Welcome.
My name is Lauren,
And today I'm going to guide you through a Yoga Nidra meditation.
This meditation is designed for when you're just not feeling like yourself.
You might be going through a season where things are different,
And despite what's put you in this season of your life,
You deserve to feel comforted and supported.
And you deserve to feel like you have a moment to connect back with the old you,
So that you continue to stay in touch with that version of yourself when the time is right for you to feel like you again.
Let this meditation be an opportunity for you to stop being so hard on yourself,
And to express a moment of pure acceptance for you and where you are today,
Knowing that a season is just that,
And eventually a new season will come.
And to find yourself in your most comfortable position.
If you're new to the practice of Yoga Nidra,
This practice is traditionally done lying down.
But what's most important is that you find a most comfortable position for your body.
And since we're using this practice as an opportunity to support yourself,
I'd like for you to take note of how your body's feeling,
And see if there's anything you can do to make yourself just a little bit more comfortable.
See if there's a way for you to offer yourself more support by using blankets or pillows.
See if there's any place that you're accepting discomfort,
And make those adjustments now.
And once you begin to become settled,
And move into a place of stillness,
Remaining still for the practice,
But knowing if you need to make any adjustments,
It's okay to do so.
And just go back to lying still.
Let's take a really big deep breath in through the nose.
Fill the lungs,
Feel the belly expand and the ribs open up.
Exhale let it all go.
Out the mouth,
Sighing if that feels good.
Let's do that again.
Inhale again through the nose.
And as you exhale when you're ready,
Let it go out the mouth and let any tension about where you are today,
Leave with the breath,
Letting it go.
And before we repeat that again,
I want you to just tune into how it is that you're feeling.
Where might this tension or anxiety or unacceptance be living within your body?
Where does what you're feeling live within your body?
And I want you to,
On this next breath,
Keep all of your awareness there.
Wherever this is,
If it's in your chest,
Focus on your chest.
And then take a really big deep breath in through the nose.
All of your attention being sent to this area,
Knowing that you are sending this nourishing breath to this place in your body.
And as you exhale,
Let it go.
Allow it to leave or move or change as you let the breath go.
Just take note if anything changed.
And then begin to become aware of your body.
Notice the space that your body is taking up.
Notice the outline of your body.
And see if in your own way,
You could imagine or trust that as your awareness traces the outline of your body,
It brings this awareness to the tension in your muscles,
And the tension starts to dissipate.
Feeling the outline of the body expand,
Almost as if you've drawn a line around the body in chalk.
And then as the body lets go one muscle at a time,
The body expands past this outline.
And then draw this awareness to your face.
Then welcome in a softness to the forehead.
Imagining the lines of the forehead softening,
And the tension around the temples and the eyes dissolves down and out.
Feeling the eyes sink back and rest in the sockets.
As you welcome this reprieve of resting the eyes in the body.
Allow any tension to soften in the jaw.
And the tongue move away from the roof of the mouth.
And if you feel a lot of tension in the face,
Maybe welcoming an opening and closing of the mouth to release the tension in the jaw.
Lastly,
Bringing all of that attention to your shoulders,
The top of the shoulders and the traps,
The back of the shoulders and the neck,
And see if you can welcome in this warm softness that allows you to let go of any remaining tension in the muscles.
Let's welcome in our intention for the practice today.
Mentally repeating one time.
I will offer myself love and acceptance during this season that I'm in.
Move all of that awareness to the top of your head.
And in the center of your forehead,
Both of the eyes,
The tip of the nose,
Both of your nostrils,
The space between your nose and your upper lip,
The lips,
Upper and lower.
Becoming aware of the inside of your mouth,
The tip of the tongue,
All the way down to the root of your tongue.
Awareness rests at the center of the throat and the base of the throat.
Center of your chest,
Both sides of the chest,
Both shoulder joints,
The upper arms,
Both elbow joints,
The lower arms,
Both wrist joints,
Palms of your hands,
Backs of your hands.
Awareness to all 10 fingers at one time.
Notice underneath the arms and both sides of the torso,
The navel center,
Both hip joints,
Both upper legs,
Both knee joints,
The lower legs,
Both ankle joints,
Tops of the feet,
Bottoms of the feet,
And all 10 toes at one time.
Notice your entire right arm,
And then the entire left arm,
The entire right leg,
And the entire left leg.
Become aware of your entire body,
Feel the entire body at once,
The whole body resting with your awareness encapsulating the experience of your body from head to toe,
And allow your attention to move away from the body and softly drift it to your breath,
Watching your breathing without making any changes on purpose,
Just easily watching each inhale and exhale,
Belly rising with each in-breath,
Chest and belly falling with each out-breath,
And in just a moment we're going to start to link your breath with a feeling,
So I'd like to invite you to welcome in the feeling of support,
And you can do this by remembering a time in your past where you felt supported,
Maybe recalling or even picturing your sanctuary where you feel completely supported,
Or maybe being supported is completely new to you,
And this is something that you need to experiment with,
Welcoming in an entire new feeling,
And once you are able to bring in this concept of support in any way that works best for you,
Bring your awareness of your breath to your feet,
And as you inhale breathe in through the soles of the feet,
Imagining in your own way that this support washes over the body with the breath moving up the body to the crown of the head,
And then as you exhale this support washes back down all the way down the body out the soles of the feet,
Inhaling feeling the support cascade up the body,
And then as you exhale the breath moves down from the top of the head,
Feeling this support wash over your entire being,
Continuing at your own pace for four more breaths,
And then as you exhale,
Feeling the body become completely submerged in support,
As if the ocean of air that surrounds you is a blanket of support with each breath that you breathe in and each breath that you breathe out,
Now let all of that go,
Letting it softly dissolve away and move your attention to behind your forehead,
Allow your awareness to rest here as you rest back,
Resting deeper in the state of yoga nidra for a few minutes,
There's nothing else you need to do,
Let's welcome back in your intention,
Mentally repeating three times,
I will offer myself love and acceptance during this season that I'm in,
And now that it's time to start to gently and slowly awaken the body,
We'll do this by first noticing and becoming aware of our minds,
Notice how your mind feels,
Notice how the thoughts you were dealing with prior to this practice may have changed,
Notice if the emotions that were present prior to this practice have shifted,
And then maybe even noticing if your breathing feels different,
Lastly noticing if your body has made any changes,
And noticing if maybe where you felt this turbulence in the body of dealing with not feeling like yourself,
If that's changed at all,
Where it lives in the body,
How it was making your body feel,
And for just a moment realize that you and how you feel after this practice,
And maybe the subtle changes that you've noticed for the better,
Are the exact same person that started this practice,
And you allowed yourself to come back to your true self,
To step away from the noise,
To step away from what's happening in the external world,
And connect back to you,
The person who's always there,
No matter what season you're in and how the season may have you feeling,
Take a deep breath in through your nose,
Exhale let it go,
Inhaling again deeply through the nose,
Exhale let it all go,
Maybe welcoming in some small movements with that exhale,
And then continuing to slowly awaken the body,
Taking as much time as you need to leave this practice,
Feeling and carrying with you what it is that you gained from practicing today,
Taking your time,
Moving back into your day,
And the practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
