Welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra.
This practice is one where you're invited to relax as deeply as you can without falling asleep.
Yoga Nidra gives an opportunity for the body to get deep rest.
This practice specifically is one for the meridian of the lungs.
The meridian of the lungs.
Before we begin our practice,
We'll find the meridian of the lung.
There's a space in between the collarbone and the shoulder,
Just above the armpit.
Starting there,
Traveling on the thumb side of the arm,
All the way down to the thumbnail.
So from the space between your collarbone and your shoulder,
Travel down the inside of your arm,
Down to the thumb,
And into the thumbnail.
This is the meridian of the lung,
And the physical location of the lungs are within your ribcage.
In order to practice Yoga Nidra,
Feel free to take as much time as you need,
Pausing this recording if needed,
To set up into a shape that you will be able to sustain for about 30 minutes.
Sometimes laying down,
But this can also be practiced in a chair,
On an airplane.
Please do not practice Yoga Nidra if you are driving.
Finding yourself,
Setting up,
And feeling what it feels like to find stillness.
Take a deep breath into your lungs.
Deep breath in through your nose,
Out through your mouth,
Filling the entirety of your lungs.
This time take a deep breath in through your nose,
Pause here,
And exhale through your mouth.
A few more times at your own pace,
Knowing that if you prefer not to have retention,
You can breathe naturally instead.
In through your nose,
Pausing at the top if you'd like,
Out through your mouth.
The lungs are responsible for drawing air in.
They filter the air,
Oxygenate the blood,
And they draw Qi,
Or energy,
From the air and send it down into the kidneys.
The lungs are considered the most fragile organ because of their close proximity to the outside world.
When out of balance,
We can experience colds and coughs and headaches at the back of your head.
Rashes,
Especially those that have appeared suddenly,
Can sometimes be related to the lungs.
As you continue to breathe,
Invite clean energy and air moving through the lungs.
Notice how the breath feels in the nose and the throat.
As you bring this awareness to the lungs,
Feel the expansion and draw the attention away from the lungs into the thumbs.
Feel the weight of your thumb and then draw the attention back from the thumbs up to the lungs.
Casually move along this meridian line,
The energetic line of the lungs.
It is now time to form your sankalpa,
Or your intention.
This is a whispering of the heart,
Often in the form of an I am statement,
Such as I am whole,
I am breathing,
I am peace.
Sometimes it can be a word or a feeling.
Try not to grasp for your sankalpa.
Instead,
Invite it to rise up.
If nothing arrives to you,
Leave space.
If a sankalpa did arise,
Repeat it internally three times,
Moving through the physical layer of your body with a rotation of consciousness.
No physical movement is needed.
Draw awareness to each part at the same pace as my voice.
We start with the thumbnail of the right hand.
The thumbnail of the right hand.
The thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
Palm of your hand,
Back of your hand,
Right wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Right shoulder,
Armpit,
Right ribs,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Kneecap,
Shin,
Right ankle,
Top of the foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Left thumbnail.
Draw your attention to your left thumbnail.
Thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Left wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left ribs,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Kneecap,
Shin,
Left ankle,
Top of the foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Soles of the feet.
Notice the soles of your feet.
Right heel,
Left heel,
Right calf muscle,
Left calf muscle,
Right hamstrings,
Left hamstrings,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
Right lower back,
Left lower back,
Right mid-back,
Left mid-back,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
The spine,
Back of your neck,
Back of your head,
Crown of your head,
Forehead,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Space between the eyebrows,
Right side of the head,
Left side of the head,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right earlobe,
Right earlobe,
Left earlobe,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Right eyeball,
Left eyeball,
Right eyelashes,
Left eyelashes,
Bridge of the nose,
Nose,
Tip of the nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Upper lip,
Upper gums,
Upper gums,
Upper teeth,
Roof of the mouth,
Tongue,
Under the tongue,
Lower teeth,
Lower gums,
Lower lip,
Right side of the jaw,
Left side of the jaw,
Chin,
Throat,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Right lung,
Left lung,
Both lungs together,
Lungs together,
Stomach,
Abdomen,
Lower abdomen,
Whole of the right arm,
Whole of the left arm,
Both arms together,
Whole of the right leg,
Whole of the left leg,
Both legs together,
Whole of the front body,
Back body,
And spine,
Whole of the head,
Whole body together,
Whole body together,
Whole body together,
And bring your attention to the space between the collarbone and the shoulder,
Travel down the inner arm to the wrist,
Inside the thumb to the thumbnail,
Line of the lung meridian,
Starting at the space between the collarbone and the shoulder,
Starting at the space between the collarbone and the shoulder,
Down the inside of the arm,
Past the wrist,
Into the thumbnail,
And bring your attention to your breath.
You might use the line of the lung meridian and your breath together,
Maybe traveling down the meridian of the lung with each inhale,
And traveling up the meridian with each exhale.
Watch as the breath and the energy become one entity.
Now draw your attention into your throat.
Sense how it feels to breathe.
What does it feel like in your throat?
Feel as your breath moves in your throat and travels the line of the meridian all the way into your thumb.
Now draw your attention into your nose.
Feel the breath in your nose,
And as you feel your breath in your nose,
Draw your attention back into the energetic line of the lung meridian.
As you draw air in,
You draw energy from the air into your lungs and beyond.
Releasing your breath,
Breath,
Feel your body heavy,
Heavy,
Heavy,
So heavy.
The body feels as though it may sink into the earth,
Heavy,
And move away from heavy,
Through neutral,
To light,
Light,
Light.
As though your body is so light,
It might float,
Light,
While maintaining light.
Invite back in heavy,
Feeling equilibrium,
And walk towards the sensation of grief,
Heavy and dark energy,
Grief,
Unending sadness,
Grief,
And moving away from grief,
Through neutral.
Feel the body self-protecting.
There's light and confidence there,
Dignified self-protection,
And in this space of self-protection,
Invite back in grief,
Finding an evenness between the two.
As we move into our rapid visualization,
The invitation is to see each item with as much clarity without needing to prompt the mind.
Red and orange leaves,
White sand,
Black clouds,
Metal armor,
Desert,
Smiling body,
Smiling body,
Metal shield,
Sports team celebration,
Muscles contracting,
Balloon inflating,
Balloon deflating,
White moon,
White moon,
White moon.
Walk towards this white moon,
White moon,
Traveling through the dark sky towards the light.
All sense of everything begins to dissipate until all that remains is the white moon.
As you travel closer and closer to the moon,
It begins to shift into the shapes of your lungs.
Your lungs begin to open as they find their way into a doorway.
This is the doorway to the layer of bliss.
Decide whether you walk through this doorway.
If you do,
Let go and surrender.
Invite the seed of your sankalpa to rise back up.
And if you did so in the beginning,
In the beginning,
Repeat it three times internally.
Begin to become aware of your surroundings.
Gently coax yourself awake,
Knowing that your practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
