Allow your body to become completely still...

pause 5 sec

Let your feet fall open naturally... your arms resting a little away from your sides... palms turned gently upward... as if offering, or receiving.

Close your eyes...

pause 5 sec

Feel the ground beneath you. The floor is holding you completely. You don't need to hold yourself up... you can let go of that effort entirely.

PAUSE LONG — 10 sec

This is Yoga Nidra... the practice of yogic sleep. You will hear my voice throughout. The invitation is to remain awake... yet to rest so deeply that the body feels as if it is sleeping.

If you do fall asleep... that is perfectly fine. Simply rest.

PAUSE LONG — 10 sec

There is nothing you need to do. Nowhere you need to be. No role to play. For the next thirty minutes... you have permission to simply be.

PAUSE LONG — 10 sec

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Bring your awareness now to your heart centre... the space in the middle of your chest.

In Yoga Nidra, we plant a seed of intention, a Sankalpa. A short, true, positive statement that lives in your heart. Something you wish to affirm. Something you wish to become or remember.

It might be: "I am at peace."... "I am whole."... "I am enough."... Or something entirely your own.

Whatever it is... hold it gently in your mind. Say it to yourself now, three times... slowly... with feeling.

PAUSE LONG — 12 sec

Let it settle into the heart... like a stone dropped into still water.

PAUSE LONG — 10 sec

We will return to it at the end of this practice.

---

Now we will move awareness through the body. As I name each part... simply bring your attention there, briefly and lightly. Like a torch of awareness... moving from place to place.

Begin at the right hand...

pause 3 sec

Right thumb... index finger... middle finger... ring finger... little finger... palm of the hand... back of the hand... wrist... forearm... elbow... upper arm... right shoulder... right side of the chest... right side of the waist... right hip... right thigh... kneecap... back of the knee... calf... ankle... heel... sole of the foot... right big toe... second toe... third... fourth... fifth...

pause 5 sec

Now the left hand... left thumb... index finger... middle finger... ring finger... little finger... palm of the hand... back of the hand... wrist... forearm... elbow... upper arm... left shoulder... left side of the chest... left waist... left hip... thigh... knee... calf... ankle... heel... sole of the foot... left big toe... second toe... third... fourth... fifth...

pause 5 sec

Now the back of the body... the right shoulder blade... the left shoulder blade... the whole of the upper back... the middle back... the lower back... the right buttock... the left buttock... the whole back of the body... pressing gently into the earth.

PAUSE LONG — 8 sec

The front of the body now... the right chest... the left chest... the belly, rising and falling with the breath... the navel... the whole of the front of the body.

pause 5 sec

The face now... the right cheek... the left cheek... the right eye... the left eye... the right ear... the left ear... the nose... the upper lip... the lower lip... the chin... the jaw, soften the jaw... the throat... the crown of the head.

The whole body... the whole body... the whole body at rest.

PAUSE LONG — 10 sec

---

Bring your awareness now to the natural breath...

Don't change it. Don't control it. Simply watch the breath as it moves in... and out... in... and out.

Notice the gentle rise of the belly as you inhale... the soft fall as you exhale...

pause 5 sec

Now we will count the breath together. With each breath cycle, inhale and exhale, you will count silently, backwards from 27.

Inhale... and on the exhale: twenty-seven... inhale... exhale: twenty-six... inhale... exhale: twenty-five...

Continue in this way... counting back silently. If your mind wanders and you lose count... simply return to twenty-seven and begin again. There is no failure here, only returning.

PAUSE — 2 full minutes of silence

Gently let go of the counting now... let the breath simply breathe itself... natural... effortless... like the tide.

pause 8 sec

---

Now we will move through pairs of opposite sensations. As I name each feeling, bring it vividly to mind... or into the body... for just a few moments. Don't stay, simply feel, and let go.

Heaviness... feel the body heavy, sinking into the earth...

pause 8 sec

Lightness... feel the body light, almost weightless, floating...

pause 8 sec

Warmth... a deep, spreading warmth through the whole body...

pause 8 sec

Cold... the crisp, fresh sensation of cool air on the skin...

pause 8 sec

Joy... a feeling of simple, uncomplicated happiness...

pause 8 sec

Sadness... a quiet, gentle sadness, acknowledged and held with softness...

pause 8 sec

Expansion... vast, open, boundless...

pause 8 sec

Contraction... small, still, contained...

pause 8 sec

And now... peace. Simply peace.

PAUSE LONG — 12 sec

---

Now allow images to arise on the screen of the mind... like clouds drifting across a night sky. Watch each one appear... and dissolve... without holding on.

See if you can picture each one clearly for just a moment... then let it go.

A single candle flame... flickering softly in the dark...

pause 8 sec

An open field at dawn... dew on the grass... the sky turning pale gold...

pause 8 sec

A dark, still lake at midnight... perfectly quiet... stars reflected on its surface...

pause 8 sec

A child asleep... face completely at peace...

pause 8 sec

An ancient tree... roots deep in the earth... branches wide open to the sky...

pause 8 sec

Your own face... completely at rest... held with compassion...

pause 10 sec

A vast, clear sky... boundless... endless... blue...

PAUSE LONG — 12 sec

Let the images dissolve now... until there is only the sky... vast and open... still.

PAUSE LONG — 10 sec

---

Come back now to the heart... to that place of warmth in the centre of the chest.

Bring your Sankalpa, your intention, back into the mind. Hold it gently but firmly... like a precious thing. Repeat it to yourself three times now... with full feeling... as if it is already true.

PAUSE LONG — 15 sec

Know that this intention has been planted in the fertile ground of your deepest rest. The seeds are already growing.

pause 8 sec

Rest here for a moment in the truth of who you are... beneath the roles... beneath the doing... beneath the striving.

PAUSE LONG — 10 sec

This is the place you have always been able to return to. This stillness. This quiet. This warmth at the centre of you.

This is what it means to come home.

PAUSE LONG — 12 sec

Notice if you can feel a sense of peace here... not something you have created... but something you have uncovered. It was always here. It is always here.

PAUSE LONG — 10 sec

And with that peace... a gentle acceptance. Of this moment. Of this body. Of this life, exactly as it is right now... held without judgement... without needing anything to be different.

PAUSE LONG — 12 sec

And underneath all of it... love. A quiet, steady love for yourself... not earned, not conditional... simply present. Like the ground beneath you. Always there. Always holding.

PAUSE LONG — 15 sec

You are home.

PAUSE LONG — 15 sec

Now... very gently... begin to become aware of the body once more...

Feel the weight of the body on the floor... the gentle rhythm of the breath... any sounds in the room around you...

pause 5 sec

Wiggle the fingers... gently... and the toes... take a slightly deeper breath... and let it sigh out through the mouth...

pause 5 sec

When you feel ready... allow a gentle stretch through the arms and legs... there's no hurry... move slowly... as if you are waking from the most restful sleep.

pause 10 sec

Begin to bend the knees, roll gently to one side... and when you're ready... slowly find your way to sitting.

PAUSE — 2 full minutes of silence

Take a moment here... eyes still soft... hands resting in the lap... carrying that sense of home within you as you return to the room.

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