My name is Benedicta Alice Kapoor and I warmly welcome you to this Yoga Nidra.
Before you lie down,
Gather all props you will need to make yourself comfortable.
A blanket to keep you warm,
Maybe a light piece of fabric to cover your eyes if you're in a light filled room,
A small pillow under your head,
Maybe a pillow or a bolster under your knees to release your lower back.
Then lie comfortably on your back.
Allow your jaw and head to release,
Palms turning up towards the sky to open and release the shoulders and chest.
Ensure you feel safe,
Warm and supported by the blankets,
Props and space you are in.
Close your eyes and keep your eyes closed throughout the practice.
Let your legs fall easily to the sides.
Allow the right and left side of body to feel symmetrical.
You are now lying in the position Savasana,
Whole body resting on the floor,
Center line from top of head to middle of the feet.
Take a last few moments to adjust yourself so you don't have to move during this practice.
Take a deep breath in and as you exhale,
Soften.
Throughout the practice you will feel more and more relaxed as though you would fall asleep but you will promise yourself that you will try your best to not fall asleep but will remain aware throughout the practice,
Following my voice,
Follow my voice with complete attention and feeling.
During Yoga Nidra you are functioning on the levels of hearing and awareness and the most important thing is to follow the voice of the instructor.
If thoughts come to you,
Don't worry about them,
Just come back to my voice.
Now allow yourself to feel calm,
Steady and soft.
We begin with relaxing into the space.
Feel the shape of your body on the floor.
Notice the shape of your entire body lying in Savasana on the floor.
Feel the shape of your body lying on the floor as a whole,
Being aware that you are completely still.
From head to the tip of the toes,
Notice the whole body is completely relaxed and soft.
Notice any sounds in the room or other senses like smells in the space around you.
Go from one to another with complete detachment.
Notice any sounds outside the room,
Do not linger,
Just hear and move on to the next.
Now notice the sense of touch on your skin,
Your clothes,
Blanket,
Contact with the floor.
Then return to your body,
The whole body lying on the floor and say to yourself,
I am aware I am practicing Yoga Nidra.
Repeat this to yourself again.
I am aware I am practicing Yoga Nidra.
Feel the body lying on the floor,
The heels,
Calves,
Hips,
Shoulders,
Back of head soften into the floor.
Feel the weight releasing the body and in the stillness notice your breath,
Inhaling and exhaling softly and steady.
Feel the breath through the whole body as you inhale all the way to the toes and the fingers and as you exhale back through the body and out of the nose.
On inhale feel the body broaden and as you exhale feel the points of contact with the floor soften deeper into the floor.
Inhaling calmness,
Exhale release,
Inhaling expansion,
Exhale release.
As you inhale allow the body to open and as you exhale allow the body to lengthen.
Feel the expansion with the breath and release the body to the floor.
At this time of the practice you should set your resolve,
Your sankalpa,
Your intention.
Remember it's not something you wish to achieve or be but the foundational vibration of who you are,
The core vibration of your soul.
Set your sankalpa in the present tense,
Positive and keep it short.
It may be something like I am whole,
I am free.
I am an expression of optimal health.
I am at peace.
Discover your own resolve,
Your own sankalpa and repeat it to yourself three times making sure you feel the resolve is true to you.
And then becoming aware of the body we shall now rotate our consciousness through different body parts.
Either visualize or feel the body part as it is named.
We begin by the corner of the left eye,
Left eyebrow,
Left forehead,
Left side of the head,
Left ear,
Left jaw,
Left cheek,
Left temple.
Awareness of the left side of the body.
Corner of the right eye,
Right eyebrow,
Right forehead,
Right side of head,
Right ear,
Right jaw,
Right cheek,
Right temple.
Awareness of the right side of the body right shoulder,
Right upper arm,
Right wrist,
Palm of the hand,
Top of the hand,
Right thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Right lower arm,
Left shoulder,
Left upper arm,
Left wrist,
Palm of the hand,
Top of the hand,
Left thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Left lower arm,
Top of the left arm,
Top of the right arm,
The left side of the body,
The left side of the body,
The right side of the body,
The right side of the body,
Sole of the right foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Space between the toes,
Right ankle,
Side of right foot,
Top of the right foot,
The right foot,
The right foot,
Sole of the left foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Space between the toes,
Left ankle,
Side of the left foot,
Top of the left foot,
The left foot,
The left foot,
Top of the spine,
Middle of the spine,
Base of the spine,
Pelvic girdle,
Right hip joint,
Left hip joint,
Top of the right leg,
Back of the right leg,
Top of the left leg,
Back of the left leg,
Top of the left knee,
Back of the left knee,
Top of the right knee,
Back of the right knee,
The right leg,
The right leg,
The left leg,
The left leg,
Front of the shoulder girdle,
The back of the shoulder girdle,
Back ribs,
The front ribs,
The front of the body,
The front of the body,
The back of the body,
The back of the body,
Inside of the body,
The whole body,
The whole body,
The whole body.
Now draw your attention to the natural,
In-going and outgoing breath.
Feel the breath in your belly.
As you inhale,
Navel rises and as you exhale,
The navel falls.
Feel the breath in your abdomen.
Be completely aware of the breathing.
Navel rising and falling.
Do not try to force the breath,
Just awareness.
Gain your awareness of the rise and fall of navel and at the same time start counting your breaths backwards as follow.
Navel rise 27.
Navel fall 27.
Navel rise 26.
Navel fall 26.
Navel rise 25.
Navel fall 25 and so on from 27 to 1.
Say the words and the numbers mentally inside yourself as you count.
If you lose count,
Simply go back to 27 and start again.
Feel awareness of breathing and counting.
The breathing is slow and relaxed.
Feel counting.
Navel rise 27.
Navel fall 27.
Now experience yourself becoming heavy.
Feel every muscle,
Every bone,
Every joint heavy sinking into the floor.
Imagine the body being filled with sand.
The sand filling out to the edges and corners of your body,
Adding weight to your fingers and toes,
Sinking deeper through the back of your skull,
Through your shoulders,
Hips and heels.
Feel yourself so heavy that you couldn't lift your body from the floor if you tried.
So heavy,
Extreme heaviness.
Lightness,
Lightness,
Lightness.
The body now becomes light,
Weightless.
Every bone,
Muscle and joint begins to lighten as if it could begin to float up off the floor.
All the sand is now pouring out of your body and onto the floor.
Feeling extremely light,
The boundaries of the physical body begin to dissolve and fade away as your inner space begins to merge with the space surrounding you.
Lightness,
Lightness,
Lightness.
Awaken the experience of cold in the body,
The experience of chilly cold.
Imagine you're standing on a cold floor,
Barefoot and the cold is spreading up your legs and into your torso to the head,
Arms and fingers.
Feel cold throughout your entire body.
Now allow the sensation of warmth to spread throughout the entire body.
Recall the feeling of heat in summer when you're out in the sun with no shade.
You feel heat radiating onto your skin,
Heat all around the body.
You feel heat radiating onto your skin,
Heat all around the body.
Now,
Imagine that you're on a cold floor,
Barefoot and the cold is spreading all around on the ceiling and you see below you your body lying in Shavasana on the floor practicing Yoga Nidra.
Now see your body slowly stand up and tiptoe to the door.
Quietly open the door and go outside,
Closing the door softly behind you.
See your body walking outside.
See the familiar things around you.
There is no sense of effort,
Only lightness.
You meet some people that you know.
See them but they can't see you.
Watch them as they walk past,
Perhaps they're making their usual conversation.
Suddenly you find that your body is floating over the sea.
Become aware of this.
See the dark blue sea glistening below.
Across its surface a ship is steaming.
Your body floats like a cloud.
Wherever the wind blows the cloud,
Your body is also blown.
Wisps of cloud brush past your face.
Below you sunlight reflects off banks of white cloud.
Have you puffs of cloud scurry across the blue sky.
Now your body is lifted by currents of air and carried over the land.
On the ground below you see farm houses.
Simply laid out fields,
Thick forests,
Winding rivers that reflects the sun.
Pause a moment and look closely at yourself.
Your body is totally relaxed and on your face is an expression of peace and calm.
See your body suddenly immersed in a color as it passes through a rainbow.
Feel yourself washed and purified by subtle colors,
Yellow,
Green,
Blue,
Violet,
Red,
Orange,
Gold and yellow.
Feel the colors penetrating your whole body,
Nourishing and invigorating you at some deep level.
Now your body is completely relaxed and on your face is an expression of peace and calm.
See your body suddenly immersed in a color as it passes through a rainbow.
Pause a moment and look closely at yourself.
Then slowly make your return.
See your body return to the outside of the building.
See again the familiar objects.
Quietly open the door,
Walk inside and close it after you.
You lie down on the floor.
Your body rests again in Shavasana.
Your body is completely relaxed and on your face is an expression of peace and calm.
Now remember your heart's longing statement,
Your sankalpa,
Your resolve.
Repeat it again three times as the present truth,
Three times to yourself.
It is the truth.
Become aware of your breathing.
Become aware of your natural breathing.
Awareness of breathing and awareness of relaxation.
Develop awareness of your physical existence.
Become aware of your legs and your arms and your body lying stretched out on the floor.
Become aware of meeting points between your body and the floor.
Become aware of the room,
Walls,
Ceiling,
Noises in the room and noises outside.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Hari Om Tat Sat,
Hari Om Tat Sat,
Hari Om Tat Sat.
When you are ready,
Begin to move your body and feel yourself coming back fully.
In your own time you can roll over to one side in fetal position and rest there for a few moments.
Use your arms to push yourself to a natural seated position,
Eyes closed and attention inward.
Sit in the state of wellness and vibrancy that is your essence and feel a powerful alertness grow through your being.
Place your palms together front of heart center.
Gently bow your head.
May you always find strength in your heart.
Namaste.
Thank you for joining this practice.
