Hi everyone,
This is Sheri,
And we're going to do a yoga nidra practice with a twist today.
So normally yoga nidra is used for relaxation,
Although it can be used for other things.
But today we're going to do a yoga nidra practice for grounding and connecting with the body.
And we're going to combine the yoga nidra with a somatic experiencing exercise I learned from Dr.
Peter Levine who created somatic experiencing for trauma healing.
So this exercise is going to help you bring more awareness to your body and help you reconnect or connect with your body.
And grounding and embodiment is a real passion of mine.
Many of us have become disconnected from our bodies due to trauma especially.
And so providing ways to ground and re-embody is one of the things I most like to do.
So hopefully this exercise will help you with that.
And if you're not familiar with yoga nidra,
The way it works is I will call out a body part and you'll bring your mental awareness to that body part.
And that's normally where yoga nidra stops.
But what you're also going to do today is to either move slightly or touch that body part.
And then you're going to say to yourself,
Either quietly or out loud,
This is my and name the body part.
So for example,
If I name your right ear,
You're going to bring your attention to your right ear.
You're going to touch your right ear and you're going to say to yourself,
This is my right ear.
And again,
The idea is to help you connect with,
To feel your body when you may have,
You may not have the habit of doing that.
So hopefully this will help you to establish a habit of connecting with your body.
So yoga nidra is normally done lying down.
So get comfortable in a reclined position.
You can be on a couch,
On the floor,
On your bed.
But I recommend that you not get too,
Too comfortable such that you fall asleep because the idea again is to connect with your body,
Stay aware of your body.
So we want you to stay conscious,
But if you fall asleep,
Of course,
That's okay.
But ideally you would stay awake throughout the practice.
So I'm going to start in just a moment.
And before I do,
Let's take a deep breath in,
Hold it for just a moment,
And then release the breath with a sigh through the mouth,
Just letting go of anything you might be holding onto to help you relax for the practice.
And I'm going to start naming body parts in just a moment.
So let's start with the crown of your head.
And again,
The idea is to bring your attention to the crown of your head,
Touch or move the body part,
And then say to yourself,
This is the crown of my head,
Or whatever body part that I mentioned.
So starting with the crown of your head,
Next,
Bring your attention to your right ear,
Your left ear,
Your forehead,
Your nose,
Your lips,
Your right cheek,
Your left cheek,
Your neck,
Your chin,
Your throat,
The back of your neck,
Your right shoulder,
Your left shoulder,
Again,
Bringing your attention to your left shoulder,
Touching your shoulder and saying,
This is my left shoulder,
Your chest,
Your right upper arm,
Your left upper arm,
Your right forearm,
Your left forearm,
Your right hand,
Your right fingers,
Your left hand,
Your left fingers,
Your stomach,
Your pelvis,
Your buttocks,
Your right thigh,
Your left thigh,
Your right shin,
Your left shin,
Your right toes,
And finally,
Your left toes,
And now bring your awareness to your whole body at once,
Your whole body,
And if it helps you,
You could tense all the muscles in your body,
All together,
Tense them,
Tense them,
And really feel them and then release them all,
And then you can take a deep breath in,
Just like we did at the beginning,
Hold for a moment,
And release with a sigh through your mouth,
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes,
And that concludes our yoga nidra practice for grounding and connecting to the body.
I hope you enjoyed it.
