We Rest As A Radical Act: A 45-Min Yoga Nidra

A very warm welcome,

I'm Caroline and I'll be guiding you through this yoga nidra practice.

When your eyes are tired,

The world is tired too,

From a lovely poet called David White.

And here within this practice,

We rest as an attempt or an invitation to drink from a deeper well,

As this poet David said.

We really learn to reside here,

Trusting that there is this deep wellspring of vitality to tap back into.

Welcoming you to this yoga nidra,

An invitation to sink into rest.

To begin,

Taking a moment to get super comfortable,

Finding what we call a nidra nest.

Lying flat on your back,

Perhaps on the floor,

Maybe a bed,

A firm surface.

You may like to bring any props,

Perhaps a pillow or a bolster underneath the knees.

Just a small padding behind the back of the head.

Maybe a blanket,

Something warm for over top.

And then you may even like to place something over the eyes.

And if there is any way to find a comfier nidra nest,

Then doing so.

Making any final adjustments,

Wiggles.

And in your own timing,

Beginning to close down the eyes.

The invitation throughout is to stay alert,

Aware,

As you allow my voice to wash over.

And if sleep happens to arise,

Trusting that's okay too.

Your body will receive everything that it needs.

And as you lay here,

Back body firmly in contact with the earth,

Earth beneath you supporting,

Holding,

And just allowing the breath to naturally come and go in this wave-like motion.

Beginning to scan your awareness to sounds further away,

Allowing them to be received into every cell as we release the need to make any labels,

Make sense,

Make meaning of these sounds.

We practice feeling and sensing,

Audiencing ourselves to a new conversation beyond words.

And allowing your awareness to notice noises a little closer in.

And then allowing your awareness to notice your body lying in the space.

Without needing to look and see,

Feeling into the space you occupy.

Here in this body,

Taking up space,

Resting,

And resourcing ourselves.

And as we continue to settle in,

Inviting in what we call a sankalpa,

An intention for your practice.

Perhaps you have a sankalpa that you wish to use.

Or perhaps allowing a moment for a new sankalpa to flow into your conscious awareness.

Now sankalpa is a statement beginning with I am,

Speaking into the present tense.

And in relation to what you need,

What is it that you need within this chapter,

This season of your life.

And if nothing quite flows in,

That's totally okay.

It may go a little like,

I am seeing,

Held.

And hurt.

Perhaps it's around,

I receive the sweet nectar of rest.

And allowing your sankalpa to flow on in.

And then repeating internally three times.

Trusting that the seed is planted.

As we begin to scan through the body.

And as I name different body parts,

Allowing your awareness to land there.

Beginning at your right hand thumb.

Second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

Fifth finger.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Wrist.

Lower arm.

Hand.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Right armpit.

Tracing down to your waist.

Right thigh.

Left thigh.

Knee.

Calf muscle.

Ankle.

All the way down to the heel.

Sole of the right foot.

Top of the foot.

Right big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Fifth toe.

Landing now to your left hand thumb.

Second finger.

Second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

Fifth finger.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Wrist.

Lower arm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Left armpit.

Tracing down to the waist.

Hip.

Left thigh.

Knee.

Calf muscle.

Ankle.

All the way down to the heel.

Sole of the left foot.

Top of the foot.

Left big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Fifth toe.

Meeting your right shoulder.

Left shoulder.

Into the right shoulder blades.

The left shoulder blades.

The right lung.

Left lung.

Right kidney just beneath the base of your ribs.

Left kidney beneath the base of your ribs.

Right buttock.

Left buttock.

Each vertebrae of the spine.

The whole back all together.

The whole back all together.

Meeting the very top,

The crown of your head.

Forehead.

Right eyebrow.

Left eyebrow.

The eyebrow center.

Right eyelid.

Left eyelid.

Right eye.

Left eye.

Right ear.

Left ear.

Right cheek.

Left cheek.

Nose.

Tip of the nose.

Right nostril.

Left nostril.

Upper lip.

Lower lip.

Chin.

Jaw.

Tracing down the throat.

Skin stretches over the right collarbone.

Skin stretches over the left collarbone.

The right chest.

Left chest.

Middle of the chest.

Crawling more interior.

Inside of the pericardium,

The heart.

Noticing your ribs.

Inside the basket of your ribs.

Greeting your lungs.

Meeting the navel,

Abdomen,

Lower abdomen.

Here meeting the organs of the liver,

Stomach.

Spleen,

Kidneys,

Pancreas.

A whole council of organs.

Assimilating and digesting.

Meeting the whole of the right leg.

Whole of the left leg.

Whole of the right leg.

Both legs together.

Whole of the right arm.

Whole of the left arm.

Both arms together.

Whole of the back.

Whole of the front.

Whole of the head.

Feeling them together.

Legs,

Arms,

Back,

Front,

Head together.

The whole of the body together.

The whole of the body together.

The whole of the body together.

Melting further into a container for descent.

Where we are invited into an intimate communion with the unfolding moment.

Spending a few moments now attuning to the breath.

The rhythm of your breath.

Breath entering like a wave.

Spiraling into your nostrils.

Swelling the lungs.

Massaging the lower organs.

Exhaling,

Breath travels out.

Expiration.

Filling the collective field.

Just allowing the breath to naturally weave in and out.

You may ever notice the texture,

The hum to your breath.

Without force making anything happen.

Allowing the breath to find its own rhythm.

In and out through the nose.

In a moment,

Beginning to count the breath down from the number 18.

As you inhale,

Internally repeating 18.

As you exhale,

Internally repeating 18.

Inhale 17.

Exhale 17.

And so on,

All the way down to the number 0.

Beginning in your own time at the number 18.

At any moment,

If you lose count,

That's totally okay.

Beginning again at the number 18,

Slowly making your way down,

One breath at a time.

Continuing to come back to that breath.

Slow and steady.

And wherever you are,

We just allow that practice to fade away.

Releasing any counting.

So you just settle into this liminal space.

This open space of awareness.

Clear,

Transparent,

Timeless,

Without conflict.

And from here,

We practice really feeling and sensing into our inner terrain.

The invitation is to awaken the feeling of heaviness in the body.

The feeling of heaviness.

Becoming aware of heaviness in every single part of the body.

Cells,

Tissues,

Muscles,

Bones.

Feeling so heavy as if you were sinking into the floor.

Embracing this feeling of heaviness.

This feeling of heaviness.

We now awaken the feeling of lightness in the body.

The feeling of lightness.

Becoming aware of lightness in every single part of the body.

Cells buoyant in light,

Tissues,

Muscles,

Bones.

Feeling so light as if you were as light as a feather.

Feeling into lightness.

Feeling into lightness.

We now begin to awaken the feeling of sharpness in the body.

The feeling of sharpness.

Becoming aware of sharpness infusing into the whole body.

Feeling into the sensation of sharpness as if lying on a bed of prickles.

Awakening the feeling of sharpness.

The feeling of sharpness.

We now awaken the feeling of softness The feeling of softness in the body.

Becoming aware of softness in the whole entire body.

Feeling so soft as if you are melting into a cloud.

Awakening the feeling of softness.

The feeling of softness.

To pay attention is to feel the heaviness and the lightness.

The sharpness and the softness.

To really feel it with your whole body and your whole heart.

And then let it melt into the dust,

The compost,

The soil.

Noticing the back of your head resting into the support beneath you.

Noticing the spaciousness behind the eyes as if the mind can rest backwards.

Here you might notice an inner space where thoughts and images naturally come and go.

Allowing for this process as we take a walk within the imagination of the mind.

Imagine you are lying at the edge of a forest.

The ground soft beneath you.

The air cool and alive.

The earth holding your body completely.

As you rest here you begin to notice the quality of things around you.

The way the ground feels heavy and solid beneath your back.

Yet steady and reliable.

The way the air feels light as it brushes your skin,

Moving freely around you.

Some sensations arrive clearly like sharp stones on a path.

Distinct,

Precise,

Impossible to ignore.

Others are soft like moss or fallen leaves.

Barely asking for attention.

Lying,

Simply noticing.

Before slowly gathering yourself and in your imagination beginning to walk along a forest path.

Each step unhurried.

Each step listening.

The path leading to a clearing where the forest floor is dark and rich.

Layered with old leaves,

Bark and petals.

Years of living,

Dying,

Returning.

You kneel down and you place your hands into the soil.

It's warm yet damp,

It's alive.

You realize this ground is made of heaviness of old growth.

The sharpness of broken branches and the softness of petals.

As you breathe out you begin to find an offering into the earth.

The places in your body that feel heavy sink downward,

Slowly dissolving into the soil.

The sharp places which feel edgy which hold tension,

Old stories.

They soften as they meet the dark ground as if breaking down and losing their shape.

The soft places within melt easily like mist settling into the forest floor.

The earth welcoming it all as if the soil receiving it has beautiful compost.

Transformation of sensation into nourishment.

You lie back now your body resting directly on this living earth.

Below you roots weaving,

Fungi connecting,

Quiet networks of care and intelligence.

You feel how deeply you belong here.

How natural it is to feel fully and then let it go,

Give it back to the earth.

Above light filters through the canopy and settling into this liminal space and simply paying attention and even just staying here for a while.

Being held,

Being composted,

Being quietly remade and when it's time you begin to sense your body again as if amazed by fingers and toes the web of your physical body still connected to the earth still carrying its steadiness with you.

Slowly arising through the mind's eye gently,

Inquisitively making your way back through the forest path until you find that opening into that opening carrying with you a remembrance that we can feel deeply and stay safe at the same time.

Beginning to presence yourself to your body lying within the space you occupy to the river of your breath to the pulse of your heart and as you lie here allowing your sankalpa,

Your intention to pour back in repeating this I am statement three times internally very gently we slowly begin to make this transition from eyes closed to eyes wide open trusting that you're welcome to stay here as long as you need resting,

Drifting,

Wandering and if the timing feels true for you beginning to extend that breath all the way down to your toes wrapping it up back to the crown of your head allowing your fingers your toes to dance open lightly,

Freely perhaps a gentle shift of your neck and your head side to side as you massage into the back of your skull in a few words as we meet the end of our practice here together by the poet David White rested,

We are ready for the world but not held hostage by it rested,

We care again for the right things and the right people in the right way closing this yoga nidra I invite you to really take your time to slowly meet this transition allowing the practice to integrate and land it is an absolute pleasure resting with you take care and I hope to practice with you soon