Yoga Nidra: Peace & Patience

Namaste.

Welcome to Yoga Nidra.

My name is Shelly and I'll be your guide for this brief practice in deep rest.

If you please begin by finding a place to lie down and get completely comfortable.

It might be on the floor or a yoga mat or on your bed or a couch.

Someplace where you can cozy in with deep support.

Maybe bringing in some props for even more ease.

You might place a pillow behind the head or behind the knees.

Maybe a blanket for warmth and anything else that will help support your practice and your willingness and ability to really release into stillness.

So once you've settled in,

Just checking if there's any last adjustments you can make to really settle and let go.

Adjusting the head,

The neck,

The shoulders,

The hips,

The legs,

The feet.

And then taking a nice deep breath in through the nose,

Filling the body up.

And on the exhale,

Opening your mouth,

Sigh,

Letting it all go.

And then just allowing for the natural breath to find its way as you rest.

Allowing the face to relax.

All the little muscles around the eyes,

Along the cheeks,

Down into the jaw,

The mouth,

The lips.

Seeing if you can relax and widen the forehead from the center all the way out to the temples.

And just softening and opening the ears and bringing awareness to the scalp.

And seeing if you can loosen and widen the whole circumference of the scalp.

Just allowing the skull to melt open.

Allowing the shoulders to relax down.

And softening the throat.

Breathing out any tension in the chest.

Intensifying the belly.

Loosening all the muscles out from the core,

Out through the limbs,

Out to the fingers,

Out to the toes.

Just allowing your being to drift,

Spacious,

Unwinding,

Releasing,

Breathing and being breathed.

And then we'll take a few conscious breaths.

So a deep inhale in through the nose.

Hold for a beat at the top.

And then open the mouth,

Let it go.

Again,

Deep inhale in through the nose.

All the way to the top,

Hold for a beat.

Open the mouth,

Sigh,

Let it go.

And then one more just like that.

Deep inhale,

Sigh it out.

And then just allowing your being to move back into the natural rhythm of the breath.

Noticing the wave of air rolling in,

The wave of air rolling out.

Noticing where in the body the breath is moving.

Different tissues,

Organs,

Spaces,

Places.

And just enjoying,

Beholding that gentle natural movement.

Whole body being rocked by the breath.

And then bringing awareness to your heart center,

In the middle of the chest.

This space of universal love,

Of unconditional love.

Resting here and just noticing any emotional tone here in the heart space in this moment.

What is the heart space like to rest in,

To attend to,

To be held by.

And then resting in the heart space,

It's time to call in your Sankalpa,

Your heart's deep most desire.

Like a compass for the arc of your being.

Something that's already true,

Already a deep truth of you.

Bringing it into words so it can be recognized,

So it can be known.

And it may be something as simple as,

I am worthy.

I am well.

I am resting deeply.

So whatever words feel true for you in this moment,

Saying them internally three times.

And just letting the vibration of that truth shimmer all around you as you continue to rest.

And remaining in the vibration of truth.

Now we'll take a gentle journey through the body.

Just gently moving awareness to different places and spaces.

Honoring this miracle of the body.

This gift of the body.

Starting with the left eye.

The whole wet globe of the left eye deep in its socket.

The left nostril.

The whole left nostril,

Air moving in,

Air moving out.

The left inner cheek.

The left wet wall inside the cave of the mouth.

The left jaw.

The whole left hinge of the jaw.

The left ear.

The whole flower of the left ear blooming outside the skull from deep within.

The left side of the back of the skull.

The whole left side of the back of the skull.

The crown of the head.

Crown of the head at the top of the skull opening up and out into the universe.

The right eye.

The whole wet globe of the right eye deep in its socket.

The right nostril.

The whole right nostril,

Air moving in,

Air moving out.

The right inner cheek.

The whole right wet wall inside the cave of the mouth.

The right jaw.

The whole right hinge of the jaw.

The flower of the right ear.

The whole right ear blooming outside the skull from deep within.

The right back side of the skull.

The whole right back side of the skull.

The crown of the head.

The center of the back of the skull.

The center of the back of the neck.

The space behind the heart.

The left shoulder blade.

Left shoulder.

Left elbow.

Left wrist.

The left hand and all of the fingers.

The whole left hand,

Arm,

And shoulder together as one.

The space behind the heart.

The right shoulder blade.

Right shoulder.

Right elbow.

Right wrist.

The right hand and all of the fingers.

The whole right hand,

Arm,

And shoulder together as one.

The space behind the heart.

The back of the navel.

The sacrum.

The left hip.

Left knee.

Left ankle.

The left foot and all the toes.

The whole left foot,

Leg,

And hip together as one.

The sacrum.

The right hip.

The right knee.

The right ankle.

The right foot and all of the toes.

The whole right foot,

Leg,

And hip together as one.

The sacrum.

Tip of the tailbone.

The pelvic floor at the base of the spine between the legs.

The pelvic floor opening out to the earth and beyond.

The whole pelvic bowl.

The very center of the pelvis.

The whole belly.

The center of the belly.

The whole chest.

The center of the chest.

The whole throat.

The center of the throat.

The whole head.

The inner mind's eye in the center of the head in the space between the eyebrows.

The inner mind's eye space of intuition,

Imagination,

Wide seeing.

Resting in this space of wise inner seeing while also welcoming awareness of the whole cave of the mouth.

The whole inner cavern.

Floor,

Ceiling,

Walls,

Side to side,

Front and back.

The whole inner sanctum of the mouth and then moving into the center of the mouth to the tongue.

The tip of the tongue to the root of the tongue.

Both wide sides of the tongue.

The underside of the tongue and then the very top side of the tongue.

The whole wet,

Strong,

Resilient surface of the tongue.

Might see the top side of the tongue as a landing pad.

A place something might land.

A place things land on the way in.

Maybe a place where things land or rest on the way out.

This pivotal place at the center of the top of the tongue.

And in the imaginal realm,

Sending out a gentle invitation to presence.

To the full potential of presence.

Asking who or what might like to come and land here on the bed of the tongue.

An object,

A being,

An animal,

Image,

Color,

Word,

Anything within the entire realm of presence.

Who or what wants to come visit now?

Resting open,

Resting patient,

Receptive.

Waiting to see who or what might arrive.

Doing whatever is answering the call to slowly come into view.

The inner eye's view.

And just giving your attention to whomever or whatever is appearing here.

And if no one is yet answering the call,

Resting in this receptive,

Open,

Waiting,

Invitational space.

And just being with whatever's happening in this magical place of the tongue.

Appreciating the presence that has appeared.

Or appreciating this receptive stance of inviting and waiting.

Both equally wonderful.

And allowing yourself in this moment with whatever's here to receive the news,

The message,

The medicine,

And whatever is unfolding.

Gently taking in your experiencing as it's happening.

And then slowly,

Gently letting this experience go.

Maybe placing the tip of the tongue up behind the upper teeth,

On the upper palate if it's not already there.

And then slowly allowing all of that to dissolve.

And coming back to the space of the heart.

Your dear heart resting here.

The physical heart.

The heart chakra in the center.

The cave of the heart over on the right side.

The space of many dimensions of heart.

And again,

Checking in to notice any emotional tone or quality of presence here.

Resting in the heart.

And as you rest in the heart,

Gently calling your sankalpa to come back and be with you here.

Either in words again,

Or perhaps without words.

Resting in the heart with your sankalpa.

The deep truth of your being.

And then allowing the resonant sounds,

The resonant energy of your sankalpa to gently,

Gently fade away.

Like after a gong or a bell has been struck.

Just listening in to the fading away,

Into silence.

And abiding here in the heart.

In the deep silence of your being.

The deep silence of the universe.

And please continue to rest for as long as feels right.

Taking your time.

Trusting that you'll know when it's time to shift.

And slowly emerge from this nidra state of deep rest.

Or ready to shift.

Just starting to bring your awareness back into your physical form.

Resting here.

Gathering yourself to yourself.

Drawing awareness back in.

Maybe finding a deeper breath or some small movement to gently invite the body to come back to its physical life.

Wiggling toes or fingers.

Maybe a sweet stretch.

Opening your eyes when you're ready.

And savoring the transition while bringing some nidra with you.

If you can.

Bringing it along with you back into your waking life.

Thank you so much for taking the time to practice.

My name is Shelley.

I'm deeply grateful.

Namaste.