Ariyam,
Getting ready for the practice of yoga nidra.
Lie down on your back with the feet wide apart.
Place the arms beside the body and turn the palms of the hands upwards towards the ceiling.
Make sure that the head,
Neck,
And spine are in one straight line.
Gently close the eyes and the lips and relax the facial muscles.
Allow the whole body to be as comfortable as possible.
Allow the toes to naturally point out to the sides and the fingers to naturally curl in.
Ariyam,
Bring your full attention to your posture and make any necessary adjustment,
Any final movement,
Allowing the body to be as comfortable as possible.
During the practice of yoga nidra,
There shouldn't be any physical movement.
So now is the time to make any final adjustment.
Once you are in the final position,
Take three deep and long breaths.
Breathe again,
Feel the calmness spreading throughout the whole body.
And breathing out,
Feel the tension and the fatigue of the day leaving the body sinking into the mat.
Inhaling calmness and exhaling all the tension.
Now start to feel the points of contact between the back of the legs and the ground.
From the back of the heels,
From the heels up to the buttocks.
Feel the contact between the whole back and the ground from tailbone to neck.
Between the arms and the ground.
Between the back of the head and the ground.
Feel the contact between the whole body and the ground.
The whole body and the ground.
From the back of the heels all the way up to the back of the head.
Feel the stability of earth beneath you and imagine the ground carrying the body.
From the backside of the body,
Shift the awareness to the front side.
Become aware of the face.
Feel the contact between the eyelashes,
Between the eyelids.
Feel the line between the lips.
Then become aware of the chest,
The abdomen,
Top of the arms,
Tips of the fingers.
Shifting the awareness to the top side of the legs and the tips of the toes.
Become aware of the whole front side of the body,
The whole front side from the top of the head all the way down to the tips of the toes.
And with the eyes closed,
Visualize the body from above.
Visualize the whole top side of the body with any detail that comes to mind.
The position,
The clothing,
The face.
Any detail that comes to mind.
And then allow the image to fade away and take your awareness to the sounds.
Become aware of the furthest sounds that your ears can catch.
The far,
Far away sounds.
You pick one sound,
You stay with it for a few seconds.
And then you consciously move the awareness to a different sound.
And you keep your awareness moving from one sound to another without analyzing,
Without identifying the source of the sound.
Stay with the sounds.
Now bring the awareness a bit closer to sounds just outside the space that you're in.
And whenever the mind focuses on one sound,
Consciously shift it to a different one.
Full awareness of the sense of hearing.
And the sense of being.
Come closer to sounds inside the space.
And finally shift your awareness to the closest sound to you.
A sound coming from the body,
Like the sound of the breath or the heartbeat.
Focus on the closest sound to you.
Ignoring all the other sounds.
Letting go completely of the sounds,
Shift the awareness,
Your Chidakash,
To the mental space in front of the closed eyes.
And repeat to yourself mentally,
I'm practicing Yoga Nidra.
I will remain awake and aware.
I'm practicing Yoga Nidra.
I will remain awake and aware.
The practice of Yoga Nidra begins now.
Now is the time for you to set your sankalpa,
Your intention.
Intentions made in Yoga Nidra can never fail you as you're planting them in the depth of the mind where everything is possible.
If you don't have an intention,
Take a few moments to explore your deepest heartfelt desire.
Allow your deepest desire to surface by simply connecting with your heart.
The first thing that comes to mind is usually the right intention.
The right intention for you.
Try not to intellectualize it.
This intention might be something that you want to achieve in your life,
Develop in yourself,
Realize,
Change,
Improve.
A desire that would impact your entire life in a positive way.
Once you find your intention,
Put it in a short,
Clear,
And positive statement using the present tense as if the intention is already happening in your life,
As if you already have it.
And then repeat it to yourself mentally three times with a strong conviction,
Willpower,
And awareness.
Three times.
Memorize the words that you have just used because you're going to repeat the exact same intention at the end of the practice.
Keep the intention in your heart,
Keep it in your mind,
And stay with my voice.
We will now take a mental trip through the different body parts.
As I name the body parts,
Repeat it mentally after me,
Sense it,
And visualize it without moving the body.
Follow me mentally and not physically.
Become aware of the right side of the body,
Right hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Five fingers together,
Palm of the right hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Right side of the waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Kneecap,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel of the right foot,
Sole of the foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Five toes together,
The whole right side of the body,
The whole right side of the body,
The whole right side.
Shift the awareness to the left side.
Become aware of the left hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Five fingers together,
Palm of the left hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left side of the waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Kneecap,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel of the left foot,
Sole of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Five toes together,
The whole left side of the body,
The whole left side of the body,
The whole left side.
Make sure that you are still awake and fully aware.
Shift the awareness now to the back side.
Become aware of the right buttock,
Left buttock,
Both buttocks,
Lower back,
Middle of the back,
Upper back,
The whole spine,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Back of the neck,
Back of the head,
Top of the head.
Bring the awareness down to the forehead,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Eyebrow center,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Bridge of the nose,
Tip of the nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Both lips,
Chin,
Throat.
Become aware of the right side of the chest,
Left side of the chest,
The whole of the chest,
Center of the chest,
Upper abdomen,
Navel,
Lower abdomen.
Now the major parts of the body.
Become aware of the whole right arm,
The whole left arm,
Both arms,
The whole right leg,
The whole left leg,
Both legs,
The whole back side,
The whole front side,
The neck and head together,
The whole body.
Become aware of the whole body,
The whole body.
Awareness of the whole body resting,
Relaxing on the ground.
Body is completely relaxed,
Still and motionless.
And within this complete stillness,
Only the breath is moving.
Shift the awareness to the natural and spontaneous breath.
Be aware that you are breathing in and breathing out.
And to maintain a constant state of awareness,
Start counting your breaths backwards from number 11 down to zero.
Mentally repeating,
I'm inhaling,
11.
I'm exhaling,
11.
In 10,
Out 10,
And keep counting.
Complete awareness of the breath and the counting.
If at some point you lose count,
Just go back to 11.
Now drop the counting and focus on each and every out breath.
Every time you breathe out,
Start to feel,
Start to imagine that the entire body is shrinking and contracting.
The whole body is becoming smaller and smaller and smaller every time you breathe out.
Imagine every body part,
Every organ and every cell becoming smaller with every breath you give.
The whole body is shrinking every time you breathe out.
Feel the body becoming tiny,
Very tiny,
That you can barely see it.
And now let go of the out breath and the feeling of contraction and shift your awareness to the in breath.
Intensify your awareness of the inhalation and start to imagine the whole body expanding with every breath you take.
The whole body is expanding with every breath you take.
Every cell,
Every organ and every body part is expanding,
Becoming bigger and bigger and bigger every time you breathe in.
You're creating more space within the body.
The body is becoming as big as the space that you're in,
The city,
The country.
The planet,
As big as the universe.
There is an infinite space within you and around you.
Feel a sense of expansion within your body,
Especially within your heart space.
And now let go of the inhalation and shift your awareness to your Chidakash,
The mental space in front of the closed eyes.
Notice how this space has no physical limitation,
Has no borders.
The space is infinite and vast.
This is where you see dreams at night.
Where you see visions,
Colors and sometimes patterns.
In this space,
Visualize a deep,
Dark forest and see yourself walking in the forest between the trees.
Feel the contact between your feet and earth.
Feel the wind on your skin.
And the different sounds.
Fully imagine yourself walking in the forest.
As you walk,
You see a golden light coming from far away.
You're now walking towards the light.
You're following the golden light.
You're allowing it to lead you,
To lead your way.
As you come closer to it,
You see a temple with an aura of golden light around it.
The door of the temple is open.
You step into it.
There is a smell of incense,
The chanting of Aum,
And a yogi sitting in deep meditation.
You sit next to the yogi.
You cross your legs.
You close your eyes.
And a feeling of deep peace envelops your body.
There is a feeling of peace,
Contentment and serenity within you and around you.
You feel present,
Warm,
Content.
As you sit in your deep meditation,
You remember your deepest heartfelt desire.
You remember your intention,
Your sankalpa.
And you repeat it to yourself mentally three times with an intense feeling,
Strong conviction and willpower.
Three times.
Remembering that this intention can never fail you.
It's a positive seed that is rooted,
Planted in the depth of your subconscious.
Keep this intention deep within you and let go of the vision,
Let go of the temple,
The forest.
Let go of your chidakash,
Shifting the awareness back to the natural and spontaneous breath.
Start to feel the breath in the nose,
Flowing in,
Flowing out without any effort.
Feel its touch on your upper lip every time you breathe out.
And start to feel the movement in your trunk with every inhalation and every exhalation.
Notice what's happening to your body when you breathe.
Allow this breath to reconnect you with your physical sensations and your physical existence.
Consciously start to exaggerate the movement in the belly by deepening the breath.
Breathe again,
Expand the belly,
Expand the chest.
And breathing out,
Empty the chest,
Empty the belly.
Inhaling deeply.
And exhaling slowly,
Slowly and completely.
Start to feel the body again,
Feel its contact with the ground.
Become aware of the sensations that you are experiencing right now.
Remember the space that you're in and the location of the body in this space.
Become aware of the sounds around you.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
The practice of Yoga Nidra has now ended.
You can gently start to awaken the body by wiggling the toes and the fingers,
Rolling the head from side to side,
And doing any movement that the body feels like doing right now.
And only when you feel ready,
You can release your savasana and sit up slowly and gently.
Hari Om.
