Yoga Nidra For Self Compassion & Self Love

Our practice today is focused on a yoga nidra meditation that will help you find maybe a little bit more compassion in your life.

In this world that we're rushing around and moving too quickly,

We often find that we are short on patience,

Short on time,

And maybe short on a little bit of empathy and compassion for not only others around us but also for ourselves.

Practicing self-care is a practice of self-compassion.

And that compassion that you practice on yourself ultimately spreads out to a wider range of people.

When you feel like you are loved and cared for and respected and valued and honored,

Then you will do the same for people around you.

So if you've never practiced yoga nidra before,

This is a practice that we meditate lying down,

So in a supine position.

So you can find yourself in a comfortable place on a bed,

A sofa,

The floor.

You can even practice it with your feet up the wall if that feels good for you.

But take whatever props you need around you to find yourself in a really comfortable position.

Maybe something underneath your neck,

Maybe something underneath your knees to relax the lower back.

Make sure that you have something covering you in case you get cold and start to kind of snuggle yourself in and settle in.

So yoga nidra translates as yoga sleep.

And what it is,

Is more of a state of being.

A state of being in which you come back to that true essential self.

You remember who you really are.

Deep down inside those things you hold really high up.

Those things that you value more than anything else.

Sometimes the world covers them up and we need to find them again and reconnect with those.

So closing your eyes,

Tucking your shoulder blades underneath,

Letting your feet fall out to the sides or in whatever feels most comfortable for you.

Heels about hip distance apart.

Turning your palms alongside your hips,

Palms face up,

This opens your shoulder and chest area.

Giving you a little bit more space to breathe.

And just settling in,

Finding anything that you need to make yourself the most comfortable that you can possibly be.

And then just starting to notice your breath.

Without changing it or regulating it,

Just noticing the inhale and the exhale.

And maybe noting if it feels energetic or exhausted,

If your breath feels fast or slow,

Deep or shallow.

Without judgment,

Just noting your breath and how it feels right now.

And then taking a moment to scan your body from the crown of your head down to your feet,

Checking in with those areas of the body that might need a little bit more love,

Compassion and self care right now today.

Without judging again here,

Just noting those spaces and also noting the areas that feel just great today,

That are feeling fine.

Feeling gratitude for that.

And then begin to count your breaths from the number 12 back,

Each inhale and exhale 11,

Inhale exhale 10,

Moving backwards.

And with each exhale,

Feel yourself sinking a little bit more softly,

Your body relaxing,

Becoming more effortless and at ease.

Feel yourself settling into the ground and softening.

Maybe feel your breath beginning to even out without your really making it do that.

It just begins to soften naturally.

Releasing tension in the muscles,

Releasing the racing thoughts.

Sensing everything to slow down and soften here.

And if you get lost in your count,

Just bring yourself back to whatever number you thought you were at or back at 12.

It doesn't matter if you're heading toward one or not.

And here,

Whatever number you're on,

Just let go of that count.

Feel your body as soft and relaxed and release as it has ever been.

Just as if you're floating on buoyant air that's keeping you supported,

You know you're safe,

But it's so soft and comfortable.

Keeping your awareness light,

We're going to move throughout the body in a very gentle body scan,

Just following my voice,

Moving from place to place.

Just letting your awareness briefly touch up against these spaces,

Just noting them.

So bring your awareness to the center of your forehead,

The space right in between your brow.

Imagine a gentle green light here,

Soft and diffuse.

Moving your awareness to the center of your throat,

Feeling the throat soften and release.

Moving your awareness to the center space between your collarbones,

Feeling the collarbones expand and open,

Letting your shoulders reach further toward the floor.

And bring your awareness to the center of your right shoulder,

Letting that right shoulder feel heavy and soft.

Bring your awareness to the center of your right elbow,

Your right wrist,

Your right palm,

Tip of the right thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger.

Down to pinky,

Bring your awareness back to the center of your right palm,

Right wrist,

Right elbow,

Center of the right shoulder,

Feeling that entire arm just release into the floor.

Moving your awareness back to the center space between your collarbones.

And then over to the center of the left shoulder,

Feeling it soften and release into the floor.

Bring your awareness to the center of your left elbow,

Left wrist,

Center of the left palm,

Tip of thumb,

Tip of pointer finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger and tip of pinky.

Back to the center of the left palm,

Just moving your awareness gently from space to space,

Center of your left wrist,

Left elbow,

Left shoulder,

Feeling the entire left arm soften to the floor.

Moving back to that space in between the collarbones.

And then bring your awareness to the center of the heart space,

Right side of the heart,

Back to center,

Left side of the heart,

Back to center.

Moving your awareness down to the space right above your navel,

The space at the center of your pelvis.

Bring your awareness to the center of your right hip,

Right knee,

Right ankle,

Center of the right foot,

First toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and pinky.

Back to the center of the right foot,

Right ankle,

Center of the right knee,

Center of the right hip.

Moving back to the center space of the pelvis,

Feeling that entire right leg soften and release the right side of the body as soft and relaxed as it can be.

Moving your awareness to the center of the left hip,

Left knee,

Center of the left ankle,

Center of the left foot,

Tip of first toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and tip of pinky.

Moving your awareness back to the center of the left foot,

Left ankle,

Left knee,

Center of the left hip,

Feeling that entire left side of the body relax into the floor.

Bring your awareness back to the center of the pelvis,

The center space of the navel,

The center of the heart,

Center of the throat,

Center space between the eyebrows and then gently resting at the crown of the head.

Connecting with the entire body from the crown of your head all the way down to the bottoms of your feet,

Sensing the entire body in space and sensing its softness,

Its release.

Imagine the entire body encased in this soft green light allowing you to relax more deeply.

We're going to just look at a few opposites that exist in our world helping balance yin and yang in our thoughts and our body.

I want you to imagine feeling super,

Super heavy like a large stone or a mountain,

Feeling stable and grounded and heavy and weighted down,

Very earthy.

Now imagine feeling as light as air,

Like a feather blowing on the breeze,

Soft and free and light and weightless.

Now imagine a time in your life where you felt very,

Very weak,

Whether it be physically or emotionally,

Feeling maybe run down or forgotten,

Unable to do things or tasks.

Now imagine strong,

A time in your life where you felt very strong,

Emotionally or physically able to lift things or move things,

Able to make change happen with the strength of your character and personality.

Now I want you to imagine a point in your life,

A time in your life where you felt very anxious,

The future unknown,

Felt nervous about what would happen next,

Maybe concerned or worried.

Then think to a time where you felt very calm knowing the end result,

Knowing everything was going to be fine and you felt secure and stable and serene and calm.

Think back to a time in your life where you were closed off,

Where you pulled back from relationships or emotions,

Where you stuck with more factual or clear-cut answers without any emotion attached.

Remember what that felt like.

Then remember a time in your life where you were very vulnerable,

Where you allowed yourself to really let someone in,

Allow them to touch your heart,

Reached out to them.

Remember how that felt.

Remember a time in your life where you felt very untrusting.

Maybe you went through a period in your life where you had some things happen to you and you felt like there was nothing or no one you could trust,

Not even yourself.

Now remember a time in your life where you felt open,

Trusting,

Spacious,

Where you could reach out to people and knew that they would be there for you,

That you knew you could rely on them.

You knew you could rely on yourself.

Letting go of all of those yin and yang opposites.

Reconnect with the body and the breath.

Maybe sensing the breath as even maybe a little bit separate from the body itself.

Breathing or exhaling the soft green light,

Feeling the breath moving through the nostrils in and out.

Allowing the body to release.

Even deeper.

Now just imagine in your mind's eye,

Walking along a beach,

Soft sand underneath your feet,

The waves off in the distance,

Maybe the sun is coming up or going down and there's a soft pink and orange lights off in the distance.

You feel yourself walking almost with a purpose somewhere.

You don't know where you're going,

But you feel as if you're moving towards something that is pulling to you.

Something pulling you in.

As you walk along this beach,

You come upon this area where there's almost like a cliff.

You walk around the cliff and you see at the very bottom of the cliff,

There's these steps.

You begin to make your way up those steps,

About halfway up the cliff,

You discover there's a cave entrance and you feel yourself being pulled into this cave.

You know something awaits you there,

Something very special.

So you feel yourself walking into this cave entrance,

Moving past the entrance deeper into the cave until you reach this beautiful vaulted cavern.

It's huge.

There's some natural light coming through from somewhere.

Maybe there's a sound of a little bit of water at the back.

As you make your way around this giant cavern,

You notice as you walk toward the middle,

Toward the back,

You see this brilliant white light.

And as you approach that light turns brighter and brighter.

Maybe it has a soft green glow to it and you feel yourself drawn to it as if you know this light,

As if it is part of you.

And you walk closer and closer to your right up near it.

You feel yourself soften even more deeply.

This feeling that comes over you is that you are home.

That this light,

This glow,

It's home to you.

And you feel or at least realize that this light is inside of you.

That you have entered the cave of the heart and that you are within that space that is that deeper self with a capital S.

As you realize all of this,

You feel this beautiful sense of warmth and love and compassion.

Sense of peace softens your entire body and your mind and your breath.

You feel connected,

Reconnected.

And you feel this sense of peace and compassion and love just washing through you and over you,

Filling you all the way up.

So much so that it begins to almost spill out of you.

No longer is the glow just separate from you,

You are glowing.

And it flows out from you in this ever widening circle of soft green light.

And as the light fills you and surrounds you and expands,

You feel this love and compassion spilling out.

You are now full,

You recognize this is you,

That you don't have to go anywhere for it.

That inside of you is this compassion and this love and this peace.

And as your heart is filled up,

You realize that you have some to share.

Your heart is full to overflowing.

Sense the feeling of self compassion,

Self love.

How it begins with you and expands ever outward.

You know that everything that you touch in your life,

Everyone that you touch in your life,

Everyone you come across in your world will be touched by this deep,

Beautiful love and compassion that resides within you.

You also know that you must tend to this heart.

You must care for it,

Feed it,

Connect to it daily,

Honor it.

Knowing that at any time you can always return to this cave of the heart to reconnect.

Filled with love and compassion,

You make your way out of this cave,

Down the stairs and steps,

Out onto the beach and back into your life.

Bring your awareness back to your breath,

Settling your breath into your body,

Reconnecting with the senses,

Smells,

Sounds,

Feel of your body touching the floor or the blankets or fabric around you.

Maybe beginning to wiggle your fingers and your toes,

Deepening your breath,

Filling your heart full and complete.

Wherever you're at,

Whatever position you're in,

Take your right hand to your heart and then your left,

Placing them on top of one another,

Reconnecting with that heart space,

Your heart chakra.

Feeling that love and compassion for you and for those around you.

Gently open your eyes,

Bring your hands to your heart.

Peace and namaste.