Yoga Nidra For Letting Go

This yoga nidra leads you through a journey of appreciating and letting go of that which no longer serves you. This meditation incorporates bilateral sound and is meant to be played with headphones or earbuds. Bilateral sound helps integrate information from both hemispheres of the brain and further calms your nervous system, thereby enhancing the relaxing qualities and effectiveness of the meditation.
Music by Ben Gallagher

Transcript

Arrive on your back and settle into your body,

Giving yourself time to get comfortable.

Place a pillow beneath your head,

A blanket draped on top of you.

Perhaps a soft cloth to cover your eyes.

Allow yourself to settle into this practice and this moment,

Setting the intention to stay awake and focus on my voice,

Setting the intention to allow yourself to experience whatever arises for you.

Bring your awareness to all the sounds you can hear,

The sounds far,

Far away outside the guidance of this meditation,

The sounds closer in,

The layered sounds of the music,

The sound of my voice,

The sound of your body breathing,

The silences within the sounds,

The sounds between the sounds,

Milliseconds of quiet,

Tiniest moments.

Notice if there's a silence within you,

A deep silence like the silence of a meteor traversing the night sky.

Allow yourself to feel the silence within you,

The stillness of your resting heart.

Bring your awareness to your heart and feel into your sankalpa,

Your intention for this practice stated in the present moment,

A simple statement,

A quality you are trying to cultivate within you,

Within your experience.

Bring your awareness to your sankalpa and repeat it to yourself three times,

Noticing how you receive it and just allowing whatever arises to be.

Picture yourself beneath a still night sky,

Beneath clear stars,

The Milky Way.

Feel your body resting on the earth as you picture the stars above you and imagine placing a star at each part of your body that I say,

Beginning with your right hand thumb,

Place a star on your right hand thumb and one on your right index finger,

A star on your right middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

Palm of your right hand,

The back of your right hand,

A star on your right wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

A star on your right shoulder,

Right armpit,

Ribcage,

Waist,

A star on your right hip,

Upper leg,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Star on your right ankle,

Heel,

Bottom of your right foot,

Top of your right foot,

A star on your right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Picture the whole right side of your body,

Its own constellation beneath a clear night sky,

The whole right side of your body,

Lit up by little stars,

The whole right side of your body.

Now place a star on your left hand thumb,

Left index finger,

Middle finger,

A star on your left ring finger,

Left pinky finger,

The palm of your left hand,

The back of your left hand,

Left wrist,

Forearm,

A star on your left elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Star on your left ribcage,

Waist,

Hip,

Upper leg,

Star on your left knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Left heel,

The star on the bottom of your left foot,

And one on the top of your left leg,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Picture all the stars on the left side of your body,

The constellation unto itself,

The whole left side of your body,

Lit up by little stars,

The whole left side of your body.

Place a star at the top of your head,

The space between your eyebrows,

A star on each ear,

Each eye socket,

Both cheeks.

Place a star on the bridge of your nose,

The tip of your nose,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

And chin.

Place a star at the pit of your throat,

A star on your sternum,

Solar plexus,

Belly button,

And pubic bone.

Feel all the parts of your body facing skyward,

Lit up by stars,

Lit up beneath the Milky Way,

Your body a constellation mirroring the heavens,

The universe mirroring itself,

You a universe unto yourself,

A part of all existence,

The whole entire universe,

Your whole body lit up by little stars.

Feel all the parts of your body connected to the earth,

All the parts of you in contact with the surface,

Held by the weight of the earth's gravity.

Feel all the parts of you connected to the earth,

And feel your whole body,

Top,

Bottom,

Right,

Left,

The whole circumference and shape of you lying there.

Feel your whole body,

Your whole body,

Your whole body.

Feel your body breathing,

And begin to count your breath backward from the number 27,

Counting back with each out breath from 27 down to one,

Breathing in and breathing out 27,

Breathing in and breathing out 26,

Count backwards without rush,

Don't worry about getting to one,

The point is just to focus.

And if you lose track,

Begin at the last number you remember counting,

Breathing in and out and breathing out.

Release the counting of the breath.

Bring your awareness now to a sense of separation.

Feel what separation feels like in your body,

Feel how you experience separation,

Allow yourself to feel into separation.

Now let that go,

Now bring up a sense of connection,

Feel what it's like in your body to experience connection,

Feel how you experience connection in your life,

Connection.

Hold on to this experience of connection and see if you can bring back and hold with it the experience of separation,

Holding both at the same time separation and connection,

Two parts of a whole,

A whole human experience,

Separation and connection.

Now bring up an experience of feeling anxious,

Feel what it's like to feel anxious in your body,

Maybe you can notice how this arises within your experiences,

Sense into feeling anxious.

Release anxious and bring up the experience of feeling confident,

Feel what it's like in your body to feel confident,

Notice how and when this arises for you,

Confident.

Now hold on to the experience of feeling confident and as much as you can see if you can hold the experience of anxious with it,

Noticing what it's like to hold both at the same time anxious and confident,

Two parts of a whole,

A whole human experience,

Anxious and confident.

Notice that.

Now bring up in your body a sense of feeling constricted or contracted,

Notice where you feel that in your body,

Notice what constricted,

Contracted is like for you,

How it arises,

How it affects you,

Constricted and contracted.

Let that go and bring up now a sense of being relaxed and at ease,

How and when you experience that relaxed and at ease.

Hold on to the experience of being relaxed and at ease and as much as you can bring back and hold with it,

Constricted and contracted.

See if you can hold both at the same time,

Constricted with relaxed,

Contracted with that ease,

Hold them both at the same time,

Allowing yourself to feel all of it,

Two parts of a whole,

A whole human experience,

Constricted and contracted with relaxed and at ease.

Now I'm going to name some images and as much as you can just imagine these images flashing as if on a screen in front of you.

A creature,

A bowl of ripe peaches,

A lizard stunning on a rock,

Dew drop on a leaf,

The fibers of a rug,

Butterfly landing,

A baby laughing,

Raven circling,

Steam rising from a warm beverage,

Ice melting in the sun,

A puppy bounding,

Grasshopper leaping,

A loved one's face,

A still pool of water.

Picture the still pool of water and notice where it is.

Is it in a desert or a forest or somewhere else?

Is it natural or man-made?

Notice the pool of water before you as you walk up to it and approach it.

Look down into the pool of water,

The still pool and as you look down you see not a reflection as you are now.

You see a mirror reflecting parts of your life that no longer serve you.

Behaviors,

Reactions,

Maybe even relationships,

Parts you are ready to let go of.

Notice what arises in the mirror of this pool.

Notice what arises within you when you see these parts reflected.

These parts of us,

These experiences,

They all serve a purpose.

They help us learn and grow.

They protect us.

They meet a need.

Maybe you can sense into how these parts served you.

Maybe you can even offer up some gratitude for what they meant in your life as you get away.

Maybe there is something that they need to tell you or something that you need to tell them.

Just allow yourself to be with these parts,

Recognizing that they no longer serve you but once did,

Giving yourself the space and time to say goodbye.

As you gaze at these parts,

This reflection in the pool of water,

A wind picks up causing ripples in the reflection suddenly and as the water settles again,

You see your reflection as you are now.

There is a sunbeam lighting you up from behind.

You see your illuminated self,

Your higher self.

Return now your attention to your heart and recall your intention,

Your sankalpa.

Repeat it to yourself three times and notice how your body receives it now.

As we wind down the practice of yoga nidra,

Notice how your body feels in this moment compared to when you started.

See if there's anything from this experience you want to carry forward into your day and the days ahead.

Feel your body again resting on the ground and as you're ready,

Make slow movements,

Wiggling your fingers and toes.

Your baby gently rocking side to side.

Make movements that feel natural to you in your own time.

Suddenly returning to the day ahead.

Remember that time is Capt forest.

.

Reviews

Very soothing and healing. Thank you.

A very beautiful journey, an intense experience, thank you for this.
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