Welcome to the practice of yoga nidra.
My name is Ashlyn and I'll be your guide.
This practice is done lying down on your spine if that is accessible to you.
I suggest gathering some blankets and pillows so you can make yourself as comfortable as possible.
I also recommend getting set up in a space where you can close the door or shut the window or be in a private area without any distractions.
This is about a 40 minute meditation and I will ask you to attempt to refrain from moving.
So please use your props,
Your blankets,
Your pillows,
Whatever it is to make sure you're as comfortable as possible.
Yoga nidra translates to yogic sleep.
This is a very healing and a very restorative meditation.
Know that there is nothing for you to do except follow the guidance of my voice.
During this meditation I will ask you to set a sankhapa.
Know that a sankhapa is very similar to an intention.
I recommend using an I am statement as your sankhapa such as I am healing,
I am grounded,
I am worthy,
I am loved.
Use your sankhapa in present tense and when I ask you to repeat it make sure that you say it with confidence,
With emotion and with certainty.
Please go ahead and make your final adjustments now as you prepare for the meditation.
Once you have landed and arrived on your spine,
Simply start by closing down your eyes.
Begin to move your attention to your breath.
Start by noticing the breath you've arrived with.
Notice if it feels shallow,
If it feels light.
Notice if the breath feels deep or long.
Know that there is no judgment.
But again,
We're simply practicing taking the seat of the observer.
And now we'll take a few breaths together to enter into this meditation.
Start by taking a deep inhale through your nose to fill up your lungs.
Part your lips,
Exhale out through the mouth,
Let it go.
Again,
Another inhale,
This time let the breath fill the lowest part of your belly.
Hold the breath when you've found your capacity.
Part your lips,
Empty out.
Again,
Take a deep inhale through your nose,
Fill the lower belly,
The mid-belly,
Draw the breath up into the chest and the heart,
Hold at the top.
Big exhale,
Let all of the breath go.
A few more like that,
Deeper and fuller inhale,
Fill yourself up from the base of the spine to the crown of the head.
Hold at the capacity of your lungs.
Sigh of relief,
Let it all go and even find a gentle contraction of your belly at the very end of your exhale.
Again,
Deeper inhale from the bottom all the way up to the top.
Feel the breath swirl around as you pause at the top of your inhale.
Let the breath fall out of your mouth,
Surrender into the release on your exhale.
Allow the breath to become more of a full body motion as if you could inhale,
Draw the breath from the bottoms of the feet,
The torso,
The heart,
The head,
Hold.
Feel yourself at your most full and expansive state.
And then once more,
Big exhale,
Soften to surrender,
To release.
One more deepest inhale you've taken all day,
All week,
All month.
Hold at the top,
Take another sip of air in.
Then let that all go,
Press the stale air out of your lungs.
Now make fist with your hands,
Curl up your toes,
Scrunch up your face,
Contract every muscle in your body,
Seek out any residual tension.
As you squeeze and contract,
Take another sip of air in,
Big exhale,
Soften,
Big exhale,
Let everything go.
Feel your body begin to soften and open to the earth beneath you.
Allow for your breath to return to its most natural pace,
Its most natural form.
Let go of any doing,
Of any trying,
Of any control over your breath.
And give yourself up to this ancient wisdom that happens within all on its own.
This ancient wisdom that activates from the moment you took your first breath and stays with you continuously until the moment you take your last breath.
This ancient wisdom is with you at all times.
It occurs without you having to tell it to do so,
Without you having to remember,
Without you even having to stay present to it.
The wisdom of your breath is spread throughout the entire world.
It is exchanged with the trees.
Breath fills the world and is contained in the bubble known as our atmosphere.
The breath is what makes our planet so unique.
It is what sustains life.
Take a moment to find a sense of gratitude and reverence for your own breath,
For the system within that is working to keep you alive.
And allow yourself to now settle into the more subtle parts of the breath.
To connect with piranha,
Life force energy,
That which the breath rides upon.
Feel your breath move up and down the spine.
Notice your breath move in and out of your nose.
Feel the breath rise and fall from the belly and the chest.
And then feel the bigger expansion of your breath,
Of the wisdom of prana.
Feel into the inspiration behind the breath,
The same inspiration that is linked to the changing seasons.
The same inspiration that is linked to our days becoming our nights and our nights becoming our days.
The same inspiration that creates the waves and the pull of the moon.
This nature within that reminds you of exactly that.
You are a force of nature.
Bring your attention now to the outermost layer of the self.
Begin to explore the contour of your skin,
The outline of your body.
Take a moment to sense your pores beginning to open as if you are reading the temperature of the room.
Maybe even feel the texture of your clothes draped upon you.
And begin to sense how your body takes up space.
And sense how the earth holds you.
Feel the ground beneath you.
Now bring your attention to the surface layer of your body,
The place where your skin and the atmosphere meet.
And imagine that boundary of your skin could begin to dissolve away,
Allowing yourself to feel a little bit lighter.
As if the molecules of your skin were evaporating to become one with the air.
And allow the molecules of your skin to fill the room and the setting that you are in with your own awareness.
Begin to sense the space that is in front of you.
The spaces beside you,
The space behind you,
The space above you,
And the space below you.
And allow for these molecules that are filled with your awareness to expand beyond the room that you occupy.
That these molecules of your consciousness could now expand beyond your community,
Beyond your city,
Beyond your state.
Allow for these conscious molecules to expand beyond the edges of the country.
And could evaporate to now expand to the edges of the atmosphere.
That your awareness could now encompass the world as whole,
As one.
And allow for your attention to gravitate back towards your physical being.
Feel into the density of your body.
Feel into the muscular system,
The bones.
And take a moment to reconnect with your body upon the earth.
Begin to sense all parts of connection where your body touches the ground.
And now allow for that boundary where your body touches the earth to dissolve away,
As if you were being soaked up by the soil of the earth.
As if your awareness were beginning to spread just like water,
As if you were melting and being now seeped deep into the earth.
Feeling yourself ground and become more heavy as your attention now seeps below the foundation of your building.
Below the concrete,
Below the rock,
The dirt,
The soil,
The mud.
Feeling yourself anchor and root deeper into the ground.
As if you were growing roots and these roots were beginning to spread.
And imagine these roots were now connecting with other roots.
Maybe these roots are from plants or trees or maybe these roots are a part of human connection.
Allow for these roots to dig deep to now connect you to the ancient wisdom of Mother Earth herself.
To connect you with the ancient wisdom of all that have come before you.
And now feel your awareness trickle back up to the surface.
And move your presence within your body.
Feeling now the space in between the air and the earth.
The space that makes you,
You.
And take a moment to tap back into your own physicality.
And scan your body for any residual tension,
Any holding,
Any resistance within.
Be sure to check in with the brow center and the jaw,
The collarbones and the shoulder blades.
Be sure to soften your belly and your hip creases.
Let go of any holding in your lower back and feel the softness trickle down your fingertips and down to your toes.
And now sense any place of disruptancy,
Any place where you bumped up against that sense of holding or that sense of resistance.
This may even manifest as an area that may be sore or stiff.
And I encourage you now to get curious about any of those areas.
That you may find resistance.
You can even imagine these areas beginning to light up as you identify them.
Allow for your awareness to penetrate beyond just sensation.
Knowing that we hold something much deeper below the surface.
That the body likes to hold on way longer than the mind.
That we like to store our held emotions,
Our past stories,
Our old narratives all within the physical self.
So as you begin to explore these areas,
As you begin to identify these lights that have now turned on,
Allow for anything that has been hiding below sensation to begin to surface.
Allow for anything that wants to be expressed,
That is looking to be seen or felt to come to the surface as well.
Know that there is no need to unpack or heal whatever is coming up for you.
But know that this is a safe place to simply just be and to observe what is.
And often times we like to rid our self of our pain,
Of our past,
Of our emotions,
When in fact those are a part of us,
A part of our journey.
And all of that has led us to this moment here and now.
So allow anything that needs to surface to come right up to the top.
Again as if it were a part of the molecules of your skin maybe now dissolving into the air.
And anything that feels heavy,
Anything that has been weighing you down,
Imagine releasing that into the earth as fertilization.
Knowing now that everything is connected,
Your roots planted deep into the ground connecting to all of the other roots that surround you.
And know that anything you release into the air is shared throughout this entire planet.
And is all brought back to you,
For you to alchemize,
For you to harness as your power.
Guide your attention now to the crown of your head and imagine a golden egg above the crown of your head.
With your imagination visualize this golden egg gently cracking above the crown of your head and for the yolk to slowly drizzle down,
Softening your hairline.
Beginning to soften any creases held within your forehead.
Feel the softness create more space between your temples.
And now feel your eyes sink further back into your head.
Allow this yolk to run down and unhinge any clenching within the jaw.
Feel the softness now begin to move towards the ears.
And tune your awareness towards your ear canals as if they could open and expand and amplify all of the sounds around you.
Take in the vibrations,
Let them enter deep into the ear canals and be translated as sound.
Become aware of the sound of my voice,
The sound of the music.
Any noises you may hear inside of the space that you occupy and any noises you may hear outside of the space that you occupy.
And allow for yourself to now become so attentive that you could listen for the frequencies and the pitches that are higher and for the frequencies and pitches that are lower.
Become so quiet and still within that you could listen for the sounds in between that you could even hear the white noise between the sounds.
And now allow for your awareness to move further into the ears as if your inner ears could now awaken and you could listen for what's happening inside.
That you could listen for any intuitive messages,
Any sense of communication from your physical body.
And allow for your awareness to travel further and further inward into the ears until you could find the place where the ears would connect in the midbrain at the pineal gland.
Hold your attention at the pineal gland and then feel your attention move back to the surface of the eyes.
Allow for your eyelids to grow heavier as if your eyeballs could melt into the back of your head and take a moment to become aware of this familiar darkness that occurs behind closed eyes.
This familiar darkness that we encounter every time we blink,
Every time we go to sleep,
Oftentimes when we experience the polarities of life.
When we close our eyes to experience the sweet pleasure or close our eyes in the cringe of pain.
We close our eyes to go back in time to recall memories of the past.
We close our eyes to envision and create a better future.
This darkness that oftentimes we are afraid of is a reminder of incubation,
Is a reminder that we are seeds that have been planted.
Now get more familiar with this familiar darkness and now take a moment to notice any shapes,
Colors,
Or visions that are occurring in this familiar darkness,
In this blank slate behind closed eyes.
You are now observing the waking conscious mind.
Again,
There is no need to unpack or explore your thoughts,
But simply become aware of the atmosphere of your mind.
Surrender any distractions or reoccurring stories and now center your awareness at the place between your eyebrows,
Your third eye center,
Your mind's eye,
Your place of intuition.
And now while keeping both of your physical eyes closed,
Allow for your third eye to open and for your awareness to spread and expand outward.
Once more,
Beginning to sense the space that you're in,
Allow for your awareness to expand,
Expand beyond your community,
Beyond the state,
Beyond the country.
And once more,
Allow for your awareness to encompass the world and where breath was once limited,
Allow for consciousness to breach the atmosphere.
Take your awareness to expand beyond our solar system,
Beyond the stars,
Explore the edges of the universe,
Feel your awareness fill the spaces in between.
And notice as your awareness expands further and further out,
You'll notice that all the stars and planets and moving parts that compose the universe itself are simply moving parts in constant motion.
As if you're to zoom out further and further and further,
They're simply just specks floating in space.
Imagine pinpointing Earth as if it were just another speck in space,
Feeling the greatness of this insignificance.
And now take a moment to hone your awareness back in,
Traveling back to your third eye center.
And once more,
Imagine that your third eye was an actual eyeball that could roll back into your head,
That the power of your third eye could see beyond this familiar darkness,
That it could see down your throat,
That it could see past your collarbones and your rib cage,
Past your lungs,
Deep down into your heart.
Allow for your third eye to see beyond the organ,
Beyond the muscles,
Beyond the valves that compose your heart.
Imagine putting a microscope up against your heart space that you could zoom in further and further in to every single atom and molecule.
And as you zoom further and further into your heart space,
You'll notice that this image is familiar.
That once more these molecules are just moving parts,
That there is a sense of synchronized chaos happening within,
That every single molecule and cell is working in a synchronized community to keep you alive,
To keep you breathing.
That every molecule,
An atom and cell within your body is infused with love.
Allow for your awareness to zoom out just enough to focus on your heart.
Imagining now every cell and atom and molecule in your body being pumped through your heart,
Beginning to circulate your entire physicality.
Take a moment to feel the beat of your heart.
Take a moment to listen to the sound of your heart.
And now take a moment to find a deeper sense of gratitude for your heart space,
For all of the cells and molecules within that are working to keep you alive,
That are filled with love.
And knowing that this is the same reflection of all of the stars and planets and suns within the sky,
That everything is moving in synchronized chaos,
That you are here in this moment,
Engaging in this meditation here and now with a purpose.
Feeling into that sense of love and that sense of gratitude from your heart,
Allow for your sankalpa to be revealed.
And now hold your awareness at your heart and imagine your heart was being held by a golden egg.
And now repeat your sankalpa three times,
Imagine fusing it into this golden egg,
Your I am statement,
Your heart's desire.
Sankalpa meaning vow to the highest self,
Say it with emotion,
Confidence and intention.
Let go of your sankalpa and trust that this seed,
This egg of intention has been planted deep within the heart space.
Hold this visualization of your heart as a sacred golden egg in the center of your chest and from your heart draw a golden line up to your third eye center,
Allowing for your heart to connect to your highest vision.
And then reconnect that line from the third eye to your heart space.
Draw a golden line from your heart to your right eye and then back to your heart center,
From your heart now to your right ear and then back home.
From the center of your chest to your right shoulder and then back home.
From your heart draw a line to your right hand and feel into the center of your right palm,
From your right palm draw a line to your right thumb,
Your right pointer finger,
Your right middle finger,
Your right ring finger and your right pinky finger back to the palm.
From the center of your right hand reconnect the line back to your heart and from your heart now draw a line to your right hip point and then reconnect it back home.
From your heart to your right knee and back up,
From your heart a golden line to your right foot,
The sole of the right foot and from the center of your right foot expand your awareness into your right big toe.
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and fifth toe.
Gather your attention back at the bottom of the right foot and then reconnect the line to your heart space,
From your heart draw a golden line to the base of the spine and then back up and from your heart draw a line now to the left foot.
Feel the sole of the left foot and expand your attention to your left big toe.
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and fifth toe.
Gather your awareness at the sole of the left foot and reconnect the line back up to your heart space.
Draw a line from your heart to connect with your left knee and then back a line from your heart to your left hip point and back to the heart center.
From the center of your chest draw a line to your left palm,
Allow for your awareness to fill your left palm and then intend your attention to the left thumb,
The left pointer finger,
The left middle finger.
The left ring finger and the left pinky finger.
Sense the palm of the left hand once more and then reconnect that line back to your heart.
Draw a line from your heart to your left shoulder and then back home,
From your heart to your left eye and then back to your heart and from your heart reconnecting to your third eye,
To your highest vision.
And now from your third eye begin to connect the full circle from your third eye to your right eye,
To your right shoulder,
To your right hand,
To your right tip,
To your right knee,
To your right foot,
To the base of the spine,
To the left foot,
To the left knee,
To the left hip,
To the left hand,
To the left shoulder,
To the left eye,
Returning to the third eye center.
Feel all of your body all at once.
Become aware of your entire body as whole,
As one.
Feel the interconnectedness of this web that spurs from your heart.
Slowly guide your attention back to your breath and once more become aware of the natural pace of your inhales and your exhales,
The observance of your breath without any control.
And now begin to follow the breath and find the shell or the outline of your breath as if your breath were creating a boundary for yourself.
For some of you that boundary may just be around the heart space,
For some of you that boundary may expand and hold the physical body,
For others that boundary may be larger,
Expanding into the space that you're in,
Maybe even beyond holding greater space for the world.
Know that this boundary you've created here and now can change at any time.
It can expand or it can come back closer to home.
Just begin to play with this boundary of your breath.
Find an edge of comfort and then just as you did,
Bring it back home,
Back to the heart.
Maybe with every inhale,
Finding greater expansion or maybe greater depth to the breath and then always returning back home.
Imagine now that the breath were breathing you.
Let go of this controlled breath,
Let go of this visualization,
Hold the boundary that you've created and feel into that boundary.
Feel into the interconnectedness of this boundary just as it interconnects with the physical self.
Now imagine a golden egg representing this boundary that you've created.
And inside of this golden egg,
You have the opportunity to explore all parts of you.
From this boundary,
Begin to call back your energy,
Call back parts of yourself that may have been forgotten or fragmented.
Call back any energy that has been exerted throughout your day,
Your week,
This month,
This lifetime.
Call back the part of you that is happy,
Call back the part of you that is sad.
Call back the part of you that is timid and the part of you that is brave,
Call back the part of you that is still angry.
And evolving.
And call back the part of you that may still be grieving.
Begin to welcome all parts of yourself here and now,
Imagining each part was a little light returning to home,
Beginning to brighten this golden egg.
Feel yourself arrive here in this moment in a more intimate way.
Call back all of the stories that have led you to the here and the now,
All of the stories and narratives that have made up you.
Allow for your golden egg to glow,
To become brighter as you become more full and more whole,
More yourself.
And now,
Imagine simply being held within this golden egg,
Held just as you are.
And begin to now recall your sankhapa.
Begin to visualize what your sankhapa would look like.
Begin to visualize your reality as if your sankhapa had already manifested.
In this visualization,
Who are you with when your sankhapa has become your reality?
What are you doing?
And now,
How do you feel as this version of yourself?
What qualities and characteristics does this version of you hold?
Allow this feeling of your sankhapa to be embraced and embodied deep within,
As if every single cell and molecule of you could soak it up and absorb this feeling of your sankhapa.
And now,
Repeat your sankhapa three more times within,
As if it were infusing this golden egg,
As if it were fertilizing this golden egg.
And now,
Allow for this golden egg that you were being held in,
That your sankhapa and your highest vision and all parts of yourself are being held within to dissolve away,
Letting your sankhapa be received by the world,
Letting yourself be received by the world exactly as you are.
Let go of your sankhapa.
Begin to return back to the most physical layer of the self.
Begin to sense your muscles,
Feel the density of your bones,
And reconnect to the rise and fall of the breath.
This now completes the practice of yoga nidra.
Feel free to stay as you are.
If you are looking to move on with your day,
Begin to deepen your breath.
Allow for your breath to drop you back into your physical body and find subtle movement within your physical body to reawaken,
Reawaken with insight,
With inspiration,
Reawaken as if you were being reborn.
Eventually,
Find a full body stretch,
Take your arms above your head,
Bend your knees,
And place the bottoms of the feet to the earth.
Rock off to your left side to find fetal position,
Draw your knees in towards you,
Turn your heart to the earth.
Stay here as long as you need.
It was my pleasure and my honor to guide you through this powerful practice.
Jayananda Hariyom.
Namaste.
