Get prepared for the practice of yoga nidra,
A practice of deep relaxation on the physical plane,
Mental plane and emotional plane.
There's many benefits to this practice.
They say that practicing for 30 minutes is equivalent of three hours of deep sleep.
So it's always a good idea if you find yourself stressed or overworked and need that quick restart to simply find a quiet place where you can preferably lie down on a carpet or on a firm mattress,
If you need any support for your head or to roll any blanket or place a cushion under the knees,
Do so now.
So after you finish doing all those little adjustments,
Resolve now to stay motionless in the posture of your choice till the end of the practice.
Take three deep breaths right now.
As you inhale,
Feeling the abdomen rise,
The rib cage open,
The chest lifting,
Filling up with air.
Hold the breath in for a short moment and exhale,
Relax fully.
Repeat a couple more times with each inhalation,
Bringing in a sense of ease and peace into the body and with each exhalation,
Surrendering to gravity,
Letting the body relax into the floor.
Becoming aware now of the back of the body and the contact points of the back of the body with the floor or with the mat,
The heels,
The calf muscles,
Buttocks,
Shoulders,
Elbows,
Hands,
Back of the head.
Focusing only on the contact points with each exhalation,
Visualizing that the space that these points occupy expands due to your relaxation.
So with each exhalation,
Melting the body into the floor like butter in the sun,
Those contact points expanding,
Taking more and more space due to your relaxation.
Now bring the awareness to sounds,
The faculty of hearing and listen to the sounds that are coming from outside the room and become like a microphone,
Just welcoming all sounds evenly without filtering any out or staying focused on one sound over the other,
Welcoming all sounds evenly.
See if you can collect at least five different sounds from outside the room.
Now bring the awareness to sounds that are closer,
Sounds within the room.
And now bring the awareness even closer to the sounds of the body,
Listening to the sound of your breath coming in and out of the nose,
Becoming so attentive and quiet that you might hear the sound of digestion or even sense the sound of the heartbeat and the silence between each heartbeat.
And into that silence,
Introduce now your sankalpa.
Sankalpa is a resolve,
A resolution.
If you don't have a sankalpa,
Just try coming up now quickly with a short sentence that's going to summarize what's most needed in your life right now.
It can be on a spiritual level,
On a personal level,
Work level,
Relationship level.
Just try and find one short sentence and formulate it in the present tense.
So as though it's already happening right now.
Try and make it positive,
Focusing on the positive versus the negative.
So something that you can actually acquire as opposed to something you'd like to get rid of.
And if that sentence has been formulated,
Repeat it three times inwardly,
Whilst focusing on the emotion that is surrounding that statement,
That resolve.
Do it now three times if you haven't started yet.
Then letting go of the sankalpa,
Of the resolve,
And to increase our relaxation,
We'll go through the different body parts right now.
So each time I name a body part,
There's three things you need to do.
First thing is to repeat the name mentally.
Second thing is to bring up an image of the body part.
And the third thing is to release that body part by simply putting your awareness on it.
So there's no need to physically move the body part.
Three things,
Repeating it mentally,
Bringing up an image of that body part,
And releasing it through your awareness.
Starting now with the right hand thumb.
So repeat mentally,
Right hand thumb,
Bring up an image of the right hand thumb,
And release that thumb.
Moving on to the right index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Right armpit,
Right side of the chest,
Right side of the waist,
Right side of the pelvis,
Upper right thigh,
Kneecap,
Shin bone,
Right ankle,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth,
And fifth.
Bringing the awareness now to the left hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Left shoulder,
Armpit,
Left side of the chest,
Left side of the waist,
Left side of the pelvis,
Upper left thigh,
Kneecap,
Shin bone,
Left ankle,
Sole of the left foot,
Top of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth,
And fifth.
Bring the awareness now to the right heel,
Left heel,
Right calf muscle,
Left calf muscle,
Back of the right knee,
Back of the left knee,
Back of the right thigh,
Back of the left thigh,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
Lower back,
Middle of the back,
Upper back,
Awareness to the right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Awareness to the whole spine,
Whole spine from the bottom to the top,
Back of the neck,
Back of the head,
Awareness to the top of the head,
Forehead,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Awareness to the eyebrow center,
Eyebrow center,
Eyebrow center,
Right eye and the contact point of the eyelids in the right eye,
Left eye,
Contact points of the eyelids in the left eye,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Tip of the nose,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right lip,
Upper lip,
Bottom lip,
Contact point of the lips,
Chin,
Throat,
Awareness to the right side of the chest,
Left side of the chest,
Chest center,
Sternum,
Upper abdomen,
Navel,
Lower abdomen,
Awareness to the groin,
Awareness now to the whole right leg,
Whole left leg,
Whole left leg,
Whole right arm,
Whole left arm,
Whole of the left arm,
Awareness to the torso,
Neck and head,
Neck and head and awareness to the whole back of the body,
The whole back of the body,
And awareness to the whole front of the body,
Whole front of the body,
And awareness to the whole body,
Whole body,
Whole body lying on the floor.
Bring the awareness now to the natural breath.
Watch the breath entering and leaving the nostrils,
And become so attentive that you don't miss a single inhalation or a single exhalation.
Just observing the natural breath without influencing it,
And start counting back from 19,
Each cycle of inhalation and exhalation is equal to one count.
Start counting back from 19 to zero if you haven't started yet.
If the mind wanders,
Or you lose count,
Simply start again from 19 back to zero.
No need to rush,
Staying with each inhalation,
With each exhalation.
Remembering that you can always start again if the count is lost,
Or if you've reached zero,
Simply starting again.
Increase the level of your chamber of об Indonesian people,
Slowly getting schwimmer,
Slowly getting stronger,
Slowly getting stronger and stronger.
And now let go of the count.
And just become aware of the natural breath.
With each exhalation,
Evoke the sensation that the body is becoming heavier.
With each exhalation,
The body becoming heavier,
Sinking slightly into the ground.
The body is heavy.
The bones are heavy.
The inner organs heavy.
The whole body is becoming heavier with each exhalation.
Create that sensation of heaviness in the body.
And now with each inhalation,
Start feeling that the body is emptying out.
The inner organs emptying out,
The heavy bones emptying out.
And so with each inhalation,
The body becoming lighter.
The body is becoming lighter.
With each inhalation,
So light that it's almost rising above the mat,
Above the floor.
With each inhalation,
The body becoming emptier and lighter.
The body is light.
And letting go of that sensation.
Now,
Evoking the sensation of heat.
The body becoming warm.
Recalling a sensation of heat in the body.
And experiencing this sensation right now.
The body is hot.
Evoking and sensing heat in the body.
The body is hot.
And letting go of the sensation of heat.
And now,
Evoking a sensation of cold in the body.
The body becoming cooler and colder.
Recalling a memory of a sensation of coldness.
The body is cold.
Sensing the cool temperature in the body.
The body is cold.
And let go of the sensation of cold.
And now focusing on the space behind the closed eyes.
And onto that space,
Projecting the next images.
Visualize black boulders scattered over the mountain.
Release that visualization.
And now visualize a rainforest spring.
And now visualizing a crackling bonfire.
Releasing this visualization.
And visualizing gum trees swaying in the wind.
Gum trees swaying in the wind.
And now visualizing the starry night sky.
Visualizing now a golden egg.
Letting go of this visualization.
And visualizing a white lotus flower.
A white lotus flower.
And now letting go of all visualizations.
Look into the space behind the closed eyes.
And with a soft brush,
Write your sankalpa,
Your resolve from the beginning of the practice,
Three times,
Do it now.
And let go of the sankalpa,
Of the resolve now.
Listening to the sound of the breath,
Entering and leaving the nostrils.
Listening to the sound of the breath.
Feeling the sensation of air as it enters the nostrils and leaves the nostrils.
And starting to sense the touch of air on any exposed parts of your skin.
Feeling the touch of clothing on your skin.
And feeling the touch of your body with the floor,
With the mat.
Feeling into the posture that you're in.
And listening to the sounds within the room.
Through the faculty of hearing,
Gauging the size of the space you're in.
And start visualizing the people around you,
The different objects in the room,
Your location within the room.
And start externalizing the awareness even further,
Listening to the sounds outside the room.
Remembering the time of day and the activities that are happening during this time of day around you.
And know that you've been practicing yoga nidra,
A practice of deep relaxation.
And the practice is now complete.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
You can start moving your fingers,
Wiggling your toes.
Maybe taking a deep breath in and stretch the arms up over the head.
And let the feet meet together and stretch in the opposite direction.
And if you like,
Bring the knees towards the chest,
Give him a good hug.
And with the eyes still closed,
Roll over to your right side.
And lying down on your side for a few more moments.
Contemplating the space that can be accessed through this practice of yoga nidra.
And hoping you can take some of that space into the rest of your day.
And when you're ready,
Still with eyes closed,
Moving into a comfortable sitting position.
And to complete the practice.
And to help us externalize further and prime the mind.
Let's chant the mantra om three times together.
Taking a deep breath in.
Om.
Om.
Om.
Om.
Om.
