Yoga Nidra For Self Reflection (Niyama 4, Svadhyaya)

In this short yet powerful Yoga Nidra practice, you’ll be guided gently inward to explore Svadhyaya—the yogic path of self-study. Through deep rest and reflection, connect with your inner stillness, release surface distractions, and uncover the quiet wisdom of your true self. A journey toward clarity, peace, and profound self-understanding.
Part of the series ' A meditative journey through the 8 Limbs of Yoga

Transcript

It's Yogi Phoenix here. Welcome to your yoga nidra practice. Today we are going to explore svadhyaya, Which is the fourth of the niyamas in Patanjali's Eight Limbs of Yoga. Yoga nidra lends itself well to the practice of svadhyaya as this is an introspective practice designed for you to look inward and discover more about yourselves more about what makes you you, Understanding the true nature of the self. I'd like to invite you to look internally when we start the practice. So initially let's just get comfortable lie on a mat, A yoga mat perhaps or on a bed in the posture of shivasana, Palms facing upward knees relaxed. You can use a bolster under them or a pillow if that feels good for you. Get yourselves as comfortable as you possibly can bearing in mind we're lying on the floor. The practice of yoga nidra is the practice of yogic sleeping. There's nothing to do here. Simply listen to my voice and use it as an anchor and allow yourself to become deep. Allow yourself to move inward using the third eye to see letting go of the seeing and looking inward. When we practice yoga nidra one of the most powerful things that this practice can do is it can help you manifest things that you desire but it's not things as material things as such. It could be perhaps but generally speaking it's to do with the soul. It's to do with you. It's how you become greater than you already are. What is it that you need in this life that will help you help others? Do you need to be more loving toward yourself? Do you need to be more caring of others? Do you need to be less judgmental? Whatever it is we've all got something that we can work with. So for instance mine is staying calm in situations. I have a tendency to fly off the handle and my particular sankalpa at this moment is I stay calm in all situations. So for me that's a very powerful sankalpa because it gets to the root of part of my issues. But as you can see it's said in the present tense and it's powerful for me. Yours will probably be different but it's said in the same manner. So what I'd like you to do now is to drop into your heart. As I say start the inward journey of svidhyaya looking inward rather than outward and be self-reflective. Listen to your heart be grateful for what it is that you've received and bring your sankalpa to mind. Repeat it three times and simply let go. Just let go. So with the practice of yoga nidra we initially take the awareness on a rotation of consciousness throughout the body. So we're going to start in the traditional sense which means starting with the right thumb. Take your awareness to the right thumb, The index finger, The middle finger, The ring finger, The pinky finger, The back of the hand, The palm of the hand, The wrist, The forearm, The elbow, The upper arm, The shoulder, The armpit, The rib cage, The waist, The hip, The thigh, The knee, The shin, The ankle, The sole of the right foot, The top of the foot, The big toe, The second toe, Third toe, Fourth toe, Fifth toe. Take your awareness to the left side. Left thumb, Index finger, Middle finger, Ring finger, Pinky finger, Back of the hand, Palm of the hand, Wrist, Forearm, Elbow, Upper arm, Shoulder, Armpit, Rib cage, Waist, Hip, Thigh, Knee, Shin, Ankle, Sole of the left foot, Top of the foot, Big toe, Second toe, Third toe, Fourth toe, Fifth toe. Take your awareness to the back of the body, Both heels together, Both buttocks together, Base of the spine, Middle of the spine, Top of the spine, Both shoulder blades together, Both hands or both arms, The head, The torso, The legs. Be aware of your whole body lying in yoga nidra. Simply see yourself lying in yoga nidra, Feel the breath, Feel the breath, Feel the belly rise and the belly fall. And take it one step further, See if you can feel the life force within you, See the life force or prana within you, Flowing through your body. Be aware of being alive with the breath, Simply breathing the body, Looking inward, Feeling the breath, Feeling alive, Feel the life force flowing through you. Imagine being and feeling scattered, Too much information, Everything going on, Ten things at once, Confused, Difficult, Scattered, Outward. We know this feeling. And now take the opposite, Calm, Inwardly focused. Nothing can bother us, Everything's fine. Imagine the feeling of cold, Cold and wet, The feeling. And now imagine the feeling of warmth, Beautiful warmth, And now that feels inward. Take your physical eyes and gently gaze at the third eye, Looking inward. Imagine being in a library, Many books, You see a book with your name on it, It's a book of your life. Flick through the book, Settle on a page when you're ten years old. How did you feel? Feel the child within, See the child within. Allow the child within to express him or herself. Your parents are sitting by a table, Your grandparents arrive, You sit down at the table, They tell you a story, Listen to the story. See inside, See your emotions, Feel the love within you, Feel the love within you, Pure love. Stay with that, Stay with the bliss within. In that space, Reintroduce your sankalpa, Exactly the same as you said at the beginning of the practice. Reintroduce it, Repeat three times, And simply let go. This will manifest in your life. All you have to do is believe. Take control of the breath, And breathe the body. Feel the mat beneath you or the bed beneath you, Wherever you're lying. See the room you're in, And feel the body. Slowly start to move the body, Move the fingers and the toes. Gently coming back to this space, Coming back now, Coming back now. Take some bigger movements into the body. Sit up from where you are, And feel the energy within. Recognize yourself for what you are, Pure energy. Look within for the answers, They reside within you. Let's internally chant the OM. Slowly start to open the eyes, Opening the eyes now, The practice of Yoga Nidra is over. Thank you ever so much. Enjoy the rest of your day, And hopefully we will meet again soon. Thank you. Namaste.