Welcome,
This Yoga Nidra is for the one who keeps going,
The one who keeps carrying,
Remembering,
Responding,
Tending and holding.
This Yoga Nidra is for the one who has become so practiced at staying on that they might not even notice how much effort the mind and the body have been using just to get through the day.
Now for this time,
There is nowhere to go,
Nothing to manage,
Nothing to organize,
Nothing to hold together.
You are allowed to rest.
Let's begin by making yourself as comfortable and effortless as possible.
Laying down if you can,
Letting the body be supported,
Allowing yourself to adjust for anything that you need to adjust now.
The blankets,
The pillows,
Your legs,
Your arms,
You can even turn the lights down,
Put a mask over your eyes to close out any extra light.
Take your time settling,
Creating your Yoga Nidra nest,
Noticing if your body wants to move or change position until you settle into that place of effortlessness.
And when you're ready,
I invite you to close down your eyes.
Take a nice deep breath in through the nose and open your mouth to exhale with a sigh.
Again,
Breathing in through the nose and exhaling,
Releasing the day.
One more time,
A gentle breath in and a slow breath out,
Beginning to notice your body lying here in the moment.
Notice the places that your body touches the support beneath you,
The weight of your heels,
The backs of the legs,
The hips,
The points along the spine that are touching that support,
The back of your head,
Allowing your awareness to wrap around the shape of your body,
Noticing how you're being held by the bed or the floor beneath you.
There is nothing to do,
Nowhere to go,
And you don't have to hold yourself up right now.
I invite you to notice the muscle of the mind,
Not the thoughts that travel through,
Just the muscle of the mind.
Take a moment with your awareness,
Like a soft blanket over the muscle of the mind,
To invite a gentle relaxation,
A softening,
An unclenching,
Allowing the muscle of the mind to loosen its grip.
Take another breath in,
And as you exhale,
Might you imagine a little extra space around the muscle of the mind,
A little less pressure,
A little less tightening,
Inhaling and exhaling as the muscle of the mind softens.
In Yoga Nidra,
We work with the Sankalpa,
Your heart's desire,
Your true north.
For today,
We'll work with,
I am held,
Supported,
And fully here.
We'll repeat that three times silently to yourself,
Each on the arc of a breath,
Inhaling,
And on the exhale,
Silently to yourself,
I am held,
Softened,
And fully here.
And you can do this two more times,
Releasing any kind of control over your breath.
We're going to begin a rotation of consciousness through the body.
As I bring your awareness to different parts of the body,
Imagine that soft blanket settling through each part,
Like a gentle tide of an exhale moving through each place,
Inviting that area to soften,
To widen,
To take up space,
And to receive.
The top of the head,
The crown chakra,
Soft blanket of spaciousness.
The back of the head,
Taking up space.
The center of the forehead,
The right eye,
The muscles behind the right eye.
The eye socket,
That soft blanket of spaciousness,
Widening,
And the left eye,
The muscles behind the eye,
The eye socket,
Softening,
Widening.
The bridge of the nose,
And the tip of the nose,
The right cheekbone,
Right ear,
Lobe of the ear,
Cartilage,
And the right inner ear,
Blanketed with softness,
The right jaw and hinge of the jaw,
Inside of the right cheek,
Inside of the left cheek,
The tip of the tongue,
Blanketed with spaciousness,
Softening,
Widening,
And taking up space,
The inside of the left cheek,
And the left jaw,
And the hinge of the jaw,
The left ear,
The lobe of the ear,
The cartilage,
And the left inner ear,
Soft and wide,
Taking up space,
The front of the neck,
The back of the neck,
Both sides of the neck,
Wrapped in that soft blanket of spaciousness,
And the collarbone,
Right side of the collarbone,
The left side of the collarbone,
That blanket of softness across the collarbone to the shoulders,
The right shoulder,
And left shoulder,
Down the right arm,
Upper arm,
The crease of the elbow,
The inside of the forearm,
Wrist,
Palm of the hand,
The right thumb,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
And fourth finger,
The entire right arm from shoulder to fingertips,
Blanketed in that soft spaciousness,
Widening and softening,
Taking up space,
And down the left arm,
Upper arm,
The crease of the elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Palm of the hand,
The left thumb,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
And fourth finger,
The right arm,
In that blanket of softness,
Spaciousness,
Widening,
Taking up space,
The center of the chest,
The heart space,
Covered in that soft blanket of spaciousness,
Allowing the heart to widen,
To take up space,
The right ribs,
And the left ribs,
The waist,
The pelvic bowl,
Blanketed in softness,
Spaciousness,
Widening,
The hips,
Right leg,
Ankle,
The sole of the right foot,
The tip of the big toe,
The second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe,
The whole right leg,
Under a blanket of softness,
Widening,
Softening,
And taking up space,
And the left leg,
Ankle,
The sole of the left foot,
The tip of the big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe,
The whole left leg,
Under a soft blanket of spaciousness,
Widening,
And taking up space,
And the whole body,
The whole body,
Under this soft blanket,
Of spaciousness,
The whole body,
Widening,
Softening,
Taking up space,
The whole body,
Receiving,
Gently letting that go,
And bringing your awareness to your breath,
Just noticing as the body breathes itself,
Noticing your inhale arriving,
And noticing your exhale leaving.
There is no need to change anything,
Just allow the breath to happen in its own time,
And begin to feel the breath moving,
Not only through your physical body,
But through the whole of you.
As you inhale,
Invite space,
And as you exhale,
Release pressure.
Let the breath move through your muscles,
Your skin,
Your joints.
As you inhale,
Inviting space into your jaw and your shoulders.
As you inhale,
Invite space into your cells,
Your DNA,
And as you exhale,
Release the pressure,
Just following your natural breath.
It has its own time,
Its own cadence,
Its own rhythm.
Inhale space into the places that have been bracing,
And exhale,
Letting the body soften its grip.
As you inhale,
Inviting space,
And as you exhale,
Letting the body soften its grip.
Might you now sense the breath moving beyond the physical body,
Into the energetic body,
The subtle field around you,
Imagining that as you inhale,
That field gently widens,
And as you exhale,
There's a gentle settling,
Taking up of space,
And as you inhale,
Widening that energetic body,
That subtle field around you.
Each exhale,
Settling back.
As you notice your body being breathed,
Each inhale creates a little more room around you.
And each exhale allows your energy to gather softly back.
Might you now let your breath move through your emotional body,
Fix,
Nothing to force,
Just following your inhale and exhale.
Inhale,
Creating a little more space around what you have felt,
And each exhale,
Softening the density,
The charge,
The weight of what you've held.
Inhale,
Inviting space around the feelings,
And exhale,
Softening around the feelings.
Each inhale,
Inviting room and space,
And each exhale,
A softening and settling in the emotional body.
Might you invite the breath to now move through the mental body,
The field of thought,
The planning,
The remembering,
The looping,
The anticipating.
Inhale spaciousness around the mind.
Exhale,
Allow the thoughts to loosen,
Soften,
And settle.
Inhale that space in the mind.
Exhaling,
Ease,
Softness,
At your own pace.
Inhaling into the mental body.
And exhale,
Releasing and settling.
Nothing to fix,
Just space,
Soft space,
A little more room.
I am held,
Softened,
And fully here.
Allow your awareness to now move toward the places in your body where you feel held.
Held by the surface beneath you,
By breath,
By me.
Where you feel held,
Held without needing to earn it.
Where are the places in your body that feel held?
Invite your awareness to the places in your body that feel unheld.
Maybe the places where you feel you have to carry yourself,
Without support.
Maybe those feelings of not being met in your body.
Where are the places in your body that feel unheld?
And inviting your awareness back to the places that feel held,
Supported,
Received,
Allowed to rest.
Where are the places that feel held?
Inviting your awareness again to the places in your body that feel unheld,
Unsupported,
Not met.
Where do you feel unheld?
And might you just for a moment bring your awareness to both the places that you feel held and the places that you feel unheld.
Might you bring your awareness to both places at the same time.
Those places in your body that feel held and supported,
Allowed to rest and lean on,
And the places in your body that feel unheld.
Might you bring those both together to your awareness.
At the same time,
Can you hold both in your awareness?
And gently releasing that.
Just resting in awareness itself.
Wide,
Soft.
A soft bed in the middle of the day.
Clouds drifting across an open sky.
A patch of sun across the floor.
Clean laundry on a line.
Cool cotton along your skin.
Wind chimes.
An animal you love beside you.
A soft bed in the middle of the day.
Clouds drifting across an open sky.
A patch of sun across the floor.
Wind chimes.
And an animal you love beside you.
That to gently dissolve.
Imagine yourself in the middle of a full day with noise,
Movement,
And questions,
And demands.
A pull of responsibility and the feelings of being needed.
And in the middle of it,
You step away.
You lie down.
You pull the covers over yourself.
You feel the coolness of the bed.
The softness around your body.
The quiet in your ears.
Your feet tucked into the blanket.
Nothing is being asked of you.
And you take a breath in.
And you exhale a long,
Delicious exhale.
Stay here,
Not as an escape,
But as a return.
Feel your body held.
A nervous system recognizing this self-care.
What it's like to stop racing and be in the moment.
You are allowed to take up space here.
Let's bring back the sankalpa.
I am held,
Softened,
And fully here.
And repeat that silently to yourself.
Each on the arc of a breath.
Inhaling.
And on the exhale,
I am held,
Softened,
And fully here.
Two more times.
Feel those words resonate through your body.
Energetic body,
Your emotional body,
And your mental body.
And begin to notice your breath once more.
The inhale arriving,
And the exhale leaving.
Notice where your body is in contact with the surface beneath it.
Get a sense of your space with your eyes closed.
Begin to sense the shape of your body.
Let's take a deep,
Gentle breath.
Inhaling.
Opening your mouth and sighing out.
Inhaling through your nose.
And sighing out,
Allowing some sound if you'd like.
You can let the vibration of your sound resonate deep in your chest.
Maybe begin to wiggle your fingers or your toes.
You might roll to your side.
You might begin to blink your eyes open just a little bit at first,
Allowing the light in.
There's no rush to return.
Take your time.
Before you rise,
Remember,
Even in the middle,
Of a full life,
Even in the middle of responsibility,
Even in the middle of being needed,
You are still allowed to belong to yourself.
