Welcome.
This yoga nidra practice is a chance for you to just be,
Breathe,
Rest,
Sleep,
Heal.
Whatever you're needing in this moment,
If life has been busy recently or sleep has felt challenging,
Then this practice will help you to settle into rest,
Balance,
And healing.
And so we're going to begin this practice with some slow diaphragmatic breathing.
And so you can lie back and place a hand onto your chest and another hand onto your belly.
And begin to take a slow,
Deep breath in,
Letting your chest rise,
Letting the ribs expand and your belly expand.
And then you'll softly let the air come out,
Slowly feeling your belly and chest move down,
Taking in the breath,
And slowly releasing.
Breathing in,
Holding your breath for a few seconds,
And then releasing.
Breathing out,
Holding,
And releasing.
Eventually,
Allow your body to settle into a natural rhythm of breath that is soft and effortless.
We'll take a moment to connect to a heart's intention,
A healing heart's intention.
And I'll offer some examples,
But you can also choose the intention that resonates most with you and form your own words if you prefer.
Your intention may sound something like,
My body is resting,
Or my mind is calm,
Or I am safe in my bed and I can rest now.
Choose any healing heart's intention for yourself,
And then repeat your own chosen words three times.
Now settle into the support beneath your body.
Let your body really sink down and be supported,
Releasing tension with each breath.
Allow any thoughts from your day or from your week to release from your mind,
And become fully present in your physical body.
Sense into what you can hear in the space around you and in your ears.
Sense what you can taste in your mouth.
Sense any smells in the space around you.
Sense any lights or shadows on the other side of your closed eyes.
And sense into how your body feels in this moment.
Bring your full attention to your eyes,
Sensing the space around,
Inside,
And behind your eyes.
And you can imagine a warm glow of candlelight,
Perhaps a warming sensation accompanying this vision of gentle glowing light.
Slowly bring your attention down the bridge of your nose,
To the tip of your nose,
And the space inside your nose and behind.
Sense the roof of your mouth,
Teeth and gums,
And the bottom of your mouth,
Teeth and gums.
Sense your tongue,
The space around your jaw,
Lips,
And down the front of your throat,
And the right side of your neck,
Right shoulder,
Right elbow,
And the palm of your right hand,
The back of your hand,
The first finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Little finger.
And feel your fingers,
Hand,
And your right arm,
Filled with this warm,
Gentle glowing light warming your right arm,
Shoulder,
And neck.
And move your attention to the right side of your chest,
And imagine this warming light moving down slowly through the right side of your waist,
To your right hip,
Ankle,
And the sole of the right foot,
Top of the foot,
First toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Sense the warmth and the light of the right side of your body all together,
Warmth and light filling your right side.
And sense the left side of your neck,
Move your attention down to your left shoulder,
Left elbow,
Wrist,
The palm of your left hand,
Back of the hand,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Little finger.
Sense warmth and this light filling your fingers,
Hand,
Left arm,
All the way up to your left shoulder and neck.
And sense the left side of your chest,
And imagine this warming,
Glowing light moving down the left side of your waist,
Down to your hip,
Sole of the left foot,
Top of the foot,
First toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
And begin to fill your left side body with your awareness and with this warming and glowing light.
Shift your attention back to your right side,
Warming,
Calming light in the right side of your body.
Shift your attention back to your left side,
Filling your left side with gentle awareness,
Light,
And warmth.
Now sense your whole body all together as one,
A calming and grounding warmth of glowing light filling your whole body.
Imagine this light beginning to connect to the rhythm of your breath.
Perhaps the light gently pulses or grows a little brighter with your inhale.
Softer with your exhale.
Perhaps it starts to change color.
Each breath guides you into your own consciousness.
Each breath guides you deeper into the depths of rest.
As you breathe and experience this changing light within your body,
Feel all parts of your body and breath connecting.
Allow this light to slowly soften into a cooler blue.
Imagine the surface of a calm body of water.
Imagine this water within you.
Notice the stillness of the water,
The reflection of the sky above.
At the surface of the water,
You see a small white lotus flower floating on the surface.
And noticing the stillness of the flower on this calm body of water,
Fix your gaze on the lotus flower,
Noticing its soft white petals.
Each one holding the other,
Supporting the other,
All collectively held by its green outer leaves and held by this calm and supportive water.
This simple yet beautiful lotus flower reminds us that there is a chance for us to grow from the muddy,
Dark waters.
It reminds us that we can grow from a dark place,
Heal,
And find inner peace and harmony.
Allow a sense of deep peace to gently wash through the water,
Creating gentle ripples in the still water.
Allow these ripples of peace to move through your being,
To move through your consciousness,
To move through your consciousness into the deepest depths,
Allowing you to experience peace,
Rest,
Healing,
And deep sleep.
A chance to be,
To breathe,
To heal,
And find rest and deep sleep.
Breathing softly,
Allow yourself to effortlessly move into that space of inner quiet.
May you experience true peace as you flow into the land of dreams.
May you find healing and rest here.
May you find peace.
