Yoga Nidra; Deep Rest Meditation

Welcome to your guided yoga nidra meditation.

A practice that encourages you for a restful night of ease,

Sleep,

And tranquility from within.

You're welcome to begin this practice by laying down,

Whether that's simply on the ground or on a bed or a comfortable surface.

And allowing your feet and palms to lightly splay to the sides,

Ensuring that you are warm enough and that your position chosen is one in which feels sustainable throughout the duration of your practice.

And allowing your physical body this stillness,

Which in turn creates and invites a stilling through the mind,

An opportunity to fully relax.

As the practice of yoga nidra is a practice of yogic sleep,

An ability to guide you through to a hypnagogic state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleeping.

Allowing yourself to try and remain awake simply by listening to the sound of my voice.

As I guide your awareness across various bodily sensations,

Images and emotions,

Allow yourself to simply concentrate on that one intense image or guidance,

But rather allow my voice and guidance to move your awareness across the various points as you hear them named.

As you allow yourself to fully absorb what you need throughout this practice,

And let yourself leave the rest behind.

Whenever the mind becomes a little overactive,

Thoughts,

Worries or projections come on board,

Simply return to the direction and sound of my voice.

And so as you land into your chosen posture,

Allow yourself to physically become aware of the body,

Connecting in with the element of touch,

Just noticing quality of temperature against your palms and your feet,

The feeling of clothing against your skin,

The sensation of your physical self resting against the ground,

This deep held earth quality that supports and sustains your rest.

As your awareness moves towards the mouth,

Noticing the subtle tastes that linger within the mouth,

The tongue,

Teeth and jaw,

As your awareness moves towards your nose,

The subtle sense that are present,

The smells and aromas of the room,

Just feeling into the sense of smell,

Taste and touch.

As your awareness moves towards your ears and becoming in tune with the subtle sounds that you can hear in this moment,

Maybe the sound of my voice,

The sounds just out of the side of the room you are resting in,

Just allow yourself to drift with those distant or close sounds for a moment,

Letting your awareness move from sound to sound without creating a narrative,

Just simply focusing on listening.

As your awareness tunes in to the subtle sounds of my voice,

Noticing their tone,

Their quality and comfort.

As your awareness moves towards the vast darkness behind closed eyelids,

Allowing yourself to tune in to the element of sight,

The visual of yourself resting in this present space,

The visual of the four walls that surround you,

The ceiling,

The floor,

And your physical body resting against the floor.

Noticing your hair,

Your clothes,

Your skin,

Becoming acutely aware of your physical existence resting on the floor.

As you become aware of your natural breath,

That organically flows in and out of your body,

The conscious and unconscious cycles of breath,

The and the and the and the and the and the conscious cycles of breath.

You may trace them at the tip of the nostrils,

Perhaps a specific region of the torso,

Chest,

Ribs,

Or abdomen,

In which you feel the breath moving.

The quality of cool as you inhale,

And the warmth as you exhale.

Just allow the direction of your breath to occupy your mind,

Tracing,

Anchoring,

Instilling.

Notice of the quality of your breath in this moment,

Any short,

Choppy cycles of inhalation or exhalation.

Can you compose a smooth,

Smooth,

Smooth,

Smooth,

Smooth,

Elongated and delayed response that provides your breath with this even composure?

Orchestrating even breaths in,

With even breaths out,

Providing your body,

Nervous system,

And mind with this balanced,

Even breath.

And just continue breathing in this way,

Maintaining this even composure of breath.

As you begin to create a sankalpa for your practice,

Sankalpa can be a short or positive statement in simple language that you relate to.

You may like to begin your sankalpa or intention with the words,

I am.

And it may even be the reason you felt called to practice.

And see if you can mentally repeat your intention to yourself,

Sowing the seed into the fertile soil of your mind to bring about this transformation and healing.

If you are stuck on intention,

You may simply like to use,

I am practicing yoga nidra,

Present,

Awake,

And relaxed.

As you allow your intention to settle within you,

That beautiful reminder of why you are here.

As we now begin a systematic journey of sensory awareness,

Moving throughout the body,

But your awareness travels to the different parts as soon as you hear them named.

Without any need to physically move that part of the body,

Instead trace your awareness as you hear it called.

And the practice begins on the right hand side,

On the right hand side,

Right hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the right hand,

Top of the right hand,

Right wrist,

Forearm,

Upper arm,

And armpit,

The whole right arm,

The whole right arm,

The whole right arm,

Right collarbone,

Right chest,

Right ribs,

Hip and thigh,

Right knee,

Shin,

Ankle,

And heel,

Sole of the right foot,

Top of the right foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And fifth toe,

The whole right leg,

The whole right leg.

As your awareness moves towards the left side of your body,

Your left hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

And fifth finger,

Palm of the left hand,

Top of the left hand,

Left wrist,

Forearm,

Upper arm,

And armpit,

The whole left arm,

The whole left arm,

Left chest,

Left ribs,

Left hip and thigh,

Left knee,

Shin,

Ankle,

And foot,

Left heel,

Left sole of the foot,

Top of the left foot,

And left big toe,

Left second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And fifth toe,

The whole left leg,

The whole left leg.

Moving your awareness towards the back line of your body,

Beginning with your left heel,

Right heel,

Left calf,

Right calf,

Back of the left thigh,

Back of the right thigh,

Left glute,

Right glute,

Lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

The entire spine,

The entire spine,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head,

Forehead,

Left eye,

Right eye,

Left ear,

Right ear,

Left cheek,

Right cheek,

Nose,

Upper lip,

Bottom lip,

Both lips together,

Jaw,

Throat,

Neck,

Left collarbone,

Right collarbone,

Heart,

Navel,

Abdomen,

The pelvic floor,

The whole left side of the body,

The whole right side of the body,

The whole face,

The whole head,

The whole body,

The whole body,

The whole body.

As you begin to feel into the sensations,

The sensations of heaviness,

As the body becomes heavier,

Deeper,

More grounded into the earth beneath you,

The sensations of lightness,

Lightness as though your entire body could float and drift toward the ceiling.

The sensations of warmth,

Like the first kiss of sunlight against your cheek,

And the sensations of cool,

Like the brush of a winter's breeze,

And the sensations of joy,

Like seeing a loved one for the first time,

And the sensations of calm,

The solitude in watching the ocean's waves.

And allow the feeling of calm to completely envelop you,

Feeling the experience of calm through your mind,

Your body,

Your emotions,

Your energy.

You are relaxed and aware.

You are calm.

You are calm.

You are calm.

You are relaxed.

You are calm.

And as you begin to just lightly bring your awareness into the feeling of your breath,

That subtle rhythmic pulse that flows in and out of your body,

Allow yourself this opportunity to repeat your sankalpa,

To repeat that same statement of intention you created at the beginning of your practice.

As you maintain your awareness on your breath,

Just allow some subtle attention to move towards the physical body,

Feeling the sensation of your feet,

Palms,

Spine,

And skull resting against the ground,

And allowing that visual of yourself resting against the ground,

The walls that surround you,

The subtle sounds and scents of the room.

Know that you are welcome to linger here.

If rest,

Silence,

And stillness is what your body is truly yearning for most,

Know that this space is yours to linger and remain in for as long as you need.

Alternatively,

You can invite some gentle movement towards your fingertips and your toes.

You may like a generous stretch of your arms reaching up and over your head.

Take a deep breath in through the nose,

And out of the mouth,

A generous sigh,

Clear,

Empty,

Let that go.

At your own pace,

Encouraging the eyes to very lightly blink open,

Welcoming yourself back to the light.