Peaceful Yoga Nidra

So if you're making yourself comfortable and ready,

Just do any final adjustments that you need to do now.

See if there's anything that you can do to make yourself even more comfortable.

That maybe you can even forget that your body's there at all as you rest.

We'll just start today with some tension and release exercises to allow the whole of the body to relax.

So we'll begin at the feet.

And squeeze the feet in so the toes come in towards the sole of the feet.

Squeeze and engage the muscles in the feet as tightly as you can.

And let the feet relax completely.

And the legs,

Engage the muscles in the legs.

So squeeze the calves,

The knees and the thighs,

Engaging the leg muscles as tightly as you can.

And let the legs completely relax.

Now the arms and the hands,

Make fists with the hands,

Squeeze the fingers in towards the palms.

Engage the muscles in the lower arms and the upper arms.

And let the arms and the hands relax.

Bring the shoulders up towards the ears,

Squeeze the shoulders into the ears as tightly as you can.

And relax the shoulders.

And the face,

Squeeze the muscles of the face together.

Imagine that you're squeezing the eyes and the mouth in towards the nose.

Engaging all of the facial muscles tightly.

And relax the face.

And now we'll do the whole of the body together.

So engaging the muscles in the feet,

In the legs,

The arms,

The hands,

The shoulders and the face.

Squeezing everything as tightly as you can.

And let them all completely relax.

We'll do that two more times,

Engaging all of the muscles in the body,

Squeezing everything together tightly.

And relax completely.

One more time,

Engaging all of the muscles,

Squeezing everything together as tightly as you can.

And let everything relax.

Just feel the whole of your body resting into the surface beneath you.

Feel into all of the meeting points where your body makes a connection with the surface beneath you.

And with every exhalation,

Feel your body becoming heavier at each of those points.

As you exhale,

The body releases completely into the surface beneath you.

And with every exhalation,

Feel the body becoming a little more relaxed.

Feel every exhalation carrying away any tension from the day.

Feel the exhalations carrying away any thoughts or worries about anything that you don't need to bring into the practice.

Feel how with every exhalation,

The whole of your body becomes more relaxed.

And then move the awareness into the ears.

And feel into the insides of the ears.

And as you rest on the insides of the ears,

Become aware of any sounds that you can hear in your environment.

Just let the awareness jump from sound to sound.

And without getting too involved in any one sound,

Just acknowledge all the different sounds that are there.

And know that those sounds aren't going to disturb you.

That they can only help you to relax even more deeply.

And if you have an intention for your practice today,

Just take a moment to bring that intention into your awareness.

So whatever inspired you to show up and practice today,

Perhaps for deep rest,

For healing,

For meditation,

Or self-discovery.

Whatever your reason for practicing today,

Just take a moment to acknowledge it.

And now see yourself in a beautiful,

Safe environment.

Somewhere that you feel completely secure,

Peaceful,

And at ease.

So you might like to see yourself in a place that you know that you always feel safe and well and secure when you're there.

Or you might like to imagine somewhere that has all of the conditions that you'd need to feel safe,

Secure,

And well.

And as this safe place arises all around you,

Are there any other things that you can bring into the environment to make you feel even more safe,

Even more peaceful and secure?

Invite in anything that you need.

And as you settle into that safe,

Calm environment,

Notice how that feeling of safety feels inside your body.

And feel into all of the feelings that come up with that sense of safety.

And feel those feelings inside your body as vividly as possible.

This is your feeling that you have created for yourself.

You can always come back to it if you need to at any time during the practice.

Feeling of safety,

Security,

Absolute peace and well-being.

And if you have a sankalpa,

Now is the time to recall your sankalpa.

The sankalpa is a deep vow or prayer from the heart or something that you wish to achieve or attain in this life.

There's no need to force the sankalpa.

It will come very naturally by itself if it's going to come.

You might experience it in words or as feelings or images.

So just move the awareness into the heart center now.

And invite the sankalpa to arise.

And if you don't have one,

That's okay too.

Just rest the awareness at the heart center.

And observe what's happening there.

We're going to bring the awareness around the body.

Let the awareness rest at each body part as I name it.

Beginning with the right hand thumb,

Bring the awareness to rest at the right hand thumb.

The right index finger.

The right middle finger.

The right ring finger.

And the right little finger.

The palm of the right hand.

The back of the right hand.

The right wrist.

The right forearm.

The right elbow.

The upper arm.

The right shoulder.

The right side of the chest.

The right side of the abdomen.

The right waist.

The right hip.

The right thigh.

The right knee.

The lower leg.

The right ankle.

The right heel.

The sole of the right foot.

The top of the right foot.

Each of the right toes one.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

And moving to the left side,

Bring the awareness to the left hand thumb.

The left index finger.

The left middle finger.

The left ring finger.

The little finger.

The palm of the left hand.

The back of the left hand.

The left wrist.

The left forearm.

The left elbow.

The upper arm.

The left shoulder.

The left side of the chest.

The left side of the abdomen.

The left waist.

The left hip.

The left thigh.

The left knee.

The left ankle.

The left heel.

The sole of the left foot.

The top of the left foot.

Each of the left toes one.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Bring the awareness to the right heel.

The left heel.

The back of the right knee.

The back of the left knee.

The right buttock.

The left buttock.

The spine.

The right shoulder blade.

The left shoulder blade.

The back of the neck.

The back of the head.

The top of the head.

The forehead.

The right eyebrow.

The left eyebrow.

The eyebrow centre.

The right eye.

The left eye.

The right ear.

The left ear.

The right cheek.

The left cheek.

The nose.

The tip of the nose.

The upper lip.

The lower lip.

The chin.

The jaw.

The right collarbone.

The left collarbone.

The space between the collarbones.

The right side of the chest.

The left side of the chest.

The centre of the chest.

The navel.

The lower abdomen.

The right hip.

The left hip.

The right knee.

The left knee.

The right ankle.

The left ankle.

The right toe.

The left toes.

The whole of the right foot.

Bring the awareness to the whole of the right foot.

The whole of the right leg.

The whole of the right arm.

The whole of the right side of the body.

The whole of the left foot.

The whole of the left leg.

The whole of the left arm.

The whole of the left side of the body.

And the whole of the body together.

Awareness on the whole of the body together.

The whole of the body together.

Bring the awareness to the breath.

Follow the flow of the breath as it comes in and flows out of the body.

Watch the expansion and contraction of the breath.

Feel the chest as the air flows in and out.

Keeping the awareness on the breath.

Begin to count the breaths backwards from 56 to 0.

Like this,

Breathing in 56.

Breathing out 56.

Breathing in 55.

Breathing out 55.

Breathing in 54.

Breathing out 54.

And so on all the way to 0.

Keep the awareness on the breath.

If you make a mistake or if you reach 0,

Come back to 56 and start again.

Keep following the breath and counting.

And stop counting.

Feel into the body and notice how still the body has become.

The body is completely still.

As if fast asleep.

Feel into the sleeping body.

And observe the stillness in the body.

The stillness in the body.

But although the body appears to be sleeping,

There is still movement happening.

The heart continues to beat.

The blood circulates.

The air flows in and out with the breath.

Bring the awareness to the movement that is always happening inside the body.

Observe the movement within the body.

The movement within the body.

And is it possible to observe both of those at the same time?

Can you experience the body completely still?

And also alive with movement at the same time?

Can you experience stillness and movement inside the body together?

Stillness and movement together.

And now feel the body becoming very heavy.

Feel the body becoming heavy and sinking into the surface beneath you.

Feel the body becoming heavier and heavier.

So heavy that it sinks into the surface beneath you.

And becomes one with the earth beneath you.

Intensify that feeling of heaviness within the body.

The feeling of heaviness within the body.

And now feel the body becoming very light.

Feel the body becoming lighter and lighter.

So light that it floats away up into the air.

Into the sky.

Becoming one with the sky.

Intensify that feeling of lightness.

Feeling of lightness in the body.

Lightness in the body.

And can you feel both of those at the same time?

Can you feel the body so heavy that it sinks into the earth?

And so light that it floats away into the sky.

At the same time.

Can you experience heaviness and lightness in the body together?

Heaviness and lightness together.

And now bring the awareness to the eyebrow centre.

Observe the eyebrow centre.

Notice what's happening at the eyebrow centre.

Observing any shapes.

Any colours or patterns.

Or perhaps just darkness.

Without getting too involved in anything that you see,

Just observe whatever's there.

And keeping the awareness at the eyebrow centre.

I'm going to name some different things.

Allow an impression of each one to arise as it's named.

There's no need to force anything to happen.

Just allow each one to come however it comes.

We'll start with white clouds in a clear blue sky.

Waves crashing on the beach.

A rose.

An eagle.

The first star in the evening sky.

A flickering candle.

A stone pathway winding through the forest.

Spring daffodils.

A tiger.

A thunderstorm.

The sun rising on a misty morning.

A snowflake.

A butterfly.

The reflection of the full moon on the surface of a lake.

Then move the awareness to the heart centre.

Rest here in the peace of the heart centre.

Here you are free.

If you have a sankalpa,

Now is the time to recall your sankalpa.

Your deepest vow or prayer from your heart.

Allow it to arise naturally.

And if you don't have one,

Just keep the awareness at the heart centre.

And remain resting at the heart centre.

And now come back to your peaceful,

Safe environment from the beginning of the practice.

And see that safe and peaceful environment arising all around you once again.

And feel that feeling of safety returning to your body.

And welcome that feeling of safety into every single cell of your body.

This is your feeling that you have created for yourself.

You can always return to it at any time if you need to.

In your practice and in your life.

Complete safety and security.

Peace and well-being.

And before we finish the practice,

Just take a moment to create a vision of your happiest,

Healthiest self.

See yourself living your life exactly in the way that you want to live it.

See yourself flowing through your days.

Navigating any obstacles with ease.

Living your days joyfully.

See yourself happy,

Healthy and filled with vitality.

And now very slowly begin to turn the awareness back outward.

Let the awareness drift to any sounds that you can hear in your environment.

And just float from sound to sound.

Without getting too involved in any one sound.

But just acknowledging that those sounds are there.

Bring the awareness to the feeling of the air against your skin.

And your clothing.

Your blanket against your skin.

Feel into the feeling of your body resting against the surface beneath you.

And as you breathe,

Watch the breath gently beginning to reanimate the body.

Feel the breath flowing into the fingers and toes.

Awakening the fingers and the toes.

Make some circles with the ankles and the wrists.

And give yourself a big stretch in any way that feels good for you.

And when you're sure that you're feeling wide awake again,

Slowly blink the eyes open to complete the practice.