Hello,
Welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra.
I'm Kumari,
And I'll be your guide today.
In today's practice,
We are going to be keeping it short and sweet for a nice bedtime drift off to sleep practice.
Please take the time now to get yourself as comfortable as possible being sure that you're super duper cozy and that you feel really supported,
Complete comfort,
Maybe even covering the eyes.
Yoga Nidra is an amazing way to help you fall asleep,
But also help you stay asleep.
The reason Yoga Nidra is so effective with things like insomnia or restless sleep or trouble falling asleep is because when we practice,
We are moving through the brainwave states,
Namely into the Theta state.
And the Theta state is where the body really starts to shut down,
So to speak,
And move into a deep sense of peace and relaxation.
This is also where the body begins to heal itself and rearrange and up-level in the areas of our cellular integrity.
But also beyond the Theta brainwave state is the Delta state.
And this is the deepest relaxation.
This is where REM sleep starts to happen.
So as you allow yourself to be guided into these states and really wind down in the nervous system,
But also in just your physical body and your breath and your mind,
You can really more easily drift off to sleep.
I'll let the music play for a little longer at the end of this meditation.
And then hopefully you'll have fallen sound asleep.
Alright,
Well I trust that you are very comfortable and cozy now.
So let's just begin with feeling the body on the surface you're on.
Feeling your hands and your arms.
Noticing where they touch the surface.
Noticing the spaces in between your fingers.
Now the legs and the feet.
And again,
Where do you feel your legs and feet touching the surface?
Could you sense the little spaces in between your toes?
Now moving to sense your entire back.
All the places that it makes contact.
And now your head.
Feeling how your head is cradled and held in comfort.
The sense of your whole body just melting down,
Relaxing.
Receptive to a state of deep rest that moves into a nourishing night's rest.
Feel your breath in the body.
The gentle rise and fall of your breath.
And just noticing how the breath effortlessly flows in and flows out.
Physically feeling the breath at the nostrils.
And physically feeling the breath in the areas of the belly and the chest.
Now we'll do a few rounds of a breathing practice that really helps the nervous system to move into the parasympathetic realm.
So your rest and digest state of nervous system.
It's called the 4-7-8 breath.
And what it is,
Is inhaling for 4,
Holding for 7,
And then exhaling for 8.
So these long exhales are what really triggers this realm of your nervous system.
And so to get those exhales nice and long,
Imagine that you're breathing out of a straw.
Alright,
I'll guide you through them.
Take a deep breath in with me.
And exhale.
Inhale,
2,
3,
4.
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
Exhale,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8.
Inhale,
2,
3,
4.
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
Exhale,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8.
Inhale,
2,
3,
4.
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
Exhale,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8.
Breathing naturally.
Noticing how you feel.
Your body and mind deeply resting already.
In this yoga nidra,
I'd like to offer you this intention.
Repeat after me in your mind.
I allow myself to rest deeply and awaken nourished and refreshed.
And so it is.
Next,
We'll move into a rotation of consciousness around the body.
Simply bring your awareness to each area I mention.
Beginning with the right hand thumb.
The first finger.
Second.
Third.
And pinky finger.
The center of the palm of your hand.
And the top of the hand.
Your whole right hand and all five fingers.
Right wrist.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Right shoulder blade.
Right armpit.
Front of the right shoulder.
The right side of the chest.
The right half of the abdomen and waist.
The right hip.
Thigh.
Knee.
Lower leg.
Ankle.
The top of the foot.
And all five toes.
1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
And now the sole of the right foot.
And now the whole right foot.
And the whole right leg.
And the whole right side of the body.
And the right arm and hand.
Sensing and feeling the whole right half of the body.
And softly guiding your awareness now to the left hand thumb.
The first finger.
Second.
Third.
Pinky finger.
The center of the palm of the hand.
The top of the hand.
The whole left hand.
Left wrist.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
The left shoulder blade.
Armpit.
Front of the shoulder.
The left side of the chest.
The left side of the waist and abdomen.
Left hip.
Thigh.
Knee.
Lower leg.
Ankle.
Top of the foot.
And all five toes.
1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
And the sole of the left foot.
The whole left foot.
The whole left leg.
The left half of the body.
The arm and hand.
Sensing the whole left half of your body now.
And now welcoming the awareness of the center of your chest.
The solar plexus.
The area all around the navel.
The pelvis.
The tip of the tailbone.
The right glute.
Left glute.
The lower back.
Upper back.
The back of the neck.
The back of the head.
Crown of the head.
Your whole scalp.
The forehead.
Right eye.
Left eye.
The nose.
Right ear.
Left ear.
Your mouth.
The lips.
The tongue.
Your teeth and gum.
Sensing the inside of your throat.
And now the base of the neck.
And the collarbones.
Back to the center of your chest.
And now allow your awareness to spread into your whole body.
Your whole body.
Your whole body filled with your awareness.
Sensing the subtle sensations in your whole body now.
In your body a field of subtle radiant energy.
Feeling the sensation of your breath pulsing within the body.
Feeling the rise and fall of your breath.
Feeling the breath at the center of the chest.
As if you were breathing in and out of the center of the chest.
And now could you begin to visualize and imagine breathing from the center of your chest all the way down the right arm to the fingertips.
And then inhaling back from the fingertips up the arm to your chest.
Breathe and imagine this.
And now switch sides.
Imagine inhaling from the center of your chest all the way down your left arm to the fingertips.
Back up the arm to the chest.
And now from the center of the chest to the crown of the head.
Breathing and visualizing the energy of your breath.
And now the center of the chest.
All the way down the right leg to the toe tips.
And then back up.
Left side.
Inhaling from the center of your chest all the way down your body.
Down the left leg to the toe tips.
Exhaling back to the center of the chest.
And now resting again at the center of the chest.
And now imagine that your breath flows down the legs to the toes.
Down the arms to the fingertips.
Into the crown of your head with every inhale.
And then softens back into the area of the chest with each exhale.
Each inhale expanding.
Each exhale softening back in.
A sense of your whole body expanding with each inhale.
Your whole body breathing.
As if every pore in your body was breathing.
Inhale expanding.
Exhale softening.
And now letting the awareness of the breath go.
Imagining yourself in the most comfortable hammock.
Swinging and swaying ever so gently like a mother rocking its baby.
Total comfort.
Total well-being.
As you rhythmically sway in your comfy hammock.
And the hammock's sway taking you into the deepest place of letting go.
The deepest place of peace.
Resting deeply.
You're simply a being of pure light.
Complete alignment with who you really are.
Alignment with your true nature which is peace.
Deeply resting.
Swaying.
Drifting.
Drifting into infinite space of rest.
Drifting.
