28-Minute Yoga Nidra, Inner Refuge

This is a 28-minute Yoga Nidra exploring the Inner Refuge or Inner Sanctuary. The Inner Refuge is a place of safety security and acceptance that is unique to each of us.

This Yoga Nidra includes a Sankalpa, deep breathing with sound vibration, and a rotation of consciousness.

Please join me on this journey to discover your Inner Refuge, find your peace, and know that you can return there at any time!

LOVE.
Jocelyn b.

Transcript

Welcome, I'm Jocelyn. Thank you for joining me on this Yoga Nidra and exploration of the inner sanctuary or inner refuge. So if you can find a place to get comfortable, That might mean laying back in a chair or lying on the ground or in your bed, Supporting your body with pillows or blankets or rolled up towels. And just finding comfort and support wherever you are. Yoga Nidra is effortless. And when you find yourself in a still place, Just allowing your eyes to close. Just bringing your awareness to your eyes and giving them the gentle invitation to relax back and down. Bringing your attention to your jaw, Offering your jaw the invitation to rest back and down. Your hips offering the invitation to relax and let go. And taking a moment to open your ears and listen to the sounds on this recording, The sound of my voice, The vibrations in the space around you. And we'll take a moment to simply deepen the breath. Just taking a deep breath into the body, Allowing the body to fill and expand. Opening the mouth and sighing out that air. Inhaling through the nose, Filling your body, Expanding and opening your mouth, Sighing it out and emptying your body, Allowing it to fall. Taking a few more breaths like this, Just inhaling, Opening your mouth and exhaling out. Inhaling, Opening your mouth and exhaling out. And one more time inhaling, Opening your mouth and sighing it out. In Yoga Nidra, We work with a sankalpa, A heart's true intention or true north. For this Yoga Nidra, We're going to work with the sankalpa, I am safe. So we'll inhale through our nose and on the exhale, Repeating silently to yourself the sankalpa, I am safe. You'll do this three times, Each on the arc of a breath. At your own pace, Starting now. We're going to work with vocalizing a bit today with the mantra, So Hum. The reason we'll be working with vocalizing today is as we vocalize, As we use our voice and as we have that humming sound, We are massaging the vagus nerve, Balancing the nervous system and bringing into balance that vagus nerve. We'll be working with the mantra, So Hum. The meaning behind So Hum is I am one. I am the oneness. So as we inhale through the nose, On the exhale, We'll start with the first part of the mantra, So, And we'll inhale again. And on the next exhale, We will work with the second half of the mantra, Hum. Inhaling. So. Inhaling. Hum. Inhaling. So. Hum. Inhaling. So. Inhaling. Hum. Inhaling. So. Inhaling. Hum. Inhaling. So. Inhaling. Hum. So we're going to let that go and I'm going to bring us on a short rotation of consciousness. If you could imagine as my voice guides you to each body part, Just a gentle whisper on that body part that invites it to gently release. As we go through the rotation of consciousness, Just bringing your gentle awareness to each place. Starting with the tip of the tongue, Your gentle awareness gently placed on the tip of the tongue. The inside of the right cheek, Gentle awareness placed there. The roof of the mouth, Gentle awareness. The inside of the left cheek, Gently guiding your awareness to the inside of the left cheek. Your teeth, Your gums, Gentle awareness to the gums in the mouth. A gentle awareness to the right nostril and the left nostril. Placing your attention, A gentle awareness on the right eye. The globe of the eye. All the little muscles behind the eye. The eyelid. Eyebrow, Gentle awareness placed like a kiss on the eyebrow. The space between the eyebrows, Gentle awareness. Left eyebrow. Left eyelid. All the little muscles behind the left eye, A gentle awareness. Like a soft caress of awareness on all the little muscles behind the left eye. The globe of the eye. The left eye. The back of the throat, Gentle awareness whispered over the back of the throat. The center of the throat, A gentle awareness. The heart space, A gentle awareness. Like a breeze across the heart space. The right shoulder. Upper arm. Elbow. Lower arm. The right palm of the hand. Gentle whisper of attention across the right palm of the hand. The navel center. Lower belly, A gentle awareness placed on the lower belly. The pelvic bowl. The right hip. Thigh. Knee. The lower leg, A gentle awareness across the lower leg. The ankle. Center of the bottom of the right foot. A gentle awareness placed in the center of the bottom of the right foot. The whole right leg. A gentle awareness cascading across the whole right leg. The heart space, A gentle, Beautiful attention across the heart space. The left shoulder. Upper arm. Elbow. Lower arm, A gentle awareness whispered across the lower arm. The palm of the left hand. A gentle awareness placed like a kiss in the palm of the left hand. The navel center. Gentle and loving. Placing your awareness on the navel center. The lower belly. And the pelvic bowl, A gentle placement of your attention across the pelvic bowl. The left hip. Thigh. Knee. Lower leg. Ankle. The center of the bottom of the left foot. Your attention gently spreading across the center of the bottom of your left foot. Your whole left leg. Attention cascading gently across the whole left leg. Can you imagine your attention gently being placed across the whole lower half of your body? Can you imagine your attention washing over the whole upper part of your body gently? And can you imagine your whole body washed over with a beautiful, Gentle attention cascading across the whole body? You can release that. An inner sanctuary or inner refuge is a place of safety. It is a place that you can come to time and again. Time and again. It is real and it lives inside of us. This is a journey into your inner sanctuary. A place of safety. A place of acceptance. A place of security for you. It can be real. It can be imagined. You can add anything that you'd like to this place. Can you imagine what this place looks like? It might be outdoors. It might be indoors. It might be a vast, Open area. And it might be a closed, Dark space for you. It might contain plant life and animal life. And it might be a quiet place. And it might not. There is no right or wrong. This is your inner sanctuary. Can you imagine what your inner sanctuary looks like? And notice the colors that surround you. And notice the shapes around you. I wonder if you could take a moment to really open your inner ears here. What do you hear? Do you hear the crickets of a night forest? Or do you hear the waves of an ocean? Maybe you hear silence. The turning of a page. What do you hear? Maybe you hear the voice of a loved one. Maybe you hear the voice of someone who has passed on. What do you hear? And I wonder if you could take a moment to feel. What does your body feel like here? Is the temperature cool? Or warm? Is there sun on your skin? Is there wind in your hair? What does it feel like to be in your body in this place? How does the breath in your body move in this place? What is the shape of your body here? Are you standing? Or are you sitting? Are you walking? What does it feel like in this place? What are the feeling tones of this place? And I wonder if you could open up the sense of aroma in this place. Do you smell anything? Do you smell the scent of a loved one? Or flowers? Or a salty sea? Do you smell the comfort of a morning coffee? What do you smell? What do you smell? And as you're in this inner sanctuary, This inner refuge of yours, Where there is safety and security and acceptance, Do you notice any symbols? Do you notice any people? This is a place that you can come back to at any time. You can spend time here. You can add elements to this place at any time. Breathe in the space. Inhale it in. And exhale it out. Take some time here. This is your inner sanctuary, Your inner refuge. And the more you come here, The more it will give back to you. And letting that go, Bringing back the sankalpa, I am safe. We'll be saying that silently to yourself on the arc of a breath three times. Inhaling. And exhaling. Exhaling. Two more times. And taking a moment to just deepen your breath. Inhaling and exhaling, Opening your ears to the sounds on the recording, The sounds in your space. Maybe just fluttering your eyes open without moving and just letting your eyes wander across the space that you're in. Noticing the colors, Noticing the textures, The shapes that surround you. Just getting present with your space here for a minute. And while you're doing that, Inhaling deeply. And while you're doing that, Inhaling deeply. Opening your mouth and exhaling out. Inhaling deeply. Opening your mouth and exhaling out. Adding sound if you would like. Thank you for joining me on this journey to your inner sanctuary, Your inner refuge. I am honored to bring people on these journeys. My name is Jocelyn Bates. Namaste.