Settling in now for yoga nidra,
Find yourself a comfortable spot where you can lie back and not be disturbed for the next 20 or so minutes.
This time is for you,
A brief time out from your day with massive benefits.
To set up properly,
Make sure that your spine is straight,
Your shoulder blades are sliding back and down with the back of your neck long,
Perhaps your chin is slightly tucked.
You may take a pillow behind the back of your knees and cover yourself with a light blanket if that feels comfortable for you.
Take any little adjustments to get your body super comfortable and just lie back and allow yourself to take this pause and feel your natural breath as you lie here in your yoga nidra nest.
To begin the practice,
We will start with an ujjayi breath.
To do this breath,
You will take a relaxed inhale and as you exhale,
Imagine fogging a mirror but with your mouth closed.
If you do this breath correctly,
You will hear a soft,
Ocean-like sound at the back of your throat.
So we can try it together.
Take a natural,
Relaxed inhale and then as you exhale,
Keep your lips closed and imagine you're fogging a mirror.
Again,
Inhale and follow this with a prolonged,
Ocean-sounding exhale.
And you can try this on your own.
Take three more breaths like this on your own.
And now,
You may return to your natural breath and bring your attention to your heart center.
At this time,
You may call forth your sankalpa,
Or heart's deepest truth.
If you are not currently working with the sankalpa,
You may choose to use a statement such as,
I am perfectly complete as I am,
Or any other statement that resonates with your heart's deepest desire.
Go ahead and repeat your sankalpa silently to yourself three times.
And now,
We will rotate consciousness around the entire body.
As I name a body part,
Let your attention go there.
The only thing there is for you to do is listen,
Sense,
And feel.
Moving your attention to different parts of your body as you hear them named,
Remaining in complete stillness,
Begin by sensing the right hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Underarm,
Right side of the chest,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth,
All five toes together,
The whole right leg,
The whole right side of the body.
Feel the whole right side of the body.
And now,
Let all your attention gather in the left hand thumb,
Sensing the left hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Underarm,
Left side of the chest,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth toe,
All five toes,
The whole left leg,
The whole left side of the body,
The whole left side of the body,
And the whole right side of the body simultaneously.
Can you equally divide your attention between the left and right side of the body?
Now,
Sensing the back of the body,
The right heel,
The left heel,
Right calf,
Left calf,
Right hamstring,
Left hamstring,
Right glute,
Left glute,
The whole back of the pelvis,
The lower back,
The middle back,
Upper back,
The entire spine,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Back of the neck,
Back of the head,
Moving toward the top of the head,
Forehead,
Center of the eyebrows,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Both lips together,
Chin,
Jaw,
Throat,
Right side of the chest,
Left side of the chest,
The heart center,
The upper abdomen,
The navel,
Lower abdomen,
The whole right leg,
The whole left leg,
The whole right arm,
The whole left arm,
The whole face,
The whole body,
Front and back,
Left and right,
The whole body,
Sensing the whole body,
The whole body here,
Breathing,
Notice the natural,
Unaltered breath,
Steady,
Smooth rhythm,
In and out,
Now imagine that you could direct this breath up and down the spine as you breathe,
On the inhale start at the base of the spine all the way up to the crown,
And then back down to the base on the exhale,
Inhale from the base of the spine up to the crown,
And exhale from the crown back down to the base,
Inhale from the base,
Moving up the spine,
And breathe down releasing from the crown,
Back down out the base,
Allow your breath to move up and down your spine for a few minutes on your own,
Feeling this stream of breath moving up and down the spine,
You may release this breath now and rest your attention on the third eye center,
At your third eye center,
And now a scene appears on the screen of your mind,
A forest,
Quiet,
Calm,
Lush,
Allow yourself to step into this scene,
You notice the air is misty and humid,
Yet comfortable,
Refreshing like a dewy morning,
The scent is fresh,
You can hear a slight breeze through the trees,
Through the leaves,
And birds singing in the distance,
You start to walk into the forest and your steps are softly absorbed into the ground,
Covering beneath your feet,
Dew drops on leaves,
Ferns on the forest floor,
Sunlight peeking in between the leaves,
Leaves dancing on the breeze,
Sparkling in the sunlight,
The air is clean and fresh,
You've come to a clearing,
You've found a clear,
Sun-drenched meadow in the middle of the forest,
And standing in the middle of the meadow is the biggest,
Most beautiful tree of them all,
As if illuminated by a spotlight,
This tree stands by itself in the sun and calls you forth,
Its beauty and its majesty is magnetic,
As you draw nearer to the tree through the quiet meadow,
You realize you can hear a subtle sound vibration,
The tree's song,
Barely audible,
This ringing softly with beautiful clarity,
The sound relaxes your senses,
Clears your mind,
And makes you feel so calm and grounded,
You place your hands on the tree now,
The bark is cool and smooth,
Refreshing,
It feels so good and you embrace the tree with your full body,
This tree feels so nourishing and gives the energy of mother earth herself,
A deep sense of peace and love washes over you now,
Your mind is clear and your heart opens,
A feeling starts to grow inside of you,
You recognize it is your sankalpa,
Your heart's deepest truth,
As you feel the presence of the tree,
Your sankalpa becomes clearer,
All-encompassing,
Feeling your sankalpa through all layers of your being,
Repeat it silently to yourself now,
Three times,
These impressions and this experience is yours to keep,
Thank the tree,
Thank the forest,
And thank yourself for this experience,
It is time to go forward now,
Into your day,
Into your life,
Carrying this feeling with you in your heart,
And draw your attention back to your natural breath,
Feel the inhalation as it passes through your nostrils and into your chest and belly,
And you may begin to exhale out the mouth,
And let's take three deep breaths to come back,
In through the nose deeply,
Into the belly,
And then out through the mouth,
In the nose,
Deep into the belly,
And then letting it all go out the mouth,
One more time,
In through the nose,
Deep,
Deep into the belly,
And then hold it at the top,
And release the breath and everything out through the mouth,
And now you can begin to bring small movements back into the body,
Perhaps rolling the wrist,
Wiggling the toes,
Moving the head from side to side,
And only when you feel quite ready,
You may take a big stretch and begin to flutter your eyes open,
And return to a seated position,
Thank you for your time today,
And I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.
Namaste
