling back with you.
And one,
Moving fingers and toes,
Bringing all of your energy back.
Taking more deep breaths and taking your time to transition back to the normal waking world.
And may you carry the effects of the practice into the rest of your day and week.
