Yoga Nidra Meditation For Recovery & Deep Rest

Welcome to this yoga nidra practice.

This practice has been especially created to support recovery for whatever it is that you are in recovery from at this time.

Whether you're seeking a physical recovery,

A release from mental strain,

Or simply a quiet pause from a chaotic moment,

This practice will enable you to hold a supportive space for yourself and your recovery.

The yogic deep sleep rest state can make room for processing your experiences,

So make yourself comfortable and whilst you're settling in and collecting your blankets,

Pillows and eye coverings,

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So now you've begun to settle back for the practice,

Take a moment to make another small movement to get just a tiny bit more comfortable.

Close down the eyes and feel the weight of your body pressing down on the earth beneath you.

As you sense into this feeling of the support,

Invite your awareness to drop into your body.

Allow your body to provide you with any sensations and tune into these sensations,

Just watching and visualising whatever sensation you are drawn to.

Just noticing.

As you're noticing,

Notice if there is any part of your body that hasn't yet softened into the support beneath you.

Identify that part and imagine you could soften it in your mind.

You might find it supportive to whisper in your mind's eye,

You can soften now,

To each part of the body,

You can soften now.

Take a deep breath now in through your nose and as you exhale from your mouth in an audible sigh,

Imagine releasing all the expectations on you today.

Feel yourself letting go of this heavy burden.

Once again,

Breathe in through your nose and audibly exhale out through your mouth.

Feel as your body becomes lighter with each exhale and remind yourself that it is ok for this practice to feel completely free from the heavy weight of anticipation or expectation.

With this knowledge,

Allow a sense of peace and contentment to wash over you here.

You are exactly where you need to be here in this moment.

Take another deep breath in and as you exhale audibly,

Embrace the freedom of having no expectations for yourself.

As you begin to rest back here,

You can simply be exactly as you are in your true nature.

Feel into the weight of your body resting against the earth beneath you.

You are cradled by the earth here.

Be reminded of your reason for practicing today.

Allow your intuition to guide you here in words,

Symbols or even a feeling.

This is your sankalpa,

Your heart's desire.

Take a moment now to translate this desire into a supportive I am statement.

A sankalpa that might resonate with you today is,

My body and mind know how to recover and I am resting deeply to make the space for this recovery process.

Now place your intention at your heart center,

In the center of your chest.

It's ok to be guided by your intuition on how to place your intention here at your heart center.

Allow your intention to be cradled by this unconditionally compassionate space.

Rest here in the support and love radiating at your heart center as you rest deeper and deeper.

Allowing your body to release all tension or effort as your mind and body are here to just be.

Drift your awareness to the sensations being offered to you by your toes on your left foot.

Sense into the sensations of each toe all at once on your left foot.

And now add to your awareness your toes on the right foot,

Feeling all your toes together and all the sensations that they're offering you here.

Now slowly move your awareness up to the top of your left foot.

And now the top of your right foot.

Allowing a moment for your intention to absorb into your right foot.

Drift your awareness from the top of the foot to the soles of both of your feet.

Imagine you could breathe in through the sole of your left foot,

Up through your left leg to the base of your spine,

Your root chakra.

And then exhale down from the root chakra,

Through your right leg,

Out through the sole of your right foot.

Once again on your next breath,

Breathe in this time through your right foot,

Up your right leg,

All the way up to the root chakra at the base of your spine.

And exhale down your left leg and out from the base of your left foot.

Repeat this again in your own time,

Alternating between each foot.

Now drift your awareness to the experience of holding both heels together in gentle awareness.

Now both of your ankles,

Both calves,

Your knees,

Your thighs.

Drift your attention now from the left of the pelvic bowl,

All the way over to the right of the pelvic bowl.

Feel both of your pelvis and hips together.

Heel into your lower back,

The base of your spine.

Take a moment for your attention to fully absorb at the base of your spine and sense into the energy residing here.

And with your natural breath as you rest,

Imagine you could breathe energy into the spine on the inhale,

All the way up your spine.

And on the exhale,

Back down the spine,

Allowing unwanted energy to return to the earth,

Out through the base of your spine.

Once again,

Inhale up through the spine,

Inhaling energy,

And exhale down the spine.

Continue this in your own time with your natural breath.

On your next exhale,

Drift your awareness to your navel centre,

Both sides of your chest,

Your heart centre,

Your left shoulder.

And now your right shoulder,

Your right arm,

Both hands,

Both thumbs,

And now all of your fingers together.

Bring your attention back to the heart centre,

Allow a moment for your awareness to fully integrate here.

And now sense both collarbones,

The base of your throat,

The centre of the throat,

The base of your tongue,

And all the way up to the tip of your tongue.

Become aware of your tongue position and relax it back if you're holding any tension here.

Feel the sensations in your mouth,

The top of your teeth,

The bottom row of teeth,

Top lip,

Bottom lip,

The space between your lips,

Both sides of the jaw together,

Both cheekbones together,

Your left ear,

All the way down through to the ear canal.

And now the space between your ears,

Right over to your right ear canal,

Your right ear,

Both eyelids and the sensations in and around your eyes.

The third eye centre in between your eyebrows,

And whilst your awareness is absorbing into the third eye,

Sense the energy here.

And now your forehead,

Top of the head,

And sense into the space just above the top of your head.

See if you can feel the energy at the space above your head,

Almost as if you're wearing a crown.

And now sense your whole body,

And feel your whole body resting deeper,

All as one.

Sense your whole self resting completely.

Feel as if you could blur the outline of your body just with your imagination.

Begin at the top of your head and trace your body blurring the outline as you go.

And now bring to mind the imagined sense that the outline of your body is gently expanding.

Your body like a sponge expanding as it becomes porous,

Absorbing the nourishment of water.

Feel your entire being expanding outward.

You're being nourished by the expansion,

Taking all the nutrients from the air as you breathe naturally,

Deeply resting here,

Taking space in your environment.

And now bring to mind the gentle contraction of the outline of your body.

Feel into the imagined sense that your body is settling back into itself.

Settling into its current shape.

Imagine your body is becoming more compact,

More centred.

It's like a settling is happening.

Settling and resting.

And as you hold the awareness of contraction in your mind,

See if you can bring back the sense of expansion.

So that you're holding the contraction and settling along with the expansion and nourishment.

Allow your intuition to guide you here.

And allow yourself to rest and enjoy the sensation that you experience as you hold both expansion and contraction together.

Release that now and bring your attention back to your third eye centre.

Simply rest in stillness as your mind and body integrate whatever experience it needs to integrate here.

Rest back and allow the third eye centre to cradle your consciousness.

Guide your awareness down from the third eye centre and place it at your heart space.

Take a moment here at your heart space to retrieve your sankalpa,

Your intention for the practice.

Your heart has been keeping it safe so trust your intuition on how to retrieve your intention.

It may not be in words,

But a felt sense or even different words now you've processed your experiences.

Once you've retrieved your sankalpa,

Repeat it intentionally in your mind's eye.

My body and mind know how to recover and I am resting deeply to make space for the recovery process.

Place thanks or gratitude at your heart centre.

Gratitude for taking the time to allow yourself to experience this moment in your day of rest.

Thanks for giving yourself the space to recover and for committing to a restorative practice in your day.

Feel the deep gratitude and thanks at your heart centre as you reflect on the commitment that you've shown to yourself today.

Release that now and take a deep intentional inhale through your nose and then sigh it out through your mouth.

And very slowly,

With ease,

Place your hands in a supportive embrace on your body.

You may wish to place them on your heart centre or you may wish to place your hands on one arm or both arms in a self-hug,

Whatever feels most supportive.

Make slow,

Soothing circles with your hands and remind yourself that you are here,

You are supporting your body,

You're supporting your mind,

You're holding compassion and understanding for your experiences.

For all your experiences,

The pleasant and the not so pleasant,

You're holding yourself in this embrace to comfort and support yourself.

And now gently begin to make some bigger movements or stretches,

In whatever way feels gentle and wakeful,

Go slowly with lightness and ease.

And whenever you're ready,

You can open your eyes,

Allowing them to adjust back into your waking life.

Taking your time,

Inviting slowness and ease as you adjust back into your day.

Whilst you're adjusting,

Notice how you feel now,

Has anything shifted,

Changed or remained?

Maintain curiosity and non-judgmental about how you feel now.

And if you'd like to share your experience today,

Feel free to comment as I would love to hear about your experience of this practice.

And if you have enjoyed the sensation of tuning into your body a bit more,

Take a look at my somatic tracking practices,

They can be really supportive during a physical recovery as a quick check-in with your mind-body connection.

Somatic tracking can guide you to send soothing and calming messages to your brain and body by tending to the sensations like we've touched on today.

As always,

Thank you so much for joining me today.

Whenever you're ready to practice next,

I am here on the wellness words.