Short Life-Force Yoga Nidra Practice

When your time is limited, this Yogic meditation will harmonize your mood, relax your mind, and give your body a boost of energy. LifeForce Yoga works to manage your mood and bring balance to your emotional body. Regular Nidra meditations can cultivate clarity and remove obstacles in the mind and body.

Transcript

Let's prepare for yoga nidra.

Come into shavasana,

Corpse pose,

Lying on your back with your legs a comfortable distance apart,

Your palms face up and your chin slightly tucked.

You may wish to use a cushion or blanket under your knees,

An eye pillow to cover your eyes,

And a light cover for your body as your body temperature will lower as you relax.

A folded blanket under your head will tilt the chin forward slightly,

Supporting the mind to relax.

Now take a deep breath in and hold it for a moment,

Tightening the glutes,

Tighten the face,

Make fists of your hands,

Tighten as many muscles as you can,

Squeeze all the tension,

Squeeze whatever is no longer serving you,

And then let it go.

Release and let your body soften into the earth.

Inhale one more time and tighten as much as you can,

Squeeze all the judgments and expectations,

Everything that's blocking the free flow of healing energy and love,

Squeeze,

Squeeze,

Squeeze,

And then let go completely.

Allow your body to soften into the earth.

Now join with your own natural rhythm of breath,

Perhaps using yogic three-part breathing if you know it,

Or simply breathing down into the bottom of your lungs so the belly expands,

Riding the waves of your breath home to who you are inside,

Beneath the current mood or the costumes you put on,

Home to the ground of your being where you are intimately,

Eternally connected,

That knows no separation.

And from this place of wholeness,

Invite a heart felt prayer to arise,

Revealing itself in your heart's mind,

Your mind's heart.

What's the burning bush in your heart?

The seeds are already present in your life.

When you have identified the seed of the longing,

Plant it in your heart and say it to yourself in the present tense as though it's already blossoming.

For example,

Peace breathes through me now,

Or radiant health breathes through me now,

Or I am open and available to give and receive love.

This is your sankalpa.

Take two more slow,

Deep breaths,

Breathing your sankalpa through every cell.

The beginning and end of the yoga nidra practice are the most fertile times for nourishing the seed of your sankalpa.

If you plant the sankalpa every day during yoga nidra,

That seed will blossom more fully in your life.

Whole body is lying on the floor.

Become aware of the whole body lying on the floor.

A global awareness of sensation radiating through and around the whole body lying on the floor.

During the practice of yoga nidra,

The mind may subside for moments into sleep or into spacious awareness without thought.

Allow my voice to be an anchor,

Drawing you back into awareness of the present.

Sense each body part as we move systematically,

Almost mechanically,

Through the body beginning with the mouth.

Notice sensations at the roof of the mouth,

Floor of the mouth.

Notice the tongue.

Let the tongue fall away from the roof of the mouth.

Inner left cheek,

Inner right cheek.

Become aware of radiant sensation in the lips,

Sensation behind the lips,

Whole mouth,

Hollow and empty.

Feel the hollow spaciousness of the mouth as radiant expansive sensation.

All the structures of the mouth hollow and empty.

Trace a line of sensation flowing from inside the mouth through the hollow tubes of the inner ear canals all the way out to the hills and valleys of the outer ears.

Left ear,

Right ear,

Hollow and empty.

Become aware of sensation in the nose,

Experiencing the hollow spaciousness inside each nostril,

Left nostril,

Right nostril,

Hollow and empty.

Sense the eyes,

Those orbs of radiant sensation,

Sensation in the eyes flowing all the way back to the sockets.

Let the eyeballs sink back into their sockets.

Left eye,

Right eye,

Still behind their lids.

Notice all the structures surrounding the eyes,

Cheekbones left and right,

Temples left and right,

Eyebrows left and right.

Become aware of the forehead and trace a line from the middle of the brow back through the brain deep into the primitive brain,

The brain stem,

Amygdala,

Hippocampus.

Become aware of subtle sensation in the right hemisphere,

The left hemisphere.

Become aware of the cranium,

Whole cranium,

From the crown of the head all the way back to the occipital ridge.

Notice the neck and the hollow space behind the neck.

Become aware of the throat,

Hollow and empty.

Breathe into the left side of the body,

Whole left side of the body lying on the floor.

Notice the sensation in the left shoulder all the way down the arm to the empty spaciousness at the palm of the hand and all the little bones in the fingers,

Left thumb,

Thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

All of the fingers together,

Left wrist,

Elbow and the hollow space of the armpit,

Whole left arm lying on the floor.

Feel the whole left arm lying on the floor.

Notice left rib cage,

Torso,

Hip,

Thigh,

Kneecap,

The hollow space behind the knee,

Shin,

Ankle,

All the way down to the hollow space at the sole of the foot and all the little bones in the toes,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

All of the toes together.

Sensation flowing through the whole left side of the body,

Whole left side of the body,

Radiant,

Spacious,

Hollow and empty.

Feel the whole left side of the body lying on the mat.

Breathe your way over to the right side of the body.

Sense the right side of the body lying on the floor.

Waves of breath,

Moving the awareness to the right shore of the body,

Whole right side of the body lying on the floor.

Sensation in the right shoulder,

All the way down the arm to the hollow spaciousness at the palm and all the little bones in the fingers,

Right thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

All of the fingers together,

Back of the hand,

Right wrist,

Elbow and the hollow space of the armpit,

Whole right arm lying on the floor.

Feel the whole right arm lying on the floor,

Radiant with sensation.

Notice sensation in right rib cage,

Hip,

Thigh,

Kneecap and the hollow space behind the knee,

Shin,

Ankle,

All the way down to the hollow space at the sole of the foot and all the little bones in the toes,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

All of the toes together.

Sensation flowing through the whole right side of the body,

Whole right side of the body,

Radiant,

Spacious,

Hollow and empty.

Feel the whole right side of the body lying on the floor.

Breathe into both sides of the body simultaneously.

Become aware of both sides of the body,

Awareness of the whole body lying on the floor.

Whole body is lying on the floor,

Back of the body,

Heavy,

Sinking into the earth like a stone in sand,

Legs heavy and sinking,

Spine,

Back of the head,

Arms heavy and sinking.

Sense into the front of the body,

Breath flowing through the front of the body,

Face,

Chest,

Abdomen,

Pelvis,

Tops of the legs,

Front of the body,

Light and floating,

Whole body light,

Floating,

Body light and floating like a cloud.

Feel the heaviness in the body and the lightness in the body,

Body heavy and light,

Awareness of the whole body lying on the floor,

The whole body lying on the floor.

Is there an area of discomfort in your body,

Perhaps an unpleasant tightness or numbness?

Allow the breath to join the area of discomfort without trying to change anything.

Aware of discomfort in your body.

Is there an emotion associated with this discomfort?

Notice if there's an emotion,

Emotion,

Perhaps unpleasant associated with this area of discomfort in the body.

Stay present and sense back into the discomfort in the body.

Breathe into the area of discomfort.

Is there an area of comfort in the body,

Perhaps a pleasant sensation of tingling or wakefulness?

Let the breath join with the comfort in your body without trying to change anything.

Simply notice comfort in the body.

Is there an emotion associated with this area of comfort?

Notice if there's an emotion associated with comfort in the body.

Stay present and aware of the area of comfort in the body.

Breathe into the area of comfort.

Go back and forth between the area of discomfort in the body and the area of comfort in the body.

Take two long breaths into the area of discomfort and feel the emotion if there is one associated with that discomfort.

Take two long breaths into the area of comfort and feel the emotion if there is one associated with the pleasant feeling in the body.

Sensing back now into a greater awareness,

Expanded and spacious,

Aware of both the discomfort in the body and the comfort.

Embracing both the discomfort and the unpleasant emotion along with the comfort in the body and the pleasant emotion.

Can you become aware of both the discomfort and the comfort,

The pleasant and the unpleasant,

The heaviness in the body and the lightness in the body.

Awareness expanded and spacious,

Aware of the opposites of sensation and emotion.

Awareness expanding,

Spacious,

Formless,

Timeless.

Awareness aware of itself.

Awareness of the energy around the body,

Expanding and spacious beyond the limits of the physical body lying on the floor.

Energy expanding beyond the limits of the room.

Energy spacious and expanding beyond the limits of this country.

Your energy,

Spacious and expanding beyond the limits of this planet.

No separation between the ocean of healing energy that surrounds you and the rivers of healing energy flowing through you now.

From this expanded place of spacious awareness,

Everything you need is flowing through you now.

Whole here now.

No separation.

Deepening your breath,

Breathing into your wholeness.

Breathe your sankalpa through you now.

It's already present.

Nourish the seed with your breath and your attention.

As you breathe your heartfelt intention through you,

Completing your yoga nidra practice,

You are fertilizing the seed of intention that will manifest fully,

Blossoming in every facet of your life.

As you end your yoga nidra practice and return to your daily life,

Resolve to stop throughout your day.

Pause for a moment in the middle of your activity,

In conversation,

At mealtime,

Or at your desk.

Simply pause and sense back into this greater awareness that you are not separate,

Whole.

Reviews

Amy’s calming voice and gentle guidance will help you activate your parasympathetic nervous system.