Welcome to this yoga nidra practice today.
Start by come to a comfortable position.
This can be lying down or sitting up.
Whichever position you decided to adopt make sure that you feel warm.
So if you have time grab an extra blanket or a shawl or something warm and make sure that your feet are warm as well.
Now when you're ready start to find some stillness in your posture and then begin to bring awareness back to the breath.
Know that in this practice we're not going to make any changes or control of how you're breathing.
Start by breathing as comfortably as easily as you can in and out of the nostrils.
Just make sure that your whole face feels completely relaxed and you're not clenching the jaw lines.
So the breath can flow easily in and out of the nostrils.
As your next inhale you can perhaps start to soften the body a little bit just to let the breath flow a little bit deeper.
And if you notice any discomfort,
Any tightness or any where that feels unnatural just let yourself to let go a little bit more and feel free to start over.
We don't have to follow any change or any control.
Start by noticing the pace of your breathing.
How slow or fast it is right now.
As the body starts to settle into stillness perhaps start to notice that the breath is starting to slow down.
You can also observe the length of the inhale versus the exhale.
Again without making any changes.
Notice whether the inhale and exhale are in equal length and don't worry if it's not that's perfectly fine.
Notice how the length of the inhale and exhale changes over time as the body starts to relax.
So observing the breath is quite simple.
Just noticing the breath coming in and going out.
Notice the two parts of the breath in and out.
As if it is now completing a circle.
Next start to notice the places where the inhale turns into an exhale.
And notice the place where the exhale turns into an inhale.
The little pauses in between each part of the breath.
Simply watch them and acknowledge that these places are here.
Slowly over time begin to notice now that the rhythm of the breath is set by these places.
These little pauses between the inhale and exhale.
Next begin to notice that once you have started to acknowledge these places of pause the pause seems to become a place of its own.
And you're able to stay in the pause a little bit longer.
And the circle of the breath now has four parts.
That's the inhale exhale.
And start to observe the rhythm of the change between the four parts.
Observe the quality of the circle.
And observe the pace of the circle changing.
Next I'm going to invite you to visualize that this rotating circle of breath becomes a little ball that circles as you're breathing.
Now we're going to place this little ball to the eyebrow center.
Feel the rhythmic circle of breath in the eyebrow center.
Next we're sending it to the base of the throat,
To the right shoulder,
Right elbow,
Wrist and tip of the thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger and little finger.
We're sending it back through the wrist,
Elbow,
Right shoulder back to base of the throat.
Now sending to the left side,
To the left shoulder,
Elbow,
Wrist,
Left hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger and little finger.
Making back the same way through the wrist,
Elbow,
Shoulder,
Back to the base of the throat,
Down to the heart center,
Navel,
To the right side of the hip,
Knee,
Ankle,
Five toes in turn,
Big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth and a little toe.
Going back through the right side ankle,
Knee,
Hip,
Over to the left side,
Left hip,
Knee,
Ankle,
Five big toes,
The first one,
Second,
Third,
Fourth and the little toe.
Back through the ankle,
Knee,
Hip,
All the way back up to the navel,
Heart center,
Base of the throat and back to the eyebrow center.
Now visualize that the circle of the breath growing larger and larger as you next inhale and eventually the whole of the body from top of the head all the way to the bottom of the feet is enclosed inside of a large circle of breath.
So everything remains the same,
The inhale,
Pause,
Exhale,
Pause,
The rhythm remains the same yet the circle of the breath continues to change.
The rhythm remains the same.
Now that the truth of the breath circle is just this,
Right now I am breathing in,
Right now I'm breathing out,
Right now I am waiting for the breath to turn back in.
The cycle is complete and the rhythm continues.
Each cycle contains within it moments of change,
Pause and release.
Each component of the breath contains within it moments of change,
Pause and release.
Each rhythmic cycle of breath invites us to understand that the moment of change or pause or release are happening every moment.
Watching this pattern of rhythmic breath cycle we see the patterns of change,
Pause and release.
Over and over and over again.
Each rhythmic breath cycle is unique and each one part of a pattern,
A rhythmic pattern of change,
Pause and release.
When you are ready you can take the awareness slowly back to the body,
Away from the breath.
Feel the floor or the bed or the chair supporting the body from below.
Notice the air and the temperature in the room and then slowly start to find some movements in your fingers and toes.
Slowly start to move the wrists and ankles and perhaps as your next inhale do a big stretch or you want to help yourself wake up and then slowly open your eyes.
Welcome to the end of the practice.
Thank you for listening.
