Welcome to your practice,
This is a yoga nidra for organ health.
So this sweet practice is here to allow you to rest deeply as we support the health and vitality of your internal organs.
So come to lay down on your back and make sure that you are extremely comfortable.
Make sure also that you are warm,
Especially your feet and your head and your neck.
And also that your fingertips are not touching anything,
Your palms are facing up.
You may like to position a pillow or a bolster under your knees.
And when you are ready after you've made your final adjustments,
You can allow your eyes to soften and maybe close.
We'll begin by taking five very slow,
Very deep breaths in your own time.
Breathing right down into your belly,
Softening your belly,
Softening that whole space.
Good,
And now on your next breath in,
No rush.
And feel you inhale deeply and at the top of the inhale,
Pause and hold the breath,
Squeeze everything,
Squeeze your hands,
Your feet,
Your face.
Every muscle in your body contracts,
Feel everything get very tight and then exhale,
Release everything,
Let it all go.
Let's do that twice more,
Deep,
Big breath in.
At the top of the breath,
Hold,
Squeeze your toes,
Squeeze your hands,
Squeeze your face,
Every muscle contracts and then a big release.
Allow everything to become softer,
Supple,
Letting go.
Last one,
Big full breath in,
Pause and hold,
Squeeze,
Tight contract.
And then when you're ready,
Big release.
Take a moment to feel that release and allow that sensation of letting go to permeate your whole body.
Every piece of you becomes soft and tender and your breath becomes natural.
Now begin to feel your breath at your nose,
Feeling your breath flow gently,
Comfortably just in and out through the nose.
As you feel the breath move in both nostrils,
Allow it to travel all the way down into your heart,
Feeling your heart muscle just slightly to the left of your sternum,
Allowing your attention to rest there,
Energy and breath moving there.
We will be using the light of our awareness to shine on each part of the body.
So feeling the heart itself about the size of two fists,
It is both a muscle and an organ,
Your heart pumping blood,
Nourishing your body right down to the tips of your fingers and your toes.
It is surrounded and supported by the silky soft tissue of the lungs,
About half a consistency of the sea sponge in their blood soaked container.
And the lungs envelop,
They embrace the heart.
With each inhale,
The inflation of the lungs hugs and holds the heart.
And with each exhale,
The lungs soften and the heart has space to expand.
For a few moments,
Tune your awareness to the expansion of the lungs front,
Sides and back.
They hug the heart with each breath in and each exhale gives space for the heart to expand as the lungs soften.
Feeling this process,
Feeling your breath and your body interact.
And with this in your mind's eye,
Bring the smallest trace of a smile to your face.
You need not move the muscles but rather just feel the essence of a smile.
Feel how that softens your face and your jaw.
And allow that feeling to permeate into your heart and your lungs,
Sensing their vitality,
Feeling them soak in the essence of a smile.
Perhaps they smile too.
Your heart and your lungs supported and healthy.
And just underneath your lungs,
There is a diaphragm muscle that rises and falls with each breath.
And on the right side,
Beneath the diaphragm is a very large organ called the liver.
And it is filled with fluid,
It is dynamic and producing enzymes to digest everything that we take in.
You may feel its weight and its substance on the right side of your body below your lungs.
As you spend time feeling this space of the liver,
You may again feel the faintest trace of a smile on your face.
And that same feeling,
That essence,
Your liver smiles back at you.
Healthy,
Happy and supported.
And now if you move your attention to the left side of your belly beneath your diaphragm,
You will find your stomach.
This is an organ that we connect with on a more tangible level through hunger or appetite.
You may have felt it before,
So feeling your stomach.
And with your attention there,
The faintest trace of a smile.
Full of health,
Life and vitality.
Your breath moving there,
Warm and healing.
In the center of your belly now is a small organ gland called the pancreas.
And the pancreas is responsible for manufacturing insulin,
Which helps us to break down foods.
For a moment,
Feel into the space behind your stomach,
Into this organ gland,
The pancreas.
And send your breath and your smile there,
Feeling your pancreas supported,
Healthy and alive.
Bringing your attention now to the left side of your ribs,
Quite low,
There is an organ about the size of one fist called the spleen.
And it is a blood reservoir,
About the same size as your heart.
And the spleen manufactures white blood cells and it's part of our immune system.
It helps to fill the left side of the torso,
Counterbalancing the liver on the right side.
And once again feeling the trace of a smile on your face,
And feel your spleen receiving that essence,
Receiving your breathing.
Healthy,
Vital,
Supported and alive.
Now bringing your attention to the back of your body,
On either side of your spine at your bottom ribs are two organs that fill the back body.
And these are your kidneys,
Each one about the size of your fist.
And the kidneys in Chinese medicine are the home of your qing,
The force of qi,
Your life force energy.
And these are the seat of deep wisdom and the most yin of all of your organs.
As you breathe here you may feel a cool sensation across the bandwidth of your lower back.
These organs bathe in the warmth of our inner fluids.
And with your attention at your kidneys,
Feel your breath,
Your smile moving there.
Nourishing your kidneys,
Keeping them healthy and warm and alive.
All of the organs that we've named in your torso,
Smiling and healthy.
Your face is soft,
Your body is soft,
And your breath is fluid and healing.
As you allow the warmth and the fullness of these organs to settle inside your container.
Allow your attention to travel up along the length of your spine.
Until you feel into the cranium inside your skull,
The organ of the brain.
You may feel both sides of the brain soften and relax.
And that same feeling,
The faintest trace of a smile on your face,
Allow that to fill your brain.
Feel the essence of your smile softening.
This feeling,
This sensation,
Allow it to pour down the brain stem,
Down the vertebral column.
Supporting all of the other organs in the body that we have not named.
Your body thrives under your attention,
Your breath flowing,
Your body soft.
Rest here.
Turn your attention once more to the breath.
Feeling it nourish each organ within you.
Smiling at them inside.
Feeling them smile as they are acknowledged and seen and thanked.
Feel the gratitude for this vessel,
For your inner landscape that works so tirelessly in your favour.
Feel your whole body thrive under the light of your awareness.
Still with the faintest trace of a smile on your face.
Resting here in the warm depths of your gratitude.
And when you're ready,
Begin to deepen your breath.
Feeling the inner smile,
Perhaps even the corners of your lips curl ever so slightly up.
Feel how that changes your whole face,
Your whole being.
And feeling as well the life force energy,
The vitality circulating through your entire being.
Very gently if you like,
You can draw both knees up into your chest.
You might squeeze yourself in,
Give yourself a hug as you rock from side to side.
And then roll onto one side,
Any side,
I do not mind which.
But as you roll onto your side,
Pause here and allow the weight of your body to drop.
So you really feel the density,
The weight of your body and everything that you hold within you.
And when you feel ready,
Slowly,
Slowly guiding yourself up into a seat.
Place your left hand on your heart,
Right in the centre of your chest.
And then place your right hand over it.
Take a few deep breaths that expand into your lungs,
Feeling your hands against your chest,
Sensitive to the aliveness,
To the life force that exists within you.
Smiling to yourself as your organs smile back at you.
Feeling intense gratitude for these bodies,
For these practices,
For this earth.
You might hold a piece of this gratitude,
A piece of this smile with you as you move on with your day or night.
Very gently you can bow together.
Thank you.
