Yoga Nidra - Spiritual Heartspace

The practice of yoga nidra is like rebooting your nervous system… we power down the body, the breath, and the mind and move into the space of resting in pure awareness. What’s brilliant is that it is an effortless practice, all that you have to do is get comfortable, listen to my voice and allow it to happen. What you are allowing to happen is a letting go of the identification of your body, your breath, your thoughts, and emotions…. it’s a process of calibrating to your innate wholeness.

Transcript

Hi,

This is Kumari,

And thank you for joining me for this yoga nidra practice.

Take a moment to find yourself in a comfortable position.

It might be lying on your back,

On your bed,

Ready for sleep,

Or maybe it's an afternoon pick-me-up seated in a chair or on your floor on a yoga mat.

The practice of yoga nidra is like rebooting your nervous system.

We power down the body,

The breath,

And the mind,

And move into the space of resting in pure awareness.

And what's brilliant is that it is an effortless practice.

All you have to do is get comfortable,

Listen to my voice,

And allow it to happen.

So what is it?

So what you're allowing to happen is a letting go of the identification of your body,

Your breath,

Your thoughts and emotions.

It's a process of calibrating to your innate wholeness,

Your true radiance,

And your connection to source.

It's a softening,

A letting go.

And the benefits of this simple practice are many.

And with consistent practice,

People have found that they're less reactive,

More patient,

More peaceful.

And frustrations,

Blocks in energy,

Sadness,

Depression,

And so much more are all soothed.

Soothed because you took the time to tune into and connect with your true nature,

Your heart.

The practice is cumulative and lasting,

Truly allowing for shifts to your being on all levels.

So now that you've created the most cozy atmosphere,

Remembering that your physical comfort is key,

Make sure your phone is silenced and the people in your proximity know not to disturb you.

Also remember you deserve this for yourself.

You are worthy of this time of deep nurturing.

So let's begin.

So in whichever position you're in,

Bring your awareness to your feet.

Plant the toes,

Take a breath in,

And now release.

This time flex the ankles as if you could pull your toes to your shins.

Hold,

Take a breath in,

And exhale.

Let go.

Circle the ankles a few times in each direction.

And now draw the kneecaps up.

Feel your quadriceps tighten.

Hold it.

Take a deep breath in,

And exhale and release.

Next squeeze all the muscles in your abdomen.

Squeeze and let go.

Just tighten the buttocks and hips.

Tight.

Take a big breath in and let it all go on the exhale.

Move your awareness to both hands.

Draw your fingers in to make a tight fist.

Deep inhale.

And now let go on the exhale.

And now splay your fingers and palms.

Reach.

Reach.

Take a big breath in.

Exhale and release.

And go ahead and roll the wrists in both directions a few times.

Next squeeze all the muscles in your arms.

Firm the muscles to the bone.

Inhale.

And let go on your exhale.

Inhale and squeeze the shoulders up towards the ears.

And as you exhale,

Pull them away from the ears.

And then allow them to just move back to their natural position.

And now take a deep breath in and poof out the belly like a balloon.

Hold.

And exhale,

Pressing out all the breath.

Again,

Inhale,

Fill,

Sip a teeny bit more breath in and hold.

And exhale slowly.

To the face,

Tense all the muscles in your face.

Squeeze and let it go.

Now inhale and lift the head an inch.

Exhale and release.

Just rock the head side to side.

Take a moment here to notice how your body feels.

And start to become aware of the rise and release of your breath.

Simply watching your breath,

Not trying to change anything.

Just be aware of your breath.

Your breath as an anchor into the present moment awareness.

Always there,

Always drawing you into a deeper state of letting go.

And now could you tune into your heart center?

And you might notice your breath in the chest area as you breathe.

Tuning in and connecting with your heart.

Breathing and breathing.

Imagine that your heart could scoop up any lingering thoughts in your mind.

Take them in and transform them into stillness.

The mind softening and the heart expanding.

Abiding here in the space of the heart.

And surrender to the sweetness of the heart.

Tune into what the heart knows.

In this yoga nidra practice we will set an intention or sankopa.

And this intention is the voice of the heart.

A quality that you deeply are committed to cultivating within yourself.

And you can speak it as a sentence to yourself as if your intention is already alive in your life.

In the positive present tense.

An example is I am the embodiment of inner peace and balance.

I am the embodiment of inner peace and balance.

So whatever resonates deeply with you,

This is your special intention.

You may wish to work with this same sankopa every time you practice.

Or you may sometimes set intentions specific for the practice.

So take a moment now to tune into your heart.

Now affirm your intention by repeating it three times.

Now next on our yoga nidra journey is the rotation of awareness.

Bring your attention to each area I mention.

Your attention to each area is like a beam of energy infusing your physical body with presence.

And within this loving presence is healing,

Balancing,

And love.

So shift your attention now to your hands.

And the palms,

Sensing the palms of both hands.

Awareness spreading to the fingers.

The palms and the fingers.

And sensing a subtle current of energy in the palms and fingers.

Now the sensation streams into the tops of the hands and wrists.

Energy flowing up both arms.

The forearms.

The elbows.

Upper arms.

Shoulders.

And collarbones.

And could you sense both arms alive with subtle sensation?

Now to the center of the chest.

The center of the chest radiating.

Breathing.

To the navel and lower abdomen.

And tuning into the energy in this area of your body.

And slide your attention down to your toes now.

All ten toes.

And the spaces between the toes.

And all ten toe tips.

And the soles of the feet.

And the soles of both feet.

And perhaps sensing energy or warmth in the soles of the feet.

Feeling into both feet.

And the ankles.

Lower legs.

Knees.

Thighs.

Hips.

And begin to sense the sacrum and tailbone area.

Just feeling into both feet and both legs.

Into the hips and tailbone.

Now really noticing the area of your pelvis and its connection with the surface beneath you.

Now can you imagine traveling up the spine?

The lower back?

Middle back?

Upper back?

To the base of the skull?

The whole scalp?

The entire scalp alive with subtle sensation?

Each pore?

Each hair follicle?

Teaming with this subtle energy?

Deep into the center of the brain?

In the center of the brain?

And softly expanding outwards in each direction to the ears?

Both ears?

Aware and listening?

Now move awareness to the center of the forehead?

The center of the forehead?

The eyes?

Both eyes sinking and held in their sockets peacefully?

All the tissues and tiny muscles around the eyes softly vibrating?

To the cheekbones?

And the inside of the mouth?

The tongue?

The insides of the cheeks?

The gums and teeth?

The inside of your mouth?

Alive with sensation?

Now to the lips?

That little space between the lips?

The nostrils?

Feel the breath move effortlessly in and out through the nostrils?

Feeling the breath at the nostrils?

Awareness of body dissolving?

Moving into focused attention on the breath?

Your already happening natural breath?

Trying to count the breath now?

Counting each breath from 10 to 0 like this?

Inhale 10,

Exhale 10,

Inhale 9,

Exhale 9 and so on.

No worries if you lose track of the number or if you finish counting before you hear my voice again.

Just begin at 10 again.

Letting go of the counting and allow your attention to rest at the chest.

The center of the chest,

Your spiritual heart space.

Tune into the stillness between breaths.

Awareness settled here in the heart space.

And could you begin to imagine each inhale expanding your heart's energy field outward?

And each exhale all the energy compresses back inward into the space of the heart.

Inhale opening and expanding and exhaling shrinking back inward.

Now as you inhale you might visualize a color expanding outward as a field of energy getting brighter.

And then with the exhale all that colorful energy returning to the heart center.

Breathing in and out from the alter of your heart.

Breathe and visualize this for the next few moments.

Your whole body a vessel of light floating.

Now can you begin to imagine the clearest blue sky above you.

And the sun warming your body.

The sun above you mirrored by the light at your heart.

Any thought or image is nothing but a faint white cloud floating across the expanse of blue sky.

Welcome the clouds to pass by.

Your body nourished by the sun above and by the light within.

Your whole body now filled with this luminous light.

Testing here as the witness basking in your true radiance.

Seeing your innate light floating basking.

Your heart,

Your heart's knowing.

Your sankhoba floats here within you in this space of pure awareness.

Affirm your intention here.

I am the embodiment of inner peace and balance.

You might affirm your personal sankhoba three more times.

Now begin to return to the breath,

Its expansion and contraction.

Its rise and fall.

Now invite some deeper breaths.

Begin to welcome some small movements.

These small movements becoming bigger movements.

Now moving your body in any way that feels good to you.

Come to rest on your side.

Tuning into the contentment and tranquility created by this practice.

As you're ready,

Opening your eyes,

Becoming more aware of your surroundings.

Wherever you are in your day,

I'm wishing you all the best.

Thank you so much for joining me in this practice today.

Again,

My name is Kumari and I would love to hear from you in the comments.

Let me know how the practice went,

Where you're tuning in from.

I upload new yoga nidras every week.

So if you'd like,

You could subscribe to my channel and I hope I get to practice with you again sometime soon.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.

Peace.

Peace.

Peace.

Reviews

Another beautiful Yoga Nidra meditation, Kumari. Blessings and thanks for sharing 🙏💐❤️

Tuning in from Ontario, Canada. Loved tbis meditation. Thank you.

That was amazing. One thing f the best nidras I’ve ever done me. Thank you! 🤍

I loved this so much thank you. Just what I needed today. Love from the uk 🇬🇧

Thank you🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻Normally, I am not a fan of the “squeeze-release” method of relaxation, and when I hear it is being used, I immediately stop the meditation. This time, I made a choice to stay with it, certain segments I visualized doing, in this way, I was able to do the full yoga nidra. 🙏🏻🌟🙏🏻🌟🙏🏻🌟🙏🏻

Your voice is very nice. Strong yet gentle.