Welcome to this practice of Yoga Nidra.
Let this practice be an invitation to soften,
To put down any sense of urgency,
Or striving,
Or self-correction.
Just a place of welcoming yourself here exactly as you are,
Whether you feel tired,
Or uncertain,
Or tender,
Or peaceful.
Let this be a place where you can just be.
It's time to rest and it's time to be good to yourself.
Lying down in a comfortable position,
Making sure that you feel supported and warm.
Take this time to let your body soften.
Allow the body to be gently held by the earth.
Feeling the contact points between the body and the surface beneath you.
Sensing the back of the head,
The shoulders,
Arms,
Hips,
Legs,
Heels.
Letting the arms rest by the sides,
Palms open to the sky.
And just feeling the sense of the earth holding you.
Perhaps sensing that you are safe here,
You are held.
Your eyes can close and allowing yourself just to feel the natural rhythm of your breath.
As I read this poem to you by the poet Julia Fehrenbacher.
Go gently today.
Don't hurry or think about the next thing.
Walk with the quiet trees.
Can you believe how brave they are?
How kind.
Model your life after theirs.
Blow kisses at yourself in the mirror,
Especially when you think you've messed up.
Forgive yourself for not meeting your unreasonable expectations.
You are human,
Not God.
Don't be so arrogant.
Praise fresh air,
Clean water,
Good dogs.
Spin something from joy.
Open a window even if it's cold outside.
Sit,
Close your eyes,
Breathe.
Allow the river of all of it to pulse through.
Eyelashes,
Fingertips,
Bare toes.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Breathe until you feel your bigness.
Until the sun rises in your veins.
Breathe until you stop needing anything to be different.
So if you have a touchstone,
You can allow yourself just to hold that in your left hand.
Or just place it somewhere on the body or next to the body.
Using your touchstone as a point of connection at any time during the practice if you need.
And now if you have an intention,
Take some time to see it already happening.
Taking time just to repeat that intention to yourself three times in the present tense.
And if you're struggling to find an intention,
You could maybe use the words,
I go gently.
Inviting yourself to listen to my voice during this practice.
But you can also feel free if you fall asleep just to come back to my voice whenever you can.
Permitting yourself to rest.
We're going to start to rotate our awareness through the body.
Feeling the warmth of the sun in each place.
Starting with the right hand thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
Little finger.
Palm of the right hand.
Back of the right hand.
Right wrist.
Right lower arm.
Elbow.
Right upper arm.
Right shoulder.
Right armpit.
Right side of the waist.
Right hip.
Right thigh.
Right knee.
Calf.
Right ankle.
Right heel.
Sole of the right foot.
Top of the right foot.
Right big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Fifth toe.
Moving now rapidly through the other side of the body.
Starting with the left hand thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
Little finger.
Palm of the left hand.
Back of the left hand.
Left wrist.
Left lower arm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Armpit.
Left side of the waist.
Left hip.
Left thigh.
Left knee.
Calf.
Left ankle.
Heel.
Sole of the left foot.
Top of the left foot.
Left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Fifth toe.
Now slow down and start to notice and bring awareness to the back of the body.
The right shoulder blade.
Left shoulder blade.
Right sitting bone.
Left sitting bone.
The whole back.
Bring attention now to the top of the head.
Forehead.
Right eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
Space between the eyebrows.
Right eyelid.
Left eyelid.
Eye.
Left eye.
Right ear.
Left ear.
Left cheek.
Right nostril.
Left nostril.
Lower lip.
Chin.
Throat.
Right side of the chest.
Left side of the chest.
Middle of the chest.
Navel point.
Whole of the right leg.
Whole of the left leg.
Both legs together.
Whole of the right arm.
Whole of the left arm.
Both arms together.
Whole of the back and the back of the body.
The spine,
The legs.
Whole of the front of the body.
Belly,
Chest.
Whole body together.
Breathing the whole body.
Aware of the whole body.
And now bring attention to the breath inside the body.
Start to feel the in-breath.
And the out-breath.
Slowing down each breath.
And now as you inhale,
Inhaling for a count of four.
And exhaling for a count of four.
Continue to slow down your breath on the count of four.
If you need to change that count,
Then find a count that is right for you.
Breathing in your own rhythm,
Slowing each breath down.
And now bringing your attention just to the space between the eyebrows,
Letting go of the breath.
And start to open your awareness to any sadness that might be here.
Any sense of sadness or heaviness.
Just allowing space,
No need to change a thing.
Aware of sadness.
And now opening to joy,
Just letting joy be here.
Opening to lightness and joy.
Aware of joy.
And now allow both joy and sadness to be here,
All held within the spaciousness of love.
Allowing joy and sadness to be here.
Giving yourself permission to just be with it all.
Joy and sadness.
And now bringing your attention back to the space between the eyebrows.
Rest your attention here.
And begin to see yourself walking along a path in a forest.
Feeling the freshness of the air around you.
And taking in the beauty of the trees.
You notice how tall and strong the trees are.
How flexible their branches are in the wind.
How brave and dignified they are.
You feel the beauty of all the greenery.
Walking slowly amongst the quiet trees.
Feeling their stillness.
Sensing their roots reaching down.
And their branches open and receptive.
You feel the sunlight on your skin and the energy of the special place pulse through you.
Noticing a sense of expanding and lengthening more and more.
Sensing the miracle of being here and being you.
And now rest your awareness into the centre of the chest.
Opening to the sensations here.
Present to whatever is here in the space of the heart.
Sensing the light in the space of the heart.
And as you rest your attention in the heart,
Just allow that intention to merge with the heart space.
Repeating your intention to yourself three times.
And now I feel like sensing your guides and your mentors.
A wide circle of beings surrounding you.
Here to support you and your precious heart.
Feel this.
And as you breathe in and out from the space of the heart,
There's time to listen.
There's time to allow the heart to share a message for you.
Or simply to rest in the space of the heart now for a minute in silence.
And now if you'd like to move more deeply into your sleep,
Allow a deeper letting go.
And if you are waking up,
You might like to just come back to feeling the body and feeling the breath.
You might like to begin to bring some movement into the body,
Moving the fingers and the toes.
And sensing if there's a stretch that the body needs to express.
And if you'd like to,
You're welcome to roll onto your side.
And taking your own time to rest here.
Perhaps setting an intention to move into the rest of your day or night with tenderness.
Go gently.
You are already whole.
This yoga nidra is now complete.
