A Nidra To Receive What You Need

Welcome to this practice of Yogamedha.

We'll begin by noticing the parts of the body that are in contact with the surface beneath.

Perhaps you can feel the points of contact of your head,

Your shoulders,

Your hips,

Backs of the knees,

Heels,

Maybe there are other tiny spaces or places in between that are also in contact with the surface beneath,

Little fingers or wrists,

Elbows perhaps.

Spacing your awareness to these body parts and noticing their weight,

Their pressure.

Know that your whole body,

Your whole being is fully held by the surface beneath.

The mat,

The floor,

The building,

The earth is holding all of you and all of you is welcome here.

And in Yoga Nidra we step out of doing.

There is nothing that you can do right,

There is nothing that you can do wrong.

There is absolutely nothing to do,

There's no to-dos,

No deadlines.

You're here now in this moment and you're stepping out of doing and you are stepping into being.

Fully being here is enough.

So as you feel the parts of the body that are in contact with the surface beneath and feeling the parts of the body that are perhaps in pressure or tension or heaviness,

Also welcome the parts of the body that might feel lighter,

More spacious,

More free.

Like the tip of your nose,

Tips of your fingers and your toes,

The extremities in the body and paying attention to the temperature in these parts of the body.

Paying attention to the parts of the body that are covered and uncovered,

As if you could feel the touch of the air on the skin,

The touch of the fabric on the skin.

What's the temperature like at the tips of your fingers?

What's the temperature like at the tip of your toes and the core of the body or the chest?

Perhaps the body in the front side feels different to the body that's on the surface,

Touching the surface beneath in the back of the body.

Just noticing the temperature.

Can you feel the temperature of the air as it comes in at the tip of the nose when you breathe in?

Can you feel the temperature of the air as you breathe out,

Exhaling?

Perhaps feeling into the air as it comes in,

Slightly cooler to the air as it goes out.

As you breathe in,

Fresh oxygen,

Life force,

Energy.

And as you exhale from the depths of your body,

Anything no longer serves you,

Whatever you need to let go,

Breathing it out,

Feeling it come out warmer as it's already been within you,

Leaving your body,

Allowing it to release.

And as you're paying attention to your breath,

Allow the inhale to go all the way in,

Following it all the way to the very top.

Follow the exhale all the way to the very bottom.

Breathing in deeply and breathing out fully,

Feeling into the full cycle of the breath,

The air as it goes in,

All the way to the very top.

And the air as it goes out,

All the way to the very bottom.

And then you might notice that at the end of the inhale,

Once you've breathed in all the way in,

There's a little pause,

A little moment right before the exhale.

Feel into that pause,

Feel into that spaciousness that can exist between the inhale and the exhale.

That liminality where the body is still breathing but you're neither bringing air in nor taking it out.

Simply being in the breath.

And as you follow the breath to the very end of the exhale,

There's another little pause.

Sensation of emptying out and reaching the bottom.

And in that little moment where you're neither breathing in or out,

Out or in,

You're being with the breath.

Allow it to feel expansive as if you could bring spaciousness into that pause.

And naturally allow the inhale to come in when the body is ready.

Feeling into the full cycle of the breath.

The four parts,

The four parts,

The inhale,

Pause,

Exhale,

Pause again.

And as you restore the full cycle of your breath,

You welcome the restoration of all the rhythms within the body.

Cycles within the body.

The rhythm and the cycle of the lymphatic fluid.

The digestive system.

The blood circulating all around your body.

Every cell in your body.

All the water and fluid in your body.

Restoring the rhythmic cycles inside the body.

And welcoming all of these into the practice.

Welcoming all of you,

Including every drop of liquid within you.

Every sensation of moisture.

Perhaps sensation of moisture within your mouth,

Around the gums,

The teeth,

Underneath the tongue.

Sensation of moisture behind your eyelids.

As your eyes sink deeper and deeper into rest and welcoming anything you can see behind your closed eyelids.

Shapes.

Shadows,

Colors.

And as you welcome all of your senses,

You welcome as well everything and anything that you can hear.

Any sound,

Any noise.

Sounds farther away,

Outside this room,

Perhaps in the street,

Maybe on the road,

Traffic,

People.

You welcome sounds within the same room that we're in.

Anything you can hear is welcome.

And as you listen in,

Listen in to your body.

Welcome the sound of your breath.

Welcome the sound of your heartbeat.

And allow all sounds and all noise to be welcome.

Knowing that my voice is here to guide you through a journey of deep rest,

But if at any point you decide not to listen,

That's well and welcome too.

This is your practice.

This is your experience of yoga nidra.

This is your state of being in freedom.

Allowing your experience to be truly yours.

And allowing the adaptogenic nature of this practice to allow you to receive whatever your body needs here and now.

Receive,

Receive,

Receive.

Welcoming anything your body is ready to receive at this time.

The tip of the right hand thumb.

Receiving into each finger,

The tip of every finger.

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger.

Receiving into all the spaces in between each finger.

All five fingers.

Up through the wrist on the right side.

Forearm.

Down deep onto the right armpit.

Onto the right ribcage and waist.

Down onto the right hip.

Receiving,

Receiving.

Receiving down the right leg,

The thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Ankle.

Onto the right foot,

The sole of the foot,

On the top of the foot.

Big toe and second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe.

Receiving into the space between each toe.

All five together,

The whole right foot,

The heel,

Calf and up the leg,

Down to the right buttock.

Feeling the whole right side of the body.

Receiving,

Receiving,

Receiving.

Bringing your awareness to the left side of the body.

Receiving through the fingertips,

Starting from the left hand thumb.

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger and middle finger.

Receiving into the spaces in between each finger and all five fingers together.

The palm of the hand,

The back of the left hand and up through the arm,

The wrist,

The forearm.

Following deep into the left side of the armpit,

Ribcage,

Waist,

Onto the left hip.

Receiving down the left leg,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Ankle,

Top of the left foot and sole of the left foot.

Onto the tip of the big toe,

Onto the second toe,

Third,

Fourth and little toe.

Receiving into the spaces in between each toe and all five toes together.

The whole left foot,

The heel,

Up the leg,

Up through the spine of every vertebrae.

The space between each vertebrae.

The left side of the lower back and the right side of the lower back.

Middle back,

Left and right,

Upper back,

Right and left.

Left shoulder blade and right shoulder blade and the space between the shoulder blades.

Up the back of the neck,

Back of the head.

The right side of the head and the left and feeling onto the whole head.

Receiving,

Receiving,

Receiving.

Into the forehead,

The right eyebrow and the left.

Left eye and eyelid and the right eye and eyelid.

Right ear and left.

Left cheek and right cheek.

Right nostril and the left nostril.

The tip of the nose,

The bridge of the nose.

The lower lip,

The space between the lips.

And both lips together.

Chin down onto the throat.

Feeling the left side of the collarbone and the right side of the collarbone.

The center,

The space in between.

From the left chest,

Breast to the right.

And the breastbone in the center.

Feeling into the center and the back of the breastbone,

Deep into the heart space.

Deep into the heart space.

Deep into the heart space.

Receiving,

Receiving,

Receiving.

Feeling the heart space expand with every inhale and contract with every exhale.

Growing as the breath comes in and shrinking,

Sinking deeper as the breath goes out.

Inhaling to bring spaciousness and lightness.

And exhaling to ground.

Allowing the body to feel spacious and grounded at the same time.

Feeling into the infinite spaciousness of the universe above.

And the earthing and grounding quality of the earth beneath.

Feeling the pull of the earth,

The heaviness of the body.

Feeling the spaciousness of the universe,

The lightness of the air.

As if the body could float into the space above while anchored to the earth beneath at the same time.

Allowing each inhale to fill you up with freedom,

Lightness,

Force of life.

And allowing the exhale to ground you deeper into your core,

Your being,

Your heart.

Trusting into the depths of the exhale.

And welcoming the infinite possibilities with the inhale.

Trusting your heart,

Your inner teacher,

Your wisdom.

Knowing that whatever your body is ready to receive,

Here and now,

Will come.

Be the bridge that brings you back into the space as you allow the air at the tip of the nose to be felt fully on the inhale.

Deeply on the exhale.

Feeling the air that comes in and the air that goes out comfortably and easily.

Noticing a warmer air that is breathed out and a cooler air that is breathed in.

Inviting all sensations of temperature to be felt,

Parts of the body that are covered and uncovered.

The extremities,

The core of the body.

Welcoming the sensations from the body and the contact,

The surface beneath.

Feeling your body being fully held and supported by the surface beneath and just noticing the weight of the body.

Points of contact.

All sounds and all noise come back into this space.

As you feel once again the moisture in your mouth and behind your eyelids.

Perhaps some tiny noises arising within your digestive system as it's been resting and digesting.

Perhaps the moisture inside your mouth or maybe even a sensation of needing to swallow as a way of shifting the energy and coming back into this present moment.

Bringing your awareness to all of your senses as you softly and gently come back,

Come back,

Come back.

This practice is now complete.

Thank you for listening.