Hello and welcome to this Yoga Nidra to explore your own expression of your heart's desire of Sankalpa.
One of the understandings of Sankalpa is evolving over time,
Born from the heart.
So,
Remember this as you settle back and effortlessly,
With an open mind,
Journey towards your own inner desire without trying to grasp it or figure it out,
Knowing that there is nothing for you to do or achieve,
Nothing for you to do wrong,
Because in this Yoga Nidra,
There is nothing for you to do,
Simply settle back,
Find a comfortable position,
Perhaps lying on your back or lying on your side,
Supported by your Yoga Nidra nest,
Settling into complete comfort so that you can receive deep rest and from this deep multi-layered restoration,
What might arise is this deep knowing of what you desire,
Of what is your own motivating force that pulls you in the right direction through life.
So if you're there,
Settled,
Comfortable,
Notice if there is anything else you need to do to make yourself that one little bit more comfortable,
Perhaps supporting your body a little bit more,
Perhaps you feel ready to close your eyes or in your own way starting to invite your attention inwards,
Allowing the outer world to stay as it is,
Because there is nothing to fix and nothing to change,
Simply allowing for the outer world and the space you're in to melt into background.
Know that there is no need to attach to my words,
No need to follow it as any strict instruction,
Instead it's more of an invitation for you to follow with curiosity,
With an open mind.
Checking in one more time with your physical body,
Noticing if there is one part that might be calling for your attention,
It's your feet,
The rest,
The heels perhaps touching the ground,
Your legs heavy,
Your buttocks touching and held,
The whole back of your body,
Your arms,
The back of your head,
Even the brain inside your skull allowing to be unfurled,
Resting with nothing to do,
Nothing to figure out.
And in this way as your physical body is resting,
You might allow for your breath to bring you a little bit closer towards a sense of stillness without trying to chase it or make yourself feel stuck,
Allowing for your breath to blow away any thoughts,
Any worries that might be present and taking it away from the potential of spaciousness and the deep knowing within.
So as you bring your awareness to your breath,
Perhaps first simply being with your breath as it is,
The coming and going of the inhalation and the exhalation,
If possible and comfortable letting the air come and go through your nostrils.
Notice what it feels like to breathe in this moment,
The speed of your breath,
How deep or shallow where in your body you feel your breath and see if you could lengthen and deepen the inhalation and then allow for the exhale to escape through your lips,
Through gently pursed lips,
Allowing for the exhale to be as long as possible without causing you strain.
It's as if with each inhalation you simply take in the fresh air and the exhale escaping through your lips,
It's as if you were blowing away any worries,
Any thoughts that might be running around in your mind in circles.
Here's the inhale and then the long exhale blowing away any thoughts,
Anything the intellect might be engaged in.
Perhaps taking two more rounds,
Feeling as with the exhalation,
Your belly is gently pressing in as if you were emptying a balloon.
When you feel like you might have blown away a bit of the leftovers from the thinking from your connection to the outer world,
You might allow for your senses to take in whatever is present,
Hearing what you hear,
The sounds of the space you're in,
The sounds of this recording of my voice,
Also the sounds of your own body,
Your own breath.
And perhaps there is,
With your breath,
There is some scent,
Some aromas coming in,
Welcoming them to you.
The aroma might even be accompanied by a taste lingering in your mouth,
Or if there isn't any specific taste,
Perhaps you might feel the saliva,
The element of water present in your mouth.
And through your closed,
Perhaps closed eyelids,
There might be something for you to see,
Could be any colors,
Memories,
Perhaps just the light peeking through the gentle,
Thin skin of your eyelids.
And there might be also something that your skin is receiving as information,
Perhaps the temperature of the air,
The temperature of your own body,
Perhaps the softness of the materials touching you.
And what would it be like to now start inviting all of this awareness to travel a little bit deeper within,
Towards the inner experience?
If you were curious and open enough,
Where does the inner knowing of your own deep inner desire live?
Where do you hear perhaps the voice or the deep knowing within your own body?
It could be the heart,
It could be within your throat,
Perhaps somewhere in your face,
Perhaps in your belly.
Where does your desire live?
What might it feel like?
What does it smell like?
What does it sound like?
What does it taste like?
What could it look like?
Knowing that whatever arises is more than welcome,
There is nothing for you to force or figure out.
Simply resting back and allowing for your wish,
For your deepest wish to take shape.
Maybe your sankalpa is expressed in words,
And if there are words,
Perhaps a sentence expressed as an already accomplished fact,
What would it be like to repeat it three times quietly,
With the attention deep within?
If there are words that ring true,
Simply repeating them three times.
If your sankalpa has a different form,
You can simply be with what is,
Knowing that simply being present and open is more than enough.
And once you allow for your sankalpa in whatever form it takes to vibrate through every cell of your body,
You can gently let it go,
Dissipating any effort,
And slowly start directing your awareness to journey through the landscape of your physical body,
Your body resting still and asleep,
Your awareness gently traveling from one place to another,
Lingering briefly in each of the spots before moving on to the next,
Bringing your awareness first to the space between your eyebrows,
To the space at the pit of your throat,
The tip of your right shoulder,
Your right elbow,
Wrist,
Palm of your right hand,
And the five fingers in your right hand,
The thumb,
Index,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And the little finger,
The whole right hand,
Wrist,
Elbow,
Shoulder,
The space in between your collarbones,
Pit of your throat,
Across to the tip of your left shoulder,
Elbow,
Wrist,
Palm of your left hand,
And the five fingers in turn,
Thumb,
Index,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And the little finger,
The entire left hand,
Wrist,
Elbow,
Shoulder,
Back to the space a little hollow between your collarbones,
Your heart center,
The right side of your chest,
Left side of your chest,
Belly button,
The center of your pelvis,
Outer right hip,
Right knee,
Ankle,
The top of the foot and the sole of the foot,
And the five toes on the right foot,
First,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
And the fifth,
The whole right foot,
Knee,
Across the pelvis to the outer left hip,
Knee,
Top of the left foot,
Sole of the left foot,
And the five toes,
First,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
And the fifth toe,
The whole left foot,
Ankle,
Knee,
Hip,
Center of your pelvis,
Belly button,
Heart center,
Pit of your throat,
Space between your eyebrows,
Throat center,
Heart center,
Resting at the space behind your breastbone,
Bringing your entire body saturated with awareness,
The whole body,
Your whole body,
The left side of your body,
And the right side,
The right side,
And the left side,
Your entire body,
And within the entire body,
Feeling the rhythm of your breath without trying to change or manipulate it in any way,
Simply witnessing the coming and going of the breath and the flow of energy.
You might feel into the energy moving in an expansive way.
With each inhalation,
There is this growing outwards,
And with each exhalation,
There is this return,
This retraction,
Return back to center.
With each inhalation,
There is as if your body was growing bigger,
And with each exhalation,
As if there was this gentle return to what is.
Could you now feel more into the inhalation,
The gentle activating energy of inhale?
Feeling the inhale as this life-giving,
Activating force within you.
Can you feel into this energy,
This aliveness being present in your whole body?
And now,
Embodying and connecting fully into the depth of your exhale,
The release,
The calming force of the exhalation,
The emptiness,
The calming down,
The slowing down that is brought around by exhalation.
Can you be fully with the exhale?
And now,
Bringing your witness awareness to the inhale and the exhale,
To be present simultaneously.
Your own breath continuing as it is,
But this activation that's brought around,
And the relaxation,
The waking up and the calming down,
Both present simultaneously.
What would that be like?
Allowing for any effort to melt away.
You can simply rest in the space in between,
And the space from which everything arises,
Where the inhale and exhale can be present.
Not as opposites,
But as parts of the same whole.
And in this space of your awareness,
Could you bring perhaps your sankalpa back to the forefront of your consciousness?
Without any expectations or trying to cage it in any specific form.
What does your sankalpa feel like in your body?
What shape does it take?
It could be words,
The same words,
Or perhaps a bit different.
Are there any images,
Sounds,
Smells?
Anything,
Any expressions that might support your intention?
Your deep heart's resolve.
And from this place,
Ask yourself,
What would it be like to live in the full awareness and strength of this desire?
How would you show up in the world?
How would you act?
How do you feel yourself responding and engaging with the world around?
With your heartfelt desire embodied and guiding you?
You might want to repeat the statement or reconnect with its expression one more time.
As if you were planting the seed deep within the fertile ground of your awareness.
And releasing now any effort,
Any concentration.
Simply allow yourself to be exactly as you are.
And nowhere to go,
Nothing to do,
Nothing to change.
Simply welcoming all that is.
Allowing for your breath to become a little bit more visible,
Perhaps.
A little bit louder,
A little bit more noticeable.
As if your breath was this bridge taking you back to words your everyday.
You might want to take a bigger inhale,
Perhaps even turning it into a big yawn.
And the yawn might start spreading through your whole body.
It might be just a little movement of your fingers,
Of your toes,
Little circles of your ankles and your wrists.
Your eyes can still remain closed.
There is no rush.
Allowing for the senses to reconnect to the environment that has held you the whole way through.
Listening for the sounds.
Seeing the colours through the closed eyelids.
You might even feel ready for a full body stretch.
And if you feel like it's a good idea to slowly start venturing towards an upright position,
You can do so still with your eyes closed.
Still remaining a little bit within and a little bit more outside.
And as you arrive to a comfortable seated position,
You might take one more big sigh inhaling through the nose,
Exhaling through the mouth.
And we'll close this practice with three breaths of gratitude.
Placing your right hand on your heart.
This first breath is the gratitude for yourself,
For committing to the practice of rest and for opening yourself up towards listening to what wants to be heard deep within.
Take an inhale and exhale.
Placing the left hand on top of your right.
The second breath is the breath of gratitude for your own support,
For the people in your life that hold you and your hand where needed.
Take an inhale and exhale.
Placing the palms to meet in prayer at your heart.
This final breath is the breath of gratitude for the practice itself.
The practice that guides us towards our deep knowing.
Take an inhale and exhale.
You can gently start rubbing the palms of the hands against each other,
Warming them up,
Sensitizing.
And then perhaps placing the palms of the hands to cover over your closed eyes.
And only then,
Slowly,
Slowly starting to open your eyes first into the darkness of your own hands.
And then starting to welcome the light of the day through the fingers until you feel ready to reawaken as this yoga nidra is now complete.
Thank you for your practice.
