Lay down on your back and make yourself comfortable.
Take the time to wiggle and move now so you feel maybe 2% or 3% more comfortable.
During this practice,
There will be short periods of silence to allow you to integrate and to absorb the benefits of the practice.
Drop any expectations about what this practice should be and look like and how you should feel afterwards.
Allow yourself to surrender and listen to the intelligence of your body.
Let the sound of my voice be your guide so you can stay present and awake for the full duration of the practice.
And if you fall asleep,
That's also fine,
You will still receive the benefits.
If anything I say makes you feel uncomfortable and you want to stop the practice,
All you have to do is to wiggle the fingers and the toes,
Opening the eyes and start to look around the room so you can gently come out of the yoga nidra state.
Let's begin.
Give yourself a moment to tune in and notice your breath.
If you are exhausted or anxious,
Let go of those labels and those words like I'm so tired or I am so worried.
Let go of those words and what those words mean and their connotations.
And instead choose to tune into how your body feels with no labels.
Does your right hip feel heavier than the left?
Or do your shoulders feel tense and contracted?
Does your lower jaw feel tired?
Observe what's physically present right now without any judgment or labeling.
Take the time to feel and sense your whole body.
And then breathe a little bit deeper.
As you inhale,
Feel the belly rising and the chest rising.
Pause and then exhale and let gravity take more of you.
Inhale the belly,
The ribs,
The chest fill up.
Exhale and surrender and let go.
Inhale deeply,
Fill up and then exhale to release.
And then continue on your own,
Breathing a little bit deeper than you normally would.
And then the next time you exhale,
Return to your natural breath.
Allow your whole body to be open and receptive.
Surrendering to the wisdom of your body.
Now it's time to set your sankalpa,
Which is an intention or a deep resolve.
Something that you want to see manifesting in your life.
So allow it to come to the forefront of your mind in the form of a word,
A sentence,
An image,
A color or a sensation.
Something that you really feel deeply into your bones.
If nothing comes to mind,
Then you just stay with the silence in full presence.
And then give thanks and let it go.
Now we come to a phase of rotating awareness around the body.
When I name a part of the body,
Just sense and feel the sensations present in that body part.
First,
Starting with the right thumb.
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger.
The skin between the fingers.
The right palm,
Top of the right hand.
The wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm.
Right shoulder,
Right armpit,
Right side of the ribcage.
Right side of the waist,
Right hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Right ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot.
And top of the right foot.
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe.
The skin between the toes.
The whole right foot,
The whole right leg.
Bring your awareness to the whole right side of your body.
Moving to the left thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger.
Fifth finger,
The skin between the fingers.
The left palm,
Top of the left hand.
Wrist,
Forearm,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm.
Left shoulder,
Left armpit,
Left side of the ribcage,
Left side of the waist,
Left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Calf,
Left ankle,
Left heel,
Forearm,
Sole of the foot,
The top of the left foot.
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe.
The skin between the toes,
The whole left foot,
The whole left leg,
The whole left side of the body.
And then bring your awareness to the right sit bone.
And the left sit bone.
The right shoulder blade,
The left shoulder blade,
The whole spine,
Back of the neck,
Back of the head,
The space between the eyebrows,
Right eye and eyelid,
Left eye and eyelid,
And both eyeballs sinking back and down into the eye sockets.
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Left ear,
The upper jaw and the lower jaw.
Feel the lips and the space where the lips touch,
Tip of the nose,
The forehead,
Middle of the mind.
Feel the right side of your head and the left side of your head,
The whole head,
The whole right arm,
The whole left arm,
The whole right leg,
And the whole left leg.
Feeling the whole body releasing and letting go.
Bring your awareness now back to the breath.
Feeling the way the body gently moves with the breath.
And then we start making inhalations and exhalations of equal length,
Breathing in five counts.
So exhale completely and then inhale for two,
Three,
Four,
And five.
Exhale for two,
Three,
Four,
And five.
Three,
Four,
Five.
Inhale two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Exhale two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And keep counting the breaths silently in your mind,
Keeping a five-five rhythm.
If your mind starts to wonder and think about something else,
Bring it back to the awareness of your breath,
Counting in five-five rhythm.
Now let go of the awareness of the breath.
And imagine yourself,
Like,
Standing in the middle of a very busy square,
Surrounded by many different sounds all around you,
Like sounds of people talking,
Cars driving by,
Maybe the sound of the wind blowing,
Kids playing,
Birds singing,
And music.
And notice what's the effect on the mind about being immersed in all these different sounds.
Does the mind feel agitated or distracted?
And then also observe if these sounds kind of evoke any body sensations on your skin,
On the muscles and bones.
And stay with these sensations a little bit longer.
And now reverse the scene.
And imagine yourself standing in a space where there is total silence.
It's like your ears have superpowers,
And they can filter out all the sounds and noise around you.
So you are completely immersed in no sound.
Notice the effect of the silence on your mind and body.
Do you feel at peace or does the silence make you feel uncomfortable?
Whatever is the response from your body and mind,
Take the time to notice that without judgment.
Then allow both sounds and silence to be present at the same time.
Perhaps noticing the little pauses of silence in between sounds.
And the sound of your body cells pulsing in silence.
Allow both sound and silence to be there.
And then let go.
Of the awareness of the opposites.
And imagine that in front of you there is a door.
Have a closer look and notice the door frame,
The shape of the door,
The color.
And you wonder what special things are behind the door,
Where this door will lead you.
And you notice that on the door there is a little sign that says welcome.
So you turn the door handle and step inside.
And you find yourself walking into a room that is filled with the most beautiful blue silver light.
All the thoughts in the mind become very still.
As this blue silver light is filling the head,
Making you feel gentle and peaceful.
Feel this beautiful light swirling around and inside your head.
Massaging all the muscle glands in the brain.
Feel this blue silver light fill up your arms and the chest and the belly.
Can you feel it in your legs?
The whole body radiating this healing and nourishing light.
Stay a little bit longer in this space.
Now it's time to return.
If you set a sankalpa at the beginning of the practice,
Come back to it.
If it is a word or a sentence,
You can mentally repeat it.
Or if it is an image,
You can repeat it.
Visualize it.
If it is a sensation,
You can feel it again.
Trust that it has been heard.
And if you didn't set an intention,
Then enjoy the silence.
Bring your awareness now back into the body.
Feeling or sensing the body lying on the surface underneath you.
Hearing the sounds around you in the near distance and in the far distance.
And taking some long deep inhalations.
When you are ready,
You can start to wiggle the fingers and the toes.
Maybe taking a full body stretch.
And then take all the time you need to fully return,
Awake,
And aware.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
