Yoga Nidra | Childhood Self

A good friend once taught me that self-compassion is tied to the love we give our childhood selves. In this week's yoga nidra experience we flow through the scan of our 5 koshas, as usual, but our visualization story helps us to connect to our childhood selves. Who knows? Maybe they have a message for you. Each yoga nidra experience is uniqe and helps you tap into the wisdom found within you. This practice is also perfect at the end of your evening to help you fall asleep right after. Enjoy!

Transcript

Hello and welcome to your yoga nidra practice today.

Take a moment,

Lie down,

Get comfortable.

Yoga nidra is practiced lying all the way down on your back.

So if you'd like you can lie down on your yoga mats or your couch or even your bed.

Wherever you choose to lie down today,

Just go ahead and get yourself comfortable.

Search for softness as you settle in.

And definitely take a few moments to try out some props.

Maybe put a pillow under your low back or under your knees or under your neck to support your head.

Might even feel good to drape a blanket over your body to keep yourself warm.

As you lie down and settle in even more,

See if it would feel good to move your body and adjust anything so you can eventually create some ease.

Try placing your arms alongside your body.

Allow your hands to rest away from your hips.

Relax through your feet and allow them to roll outwards naturally.

Soften your ankles,

Your knees.

Relax through your thighs and your hips and your belly.

Soften your chest,

Your shoulders,

Your wrists.

Try to release any tension you may be holding here.

Allow your eyelids to close and allow your eyes to soften underneath your eyelids.

Scan your body.

Notice any other areas you can relax even more.

Yoga nidra means yogic sleep.

This practice allows us to explore our mind as it remains aware while allowing our body to be completely at rest.

Do try to remain aware through your yoga nidra practice but know that if your body needs sleep,

It will definitely take what it needs.

And it's okay to fall in and out of sleep in your yoga nidra practice.

Whether you find yourself able to be aware or you find yourself drifting in and out of sleep,

Remember that every yoga nidra practice is different.

Whatever the guidance brings for you today is okay.

It's enough.

It's perfect as it is.

Your practice of yoga nidra begins now.

Let your body soften even more.

Take an inhale.

Gather your air up and gently exhale.

Let your breath release.

The next time you inhale,

Make your breath long and slow as you feel a clear lightness wash up the whole front plane of your body.

Take your time inhaling.

Go slow as you bring your awareness up the front plane of your body,

Carrying and washing this clear light feeling from your toes all the way up to the very crown of your head.

As you exhale,

Very slowly let yourself feel a warm,

Heavy sensation on the back plane of your body.

Follow your exhale as you slowly guide this warm,

Heavy feeling down the entire back plane of your body,

Starting from the back of your head down to your shoulders,

The back of your torso,

Your hips,

Legs,

All the way down to your feet.

Begin again,

The pace of your own breath.

Inhale,

Guide the light feeling up the front plane of your body.

Exhale,

Guide your awareness down the back plane of your body,

Allowing your body to sink down heavily a little more with each exhale.

Take a few more mindful breaths like this.

Inhale,

Wash lightness up the front plane of your body.

Exhale,

Allow heaviness to flow down the back plane of your body.

Next time you exhale,

Release your air out and shift your breath to a soft rise and fall out of your nose,

In through your nose.

Allow yourself to settle into anything you can observe about yourself here.

We move now to set your sankalpa for your practice.

A sankalpa is a positive present tense statement that begins with the words,

I am.

This is a phrase and a way of being that you would like to cultivate.

It's a way for you to transform your most limiting belief into a liberating one.

I'll name a few options here.

As I name these options,

See how it feels in your body.

For example,

If you're feeling anxiousness or fear in your life,

Your sankalpa could be,

I am safe.

If you feel lost,

Your sankalpa could be,

I belong or I am loved.

If you're feeling doubts,

Your sankalpa could be,

I am growing,

I trust or I am enough.

Some of these examples may resonate with you.

They may not.

Just take a moment to explore some or perhaps try new phrases of your own and notice which one makes you feel the most connected,

Which sankalpa holds the most power for you.

Choose one that offers the feeling of potential and embodies liberation for you and repeat it to yourself now.

Connect to these simple words of deep transformation.

Place this sankalpa in your back pocket for later as we move now through our five koshas.

The koshas are the layers or sheaths of your body.

We'll move through them.

Your physical body,

Energetic body,

Your body of thoughts and emotions,

Your insight body,

And finally your body of bliss.

We move first to anamaya kosha.

This is your physical body.

We'll do this by moving through a slow and simple body scan.

As we scan your body,

Simply move your attention and focus to each place as it's named.

Know that there's no need to retrace any steps if you drift.

Simply bring your awareness back when you're ready.

Begin by noticing the space in the center of your chest.

Now send your awareness to the point between your eyebrows.

Allow your awareness to flow down to your throats,

To your right shoulder,

Right elbow,

The middle of your right wrist,

The tip of your right thumb.

Send your awareness to your right index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger.

Allow your awareness to flow back to your right wrist,

Right elbow,

Right shoulder,

And connect your awareness back to your throat.

Send your awareness down to your left shoulder,

Left elbow,

The middle of your left wrist,

The tip of your left thumb.

Send your awareness and your focus to your left index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger.

Send your awareness back to your left wrist,

Left elbow,

Left shoulder.

Connect your awareness back to your throat.

Now bring your awareness to your chest.

Fill the center of your chest with your awareness.

Connect to the right side of your chest,

Back to center,

Left side of your chest,

Back to center.

Move your awareness just below your chest to your middle belly.

Send your awareness to your low belly,

Your right hip,

Right knee,

Right ankle,

Your right big toe.

Allow your awareness to flow to your second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Pinky toe.

And send your awareness back to your right ankle,

Right knee,

Right hip,

Back to your low belly.

Now sense your left hip,

Left knee,

Left ankle,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Pinky toe.

Send your awareness back to your left ankle,

Left knee,

Left hip.

Connect your awareness to your low belly,

Middle belly,

Back to the center of your chest.

Connect back to your throat.

Return to the space between your eyebrows.

From the center of your eyebrows,

Expand your awareness to envelop your whole body.

So now your whole body is wrapped in your awareness.

Your whole body connected,

Whole body aware,

Your whole body whole.

If you've drifted,

You can choose to come back now as we move to pranamaya kosha,

Your energy body.

Begin by simply noticing your breath.

Notice the depth of each inhale and exhale where you feel your breath connect within you.

Perhaps you feel your belly expand or your chest.

Next time you inhale,

Take your time breathing into the top of your breath.

Exhale,

Let that breath go as we move into an even count breath.

Inhale,

Gently breathe in for a count of four.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Then hold your breath for one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Exhale,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Inhale,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Hold your breath.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Exhale,

Keep counting like this in your mind.

Exhale for four counts.

Exhale for four counts.

Hold your breath for four counts.

Continue breathing just like this.

Breathe in,

Expand,

Take in.

Exhale,

Soften,

Release,

Surrender.

As you count and breathe,

Allow yourself with each breath to rest even more into your practice.

Now bring your focus to the center of your chest.

Begin to breathe deeply as you connect here.

See if you can feel this space in your chest as a neutral space.

Imagine washing it with warm clear lights to allow the space to feel neutral and new.

We move now to Manomaya Koshya,

Your body of thoughts and emotions.

Begin by first allowing your awareness to settle here in the center of your chest in this clear and neutral space.

Now allow the feeling of darkness to rise up within you.

When something is dark,

What sensations rise up?

Simply observe what it's like to feel darkness.

Now let darkness go and bring in light.

What sensations come up for you and where when you feel light?

What can you notice about feeling light?

Now keep light and bring in darkness.

Hold darkness and light together.

Allow them to connect and be as one to create a whole.

Gently let them both release.

Come back to your neutral space with your focus in the center of your chest.

Allow the feeling of shame to rise.

What can you observe about shame when you allow yourself to feel it?

What emotions or thoughts are tied to shame?

Now release shame and bring in the feeling of boldness.

When you feel truly bold,

What can you observe about these sensations?

Notice bold.

Now keep bold.

Add in shame.

Allow them to coexist and allow them both to release.

Come back to your neutral space.

From this clear space,

Finally feel worried.

Notice the feeling of worry within you.

What does it create?

What can you feel?

What can you notice?

Let worry release and bring in trust.

What does trust bring up within you?

What sensations or thoughts are connected to trust?

Keep holding trust and add in worry.

Allow them to intertwine,

To dance together,

To be as one,

For you need one to have the other.

Then let them both release.

Bring your awareness back to that clear neutral space in the center of your chest.

Feel your whole body connected,

Your physical body,

Energy,

Thoughts and emotions all connected.

Your whole body aware.

We move to vinanamaya kosha now,

Your body of insight and wisdom.

We'll do this by moving through rapid visualization.

As an image is named,

See this image in your mind's eye and move on as the next image is named.

Begin by noticing in your mind's eye a stack of books,

A red sailboat,

An open wooden door,

A baseball field,

A tall climbing tree,

Kids playing in a sprinkler on a hot summer day,

A busy road,

A fire station,

A tall brick building.

Keep your awareness on this tall brick building in your mind's eye.

Imagine you're standing outside this tall brick building on a sidewalk.

You gaze at this tall brick building.

Then you look around and see that you are in a neighborhood.

What can you observe about this neighborhood?

Are there people around or is it empty or abandoned?

Are there any landmarks you can make out?

Begin to walk down this sidewalk while observing what's around you now.

As you walk and observe this neighborhood,

You see ahead there's a child standing near a half-built home of bricks.

You walk closer and you see this child a little clearer.

Perhaps you recognize them as someone you know from your present,

Past,

Or from another life.

Or maybe you can't quite make their face out yet.

Simply observe this child and notice that this child is wearing a backpack.

What colors can you notice about this child and their backpack?

How old does this child seem?

After you've taken in what you can notice about this child,

You see that this child is actually building this house of bricks.

Slowly,

One by one,

They're stacking bricks,

One on top of another,

To build this house in front of you now.

This child has no instructions,

No knowledge of what comes next.

They don't know which colors or in what order,

How things should go,

Yet they seem confident as they walk from one stack of bricks,

Carrying a brick,

Stacking it onto the previous brick,

And repeating again.

You decide to stop and help this child build this house they are so diligently working on.

As you begin to help stack the bricks with this child,

You notice there are two piles of bricks you have to choose from to build this house.

One pile of bricks is the pile they made themselves to build this house.

The second pile of bricks is the pile that's given to the child from someone else in their life.

You first take hold of a brick from the first pile.

This is the pile the child created for themselves.

As you take hold of one of these bricks,

You begin to feel an energy coming from it,

Almost as if this brick holds a story,

Memory,

Emotion,

Or thoughts from the child themselves.

Feel the story this brick holds of this child now.

Perhaps it's even one you have had at one point yourself.

After you feel its energy,

You place the brick onto the house.

Now you walk to the second pile of bricks.

This is the pile that contains bricks that were given to the child from someone else.

Take hold of a brick in the second pile and now feel its energy.

Only this time notice that this memory,

Story,

Or thoughts that this brick holds doesn't belong to the child,

It belongs to someone else.

You feel what's here.

Now you go place this brick onto the house with all the others.

This time as you turn around to grab another brick,

You see that the child is struggling to carry their backpack while building this house.

You walk to the child and they hand you the backpack.

Take hold of this backpack now and notice,

Does it feel heavy or light?

You open this backpack and inside you see more bricks.

Only you see that these bricks are from the second pile,

The pile that comes from someone else.

The child has been carrying these bricks around all while building this house.

You decide to help this child with these bricks.

You take one brick out,

You hold it now and feel its energy.

This brick you hold belongs to someone else,

Is given to the child and holds energy and memories from someone else.

As you hold the brick now,

Feel its energy resonate in your hand.

Perhaps it holds a memory of someone in your life,

An idea that someone once gave to you or a story belonging to someone else.

Feel the energy in this brick.

Now hand it to the child,

Letting the child know that it's now okay to take this brick out of their heavy backpack and instead use it to build something greater in order to lighten their load.

The child takes hold of the brick they've been carrying and places it onto the house they've been building.

You look into the backpack and see it is now empty.

The child's face beams up at you,

Grateful to have a lighter load now.

As you smile back,

You notice the child's face begin to shift.

You see now this child is you.

Your childhood self takes hold of the light and empty backpack and from it they pull out a slip of paper,

A note that they have been saving for you.

You take this note from your childhood self and hold it.

Do you choose to unfold it and read it?

If not,

You can simply tuck this note in your pocket for safekeeping.

If so,

Allow yourself to open this note and read what the message your childhood self has for you.

What does it say or how does it feel?

Whether you chose to open your note or not,

You kneel down and give your childhood self a warm hug.

When you release from the hug,

Your childhood self opens their mouth and whispers a few simple words.

These words are your sankalpa.

Repeat it to yourself now three times.

This time with a deep understanding that you can choose to replace anything you carry and replace it with these words of liberation and transformation.

Feel your sankalpa now sink into your body.

We move now to anandamaya kosha.

This is your layer or sheath of complete bliss,

Peace and connection.

Allow yourself to feel what's here for you.

You may choose to return with what you learned on your journey and know that what you find in your yoga nidra practice is entirely of your own creation.

It's a part of the wisdom found within you.

Your practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Take a deep breath in and exhale softly release.

Try that again but this time allow your breath to sigh out loud through your mouth.

Take one more breath on your own.

Deep inhale fill up exhale out loud once again.

Now on your last breath first slide your left hand over your heart and your right hand over your belly.

Feel this mudra,

This symbol of deep connection.

Inhale deeply fill your breath up and in.

Hold your breath this time at the very top.

Exhale sigh it out loud and release.

Hari om tat sat.

All is truth.

All is reality.

All is good.

Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your practice today.

It was a pleasure and I can't wait to sit with you again.

Have a beautiful day.

Reviews

Beautiful meditation that I’m certain I will return to many times.

Really lovely, thank you.

Excellent. Calming amd relaxing Loved it.