Know that these techniques have a very calming and soothing effect on the nervous system and will help you cultivate a state of deep rest,
Going against our current fast-paced lifestyles and constant demands.
You may be noticing the positive effects that are unfolding into your everyday life from this practice.
Perhaps it's more self-compassion,
Gentle and steady personal growth,
And a real sense of equanimity and calm when there's chaos in life,
Whether it's real or simply perceived chaos in the world around you.
Many of you are noticing that there's a deeper impact that's happening when you go into these deep states of rest,
Deep states of meditation or yoga nidra,
And many of these effects are like a welcomed breath of fresh air.
If you are a little bit more new to the practice,
I encourage you to keep coming back to the practice and notice the subtle effects.
Now,
Laying down in a comfortable position,
Perhaps covering your eyes,
Allow your arms to outstretch,
Palms facing upwards,
Toes flopping outwards.
Perhaps wiggle the shoulder blades closer together.
I invite you to take a moment to notice how you feel here and now at the beginning of this practice.
Noticing your state of mind,
Noticing tension,
Tightness,
Or discomfort in the body.
Noticing your breath.
Begin to allow yourself to settle in,
Taking a deep breath in through the nose and exhaling through the mouth like you're fogging a mirror.
And again like that,
A deep breath in,
In filling the belly,
The lungs,
All the way up,
And then exhale,
Releasing,
Slowly sinking deeper.
In through the nose,
Filling up belly,
Lungs,
All the way up to the shoulders.
And then let go,
Releasing,
Slowly sinking deeper.
One more time,
Filling your being up.
And this time,
Let your body become heavy,
Allowing your whole body to empty of tension.
The whole body is draining of tension with each exhale.
As you inhale,
Notice your body filling with awareness and sensation.
Exhaling tension,
Emptying out.
Inhaling,
Filling with the light of awareness.
Now,
Begin to welcome the sounds,
Letting your ears pick up on all the different layers of sound.
The different sounds in your environment.
Could you imagine as if you could listen,
Not just with the ears,
But with the whole body in a global way?
Listening,
And simultaneously letting aromas come to you within your nostrils.
Noticing the flow of air inside of the nose,
And also sensing your eyes,
Letting your eyes become heavy.
Releasing and relaxing from watching.
Releasing and relaxing from reading.
Releasing and relaxing from looking.
Let all of the tiny muscles around the eyes,
And behind the eyes,
Relax so deeply.
Allow your eyes to get heavy,
To completely let go.
Sinking deeper,
Resting deep into their sockets.
Now noticing sensations,
Now inside of your mouth,
And any tastes that are present on the taste buds.
Sensing warmth and humidity within the mouth,
And welcoming the whole skin of your body sensitive and receptive to the touch of the air,
Of the surface beneath you,
Clothing or blankets on the skin,
And imagining as you breathe that you could inhale into the skin as if the whole surface of the body could breathe in,
Becoming even more porous.
Whole body breathing in and out,
Senses alive to this present moment.
And as you rest deeply into the surface beneath you,
Could you begin to welcome your Sankalpa,
Your intention.
Think of something that is really important to you.
Perhaps your vision,
Your dream,
Or your deepest desire.
Something that is very important to you.
Something you would like to manifest in your life.
Take your Sankalpa and imagine like you are planting a seed,
Deep deep in the depths of the subconscious mind.
And as you plant the seed here,
Trusting that it will flourish and grow and start to effort lessly integrate into your life,
Could you formulate the Sankalpa in the present tense and welcome this experience as true.
Feel it as if it has already happened.
Now you might welcome,
I trust in the intelligence of wisdom and knowing that flows through me.
Or I welcome peace,
Rest,
And love into my life to support me in each and every moment.
Or I feel love in my heart,
Love for myself,
Love for this planet,
Love for life itself.
Take a moment finding and repeating your Sankalpa mentally three times to yourself.
Now following along and bringing awareness through the different regions of the body like a full body massage for your nervous system,
Bring all of your attention towards the crown of the head and now the center of the forehead,
The eyebrow center,
The right eye,
The left eye,
The right nostril,
The left nostril,
The upper lip,
The lower lip,
The tip of the tongue,
The center of the tongue,
The root of the tongue,
The roof of the mouth,
Inside of the right cheek,
Inside of the left cheek,
The center of the throat,
The pit of the throat,
The heart center,
The right shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Palm of the right hand,
Back of the hand,
Tip of the right thumb,
Tip of the pointer finger,
Tip of the middle finger,
Tip of the ring finger,
Tip of the little finger,
Back to the palm of the right hand,
The wrist,
Forearm,
Shoulder,
The right armpit,
Right side body,
The waist,
The hip,
Thigh,
Sole of the foot,
Tip of the big toe,
Second toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe,
Sensing the entirety of the right side of the body,
The whole right side of the body,
Front of the right side body and back of the right side body,
The whole right side of the body saturated with a sensation filled with awareness,
The whole right side resting deeply,
Let your attention gather back in at the heart center,
The center of the chest coming back to your heart center,
Bringing your awareness to the left shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Left forearm,
Wrist,
Palm of the hand,
Tip of the pointer finger,
Tip of the middle finger,
Tip of the ring finger,
Tip of the little finger,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Shoulder,
Left armpit,
Side body,
The waist,
The hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Sole of the foot,
Tip of the big toe,
The second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe,
Sensing the entirety of the whole left side of the body,
The whole left side of the body,
Front of the left side body and back of the left side body,
The whole left side of the body saturated with a sensation filled with awareness,
The whole left side resting deeply,
The whole left side and the whole right side resting deeply,
Split your attention between both sides of the body,
Sensing the whole right side and sensing the whole left side,
Let your attention gather in the palms of the hands as you breathe,
Sensing your natural rhythm of breath,
Allowing your attention to saturate both hands,
Sensing your body breathing in and out,
As you're sensing the right palm,
Could you imagine breathing in through the right palm all the way up the arm towards your heart and as you exhale switching sides and imagining breathing down the left arm to the left palm,
The left palm towards the heart center,
Switching sides,
Exhaling down and out through the right palm,
At your own pace,
Inhaling through the right palm to the heart,
Switching sides,
Exhaling down towards the left palm,
Inhaling breath,
Nourishing the heart center,
Inhaling through the palm to the heart,
Switching sides,
Exhaling,
Inhaling to the heart center,
Switching sides,
Exhaling gently,
Just imagining,
Sensing as you're resting so deeply here,
The gentle breath,
Nurturing and nourishing your heart center,
As you welcome this gentle and natural rhythm of breath,
The nurturing,
Nourishing effect on the heart center,
Allow yourself to start to rest back into your natural presence of peace,
Calm and tranquility,
The presence that's already within you,
Resting back into the medicine of presence itself,
It's already here,
Already,
Just cradled by this natural presence that's already here within,
Allowing yourself to be enveloped in a cocoon of presence,
Resting back into that pure presence that's already here,
Letting the already happening breath,
Nourish your heart center,
As you float in the medicine of presence.
Welcome your sankalpa to be here now,
Letting this intention infuse the presence that you are resting in,
Pure presence,
As you abide in this pure awareness,
Begin to sense the undercurrent of the rhythm of your breath,
The depth of your breath,
The ease of your breath,
The natural rhythm and flow of your breath,
As you rest in tranquility and peace,
Begin to sense the emotional tone that might be present here and now,
The quality of mind or the quality and frequency of thoughts that may be occurring in the background,
Could you start to sense the edges of your body,
Your physical body,
The support that you are resting on,
Touching your skin,
The environment in which you're resting,
Feeling that density and sensation of the ground beneath you,
Gently awakening by taking a deep breath in through the nose,
Two breaths in through the nose,
And when you feel ready to begin adding some movements,
You could start with the fingers and toes,
Gently nodding the head slowly from side to side,
Rotating through the wrist and the ankles,
Begin to slowly add more movements as you're ready,
Awakening at your own pace,
Without rush,
Without haste,
Begin to notice what might feel different from the beginning of your practice,
Notice what may have shifted now to this present moment,
After exploring some different techniques,
Maybe entering into a state of deep sleep with awareness,
Or simply a deep state of rest and rejuvenation,
And noticing what may have shifted,
Noticing how you feel now,
Please be slow and gentle with yourself as you begin to slowly reemerge from this loving act of rest and healing,
Taking a moment to notice what may have shifted for you,
Thank you for joining me to rest,
Restore,
Heal and unwind,
Practicing yoga nidra,
May you be happy,
May you be healthy,
May you be peaceful,
May you be free,
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete,
Namaste.
