Yoga Nidra

(calming ocean wave) Welcome, I'm Bex. This practice is a yoga nidra, so get ready to relax, because you're mat has your back. What you will need is a blanket, maybe two, to find extreme comfort. You might want to lay a blanket beneath you, one on top. If you have an eye pillow, something to get you so you feel super snuggled in.

If you need a pranayama cushion under the knees. Just know that when you lie down, you want to lie down so you do not fidget. You establish comfort on your back, and once you've lied down, you also want that blanket on top of you, because your temperature is likely to drop a bit through this deep relaxation. As you lie down, just take a couple of breaths, and allow your body to be received by the blanket, the mat, the floor, the Earth. Just take a couple breaths here when you close your eyes, to remind yourself, three times you will say, "I will stay awake.

I will stay awake. I will stay awake." Once you've established that comfort, and also that commitment, that deep inner contract to being alert enough that you can maintain stillness, you deepen the quality of the breath. (breathing slowly) You bring your attention to your left thumb. All of your attention will go into your left thumb. With your awareness in your left thumb, you will consciously completely relax your left thumb.

As you relax the left thumb, you almost imagine that through that release, the thumb dissolves. Then, you will bring your awareness to your left index finger, and with all of your breath, and your mindfulness in your left index finger, you will relax the left index finger. You slowly release the energy in the left index finger, until you almost feel like the finger no longer exists. Then, you bring your attention and your awareness into your left middle finger. With all of your breath, and your attention on your left middle finger, you relax, and you soften, and release through the left middle finger.

Then, you move onward to your left ring finger. With the breath and the sense in the left ring finger, you begin to soften, and release, letting go of any tension through the left ring finger. Then, very slowly, you bring your attention to your left pinky finger, and you breathe deeply into your left pinky finger, letting it go. Taking deep breaths, bring your awareness to the palm of your left hand. Then you release the sensations through the palm of the left hand, and you let it soften, and dissolve.

You bring your attention to the back of the left hand. All the breath, and you soften. With a full release in the left hand, you will bring your attention to the left forearm. As you move up the left forearm, the front side and the backside, with all of your focus right there, you will imagine it softening, and releasing, in a way that lets the whole forearm, through the hand and the fingers, relax. Moving up to the left elbow.

This takes a tremendous amount of focus on the elbow, and you remind yourself you will stay awake. You relax the last elbow, you feel it release, soften, and train into the floor. Then, you bring your attention to the left upper arm. You smooth the breath out, you deepen, and you relax your left upper arm. Then, you bring your attention to your left shoulder.

You relaxed the left shoulder, completely releasing the contents through the left shoulder, upper arm, elbow, forearm, poem, and fingers. As you breathe here, you trust in the release that is being received through the left arm. Maintain breathing, and stillness. Now, you bring your attention to your right thumb. As you bring your attention to your right thumb, you bring your breath, and your awareness into the contents of the right thumb.

Then, you soften, and imagine for a moment that the right thumb is dissolving. Flushing, and washing the breath through, you bring your attention to the right index finger. With the breath, and the awareness, you consciously softened the right index finger. Now, you follow that up with your middle finger. You bring your breath there.

You bring a sense of what the middle finger feels like, and then you let go of the middle finger. In that space, you are fine with the middle finger vanishing. Then, you bring your attention back to the ring finger on the right side. The ring finger on the right side, you soften, you breathe, and you let go. Bring your attention to your right pinky finger.

With a deep sense of feeling it, and sensing it, you soften, and you let it go. As the right pinky finger begins to release, you bring your attention to your right palm. As you breathe into your right palm, you soften, and let go through the right palm. Then, you bring your attention to the back of the right hand. You allow the back of the right hand to release.

As you feel the entire right hand letting go, you deepen the quality of the breath, and you remember, "I will stay awake." Very slowly, steadily, you come up the right forearm. You feel the front and the back of the right forearm. You notice it, you observe it, and then very, very slowly, you release the front and the back of the right forearm. You release the elbow on the right side. Your attention was there, and then you let go, so you release the elbow, and now you bring your attention to your right upper arm.

With your attention there, noticing whatever you feel, you let go of the right upper arm. You feel where the arm inserts into the right shoulder girdle, and you pay attention to the right shoulder girdle, and then very slowly, very gently, you release the right shoulder. Now, there is an awareness that the right hand, fingers, forearm, elbow, upper arm, and shoulder are fully released. Breathing here. (slow steady breathing) With that same alert, and very still quality, you bring your attention to your left big toe.

All of your awareness into your left big toe, and then with that, you soften the contents of the left big toe. Then, you bring your attention to the second toe on left foot. You breathe deeply into that toe, and then you allow for the tow to soften, to breathe steadily, and to relax. With awareness, you go into your third toe on your left foot, and you breathe here. You breathe as if it's the most interesting toe, and then you want to dissolve.

You bring your attention to that left third toe, and you are letting it go in a way that allows you to soften. You bring your attention to your fourth toe on the left foot, you have the awareness there, and then with that, you soften all of the fourth toe on the left foot. Then, you bring your attention to the left baby toe. You breathe deeply into that left baby toe, and you very, very slowly, very, very mindfully, allow the toe to soften, until the awareness of all those five toes have released. Now, you bring your attention to the sole of your left foot.

You spread the breath through the bottom of the left foot, feeling the left foot in the minds eye, and then letting go of the sensation in the sole of the left foot. Now, you bring your attention to the arch, and the top of the left foot, noticing what you feel in that area. Once you've established that you feel it, you let all of the sensation drain out of the inner arch, and the top of the left foot. You move up to the ankle, and the lower leg on the left side. All of your attention goes there, and that's where the prawn of the life force flows, and then you let go, breathing, and watching the drain of the left calf, shin, ankle.

Now, you bring your attention to your left knee, and thigh bone. The left knee and the upper leg on the left side, all the breath deeply in there, and then very slowly, you let it all relax. Breathe. You feel the contents of the entire leg, from the thigh bone through the knee, the lower leg, the ankle, the foot through the toes, on the whole left entire side, vanishing. You remind yourself, "I will stay awake, and I will resist the temptation to move.

All I need to do is breathe, and be in my vessel." Then, you will bring your attention to your right big toe. With that sense in the right big toe, you will now release everything through the right big toe. Then, you will bring your attention to your right second toe. As you bring your attention to your right second toe, you will begin to release through the right second toe. Feeling the breath, and the right second toe dissolving, you will bring all your awareness to your right third toe.

As you pay attention to the right third toe, and you get a sense of it, you will soften, and gently release through the right third toe. Then you will bring all of your attention to your right fourth toe. With all of your awareness in your right fourth toe, you will remind yourself, you will release your right fourth toe. Then, you continue to breathe deeply, and you pay keen attention to your right pinky toe. You will soften the right pinky toe, and feel how all the toes in the right foot have dissolved.

Now, you will bring your attention to the right sole of your foot. With your attention on the right sole of your foot, you will slowly release, and soften the right sole of your foot. Breathing here, you will stay awake. Breathe into the right arch, and the top of the right foot. You breathe, and you have sense of the right arch, and the top of the foot, and then you release, and relax through the right arch, and the top of the foot.

Then, very slowly, you bring your attention to your right ankle, and your right shin bones, lower leg, and with your attention on your right ankle, and your right shin bones, you then decide to soften through the shin, calf, the ankle, the lower part of the leg. Now, you bring your attention to the right knee, and the right thigh bone. Breathing into the right knee, and the right thigh bone, you will soften the right knee, and the right thigh bone, and allow your breath to be aware that the entire contents of the right leg have released. Continue to stay in the breath. Now, you will release, and first pay attention to the pelvis, the contents of the pelvis, the belly, and the organs.

Then, in the back body, the sacrum. You will feel the pelvis, the contents of the belly, and the organs, and the sacrum. You don't need to move, you are still. You'll feel that, and then you will release the pelvis, the contents of the belly, the organs, and the sacrum will soften. You move your way up to the ribs.

You let go to the ribs, viscera, in there. You felt the awareness of the ribs, and the viscera, and then you let them go. Now, you bring your awareness to your head. Your face, your scalp, your ears, your eyes, your lips, nose, and cheek on the right, and cheek on the left, and you will soften. As the face, cheeks, the eyes, the nose, the lips, the scalp, the back of the head relax, you will continue to breathe, and stay awake, with awareness that while you are breathing, it's almost as if you exist above, next to, beyond your body, So that the body is in a resting state, and your spirit, your soul, your essence, your rossa, whatever you want to call it, it's presently there in a very relaxed state, and you are in a space of deep softness and relaxation.

You will take time right now to just breathe. Breathe, be still, stay awake. Breathe, be still, stay awake, As if you are traveling in time and space, and yet, the stillness and the breath allow you to be exactly where you are. (slow steady breathing) In this place, you have the blessing of seeing, and knowing everything, and knowing and seeing everything you don't know, and a deep sense of Santosha, contentment. You sit within that place within yourself, with out the container, with just the deep gratitude of the relaxation.

(slow steady breathing) Remember, you will stay awake. You will resist the temptation to fidget, and you will find peace in being of the body, and not in the body in this moment. While some of you, you may feel like you can stay here forever in this timeless, spacious place, you will begin to bring yourself back. You will bring your attention to your left thumb. This time, when you bring your attention to your left thumb, you might very gently awaken the left thumb, and let the digit of the thumb move just a little bit.

Then, you will bring your attention to your left index finger. As you bring breath and more life into the index finger, you will gently begin to move it. While there might be excitement to move the next finger, you just take your time, and pause, bringing your attention to your left middle finger. Starting to gently wiggle it, and then you bring your attention to your left ring finger. Slowly, you will wiggle your left ring finger.

Then, you will bring your attention to your left pinky finger, and very gently, you will move the left pinky finger. With a new sense of the fingers, you will bring your awareness to the skin on the palm of the left hand, and the back of the left hand, and the whole hand will reappear with that awareness, that freshness. As you bring your awareness to your left forearm, and your left elbow, and your left shoulder, and while the rest of the body is in that deep sleep, the left arm feels the awakening happening. Very mindfully, you will bring your attention to your right big thumb. With your attention on your right thumb, you will start to move the thumb, maybe bend, and extend.

Then, you will bring your awareness, and your mindfulness into your right index finger. With the awareness in the right index finger, you will begin to move the right index finger. Very slowly, you will bring your attention to the right middle finger. Very gently, you will move the right middle finger. Then, you will bring your attention to your right ring finger.

As you breathe breath and life into your right ring finger, you will move, and wiggle the right ring finger. Then, your attention and awareness will go into the right pinky finger, and you will move the right pinky finger. As you bring your attention to the right palm, and the back of the hand, you will have a greater awareness of the entire right hand coming back to life. Then, you will bring your breath into your right forearm, wrist, elbow, and you can even bring your attention and breath into the right upper arm and shoulder. You'll gently began to move through the right arm, elbow, wrist, fingers, hand on the right, with a new sensation through the right arm, and the left.

Now, you'll bring your attention to your left big toe. With that sense of awakening the left big toe, you will simply take your time to wiggle the left big toe. Then, you will send the energy to the left second toe. As you come into the second toe, Building the energy, the breath, and the awareness there, and then you take your breath, and your awareness into the third toe on the left foot, simply bringing more life force there. Then, you bring your attention into your left fourth toe.

You slowly wiggle, wriggle, move it. Then, you add the baby toe on the left foot. Now, as you gently begin to feel those toes interdigitating, you wake up the sole of the left foot, the arch of the left foot, and the top of the left foot. With that, you bring breath into the ankle on the left foot, and you might circle the ankle, and then you hone in on the left calf, shin, the lower leg on the left, and the knee, and the left thigh bone. The entire contents of the left leg, you bring the breath, and the awakened sense there.

Then, with that, you feel the left leg alert, the right arm, and the left arm. Now, you bring your awareness to your right big toe, and you start to gently awaken the right big toe. As the right big toe awakens, you follow that up by bringing your awareness the second toe on the right foot. With the breath on the second toe on the right foot, you begin to move the second toe of the right foot. Then, you move on to the third toe on the right foot.

You feel it gently begin to move slowly. Then, you bring your attention to the fourth toe on the right foot. As you come into the fourth toe on the right foot, you begin to move, and wriggle the fourth toe. Then, you move into the baby toe on the right foot, so now all the toes are doing a little bit of a movement, and you feel the breath. Then, you awaken the sole, and the arch, and the top of the right foot.

As that happens, you can feel your feet getting happy. You bring your attention to your right ankle, and you're right lower leg, your right knee, and your right thigh bone. Simultaneously, as they all begin to come back into that sense of feeling and moving, you are gentle, and you are slow with your breath, and your movement. Now, you bring your attention to the contents of the pelvis, of the belly, the organs, and the sacrum. With that awareness of the contents of the pelvis, the belly, the organs, and the sacrum, you allow that to awaken.

You may just want to rock the pelvis gently back and forth, letting it become part of that space that comes back into you. Then, slowly, you bring your awareness to the ribs. As you feel the breath in the inner body, and the viscera, you feel the ribs widening, and softening, consciously grateful that they work for you. Then, you bring your attention to your head, to your eyes, your nose, your cheeks, your lips, and your scalp. With that great sense of the eyes, the nose, the lips, the cheeks, and the scalp, you begin to kind of move through the neck, and the head begins to gently nod yes, and no.

Then, you just take a moment of deep, deep gratitude that your body has a re-awoken for you, and that you've taken the time to regenerate, and that this deep sleep has provided you with a much-needed rest, and restorative qualities that happen when you give yourself permission to relax. Slowly, roll onto your right side, bring your knees into your chest. As you do that, take another moment here to celebrate that you just took this time to take care of your longest, your most intimate relationship, the one with yourself. Then, as you come up to seated, bring the hands to the heart center in prayer. Inhale.

(chanting) May we be peaceful, and may we be kind, and may we be loving, to ourselves, and all beings. Namaste.