Welcome to your Yoga Nidra session.
This is your guide Kanchi and I am grateful you took this time to be here today.
Yoga Nidra is a powerful technique of conscious rest.
It helps in releasing physical tension while calming the nervous system and resetting the mind by guiding you into deep relaxation.
This recording focuses on the Muladhara Chakra,
The root centre,
Which is your foundation of safety,
Survival and support.
As you rest,
We will invite the qualities of grounding,
Stability and trust to arise and settle into the body.
Settle into a comfortable position,
Laying flat on your back in Shavasana.
Let your arms rest away from the body,
Palms opened and relaxed.
Allow your feet to fall outwards naturally.
Begin by feeling the shape and position of your body.
Check if it feels even and supported.
Make any small adjustments that you need so you can be fully at ease.
Using any props to support you.
When you are ready,
Close your eyes softly,
Inhaling deeply into your belly and exhaling completely.
Start by telling yourself mentally,
I am now going to begin the practice of Yoga Nidra.
I will stay awake and aware.
I will be completely still.
I will avoid thinking and analysing,
Instead I will focus on relaxing,
Experiencing and enjoying.
I will keep following all instructions.
Start by tensing and relaxing the body.
As you breathe in,
Scrunch your face to tighten the facial muscles,
Tightening the limbs all the way to the fingertips and toes,
Chest,
Stomach and buttocks tightened all at once.
Holding your breath consciously and creating maximum tension for a few moments in every muscle of the body and then release it,
Letting go of the breath completely,
Taking a few deep breaths in and out,
Enjoying that feeling of relaxing as you exhale and now for the second time as you inhale,
Tighten the face,
Arms,
Legs,
Chest,
The stomach and the buttocks all at once,
Feeling the tension build up in every muscle,
Every corner of the body and this time sending all your mental frustrations and worries into the physical body and then letting go,
Enjoying that feeling of complete relaxation,
Taking a couple of deep breaths without tensing to help you let go further,
Know that you can let go mentally as easily as you can let go physically.
From now on there will be no further movements so if you wish to make any adjustments please do so now and feel perfectly comfortable for the rest of your yoga nidra practice.
And now we begin to take our awareness outside,
Listening to all the sounds around you and in this recording,
Without thinking of the cause or origin of these sounds,
Simply hearing as if you are listening to noises or music,
As if you are mentally imitating the sound in your mind.
Stretch your awareness out like a radar,
Picking up on the softest,
Most subtle and far away sounds.
In this moment ask yourself,
Am I awake and aware?
If your mind begins to wander and think of other things,
Just realize what has happened and know that it's ok,
It's normal but as soon as you realize that your mind has drifted off,
Bring it back to listening and listening to my voice,
Listening very carefully,
Observing the gaps between the sounds and the sound of silence.
Now feel your body resting against the floor and the contact points between the body and the ground underneath you,
Starting from the base of your body at the feet,
Heels,
Legs,
Buttocks,
Arms,
Shoulders and the back of the head.
Feeling the force of gravity pulling your body towards the floor and surrendering yourself,
Surrendering to the force of gravity as the weight of your body presses down against the surface of the earth.
And now let's bring our attention to the heart space.
In this moment of stillness invite a sankalpa,
A simple positive intention or resolve,
Letting it arise from a space of safety and grounding.
If you don't have a personal sankalpa that you are working with at the moment,
You can choose to repeat one of the following resolves for this practice.
I am grounded and supported.
I feel safe within my body.
From the depth of your being,
Repeat your sankalpa silently in your mind,
Three times with full faith and conviction,
Knowing that the sankalpa made in your yoga nidra practice will become a reality and as you mentally speak it,
See yourself already living it.
Now begin to bring your awareness to the body.
Rotation of consciousness.
Stay still,
Simply feeling each part of the body as I name it,
Relaxing it and letting it soften.
Right hand thumb,
Index,
Middle,
Ring,
Little finger,
Front of the palm,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Right shoulder,
Right side of the chest,
Waist,
Hip joint,
Whole of the right thigh,
Knee joint,
Calf,
Ankle,
Top of the foot,
Sole of the foot,
Right big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth toe.
Sweeping your awareness up and down the right side of your body,
Relaxing and refreshing the right half of your body.
And now shifting your awareness to the left side.
Left hand thumb,
Index,
Middle,
Ring,
Little finger,
Front of the palm,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Left hand,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Armpit,
Left shoulder,
Left side of the chest,
Waist,
Hip joint,
The whole left thigh,
Knee joint,
Ankle,
Top of the foot,
Sole of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth toe.
Sweeping your awareness up and down the left side of the body,
Relaxing and refreshing the left half of your body.
In this moment,
Ask yourself,
Am I awake and aware?
Now bringing your awareness to the top of your head,
Feel the sensation here like a gentle hand resting lovingly over your forehead.
The same hand is gently stroking your forehead,
Wiping away all your worries.
Relaxing the eyebrows and the space in between the eyebrows.
Left eye and the right eye,
Softening and resting in the eye sockets.
Left cheek and right cheek,
Relaxing and becoming loose.
Left ear and right ear,
Top lip and bottom lip,
Slightly parted,
Letting go of tension.
The tongue is becoming soft at the base of the mouth,
Resting at the palate of the mouth,
Unclenching the jaw and letting the entire face relax at once.
And now bringing your awareness to the throat,
Relaxing the space,
Collar bones,
Chest,
The centre,
Upper belly,
Lower belly,
Pelvis,
Thighs,
Knees,
Shins,
Tops of the feet,
Going up the back of the body,
Heels,
Calves,
Knees,
Back of the thighs,
Buttocks,
The sacrum,
Middle back,
Upper back,
Back of the arms,
Shoulders,
Neck,
The back of the head.
And now spread your awareness throughout the whole body,
Feeling your whole body at once,
Completely relaxed.
In this moment ask yourself,
Am I awake and aware?
And now bring your attention to the natural breath,
The natural rhythm of your breath,
Just as it is.
Simply observing,
Without trying to change anything.
Feel the breath as it flows in and out,
The lower belly rising as you inhale and falling as you exhale.
And now move your awareness to the base of your spine.
The base of your spine near the perineum is your muladhara chakra.
Allowing the breath to touch this space.
Grounding with each inhale and softening with each exhale.
Every breath cycle anchoring you deeper into safety,
Stability and trust.
Activating and balancing your root centre.
In this moment check in with yourself.
Am I awake and aware?
Now let's go deeper.
Deeper into your deepest part of being.
To the place where you see your dreams at night.
Your inner mind screen.
Your chidakash.
Exploring your chidakash,
Knowing that you are exploring another dimension of your being.
Notice if it is a large space or a small space.
Is it bright or is it dark?
Does it feel warm or does it feel cold?
And whatever you see or don't see,
Just watch with patience and acceptance.
You find yourself walking through a dense and ancient forest.
Feeling the ground underneath your feet.
Soft,
Steady and cool.
Every step connecting you to something deep and timeless.
You find yourself surrounded by tall trees.
Tall trees rising around you like guardians.
The trunks of these trees are wide and the roots growing deep into the soil.
You notice that there is a silence here but it does not feel empty.
It feels like a silence full of presence.
A silence full of knowing.
And as you continue to walk further,
Deeper into the forest,
You reach a small clearing.
And at its centre is a smooth,
Flat stone.
Dark grey in colour with veins of deep red running through it.
You now find yourself sitting upon the stone and feeling its stillness meeting your own.
The earth beneath you feels vast.
Vast and unshakable.
And you begin to feel its quiet heartbeat.
Slow and steady but strong.
In this moment,
You feel rooted.
Rooted in the present moment.
And rooted in your life.
Know that you are safe here.
Supported by the earth.
Belonging to the world as it is.
Stay with this image.
The forest.
The stone.
And the deep veins of red running through it.
Know that this is your Chidakash.
Whatever you see or don't see,
Just watch patiently with awareness and acceptance.
And now returning back to your sankalpa,
Mentally repeating it to yourself three times.
Repeating it with full faith and conviction.
Letting it settle deep into your awareness,
Knowing that the sankalpa that you have made in your yoga nidra practice is becoming your reality as you see yourself having achieved it already.
And now gently start to come back,
Bringing back with you the inner experiences,
Insights and energy.
Begin to bring your awareness back to your body,
Feeling the weight of your body resting on the earth.
Start to feel the shape of your body,
The softness in your muscles,
The calm in your breath,
As you come back to the sounds surrounding you.
Listening to all the sounds in your presence.
Slowly reorienting yourself to the external world of activity.
Returning back into the body.
And now gently begin to move your fingers and your toes.
Maybe you would like to stretch your arms and legs.
Taking your time as if you were waking up from a deep and nourishing rest.
When you feel ready,
Roll to one side and pause here for a moment.
You can continue to stay here,
Resting in a fetus position,
Or if you feel ready,
Then come slowly up to a seated position with palms joining together in namaskar mudra in front of your heart.
May you walk through the world with steady feet.
May you feel rooted in who you are.
And may safety and strength guide your every step.
Namaste and I hope you have a wonderful day ahead of you.
