Yoga Nidra - Resting In Warmth And Love

Hello and welcome.

My name is Lara.

I'm welcoming you in to this gentle practice of yoga nidra,

Resting in warmth and love.

Take your time as you settle yourself in for your yoga nidra practice today.

If you haven't done so already,

Set yourself up with any props that you need to help you get really nice and cozy.

You might like to have a bolster set up underneath your knees,

A pillow underneath your head.

You can cover up your body with a blanket.

You might like to use an eye mask or a piece of clothing to gently cover up the eyes as well.

As you settle yourself in with any props that you're using for that extra comfort,

Start to let your body rest.

Allow your legs to rest heavy.

Let your arms be gently relaxed by your sides.

As you settle into this space,

Check in and see if there are any last little adjustments that you could do to make yourself even a little bit more comfortable.

We'll get started as you settle in.

As you create space from the day that's happened so far,

Invite your body to surrender into a state of rest.

Take a deep full breath in through your nose,

Expanding through the lungs,

The body fully,

Pausing at the top of the breath.

Gently release the breath through your mouth.

Let it all go and allow yourself to experience a sense of release.

For the next few rounds of breath,

Continue to release tension with every exhale.

As you start to relax your body with the breath,

Notice all the points of contact where your body is touching down onto the ground.

Allow all of these points of contact to feel heavier as you root yourself towards the center of the earth.

Now bring your awareness to the top surface of your body and feel the spaciousness and the openness here in this area of the body that's not anchored down to anything.

Find the balance between being rooted and free at the same time.

And find the place where the back side of the body and the front side of the body meet at a central line.

Imagine closing a book and finding the central part between the pages that meet as you close it.

Find that equivalent central meeting place where the back side of the body and the front side of the body merge at center.

As you locate this space,

Travel to the space where your heart beats.

Tune in to the beating of your heart with its persistent will to keep you alive.

The capacity of the heart allows us the opportunity to face all situations with understanding,

Compassion,

Forgiveness,

And the highest vibration of love.

With reverence for this sacred space,

We now begin the practice of yoga nidra.

From the tender space of your heart,

Call in your sankalpa.

A sankalpa is a succinct positive statement in the present tense which helps us to call back our truth and remember who we really are.

Your sankalpa can be used to empower you.

It can be used to transform a limiting belief you hold to one that liberates you.

For example,

If you're challenged by feelings of being overwhelmed and alone,

Your sankalpa may be something like,

I am supported.

Your sankalpa can be something simple,

An I am statement such as,

I am valid.

I am loved.

If you've already been working with a sankalpa,

You can continue to use the same one.

Repeat your sankalpa to yourself three times.

As you repeat it,

Feel it into your bones and into the depth of your being as if it's already true.

At your highest level,

This is your truth.

Bring your conscious awareness to your right thumb.

Let it travel to the index finger,

To the middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

Palm of the right hand,

Back of the hand,

Right wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Underarm,

Right side of the rib case,

Right side of the waist,

The right thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Top of the right foot,

Sole of the right foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Pinky toe.

Feel into the whole right side of the body.

Full conscious awareness to the whole right to the whole right side.

Whole right side.

Bring your awareness and attention to your left thumb,

Left index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Left wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Underarm,

Left side of the rib case,

Left waistline,

The left thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Top of the foot,

Sole of the foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Pinky toe.

Feel into the entire left side of the body.

Bring full awareness to the whole left side.

Feel into the whole left side.

Feel into the sole of your right foot,

The sole of your left foot,

Both soles of the feet together,

The back of the right heel,

The back of the left heel,

Both heels together,

The right calf,

The left calf,

Both calves together,

Back of the right knee,

Back of the left knee,

The backs of both knees together,

The right hamstrings,

The left hamstrings,

Both sets of hamstrings together,

The right buttocks,

The left buttocks,

Both sides of your buttocks together,

The back of your pelvis,

The lower back,

Mid back,

Upper back.

Feel your right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

Both shoulder blades together,

The right arm,

The left arm,

Both arms together,

The back of your neck,

The back of the head,

The crown of the head.

Feel into the entire back side of the body.

Feel into the entire back side of the body.

Feel into the crown of the head,

The forehead,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Both eyebrows together,

The brow center,

The right eyelid,

The left eyelid,

Both eyelids together,

The right eyeball,

The left eyeball,

Both eyes together.

Feel your right nostril,

Left nostril,

Both nostrils together.

Feel the bridge of your nose,

The tip of the nose,

Your whole entire nose.

Feel the upper lip,

Lower lip,

Both lips together.

Feel your chin,

The right side of your jaw,

The left side of your jaw.

Feel both sides of the jaw together.

Feel into your whole face.

Feel the right side of your head,

The left side of your head,

Both sides of your head together.

Feel the right side of your throat,

The left side of your throat.

Feel your whole neck and throat together.

Feel your right collarbone,

Your left collarbone,

Both collarbones together,

The right side of your chest,

The left side of your chest,

Both sides of your chest together.

Feel the area of your abdomen from the ribs to your belly button.

Feel into the low belly,

The low belly,

Feel into the low belly,

The pelvis,

The root of the pelvic floor,

Both thighs,

Both kneecaps,

Both shins,

Both ankles,

The tops of both feet.

Feel your right leg from your toes to your hip.

Feel your left leg from your toes to your hip.

Feel the entirety of both legs together.

Feel your right arm from fingertips to shoulder.

Feel your left arm from fingertips to shoulder.

Feel both arms together.

Keep your arms and legs in awareness and add your entire torso and your head to your feeling experience.

Now feel and sense into your entire body.

Feel into your whole body.

Bring full conscious awareness to your whole body together.

Full body awareness now.

Traveling beyond the space of your physical body,

Start to expand your awareness out into the space that exists beyond the right side of the body.

Feel into the space and energy that exists out beyond the left side of your body.

Notice the open space in front of the body.

Draw awareness into the space that lies beneath the back side of the body.

Bring awareness into the space below your feet.

Feel into the area above the crown of your head and expand your energy and awareness into all directions.

Allow your energetic body to feel expansive from the central point at your core.

Feel the energy of space that exists surrounding your body expanding out more and more.

Find the radiating energy that expands in all directions.

As we move into the practice of the cultivation of opposites,

Allow yourself to be open to experiencing the full scope between one feeling or sensation and its opposite.

Allowing yourself to travel through this range will help to build resiliency.

As with any challenging emotion or sensation that arises,

There also exists its opposite,

Its remedy or solution.

What does it feel like to be heavy?

Feel heaviness in the physical body,

In your energy.

Feel and experience what it's like to be very heavy.

Recall what it's like to feel light.

Feel lightness in your body,

Your energy,

In your space.

Release the sensations of feeling heavy and light.

Allow yourself to feel into the emotion of sadness.

Is there a place that you feel sadness in your physical body?

When you think of sadness,

Are you thinking of sadness in your physical body?

When you think of sadness,

Are there any other sensations that come up with it?

Allow yourself to recall the feeling of joy.

What does joyfulness feel like?

How does joy feel in your body and energetically?

Call forth the feeling of joy.

Release the emotions of sadness What does grief feel like?

How does grief feel in your body,

In your mind?

How does grief feel like in your energy?

What does love feel like?

Is there a place in your body that activates when you think about love?

What does the energetic vibration of love feel like?

Recall the feeling of love.

Release the feelings of grief and love.

After traveling through these spectrums of emotions and sensations,

Come back to a place of wholeness.

Reconnect at the center of your heart.

I'll call out different visualizations for you to draw forth in your mind.

A pink squirrel.

The sun setting over the ocean.

A teddy bear.

The color black.

Hot tea burning your tongue.

Seeing sand between your toes.

A fluffy teddy bear.

Loved ones hugging at the airport.

A red rose.

A teddy bear.

Your favorite warm beverage on a cold day.

Imagine someone handing you your favorite warm beverage on a cold day.

They are cold too.

As you take your first sip,

You feel the warmth traveling through you,

Into your mouth,

Down your throat,

Into your chest,

Warming your belly.

This drink feels like a nourishing hug.

It's helping to transform the way that you feel from the inside out.

You look at the person who handed you the beverage.

You notice that it's a woman and her skin and her hands look weathered,

Yet her eyes carry a warm inviting kindness that feels familiar.

You don't know her,

But her care feels like something you know.

The older woman says to you,

It won't be cold much longer.

The sun is coming up.

She hands you a thermos of your favorite warm drink and a book to bring with you.

She sends you off like a caring parent,

Seeing their child off to school.

As you step out,

It's still dark and cold outside,

But you feel safe.

You step out into the dark and start to watch the sunrise in the distance.

You sip your drink and feel its warmth as you look at the sky.

You marvel at the expansiveness of the sky and the landscape.

You start to feel your body being warmed by the sun.

You feel the sun as it hits your eyes.

You feel the sunlight hitting your skin and warming the layers of your body from the outside in,

Bringing warmth to every cell of your body.

The warming of the body feels like a kind and loving embrace.

You feel the light of the sun,

Feeling your entire body warm.

Its warm,

White,

Crystalline light fills into every space.

Its purity is divine and healing.

You allow yourself to rest with this divinity within and start to witness the wisdom of your effortless breath.

Your body knows how to take care of itself.

Feel the expansion of your inhale.

Feel everything gently release and deflate with your exhale.

Effortless,

Intelligent breath,

Nourishing every part of your body.

You feel the warmth that you've received from the sun,

The kindness and love you've received from a stranger,

The warmth that's radiating from within.

You remember that you were given a book.

As you thumb through the pages,

You open it up to a page in the middle and start to read the words at the top of the page.

What you find written is your sankalpa.

Repeat it to yourself now three times.

Three times.

State it and feel it as absolute truth.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Start to bring your awareness back into the physical existence of your body.

Invite gentle movement back into your fingers and toes.

Perhaps grow that movement into your wrists and ankles.

The next time that you take an inhale,

Stretch your arms back and find the fullness of your body from end to end.

Gently start to bend your knees up.

Plant your feet back onto the earth.

Softly roll over to one side into a fetal position.

Allow yourself to rest here for a moment,

Feeling grounded.

Feel the support of earth beneath you.

See if you can still keep your eyes relaxed closed.

As you gently start to use your hands and arms,

Press yourself up to your meditation seat,

Your most comfortable seat,

Whatever that looks like for you.

Place your hands together in anjali mudra,

Palms touching in front of the heart.

You can lay one hand on top of the other at the space of the heart.

On your next inhale,

Sit up a bit taller.

As you exhale,

Gently bow your head in towards your hands as a gesture of gratitude.

Thank yourself for showing up for this nourishing practice.

Find gratitude for your strong and healthy body.

Perhaps set one more intention for how you'd like to feel for the rest of your day.

Thank you so much for sharing your practice with me.