Prepare yourself for the practice of Yoga Nidra by stating,
I am awake and aware and I will remain awake and aware throughout the entire practice of Yoga Nidra.
I will remain awake and aware throughout the entire practice and take in the sounds that are outside of this room and allow every sound to pull you into that state of awareness of the present moment,
The environment you're in.
But each sound also deepens your relaxation.
And now begin to listen to the sounds within the room.
Every sound deepens your awareness of the moment,
Of this experience.
Each sound deepens your relaxation.
Try to remain still throughout the practice.
What I like to do is,
If I have an urge to adjust or move or scratch an itch,
I test myself and see if I can take a breath and let it go.
And if not,
Then I simply adjust a scratch and then I can move on and back into focus.
The practice of Yoga Nidra begins with a body scan,
Which is done at a somewhat moderate pace.
You can visualize,
Feel,
Sense,
Imagine the body part,
Or simply repeat the name of it,
But try not to move it.
And we'll do this body scan beginning entirely on the right side.
And so bring your awareness to your right thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
All five fingers,
And the spaces between your fingers,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Shoulder blade,
Armpit,
Ribs,
Waist,
Right hip,
Thigh,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of foot,
Top of foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe.
All five toes and the spaces between your toes.
Now bring your awareness to your left thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
All five fingers,
Spaces between the fingers,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Shoulder blade,
The left armpit,
Ribs,
Waist,
Left hip,
Thigh,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of foot,
Top of foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
All five toes,
And spaces between your toes.
Now bring your awareness to the very top of your head,
The crown of your head.
The scalp,
Forehead,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
The tip of your nose,
The upper lip,
Lower lip,
Upper teeth,
Lower teeth,
Roof of the mouth,
Floor of the mouth,
Tip of your tongue,
Back of the tongue,
Chin and jaw,
The right side of the neck,
Left side of the neck,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Right side of the chest,
Left side of the chest,
Right abdomen,
Left abdomen,
Right shoulder,
Left shoulder,
Right arm,
Left arm,
Right hand,
Left hand,
Right hip,
Left hip,
Right leg,
Left leg,
Right foot,
Left foot,
The whole right side of the body,
The whole left side of the body,
The whole right side,
The whole left side,
Both sides together at the same time.
And now bring the awareness to the entire body,
The whole body,
The whole body,
Start to observe your breath flowing in and out.
Notice how the body can breathe itself effortlessly without us even thinking about it.
As you observe your breath flowing in through the nostrils,
Imagine it going up to the space between your eyebrows and continuing down the entire length of your spine.
And as you exhale,
Feel the warm breath rising up the whole spine to the space between your eyebrows before exiting out through the nostrils.
And keep watching your breath flow this path while I'm quiet.
We're going to change this focus on the breath a little bit.
So as you breathe in and the breath flows down the length of the spine,
Now visualize your body expanding.
And as you exhale and the breath is rising up the spine,
See your entire body contracting back in towards the center.
And we not just expand out to the sides as our belly rises and falls,
But you could also see your length,
Your height grow with each breath in and contract down as you exhale.
And could you make it even more extreme?
Breathing in and seeing yourself the size of an elephant,
And as you exhale,
Shrinking down to the size of a mouse.
And let go of the awareness of the breath and let the body breathe itself.
And as you exhale,
We're going to explore the polar opposites of experiences for a few moments.
And so imagine feeling super heavy.
So heavy that your body was sinking into the floor.
Each part of you sinking heavier and heavier.
And now experience a sense of lightness.
As if you're as light as a little snowflake floating on the breeze.
The breeze lifts you up from underneath,
Carrying you higher,
Floating lighter and lighter.
And then return to that feeling of heaviness.
So heavy you feel like there are sandbags lying on top of you as you sink into the floor.
Deeper and deeper.
And return to the feeling of lightness.
The little snowflake being carried up towards the sky with the breeze.
Floating higher and higher,
Lighter and lighter.
And then we'll marry the opposites,
Feeling a sense of lightness and heaviness at the same time.
Sometimes it's easiest to find a place in the body that feels heavy and a place,
A different place that feels light,
And see those two places meeting and flowing into each other.
Other times we're capable and able to feel both light and heavy,
That paradoxical state,
At the same time.
So I invite you to explore feeling both light and heavy at the same time.
And let go of that.
And remember a time where you felt super cold,
Or in the freezing cold water,
Or laying in the snow.
So cold that you can feel that temperature penetrate into your bones.
And the hair stands up as you get goosebumps.
And just exploring even more sensation and intensity of cold.
And now exploring the sensation of heat.
If you're under the hot summer sun or in the hot springs,
And that heat just goes to your very core,
And you're just pouring sweat so hot.
And then feel that sensation of cold once again.
As if you're in the cold lake water,
Laying in the snow.
Cold penetrates all the way to your core.
The cold that makes your lips and your fingers go a little bit numb.
And now exploring that sensation of heat.
And the heat builds like you're standing next to a bonfire under the hot summer sun.
Soaking in the hot spring,
Sweating.
And now exploring both hot and cold together at the same time.
Hot and cold at the same time.
And letting go of that.
And now exploring a time when you felt extremely joyous,
Happy,
Blissful.
Remembering a time or imagining a time when you felt blissful,
Happy,
Or joyous.
And maybe recreating a little mental movie of that.
And feeling all those good feelings.
And I'll allow you to choose happiness's opposite,
Whether that's anxiety,
Sadness,
Anger.
You choose.
But remembering a time or imagining a time when you felt happiness's opposite.
And dive into the feelings of that little mental movie of you remembering or imagining that time when you felt completely unhappy about whatever it was.
And then return back to that happy,
Joyous,
Blissful memory or imagining.
Imagined moment.
Watching a little mental movie of that.
And noticing if there's a sensation that shows up in your body of that joy.
And letting the sensation,
The feeling grow in intensity.
And returning to happiness's opposite.
That same feeling as before.
And as you re-watch that mental movie of the unpleasant situation,
Feel the feelings and notice where the sensations show up in your body.
And how they show up.
And once again,
Playing with both at the same time.
So happiness,
Joy,
Bliss,
And then the opposite at the same time.
This one can be more challenging.
And so you might switch rapidly between the two and keep getting faster and faster until eventually,
They merge together.
Two sides of the same coin.
And can you be in the center of that coin?
And then letting go of that.
And now we're going to journey through a series of somewhat rapid visualizations to warm up this visualization mental muscle.
And so see as many details as you can,
Including colors,
Size,
Shape,
Shadows,
Textures,
Anything else.
And if you miss one,
Just stay with my pace.
And so I invite you to visualize a candle burning,
A cat laying in the sun,
The moonrise over the mountains,
A starry sky,
Big puffy white clouds,
A snowflake,
A leaf,
A path through the woods,
An open book,
A bowl of fruit,
A door that's slightly open,
A room in your house,
A cabin in the woods,
Waves rolling in and out on the shore,
Palm trees swaying in the breeze,
A happy dog wagging his tail,
A herd of deer,
A turtle swimming in the ocean,
Horses galloping,
A single tree,
A snake slithering in the grass,
The sun setting.
See yourself lying here on the floor and take a moment a little longer on this one.
And with keeping your eyes closed,
See the quality of light,
The colors in the room,
What you're wearing.
And now look at your closed eyelids,
Seeing that empty space in front of you like as if there was a big dark room in front of you.
In yoga,
We call this the Chittakasha.
And gaze into this dark space before your closed eyelids.
Allow whatever colors,
Shapes,
Images to arise if they want to arise.
And now imagine yourself standing outside or sitting seated outside.
And in the distance,
Imagine or visualize a dark storm cloud.
Notice its colors,
Its size,
And notice that it's slowly drifting towards you.
As this dark storm cloud gets a little bit closer,
You begin to notice different lumps and shapes in the cloud,
Which represent limiting or negative beliefs,
Which may include self-doubt or feeling unworthy,
Incapable,
That things are too hard or impossible,
Fear,
Guilt,
Resentment,
Or holding on to something from the past,
Etc.
,
Etc.
Take a moment to notice those lumps and shapes.
Notice the limiting or negative beliefs that those might represent.
The cloud gets even closer now,
And you begin to notice it releasing the most beautiful crystalline snowflakes.
You see these snowflakes glittering in the light as they drift in the breeze,
Slowly floating towards the ground.
As the snowflakes settle onto the surfaces of the plants,
Animals,
And the ground,
All the living beings and organisms rejoice,
Celebrating in the stimulating,
Quenching moisture.
And you begin to feel these cold snowflakes touching your skin and melting instantly.
The more magnificent snowflakes that this cloud releases,
The more magically white the world becomes,
Glittery,
Magical,
And beautiful,
And reflecting the light.
The cloud is also transformed,
Becoming lighter and brighter,
Reflecting its inner state,
Which is now free of those old,
Outdated beliefs.
As the cloud travels through the sky,
It is now gathering positive energy,
Positive beliefs,
Perhaps even the reverse of what it had before,
And all the resources it needs to exist to its full potential.
The cloud knows its worthiness and the love that is within and all around it.
It knows all goals,
Hearts,
Desires,
And intentions are achievable with the right energy.
So the cloud feels confident,
Capable,
And valuable,
Seeing the beautiful,
Magical snow it made,
And knowing itself capable of manifesting magic whenever and however it desires.
See how the cloud is lighter and brighter,
And reflecting divine light,
And see the cloud getting even closer to you now,
So close you can touch it.
You begin to feel the cloud with your hands,
And sense its presence.
Sense a pillowy solidness to it.
Climb up onto the cloud,
And feel the soft yet solid support.
Find a comfortable spot on the cloud to sit or lie,
And the cloud begins to carry you up into the sky.
As the cloud takes you higher and higher,
You begin to see all the stars around you,
And you begin to relax more and more.
Your virtual eyes gently close,
And you drift to sleep.
When some time has passed,
You see a guide.
Your guide may take the form of a teacher,
A guru,
Spiritual leader,
Animal,
Or another entity,
Whatever your mind chooses.
Take some time to get acquainted with your guide.
They have been waiting for you to visit,
And they welcome you to ask questions.
Take the time to listen to your guide's wisdom.
While I am quiet,
The answers may come in the form of words,
Images,
Or feelings,
Or something else.
When your guide has finished,
Express gratitude.
And then your guide gives you a gift.
Notice what it is as you put it into your hand.
And as you hold it in your hand,
You feel a potent positive energy flow into your hand,
Up your arm,
To your heart,
And from there,
It fills your whole body.
Positive energy filling your whole body.
You are glowing with light energy,
Similar to the color of the gift.
And now your guide gently touches your third eye,
That space between the eyebrows.
Instantly,
You travel through time and space to the place and moment when you have achieved that Sankalpa that we came up with at the beginning of our practice this evening.
Remembering that Sankalpa intention goal that you set.
Notice all the details of when it is,
Where you are,
What you are doing,
Who you are with,
And how you feel.
While I'm quiet,
Fill in all the details of this.
Notice the evidence of proof that you have manifested this heart's desire intention.
See what has shifted in your physical reality and notice how you feel.
And notice what you now believe about yourself.
Now that you've seen that you have achieved this,
And state this positive belief to yourself three times mentally.
And now find yourself back on the cloud with your guide.
And your guide tells you that you have just seen your future,
That you are worthy,
Capable,
Empowered,
And powerful.
You have all the energy and resources within you and all around you,
Supporting you to manifest this.
The cloud begins to descend and you feel so grateful for having received this wisdom and vision.
Once more,
Thank your guide.
They tell you that you can visit anytime you like.
All you have to do is close your eyes and take three deep,
Slow exhalations and ride the cloud up into the cosmos.
You begin to climb down and step onto the snowy ground.
You see yourself transformed and walking,
Talking,
Moving,
And behaving like the success that you are.
Like the powerful,
Connected spirit that has achieved your heart's deepest desire.
Notice how good you feel.
And notice what you believe about yourself now that you've seen yourself achieve this heart's desire.
And with holding these positive feelings within you,
State that intention,
Goal,
Or heart's desire mentally to yourself three times.
Repeating it mentally three times.
These positive emotions and beliefs are your true nature.
They are your authentic self.
And so continue to experience them fully and completely.
And hold on to these good feelings as you bring your awareness back into present time and space.
Again,
Seeing yourself lying here on the floor.
Noticing the sounds in the room and outside of the room.
Feeling how your body connects to the floor.
How the air in your clothing hugs your skin.
Feeling the support of the cosmos,
The entire earth,
Your whole community.
All desiring that you achieve this sankalpa you set.
You are connected.
Before you begin to slowly reawaken with the tiniest of movements,
I invite you to imagine what they will feel like,
Where they will be,
And when you begin to have that complete idea of where and how you'll move and what it'll feel like,
Then I invite you to begin to explore those movements as if for the first time.
And just for fun,
Compare the experience of what you imagined and the reality of that movement.
And you can let those tiny movements grow gradually,
Slowly,
Gently.
Eventually maybe taking a full body stretch.
And eventually rolling to one side.
Practice of Yoga Nidra is complete.
