Welcome to yoga nidra and the art of conscious relaxation.
Take a moment to create a space where you can find some comfort and enjoy this journey towards relaxation.
Perhaps going into a room where you can close the door and set a boundary around this time to nurture yourself.
Resting your body on a couch,
Bed,
Or the floor and finding all those supports you may need such as a pillow under the head,
Something under the knees,
Tucking yourself in with a blanket if that helps you feel comfortable.
It's beginning to settle in.
Getting any wiggles or squiggles out of the body and bringing your attention to the connection that your body makes with the support underneath you.
Letting yourself sink a little deeper.
You are supported and have everything you need to relax and surrender for the next little while.
You haven't done so already closing your eyes or softening your gaze and slowly turning that attention towards the feeling of breathing.
Just breathing in and out and noticing how it feels to breathe in your body right now without trying to change anything about the breath.
Maybe taking a few clearing cleansing breaths to settle in a little deeper.
And now I'll invite you to focus only on the sound of my voice,
Allowing the other possible noises around you to fade away.
Just stay focused on my instructions to guide your experience.
Try to stay alert and aware mentally while your physical body begins to slowly drift off into deeper states of relaxation.
Your mind will remain completely alert and aware.
Slowly bring your inner gaze to the area at the center of the eyebrows,
Gazing there now without any kind of strain.
This area at the center of the eyebrows is known as the mind space or chitakash.
Gazing there without strain and noticing anything at all about this your mental mind space,
This room that is just yours.
What can you notice about patterns or colors or images there?
Observe this space as if you were watching a screen.
What do you notice?
Into this mental mind space,
I'll invite you to plant an intention for today surrounding being open to feeling and enjoying your life fully.
Setting an intention around being open to feeling,
Enjoying your life fully will create a phrase that's simple,
Positive,
And present tense,
Such as,
I deserve pleasure in life,
I'm allowed to have feelings,
I move easily and effortlessly.
So finding a sankalpa or intention that works for you,
Surrounding being open to feeling,
And enjoying your life fully.
Going with your first thought without thinking too much.
Going with your first thought without thinking too much.
And when you have found a sankalpa,
Repeating it three times internally with devotion.
And then letting it resolve,
Letting it go.
Very good.
Now I'll ask you to move your mind around different parts of your body.
As I say a body part,
Bring all of your awareness to that body part.
And if you can,
Allow that body part to experience fullness and a sense of freedom.
This is the rotation of consciousness.
Starting by bringing your mind to the right thumb.
Right second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
And the fifth finger.
This is the center of the right palm.
Back of the right hand.
The entire right hand.
Looking within the right wrist.
Right forearm.
Right elbow.
Right upper arm.
And the right shoulder.
Filling the entire right arm with your awareness from the shoulder down to the fingertips,
Allowing the entire right arm to experience a sense of fullness and freedom.
And now moving your mind to the left thumb.
Left second finger.
Left third finger.
Fourth finger.
And fifth finger.
And the third finger.
Fourth finger and fifth finger.
Center of the left palm and back of the left hand.
The entire left hand.
Looking within the left wrist.
Left forearm.
Left elbow.
Left upper arm.
And the left shoulder.
Filling the entire left arm with your awareness from the shoulder down to the fingertips.
The entire left arm is experiencing a sense of fullness and freedom.
Now allow both arms to feel relaxed and at ease.
And now moving your mind down to your toes,
All ten toes.
Starting with the big toes.
The second toes.
Third toes.
Fourth toes.
And fifth toes.
Bringing your awareness to the soles of both feet.
The tops of both feet.
And the heels.
Both feet in their entirety.
Perhaps sinking a little deeper into the top of the feet.
Perhaps sinking a little deeper into the support below.
Looking within both ankles.
Both shins and calves.
Both knees.
Both thighs.
Both hips and buttocks.
And now filling the entire right leg from hip all the way down to the toes with your awareness.
Allowing the entire right leg to find a sense of ease,
Fullness,
And freedom.
Filling now the entire left leg with your awareness from the hip down to the toes.
The entire left leg experiencing a sense of fullness,
Ease,
And freedom.
Filling now the entire left leg with your awareness from the hip down to the toes.
Experiencing a sense of fullness,
Ease,
And freedom.
Both legs softening,
Relaxing.
Moving the mind now to your hips and the pelvis.
All the contents of the pelvic bowl relaxing.
Noticing the belly,
The lower back,
The rib cage,
The middle of the back,
The expansive open chest,
And the upper back,
Collarbones,
And the back of the neck.
Feeling the entire torso with your awareness,
Allowing this part of the body to feel a sense of fullness,
Ease,
And freedom.
Moving the mind now to your throat.
And all the muscles of the neck,
The lower jaw,
Upper jaw,
Both lips,
All the muscles surrounding the eyes,
The eyelids,
The eyeballs themselves resting in their sockets,
The eyebrows,
The cheekbones,
The forehead,
All the skin on the scalp,
The base of the skull,
The ears,
Everything in between the ears,
Allowing the entire head to be filled with your awareness,
Full at ease and free.
And now in your mind's eye,
Moving your mind to your entire body,
Filling the entire body with your awareness,
The front,
The back,
And the sides of the body,
Fully relaxed at ease and free.
And now shifting your gaze back to the back of your head,
And now shifting your gaze back to the mental mind space or Chitakash area at the center of your eyebrows,
Turning your gaze softly there.
Now this is the access point to our visualization exercise.
So allowing this mental mind space to be open and receptive as we begin to use the creativity of the mind.
I'll ask you to imagine the endless eternal sea,
An ocean so vast that it merges with the expansive sky above.
Imagining that ocean so vast and feeling the openness and freshness of the ocean air filling you,
Asking you to soften.
Upon this infinite ocean,
Imagine a tall ship sailing,
Riding rolling waves with pride.
You can hear the crash of the waves against the ship hull and see the foamy water spraying high over its bow,
The boat creaking to stay balanced.
Allow yourself to loosen and relax to the gentle rocking of the boat,
A few cool droplets speckling your face and arms.
Imagine the front of the boat.
There you see a mermaid figurehead carved in oak,
Her body cutting through the waters with graceful strength.
What is she feeling after so many passages across the ocean tossed into the sea?
What are you feeling?
As the boat draws near to a deserted shoreline,
Clouds darken above into a palette of blues and grays as if painted by a great swirling beach.
The greater depth of the WARNING Wave couldn't pull,
Oner than it did fuckíd when theITmiscoon arose,
Duckening,
And of change and feel and electricity in the air.
A great crack of thunder rips through the sky followed by a bolt of lightning.
Now the heavens break open in a steady downpour or release and as you gaze towards the ship you see the mermaid statue has been struck by lightning and cleaved loose from the ship.
She slides down the front of the ship into the water pelted with rain as her statuesque form slowly disappears.
As if heaving a sigh of relief to be free from her wooden confinement a few white bubbles dance to the surface of the sea.
Now cast into the quiet depths she is buoyed by the current.
Imagine that this current moves her where she could previously not move and imagine an alchemical transformation beginning.
You can see her hair once chiseled into stoic curls begin to soften,
Untangle,
And flow.
A reddish brown mane swaying like seaweed.
Her skin,
Once a proud oaken patina,
Begins to glow white with cheeks rosy against the gray of the underwater landscape.
A smile spreads across her face and her mermaid tail glistening,
Glinting underwater,
Once frozen into a permanent curl,
Now whips loose with power propelling her up.
She surges to the surface and one effortless movement bursting through the water.
Born into the rainbow-filled sky,
Her eyes spark with passion.
She swims joyfully through the now calm waters,
Playfully splashing and singing her song.
You can hear her mermaid clear voice as it carries out over the water.
And as we leave our mermaid to her newfound delight,
Allow yourself to be free from the fear of the future.
Allow yourself to feel this expression of vitality and joy and pleasure,
The vitality,
Joy,
And pleasure of being alive.
And take your own freedom of expression with you into the rest of this day.
As we now travel back to the mental mind space,
Coming slowly back into this mental mind space,
This fertile ground into which we'll plant the sankalpa or seed of intention once again.
Repeating the sacred promise once again,
Surrounding being open to feeling and enjoying your life fully.
Perhaps using the same phrase such as,
I deserve pleasure in life.
I'm allowed to have feelings.
I move easily and effortlessly.
Finding that sankalpa resonates with you and repeating the sacred promise to yourself three times internally with devotion.
Very good.
Very good.
And now we'll begin to journey slowly away from this subconscious space and into the conscious space and the body.
If you can,
Beginning to notice the edges of your body,
All of the supports you can feel under the body,
Perhaps the open air and parts of the body that are not covered,
Just slowly returning into the body,
And into the room around you,
Noticing any sounds in the room around you both near and far.
And noticing the breath now as it moves in and out,
Coming back slowly into your breath,
Expanding and falling,
Ebbing and flowing,
Moving effortlessly with the joy of vitality.
And as you're ready,
Wiggling the fingers or toes,
Bringing some very small movements back,
Licking the lips or swallowing stretching arms overhead,
Rolling onto one side and giving yourself that seal of gratitude for making this time for your own self-care and nourishment.
And as you're ready,
Sitting up,
Planting the feet on the ground,
Maybe bringing the hands to heart center if it's in your practice.
Thank you so much for your practice today.
Namaste.
