Hello and welcome to our yoga nidra session Now if you come into position either seated or lying down.
Either is fine.
If you're lying down,
Let your feet fall naturally apart.
And your arms rest a little bit away from your body.
Palms facing the sky.
And if you're seated.
Feel the weight of your body in the chair.
And of your feet on the floor.
And have your hands resting open in your lap.
And now close your eyes.
Or soften your gaze towards the floor.
And you can let go of everything that you had to do before you got here.
And everything that you have to do after you leave.
You don't have to do anything now.
Apart from take this time for you.
Now become aware of the sounds around you.
Sounds close up in the room.
And the sands that are further away.
And just let them all be present without following any one of them.
Just be aware of them.
And now begin to bring your attention inwards away from the sounds.
Away from the external world.
And towards the inner world.
Towards your breath.
And become aware of your natural breath.
Not trying to change it.
Simply observing it as it moves in and out of your body.
Feel the chest and the belly rise gently as we breathe in.
And soften as you breathe out.
And now we will take three long,
Slow,
Deep breaths together.
Breathe in.
Two,
Three,
Four.
And out 2,
3,
4,
5,
6 And in 2,
3,
4.
.
.
And out,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6.
And one more time,
In two,
Three,
Four.
And out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
And now let the breath return to its own natural rhythm.
And now bring your sankalpa to mind.
Your heartfelt resolve and deepest intention.
Either for just this session for your writing,
For your life.
And let it arise in you as something that's already true,
And state it three times with full feeling.
And now let it settle into your mind like a seed falling into the ground.
Rich,
Dark hair.
Knowing that it is working now.
And growing now.
We will now move our awareness through the body.
Following each point,
As I name it.
Letting your attention move gently from place to place,
Not lingering.
Simply touching each part of the body with awareness and then releasing.
Your right hand thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
Little finger.
The tips of the fingers.
And the spaces between the fingers.
Palm of the right hand.
Back of the right hand.
The right wrist.
Forearm elbow.
Right upper arm.
Right shoulder.
Armpit.
Right side of the chest.
Right side of the waist.
Right hip thigh.
Me.
Karma.
Shin.
Ankle.
Your right heel.
The sole of the right foot.
The top of the right foot.
And the right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe.
And little toe.
And the tips of the toes.
And the spaces between the toes.
Now your left hand thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger little finger.
Palm of your left hand.
Back of the left hand.
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow.
Aparam.
Left shoulder,
Left armpit.
Left side of the chest.
Left side of the waist.
Your left hip.
Bye.
Me.
Cough.
Shin.
Left ankle.
Left heel.
Sole of the left foot.
And top of the left foot.
In your left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
And the tips of the toes.
And the spaces between the toes.
Now bring your attention to the back of the head.
And the back of the neck.
The left shoulder blade.
The right shoulder blade.
The whole of the back.
Left buttock.
The right button.
The base of the spine.
And then moving slowly upward through each vertebra.
The whole length of the spine.
The back of the neck.
And the back of the head.
And the top of the head.
And the forehead.
The right eyebrow.
The left eyebrow.
The space between the eyebrows.
The right eyelid.
The left eyelid.
The right eye.
The left eye.
And the right cheek.
And the left cheek.
And the nose.
And the right nostril and the left nostril.
And the upper lip.
And the love of it.
Chin.
The throat.
The right side of the chest.
Left side of the chest.
Center of the chest.
Your heart center.
Enable.
And the lower part of your belly.
And now the whole of the right side of the body.
The whole of the left side of the body.
The whole of the front of the body.
The whole of the back of the body.
The whole of the head.
And the whole of the body.
All at once.
Completely at rest.
Completely aware.
Now become aware once more of the breath moving gently in and out.
Spreading through the whole body And with each exhale,
Feel yourself sinking a little deeper.
Into stillness.
And a wide,
Clear,
Luminous awareness.
Your body is completely at rest.
Heavy and warm and held.
And your mind is completely alert present.
Open.
Receptive.
You're at the threshold now.
In the borderland between the ordinary world.
And the deeper world beneath it.
You're in the Bardo.
In the in-between.
And now an image starts to form in your mind.
And you find yourself standing at the edge of a beautiful forest.
The trees are ancient and tall.
The canopy is high above you.
And where the sunlight finds its way through the leaves,
It falls in shafts and pools of gold.
Dabbled in shifting.
Moving gently as the leaves move.
As though the light itself is breathing.
Feel the ground beneath your feet the softness of the earth.
The faint give of moss and leaf and roots.
This ground and this forest have been here for a very long time.
And they welcome you.
And now you begin to walk.
Following a path that is already there.
One smooth by all the feet that have walked this way before.
As you walk,
You become aware of all the sounds around you.
Birdsong close and distant.
A single clear note somewhere above you.
The soft flutter of wings moving through leaves.
And further away another bird answering.
And their Mapa.
And another.
A conversation you can hear but not understand.
The air here smells rich and dark and alive.
Of bark and moss and the green smell of growing things.
Of something ancient and unhurried.
Of a rain that fell a long time ago and was absorbed and is still slowly releasing itself into the air around you.
Breathe it all in.
And the light shifts around you as you continue to walk.
Pools of gold on the floor.
And on your feet.
And then shade and then light again.
The trees casting long,
Soft shadows.
And then opening briefly to reveal a patch of red.
Blue blue sky.
Now become aware of the sounds beneath the birdsong.
The smaller sounds.
The creak of a branch somewhere above.
The rustle of something small in the undergrowth.
Forest breathing in its own slow way.
The path turns gently to the left now.
And as it turns,
You become aware of a change in the light ahead.
A brightening.
A thinning of the canopy.
And as you walk,
The light grows stronger and warmer.
And then the forest opens and you step into a clearing.
And it is wide and round and full of light.
After the dappled shade of the forest.
It's like stepping into a completely different quality of air.
The sky above is open and blue and vast,
And the light is warm and golden and showering down on you.
The ground is covered in soft grass,
Deep and thick and welcoming.
And among the grass wildflowers grow.
You notice their beautiful colours without needing to name any of them.
Enjoy the way they move in the gentle breeze that you can feel on your skin.
Stand here for a moment and feel it all.
The openness.
The light,
The warmth.
The breeze.
And now you lie down.
In the lovely soft grass.
Which receives you completely The earth beneath it is firm and steady.
And completely supports you.
Your health.
And safe and warm.
Let the weight of your body release entirely into the earth beneath you.
Feel your back,
Your shoulders,
Your hips,
And your legs.
Sinking into the grass Above you,
The blue sky.
A single cloud moves slowly across and you watch it.
Without following it,
Without thinking about it.
Simply seeing it now here in this clearing.
Bask in this warmth and this light.
You start to receive all of the stories that are waiting for you.
You're not reaching for anything in particular not looking for anything not expecting anything.
You're simply open.
Present.
And hair.
To receive whatever comes.
Might be an image,
A feeling.
The colour.
A memory.
A sensation in the body a word.
A voice.
A sound.
Something is stirring inside you that is ready to be known.
Let it come to you.
And know whatever comes to you here.
Is yours and it has always been yours.
And it's been waiting for you to be still enough.
And open enough.
And present enough.
To receive it.
And now become aware of your body lying in the clearing.
Feel the weight of fear.
Body against the earth.
The warmth of the sun on your face.
Grass soft and holding you.
Now become aware of your hands resting in the grass.
Feel the tips of your fingers and the palms.
Feel the weight of the legs against the ground.
And become aware of the breath moving through the body.
And know that everything that came to you in this clearing will remain with you.
Some of it will be vivid and immediate.
Some of it will surface later.
Nothing that is meant for you will be lost.
Bring your sankalpa back to mind now.
And here in the warmth of the clearing,
State it three times again.
With complete conviction.
As something already true.
And already growing in you.
And let it be watered.
By this beautiful light.
And now begin to become aware of the room around you.
The floor or the chair beneath your body.
Temperature of the air on your skin.
Start taking a few deeper breaths now.
Bringing you gently and steadily back.
You can wiggle your fingers and your toes.
And then move your hands and your feet.
And gently move your head from side to side.
If you're lying down,
When you feel ready,
Take a deep breath.
And roll slowly onto your side.
Resting there for a moment before you come up.
When you're ready in your own time.
Gently open your eyes and arrive back in the room.
Backing your body.
Carrying everything that came to you in the clearing inside of you Welcome back.
And now.
Take time to write in your journal about everything that came to you in the clearing.
