Welcome,
Welcome to this practice of Yoga Nidra.
A practice of deepening into trust.
Of being rooted in trust.
Let yourself arrive.
Gently.
Softly.
For now,
There is nothing you need do.
Know where you need be.
No one else to tend to.
Here you can let go.
To rest.
Conscious rest.
And take time to become comfortable.
Be aware of what your body is asking today and respond to that.
Find your way to comfort,
The deepest possible comfort.
And then go deeper.
Ask yourself what can you do to make yourself just that little bit more comfortable.
It could be as simple as adjusting the level on your headphones.
Perhaps tucking any loose hairs away from your face,
Or just making sure your pillow is really supporting your head and your neck.
These small details have a real impact on our practice.
Don't rush them.
Mindfully respond to them.
Respond to what it is you need.
Take a moment to listen.
You won't know.
Allow your eyes to close,
And if you'd rather keep them open,
Allow them to soften.
Let's begin by arriving through our breath.
Take a long,
Slow inhale through the nose.
Filling the belly,
The ribs,
The chest.
And then let it go through the mouth.
Along.
Unhurried Sigh.
Again,
Breathing in all the way up.
And sighing it out all the way down.
One more breath.
Perhaps the fullest breath you've taken today.
Hold it at the top.
For just a moment.
And then let it all go.
Fall away.
And then release any control of the breath Let it find its own rhythm,
Its own pace.
Here,
In this body,
In this space,
In this moment.
You have arrived.
Bring your awareness and your attention now to what lies beneath you,
The support beneath you.
For now,
You can let go of holding everything.
Of holding yourself up.
Of being responsible.
Of holding everything together.
Here.
You can let go.
And allow the ground.
To carry the load.
Feel your shoulders sinking back.
Your jaw loosening.
Allow everything.
Just soften.
My voice will be with you the whole way through practice,
But if you'd rather drift from it at any point,
Or follow an image of your own instead of any I offer,
Please trust yourself.
Your own knowing comes first.
And there will be periods when my voice goes quiet.
Know that I'll be holding the space for you.
You can allow yourself to drop into them,
And I'll bring you gently back at the end.
The body is always working towards balance.
Equilibrium Homeostasis Deep rests such as yoga nidra.
Helps open these doors.
So trust the process.
That's in itself.
It's the whole practice today.
To trust.
Allowing something wiser,
More ancient and all-knowing within.
To take over for this time.
So let go.
Surrender.
And rest in simply being.
Notice now,
The senses beginning to turn.
Not shutting down or turning off.
Just turning inward.
The way a flower turns.
At the end of the day.
Sound first.
Let the sounds around you arrive.
And then let them lose their names.
You don't have to know what anything is.
Let it all become Simply Sound.
Let the far sounds become distant.
And the near sounds become distant too.
Until the outer world.
Is just a hum on the edge of things.
Now the edges of the body.
Notice where you end and the world begins.
And then be aware of how uncertain that line really is.
How the border blurs.
How it's hard to say exactly where the one stops and the other begins.
Something is receding now.
Like a great door being closed on a warm room.
With you.
Already within.
And welcome into this space now.
A feeling of safety,
Of calm.
Of peace.
A refuge or a haven within.
Somewhere you can call home.
It might be a place you know,
Or somewhere you've never been before.
It might be a light or a warmth.
Or it might be a feeling with no image at all.
Whatever's there.
Let it be.
Exactly as it is.
Your inner resource.
A place you can come back to.
At any moment in this practice.
Or at any hour of any day.
As it always was.
And always will be.
This Place Within.
Is yours.
Imagine,
If you will,
An acorn in the palm of your hand.
Small.
In case.
Yet inside it.
Folded.
Completes and waiting.
Is an entire oak tree.
The branches it hasn't yet grown.
The shade is still to give.
The shelter it's yet to offer.
All of it already there,
Inside this tiny acorn.
Just not yet seen.
Now watch the acorn go down into the dark earth.
Where all its potential will begin to unfold.
Here,
In this fertile place,
Like the acorn with all its potential.
Our Sankalpa is planted.
Our deepest desire.
Our sacred vow to ourselves.
Spoken as if already so.
You may be working with your own sankalpa,
Or you may like to use this suggestion for today's practice.
Whatever feels right for you.
Remember your own knowing comes first.
Starting with the words,
I am,
State your sankalpa silently three times.
And if you're using today's suggestion,
I am rooted in trust,
And I am free.
Bring your awareness back to your body,
Lying here on the earth.
Imagine your body.
As strong as a tree now.
Roots at the feet.
Grounding deep into the earth.
The long trunk of the spine.
Branches spreading out into the arms.
The crown of the head.
In OpenSky.
And awareness.
Let awareness move around your body now,
Like sunlight through leaves.
DAPL.
I'm Harry.
Landing here,
Glowing a moment.
And then moving on.
You don't need to feel anything in particular.
Just let the light gently touch each place as you hear it name.
Beginning.
At the very tip of the right branch,
The right hand.
And the right hand thumb.
First finger.
Second finger.
Third finger.
And little finger.
The palm of the right hand.
Back of the hand.
The right wrist.
Lower arm.
Elbow.
I'll put them.
.
.
And armpit.
The right side of your chest to your waist.
And the right hip.
Your thigh.
Me.
Lower leg.
Ankle.
Solar flip.
The right beard too.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe and little toe.
The whole of your right foot.
Moving to the left branch.
And the left hand.
And the left hand thumb.
First finger.
Second finger.
Third finger.
And Littlefinger.
Palm of the left hand.
The back of the hand.
The Left Wrist.
Lower arm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
And armpit.
The left side of the chest.
To the waist.
The Hill.
The thigh.
The lower leg.
The ankle.
Soul of the left foot.
To the left.
Big turn.
Second hope.
Bird Tote.
Fourth toe and little toe.
The whole of the left foot.
Now the light falls along the back of the tree.
The whole of the bag.
Right shoulder blade.
Left shoulder blade.
And the space between them.
The whole length of the spine.
The trunk.
Strong and quiet.
All the way down to the lower back.
Then around to the front.
The throats.
The collarbones,
Right and left.
The right side of the chest.
The left side of the chest.
The whole chest,
Rising and falling.
Like a canopy in the wind.
The belly is soft.
The pelvis,
Heavy and grounded.
Men up into the crown.
The top of the head.
The forehead wide and smooth.
The right eyebrow.
And the left eyebrow.
On the space.
Between the eyebrows.
Both eyes resting back in their sockets.
The right cheek.
The Left Chi.
The right ear.
Left ear.
The nose.
The upper lip.
The law of Allah.
Both your lips together.
The jaw,
Releasing.
Unhooking.
And your tongue.
Lying heavy and still.
In the base of your mouth.
Another hull at once.
Root to crown.
Branch to branch.
Lit all the way through with your golden-dappled light.
The whole body.
The whole body.
The whole body made whole.
With your awareness.
And light.
Let the image of the tree soften now.
And become aware of your body lying here,
Resting on the floor,
Resting on the earth.
Feel where your body meets the ground.
Every place where you are met.
The backs of the heels.
The Covs.
The backs of the knees.
The backs of the thighs.
The glitz.
The lower back.
Perhaps a small arch.
A small space.
The shoulder blades.
The backs of the arms.
The elbows.
The hands wherever they rest.
The back of the head.
Notice.
The ground is not only receiving you.
It's rising to meet you.
Pressing gently back.
Every point of contact.
Is a meeting.
You giving your weight,
The Earth receiving it.
Invite your awareness now toward your breath.
Not changing it.
Simply noticing your breath.
This breath.
It has been breathing you your whole life.
Through every night you slept.
And every day you've lived.
Through every year it carried on.
Faithfully.
Without you needing to do a thing.
Feel the breath where it enters your body.
Cool arriving.
Warm Leaving.
Feel the sensation of breath.
Entering and leaving your body.
All on its own.
Now I'll bring a count to the breath.
Counting backwards silently from 27 down to 1.
Each number.
Going a little deeper.
Down into the earth.
Down into deepest stillness.
Like the acorn.
Settling into the dark.
Breathing in 27.
Breathing out.
27.
Breathing in.
26.
Breathing out.
26.
And continue.
With your own breath.
And your own pace.
All the way down.
So on.
And if you lose count,
And you may,
Simply begin again at 27.
There is no failing here.
Losing the count is often a sign you're dropping deeper.
Now let the counting go.
Wherever you reach,
Let it go.
Leave the numbers behind.
Like footprints in soft ground.
Now gently we're going to invite two pairs of opposites First,
Sum up the feeling of holding on.
A hand closed.
Fingers tight around something,
Not wanting to let go.
Let it be here for a moment without judging it.
Summon up the feeling of holding on.
And now the opening.
The hand turning over.
Palm out.
Fingers loose.
Nothing hell.
Nothing tight.
Letting go.
Holding on and letting go.
The closed hand.
The open palm.
Gripping.
Releasing.
Now summon up the experience of darkness,
The deep dark of the soil where the acorn lies.
Nothing to see.
Nothing yet known.
The dark where roots feel their way forward,
Blind,
And grow anyway.
And now light.
Sunlight on the forest floor.
Pouring through a canopy of leaves.
Warmth on your face.
Spacious.
Everything reveal.
Let this life fill you.
Darkness.
And lie.
The roots in the soil.
The branches in the light.
The unknown.
Unknown.
And now feel both of these together at the same time.
The darkness and the light.
The oak needs both.
Roots in the Dark.
Crown in the light.
Let them soften into one another.
Until there is no line between them.
Each an experience of the whole.
The immeasurable,
Boundless.
And infinite.
Now notice what's left.
What remains quietly awake.
Underneath everything.
Underneath it all.
Be with this.
Call to your mind's eye now the following images.
Let them come and let them pass,
Like leaves floating in the wind,
And trust what comes.
Imagine a field of wildflowers.
The sun rising through autumn mist.
Frost on a spider's web.
A bud close tight on a winter twig.
Rain soaking into dry earth.
A river finding its way around a stone.
Soft moss on an old stone wall.
And a single acorn.
Resting in your open palms.
Bring back to your mind's eye an image of the single acorn being planted into the earth.
Received and resting in the fertile soil.
Until slowly.
At exactly the right time.
It begins to unfold.
A thread of white roots going down.
Pale shoot going up.
Both moving in exactly the right direction.
At exactly the right time.
Without ever having been taught.
And then in time.
Good time.
Yay corn!
Becomes tree.
See the shape of it growing tall against the sky.
The bar.
The light coming through.
This tree has never once forced a leaf.
It has never pulled at a bud to open it.
It has never lain awake worrying about the spring.
Every winter,
It stands completely bare.
With no proof at all that green is coming.
And it stands there anyway.
That's trust.
And underneath.
The roots reaching further than the branches ever do.
Patient.
Doing real work in the dark.
Knowing it will find nourishment.
It will find what it needs in the dark,
Fertile,
And unseen soil.
That's trust.
And threaded between the tree's roots.
Fine as silk.
A whole hidden network.
Tree.
Touching tree.
Sending sweetness to the ones that need it.
Feeding the young one in the shade.
Holding the tired one through a hard year.
No tree in the woods stands alone.
They are all connected.
Even though we might not see it.
That's trust.
As it is with you.
Every person who has ever loved you.
Is part of that root work.
Some near,
Some far away,
And thinking of you anyway.
Some no longer here.
Yet somehow still feeding the roots.
You are held by more than you can see.
We are all connected.
That's trust.
And in the trunk.
The Rings.
One for every year.
The wet years and the dry ones.
The rain and the sun.
All of it kept.
All of it making the trees stronger.
Wiser and richer.
And when the storm comes,
The oak doesn't hold on tighter with its branches.
It lets them bend.
And trusts its roots to hold.
Rooted so deeply.
That the branch is.
Afraid to move with every wind.
That's trust.
Now let this feeling of trust move through you,
Like a welcome warmth in your bones and muscles.
Like sun shimmering through the leaves.
Golden,
Dappled sunlight.
And let gratitude rise here.
For your people.
Let their faces come.
Don't choose them.
Let them come.
For the friendships.
The long ones.
The ones that laugh.
The ones that stay.
For the love you have given.
Which is still out there working its way through the world.
In people and generations you may never even meet.
And for the love that you have received.
All love.
You have received.
Be grateful.
Be thankful.
And for this life.
This one improbable,
Extraordinary life.
Be grateful.
Be thankful.
As Julian of Norwich reminds us.
All shall be well.
And all shall be well.
And all manner of things shall be well.
Be rooted.
Like the oats.
Rooted in trust.
All shall be well,
Indeed.
May you come to know the quiet in you.
That was never once afraid.
That has waited all your life.
Like water beneath stone.
May you learn the patience of the oats.
Which rests with winter,
Holding the whole promise of summer in sight.
Without needing to know.
May you feel beneath your life.
The root work of every love you have known.
Still holding you.
Still.
Nourishing you.
Still reaching you through the dark.
And when the way ahead is hidden from you.
May you remember.
You were never asked to see the whole park.
Only to trust the ground.
That rises to meet your feet.
May you be rooted and may you be free.
May you be rooted in trust.
And trust that you are held.
Gently bringing your sankalpa to mind once more.
And prepare to repeat it again,
Silently to yourself.
Three times,
Each reflecting the triad of universal energies.
Each one deepening it further.
Confirm your Sankalpa now with your whole being.
Be it your own or the one suggested.
I am rooted in trust,
And I am free.
Remember,
We cannot always alter our external world or circumstance,
But we always,
Always have absolute freedom to choose our inner direction.
Our intention.
To navigate our life how we wish to live.
Fully.
And holy.
It's all about choice.
And that is always yours.
Notice your breath once again and invite it now to become a little deeper.
Filling your body with air as you start to make your return.
Earlier we counted down into the stillness.
Now we'll count back up from 1 to 10.
Like sap rising up through the trunk,
Allow energy to awaken you into a feeling of restoration,
Of rejuvenation,
With each number a little more awake,
Rested,
And rooted in yourself.
Breathing in one.
Breathing out.
Breathing in too.
Breathing out 2,
And continue in your own time all the way up to 10.
Now let the counting go.
Notice the sounds around you now,
And remember in your mind's eye the clothes that you're lying in,
The covers over you.
Notice the air on your skin.
Feel the weight of your body connected to the support beneath.
Your roots are still there,
Even as you come back,
Ready to rise.
Take a long,
Deep breath and sigh it out,
Letting everything go other than that which you wish to keep from this practice.
Place that safely in your heart.
You might like to make some small movements,
Maybe touching each of your finger pads to your thumb,
Circling your wrists or ankles,
Maybe even having a little stretch as you return,
Knowing that there's no rush at all.
And when you're ready,
Gently,
Gently,
Slowly open your eyes.
Welcome back.
And remember in the words of Herman Hesse.
A tree says my strength is trust.
May yours be as well.
Rooted and free.
This practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Thank you so much for taking the time to practice with me today.
I wish you a wonderful rest of your day or evening ahead.
Hari Om Tat Sat,
Hari Om Tat Sat,
Hari Om Tat Sat Thank you.
