Yogic Sleep: Full Moon Magic

A gentle yoga nidra practice perfect for letting go. While this practice is most effective when listened to around the Full Moon, it can be listened to at any time. Allow yourself to relax fully as you are soothed and guided deeper within. Do not listen to this while driving or operating heavy machinery.

Transcript

Hi there and welcome to Freedom Sound.

Today we'll be doing a yoga nidra exercise for connecting to the energy of the full moon.

Please get ready for relaxation.

Lie down on your back on the floor and adopt shavasana,

The corpse pose.

In this position the body should be straight from head to toe.

The legs are slightly apart and the hands are a little away from the body with the palm of the hands turned upwards.

Adjust your body position and close until you are completely comfortable.

During yoga nidra there should be no physical movement.

Close your eyes and keep them closed throughout the practice.

Now take a deep breath in and as you breathe out feel the cares and worries of the day flow out of you.

In the practice that follows you're going to develop the feeling of relaxation in the body.

It is not necessary to make movements or to deliberately relax your muscles.

Simply develop the feeling of relaxation.

Make a resolution to yourself now that I will not sleep I will remain awake throughout the practice.

During yoga nidra you are functioning on the levels of hearing and awareness and the only important thing is to follow my voice.

Try not to analyze the instructions as this will disturb your mental relaxation.

Simply follow my voice with total attention and feeling and if thoughts come to bother you from time to time do not worry just continue with the practice.

Allow yourself time now to become calm and steady.

Become aware of sounds in the distance.

Become aware of the most distant sounds that you can hear.

Become aware of the most distant sounds that you can hear.

Let your sense of hearing operate like a radar beam searching out distant sounds and following them for a few moments.

Move your attention from sound to sound without attempting to identify the source of the sounds.

And then gradually bring your awareness to closer sounds.

To sounds just outside the space you are in.

And then to sounds within your space.

Now develop your awareness of your space.

Without opening your eyes visualize any walls,

The ceiling,

The floor,

Your body lying on the floor.

See your body lying on the floor.

Total awareness of your body lying in perfect stillness.

Develop your awareness of all of the physical meeting points between your body and the floor.

And then become aware of the natural breath.

Become aware of the deep natural spontaneous breath.

Try not to concentrate too intensely for this will interfere with the natural process.

Just keep on listening to me and know that you are breathing.

The practice of yoga nidra begins now.

Say mentally to yourself,

I am going to practice yoga nidra.

I will not sleep.

Repeat it to yourself.

Yoga nidra begins now.

Now is the time to make our resolve to set our sankalpa or intention for our yoga nidra practice.

Please state the following resolve clearly with feeling and awareness repeating it three times.

I let go of all that no longer serves me.

I let go of all that no longer serves me.

I let go of all that no longer serves me.

We will now begin the rotation of consciousness.

The awareness has to move through the different parts of the body.

Repeat the name of the part of the body in your mind and simultaneously become aware of that part of the body.

Keep yourself alert but do not concentrate too intensely.

Become aware of the right hand,

Right hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger and fifth.

The palm of the hand,

The back of the hand,

The wrists,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder and armpit.

The right side of the chest,

The right waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Kneecap,

Calf muscle,

Ankle and heel.

The sole of the right foot,

The top of the foot,

The big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and fifth.

Now take your awareness to the left hand.

Become aware of the left hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger and fifth.

The palm of the hand,

The back of the hand,

The wrists,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder and armpit.

The left side of the chest,

The left waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Kneecap,

Calf muscle,

Ankle and heel.

The sole of the left foot,

The top of the foot,

The big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and fifth.

Now take your awareness to the back of the body in contact with the floor.

The right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

The right buttock,

The left buttock,

The spine and the whole of your back in contact with the floor.

Now go to the top of the head,

The top of the head,

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,

The right ear,

The left ear,

The right cheek.

The left cheek,

The nose,

The tip of the nose,

The upper lip,

The lower lip,

The chin,

The throat.

The right side of the chest,

The left side of the chest,

The middle of the chest,

The abdomen,

The navel and the lower abdomen.

Become aware now of the whole of the right leg,

The whole of the left leg and both legs together.

The whole of the right arm,

The whole of the left arm and both arms together.

The whole of the back,

Buttocks,

Spine,

Shoulder blades and the whole of the front,

Abdomen and chest.

The whole of the back and front together.

The whole of the head,

The whole body together.

The whole body together and the whole body together.

Try your best not to sleep,

Total awareness,

The body on the floor,

Your body is lying on the floor.

See your body lying on the floor and visualize this image in your mind.

Now become aware of your breath,

Feel the flow of your breath in and out of your lungs.

Do not try to change the rhythm,

The breathing is natural,

Automatic,

You are not doing it and there is no effort.

Now focus on the movement of your navel area.

Concentrate on your navel movements,

Your navel is rising and falling slightly with every breath.

With each and every breath it expands and contracts.

Go on practicing concentrating on the navel,

Be sure that you are aware.

Release your awareness of your navel area now and begin to awaken the feeling of heaviness in the body.

Awaken the feeling of heaviness,

Become aware of heaviness in every single part of the body.

You are feeling so heavy that you are sinking into the floor.

Awareness of heaviness,

Awareness of heaviness.

Awaken the feeling of lightness in the body now.

Begin the feeling of lightness,

A sensation of lightness and weightlessness in all parts of the body.

Your body feels so light it seems to be floating away from the floor.

Awareness of lightness,

Awareness of lightness.

Now begin to awaken the feeling of cool in the body.

Awaken a cool feeling in the body.

A cool sensation in all parts of the body.

Awareness of cool,

Awareness of cool.

Now awaken the feeling of warmth in the body.

Awaken the feeling of warmth.

A sensation of warmth in all parts of the body.

Your body feels warm and cosy.

Awareness of warmth,

Awareness of warmth.

Now begin to withdraw your mind and focus on the space in front of your closed eyes.

Imagine before you a transparent screen through which you can see infinite space.

A space that extends as far as the eyes can see.

Concentrate on this dark space and become aware of any phenomena that manifest within it.

Whatever you see is the manifesting state of your mind.

Continue your awareness of the space but do not become too involved.

Practice detached awareness only.

A number of different things will be named now.

And you should try to develop a vision of them on all levels.

Feeling,

Awareness,

Emotion and imagination as best as you can.

Visualise a burning candle.

The candle flame.

Visualise the candle flame.

An endless desert.

An endless desert.

An Egyptian pyramid.

An Egyptian pyramid.

Torrential rain.

Torrential rain.

Snow-capped mountains.

Snow-capped mountains.

Birds flying across a sunset.

Birds flying across a sunset.

Red clouds drifting.

Red clouds drifting.

The stars at night.

The stars at night.

Wind from the sea.

Wind from the sea.

Waves breaking on a deserted beach.

Waves breaking on a deserted beach.

Visualise yourself standing and watching waves breaking on a deserted beach.

You look up and see the full moon.

The full moon surrounded by a dark sky of stars.

As you look at the moon,

A beam of white glowing moonlight begins to glow from the moon down towards you.

As the moonlight touches your skin,

Your skin glows with the same white light and a feeling of tingling warmth spreads from where the light touches.

Your entire body becomes bathed in moonlight from the top of your head,

Cascading all the way down over the shoulders,

Down your body to the tips of your toes.

And after washing over your body,

The moonlight spreads over the ground that you are standing in and is absorbed down into the earth.

As the moonlight covers you,

It begins to wash away any heaviness,

Any stress,

Any worries that have accumulated in your mind,

Body,

Heart or spirit.

Anything that is holding you back or dragging you down is washed away by this warm,

Healing light of the full moon.

From the top of your head to the tips of your toes,

Your entire being is cleansed and restored by the light,

Leaving you feeling at peace,

Calm,

Supported and refreshed.

You soak up as much moonlight as you require,

Knowing that there is an endless wave of energy that the moon can provide you.

And once you've got your full,

You gently shift your gaze from the moon and once again look out to the waves breaking on the deserted beach you are standing on.

You are glowing with warm light.

Every cell in your body seems to tingle pleasantly as if it's been reborn from the moon.

And as your body absorbs this moonlight deeper into your being,

The light slowly begins to fade.

You continue watching the waves breaking on your deserted beach,

Waves breaking on a deserted beach,

The restless sea.

The restless sea.

The eternal restless sea.

The eternal restless sea.

Now is the time to repeat our resolve,

The same resolve we made at the beginning of our practice,

Repeating it in exactly the same wording with feeling and intent three times.

I let go of all that no longer serves me.

Relax all efforts.

Relax all efforts.

Become aware of the breath,

The natural breath,

Awareness of the whole body and awareness of breathing.

Your body is lying totally relaxed on the floor.

You are breathing quietly and slowly.

Develop awareness of your body from the top of the head to the tips of the toes.

Become aware of the floor and your body lying on the floor.

Visualize the room around you,

Becoming aware of your surroundings.

And lie quietly for some time,

Giving yourself time to adjust.

The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

Very slowly start to caress each finger with your thumb.

Gently start moving the toes and turning your head gently from side to side,

Releasing your neck.

Bring your head to center and reach your arms up overhead,

Interlacing your fingers,

Turning the palms out and as you inhale,

Point your toes and give yourself a full stretch.

Opening your mouth,

Sighing out as you release.

Then bend your right knee and bring your right foot onto the ground,

Followed by the left.

Wrap your arms around your legs as you hug the knees into the chest,

Embracing and thanking yourself for the time and effort you have put into your practice today.

Then slowly roll over onto the left hand side,

Coming into the fetal position,

Supporting your head on your left arm,

Giving your back some time to adjust.

And only when you are sure that you are awake,

Gently flatter your eyes open,

Taking in all of the colours,

Shapes and light around you.

Gradually pushing up with your right hand,

Coming all the way up to sit,

Taking your time.

It has been an absolute privilege and pleasure to guide you through your practice today.

Let's check our tichens towards our chests,

Just acknowledging that one true teacher that exists within each and every one of us and within the present moment.

Namaste.

Reviews

Dr., so much thanks for a magnificent practice Your voice and words are magical.