Welcome to Yoga Nidra practice.
My name is Elena and I will be your guide.
You can either use this practice during the day to offset the effects of stress and let yourself relax deeply or you can use it before bedtime to leave your day behind and drift into blissful deep sleep.
To prepare,
Create a comfortable nest on your yoga mat or in bed.
As you are getting ready for this very relaxing experience,
Come to rest on your back with a straight spine.
Cover yourself with a blanket to stay warm and settle into stillness.
If you need to make a few adjustments to your position,
You can do it now.
And when you are ready,
Begin to settle in and get quiet.
In this session I am going to guide you through a journey that will help you relax your body and mind and let any stress you might be experiencing right now melt away.
The only thing you need to do is let yourself rest and let my words wash over you.
Let's begin.
Notice the sounds around you.
Perhaps there are a few sounds far out in the distance.
Notice them one by one without naming or analyzing them.
Then tune into the sounds closer in.
Then let your ears notice the sounds close to you.
Let your mind continue to just notice them.
And then pay attention to the sounds in your own body.
Your heartbeat.
The sounds in your belly.
Now let all of the sounds go.
Let your mind focus on your breath now.
You don't need to change anything about the way you are breathing.
Rather just witness your breath as it is right now.
The temperature.
The rhythm.
The depth.
The location of your breath in your body.
Maybe you are going to discover more qualities of your breath.
Really pay attention to every subtle quality.
Now I want you to think of something that is really important to you.
Perhaps a dream or a vision that you would like to manifest in your life.
Create for yourself a short and simple statement in the present tense,
A sentence that reflects your biggest dream.
Then memorize it and mentally repeat it to yourself three times.
Now bring your attention to your body.
Notice the position of your body in space and displace your attention on different parts of your body as I guide you through them.
We'll start with your forehead.
Place your attention at the center of your forehead.
Then bring your attention to the center of your throat and then let it travel down the right arm,
Right shoulder,
Elbow,
Wrist,
Thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Back to the wrist,
Elbow,
Shoulder,
Back to your throat center.
Now let your attention travel down the left arm,
Left shoulder,
Elbow,
Wrist,
Thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Back to the wrist,
Elbow,
Shoulder,
Back to your throat center.
Now let your attention move to your heart center,
Right side of the chest,
Back to heart center,
Left side of the chest,
Back to heart center,
Solar plexus,
Navel.
Let your attention travel down the right leg,
Right hip,
Knee,
Ankle,
Right toes,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
All right toes together,
Back to the ankle,
Knee and hip.
Place your attention on the navel once again.
Then let it travel down the left leg,
Left hip,
Knee,
Ankle,
Left toes,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
All left toes together,
Back to the ankle,
Knee and hip.
Come back to your navel,
Move to your solar plexus,
Heart center,
Throat center and center of your forehead.
Feel your whole body at once,
All parts of your body together as a whole.
Now bring about a feeling of tension.
Create a feeling of tension in your muscles and all over your body.
Let your whole inner body experience a feeling of tension.
Now reverse it and instead create a feeling of relaxation inside,
Like a whole body sigh of relief,
A deep sense of relaxation all over your body,
A satisfying feeling of relaxation all over your body.
Let go of both sensations now and just let your body settle into the support of your nest.
Let every last bit of tension begin to melt away.
The tension in your legs is gradually melting away,
Like snow melting into water.
The tension in your arms is melting away.
The tension in your hips,
Belly and chest is melting away with every breath.
The tension in your upper chest,
Throat,
Face,
Back of the head,
Top of the head is melting away without a trace.
Allow all tension to dissolve,
Letting your body drop deeper and deeper into the sensation of melting,
Releasing,
Dissolving,
Letting go.
With every breath letting go of any remaining bits of tension and surrendering to an all-encompassing experience of total relaxation,
Complete relaxation.
Giving yourself permission to rest deeply,
Leaving behind the stories of the day,
The residue of your thoughts and emotions,
Dropping thoughts of yesterday and tomorrow and fully arriving in the present moment,
Emptying the mind and falling back into deep deep relaxation.
With every breath falling deeper and deeper into total relaxation and the sentence you have created at the start of your practice,
Word by word,
Repeat it to yourself mentally three times.
As we are coming to the end of this practice,
Choose to either slowly prepare to come back to your day or give yourself permission to continue the journey of relaxation by falling into deep restorative sleep.
