Welcome to this sacred space of rest through Yoga Nidra.
My name is Phyllis and I invite you to let this year begin with awareness and acceptance to embrace who you really are.
You might consider that this year doesn't have to begin with doing or becoming more or trying to become someone new.
Instead,
You can begin with simply being and resting in the awareness of who you really are.
In Yoga Nidra,
We invite a sankalpa,
A heartfelt resolve or intention,
To be planted in the mind when we are at rest.
A sankalpa is different from setting New Year goals.
Goals arise from the thinking mind and are shaped by effort and achievement.
A sankalpa arises from a deeper place,
The felt sense of truth within.
Rather than asking what should I change or fix,
A sankalpa might ask what quality is ready to be lived now.
Choosing a sankalpa that simply prepares us for a deeper one is enough.
If you are unsure of what you truly desire or wish to nurture,
A simple intention such as,
I trust myself and the unfolding of my path,
Can be supportive and over time a more specific one might naturally reveal itself.
Feeling the sankalpa and resonating with it matters more than finding the perfect words.
At this turning of the year,
We are at a threshold where one cycle completes and another quietly begins.
This practice honors what has been and gently plants what is ready to grow.
Begin by lying down,
Allowing the body to be fully supported,
Reaching for any props to support you fully,
Blankets,
Pillows,
Maybe something for over the eyes,
Allowing for any adjustments to make this as cozy as you can for yourself.
Begin by taking a deep sip of air through the nose and then one more small sip and then let all the air slowly exit through the mouth.
Two more like this.
Deep sip of air through the nose.
One more small sip.
Exhale all the air out through the mouth.
And as you let the breath settle to a natural rhythm,
Feel how the breath gently moves the body.
Notice the expansion on the inhale and the settling on the exhale.
With each exhale,
Allow the body to settle more and more,
Dropping into the world of sensing,
Feeling and listening.
Bring your attention to any sounds you hear,
Letting your awareness go from one sound to another and feel the weight of the body being received by the earth.
There is nothing you need to hold up here.
Notice the head supported,
The shoulders and the arms and the torso and the hips and the legs,
The whole body fully supported.
And now allow your awareness to settle at the centre of the forehead,
The Ajna Chakra,
The seat of witnessing awareness,
Sakshipa,
Where you are the silent witness.
Know that anything you experience today in your practice is enough.
Here we will invite our Sankalpa or a deep resolve.
You might take a few moments to let your awareness settle at your heart space,
To find what it is that you want to cultivate,
Either for this moment or for the year.
If you do not have one,
You might use,
I release what is complete and welcome what is ready to grow.
Or,
I trust myself in the unfolding of my path.
I release what is complete and welcome what is ready to grow.
Or,
I trust myself in the unfolding of my path.
Choose one that resonates with you and repeat it mentally three times.
And now we will rotate awareness throughout the body.
Follow my voice and let your awareness settle momentarily on each part as you hear it named,
Remaining a silent witness.
Bring your awareness to the right hand,
Right thumb,
Second finger,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth finger,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Right side of the chest,
Right waist,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth toe.
Sense the whole right side of the body.
Now bring awareness to the left hand,
Left thumb,
Second finger,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth finger,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Left side of the chest,
Left waist,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth toe.
Sense the whole left side of the body.
Now bring your awareness to the back of the body,
The back of the head,
Back of the neck,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
The upper back,
Mid back,
Low back,
Tailbone,
The whole spine,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
Back of the thighs,
Heels,
Soles of the feet,
The whole back body.
Bring your awareness to the front of the body,
The tops of the feet,
Shins,
Kneecaps,
Front of the thighs,
The front of the pelvis,
Lower abdomen,
Upper abdomen,
The navel centre,
Chest,
Ribs,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
The front of the neck,
Throat,
Upper teeth,
Lower teeth.
Sense the space between the lips,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Tip of the nose,
The airflow through both nostrils,
Right eyebrow,
Temple,
Cheekbone,
Right eyelid,
The whole right eye,
Left eyebrow,
Temple,
Cheekbone,
Left eyelid,
The whole left eye,
The right side of the head,
The left side of the head,
The space between the eyebrows,
The centre of the forehead,
The Agnya Chakra,
The wisdom centre.
Now sense the whole front of the body,
The crown of the head and the soles of the feet.
Sense the whole right side of the body and the left side of the body,
The front of the body and the back of the body.
The whole body supported at rest.
And now become aware of the natural spontaneous breath moving through your body.
And now begin to count the breath backwards from 18 as you imagine inhaling through the left nostril and exhaling through the right nostril.
Inhale left,
Exhale right,
18.
Inhale left,
Exhale right,
17.
Continue to zero.
If you lose count,
Start again.
If you finish,
Start again.
Allowing the breath to be natural without any effort.
And now let the counting go.
Begin to experience the sensation of heaviness in the body.
Feel the body as dense,
Like a rock,
As if gravity is increasing.
Feel heaviness.
And now experience the sensation of lightness.
The body feels spacious,
Buoyant,
Like floating on a cloud.
Effortless.
Feel lightness.
And now move between both heaviness and lightness.
And then feeling heaviness and lightness together.
And then letting that go.
Begin to feel the sense of coolness in the body.
Feel the coolness on the skin moving deeper into the body.
The whole inside of the body is cool.
And now sense warmth.
The warmth spreading throughout the body.
Feel warmth.
And then begin to feel coolness and warmth.
Go between the two of coolness and warmth.
And then feeling both coolness and warmth together.
And then letting that go.
And then feeling a sense of completion.
Completion.
Something has ended.
It is completed.
As an experience.
And then feel the sense of beginning.
Something new.
Again,
As an experience.
And now sense completion and beginning together.
Notice how both can be present at the same time.
And now letting the sensation of opposites fade away.
Allow your awareness to expand.
Like a flower opening its petals in the morning light.
Imagine yourself standing in an open space that is filled with warm light.
There is a feeling of spaciousness around you.
This space feels open and welcoming.
As though it has been waiting for you.
In front of you,
You notice a bridge.
It is golden,
Softly illuminated from within.
As though light itself was its structure.
You sense this bridge is meant to be crossed.
But before stepping onto the bridge,
You take a moment to sense what you have carried this past year.
Not in detail,
Just the feeling of its weight and its learning.
Sensing the lessons it offered.
Notice how it feels to acknowledge this past year without judgment.
Without needing to fix anything.
Honouring this past year.
Honouring yourself.
And now imagine gently placing down what is complete at the entrance of the bridge.
It may be light or heavy,
Clear or undefined.
As you place it down and begin to step away,
You feel a release.
Like an exhale.
The past remains where it belongs.
You carry forward only what is essential.
As you step onto the bridge,
Feel how it holds your weight completely.
Nothing wavers or shifts.
You are safe and fully supported.
Ahead of you is the year that is beginning.
Halfway across the bridge,
You pause.
Feeling a little timid to continue to the unknown.
To what is on the other side of the bridge.
You are in the balance between where you have been and where you are going.
You sense it is safe to keep going and anything you need will be revealed to you.
You continue walking with the golden light of the bridge.
And as you reach the far side of the bridge,
You feel the ground beneath your feet again.
In front of you is a patch of earth.
And you notice in your hand is the seed of your sankalpa.
Take a moment to feel its presence.
Truth.
Full of possibility.
And you gently place the seed into the soil and cover it.
There is nothing more to do.
This is the turning of time.
The days and the nights and the season will support this seed.
You stand here for a moment in this place.
Sensing the truth and the possibility.
A quiet confidence.
You are supported and steady.
And bring your awareness once again to the space between your eyebrows,
The centre of the forehead,
The ajna chakra.
And sense a soft luminous sphere of light resting there.
This light holds the wisdom of completion and the clarity of beginning.
And in this space,
Invite back your sankalpa or intention,
Repeating it three times.
Trust that your sankalpa is being heard.
And begin to notice your breath again.
A gentle rise and fall of the body.
Feel the weight of the body supported here.
Notice the space around you.
Any sounds.
And notice how it feels for your nervous system to be in this relaxed state.
And take a deep breath in through the nose again.
This time you might want to sigh out through the mouth.
Do that one more time.
Deep breath in.
On the exhale,
Surrendering to what is to come.
If you choose to stay here longer,
You can.
Or you might want to bring in some gentle movement.
Maybe turning the head gently side to side.
Touching the thumb to each fingertip.
Maybe wiggling the toes and the fingers.
Maybe taking a big stretch,
Extending the arms and the legs.
Nice big body yawn.
And then bringing the knees in towards your chest.
Rolling over to one side.
And slowly bring yourself up to a seated position.
Bringing your palms together and your thumbs at your heart center.
Bowing down towards your tips.
Acknowledging yourself.
Honoring yourself.
Of where you have come from.
And of where you are going.
Knowing that in this present moment,
You are enough.
Thank you so much for joining me.
I wish you light and health this coming year.
Namaste.
