So welcome to this Yoga Nidra session.
Please lie down on your back in Shavasana and make yourself as comfortable as possible.
If you haven't already,
Let your feet drop apart.
You may want to widen the space between your feet a little bit so you get to really relax your hips,
Your thighs completely,
Your lower back relaxed.
Turn the palms of the hands upward so you can relax your arms.
There's a little space between your arms and your upper body for the energy to flow freely.
Notice if there's any need to adjust your blanket or your clothes,
Your position,
Such that you can stay in this Yoga Nidra practice without moving and without physical discomfort.
Please close your eyes and keep them closed until the end of the practice.
There's not much to do during the Yoga Nidra practice.
You're just listening and feeling.
In Yoga Nidra,
You function on the level of awareness and of listening.
In this form of yogic sleep,
You are the creator of your dreams,
Whereas in real sleep you have no control over your dreams.
And you can say to yourself in your head,
I will not sleep.
I will stay awake and listen,
Allowing your body to become calm and steady,
Taking a deep breath,
And as you breathe in,
Feeling calmness spreading through the entire body.
As you're breathing out,
Saying to yourself,
Relax,
Becoming aware of the sounds in the distance,
The most distant sounds you can hear,
Searching out the distant sounds and following them for a few moments,
Moving your attention from sound to sound without attempting to identify the source,
Gradually bringing your attention to closer sounds,
Sounds inside this building,
Sounds inside this room.
And now developing your awareness of this room without opening your eyes,
Visualizing the four walls,
The ceiling,
The floor,
Your body lying on the floor,
Seeing your body lying on the floor,
Cultivating that awareness of your physical body lying on the floor in perfect stillness,
Becoming aware of the physical meeting points between your body and the floor,
Becoming aware of the natural breath,
The deep,
Natural,
Spontaneous breath.
No need to concentrate too much on this breath,
Just being aware,
Knowing that you're breathing,
And just saying to yourself again,
I'm going to stay awake.
I'm practicing yoga nidra.
And then connecting with your intention,
Your sankalpa,
Stating that resolve clearly in your mind three times.
You can see that resolve written on a piece of paper in front of you.
And then start to rotate your consciousness through the different centers of your body.
You're going rather quickly from point to point,
Starting with the right hand,
The right thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
The back of the hand,
Right wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Right waist,
Thigh,
Calf muscle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Shifting awareness into the left hand,
Left thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Left wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left waist,
Left thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Bring your awareness into the right shoulder,
Left shoulder,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
The spine,
The whole of the back.
Bring your awareness to the top of the head,
Your forehead,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Eyebrow center,
Right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Nose,
Tip of the nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Chin,
Jaw,
Throat,
Right colobone,
Left colobone,
Right chest,
Left chest,
Middle of the chest,
Navel,
Abdomen,
Lower abdomen.
Feel the whole of the right leg,
Feel the whole of the left leg,
Both legs together,
Whole of the right arm,
Whole of the left arm,
Both arms together,
Whole of the back,
Whole of the front,
The whole head,
And feel everything together,
The legs,
Arms,
Back,
Front,
Head,
Together,
The whole of the body,
Together,
The whole of the body,
Together.
Developing homogenous awareness of the whole body,
Becoming aware of the space occupied by the body,
Aware of the body,
Body and space.
Becoming aware of the meeting points of the body and the floor,
Feeling the meeting points between the back of your head and the floor,
Shoulder blades and the floor,
Elbows and the floor,
Back of the hands,
Hands and the floor,
Buttocks on the floor,
On the floor,
Heels on the floor,
Being aware of all the meeting points of the body and the floor simultaneously.
Staying awake and feeling your body on the floor.
Switching your attention to the eyelids,
Feeling the narrow line between the upper and the lower eyelids,
Feeling the meat,
The awareness of your eyelids,
Bringing your awareness to your lips,
Feeling the space between the lips,
Bringing your awareness to your natural breath,
Feeling the breath moving between your nostrils and the navel,
Your throat,
Your nose,
On the inhalation it rises from the navel to the throat,
And on the exhalation it descends from the throat to the navel,
Breathing navel to throat,
Throat to navel.
Not forcing anything,
Just being aware.
And as you're being aware of your breath,
You start to count backwards,
54 down,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
54.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
53.
Inhaling,
Exhaling,
52.
So count yourself mentally to rise and fall of your breath from the navel to the throat and back again,
Just counting backwards,
Breathing in,
Breathing out slowly and relaxed.
If you lose the count,
No problem,
Just continue where you were,
Counting backwards.
Now feel your body become very heavy,
The feeling of heaviness,
The body very heavy on the floor.
It's like you're sinking into the floor,
And then awaken the feeling of lightness,
A sensation of lightness and weightlessness in all parts of the body.
Your body feels so light that it seems to be floating away from the floor.
Awaken the experience of coldness in the body.
Imagine you're walking on a cold floor in winter,
Awareness of coldness in your body.
And then awaken a sensation of heat,
The whole body feeling hot,
Recollecting a feeling of heat in the summer,
Out in the sun,
Being aware of heat.
Now try to remember an experience of pain,
Any pain you can recollect,
Mental or physical,
Recollecting a feeling of pain.
And then shifting your awareness to a feeling of pleasure,
Physical or mental,
Recollecting this feeling of pleasure,
Making it vivid,
Feeling pleasure in your body.
Staying awake and telling yourself,
I am awake.
And then shifting awareness again,
Concentrating on the space in front of your closed eyes,
A space that's called Chittakasha.
Imagine you can see through a screen into infinite space,
A space that extends as far as eyes can see.
Concentrate on this wide open space and becoming aware of any phenomena arising,
Whatever you see as a manifestation of your mind.
See if you can become aware of this space without becoming involved,
Practicing detached awareness.
Imagining yourself in a park in the early morning,
The sun has not risen and the park is deserted,
Except for yourself.
It's a beautiful park,
Calm and peaceful.
You're walking across the springy grass,
Listening to the birds whistle as they welcome in the new day.
The gardens of flowers,
Roses,
Yellow,
Pink,
Red,
Purple.
You can smell their fragrance and see the early morning dew drops on their petals.
Nearby the rose garden is a fish pond,
Goldfish swimming in it amongst the water lilies.
And you're walking between these beautiful trees with leaves and tall,
Stately trees until you come to a clearing between the trees.
And in that clearing is a small temple with an aura of light around it.
You're walking in through the door.
It's cool and dim inside.
There are pictures of great saints on the walls.
And you sit down on the floor,
Closing your eyes,
Becoming still.
A sense of deep peace and harmony envelops you as the sounds outside fade into the distance.
Being fully aware of you sitting inside the temple and staying there until peace and harmony pervade.
Bringing your awareness back to Chittakasha,
That dark space you see in front of your closed eyes,
Can be in front of your eyes or your forehead.
Watch the darkness that you see before you very carefully with detachment.
Do not become involved.
Resting your mind in this warm and friendly darkness.
If any subtle phenomena manifest,
Like colors or patterns,
Simply take note of these and continue to be aware.
If thoughts occur,
Let them come and go,
And continue watching the dark space with this detached awareness.
And now remember your resolve again,
Your sankalpa,
Which you made at the beginning of the practice.
And with the same words and the same attitude and feeling,
Repeat this resolve three times,
Clearly,
With emphasis.
Becoming aware of your breathing again.
Just notice your body breathe naturally.
Becoming aware of your breathing.
Becoming aware of your body again.
Your arms and legs and your body lying stretched out on the floor.
Becoming aware of the meeting points between your body and the floor.
Developing awareness of the room,
The walls,
The ceiling,
The sounds in the room,
The sounds outside the room.
Turning your senses outward again to the smells,
The visual impressions,
Contact of your skin with your clothes,
The mat,
The temperature of the room.
Reconnecting with that outside space.
Still keeping your eyes closed.
And maybe gently moving your body,
Maybe your fingers and your toes first.
Waking the body up again,
Maybe stretching.
Taking your time without any hurry.
Maybe lying over to the right side for a moment.
Stay there for a moment until you feel ready to sit up.
