Yoga Nidra: Soothe Your System

Hi, welcome back. I'm really glad you're here for this deep rest practice. I've got Alex here that's going to be helping us, just demonstrating what it's like to go deep into the rest. So when you're ready, we're going to come onto your mat or anywhere that's comfortable for you. You can do this in your bed. You can do this on the floor if you're in a chair. That's fine as well. Just make sure that you can actually get to a place where you're really comfortable. So I'm going to have you move forward a little bit. I want to slide, consider having a bolster or something underneath your knees. And then you might also have a little support for underneath your head. And come on back and see if that works for you. So go ahead and lift that up. Does that feel okay? Yeah? Okay. Wherever you are, just let yourself get it settled. That might mean wiggling a little bit. It might mean taking the legs a little wider. Remember, you can have your arms anywhere that's comfortable. Palms up, palms down, hands over heart, hands over belly. And remember, as we go into this, you are always welcome to move and shift if you need. All right. So now as we begin, you might take a breath in, knowing we're beginning the practice, and let it out. One more breath in, and letting it out. And if it feels comfortable to close the eyes, let them settle. Otherwise, eyes lightly resting on a place. Now, bring to mind any thoughts that you'd actually like to set aside for the next 15, 20 minutes. And consciously imagine them being picked up and put into like a little box or maybe even a waiting room. They'll be there when you're done if you'd like to take them out. And now just start to release down and notice the earth. All the points underneath your system that are rising up to support you might consider allowing the body to get a little heavier. Through the back of the head, through the shoulders, through the back body, down through the legs, and even through the feet. And remember, the intention today is not to sleep, but to stay conscious of these inner experiences of deep rest. So just watching. Nice. Yeah. And you might even encourage the system or give it permission to just say it's okay. It's okay to let go. Great. And now I want you to bring to mind your deep driving desire for this world. That's a big question. What is your deep driving desire? But let it yourself imagine if you could, what would you like to express most in the world? Or what would you like to connect to, connect your spirit, your heart to most in this world? So for some of us, it might be to really cultivate greater health and wellbeing. And maybe for you, it's actually connecting more into community.

Connect to a sense of really belonging or unity with self and others. Or maybe it's really aligning yourself with truth, being able to speak truth and be truth. So whatever it is for you, allow the space to imagine yourself fully embodying this deep driving desire, how you might be able to move or be in this world. Yeah. Right. Yeah, that's it. And see if you can know that it is already coming to be just by you connecting in with that deep driving desire, those seeds are already planted. Now turning the attention to your intention for this practice. What is this in this moment? What do you need to connect more deeply to? This might be just deep rest, a returning to self, pause, whatever it is. Yeah. Begin to imagine how if you are able to really connect in with this intention for the practice, how this might impact a greater sense of peace or wellbeing in this world. Now we'll start to really open up to all sensations, create the intention of welcoming all sensations that arise during this practice. The physical sensations in the body, whether pleasant or unpleasant, the thoughts, the feelings, the memories, whatever arises during the session, encompassing it with an attitude of acceptance, curiosity, and welcoming. We welcome these sensations, we welcome these thoughts, these emotions as maps or messages to a greater understanding of ourself. And so maybe consider that whatever arises is here to give you information about the truth of you. Just letting your field of awareness open to the idea of allowing all that is you to come up. Great. And as we're allowing all the sensations, bring to mind your inner resource. And the inner resource is something that allows you to feel safe, connected, at peace and at home. So this might be a physical part of your body. It's really a resource for you. Like right now, something feels okay. You can land there no matter what. The resource might be something imagined, like your favorite place might be the beach, the woods. The resource can also be a sound, an object or a person, anything that helps you come back to a real connection with a knowing of safety, with a knowing of well-being inside out. And now as you connect to the resource, get very specific about this, about the resource itself, what colors are there, if there's sensation in the body, is it smooth, is it open, is it settled, grounded? Let the mind's eye anchor to that. Great. And coming back to the resource anytime, anytime that's needed. And then be aware of the sensations that are resulting from you connecting to your resource. Now we'll shift up to the head. See if you can bring your attention to the head and give it permission to release. And now all sensations for the head, becoming aware of that. And the mouth. And become aware of the sensations of the tongue and the tongue spreading maybe in the mouth. And notice the sensations of the outer ears, in your inner ears. Bring the awareness to the eyes and allow the eyes to settle back into their sockets. Being aware of the sensations of the forehead, of the top of the head, of the back of the head, and of the neck. Even releasing through the jaw. Bring the awareness to the sensations of the throat, the inner throat, the outer neck. Go to the left shoulder. The left arm. The sensations through the left forearm and the left hand. Left thumb. First finger. Left middle finger. Left ring finger. Left little finger. Left arm release. Bring the awareness now to the right shoulder. All the sensations involved in the right shoulder. The right upper arm. The right forearm. The right thumb. First finger. Middle finger. Ring finger. And little finger. The right palm. Right arm release. Both arms. Witnessing the sensation in both arms. Yeah. Shift your attention to your torso. Notice the sensations in the chest. The belly. The pelvis. Notice the whole back body. The sensations in the whole front body.

Notice the inner body. All the internal organs and tissues. Outer body. Torso settling. Being aware of the sensations of the torso. And now to the outer hip. Into the top of the left leg. Left knee. The sensations down the left calf. Left heel. Left sole of the foot. Left big toe. Second toe. Third toe. Fourth. Little toe. Top of the foot. The sensations through the whole left leg. Noticing your left side. Bring the awareness now to the right thigh. Right knee. The sensations through the right calf. Lower leg. Right ankle. Sole of the foot. The right big toe. Second toe. Third. Fourth. Little toe. Right top of the foot. Notice the whole right side of the leg. All of the sensations in the right side. Right leg. Bring the mind's awareness to both legs. The sensations of both the left and the right the same time. Letting that go. Bring the awareness to the back body now. The right side of the butt. The left side of the butt. Both sides of the butt. Letting go. Lower back. Middle back. Upper back. Notice all of the sensations of the back body. All of the sensations of the back body. Letting go. Now the whole body. Recognizing anything that might be arising. Welcoming it into our awareness. All of the sensations of the whole body. And now begin to notice the opposites. The left side. The entire left side. The right side. The entire right side. The body as a whole. Notice anything that might feel very light. Notice how the system might feel very light. Now notice anything that might be more weighted. A little bit heavier. Bring the mind to the sensations that might feel heavier. Notice what might feel cool or cold. You might even imagine cold. Then bring your mind's awareness to anything that might feel warm. Or imagining warm. And then anything that might feel releasing or calming. Peaceful. And any sensations or awareness of parts of you in the emotions, in the body that might feel agitated or irritated. Noticing any emotions in the body that might feel happy. Or content. And then any emotions that might be sad. Or longing. And just holding all of these, welcoming all of these into this experience of now. All of the opposites welcoming it into your sensory experience and see if you can suspend now. Suspend any thoughts, any memories that are coming up for just a moment. And just be aware of this pure sensation. Pure sensation that's a result of your awareness. Might be a buzzing, a glowing, but welcoming all of the sensations that are arising and radiating out into the world.

And aware, receptive to all that you are. Just witnessing this as pure awareness. Pure awareness that doesn't change. See if you can be present to this pure awareness that doesn't change. As the emotions, the thoughts, the memories, even the sensations will move and fluctuate. There is something underneath that is you. That pure awareness. You might notice the expansiveness, the settledness, the vibration that's connected. That's right. Now you'll begin to return to the awareness of your resource again. That place in your body, the image, the visualization of that which allows you to sense safety, ease, and being okay. So just returning to the sensations of the awareness, the image, the mind. Bowing in to this inner space that is always there for you. And allowing the breath to come in a little deeper. And as we start to bring this practice to a close, return to that deep driving desire you started with. And just let it come back up into conscious awareness now. Connecting more deeply to, you fill that in. And really being able to visualize yourself expressing this in the world. Taking up space with this in the world as it is in alignment with your true self. And we'll let the breath come in deeper, being a guide back to this present moment. And then begin to move your fingers, begin to move your toes. And letting the arms reach up overhead, just go ahead and do a full body stretch. That's it. Pressing the feet away. Nice. Go ahead and bring the knees into the chest and give yourself a hug. It's always a great opportunity here to just remind yourself, oh yeah, I love you. I love you. And reach the arm up alongside of your ear, maybe the right arm. Rolling over to your right. Pause for a moment or two. As you transition out of this really spacious inner experience, back into present moment. Breathing. And then press the left hand into the floor as you rise up. I'll invite you back. Find yourself back into a comfortable seat. Yeah. Nice. And just bringing the palms in and bowing to yourself, your mind, your body, spirit. Yeah. May there be love, compassion, peace, kindness, courage, acceptance, forgiveness, and grace surrounding all of ourselves. Namaste.