Music Greetings and welcome.
My name is Tony Ciccardi and this is the Yoga Nidra Meditation.
A couple of things before we start.
One,
I'd like to invite you to let go of any expectations and meditate with a beginner's mind as if it were the first time.
The other one is to let go completely of any judgement.
There is no right or wrong,
Good or bad when we meditate,
Only what is.
Let the present unfold moment by moment as it should.
The ideal posture for Yoga Nidra is to lay down on your back,
On a mat,
On the floor.
If you've done some yoga you may be familiar with a posture called Shabasana or the corpse pose.
If you are,
Feel free to move into your Shabasana now.
If you are in the office and you must sit in a chair,
You can do so.
Keep your spine relatively straight without forcing anything.
Keep your feet flat on the floor and let your hands rest naturally on your lap.
Otherwise you can lay down on your back,
On a mat,
On the floor or even on your bed.
Align your body,
Make sure it is relatively straight.
Let your arms rest along your body with your palms facing up.
And move them slightly apart from your body by a few inches and just enough so that you minimize the contact between your arms and your body.
Do the same thing with your legs.
Move your feet slightly apart and just enough so that you minimize the contact between your legs.
Take some time to adjust the position and make it as comfortable as possible.
The general idea in Yoganidhra is to keep the body as still as you can and if possible to not move a single eyelash.
Once you've settled into your position,
Gently close your eyes.
Now listen to the sounds outside the building.
Listen to the distant sounds.
Do not necessarily label them,
Think about them.
Simply listen to the sounds as vibration.
Distant sounds,
Sounds closer to the building,
Lower frequency sounds,
High frequency sounds.
Jump from sound to sound and listen to them as vibration.
Now listen to the sounds inside the building.
Do not label them or think about them.
Listen to the sounds inside the building as vibration.
Listen to all the different sounds inside the building.
Now move inside the room and listen to the sounds inside the room.
Do not label them or think about them,
Listen to the sounds inside the room.
Now listen to your own breathing.
Come inside your body and listen to your own breathing.
Listen to your breathing as if it were someone else breathing.
Now feel the contact between your body and the floor.
Feel the contact between your body and the floor.
Feel the contact between your eyelids.
Feel the contact between your lips.
Now move your attention to your right hand thumb.
Feel your right hand thumb.
Feel your right hand index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger and little finger.
Feel the palm of the right hand,
The top of the right hand,
The wrist,
The forearm,
The elbow,
The upper arm,
The right shoulder,
The armpit,
The right waist,
The right hip,
The right buttock,
The right thigh,
The right knee,
The calf,
The ankle,
The right heel,
The sole of the right foot,
The top of the foot,
The big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth and fifth.
Now move your attention to your left hand thumb,
Left index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
The palm of the left hand,
The top of the left hand,
The wrist,
Forearm,
The elbow,
The upper arm,
The left shoulder,
The armpit,
Left waist,
Left hip,
Left buttock,
Left thigh,
The knee,
Calf,
Ankle,
The heel,
The sole of the left foot,
The top of the foot,
The big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth and fifth toe.
Now move your attention to the right shoulder blade,
Feel the right shoulder blade,
The left shoulder blade,
The right lower back,
The left lower back,
The upper spine,
Lower spine,
The whole spine,
Feel the whole spine,
The whole back,
Feel the whole back.
Now go to the top of the head,
Feel the top of your head,
The forehead,
The right temple,
The left temple,
The right eyebrow,
The left eyebrow,
The space between the eyebrows,
The right eyelid,
The left eyelid,
The right eye,
The left eye,
The right ear,
The left ear,
The right cheek,
The left cheek,
The nose,
The tip of the nose,
The upper lip,
The lower lip,
The chin,
Throat,
Right upper chest,
Left upper chest,
The middle of the chest,
The navel,
The belly.
Now feel the whole right leg,
Feel the whole right leg,
The whole left leg,
Be aware of the whole left leg,
Both legs together,
The whole right arm,
The whole right arm,
The whole left arm.
Now both arms together,
Be aware of both arms together.
The whole of your back,
Including the spine and the shoulder blades,
Be aware of the whole of your back.
The whole of the front chest,
Navel and abdomen,
The whole trunk,
Feel the whole trunk.
The whole of your head,
Feel the entirety of your head.
Now move your attention to the crown of your head and feel your whole body from the crown of your head all the way down to your toes,
Have a feeling of your whole body.
I invite you to stay awake and be present to your body during this exercise.
Now feel your whole body from head to toes and relax all your muscles to make your body as heavy as you can.
Let go of all tension,
Relax as much as you can to make your body as heavy as possible and let it sink into the ground.
Now concentrate on the space between your eyebrows and with the same intent to relax your muscles,
Make your body as light as possible.
Relax your muscles and let your body become as light as possible,
So light it's about to lift off the ground.
Now take your awareness to your breathing,
Let the breathing be normal and effortless.
And observe your navel rising and falling slightly as you inhale and exhale.
Concentrate on this movement and synchronization with your breath.
Now start counting your breaths from 1 to 10 and when you reach 10 backwards from 10 to 1,
Inhale 1,
Exhale,
Inhale 2,
Exhale,
Inhale 3 and so on.
From 3 to 10 and then backwards from 10 to 1 and then you start over again.
Keep the sensation of the navel rising and falling as you count.
If you get lost counting at any time,
Simply start over from 1 to 10.
Keep counting and switch your attention to the chest.
Keep the chest rising as you inhale and falling as you exhale.
Always counting.
Now switch your attention to your throat,
Feel the air going in and out of your throat.
Now let go of the counting and switch your attention to the place between your eyebrows.
While focusing on the point between your eyebrows,
Bring to mind the following images.
A burning candle in a cave.
An endless desert.
An Egyptian pyramid.
A torrential rain.
High snow-capped mountains.
A Greek temple at sunrise.
A coffin beside a grave.
Birds flying across the sunset.
Red clouds drifting.
Stars in the middle of the night.
A full moon.
Waves on an empty beach.
The deep blue ocean.
Now stop the visualization process and come back to your breath.
Reflect a moment on what you have been experiencing and mentally make a resolve for the next few days.
Feel inside what it is that you want to accomplish or be part of in the next few days and put some words around it to help you remember.
Now the practice of Yoganidro is complete.
Slowly,
Gently come back into the room.
Take a couple of deeper breaths.
Feel your feet,
Your hands.
Wiggle your toes,
Your fingers.
Stretch a little.
And when you are ready,
Slowly open your eyes.
