Eagle Comes To Rest - Yoga Nidra

So,

Welcome to this practice of Yoga Nidra.

We're going to take some time to find a comfortable,

Cozy spot,

And if it works for you,

Coming down onto your back with your arms by the sides of your body.

This practice can also be done sitting or even standing,

So finding a position that works for you.

Once you've established a comfortable position,

You can close the eyes,

Or if you choose,

You can keep the eyes partially open or completely open.

It's time now to rest.

You might say to yourself,

I give myself permission to rest.

And throughout this practice,

You can follow my voice,

And if at any point you want to find your own inner instruction,

Feeling free to do so.

If you fall asleep,

Then sleep is what you needed today.

So bringing attention to your breath now and noticing how your breath is moving.

You might want to bring a hand to the heart and a hand to the belly,

Which might connect you a bit more to the feeling of the breath.

And how is the rhythm of your breath?

You might like to take a deeper breath,

Breathing in deeply,

And breathing out through the open mouth with a deep sigh.

And now taking a deeper breath in,

And a slow releasing sigh out through the mouth,

Softening,

Letting go.

And now bring your attention to any sounds in the space that you are in.

Noticing the sounds around you,

The sounds of your own breathing,

Sounds coming and going.

And now bring your attention to any sounds outside of the four walls that you are in.

Noticing the sounds way off in the distance,

Sounds coming and going.

And now bringing awareness into the body even more.

Aware of the shoulders,

The belly,

The limbs,

The whole body aware.

Notice the ground beneath your body,

The feeling of support.

And in whatever way is right for you,

Honoring the land that you are on.

Perhaps honoring the original people of the land and your connection to the land.

And here are some words of an African proverb.

Even the mightiest eagle comes down to the treetops to rest.

Even the mightiest eagle comes down to the treetops to rest.

Now welcoming a sense of being safe and well.

This might be a remembered sense of safety and wellness or it might be just an image of feeling safe or a sense of feeling safe.

Allow yourself to see,

Feel,

Sense that safe space.

Safe and well.

And if nothing arises here,

You can just keep a hand on the heart or a hand wherever on the body you feel you need some contact.

And you can allow yourself just to feel the sensation of the hands on the body.

You can return to this resource of safety at any point in the practice or indeed at any point in your life.

Safe and well.

It's there for you and you can draw on it.

Bringing yourself home to yourself.

And now perhaps sensing if you might have a heartfelt desire for yourself,

Noticing whatever is in the deepest core of your heart as a heartfelt intention for your life.

If you find that intention,

Just welcoming that in by repeating it to yourself three times.

And if you can't find an intention,

You might choose something like,

I'm rested or I am at peace.

So taking time now just to repeat that intention.

And now sense the whole body resting.

Noticing the contact between the body and the floor.

We're going to allow the awareness to wander around the body as if it's listening to each part of the body as I name it.

So when you hear a part of the body name,

Just place your attention there as if you could send the light of your own attention to that place.

Starting with the space between the eyebrows.

And attention now down to the middle of the throat.

Right shoulder.

Right elbow.

Right wrist.

Right thumb.

Index finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Baby finger.

Right wrist.

Right elbow.

Right shoulder.

Middle of the throat.

Left shoulder.

Left elbow.

Left wrist.

Left thumb.

Index finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Little finger.

Left wrist.

Left elbow.

Left shoulder.

Middle of the throat.

Middle of the chest.

Right side of the chest.

Middle of the chest.

Left side of the chest.

Middle of the chest.

Navel center.

Middle of the pubic bone.

Right hip.

Right knee.

Right ankle.

Right big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

And fifth toe.

Right ankle.

Right knee.

Right hip.

Middle of the pubic bone.

Left hip.

Left knee.

Left ankle.

Left big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Fifth toe.

Left ankle.

Left knee.

Left hip.

Middle of the pubic bone.

Navel point.

Middle of the chest.

Middle of the throat.

Back to the eyebrow center.

Rest here now.

With awareness at the eyebrow center.

Welcome all the sensations.

Here and now.

Even the most subtle sensations.

The physical body resting.

Now bring awareness to the breath.

Let the breath be center stage in your awareness.

On your next out breath.

Start to breathe in the left side of the body.

Breathing the left side of the body.

Sweeping the breath up and down the left side.

And now breathe up and down the right side of the body.

Breathing the right side of the body.

Meeting the sensations here breath by breath.

And now begin to move back and forth between the right side and left sides of the body.

In your own way and rhythm.

Breathing the right and left sides of the body.

Going back and forth between the sides.

And now breathe the whole body.

Feel the whole body breathing here and now.

Notice the sensations in the body and around the body.

And now begin to feel heat in the body.

Noticing heat in the body.

The whole body feeling heat as vividly as you can.

The whole body feeling heat as vividly as you can.

Heat in the body.

And now feeling coolness.

The whole body cool.

Awakening now the feeling of coolness in the body.

Now feeling both heat and coolness in the body.

And now when you're ready bringing attention to areas of discomfort in the body.

Without having to change them.

Just bringing attention to areas of discomfort in the body.

Tightness,

Tension,

Contraction.

Noticing discomfort.

And now noticing what is here that is comfortable in the body.

Receiving the sensations of what is comfortable in the body.

A warmth,

A tingling,

Air on the skin.

Comfort in the body.

And now be present to both discomfort and comfort.

All here in the landscape of the body.

Present to both comfort and discomfort.

Letting this go now and bringing your attention to the space between the eyebrows.

Like the eagle resting on the tree.

Be still.

Resting here now in stillness.

And now coming back to that place of safety.

That place either imagined or known.

Coming back to that space of safe and well.

Taking time now to breathe into the place of the heart.

And as you sense into the heart space welcoming your deepest intention for your life.

How would it be to be embodied in that heartfelt desire here and now?

Repeating that intention to yourself three times.

And now inviting a deep breath in.

And a slow breath out.

Opening to the sounds inside the room.

And the sounds beyond the room.

And as we come to the end of this practice noticing what you are feeling right now.

If you feel you need to keep resting please feel free to do so.

And if you are feeling like you are wanting to move just listen to what the body might need.

Taking time to stretch or move.

Extending a warm welcome to yourself as you honour yourself for taking this time.

You might thank yourself.

Your yoga nidra is now complete.