NSDR For Stress (Without Music)

Welcome.

Namaste.

My name is Elka,

And thank you for joining me for this practice.

This meditation is designed to help you find some ease during stressful times.

You can return to this practice as much and as often as you need to.

Think of this meditation as a resource for any time you are feeling anxious,

Stressed out,

Or simply overwhelmed.

Allow this practice to be like a mini-vacation or a temporary mental escape,

Freeing you from the outer reality that is causing you this stress and deepening your supportive inner reality with a fresh perspective and a new state of mind.

Our bodies are designed to experience and to respond to stress,

But extended exposure and unresolved stress can create negative patterns that affect your mental and physical health.

Regular practices such as yoga nidra can positively rewire your brain,

Increase your sense of well-being,

And also your ability to deal with stressful situations.

Yoga nidra is effortless like a dream.

Simply follow along with the sound of my voice as best as you can.

It is natural for you to drift off to thoughts,

So when you do,

Bring back your attention to the sound of my voice and the guidance throughout this practice.

In this meditation,

We allow the body to fully rest still,

So you can create a space for the mind to also become still.

Find a place where you can lie down or sit comfortably throughout the duration of this meditation.

And if you do need to move,

Do so mindfully and then return to the stillness as best as you can.

Let us begin this practice by taking two sips of air inside the nose,

Then breathing out through the mouth,

Allowing all breath to be released like this.

Try this a few times.

Release the breath back to its natural rhythm.

Move your attention towards the breath and the movement breath.

Drop your awareness inside the breath,

Watching,

Listening,

Following along,

Focusing on the breath and noticing how this breath begins to deepen slightly within your awareness.

Notice where you first sense or detect the flow of breath.

You might sense it at the tip of the nose,

Inside the nose,

Or perhaps you might sense and feel this breath at the back of the mouth or throat.

Maybe noticing how the breath fills and swirls around the ribcage or perhaps noticing the belly rise and fall as you breathe.

Notice where you sense and feel this breath.

And now this breath.

Full attention and awareness inside the body and how the body expands and responds as you breathe.

And even being so ever-present with how the body naturally softens as you breathe out.

Take a few more deeper breaths now,

Slowing the inhalation,

Sensing and feeling the flow and movement breath and deepening the exhalation,

Noticing how the body softly responds and shifts as you breathe.

Notice yourself awake and aware and also peaceful.

Free to interact with the feeling tones,

The thoughts,

And the reactions as they drift into your awareness and as they drift out.

Breathe slow and deeply while you sense and feel all that arises and all that dissolves.

Be present with the flow of thoughts,

The flow of thoughts as mental sensations.

And also notice how you are aware of the movement and presence of breath and the felt sense inside the body.

Sense,

Notice,

Feel the thoughts and feel the breath.

Notice yourself being present,

Thoughts flowing in,

Breath flowing out,

Breath flowing in,

Thoughts flowing out,

Sensing layers of breath and a mind like a stream,

Flow of breath,

Flow of thoughts,

And you in the center feeling and flowing with all that is present.

No need to control or change,

Just simply be with all the sensations,

The stream of breath and of the mind,

Awareness flowing like a stream.

Realizing thoughts unbound and floaty,

Awareness of all that flows in your stream of consciousness.

It may be just for this moment,

Allowing yourself to be free.

Nothing to do,

Nothing to control,

Simply free to be.

And for the next few moments,

Affirm your intention of being free,

Being still and quietly listening,

Filling yourself with peaceful presence and releasing what doesn't need to be here.

In yoga nidra,

We begin to shift our brain from the active beta state into slower brain waves as we begin to turn our focus inwards into the body,

Into the mind,

And where all systems begin to respond and relax.

We do this through a rotation of consciousness.

As I name a body part,

Allow your mind to travel to this body part,

Opening sensations and feelings inside this area.

And as I name each body part,

Imagine as though a beautiful butterfly has landed here.

Feel,

Sense,

Or visualize this butterfly filling you with its peaceful presence and natural beauty of its soft,

Gentle touch.

Begin with the feeling of a butterfly at the top of your head.

Watch and feel as the butterfly touches the top of your head with its gentle presence.

Sense and feel and watch as the butterfly moves to the center of the forehead.

And now the butterfly floats to the tip of your nose.

Feel the softness and the tickle of a butterfly landing at the tip of your nose.

Watch and feel,

Directing the butterfly down to the center of your chest.

Feeling this touch of softness of the butterfly now on your belly.

Notice as this butterfly floats over to your right hand thumb,

Gently landing on the right thumb with curiosity and a peaceful presence.

And feel as the butterfly floats to the tip of your index finger,

Now your middle finger,

Ring finger,

And pinky finger.

And feel as the butterfly fills the palm of your right hand with its gentle presence,

Feeling all sensations of the right hand with gentle presence and awareness.

And watch as the butterfly floats to your wrist in the center of your lower arm,

Your elbow,

The center of your upper arm.

Now watch and feel as the butterfly gently rests at the top of your right shoulder,

Filling the whole right arm with gentle presence and natural beauty.

Watch and notice as this butterfly gracefully and gently floats back to the center of your chest.

Feel the butterfly's presence and follow the peaceful butterfly as it drifts down to your left hand thumb.

Feel the butterfly resting at the tip of your left hand thumb and then floats over to your index finger,

Your middle finger,

Your ring finger,

And your pinky finger.

And then watch as the butterfly floats into the palm of your left hand,

Filling your left hand with gentle presence.

Feel as the butterfly travels to your wrist and floats to the center of your lower arm,

Rests at the tip of your elbow,

And floats over to the center of the upper arm.

Feel the presence of the butterfly as it fills your left shoulder now and down the whole left arm with its grace.

Feel the butterfly move down inside the right leg,

Landing at the tip of the right knee and lower leg,

Resting on your ankle,

Filling the top of the right foot with its gentle presence.

Tip of the big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Gentle presence and awareness of the butterfly filling the whole right foot and leg.

And watch and feel as the butterfly starts to float over to the left side,

Landing on the left knee,

The shin,

Filling the whole left foot with its gentle presence,

And floating to the tip of the big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And fifth toe,

And filling the whole left leg and foot with its gentle presence and grace.

Feeling the whole leg and foot resting in the gentle presence of the butterfly.

And then feeling the butterfly move over to the right side of the chest,

And now the left side,

And float your attention side to side.

And then fill the whole body with this gentle presence and awareness.

Notice yourself feeling relaxed and aware.

Dreamlike state,

Feeling deeply relaxed and aware of all the sensations within you and around you.

And draw your awareness back into the breath.

Feel yourself breathing,

Noticing the breath as it fills inside your nose and the passageways deep inside the lungs.

Feel your chest and belly rising as you fill your body with oxygen and space.

And then feel the breath as it floats out,

Noting the gentle wave of breath floating out,

Presence and flow of breath,

Air and space all around you,

Feeling and sensing the presence of breath,

And also noting the experience of your body breathing.

Now welcome a gentle change to the breath,

Dropping any pause between the inhalation and the exhalation,

No spaces in between,

Creating a continuous breath,

Breath flowing in and then immediately flowing out,

Instantly flowing back in,

Continuous breath,

Filling you with peaceful presence and releasing letting go into a dreamlike state,

Continuous breath,

Breath flowing in and flowing out,

Continuous breathing.

Guiding you into the streamlike state of rest and restoration.

Letting go,

Aware and resting,

Peaceful,

Calm,

Dreamlike state.

Letting go,

Aware and resting,

Letting go,

Aware and resting,

Letting go,

Aware and resting,

Letting go,

Aware and resting,