Yoga Nidra For Feelings Of Safety & Ease

Welcome and thank you for being here,

Dear human.

This is the practice of yoga nidra.

My name is Leah and I will be guiding you through this practice today.

I truly believe the more we love ourselves,

The more we pour into our own cups,

The more love we have that we can allow to overflow to others.

And that is really what the world needs right now.

Use this practice to offer some radical kindness toward yourself.

You can let the nidra do its work while you allow yourself to be effortless.

If at any point you need to move or cough or yawn,

Don't be afraid to let yourself do that.

You might fall asleep and that's okay and it's likely what you need if you do.

Or you may be alert the whole time.

Or you might float back and forth.

No matter what your experience is,

Know that it's perfect.

If you are not already lying down,

I invite you to do so.

Taking a few extra moments of care to find comfort and move if you need to.

You may place your hands by your sides or put a pillow under the knees.

Or maybe you place your hands somewhere on your body.

You might want to cover yourself with a blanket for warmth.

Now that you are lying here with everything you need,

Make any last adjustments until you feel most at ease.

Scrunching your face up tightly and releasing.

Faking a yawn,

Opening the jaw wide.

Rocking your head from side to side a few times.

Squeezing the glutes and releasing.

Making fists with your hands and raising your shoulders up to your ears.

And releasing.

Flexing the toes and the lower legs and releasing.

Feeling your body beginning to melt down into the ground supporting you.

We will now begin to bring a safe space to mind.

This could be anywhere in the world.

Somewhere familiar or maybe it's a place that you haven't been but have imagined.

It could be indoors or in nature.

Whatever comes to mind is it perfect.

Now bringing your safe space to life will use your imagination or perhaps some remembering to bring up what might be surrounding you.

Are you alone or with loved ones?

Maybe a pet?

What is the quality of the air?

Are there sounds or smells?

Opening a texture to the walls if there are walls.

Now that you have this place in your mind,

Remember that it is your safe haven and this place is always here for you.

If at any point during this practice you feel lost or uncomfortable,

You can return here.

Know that I am keeping time and that you are cared for and that you can allow yourself to feel cared for and to be effortless for the next little while.

Now we will begin to form a sankalpa or an affirmation.

This is your heartfelt intention or your heart's deepest desire.

Bringing your awareness to your heart and asking what do you need right now?

What is it that you could use a little support with?

It may be work related,

Could be a short term goal,

Or maybe you are working with some self love right now.

You will form a statement or a resolve and bring it into your practice.

This will be a positive statement in the present tense as if it were happening now.

If today your heart is quiet,

Feel free to use the following.

I am safe and healthy.

My body is intelligent and cares for me with ease.

I am safe and healthy.

My body is intelligent and cares for me with ease.

Or take a moment,

Listen to your heart space and repeat your I am statement in your mind.

Now bringing your awareness to your breath and keep it simple.

Not changing or affecting your breath in any way,

Just noticing the natural ebb and flow of your inhale and exhale.

Your breath is like a wave,

Steady and soothing,

Watching your chest naturally rise and fall.

Be lengthening the exhale just a bit and pausing at the bottom.

Letting yourself be breathed effortless and easy.

I am going to take you through a body scan and I have one simple task for you here.

As I name each body part,

Simply bring your awareness to that part and know that I am moving at a certain speed to really begin to acknowledge the way that our awareness can change.

Bringing the awareness to the top of the head to begin.

Just letting it rest there for a moment.

Now bring your awareness to your third eye or the space between your eyebrows.

The right eye,

The left eye,

The nose,

The ears,

The upper lip,

Lower lips,

The tongue,

The chin,

The throat,

Your heart space,

Right shoulder.

Left elbow.

Left shoulder.

Right elbow.

Left wrist.

Right wrist.

Left thumb.

Left first finger.

Left second finger.

Left third finger.

The pinky.

Right thumb.

Right pointer finger.

Right second finger.

Right third finger.

Right pinky finger.

The rib cage.

The lower torso.

The right hip.

Left hip.

Right glute.

Left glute.

Right thigh.

Left thigh.

Right knee.

Left knee.

Right shin.

Left shin.

Right calf.

Left calf.

Right ankle.

Left ankle.

The top of the right foot.

The right big toe.

Right second toe.

Right third toe.

Right pinky toe.

The top of the left foot.

The left big toe.

Left second toe.

Left third toe.

Left pinky toe.

Bringing your awareness now to any sensations in the body.

Beginning to connect to the feeling of groundedness.

Feeling the earth supporting you.

You are healthy and safe here.

Feeling the body grounded.

With each inhale expanding outward.

And with each exhale sinking deeper.

And now beginning to notice the quality of lightness.

Light as air.

The air in your lungs makes you weightless.

You are expansive and spacious and as you breathe you begin to expand maybe beyond the skin of your body.

You are connected to everything.

Feel becoming lighter.

On your next exhale begin to feel the body grounding again.

You are back within the center of yourself within your skin.

Your bones are heavy feeling small and grounded to the earth.

You are contained.

With each exhale becoming heavier.

On the next inhale beginning to expand again.

Allowing yourself to take up space.

Feeling yourself becoming lighter like a cloud.

The boundaries of your body begin to blur into the air around you.

The feelings of weightlessness come to mind.

Now begin to dance between the two.

Inhale feeling expansive.

Exhale feeling grounded and contained.

Inhale taking up space around you.

Exhale feeling heavy and earthbound.

Maybe you can explore holding the two sensations at once.

Can you be grounded and expansive at the same time?

Now picture yourself lying on the earth.

You are laying near a body of water maybe a lake or a pond.

And the sky above is so clear and painted with stars dancing or maybe it's daytime and the clouds are forming shapes as they float by.

The reflection is clear in the water.

You can feel grass tickling around your ankles and hands.

The moon is bright and reflecting off the pond.

Or maybe it's the sun.

Keeping watch of the sky.

As I name the following objects allow them to appear in your mind.

Raindrops on your cheeks.

A full moon.

A butterfly flying by.

Dew drops on a blade of grass.

A lotus flower.

Waves crashing on the beach.

You standing at the base of a mountain.

You standing at the top of a mountain.

Your body encompassed in white light.

White light seeping inward covering your organs and flowing through your veins.

White light expanding outward from within you.

You are held here safe and cared for.

You are moving through life with the ebbs and flows of the journey.

Your mind and body supporting you no matter what comes.

There is an infinite supply of love to go around.

Here we will plant our sankalpa.

If you developed your own earlier on bring that to mind now and speak it into your heart space three times in your mind.

If you are using the one that I have offered it is I am safe and healthy.

My body is intelligent and cares for me with ease.

Continue to repeat your sankalpa here imagining it as a seed being planted in your garden.

Gently beginning to bring your awareness back to you.

Back to your breath first.

Once again noticing the rise and fall of your chest or your belly.

With each inhale bringing life to your fingertips.

And now your toes.

Beginning to come back to this room.

Whatever space you are in.

Imagining the four walls around you.

Many people who are there with you.

Coming back to the now,

The present.

Feel free to stay here as long as you like.

Or begin to roll yourself over to the right side of your body.

Pausing here and thanking yourself for committing to the practice of yoga nidra.

Whenever you are ready maybe using your hand to push you up into a seated position.

Bringing your palms together at your heart center.

Thank you for practicing with me and thank you to my teachers.

Be sure to offer yourself kindness and ease for the rest of the day.

No matter what you need to do.

Namaste.

Thank you.