Welcome to your yoga nidra practice.
Start by laying down on your back in Shavasana.
You may want to let your body rest on a yoga mat or even a bed.
It may feel comfortable to wrap your body in a blanket as your body temperature might lower during the practice.
Finding your Shavasana here,
Try to take as much space as you can.
Keeping your feet rest open,
Arms by your side,
Your palms facing up towards the ceiling.
And you may want to roll your shoulder blades under your back.
And just take a moment here to adjust,
Making any changes that you need to make and really trying to make your body feel as comfortable as possible.
During your yoga nidra we really want to stay still.
So it's very important for you to take all the time that you need to make yourself as comfortable as possible.
Once you're ready,
Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out as you close your eyes.
During yoga nidra you don't have to focus or be conscious.
Just bring your awareness to my voice and I will guide you through the practice.
You may feel sometimes that you're falling asleep or that you can't hear everything that I say and that's completely normal.
Just try to stay awake during the practice.
And try to over analyze the instructions.
Simply follow my voice.
Allowing yourself to become calm.
Gently bring your awareness to your breath.
Feeling your chest and your belly open and widen as you inhale.
And feeling your chest and your belly soften as you exhale.
Feeling your whole body breathing.
And with each breath allowing more air in and allowing more air out.
Taking more time on each inhale and taking more time with each exhale.
Each breath allowing all of this new energy within you.
With each exhale releasing anything that doesn't serve you.
And breath by breath feeling the body softening and becoming heavier and heavier.
And bring your awareness to your heart.
And as you listen to your heart is there any sentence that would speak to you?
Something that you would like to bring into your life?
Something that you deeply need?
And this is going to be our sankalpa,
Our deepest longing,
Our deepest resolve.
Finding our sankalpa together we want to create a short sentence,
A positive statement in the present tense.
So for example if you would like to feel more relaxed and grounded you could say I am feeling calm and grounded.
But it could be anything that speaks to you.
Just take a moment to find your sankalpa.
Once you've found it we're going to repeat it three times.
So for example,
I am feeling relaxed.
I am feeling relaxed.
Just take your time here to repeat your sankalpa three times.
We will now start to rotate consciousness.
We will just bring our awareness to different parts of the body.
You don't have to move or do anything.
Just follow my voice and try to feel these parts from the inside.
Starting with the right side of your body,
Right hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Right waist,
Right hip,
Right side,
Knee cap,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
The sole of the right foot,
Top of the right foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Now bring your awareness to the left side,
Left hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left waist,
Left hip,
Left side,
Knee cap,
Calf muscle,
Knee cap,
Ankle,
Heel,
The sole of the left foot,
The top of the left foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Feeling your back,
Becoming aware of your right shoulder blade,
Your left shoulder blade,
Feeling your spine and the whole back of the body together,
Feeling the whole of the right leg,
The whole of the left leg and both legs together,
The whole of the right arm and the whole of the left arm,
Both arms together,
The whole of the back,
The whole of the front,
Feeling the whole of the back and front together,
The whole of your head,
The whole body together,
The whole body together,
The whole body together,
Feeling your breath,
Feeling the air coming in and out of your nostrils,
The breath is completely effortless,
Feeling the whole body relaxed and allowing the body to fall into a deeper state of relaxation with each exhale.
Gently bringing back your awareness to your sankalpa.
Remember the sankalpa you found at the beginning of your practice today.
We will take the time to repeat this sankalpa three more times.
So for example,
I am feeling relaxed,
I am feeling relaxed,
I am feeling relaxed.
Let's take a moment here to repeat your sankalpa three times.
Let's take a moment here to repeat your sankalpa three times.
And slowly coming back to your breath,
Aware of your natural breath,
Awareness of the whole body,
Awareness of your breath,
Feeling your whole body still.
And as you inhale,
Bring your awareness to all the parts of your body that feel very light.
It could be your toes,
It could be your fingertips,
It could be your face or even your chest and your belly.
With each inhale,
Allowing these parts to become lighter and lighter.
With each breath,
Feeling the body very light,
As if you were floating.
Feeling the body very light,
Getting lighter and lighter with each inhale.
Exhale and bring your awareness to all the parts of your body that feel very heavy.
It could be all the parts of your body touching the floor.
Back of your legs,
Back of your arms,
Back of your spine.
With each exhale,
Allowing these parts to become heavier and heavier.
With each exhale,
Feeling your whole body heavier and heavier and completely still.
Feeling your whole body rested,
Grounded and relaxed.
Completely aware of your body from the top of your head to the tip of your toes.
Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
Become aware of the floor under you.
Visualize the room around you.
Becoming aware of your surroundings.
Aware of the temperature of the air.
Aware of the sounds around you.
And just stay here for a moment with your eyes closed.
Whenever you feel ready,
Starting to bring back some movement into your body.
Moving your toes,
Feeling each toe moving from the inside.
Feeling your fingers and feeling each finger moving from the inside.
Slowly starting to stretch your arms and to stretch your legs and do any movement that feels right to you.
Feeling all the time that you need.
When you feel ready,
You may slowly roll on your left side and slowly sitting up.
Slowly open your eyes and take your time to come back to your environment.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
