Please get ready for yoga nidra.
Lie down in shavasana,
Feet slightly apart,
Arms beside the body,
With palms facing up.
Head in one straight line with the spine.
Gently close your eyes.
Adjust your blanket,
Clothes and position so you can practice yoga nidra without moving and with no physical discomfort.
Please keep your eyes closed and become aware of the whole body.
The whole body,
From the toes to the top of the head,
Seen mentally,
Felt mentally and relaxed completely.
The practice of yoga nidra is the act of hearing and feeling.
Once the practice begins,
Do not move the body.
Simply surrender the whole body to the floor.
Observe the body.
Mentally check each and every part of the body.
And if there is anything tight,
The clothes,
The belt,
The wrist watch,
Please loosen them and relax the body.
There should be no tightness in any part of the body because it will eventually divert your attention from the practice to the feeling of discomfort.
Make yourself completely comfortable.
Check each and every part of the body.
Loosen all the joints.
Loosen all the tight parts.
Relax the muscles.
Allow the body to flop on the floor.
Surrender the whole body to the floor.
And feel the relaxation becoming deeper and deeper and deeper.
Do not sleep.
As the relaxation becomes deep,
Sleep will come.
But you have to remain awake,
Alert and aware throughout the practice of yoga nidra.
Say to yourself mentally,
I will not sleep.
I will not sleep.
I will not sleep.
I will not sleep.
Give yourself time to become calm and steady.
Take a deep breath slowly and gently.
And as you breathe out,
Feel the calmness spreading throughout the body.
Now we begin the practice of yoga nidra.
Become aware of the sounds in the distance.
Become aware of the most distant sounds that you can hear.
Let your sense of hearing operate like a radar.
Searching out distant sounds and following them for a few seconds.
Move your attention from sound to sound without attempting to recognize the source.
Sustain awareness of the sounds.
Do not attempt to identify the source.
But be aware of each and every sound you can hear within the range of hearing.
Become aware of the sounds around you.
The sounds of nature,
External sounds,
Sounds inside the body.
Become aware of all the different sounds that you can hear.
Search out the sounds and follow them for a few seconds.
Recognize them.
Know that they are around you and you are able to hear them.
Now,
Without opening the eyes,
Develop your awareness of the room.
Visualize the four sides of the room.
The ceiling,
The floor,
The body lying on the floor.
See your body lying on the floor in perfect stillness.
In perfect relaxation.
Become aware of the physical body lying on the floor.
Complete awareness of the body lying in perfect relaxation.
Develop awareness of all the physical meeting points between the body and the floor.
Become aware of the contact between the physical body and the floor.
Awareness of the contact points of the body on the floor.
Do not sleep.
Do not allow your awareness to waver from the instructions.
Now observe the natural incoming and outgoing breath.
Observe the flow of natural breath within the body.
Just focus on the breath.
Become aware of the breath.
The spontaneous breath.
Experience the movement of breath in the body.
Observe the gradual rise and fall of the abdominal muscles at the time of inhalation and exhalation.
Observe the expansion of the abdominal muscles and the relaxation of the abdominal muscles at the time of exhalation.
Become aware of the breath which is deep,
Natural and spontaneous.
Do not try to alter the rhythm or flow of the natural breath.
Do not try to concentrate on the process of breathing.
Just be an observer of the incoming and outgoing breath.
See the expansion and relaxation of the abdominal muscles as you breathe in and as you breathe out.
With each exhalation,
Experience the deepening of relaxation of the physical body.
With each exhalation,
Experience the deepening of relaxation of the body.
Do not sleep.
Do not sleep.
Do not move the physical body.
Say to yourself mentally,
I am practicing yoga nidra.
Remind yourself that you are practicing yoga nidra.
Do not sleep.
Now is the time to make your sankalpa,
Your resolve,
A simple,
Positive resolve.
The resolve is a simple,
Positive wish which you may have for your life.
It should be clear,
Simple,
Short and concise.
Three to four words only.
Reflecting a wish you would like to attain in life.
Please mentally repeat your sankalpa,
Your resolve,
Clearly and with awareness three times.
Anything in life can fail,
But not the sankalpa made during yoga nidra.
Now we are going to rotate the awareness through different parts of the body.
Rotating the consciousness through the different parts of the body as quickly as possible.
The awareness has to move from one body part to the next according to the instructions.
I will be saying names of the different parts of the body.
For example,
If I say right hand thumb,
Then mentally visualize in your mind the right hand thumb.
See the right hand thumb in front of the closed eyes.
Repeat mentally,
Right hand thumb.
Become aware totally of the right hand thumb and completely relax the right hand thumb.
All this will happen simultaneously and quickly.
And when I say the name of the second part of the body,
Move your attention to that part.
And in this manner we shall rotate our consciousness,
Our awareness through the different parts of the body.
Starting from the right side and then to the left and then we will go to the back and then to the front.
Right hand thumb,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Four fingers and thumb together.
Palm,
Back of the hand,
Right wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Right shoulder,
Armpit,
Side ribs,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
Shin,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Five toes together,
The whole right side,
The whole right side,
The whole right side.
Now bring your awareness to the left side of the body.
Left hand thumb,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Four fingers and thumb together.
Palm,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Left shoulder,
Armpit,
Left side ribs,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Calf muscle,
Shin,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Five toes together,
The whole left side,
The whole left side,
The whole left side.
Now bring your awareness to the back of the body.
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
Right lower back,
Left lower back,
Right mid back,
Left mid back,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
The neck,
The spine,
The back of the head,
Top of the head,
The whole back,
The whole back,
The whole back.
Now bring your awareness to the front.
The forehead,
The forehead,
The forehead,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
The eyebrow centre,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Bridge of the nose.
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Tip of the nose,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Chin,
Throat,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Right side of the chest,
Left side of the chest.
Depression of the chest,
Navel,
Abdomen,
The whole front,
The whole front,
The whole front,
The whole right side,
The whole right side,
The whole right side,
The whole left side,
The whole left side,
The whole left side.
Complete awareness of the whole body,
The whole body,
The whole body.
Relax the whole body completely.
Relax the whole body completely.
Once again,
Repeat your sankalpa,
Your resolve.
Repeat your resolve three times mentally.
The same resolve you made at the beginning of the practice,
Repeat it mentally using the same words and the same attitude.
Become aware of the resolve with feeling and with faith.
Repeat it mentally three times.
Now become aware of the breathing.
Become aware of the natural breath.
Experience the movement of the natural breath in the body.
Become aware of the arms and legs and of the body stretched out on the floor.
Become aware of the meeting points between the body and the floor.
Develop awareness of the room,
The sides of the room,
The ceiling,
The floor.
Develop awareness of the noises in the room and noises outside the room.
Externalize the mind.
Do not open the eyes.
Externalize the mind.
Do not sleep.
Externalize the mind.
Become aware of the outside environment.
Gradually begin to move your body,
The toes,
The feet,
The fingers,
The hands,
The arms,
The head from side to side.
Take your time.
Do not hurry.
Do not open your eyes.
Simply move the body.
Take a deep breath in and stretch the whole body.
And then slowly and gently sit up using your elbows.
Only then open your eyes.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is over.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
