Welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra.
Of integration and wholeness,
The web beneath.
Coming to stillness and allow your body to be completely received by whatever surface holds you Maybe it's the floor,
The earth.
Your mat or your bed.
Feel how it rises to meet you without condition.
Not requiring anything from you in return.
Let your feet fall open.
Let the arms rest a little distance away from the body,
With the palms turning upwards.
Open,
Available and resting.
Closing down the eyes.
And begin to take a few slow deep breaths in through the nose and releasing your exhale completely through the mouth,
Even sighing a little if you feel to Breathing in again,
Gathering inwards with the exhalation.
Exhaling letting go Just one more time.
Slow breath in.
Releasing completely with the exhale There is nothing to do here.
Nowhere to arrive.
This practice is about remembering what you already are.
There's nothing that we need to achieve.
You are already whole.
Already complete even if you feel you're in the middle of whatever feels incomplete or unresolved This practice is an invitation to feel wholeness.
As a living truth in the body.
Before we begin our journey through the body.
We come to our sankalpa or intention for the practice.
I invite you to bring your awareness into your heart center.
Center of the chest.
The space around the heart and the centre of your chest.
Warm,
Soft and open.
Just breathing here for a moment.
This is the place in us that knows,
In the heart center.
Beneath all the noise.
Maybe we can find what we most deeply long for here.
It's not what we think we might want or what we have been told that we want.
It's what we know to be true for us.
For ourselves.
And it's from this place that we can allow a sankalpa or an intention to arise.
It might come as a word,
A feeling,
An image,
A colour,
A sensation.
Just allow it to arise.
And see where it lands.
And maybe we can find some words or a short phrase.
Just let it rise the way something might rise up in the water.
Slowly and unhurried.
When it arrives,
Receive it,
Hold it in the heart space Gently cupping.
As if it was something very precious,
Very fragile.
If your sankalpa has words,
Then silently repeating those words to yourself three times.
Feeling it settle into you,
Into your warmth into the ground of you.
We will return to your Sankalpa again at the end of the practice when the body is rested and the soil has been prepared.
Somewhere beneath all the experiences there is a place in you that is already still It does not come and go with your moods.
It is not disturbed by any difficulty or carried away with joy and excitement.
It is quiet,
Steady,
Present.
In the same way that the mycelium abides in the dark earth.
Through every season and every storm.
Through everything that rises and falls above it.
Sense this place now.
It may feel like warmth in the chest or steadiness in the belly.
Or just the simple grounded weight of the body being held.
Let your attention rest here.
And this can be your home within the practice.
If you feel lost or overwhelmed at any time.
You can return here.
To your inner resource.
Following it like a thread back through the dark to somewhere safe.
Now we'll move awareness through the body.
And as we do,
I invite you to sense each part not in isolation but as a node in the living network.
Briefly illuminated by awareness.
In the same way that a thread of mycelium carries a pulse of light from one point of connection to the next Beneath every forest floor,
An invisible web weaves itself through the darkness.
It does not rush.
It follows the path of connection Touching everything it meets.
Carrying nourishment from one node to another.
Holding the whole forest in one continuous breathing conversation.
This is how we will move now.
As awareness moving through the web of you.
Touching,
Illuminating,
Passing on.
Nothing forced and nothing held.
Simply contact and connection.
The recognition that every part belongs.
We begin at the fingertips,
The outermost threads.
The tip of the right thumb,
Single point of contact with the world.
Index finger.
Middle finger Ring finger.
Little finger.
Feel how these five threads converge at the palm,
A node briefly lit back of the right hand.
The whole of the right hand.
Palm and the back of the hand together.
All five fingers.
A single living node in the network.
A thread moves up the wrist along the forearm Sensing the inner forearm Outer forearm arrives at the elbow another node branching out where threads diverge and converge.
Up through the upper arm.
Arriving at the shoulder A great junction in the web.
Where the arm rejoins the body The thread continues along the right side of the chest.
Sensing the warmth there.
Down the right side of the ribcage the right side of the waist Arriving at the hip.
Deep,
Grounded,
Rooted like an anchor in the earth below.
Down through the right thigh,
Inner and outer the knee,
Another node,
Another branching point the right calf,
The shin.
The ankle,
Delicate and precise.
The heel,
Pressing its warmth into the ground.
The sole of the foot,
The arch of the right foot,
The ball of the foot.
And the toes,
The right big toe,
Second toe Middle toe fourth toe little toe the most peripheral threads of the right side of the body Reaching into the earth Sense the whole right side of the body now as one continuous thread,
From fingertips to toe tips,
Fully let,
Fully felt.
A long luminous branch of the network.
Resting and awake.
Moving to the left side now,
A mirror web Bringing your awareness to the tip of the left thumb Index finger Middle finger.
Ring finger.
Little finger.
Palm of the left hand.
The back of the hand.
The whole left hand together.
A single node.
Moving up through the wrist.
The left forearm.
Elbow,
The branching point.
The upper arm.
Left shoulder.
Left side of the chest warm and soft.
The left side of the ribs The left waist.
The left hip.
Heavy and grounded.
Down the left thigh.
Left knee.
Left calf.
Shin and ankle.
The heel.
The sole of the left foot.
The arch of the left foot.
And the toes,
Left big toe 2nd toe middle toe Fourth toe.
Little toe.
The whole left side of the body.
Fingertips to toes One connected luminous thread.
Now sense both sides of the body together.
Right side and left side.
Resting.
Side by side two great branches of the same network.
Woven through the same body humming quietly with the same life.
The back of the body.
The Hidden Roots The parts you cannot see,
You cannot easily touch or rarely remember.
These are the hidden roots,
The foundation.
The part of the web that works in complete darkness.
The back of the skull,
Heavy and resting.
The base of the skull where the spine emerges,
The great central root.
Moving down through the back of the neck,
Vertebra by vertebra.
The upper back,
Broad and strong The shoulder blades like two leaves settling against the earth.
The mid-back the lower back.
Where so much is carried and so much is held.
Let's take a moment to allow the lower back to soften,
To release,
To trust the ground beneath you.
The back of the pelvis.
The tailbone pressing gently into the floor The deepest roots making contact with the earth.
The back of the right thigh,
Back of the left thigh.
Back of the right calf,
And the back of the left calf.
Both heels pressing down.
Two root tips touching the ground The whole back body.
All that is hidden.
All that supports.
All that you cannot see but holds you upright through your entire life.
The network has always known these parts.
Even when you forget them.
Now the front of your body,
Turning open towards the light.
The front of the throat.
Soft and open.
The collarbones.
Spreading wide like branches.
The chest.
Feel the breath moving here,
The gentle rise and fall of the breath.
The belly.
Soft and yielding.
Breathing too.
The front of the pelvis.
And the front of the thighs.
The shins and the tops of the feet the whole front body to open.
Facing upwards.
Receiving Bringing awareness now to the face.
The canopy of the mycelium network.
The jaw,
Heavy and soft.
The lips,
Slightly parted.
The cheeks,
Nose space behind your eyes.
Vast and quiet.
The forehead.
Wide and still.
Crown of the head.
The highest point where the body meets the sky.
And now let the awareness move inwards to the deep interior.
Beneath the skin,
Beneath the muscle.
Into the deep interior of your body.
The organs quietly at work.
The heart beating steadily without being asked.
The lungs,
Breathing without any effort.
The belly warm and alive This is the heart of the web,
The place where all threads converge.
Where nourishment is processed and sent outward to every periphery.
Where the life of the whole is sustained.
Rest awareness here for a moment.
In the warm,
Breathing,
Quiet,
Luminous centre of you.
Now let the web recognize itself.
Let awareness expand to hold the entire body at once.
From the crown of the head to the soles of the feet.
From the fingertips of the right hand to the fingertips of the left.
Front body,
Back body.
Surface and depth.
The parts you know well and the parts you have forgotten.
The whole body is one living,
Breathing,
Pulsing network.
Every thread connected to every other thread Every node in quiet communication with the whole.
This is what mycelium knows without being taught.
There are no separate parts.
The fingertip is connected to the heart.
The heel is connected to the crown.
Whatever happens at the periphery is felt at the center.
What moves at the centre is known at the outermost edge.
You are not a collection of pieces.
You are a web.
You are already whole.
Rest in this wholeness now.
The body breathing.
The Network Humming awareness simply present throughout.
Bring your attention now to the breath.
The pulse of the network.
With each inhale sense the threads lengthening the nodes brightening the whole web expanding outward.
With each exhale,
Sense the threads relaxing.
The nodes softening.
The whole web settling back into the dark,
Warm earth.
In expanding.
Outreturning The breath doesn't need your guidance.
Like the mycelium passing nutrients through its web without conscious direction.
The breath moves through the body with its own intelligence Notice the pause between the exhale and the next inhalation.
A tiny moment of utter stillness The Web at Rest.
Everything held.
Everything whole.
Nothing missing.
Let yourself rest in that pause.
The mycelium holds within its network both the thriving tree and the dying tree.
It does not serve only what is flourishing.
Integration asks us to do the same thing,
To hold the full range of what we are.
Without preference.
So as we practice this by welcoming opposites.
Separation and belonging.
Sense the feeling of being separate.
A single thread Unconnected Alone in the dark.
Now sense belonging.
Woven in How old?
A part of something vast and living.
And now hold both of these together.
The knowing of aloneness and the knowing of connection.
Held in the same open awareness.
Both are true.
Both belong here.
Sense the feeling of incompleteness.
The sense that something might be missing.
Something is unfinished.
Not quite right.
Now sense wholeness.
With nothing missing.
Nothing needing to be added or removed.
The network is complete.
And now hold both.
The incomplete and the whole present simultaneously.
The network is whole even while it continues to grow.
Now sense into the texture of effort.
Of reaching,
Of managing.
Making things happen.
Now sense pure being.
No effort,
No goal,
Simply resting in the fact of existence.
Now hold both at the same time,
Effort and stillness,
Side by side.
The mycelium expands and rests and expands again.
Both are part of the same life.
You are the awareness that holds all of this steady.
Unchanged the dark earth in which everything arises and dissolves.
Let whatever feeling is present be here.
Without needing to understand it or resolve it.
Maybe there is tiredness or grief,
Tenderness or a low hum of worry and anxiety.
Or perhaps there is lightness and warmth.
Or just something that has no name.
Sense where in the body it lives.
Give it some space.
Just to acknowledge.
You are a part of the web too,
And you belong here.
Integration means that nothing is exiled.
Not the difficult things,
Nor the unresolved things.
The network receives all of it.
Passes something through and continues.
As all images dissolve,
There is simply awareness.
Open and spacious.
Not located anywhere in particular.
Not reaching for anything.
Not moving away from anything.
This awareness has been here throughout the practice.
Beneath the body's sensing.
Beneath the breath.
Beneath the images.
It did not come into being when we started the practice and it doesn't end when the practice ends.
It is the ground itself.
The ground of awareness.
Rest as this ground now.
Not doing not knowing.
Simply being.
Open,
Still and whole.
Very gently now allow the breath to deepen.
And begin to feel the weight of your body.
The surface beneath you receiving you and the temperature of the air around you Return your awareness now back to the heart center The warm soft space in the chest.
A place where we began.
And come back to your sankalpa,
Your intention for the practice,
Maybe as words,
Maybe as a vision.
Or maybe as a living felt sense in the body.
Just let it be present here now.
In this quiet space that has been opened by the practice You planted your sankalpa like a seed.
Settling into the soft soil ready to grow It belongs here and you belong here.
Feel the whole body present.
All the threads and nodes,
Surface and depth.
The hidden roots and open canopy.
The whole network resting integrated and whole.
Begin to deepen the breath.
Just start to move the fingers and toes.
Just starting with very small movements,
Tiny micro movements And then when you feel ready to move a little more,
Starting to stretch,
Stretching your arms,
Stretching your legs,
Feeling the length of your whole body,
From fingertips to toe tips.
And when you're ready to move a little more,
We're going to bring your knees up to your chest and roll to one side,
Resting there for a moment.
Curled up and complete.
Like the mycelium network in winter earth.
Containing everything it needs,
Ready for what comes next.
When you feel ready to slowly sit up And very slowly let your eyes open again.
Remembering that the parts you have forgotten are still a part of your web.
And that the network,
Ancient and quietly luminous,
Holds you and knows you and has never let you go.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
