Welcome to Nale Yoga.
I'm Ruthie Eisenberg and I'm glad to be here with you today.
This practice is here to hold you in times of uncertainty,
When your world may be feeling shaky,
The future may be feeling unclear,
The ground may be feeling unstable under your feet,
Or your nervous system simply needs reminding that there is a stillness beneath this storm.
And now let's begin preparing for the practice of yoga nidra.
I invite you to lie down in a comfortable place or you can remain upright in whatever position feels most comfortable and accessible to you.
Allow your spine to lengthen.
And let your shoulders melt down and begin to feel the earth beneath you as you soften your elbows,
Allowing your palms to face skyward.
And softening your eyebrows,
Letting them fall to the sides.
Dissolving any tension or gripping from your jawline.
And sensing how you are held and contained by the surface beneath you.
And let yourself arrive here in the present moment,
Not in the past,
Not in the future,
Just here and now in this nest of comfort that you have created for yourself.
Take a moment to make any adjustments you need to feel fully comfortable and supported.
Rav Nachman of Breslov once said,
Never despair,
Never.
It is forbidden to give up hope.
Remember that things can go from worst to best in the blink of an eye.
As we prepare for the practice of Yoga Nidra,
I invite you to begin by blinking your eyes and orienting to the space around you,
What you see in the environment around you right now.
And look at the colors and look at the shapes with soft eyes.
You may now close the curtains of your eyelids if you feel safe doing so,
As you turn your awareness to the inner realm,
The realm between sleep and wakefulness,
The realm of Yoga Nidra.
Let's begin with a few physiological sighs to invite relaxation.
Inhaling deeply through your nose,
A quick,
Sharp inhale at the top,
And exhale effortlessly through the mouth,
Letting all the stress and tension melt away.
And again,
Inhale deeply,
Sharp inhale at the top,
Hold,
And exhale,
Let the breath go effortlessly.
And one more time,
Inhale deeply through the nose,
And exhale,
Let the breath go effortlessly.
One sharp inhale at the top,
Hold,
And slowly exhale completely,
Dissolving any stress or tension.
We may not be able to control the situation outside of us,
But we can always be in charge of our breath.
Let yourself come home to stillness,
Just feeling the weight of your body sinking into the surface beneath you,
And following the rhythm of your breath,
The deep,
Intelligent knowing that you have beneath all the noise.
As we turn the senses inward,
Some uncertainty may be present right now.
We invite you to honor the uncertainty within you as a form of curiosity.
We don't know what will happen tomorrow,
But we want to know,
And we are curious.
And curiosity is the hallway into creativity.
You are the creator of your own story and your own inner experience.
Allow yourself to welcome anything that shows up for you during this practice with curiosity.
And now it's time to set your intention for this practice.
Your intention is a short positive I am declaration to yourself that reveals your deepest truth or knowing.
It is your resolve that's only yours.
If you already have an intention,
A kavana or sankalpa that you've been working with,
Bring it to mind now.
And if you're not sure what your intention is at the moment,
And then I invite you to try out some of these ideas.
I am safe in my own body.
I welcome all life experiences with curiosity as teachers for my soul.
Or simply,
I am here,
Hineni.
Say your intention to yourself three times with feeling.
And your intention has been set.
And allow it to be the compass that guides you through this practice and through your life.
And now we begin the body scan.
I'm going to say some body parts in rapid succession.
And I invite you to bring awareness to each part in your mind.
And at the same time,
Feel it in your body.
Whatever happens here,
Just go with the flow.
And there's no need to concentrate too intently.
Begin with bringing awareness to the fingers of your hands.
And the palms of your hands as they're resting quietly.
Awareness ascends up the arms to the creases of the elbow.
And continuing to the shoulders.
Letting any tension that's held there,
Letting it go.
Awareness wraps around from the shoulders to the upper back.
And both shoulder blades.
And the mid back.
And the lower back.
And the curve of the spine.
Ascending up the staircase of the spine,
Vertebrae by vertebrae.
Until you reach the back of the neck.
And then circling over to the top of your head.
Proceeding with the forehead.
Letting the forehead soften.
The brows.
Letting them soften.
The eyes.
Sensing how they are resting in the nests of their sockets.
Letting the eyeballs sink deeper towards the center of your head.
Awareness to the ears.
Letting the ears relax.
The nose.
The tip of the nose.
The mouth.
And the jaw.
Letting it release any tension it's holding.
The chin.
Letting any stress dissolve.
Awareness descends down to the neck.
And spreads along the wings of the collarbones.
Converging to the chest and the heart space.
In the center of the chest.
Now bringing awareness to the beating of your heart.
Tirelessly,
Rhythmically,
For all the days of your life.
Proceeding awareness past the ribcage.
Sensing how the ribcage contains your heart,
Your lungs,
Your organs.
And the abdomen.
Letting it relax.
The pelvic region.
Awareness continues to the hips.
And drawing your awareness down.
Your legs and the thighs.
Letting them sink deeper into the surface beneath you.
And the kneecaps.
Letting them relax.
The calves and shins of the lower leg.
The ankles.
And awareness continues to both feet.
And the toes of both feet.
Letting the toes relax.
Bringing awareness to just the right side of your body now.
Now just the left side of your body.
Now just the exterior surface of your body.
Now just the interior terrain of your body.
And now just your head.
Now your whole body all together.
And the whole body together.
The whole body together.
Resting in the rhythm of stillness.
Alive.
Breathing.
And now we transition to awareness of opposites.
Bring your attention to any areas of your body.
Where are you feeling the uncertainty?
We don't need to change it.
Just sense where in your body is the uncertainty alive within you.
And observe how it feels.
And now shift your awareness to any areas of your body where you're feeling safe,
Stable,
Grounded.
No need to change anything.
Just observe.
Where are you feeling certainty in your body?
And what is that certainty telling you?
And welcome the dance of certainty and uncertainty both at the same time.
Sense what it's like to hold both.
And now let it go.
And imagine that you are in a quiet boat.
And the water around you is still and silver and soft like silk.
And as you look ahead of you,
The air is thick with fog.
And the thick veil of not knowing.
There's no landmarks,
No answers,
And no visibility of the destination.
Let yourself sense your breath.
And the water surrounding you.
And the movement of the boat beneath you.
And the rhythm of your body.
And the rhythm of your beating heart.
Let yourself rest here in the mystery and the motion of the unknowing.
You are carried.
You are held.
You are guided.
Through the sickness of the unknown.
Let yourself rest here.
There's nothing you need to do.
Just witness any sensations,
Emotions,
Memories,
Or associations that arrive to you from this space of stillness in the mystery of the unknown.
And there was a cloud and darkness and he lit up the night.
From this space of complete presence.
Let your resolve return to you.
Your intention that you planted at the beginning of this practice.
And repeat it to yourself three times with feeling.
I am.
And let it reverberate.
Reverberate through every aspect of your being.
As a reminder of your most authentic truth.
This is your compass.
And now let's begin our return back.
And returning back to your body and your breath.
Coasting on the weaves of your breath naturally and organically.
Begin to bring awareness to the contours of your body and the edges of your skin.
And the surface beneath you.
And the boat.
And allowing the boat to dock on the unseen shore.
And bringing some movement to your fingers and toes.
Slowly dialing up your awareness as you allow yourself to return back to the waking state.
Or drifting off to sleep if you choose to do so.
You may blink your eyes open.
And remembering that you may not know where your world is headed right now.
But you are always in motion.
And sometimes the fog is a cover and a protection.
And not a problem.
Thank you so much for joining me for this practice of Yoga Nidra.
Ein Aud Milvedo.
Ein Aud Milvedo.
Ein Aud Milvedo.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
