Let us create this sacred moment together.
I will be guiding you on a journey into deep relaxation and self-discovery.
This practice is designed to help you foster a deeper connection with your Sankalpa,
Your life's purpose,
By inviting your mind to let go of its distractions and hone in on what truly serves your highest good.
To start,
Take a few minutes to make yourself as comfortable as possible and ensure your body feels entirely at ease.
Adjust your position if needed,
Align your head,
Relax your shoulders and let your arms and legs settle in a comfortable position.
Check if there is any room for you to be even 1% more comfortable.
Now soften your jaw,
Letting your tongue rest gently at the bottom of your mouth.
As you ease into this comfort,
Let your awareness spread from your forehead,
Cascading down across your entire scalp.
Allow all the small muscles in your face and head to relax.
Consider your brain as a muscle capable of relaxation.
Soften into your brain,
From the frontal lobes in your forehead through the midbrain and all the way back towards the occipital lobes at the back of your skull.
Feel the relaxation seeping down into your shoulders,
Spreading a gentle awareness through your upper body and back and then scanning down your entire body,
Releasing tension as you go.
Your attention now focuses on your heart center,
Envisioning your right hand resting gently on your chest.
Connect with the energy pulsating from your heart space.
Picture yourself standing at the edge of a forest.
This is no ordinary forest.
It's your inner world,
Filled with your dreams,
Your desires,
Your values,
Your aspirations.
The sankalpa is like a pathway through this forest,
Leading you towards your deepest truth.
Today we are going to carve this pathway.
Let's start with a few moments of quiet reflection.
Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths,
Inhaling peace and exhaling any tension.
Let your mind become quiet like a still pond reflecting the moonlight.
Now I invite you to ask yourself,
What do I deeply desire?
Don't rush this process.
Let this question simmer in your mind like a pot of delicious soup slowly cooking on a stove.
What do I deeply desire?
What do I deeply desire?
You might find words,
Images or feelings bubbling up to the surface.
Just observe them without judgment,
Like watching clouds drifting across the sky.
What do I deeply desire?
What do I deeply desire?
As you do this,
You might find a common thread emerging,
A recurring theme or desire.
This could be the seed of your sankalpa.
It could be a desire for inner peace,
Self-love,
Courage,
Harmony or anything else that resonates with your heart.
Once you have identified this seed,
Let's shape it into a sankalpa.
A sankalpa is usually short,
Positive and stated in the present tense as if it's already a reality.
For example,
If your deep desire is for self-love,
Your sankalpa could be,
I love and accept myself completely.
Take a few moments to frame your sankalpa and remember there is no wrong or right sankalpa.
It's a deeply personal expression of your heart's desire as unique as your fingerprints.
Once you've crafted your sankalpa,
I invite you to take it into your heart,
To plant it in the fertile soil of your mind.
You might visualize yourself planting a seed in a garden.
Use any image that resonates with you.
Call forward your sankalpa,
Your highest intention and feel it resonate within you.
Then state it silently to yourself with deep sincerity and conviction.
We'll now continue on a journey of conscious awareness,
Beginning with your toes.
Can you sense all toes at once and the spaces between them?
Feel a sensation move through your feet,
Ankles,
Calves,
Knees,
Thighs and hips.
Feel both your hips and the pelvic bowl,
The sacrum and your belly.
Sense your diaphragm rise and fall gently with each breath.
Feel the subtle rhythm that sustains your life.
Feel the sensation spread across your shoulders,
Chest,
Arms and fingers.
The heart center guide your awareness up through your throat to your tongue,
Teeth and gums.
Sense the gentle flow of air within your nostrils,
The slight expansion and contraction with each breath.
Sense the sensation of your eyes,
All the minute muscles surrounding them.
Feel the skin of your forehead,
Your whole scalp and then your ears.
Next,
Envision the two hemispheres of your brain,
Feeling the sensation of both simultaneously.
Invite your breath to naturally ebb and flow.
As you sense your brain,
Imagine breathing in through the right nostril,
Guiding the breath to the left hemisphere and exhaling out of the left nostril.
Repeat this process,
Alternating nostrils and brain hemispheres with each breath.
Finally,
Breathe in through both nostrils to both hemispheres of the brain and exhale through both nostrils.
Surrendering all expectations,
Surrender yourself fully to this moment of tranquility.
Delight in the soothing essence of pure awareness,
A healing elixir for your mind and spirit.
There is absolutely nothing to accomplish here.
Simply allow yourself to melt into the inherent calm of your own consciousness.
Bask in the awareness that is all-encompassing,
Present everywhere around and within you.
At the same time,
Guide this boundless awareness to your heart center,
A hub of love,
Compassion and truth.
Now softly engage with your sankalpa,
This powerful declaration of your deepest intent,
Something truly significant to your heart's yearning.
Feel its essence imbued with profound meaning,
Emotional resonance and radiant clarity.
What does your sankalpa feel like in this moment of deep introspection?
Pay attention to the sensations it stirs within you,
The emotional tones it elicits.
Let yourself be completely immersed in the unique resonance of your sankalpa.
Visualize your heart center as a potent magnet,
Attracting the emotional essence of your sankalpa.
The vibrations of your heart center resonate with the feeling tones of your sankalpa,
Drawing it closer,
Integrating it deeply into your being.
Now you can let go of this practice and simply be in this moment,
In the inherent simplicity and tranquility of awareness itself.
This is your time to be in presence,
To be both everywhere and in the center of your heart.
Once more,
Call in your sankalpa and feel its resonance within you,
Its emotional tone and clarity.
What does your sankalpa feel like to you in this very moment?
Embrace that feeling,
Invite it in.
Imagine your heart center as a powerful magnet,
Attracting your dharma with its vibrational energy.
Feel your whole physical body resting on the earth,
Breathing deeply into your heart center and exhaling gently.
Take this breath two more times,
Nurturing your heart with each exhale and inhale.
You might choose to stay in this peaceful state a little longer,
Or you can start more gently,
Wiggling your fingers and toes.
Recognize any sense of clarity or tranquility that you've cultivated in this session.
Notice the difference from when you started to this present moment.
As you return to your day,
Distill your sankalpa to a single word,
A powerful anchor that you can call upon in moments of clarity or presence.
Consider this visualization as a gentle inward journey,
Pulling your sankalpa into the core of your existence.
Your sankalpa is no longer something external,
It's a part of you,
Growing from the fertile ground of your heart's center,
Your inner garden,
Becoming a part of your conscious and subconscious experience.
In this way,
Your sankalpa transforms from an abstract idea into a deeply felt experience,
Interwined with your emotional and spiritual reality.
This is the true power of Yoga Nidra meditation.
It allows the seed of your intention to grow into a profound life-shaping truth.
In our busy lives,
Creating a sankalpa is like dropping an anchor in calm waters.
It provides a sense of direction amidst the stormy seas of life.
So I invite you to cherish your sankalpa,
To nurture it,
And to let it guide you towards your deepest truth.
Thank you for joining me in this beautiful process of creating our sankalpa.
And remember,
Like a seed,
Your sankalpa needs to be nurtured with regular practice.
It's time you practice Yoga Nidra.
You water this seed,
And over time,
It can grow into a magnificent tree,
Embodying your deepest truth.
Thank you for being here with me today.
May you be at peace,
May you be filled with joy,
May you be healthy,
Safe,
And secure.
May you be liberated.
