Welcome to Yoga Nidra This deep rest medicine practice has been created to support you in deep medicinal healing re-energizing the nervous system and to foster emotional integration So please take a few moments to gather as many pillows and blankets that can make you feel most comfortable and held for this practice today You could lie on your side or on your back Set up in your bed or on the floor,
Maybe even a couch You might like to grab a fuzzy blanket or a snuggly stuffed animal Cover the eyes and allow yourself to completely sit back and lean into the nature and the wisdom of your own body's healing and self-care Begin to notice your body breathing by itself Your mind still might be wandering You still might be trying to get comfortable But your body is still breathing So sense the belly rising and the belly falling with each breath that you take Notice all the different layers of sounds Feel the comfortable places beneath your body and sense into any darkness or hints of light behind closed eyes And as you continue to settle in might you quietly say to yourself I am resting now All parts of me are resting now And then see if you can feel as if the whole body exhales into the space you're lying upon As if an outer layer of the body could melt And still aware of the body breathing Mindful of the thoughts that are passing by As if you were lying on your back under the sky And the thoughts were just like airy floating clouds coming and going Aware of thoughts coming and going And to drop in a little bit deeper let's do a few rounds of pranayama breathing We'll inhale for a count of 3 1,
2,
3 Hold for 3,
2,
3 Exhale for 4,
3,
2,
1 Inhale 1,
2,
3 Hold the breath 2,
3 Exhale 3,
2,
1 Inhale for 3,
2,
3 Hold for 3,
2,
3 Exhale 4,
3,
2,
1 Inhale Hold Exhale Do one more And now allow the body to come deeper down As if sinking below the surface of the earth Resting here in a cocoon of softness and safety Fully held and protected Having a moment to set up an intention A sankalpa or your true north What does your heart most long for from this rest practice today?
What does your heart long for from this rest?
Could you quietly state it as an intention in your own mind?
Now slowly allow your awareness to gravitate To the point right between the eyebrows The third eye Feel the forehead soft Both eyes The orbits of the eyes sinking down toward the eye socket And both eyes heavy and relaxing The bridge of the nose Tip of the nose The air inside the nostrils Left ear And the right ear The space in between both ears And both ears deeply listening Both ears deeply listening The space between the lips Tip of the tongue Roof of the mouth The teeth And the gums Inside the cheeks Back of the throat Flow of air moving inside the throat Heart Both shoulders Upper arms Elbows Forearms Wrist The center of both palms The tips of the thumbs Tips of the pointer fingers Tips of the middle Tips of the ring Tips of the pinky Could you sense the space in between the fingers?
And awareness sliding back up the arms to your beating heart The internal drum in the chest Sides of the waist Belly center Hips Knees Lower legs Ankles Soles of the feet Tips of the toes Could you sense the touch of air on the tips of the toes?
Awareness moving back up the legs to the belly Up to the heart Third eye And to the very top of the head Allow awareness to now move through the top of the head Toward the stars And into the great mystery of the sky Where awareness can now dissolve Awareness dissolving into the mystery of the stars And into the ocean of air that surrounds the whole body A wave-like awareness moving around the whole body As you deeply rest Body breathing itself Awareness traveling through the hallways of the mind As the body deeply rests and sinks down Nothing to do,
Nowhere to be Whole body dissolving Expanding Opening the inner walls of love and support Love and support is wrapped around all of you Deeply resting Let's expand its space Call home your intention Feel as if your intention already exists Your intention is already happening Right here And in the life right next to you Now let's count our breaths From 9 all the way up to 1 Inhale 9 Exhale 9 Inhale 8 Exhale 8 All the way to 1 As if climbing back up the ladder Into the present Allow awareness to arrive back into the physical edges of your body Back into the room that you're in As a sweet short medicine practice of deep rest is complete Your self-care and attention to yourself matters and is so precious So thank yourself for taking the time today to be present with yourself Namaste
