Hi there,
Welcome to the practice of yoga nidra.
My name is Kumari and I'll be your guide.
So this is a practice of conscious rest that gently opens the doorway to deeper awareness.
As the body softens and the breath becomes effortless,
The mind is invited to settle into the subtle space between waking and dreaming.
This is a realm where insight arises naturally.
In this state of profound stillness,
The usual boundaries of thought begin to dissolve.
Awareness expands like starlight spreading across the open sky.
The nervous system resets,
The intellect quiets,
And a deeper intelligence,
One that lives beneath words and concepts,
Comes forward effortlessly.
Yoga nidra allows you to rest in the vast inner field where intuition sharpens and clarity emerges without effort.
Here you may sense a remembering,
A recognition of yourself beyond roles,
Stories,
Or identities.
From this spacious presence,
Wisdom unfolds gently,
Guided not by striving,
But by simply listening.
In this practice,
There's nothing to achieve,
Nothing to fix.
Simply remain open,
Receptive,
And curious.
And as you're guided through this practice,
Allow yourself to be held by awareness itself.
You are one with the vastness and the timelessness of the whole universe.
You are quietly radiant.
So as you're getting ready,
Be sure to grab anything that would facilitate your comfort.
Maybe it's some extra pillows or blankets,
If you have an eye mask or a soft scarf.
Feather your nest.
This is the foundation of the yoga nidra practice.
Comfort and ease.
It could be on your bed,
The floor,
A chair,
Truly anywhere that you feel you will be undisturbed and can completely relax.
You can always pause the recording if you need more time.
And now that you're snuggled and settled in,
Begin to notice the feeling of your body in this space.
Tune in to the weight and density of your physical body.
Notice the positioning of your arms and hands,
Your legs and your feet.
And become aware of your presence within the space you are resting.
Really sensing the space that you take up.
Notice if you hear any sounds.
Now tuning into the sound of your own breathing.
The ever so subtle cadence of your relaxed breath.
A sense of the jaw softening,
Letting go of tension.
Relaxing the muscle of the tongue.
Feeling the cool air move in the nostrils and the warmer air moving out.
And the feeling that the eyes are held,
Covered,
Allowed to rest.
Soften the forehead.
And can you sense your whole face as relaxed?
Every tiny muscle soft.
The skin of your face draping over the structure of your skull.
And the softness and relaxation flowing down your body to your toes.
The body ready,
Receptive for deep rest.
We'll do a breathing practice where we'll touch the thumb tips to each of the other fingers while counting.
So thumb,
Index finger,
Thumb,
Middle finger,
Thumb,
Ring finger,
Thumb,
Pinky.
And then tap the pinky again to return to the index finger.
The index finger will be doing it to the count of four.
But first,
Let's take a few cleansing breaths.
Inhaling.
And sigh it out.
And now starting our practice.
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Keep going.
Take one more round.
Breath moving back to its natural pace.
Sensing the stillness of the body.
Sensing how much you've already relaxed and surrendered.
In Yoga Nidra,
We use a sankalpa to guide us into experiencing more of what we truly want in our daily lives.
You may already be working with a sankalpa.
But if you're not,
Create an intention for this practice.
An intention spoken in the positive,
Present tense.
Sort of like the truth of your heart.
Something you'd like to experience every day of your life.
For example,
I trust in my body's innate healing wisdom.
Or I am the embodiment of inner peace.
Take a moment now to cultivate your special intention.
And now repeating your sankalpa three times.
Now follow my voice as I guide you around the body on an awareness journey called the rotation of consciousness.
This allows the body to move into an even deeper state of release and relaxation.
Simply by placing your attention in each area,
It has a powerful effect on the tissues of your body and their ability to soften,
Relax.
Begin at the very top of the head.
Sensing the very center,
Top of your head.
Now the back of the head.
The back of the neck.
The right shoulder blade.
The left shoulder blade.
Now the point between the two.
Sense the whole upper back.
And now can you become aware of the rib cage?
In front.
The lower back.
The right glutes.
The sacrum.
The backs of the legs.
The right heel.
The left heel.
Right arch.
Left arch.
The ball of the right foot.
And the ball of the left foot.
All five toes on the right foot.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
All the toes on the left foot.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Can you sense all ten toes now?
The soles of the feet.
The tops of the feet.
Both feet.
The right ankle.
Right shin.
Left shin.
Both knees.
The right hip.
Left hip.
The lower abdomen.
Navel.
Solar plexus.
The whole chest.
The right collarbone.
Shoulder.
All five fingers.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
The entire right hand.
The entire right arm.
Left collarbone.
Shoulder.
Upper arm.
Elbow.
Forearm.
Wrist.
All five fingers.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
The whole left hand.
Both arms and hands together.
Inside the throat.
Sense now the tongue.
The inside of the right cheek.
Inside of the left cheek.
The gums and the teeth.
The inside of the mouth.
Lower lip.
Upper lip.
The whole right cheek.
The whole left cheek.
Sensing the nostrils.
The right eye.
Both eyes simultaneously.
To the right ear.
Left ear.
Both ears.
The center of the forehead.
The scalp.
The whole spine.
Both legs and feet.
Backside of the body.
Frontside of the body.
The whole body.
The whole body radiating.
A vessel of life force energy.
The whole body resting.
Sensing the breath within.
Tuning into its rhythmic rise and fall.
Effortless.
Aware of the soft,
Steady,
Cadence of the breath.
And now welcoming psychic,
Alternate nostril breathing.
Just imagining breathing into the left nostril and out the right.
Inhaling right.
Exhaling left.
Exhale right.
Inhale right.
Keep going with this pattern.
Just imagining the breath could flow in each nostril separately.
No effort needed.
Simply visualizing,
Sensing,
Or feeling.
Staying with this pattern until you hear this voice again.
Now the next time you exhale out the left,
Start to sense your breath equally at both nostrils.
Sense both lungs filling and emptying.
And now a sense of the whole body expanding with each inhale.
And softening with each exhale.
A full body cellular breath.
The whole body breathing.
The breath like a wave filling and emptying the body.
And now can you direct awareness to rest just in the right lung.
Sensing the right lung expanding and contracting.
And now the left lung only.
Energetically isolating awareness into the left lung expanding and contracting.
Sense the right side of the body and the lung inside the ribcage.
Feel the right side as separate.
The right side breathing.
Slowly guide attention to the left side.
The left lung expanding into the whole left half of the body.
The left side of the body breathing.
And returning to the whole body breathing.
Both lungs filling and emptying equally.
Whole body breathing.
And now awareness rests in the field of knowing beyond thought.
Images arise images dissolve simply witness a vast black sky filled with stars a single star pulsing softly light traveling across endless space the dark curve of a planet half in shadow a slow moving comet leaving a faint trail behind the quiet hum of the universe a crescent moon suspended in stillness starlight reflecting on unseen waters a galaxy slowly rotating space expanding in all directions a point of light at the center of everything a sense of floating without direction time dissolving into timelessness knowing without thought rest in the space between the stars body shimmering in the vastness floating as pure consciousness floating and in this space of pure awareness plant the seed of the Sankalpa three more times and now it's time to return from your deep deep rest can you bring your awareness back to the breath sensing the feeling of the rise and fall of breath within the body taking two sniffs of breath and a long slow exhale attention drifting down to the toes giving them a little wiggle moving the ankles the fingers wrists turning the head gently from side to side coming back slowly perhaps stretching the body welcoming a new position take all the time that you need to come back from this sacred practice of deep rest Thank you so much for joining wishing you all the best Namaste
