Hello and welcome,
I'm Catherine Flynn.
This practice is designed to help you learn how to be present in your body,
To have a gentle,
Relaxed presence.
We'll start by getting comfortable,
Probably lying down,
Maybe with a blanket or a pillow under your knees.
You may want to bring a blanket over you as our bodies cool down,
As they relax.
We'll start by tensing the muscles of our body to help relax the muscles of our body.
So the next time you breathe in,
Tense all the muscles of your body,
Squeeze your legs,
Squeeze your hands into fists,
Maybe float your arms and legs off the ground.
And when you exhale,
Let all your muscles relax.
Again,
Breathing in,
As you breathe in,
Tense all the muscles of your body,
Back strong,
Arms squeezing,
Legs strong,
Maybe scrunching up your face.
And as you breathe out,
Release,
Relax,
Let go.
Let's do that one more time.
Breathe in,
Tense all the muscles of your body,
Strong,
Strong,
Strong as you breathe in.
And when you're ready to breathe out,
Release,
Relax,
Let go.
Make any little adjustments you need to,
To be more comfortable.
And then see if you can practice choosing to stay still.
As you start to follow my guidance to feel into the areas of your body that I list.
You may want to imagine a warm light lighting up and traveling from area to area.
We'll start at the very top of your head,
Imagining a warm light at the very top of your head,
Or simply sensing into it,
Moving to your forehead,
Then the space between your eyebrows.
Allow your awareness to float down to your right temple,
Left temple,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Your right eyelid,
Your left eyelid,
Behind your right eye,
Around it,
Inside it,
Your whole right eye,
Behind your left eye,
Around it,
Inside it,
Your whole left eye,
The bridge of your nose,
The tip of your nose,
Your right cheekbone,
Left cheekbone,
Your right cheek,
Left cheek,
Your upper lip,
Lower lip,
The roof of your mouth,
The floor of your mouth,
Your tongue,
Your teeth,
The space where your lips meet your whole mouth,
Your jaw joints,
Right and left,
Your whole jaw,
Your chin,
Your throat,
The back of your head,
The sides of your neck,
The base of your skull,
Your whole head and face.
Notice the right side of your neck,
The left side of your neck,
The front of your throat,
Your right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
The center of your chest,
Your right shoulder joint,
Left shoulder joint,
Both shoulders together,
Your right upper arm,
Left upper arm,
Right elbow,
Left elbow,
Right forearm,
Left forearm,
Both arms together,
Your right wrist,
The back of your right hand,
The palm of your right hand,
Your right thumb,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
The spaces between your fingers,
Your whole right hand,
Your whole right hand,
Your left wrist,
The back of your left hand,
The palm of your left hand,
Your left thumb,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
The spaces between your fingers,
Your whole left hand,
Your whole left hand,
Both hands together,
Your heart space,
Your rib cage,
Your solar plexus,
The right side of your chest,
The left side of your chest,
The right side of your ribs,
The left side of your ribs,
Your upper back,
Mid back,
Lower back,
Your spine from neck all the way down,
Your navel center,
Your lower belly,
The very base of your spine,
Your right hip joint,
Right upper thigh,
Right knee,
The back of your right knee,
Your right shin,
Right calf,
And right ankle,
Your whole right leg,
Your whole right leg,
Your left knee,
The back of your left knee,
Your left upper leg,
Your left shin,
Left calf,
Left ankle,
Your whole left leg,
Your whole left leg,
The top of your right foot,
The sole of your right foot,
The heel of your right foot,
Your right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Your whole right foot,
Your whole right foot,
The top of your left foot,
The sole of your left foot,
The heel of your left foot,
Your left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Your whole left foot,
Both feet together,
Both feet together.
Now let your awareness widen to your whole head and face,
Your neck and shoulders,
Both arms and hands,
Your fingers and palms,
Your chest and legs,
Your head and back,
Your belly and pelvis,
Both legs,
Both feet,
Your head,
Your toes,
And the bottoms of your feet,
Your whole body resting,
Held by the ground,
Held by gravity,
Supported by the earth coming up to meet you,
Breathing softly,
Resting.
Allow your awareness to rest in your whole body as one field of sensation.
Notice the rise and fall of your breath.
Notice feelings of warmth.
Notice feelings of coolness.
Notice feelings of heaviness.
Notice feelings of lightness.
Abide in resting.
Before we close our practice,
Notice something you would like to carry forward.
It may come into words and it may simply be a felt sense or awareness that you would like to carry forward into the rest of your day.
Take a breath into that as if your breath were an energetic camera that could take a snapshot of it into your energy.
And there ends our practice of yoga nidra.
When you're ready,
You might invite slightly deeper breaths.
You may begin little movements like wiggling your fingers or toes and turning your head left to right.
You may want to stretch yourself long and you may want to tuck yourself in or roll.
Roll to one side.
Try to commit to moving slowly and thank yourself for taking this time to practice.
May you feel safe in your body.
May you feel connected.
May you feel at ease.
