40-Minute Inner Refuge Exploration - Yoga Nidra

Join me for this Meditation into your Inner Refuge.

Your Inner Refuge is a place within you of safety, security, home, unconditional love, etc. We all have an Inner Refuge. It may be a real or imagined place within and each of our Inner Refuges is unique to us. The more you work with your Inner Refuge the more it will be available to you in your every day life.

Inner Refuge work is a part of Yoga Nidra and is a strong practice for anyone who is experiencing anxiety, worry or fear, but it is a wonderful practice for anyone!

This meditation includes a 5 senses body scan as well as a rotation of consciousness.

I have several Inner Refuge or Inner Sanctuary meditations and they pair well with any of the traditional Yoga Nidra Meditations on my page. I also have a track dedicated to balancing your nervous system that could also be a beautiful partner to this work.

I hope you enjoy it!

Transcript

Welcome I'm Jocelyn.

This is a journey into your inner refuge or inner sanctuary and an inner refuge is a place of inner security,

Warmth,

Safety,

Home,

Love.

It can mean many things to each of us.

We're gonna go on a guided meditation to relax,

To be present,

To open our subtle selves and then I'm going to invite you into your own inner refuge.

So I invite you to get comfortable.

You know in yoga nidra we create a yoga nidra nest.

It's a place where we might turn down the lights low.

We might bring pillows or towels to hold our body so that our body can let go and relax back.

You might get an eye pillow or a blanket for your body to stay warm.

So just setting up your own yoga nidra nest and when you are ready finding yourself in a comfortable position and that might mean laying on your back or your side or sitting back in a chair but getting to a place where your body is as effortless as it can be and I invite you to close down your eyes,

Bringing your awareness inward,

Allowing for the deep quiet of awareness to be turned inward.

Might you bring your attention to the muscle of the mind,

That space between your ears,

Imagining the muscle of the mind softening at all its edges,

Expanding and softening.

You might even imagine the muscle of the mind slowly unfurling into a blossom like a spring flower,

Inviting that muscle of the mind to rest and might you allow your awareness to move toward the eyes,

The eyelids and the globes of the eyes,

The eyelashes,

The eye sockets,

All of the muscles behind both eyes.

Might you imagine all of those edges softening,

Blending back,

Resting,

With your eyelids closed,

Opening to an inner vision,

Softening all the periphery of eyesight and expanding into that inner vision that we all have and inviting your awareness to your nose,

The tip of your nose,

The right nostril and left nostril,

All of the nasal cavities softening at all the edges.

Might you feel the temperature of air as you breathe in with each inhalation and as you breathe out with each exhalation,

Allowing your awareness to rest here on each inhalation and each exhalation,

This dance between you and your body and the world that surrounds you.

There is a dance here of giving and receiving,

Inhaling and exhaling.

There is an exchange,

A giving and a receiving with the world all around you with each and every breath.

It is a gift.

It is a reminder that we are never truly alone.

Inhaling in your own time and space and exhaling whenever that exhalation presents itself and inviting your attention now to your ears,

Your right ear,

Earlobe,

Cartilage of the ear,

The ear canal and the left ear,

Earlobe,

Cartilage and ear canal and both ears,

Both inner ears softening at the inner ear as if you're gently pushing open a door,

Opening them to all the sound vibrations around you in this recording,

In your space,

Outside your space,

Within your body.

Open your ears to all of the sounds,

The echoes,

The songs,

The melodies and the words.

What do you hear when you allow your awareness to open up to the sound vibrations all around you?

Inviting your awareness now to your mouth and lips,

Inside of the right cheek,

Inside of the left cheek,

The teeth,

Gums,

The roof of your mouth and the floor of your mouth,

The tip of the tongue and the back of the tongue,

The whole environment of the mouth.

And beginning to rest,

Allowing your attention to move toward the throat,

The center of the throat,

The collarbones,

Both shoulders,

Upper arms,

Forearms,

Wrists,

Hums of the hands softening and opening and all 10 fingers,

Allowing your awareness to rest across both arms and the center of the chest,

The front ribs and back ribs and the heart center.

Imagine for a moment that your inhale is born here at the heart center and as you exhale,

The breath brings itself right back to the center of the heart.

Imagine as you inhale and exhale,

You're inhaling and exhaling from the center,

The very core center of the heart,

Enduring the breath that expands your awareness in all directions.

And when it is time to exhale,

That breath contracts back into the center most point of the heart,

Allowing to dance in the heart space.

And might you allow your awareness now to move down toward the belly,

The navel center,

The lower belly and the pelvic bowl,

All softening at the edges,

Resting back,

Both hips,

Calves,

Ankles and the bottoms of both feet open and soft and all 10 toes,

Your awareness drawn like a blanket over both legs.

I hate you allow your awareness to draw itself over the whole right side of the body,

The whole right side of the body and the left hemisphere of the brain.

And my eight,

You allow your awareness to be drawn across the left side of the body,

The whole left side of the body.

The whole left side of the body and the right hemisphere of the brain simultaneously.

My eight,

You allow and invite your awareness to draw itself up over the whole body,

Softening,

Opening and expanding the whole body,

The whole body and releasing that now.

The inner refuge is a place of inner security,

Safety,

A sense of home even,

Unconditional love,

Warmth or comfort.

And each person's inner refuge is uniquely their own.

There is no right way or wrong way to experience the inner refuge.

As we invite ourselves into our own inner refuge,

We experience it with gratitude and loving support.

To be open as I offer some questions to begin.

Is there a place that makes you feel safe?

It might be real or imagined.

It might be from a memory or from your imagination.

It might be inside or outside or in another galaxy.

Is there a place that calls to you that feels safe?

As if you are standing right in the center of this place.

Notice what you see.

Notice the colors.

The depth of colors.

Or the lack of colors.

Notice the textures.

Notice the environment you are standing in.

And know that you can change anything at any time here.

For one person,

It might be in a tiny cottage in the center of a mountain.

With blankets and pillows and slippers and rugs and fireplace.

And for another person,

It might be the forest with a knotty path.

Birds singing in the trees.

And a night sky.

For another person,

It might be at the ocean.

With wind in their hair.

Feet sinking into sand.

And yet another person might find their refuge in a city with lots of people and sounds.

So I ask you again,

What place calls to you that feels safe and secure?

The shapes around you.

The things you see.

If there's any people or animals.

And notice the background and the foreground in this place.

The depth of how far you can see in all 360 degrees.

And take a moment now to notice what it smells like here in this safe place.

Are there any aromas?

Any smells that remind you of anything?

Or that are calling you?

What is the sensation of smell that this place brings you?

Bringing your awareness in this place to your ears.

Notice what sounds are present here.

Sounds.

Do you hear?

Do you hear?

An ocean?

Or birds?

Or conversations?

Do you hear crickets?

Or a grandfather clock?

Do you hear nothing?

Howling the sound vibrations of this place.

To be witnessed as you experience it.

What sounds do you hear in this inner refuge of yours?

Maybe they're your own thoughts.

And bringing your awareness now to your mouth in this place.

Do you find any sensations of taste in this place?

Notice how your mouth feels here.

Does it thirst?

Is it hungry?

Does it want to say things?

Is the mouth dry or moist?

Is there a taste in the air like salt at the ocean?

Does it taste like a carnival?

Maybe it tastes like a milkshake you used to get when you were younger.

What does it taste like here at your inner refuge?

Allowing your awareness to move across your skin.

Can you notice what your skin feels like in this place?

Maybe you have a sensation of temperature or pressure of air or moisture.

What does your skin feel like here in this place?

You might even notice with your awareness on feeling different emotions within you in this place.

Safety and security can bring a lot of feeling up.

Love,

Comfort and home can bring a lot of feeling up.

Here it is safe to feel it.

So just noticing if there's any inner feelings that are present in this place.

Maybe it's a joy,

Maybe it's a peace,

Or maybe there's a sadness here.

That's okay.

With focus on your body,

Maybe you might notice what your body wants to do in this place.

Maybe it wants to sit or walk or dance or bathe.

Notice what your body wants to do in this place,

And you can allow your body to do it here.

Noticing how your inner refuge supports this.

How it's here for you.

Inviting your awareness to look around this place,

To explore this place,

And all the gifts that it has to offer you.

You might find people who are no longer here with you on earth in this place.

You might find animals,

Symbols,

All kinds of depth of color.

Allow yourself to explore for a minute this place.

Get to know your inner refuge and what it feels like to breathe in this place of safety,

Security,

Comfort,

Unconditional love,

Support.

This is your own unique inner refuge.

It's all yours.

Know that this place is always available to you.

This place is always within you.

And though we might be saying goodbye to it now,

You can visit this place any time.

You can visit it before bed or when you wake up or even throughout your day.

And you might visit just a quarter of it if that's all you have time for.

But the more you spend time with your inner refuge,

The more it will begin to be present for you when you need it.

So taking a last look around this place of yours.

Taking a deep breath in this place.

Taking two more deep breaths in this place.

And you can say goodbye for now,

Blow a kiss.

However you want to release this place for now.

And bring your awareness back into your body in this place and in this time.

Maybe taking a nice deep breath in through your nose.

Opening your mouth and sighing it out.

Ta-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da more inhale,

Opening your mouth and sighing it out,

Giving your shoulders a gentle roll,

Letting your head dip from side to side,

Allowing there to be a little wiggle through the ribs,

Maybe down through the waist,

Maybe pointing and flexing your ankles and your feet a bit,

Gently fluttering your eyes open,

Bringing a hand to your heart,

And giving your body a bit of gratitude for holding the space for you to be able to explore your inner refuge.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Your body gets just as much from that inner refuge as your mind.

Your heart and your nervous system are all part of one,

Right?

Thank you so much for practicing with me today.

Again,

My name is Jocelyn Bates.

I have a lot of different tracks on Insight Timer.

Please follow me if you don't follow me already.

I have a few different inner refuge meditations as well as short and long yoga nidra meditations as well.

So thank you so much for coming along.

Inner refuge is just such a beautiful practice that gives back to us in tenfold when we begin to use it.

Thank you,

My friends,

And I will see you next time.

Namaste.

Reviews

Thank you for your abundance of awesome nidra tracks!