Prepare and settle the body for the practice of yoga nidra.
Lying in a straight line in shavasana,
Feet falling wide,
Arms slightly away from the body,
A natural curl to the fingers,
Option to take a mudra if it's comfortable.
Separate the teeth slightly in the mouth,
Allow the space between the eyebrows to relax and lengthen the whole spine from the base to the top between the ears.
Use your breath to relax the physical body down more and more,
Consciously releasing tensions in the physical body.
Allow the body to continue relaxing as the awareness stays awake and conscious throughout the process of yoga nidra.
At the end of the practice I will ask you to name your son kalpa,
Calling this resolve to mind now,
Repeating it once to yourself,
Planting the seed.
And now leaving son kalpa,
Committing the body to stillness for the duration of the yoga nidra.
Awaken your sense of hearing,
Sending it out in all directions.
Repeat the awareness fluid moving from sound to sound as you push further and further out.
Listen for sounds beyond those that you're hearing now.
Actively seeking and searching for new sounds,
Drawing the awareness closer now to sounds just outside this room.
Keep the awareness moving.
Keep listening in all directions just outside this room.
Closer now to sounds inside this room,
Listening for closer sounds.
And now closer still to the sounds within your own physical body.
Keep listening inside your physical body.
And now leaving awareness of sounds,
But stay with the voice.
I will guide you through a rotation of consciousness through the parts of the body.
Every time a body part is named,
Bring your full feel and focus into that body part as if you're in it,
Moving from one part to the next like a thread of consciousness connecting inside,
Beginning with the right hand and the right hand thumb,
Forefinger of the right hand,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Palm,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Armpit,
Shoulder,
Right side of the chest,
Right side of the waist,
Right hip,
Thigh,
Back of the thigh,
Kneecap,
Back of the knee,
Shin,
Calf muscles,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole,
Top of the foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Keep following the voice.
Move the awareness to the left side,
Left hand and left hand thumb,
Forefinger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Palm,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Armpit,
Shoulder,
Left side of the chest,
Left side of the waist,
Left hip,
Thigh,
Back of thigh,
Back of knee,
Kneecap,
Shin,
Calf muscles,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole,
Top of foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Keep following along.
Moving the awareness to the back body,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
Right side of back from hip to shoulder,
Left side of back from hip to shoulder,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Space between the shoulder blades,
Whole spine,
Back of neck,
Back of head,
Sides of head,
The crown,
Forehead,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Eyebrow center,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right eyelids,
Left eyelids,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Bridge of the nose,
Nose tip,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Teeth,
Tongue,
Chin,
Jaw,
Throat,
Pit of throat,
Center of chest,
Upper abdomen,
Diaphragm,
Navel center,
Lower abdomen,
Pubic bone,
Groin,
The right leg from hip to toe,
The left leg from hip to toe,
Both legs together,
Right arm from shoulder to fingertip,
Left arm from shoulder to fingertip,
Both arms,
Trunk of the body,
Neck and head,
The right side of the body,
The left side of the body,
All of the right side of the body,
All of the left side of the body,
Whole body,
Whole physical body,
As one unit,
Feeling your whole physical body lying over the floor.
Bring the awareness to the breath moving within the physical body space.
And as you inhale,
Begin to feel or imagine that you draw the breath from the outside space in through fingers and toes,
Moving up through the physical body space towards the center of the head,
The Agnya chakra at the top of the spine in between the ears.
As you exhale,
Breath leaves the body flowing down through the physical body space and out through fingers and toes.
If it helps,
Visualize this breath flowing as streams of silver or white light,
Silver or white light flowing in through finger and toe tips to the center of the head on the in-breath and flowing back down and out on the out-breath from center of head through fingers and toes.
Continue practicing.
Breathing in from fingers and toes to center of head.
Breathing out from center of head down through fingers and toes.
On your next inhalation,
Keep the awareness centered around the center of head.
As you breathe out,
Begin to breathe a single stream of silver or white light from the center of the head out and forward through the center of the eyebrows into the outside space.
And as you inhale,
Drawing that same stream of light from the outside space through eyebrow center and back to the center of the head.
Continue breathing this stream of light in through eyebrow center to the center of the head and out from center of head through eyebrow center into the outside space.
Continue breathing this stream of light through eyebrow center into the outside space.
Continue breathing this stream of light through eyebrow center into the outside space.
Letting this go,
Letting this go,
Letting go of breath awareness and return to natural and spontaneous breath.
Allow the breath to flow naturally.
I will name some sensations.
Recreate these sensations inside your body.
Get as close to them as you can.
Begin creating a sense of heaviness.
Heavy body sinking.
Heavyness.
Becoming heavier and heavier as if you could sink into and through the floor.
Heaviness through the whole body.
Replacing this with a sense of lightness.
Light floating body lightness.
Feeling lighter and lighter as though you could float up and away from your yoga mat.
Letting this go,
Creating a sensation of cold.
Feeling cold through the whole body.
Cold.
Replace this now with a sense of heat.
Whole body feeling hot.
Heat.
Letting this go,
Creating the sensation of pain.
Feeling pain.
Pain.
Replace this now with a sense of pleasure.
Feel pleasure in the body.
Pleasure.
Now letting this go,
Letting this go.
Letting go of these sensations.
Let go of these now.
And see yourself walking along a brightly lit country path.
The sun is shining overhead and there are fields stretched out in all directions around you.
Little sprays of flowers gently nodding in the breeze.
Passing along a quiet country lane in the countryside,
In the sunshine.
Feel the expanse of sky above you.
The warmth coming from the earth beneath.
And the gentle breeze on your skin.
The scent of flowers.
And in the distance you see snow capped mountains.
Winding your way along the country path,
Making your way towards the mountains.
Finding yourself in the foothills.
As the path takes you higher and higher,
Climbing one of the mountains of the range.
Keep climbing higher as the air becomes cooler and then cold.
Wind begins to chill your skin as you scrabble higher and higher up the mountain path.
Rocks slipping under your feet,
But you make your way up to the summit.
Climbing high to the peak where you pause.
The wind is whistling in your ears.
You notice a small opening in the side of the mountain and decide to crawl through.
Creeping through into the side of the mountain,
A hole just big enough to crawl in.
Make your way in on hands and knees.
Crawling deeper into the heart of the mountain,
Feeling the rock on all sides.
The hole begins to narrow and soon you have to make your way forward on your belly,
Wriggling forward,
Deeply tunneling into the mountain.
Soon the opening begins to widen once again.
And you find you're able to crawl and then to crouch and then to walk.
A giant cavern opens up in front of you.
A giant cavern right in the heart of the mountain and the walls are covered with shimmering,
Glittering gemstones of every colour and description.
There is a soft light emanating from within the cavern and you make your way in,
Gazing at the beauty reflected all around.
Stalagmites,
Stalactites and right in the centre,
A pond.
Crystal clear water reflects the gemstones from all directions.
You approach the side of the pool.
Gaze in and see your true reflection gazing back at you.
The reflection of your innermost being.
You smile at yourself.
The reflection of a specific gemstone catches your eye.
You gaze up and notice that it's your favourite colour.
Standing up you reach and pluck the gemstone from the wall of the cavern,
Admiring it,
Turning it this way and that,
Looking at all its different facets.
Pocketing the gemstone,
You decide to make your way back and out of the cave,
Returning the same way you came,
Walking,
Then crouching,
Then crawling and finally shimmying on your belly as you make your way back and out into the cool mountain air.
As you emerge onto the side of the mountain,
You notice that it is about to set sun,
So you sit and decide to watch the sun set.
Just as the sun disappears over the horizon,
There is a flash of colour,
The same as the gemstone in your pocket.
Feel as though the flash is absorbed by every layer of your being,
The colour permeating.
Stay sitting here on the side of the mountain,
Closing the eyes and immediately draw the awareness to Chittakasha,
The mind space.
Feel as though you are sitting far back in the space of your mind and perceiving deeply forward,
Being aware of the space and anything that exists within.
Feel as though you are sitting far back in the space of your mind and perceiving deeply forward,
Being aware of the space and anything that exists within.
And now leaving Chittakasha,
Allowing the space of the mind to dissolve into itself,
Call up your sun Kalpa,
Repeating it now three times to yourself,
Planting the seed deeply.
And now gently leaving sun Kalpa,
Withdraw the awareness,
Come back to the sensation of breath moving within the physical body,
Deepen the breath slightly and use the breath to come further back,
More and more into the physical body as it lies here in the room.
Get an image of yourself lying here in the room,
Know who you are and where you are.
When you feel fully present in the physical body,
Gently encouraging movement through fingers and toes,
Taking a full body stretch,
Reaching the arms long overhead,
Turning gently onto one side,
Allow the eyes to remain closed if you wish,
And taking three full and conscious breaths,
Coming back more and more to the physical space.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
Yoga Nidra is complete.
In your own time you can sit up and relax all efforts,
Opening the eyes.
