Namaste.
This is Ali and this is a short yoga nidra meditation which you might think of like a massage for your brain and your whole nervous system.
Begin to find a comfortable position laying in a soft and cozy space where you'll be undisturbed by outside circumstances.
You might take a moment to nod your head a little bit from side to side.
You might wiggle the shoulders or squeeze the shoulder blades together and then let them release down into the earth.
Taking a moment to uncurl the fingers and relax the hands.
And then feel the weight of your pelvis and your legs and let them become even heavier.
Are there any little micro adjustments needed in the legs,
The spine?
And could you even relax down into the soles of your feet and your toes?
As you notice if there's anything else you could do to get your body even more comfortable in that ease,
Allow yourself to really feel and land into that support beneath you.
And then taking a deep breath in through the nose.
On the exhale,
Let your exhale extend nice and long.
You might even release the air through your mouth.
And then let's do that two more times,
Inhaling deeply and letting go,
Letting go on the exhale.
One more time.
Becoming deeper and deeper relaxed.
And then bringing all of your attention to the center of the forehead.
All of your attention landing here in the center of the forehead.
And as you rest your attention here,
Could you open to the experience of sound?
Noticing sounds of this recording within your space.
Welcoming any aromas inside the nostrils and the flow of air inside the nose.
Bringing awareness to the inside of the mouth.
10,
000 taste buds on the inside of the mouth.
A sense of the darkness or the light beyond your eyelids.
And the whole body and the sensation of your body breathing itself.
The sensation of your body releasing all effort as you allow yourself to be cradled by that support beneath you.
Awareness from the center of the forehead to the right temple,
The left temple,
The right earlobe,
The left earlobe,
The tip of the nostrils,
The upper lip,
Lower lip,
Tip of the tongue,
All the way to the root of the tongue.
Inside of the right cheek,
Inside of the left cheek,
The center of the throat,
The pit of the throat,
The heart center,
Right side of the chest,
Right shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Center of the palm,
Back of the hand,
Thumb,
First finger,
Second,
Third,
Middle finger,
The whole right arm,
The volume and the shape of the whole right arm.
Could you imagine the space within the right arm to be effortless?
Right side of the chest,
Heart center,
Left side of the chest,
Left shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Thumb,
First finger,
Second,
Third,
Little finger,
The whole left arm,
The volume or space that exists within the arm,
The whole shape and volume of the left arm.
Could you imagine or perceive your whole left arm as a whole?
Left side of the chest,
Heart center,
Navel center,
Low belly,
Both hips simultaneously,
The left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf and shin,
Ankle,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
All five toes of the right foot simultaneously,
The whole right leg,
The shape and the volume of the whole right leg simultaneously.
Could you imagine the space inside of your right arm?
Imagining that space to be effortless,
Inviting that space effortless,
Both hips,
The left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf and shin,
Ankle,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
All five of the left toes,
The space or volume that exists inside of the whole left leg.
Imagining or perceiving the space inside of the left leg,
Inviting or imagining that space to be effortless,
Effortless space,
Both hips and the whole spine,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
The whole rib cage,
A sense of the whole torso and vital organs within the torso.
Could you welcome the space or the volume that exists here inside of your torso?
Could you perceive this space here or welcome this space to be effortless?
The sense of the neck and the throat and the whole head and face,
The muscle of the mind softening and opening and open.
Could you sense or imagine the space that exists inside of the head and the neck,
The space or the volume that exists here to be effortless,
Completely effortless and the whole body,
Welcoming the whole body effortless space inside the body.
Once again bringing awareness to the center of the forehead and feeling the rhythm of your breath here,
Noticing the inhalation,
The exhalation as a natural flowing oscillation.
Each time you breathe in,
Could you imagine breathing in through the center of the forehead,
Breathing out through the center of the forehead,
Inhaling through the center of the forehead to the middle of the brain,
The pineal gland,
Exhaling back out the forehead.
Once you imagine breathing in and out through the forehead,
As you inhale you might welcome the mantra om.
Each inhale,
Welcoming the mantra om,
Relaxing open on the exhale.
Releasing that,
Bringing awareness to the crown of your head,
Imagining on the inhale breathing in through the crown of the head,
Exhaling back out through the crown of the head.
If it feels right for you on the inhale,
Welcoming the sound of om.
Bringing awareness to the center of the throat,
Once again imagining that you could breathe in to the throat center and back out through the throat center,
Welcoming on the inhale the mantra om,
Becoming even more effortless on the exhale.
The next time that you inhale,
Imagine breathing into the heart center,
Center of the chest,
Exhaling back out through the heart center.
You might layer in the sound of om.
Bringing awareness now to the space above your navel,
The solar plexus region,
Inhaling and exhaling.
Imagine inhaling and exhaling from this energetic center.
You might welcome the sound of om.
Bringing awareness to the place beneath your navel,
Inhaling and exhaling into this space,
Nourishing this region with your breath.
The natural flow of breath-like waves upon a shore,
Layering in the sound of om.
Inhaling om,
Exhaling effortless ease.
And now attention to the base of the spine.
Imagine inhaling in through the base of the spine,
Exhaling back out.
You might imagine this breath moving up the spinal column gently,
Exhaling back down.
Gentle,
Wave-like rhythm of breath.
You might welcome the sound of om on the inhale,
Mentally whispering with each inhale,
The sound of om.
And allow yourself to relax back into effortless presence now.
The effortless presence of being.
Welcoming the bliss that arises spontaneously in this effortless being,
This spacious presence.
Relaxing back into the radiance and the presence that's already here.
Presence is already here.
There's nothing that you need to do.
And as you rest here,
Welcoming back the wave-like rhythm of your breath.
Sensing the effortless space you've cultivated within your body.
The volume and shape of your body resting,
Deeply resting here.
Sensing the support beneath you and a sense of the room around you.
And could you welcome yourself back with a deep breath in and letting it out.
This next inhale you might take two sips in,
Letting it go now.
And again.
And then begin to nod your head when you're ready,
Continuing to feel the effects of this practice.
You might imagine you just got a full body massage for your whole nervous system,
Your brain.
You should really take your time reawakening,
Reemerging from this sacred space.
You might wiggle the fingers and the toes.
You might roll to one side.
Take a moment to really take in how you feel.
Really taking a moment to bask in the sensations of this moment.
And allow this state of being that you've cultivated to really land in your nervous system.
Thank you so much for practicing with me and thank you each for your kind reflections and messages.
I love hearing from you and I just love this community here on Insight Timer.
Come back to this practice whenever you need a little bit of a full body massage for your nervous system.
Namaste.
