360. The Deep Rest Your Divorce Recovery Needs | Retreat Yoga Nidra

What if the most healing thing you could do today wasn't another journal prompt, podcast episode, or breakthrough conversation?

What if it was rest?

In this special Dear Divorce Diary VIP episode, we're sharing one of the most requested practices from our Myrtle Beach retreats: a guided Yoga Nidra experience designed to help your nervous system soften, settle, and remember what safety feels like.

This isn't yoga.

You don't need flexibility.
You don't need experience.
You don't even need to stay awake.

Yoga Nidra is often called "yogic sleep," a deeply restorative practice that guides you into the space between waking and sleeping, where the body can release tension and the mind can finally stop working so hard.

Through grounding imagery, nervous system regulation, intention setting, and a gentle body scan, you'll be invited to let go of the roles, responsibilities, worries, and stories you've been carrying—and reconnect with yourself underneath it all.

So grab a blanket, get comfortable, and give yourself permission to receive.

Because healing isn't always something you do.

Sometimes it's something you allow.

Take a breath.

We'll meet you there.

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Transcript

Nothing To Achieve Here

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Okay, though. Before we start, I want to make a very important announcement. There's absolutely nothing for you to achieve during this episode. No breakthrough, no healing homework, no gold star for being the best relaxer in the room. Today's VIP episode is a yoga nidra meditation. It is the exact practice we used at retreat. The one the women have been asking for when they got home because their nervous system misses being cared for in this exactly very special way that they got to experience while we were in Myrtle Beach. So grab a blanket, put your phone down. If you happen to fall asleep, congratulations, that's not failing. That's your nervous system finally getting a day off. Let's do it. Hi love. Welcome to Dear Divorce Diary, the podcast helping divorcees go beyond talk therapy to process your grief, find the healing you crave, and build back your confidence. I'm your host, Don Wiggins, a therapist, coach, integrative healer, and divorce day. Join me for a fresh approach to healing grief and building your confidence after divorce.

Set Up Your Nest

SPEAKER_00 1:20

So if you haven't already, give yourself the support that you need physically with bolsters, blankets over your body and your feet, an eye pillow. All of these things are supportive to drawing your awareness deeper into your inner landscape. You may take a few cleansing breaths here. You can inhale through your nose and audibly release through parted lips. And you can let your body make any sounds. Use the exhalation to surrender your body into the support of the earth beneath you. And as you're here starting this practice, let your body really start to release, let your bones feel heavy. You can imagine the sensation like your body is sinking into the support of the ground beneath you as if it were creating a crater for your body to rest comfortably inside of. So you can feel the back of your head, the back of your shoulder blades, your upper back, your arms and your hands, the back of your pelvis, the back of your legs and your ankles. And just let your awareness percolate in all of these points that are in connection with the ground beneath you. And from these points, let your energy extend beyond your physical body and into the earth. So your awareness moves away from your body. And you might even imagine that these are energetic roots emerging from all of these different points

Grounding Roots Into The Earth

SPEAKER_00 3:45

in connection with the ground, moving through the various floors, and then deep down into the earth, deeper, deeper, and deeper. And let these roots give you a sense of stability, security, and a sense of grounding. As we move through our practice today, these roots remain. They keep you connected and they keep you stable the whole time. And through these roots, you can draw up what you need to from the earth. The same way that a plant might pull nutrients up from the soil. You can do the same here. You can name what you need as you draw it up from the ground, or you can simply feel the qualities in your body that you'd like to welcome into your space right now.

Protective Golden Light Bubble

SPEAKER_00 5:09

You can sweep your awareness from the front of your legs, the front of your belly to your face, and from here start to notice this beautiful golden bubble forming around you. The material is porous and warm, and it feels like the golden light of a sunset wrapping around your whole body. This light bubble is protective and safe. And through this bubble, you can send anything through it. It has a unique one-way shield where you can send something through and it will not be able to come back. So you can let go of things that you don't want or need to carry with you for the duration of this practice. You can let go of any responsibilities that you have, certain roles that you have or hold on to in your life, stories, narratives that define you, thought patterns. Simply anything that you don't need to carry right now. You can let them all go. You can watch and feel them leaving you through this protective light bubble around you. So at any point, you have these roots underneath you. You can invite in what you need, and you have this protective layer around you to send out what you don't. These two are constants throughout our practice today. The

Sankalpa Intention From The Heart

SPEAKER_00 7:10

practice of Yoganitra is a practice between you and yourself, and it's really something only you get to experience with yourself. So take a moment to feel a sense of gratitude for everything coming up, and for the luxury that it is to be able to connect to and tend to your internal landscape. And you can slowly start to bring your awareness to your energetic heart center, that space that's right in the center of your ribcage. This is where it all begins. You can ask your heart to present you your sankkalpa. So your sankkalpa is an intention. It's something that emerges not as something new, but as a vow of remembrance of what's already been there all along. Your sankalpa is a short statement beginning with I, and it's spoken as if it's already true. If nothing comes to mind, then you can say to yourself, I am safe. And you repeat this internally to yourself three, four, five times, a mantra that becomes a seed that you sow in your internal landscape. And as you repeat it internally, let it weave itself through the tapestry of your body. You can gently let it go, but trust that it's still there. We'll begin our practice with a body scan. You can begin to dimensionalize your chest. Feel the contour of your spine just behind your heart. Find that area where your rib cage connects to your vertebra, and trace the rib cage out to the right until you move all the way up into the breastbone. Then trace your rib cage to the left until you find your breastbone again. And just explore this cavern and all of the sensations that live here. Maybe you can even feel your physical heart beating. And just allow the center of your rib cage to become the anchor for your awareness. You can locate your heart on a physical and energetic level.

Heart Led Body Scan

SPEAKER_00 10:22

And from your heart, bring your awareness right up into your brow center. The space just between your eyebrows and in a couple of inches in your midbrain. Bring your awareness back down to your heart. And then into your right temple. Bring your awareness back to your heart. And then shift your awareness into your right cheek. And then back to your heart. Feel your right shoulder, and then back to your heart. Feel the right side of your chest, and then back to your heart. Feel your right upper thigh, and then move back to your heart. Feel your right ankle, and then move back to your heart. Connect to the whole right side of your body, your hand, your leg, even the right hemisphere of your brain. And then begin to feel your left ankle, and then back to the heart. Feel your left upper thigh. And then move back to your heart. Feel the left side of your chest, and then move back to your heart. Illuminate your left temple, and then move back to your heart again. Now illuminate your midbrain, the space right in between your ears, and feel your heart again. Feel the whole left side of your body. And then begin to illuminate all of the points where your awareness has touched, kind of like a beautiful constellation, like a stitching that makes you whole. Your body is here glowing with a healing, connected awareness. And just find all of these points that your awareness has touched and illuminate them right, left. You are whole right here, right now. And then begin to bring your awareness back to your heart. And without changing your breath, just notice the physical movement of your rib cage as you breathe. Let your breath move your body and notice all of the subtleties of that movement. Notice the blanket expanding on your skin as you breathe in and out. Feel your clothing shifting with your breath. Notice the back of the rib cage pressing into the ground as you breathe in. And gradually begin to move away from these external observations and shift into what's happening inside of your body. So you can follow each breath as you deeply breathe in and out. Let your awareness move into the depth of your lungs. With

Breath Awareness And Cellular Support

SPEAKER_00 14:45

every single breath, there's a sacred exchange between you, your heart, and the oxygen molecules that you're breathing in. This rhythmic pulse of your heart sends fresh life out into your body with every single breath. Each cell is eager to receive that new vitality. This cellular support from your body breathing here with you now. Begin to visualize each cell breathing with you now. Each breath is sacred. Each breath moves in the new and facilitates the release of the old. Gently begin to shift your awareness back to your heart. Softly feeling the space at the center of your chest, and then shifting your awareness up to your midbrain. The space that's in between your ears and just behind the center of your eyebrows. At this point in our practice, we'll begin to move through pairs of opposites. So I'll name different sensations, and really this sense of duality is what allows us to find wholeness. Invite in the feeling of stillness, the quiet calm that can exist inside of you, right in the center of your being. You can even visualize a still lake, water that almost looks like glass. So still, so quiet, so peaceful. And then invite in a subtle shift to an effortless sense of flowing. Let the sense of flow wash over you like a gentle stream of energy moving through your mind, your heart, your body, your veins. Effortless movement.

Pairs Of Opposites For Wholeness

SPEAKER_00 17:29

Now return your awareness to your midbrain. You can feel the subtle energy here, open and receptive. And then begin to invite in the sense of emptiness, spacious, open, unfulfilled, empty. Let it go and invite in the feeling of fullness. Imagine your mind and your body filled with light, peace, presence, every part of you overflowing with replenishment. And then return to your midbrain, feeling the balance and the stillness that can exist here. And then begin to invite in a sense of openness. The feeling of being totally receptive. You might even recall a time in your life where you felt so open to receiving life's gifts and life's blessings. Maybe a feeling of being carefree. Let yourself feel what it's like to be closed off emotionally guarded. Maybe a time where you cannot surrender to life, but rather feel like you need to control or protect yourself. Now let go of those feelings and bring yourself back to your midbrain. Let all of these opposing feelings integrate into a sense of wholeness. We explore these dualities to find a sense of completeness within ourselves. You're in a space that allows you to have all of these things in coexistence. You are whole. And in a few inches to your midbrain. And just rest here in the middle of your mind's eye. And it's in this space where we begin our visualization journey. From a bird's eye perspective, begin to see yourself from overhead, lying down right here. The room around you transforms, and the ground around you becomes a pristine grassy field. The kind of grassy field that you see in an English countryside. Dark green grass that's soft to the touch, no weeds, and particularly plush for laying on. And the sun is shining around you and down on your face, on your skin. The warmth and the sunshine permeates your skin. It's comforting. Now you sit up and you look to your left and you see a vast field with wildlife buzzing, flowers, rolling hills.

Cottage Visualization For Safety

SPEAKER_00 21:34

As far as your eye can see, life is still. Time almost feels suspended. And you look to your right and you see a cottage, a beautiful stone exterior, a chimney with smoke rising from it. This home is very welcoming. Safe. This home is inviting you in for a cozy afternoon. So you rise and you head towards the home. You reach the front door and you notice its sturdy wooden frame. And as you step inside, the door closes gently behind you with a reassuring click. You know that you're safe here. A fire crackles and the stone hurts. It's golden light dancing across the room. The warmth spreads through the space, wrapping around you like a familiar embrace. Every corner of the cottage feels welcoming, lived in, and peaceful. And you find yourself sinking into a soft chair behind the fire, a warm blanket resting on your lap. And it's heavy enough to feel comforted, but light enough to let you breathe easy. And with each exhale, your body settles into this space a little bit more. And as you rest here, the weather begins to shift outside. A gentle rainfall starts to tap at the windows. But it's not a bad thing. In fact, you welcome the rainfall. It brings you into a deeper sense of relaxation. You don't need to stop it. You don't need to fix anything. You simply notice that while the weather changes, the sense of safety remains unchanged. The walls of the cottage are strong around you. The roof is steady overhead. And the windows allow you to witness the storm without being a part of it. Perhaps you begin to realize that this cottage is more than a place. It's the part of you that remains steady, even when life doesn't always feel the same way. The fire represents your inner warmth, always present, burning quietly. The walls are your boundaries. They allow love, beauty, connection to enter. While giving you the permission to rest from everything else. The blanket is self-compassion, reminding you that you do not have to earn rest. You are worthy of comfort simply because you are. Whenever life feels loud, hurried, uncertain, you can return to that place. The fire will still be burning. The blanket will still be waiting. The rain may still fall outside. But inside there will always be warmth, steadiness, and peace. And you'll carry this feeling with you as you begin to return your awareness to your breathing. You can repeat your sankal but to yourself internally and check in with it. See if it's evolved. Maybe it's shifted during the practice. And if it has, then embrace that change. Allow the sense of renewal to wash over you, infusing with every part of your being. And start to notice that gentle hum of your body. You can allow your awareness to shift back into the familiarity of the room that your body is currently in. You can feel the gentle movement of your breath, the shifting of your clothing on your skin, the temperature of the room around you. And just allow these sensations to draw you back to this time and space right here, right now. The practice of Yoganitra is now complete. You

Return, Reawaken, Repeat Sankalpa

SPEAKER_00 28:06

can take a deeper breath in, an audible breath out. Just welcome small movements to the fingers, the toes, and gradually wake yourself up again. Welcome to hug the knees to the chest, give yourself a hug. And with your eyes closed or soft, gently make your way upright into a seated pose. Maybe you're sitting on the bolster. Maybe you just push it to the side. Just find that upright length in your spine. Bring your hands to your heart. Find that prayer. And from your heart. Just find a few things that you can feel a sense of gratitude for. And then notice. Did you say yourself? Because you should. So we'll take an inhale here together. And then the exhale, bow your head to your heart, humbling the intelligence of your mind to the intelligence of your body. Harium Tatsat. Thank you so much for practicing with me tonight.

SPEAKER_01 30:21

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