Welcome to this short practice of Yoga Nidra.
So if you've never practiced Yoga Nidra before,
Find your way into a very comfortable position.
Whether you're lying on your bed,
On a sofa,
Or on a yoga mat,
Or anywhere that you can be comfortable.
You can support yourself up with cushions,
Blankets,
Pillows.
Make sure that you're warm enough for the next 10 minutes,
So that you can settle and find some deep comfort and stillness.
So it's very important to feel comfortable.
So once you've found your position,
Just have a check.
Could you feel 5 or 10% more comfortable?
And if so,
Wriggle around,
Shuffle in,
Nestle your way into a deep cocoon of comfort.
And then take a deep inhale,
Breathe in through the nostrils.
Sigh and exhale fully.
Feel the whole of your body let go as you do so.
Softening through the jaw,
The neck,
The shoulders.
If you haven't already,
Then close your eyes and we'll do that again.
Take a deep inhale.
Belly expands now and the breath lifts up into the whole of the chest,
Right into the upper spine,
The upper ribcage.
And then a deep exhale,
Sigh,
Release that breath.
And feel tension through the body slipping away as you soften.
And find more ease and comfort and stillness.
In your cocoon of comfort that you've nestled into for yourself.
So let your breath return to normal.
Breathe in and out through your nostrils.
And allow your breath to be natural,
Spontaneous,
Rhythmical.
No need to shorten it,
Lengthen it,
Make it any deeper,
Any more shallow.
Just wherever it is right now is perfect.
Feel the movement of the breath through your nostrils.
Notice the quality of air as it passes in through your nostrils.
The temperature,
The texture.
And feel the subtle change in the temperature and the texture of the air as it passes back out through your nostrils.
Each inhale receiving this gift of nourishment,
Nurturance.
And each exhale giving back what we don't need,
Releasing and letting it go.
Bring your attention to the very crown of your head.
Allow all of your awareness to be in the crown of the head.
And let this awareness wash down now past the forehead,
The space between the eyebrows.
Both of the eyebrows and both of the eyes.
Your awareness comes to the nose,
The mouth,
The cheeks,
The jaw and the chin.
Your awareness comes down to the neck,
The shoulders,
The elbows,
The wrists and the hands.
And the tip in turn of each of the fingers,
The thumbs,
Index fingers,
Middle fingers,
Ring fingers and little fingers.
Your awareness now travelling all the way back up to the bottom of the throat but then drawing itself down to the heart space.
Swimming in the energy that lives at the centre of your chest.
Down further still to your belly.
Feeling the gut soften,
Release.
And down into your hips and your pelvis.
Feeling space and comfort and ease swim through the hips,
The joints,
The pelvis.
Awareness down into the legs,
The knees,
The ankles.
The feet and the tips in turns of the big toes,
Second toes,
Third toes,
Fourth toes and fifth toes.
The whole of your body.
The whole of your body is bathing in the comforting glow of your awareness.
Your awareness washing through the whole of your body as you feel ever more comfortable,
Ever more at ease,
Able to let go.
To drift softly knowing that you're fully settled and grounded.
Nowhere to go,
Nowhere to be.
Just the whole of you lying here,
Comfortable,
At ease and breathing.
Now take your awareness into the breath as it moves through your belly.
Feel the belly rise and fall with each round of breath.
And begin to count backwards on the breath.
So each inhale and each exhale is a number.
We'll begin at the number five,
So breathe into your belly.
And breathe out again from your belly,
That's five.
Inhale into your belly,
It rises and it exhales,
That's four.
Count down now from three to one.
Breathing through the belly.
And now bring your awareness into your chest.
Feel your chest rise and fall with each inhale and exhale.
And begin to count the breath backwards in your chest.
Beginning at the number five,
Counting down to the number one.
So the next round of breath is five.
The next round of breath is four.
And so on.
And now bring your awareness into your throat.
Feel the throat rise and fall with each round of breath.
And again,
Begin to count your breath backwards with your awareness in the throat.
Feeling the throat rise on the inhale and fall on the exhale.
Starting from the number five,
Counting down to number one.
And now bring your awareness into your nostrils.
Feel the nostrils rise and fall with each round of breath.
And once more,
Count the breath backwards with your awareness of the breath in the nostrils.
From the number five to number one.
And let that exploration go.
And once more,
Feel the whole of your body as it's lying here.
Comfortable and at ease.
Fully relaxed.
Deeply in tune with you.
Feeling so at one with yourself.
Lying here comfortably.
Soaking up relaxation and allowing it to nourish every cell,
Every part of your body,
Every part of you.
Thank you for practicing Yoga Nidra.
