Allow Life Flow Yoga Nidra

Welcome to this practice of yoga nidra.

Make sure that you are going to be comfortable for your practice lying down with support underneath the knees and the head if that helps you ease your back and neck.

Have a blanket or some layers to keep you warm as you will probably become colder during this practice and if it's daylight you might want something over the eyes.

And as you take your time to settle down into your resting position allowing the feet to drop hip distance apart letting the feet flop out to the side as they naturally do.

Let your shoulders and head wriggle and nestle down creating some length and space along the neck.

Feel the chin slightly draw down and the crown of the head reach away creating some space and loosening around the base of the skull and jaw.

Allowing the tongue to rest behind the teeth in the floor of the mouth.

Let your palms rest up towards the sky if it feels safe to do so with the hands about four to six inches away from the body.

Adjust and wriggle as you need to so that you can settle and to be still for the practice and maybe take a few sighs to let the body find some stillness.

Feel the hips,

Shoulders,

Back of the head and heels rest down onto your support.

Allow these points to rest and weigh down onto your support sinking and releasing your body to gravity allowing it to be held.

Notice the spaces that are available around the body under the neck,

The low back and knees and allow them to feel the support along with gravity and the natural curves of your body suspending you in your space and become aware of your space through sound.

Hear the space that you are in acknowledging and being aware of where you are physically in this world through your sense of hearing one sound at a time and bring a resolve that you are going to practice yoga nidra.

You're going to remain awake and aware of my voice hearing the words without judgment just allow them to float through your experience.

Should you drift,

Should you wander merely return to the voice and the practice.

Become aware of the air around your body,

Movement of the wind or your breath touching the skin across the top lip.

Observe the breath observe the textures touching your skin,

The fabrics of your clothes and what you rest upon beginning to become aware of your breathing wherever you sense feel it in your body.

And now think of a time or a place where you have felt a feeling of safety or well-being.

This place may be real or imaginary and it's somewhere that you can conjure in your imagination right now as though you are there.

Feel and if you can see yourself in that place.

Embrace all the sensations and feelings of well-being and safety and remember this place should you need to visit it at any time during your practice or in your day in general.

From this place allow your intention for your practice of yoga nidra something that deeply rises from the heart that you can repeat in the present tense as a positive statement as though you're living it in this very moment three times to yourself.

In releasing your sankalpa,

That personal resolve,

We come to the rotation of consciousness.

You will be taken around body parts in rapid succession.

You may sense a feel or visualize the body part as it is named.

We begin inside the mouth in the floor of the mouth,

Inside right cheek,

Inside left cheek,

Roof of the mouth,

Back of the mouth,

The teeth,

The jaw,

The tongue,

The whole inside of the mouth,

The sinuses,

Right eye socket,

Left eye socket,

Point between the eyebrow center,

Middle of the mind,

Right ear canal,

Right ear,

Middle of the mind,

Left ear left ear canal,

Left ear,

Back of the head,

Crown of the head,

Forehead,

The nose,

Point where the lips touch,

Whole of the face,

The whole of the head,

The neck,

Base of the throat,

Right collarbone,

Right upper arm,

Right elbow,

Forearm,

Wrist,

Right back of the hand,

Palm of the right hand,

Right thumb,

Index finger,

Third finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

Right hand,

Right arm,

Right armpit,

Right side,

Right hip,

Right thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Right ankle,

Heel of the right foot,

Sole of the right foot,

Top of the right foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

Right foot,

Right leg,

Right side body,

The whole right side of the body,

Base of the throat,

Left collarbone,

Left shoulder,

Left upper arm,

Left elbow,

Forearm,

Left wrist,

Back of the left hand,

Palm of the left hand,

Thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

Left hand,

Left arm,

Left armpit,

Left side,

Left hip,

Left thigh,

Left knee,

Left lower leg,

Left ankle,

Left heel,

Sole of the left foot,

Top of the left foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

Left foot,

Left leg,

Left side body,

The whole left side of your body,

Base of the throat,

Right side chest,

Left side chest,

Upper abdomen,

Lower abdomen,

Pelvis,

The whole of the pelvic bowl,

The groin,

The front of the torso,

The front of the body,

The whole front of the body,

Right heel,

Left heel,

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Tail of the spine,

All the way to the base of the head,

The back of the body,

Back of the body,

The whole back of the body,

Right side of the body,

Left side of the body,

Front of the body,

Back of the body,

The head,

The whole of the body,

The whole of the body,

The whole of the body.

Become aware of your breathing in your abdomen.

Observe the rise and fall of your breath as you breathe in and as you breathe out.

On the inhale,

Allow your abdomen to rise and as you exhale,

Allow the abdomen to fall.

Maintain awareness on the rise and fall of the abdomen,

Breathing as though your breath moves in and out of the abdomen,

The whole of the abdomen,

Breathing.

Observe the ease of the breath in the abdomen,

The flow of the rise and the fall,

The natural rhythm and ease,

And allow these feelings of ease and natural flow to move through your body,

The body in an easy and natural flow.

Think of a time where you have felt this feeling of ease and natural flow in the body.

Now allow yourself to create the opposite feeling of forcing,

Of trying to make it happen.

Allow your breath to continue as natural.

And perhaps think of a time when you have been forcing or trying to create a fixed outcome,

Forcing or trying too hard,

Effortful.

Allow these feelings of effortfulness to move through the body and now return to that feeling of ease and flow,

The natural rhythm and easy flow for you.

Let this ease flow through all of the body and now return to that effortful,

Trying,

Forceful feeling through your body,

Cultivating a feeling of effort in the body and returning to the easy flow,

Your natural flow of ease through the body.

And now coming to that effortful,

Trying,

And forcing feeling and now holding both these feelings together.

Ease and effort,

Flow and force,

Opposite sensations held in your body as one.

Allow these sensations to dissolve away,

Bringing awareness to the point between the eyebrow center.

Allow a flame to flicker in the center of that eyebrow center.

Observe the flames flickering and changing colors and in the darkness around the flame there is an unseen movement,

Something that is not quite grasped.

Allow your sense feelings,

Your higher intuition to tune into this unseen movement around the flame.

Observing in this unseen movement shadows arising from the light of the flame.

Observe the shapes of these shadows,

Their shifting,

Changing shape like clouds moving through a sky.

Welcome these shadows that arise to be seen.

Should a shadow appear,

Ask it what it wants,

Ask it what it needs.

Allow the wants to become snakes with their venom moving over into a beautiful woven basket basket and with the needs of the shadow offer a welcoming gesture of kindness.

As more shadows may appear,

Continue to ask wants becoming snakes in beautiful baskets and needs receiving a welcoming gesture,

Allowing the candle flame in the center to fill your awareness,

Filling its life and movement,

Burning away what is no longer necessary.

See the baskets with the snakes,

The venom of their wants before you,

Beautiful and appealing as they move and dance and welcome this flame of clarity to burn away these desires,

Clear the desires and wants that no longer serve you.

And in each basket place an egg,

Repeating your sankalpa or personal resolve as you do so,

Beginning to become aware of your body and its breath,

The gentle movement as you breathe in your body.

Observe those textures of the fabrics touching your skin and the points where your body is in contact with the support.

Allow gentle movement to enter your fingers and toes,

Maybe feeling the inside of the tongue rolling around your mouth,

Coming back into your space.

As this practice of yoga nidra is now complete,

Take your time to move in your space carefully and gently,

Rolling to one side before you come to seated and give yourself some time to come back into your body before you continue with your day.

Perhaps there's a gentle squeeze or a touch of your body to feel your physical self in your room and space,

Letting your eyes gently gaze upon the objects around you with impartiality.

When you feel that you have fully returned,

May you continue and have a most wonderful day.