Yoga Nidra is a state of deep,
Deep relaxation.
It can be practiced any time of day.
It can give you energy and relax you at the same time.
And we'll begin by bringing your awareness to your body.
I'll mention certain parts of your body and just bring your attention to those parts.
If you need to move around so you're even 1% more comfortable,
Do so.
Though after a while,
If you can remain still,
That will be very helpful in the process of relaxing deeper and deeper.
Let's start by becoming aware of the sounds around you.
Become aware of the sounds in the distance.
Pay attention to every sound you hear,
Even the little sounds way,
Way in the distance.
Let your attention move from sound to sound.
Just become aware of one sound,
Then immediately let it go and become aware of another sound.
As soon as you become aware of that sound,
Let it go and become aware of the next sound.
And in that way,
Move from sound to sound,
One after the other until eventually you perceive even the faintest sounds in the distance.
Each and every sound.
And now become aware of the flow of your natural breath.
Not changing the breath,
Just allowing the breath to flow naturally.
All day and every day in your life,
The physical body just breathes automatically.
How fascinating.
Simply allowing the breath to be,
To happen.
Just become aware of the flow of the natural breath.
And as you become aware of the flow of breath,
You'll notice three things.
The first thing you'll notice is that the breath flows in and the nostrils become a bit cooler.
Then you notice when the breath flows in,
The nostrils becoming a little cooler.
The second thing you may notice is each time the breath flows out,
There's a natural tendency for the muscles of the physical body to relax a little deeper.
It's a very mild reaction.
It can be very slight or obvious.
And with each exhalation,
The muscles of the body relax a little bit more,
A little deeper and a little deeper.
And the third thing that you notice is that with each subsequent breath out,
The physical body relaxes a little more each time.
More and more relaxation of the physical body each and every time.
Each time the breath flows in,
The nostrils become cooler.
Each time the breath flows out,
Feel the physical body relax a little more.
Continue to be aware and gradually experience the progressive relaxation of the physical body.
Pressing pause on the world outside,
Continue in this way for a few minutes longer.
And now becoming aware of the different parts of the physical body one after the other,
Simply allowing the body to remain completely still.
As you move your awareness from part of the body to another,
And when you become part,
Part of the body,
There may be a sensation that arises,
Maybe a tingling or a temperature change or another sensation.
Let's start with the right side.
Bring your awareness to your right hand thumb.
Become aware of the right hand.
Experiencing the right hand and as you experience the right thumb,
Let it go and move your awareness to the right first finger,
The right middle finger,
The right ring finger,
The right little finger.
Now all five fingers together,
Experiencing the palm of the right hand,
The back of the right hand.
Let your awareness now travel to the right wrist,
The right forearm,
The right elbow,
The right shoulder,
The right side,
The right waist,
The right hip,
The right thigh.
Experience the right kneecap,
The right calf,
The right ankle,
The right heel,
The right foot.
Experiencing the right big toe,
The right second toe,
The right third toe,
The right fourth toe and the right little toe.
Now experience all five toes together.
Experience the entire right side of your body all together now.
Notice if the right side of the body feels any different than the left side of the body.
Good and let your awareness travel now to the left side of the body as you experience and notice the left hand.
Notice the left thumb,
Bring your attention to the left index finger,
The left middle finger,
The left ring finger,
The left little finger.
Now all five fingers together,
Experience the palm of the hand,
The back of the hand.
Let your awareness travel now to the left wrist,
The left forearm,
The left elbow,
The left shoulder,
The left side,
The left waist,
The left hip,
The left thigh.
Experience the left kneecap,
The left ankle,
The left calf.
Experiencing the left big toe,
The left second toe,
The left third toe,
The left fourth toe,
The left little toe.
Now experiencing the five toes all together,
Let your awareness travel to the back.
Become aware of the right,
The right upper back and shoulder,
The left upper back and shoulder.
Good.
Experiencing the back of the neck,
The back of the head,
The top of the head,
The forehead,
The right side of the forehead,
The left side of the forehead,
The right temple and the left temple.
The center of the forehead,
Right between the eyebrows.
Experience the right eye and the left eye,
The right cheek and the left cheek,
The nose,
The tip of the nose,
The upper lip.
Experiencing both lips together.
Bring your awareness to your chin,
The left collarbone,
The right chest,
The center of the chest,
The right side of the stomach and the left side of the stomach.
The upper stomach,
The lower stomach,
The navel,
The whole abdomen area at once.
Become aware of the whole abdomen area and continue to listen to the sound of my voice.
Do not sleep,
As you may say to yourself,
I am awake and practicing yoga nidra.
Become aware of the meeting point between the body and the surface of the body upon what you are resting on.
Concentrate on the body.
Imagine as if you were seeing the body from outside yourself.
If there was a clone of you looking at your body as an object or a reflection in an imaginary mirror.
Can you bring your awareness outside of the body to another part of the room or area so you're observing yourself?
Good.
Now imagining that there is a well,
Like a water well and you look down and it is deep and dark.
And there is a bucket on a chain.
Can you take the bucket and chain and you lower it all the way down the well.
It moves into the dark as it disappears out of sight.
Imagine the bucket being filled up with water and now pull the bucket up out of the darkness into the light.
And asking yourself silently in your mind,
What am I thinking?
Where is my awareness?
How is it that I can have my attention at multiple places at one time?
No need to be attached to the answer.
Just observing.
Not analyzing.
Just observing.
Practicing observations.
No need to think but become aware of the thought process.
We are not solely our thoughts.
Awakening the feeling of lightness as if the body is made of cotton.
It can float away.
Pretend the body is so light that it is floating away from the floor or whatever you are lying on.
Next awaken the feeling of heaviness.
Imagine as if the body is so heavy it is made of lead.
Imagining feeling heavy.
Now imagine awakening the sensation of heat.
Experience the sensation of heat in your body.
Letting it go and now experiencing cold.
Imagine coolness in the body.
Various experiences.
Can you pretend or imagine the experience of pain?
Either mental or physical.
And then let it go.
Notice and release.
And then feeling pleasure.
Can you imagine the feeling of pleasure?
Experience it.
Make it vivid.
Notice it.
And let it go.
Next we will have the mind create visualizations.
On the level of feeling,
Awareness and emotion we will bring images into the mind.
Let each one appear like a slide on your mental screen.
Noticing each one briefly and then letting it go.
Imagine a flickering candle.
A willow tree.
A car moving on the road.
Fluffy clouds floating overhead.
A starlit night.
A full moon.
The full moon over an ocean.
A rising sun behind the mountains.
The setting sun.
A setting sun behind the ocean.
Ocean waves.
Seagulls flying over the ocean.
A big lake with clear blue water.
Leaves falling softly from a tree.
Smoke rising from an old house.
The dawn of a new day.
Become a witness to your awareness.
Not the body.
Not the senses.
Not the mind.
Nothing but awareness.
Can you practice being just awareness?
Become aware that you are observing yourself.
Look within and be aware of yourself.
As a silent observer.
Can you pretend to be the observer of your thoughts?
Of your body.
Of your senses.
Of your emotions.
And your mind.
Good.
Imagine stepping into the space behind your forehead.
Between your eyebrows.
Imagine in your mind there is a vibrant light.
Can you imagine that light with a golden sphere in the center of that light.
A small beautiful golden ball.
Very bright and glowing.
And repeating silently in your mind your resolve or sankalpa.
Three times.
No judgment or thinking needed.
Just repeating it silently in your mind.
And now becoming aware of the parts of your body.
Become aware of the right hand and experience the whole right hand.
Experience the right thumb.
The right index finger.
The right middle finger.
The right ring finger.
The right little finger.
Now all five fingers together.
Experience the palm of the right hand.
The back of the right hand.
Let your awareness travel now to the right wrist.
To the right forearm.
The right elbow.
The right shoulder.
Experience the whole right thigh.
The right waist.
The right hip.
The right thigh.
The right kneecap.
The right calf.
The right ankle.
The right heel.
The right foot.
Experiencing the right big toe.
The right second toe.
The right third toe.
The right fourth toe.
And the right little toe.
Now experience all five toes together.
Now bring awareness to the entire right side of the body all together now.
Notice if the right side of the body feels any different than the left side of the body.
Let your awareness travel now to the left side of the body and experiencing the left hand.
Bring awareness to the left thumb.
The left index finger.
The left middle finger.
The left ring middle finger.
And now all five fingers together.
Experience the palm of the left hand.
Let your awareness travel to the left wrist.
The left forearm.
The left shoulder.
The whole left side.
Experiencing the left waist.
The left hip.
The left thigh.
The left calf.
The left ankle.
The left heel.
The left foot.
Experience the left big toe.
The left second toe.
The left third toe.
Now experiencing all five toes together.
Next let your awareness travel to the back.
Become aware of the right buttock.
The left buttock.
The spinal cord.
The whole of the spinal cord from the bottom of the spine all the way to the top.
Practicing awareness of the whole spinal cord.
Good.
And experiencing the back of the neck.
The back of the head.
The top of the head.
The forehead.
The right side of the forehead and the left side of the forehead.
The right temple and the left temple.
The right ear and the left ear.
The right eyebrow.
The left eyebrow.
The center of the eyebrows.
Experience the right eye.
The left eye.
The right cheek.
The left cheek.
The nose.
The tip of the nose.
The upper lip.
The lower lip.
Experiencing both lips together.
The chin.
Experiencing the whole of the chin.
The left collarbone.
The right collarbone.
The right chest and the left chest.
The center of the chest.
The right side of the stomach.
The left side of the stomach.
The upper stomach.
And the lower stomach.
The navel.
Become aware of the entire abdomen area together.
And now,
Bring your attention to the right side of the body.
And the left side of the body.
Notice both of the sides of the body together.
Become aware of the front of the body.
Become aware of the back of the body.
Become aware of the front and the back of the body together.
Become aware of the head.
Experiencing the whole head and body together.
Experience the whole of the right side of the body and the whole of the left side.
Experiencing the whole body.
The whole entire body all together.
Now becoming aware of the natural breath flowing spontaneously through the nostrils.
And this time bringing awareness to the nostrils.
Let's imagine the breath flowing through the left nostril and out the right nostril.
And on the next breath,
Imagine and pretend the breath is flowing through the right nostril on the inhale and flows out the left nostril on the exhale.
And tracing this alternate nostril breathing.
Together.
Inhaling.
And exhaling out the right nostril.
And then tracing and following the inhalation of breath through the right nostril on the inhale.
And on the exhale,
Flowing out the left nostril.
Simply imagining the breath is flowing in one nostril and out the other.
And then in that side and out the other side.
This practice is often called alternate nostril breathing.
And it can greatly improve your relaxation.
Do a few rounds on your own.
Good.
And this breathing modality can be done anytime of day to allow you to go into relaxation and become aware of your body and connect with the deeper parts of yourself.
And in a moment,
We'll come back into the body.
And first,
Let's have you silently repeat your resolve.
Good.
And taking with you this relaxation throughout your day,
Remembering you can access this state of peace anytime you need to.
Bring your awareness to your heart center.
Expressing gratitude for something you love.
Expressing gratitude for yourself for completing this time and practice to improve your life and well-being.
Thank you.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
