Peaceful Truth Yoga Nidra
by David Billay
Yoga Nidra can bring deep insights through calming certain aspects of the awareness, namely, the senses, the body, and the mind. Similar to a guided meditation, this Yoga Nidra is inspired by the Bihar School of Yoga's path of following the Koshas or subtle forms of the body. This path of relaxation allows the body to see it's true, relaxed, and open form. This particular Yoga Nidra features a rotation of consciousness and a journey through a lush forest meadow.
Transcript
Welcome to Yoga Nidra.
In this practice you'll want to be as comfortable as possible.
Ideally,
You're laying down on the floor,
A bed,
Somewhere where you can be comfortable for an extended period of time.
Yoga Nidra is a form of deep relaxation,
Also known as Yogic Sleep.
The body sleeps while the consciousness remains aware.
This enables the body to offer healing properties,
To shift patterns,
And to obtain a deep,
Restful awareness without sleep.
Please find your way into a comfortable position.
As you will be here for a while,
It is important to take time now to adjust as needed.
Perhaps you will bring a pillow under your head,
A bolster,
Or a pillow under your knees,
Or a blanket over top of you.
As you will remain still for the next 30 minutes,
It is common for the body to cool.
So covering yourself ahead of time will allow you to remain warm and undisturbed.
Resolve to remain completely still during the practice.
The practice of Yoga Nidra begins now.
I invite you to follow my voice.
You may drift in and out,
And even have periods where you don't hear me directly.
But know that you can always come back to my voice.
If you fall asleep,
Please know that this is fine.
The invitation is to remain in a state of conscious awareness.
Begin to relax the body deeply.
Feel the body against the floor.
Bring all the awareness into the space between the body and the floor.
Relax even deeper.
See if you can become one with the floor where you are no longer separate,
Where there is no space between you and the floor.
Becoming aware of the sounds around you.
Sounds far,
Far away.
Sounds outside the room.
Sounds inside the room.
Eventually filtering in towards the sound of the breath.
Being aware of the breath without changing it.
Inhale,
Followed by the exhale.
The inhale and the exhale.
The inhale,
A gentle rise of the chest and diaphragm.
And the exhale,
Effortlessly letting the air out of the lungs.
Inhale,
Taking in the breath.
Exhale,
Breathing out the tension and stress.
The movement of time often seems so concrete,
But sometimes can stretch and become more fluid.
Releasing any strong focus,
Letting your attention expand to sense the rich totality of this very moment.
Every sound,
Loud or quiet.
Every texture,
The air,
Temperature,
The fabric on your skin,
The dark release of your eyelids over your eyes.
It's now time to form your sankalpa,
Or your solemn vow,
An intention.
This intention should be precise,
Simple and clear.
Try not to overthink it,
But find something positive that resonates with you.
Some examples might be,
I am whole.
I am healing.
I am evolving.
I am free.
I am strong in body and mind.
I am calm and peaceful in nature.
Once you have your sankalpa,
State it internally three times.
Remaining aware,
Keeping the focus on my voice.
As we go through the rotation of consciousness,
Bring your internal awareness to each body part I mentioned.
It's not necessary to move.
Just find the body part with your inner gaze.
We will begin with the right hand thumb.
Imagine your right hand thumb.
Picture your right hand thumb on your hand.
Right hand thumb,
The index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger.
Bring your awareness to the palm of the hand,
The back of the hand,
The right wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Right shoulder,
Armpit,
The right waist,
Right hip,
Right thigh,
Kneecap,
Right calf,
Ankle,
Right heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
The right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Gently guiding the awareness to the left hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
Palm of the left hand,
Back of the hand,
Left wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Left shoulder,
Armpit,
Left waist,
Left hip,
Left thigh,
Kneecap,
Left calf,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the left foot,
Top of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Bring your attention to the right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Right upper back,
Right upper back,
Left upper back,
Right mid back,
Left mid back,
Left lower back,
Left middle back,
The whole spine,
The whole back of the body together.
Bringing the awareness down to the top of the head,
Forehead,
Both sides of the head,
The right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
The space between the eyebrows,
Right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
The nose,
The tip of the nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
The chin,
The jaw,
The throat,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Right side of the chest,
The left side of the chest.
Bring your attention to the middle of the chest,
The navel,
The abdomen,
And the lower abdomen.
Finding the whole of the right leg,
The whole of the left leg,
Both legs together,
The whole of the right arm,
The whole of the left arm,
Both arms together.
Finding the whole of the back body,
The whole of the front body,
The whole of the back and front of the body together,
The whole of the left leg,
The whole of the back and front of the body together,
The whole head,
The whole body together,
The whole body together,
The whole body together.
Gently guiding your awareness to picture your brain,
The nasal passages between the nose and throat,
Where you can feel the air gently coming down into your lungs and stomach,
Bringing the awareness back to the breath without changing it.
Noticing the breath as it travels through the abdomen and up to the throat.
Noticing the breath coming down the throat,
Down to the abdomen.
Begin counting your breath back from 27 down to one with each breath cycle.
Mentally repeating,
I'm breathing in 27,
I'm breathing out 27.
I'm breathing out 27.
I'm breathing in 26.
I'm breathing out 26.
Continue counting your breath backwards.
If you lose track,
Just start back at 27.
As the mind gets distracted,
Just bringing the breath back.
I'm breathing in,
I'm breathing out.
Gently letting go of the breath and landing into the seat of the inner witness,
Allowing these following sensations to be witnessed,
Remembering that you are here and safe.
Bring to the mind the sensation of pain,
Allowing the body to experience pain,
Any pain that is ready to witness as it arises.
Anywhere in the body that is storing pain,
The memory of pain to flow easily.
Sensation of pain awake and alive.
Releasing that pain and resting back into the stillness and sense of safety in the body.
Inviting in pleasure,
Pleasure,
Pleasure,
Allowing pleasure to move inside the body however it does.
Any kind of pleasure that the body is ready to witness.
More pleasure awakening inside the body.
Releasing the sense of pleasure and resting back into the stillness and sense of safety in the body.
Bringing in your awareness of the body,
Bringing in your awareness of the body.
Bringing in the awareness to the center of the forehead,
The doorway to the higher vision,
Seeing and knowledge.
A doorway of spontaneous creation inside the mind.
Letting the doorway open as the mind becomes more expanded.
Opening to new possibilities and visualizing the images as I mentioned them.
Burning candle,
An endless desert,
Torrential rain,
Snow capped mountains,
Birds flying at sunset,
Clouds drifting across above church,
Stars at night,
A full moon,
Wind from the sea,
Waves breaking,
Tall palm tree,
Rising sun,
Setting sun,
Pink flower,
Pink flower.
Using that same higher vision,
Imagine yourself on a warm summer day,
A breeze on your face,
Sun on your skin,
On this day you find yourself deep in a forest,
Tall trees that seemingly touch the sky.
Trees so grounded and rooted to the earth that you can feel the nature of their groundedness translating to your feet.
The trees forming the ground,
The trees growing the ground,
The trees forming a tunnel of safety for you to walk through.
As you walk deeper into the forest with the trees overhead,
You see the light of a clearing ahead,
Like a beacon of pure healing light,
A mover of anything impure,
Where clarity comes through to you effortlessly.
Stepping into the clearing,
The light slowly begins to come into focus.
You see that it opens into a vast field of grass and flowers.
It is soft,
Almost like walking through clouds.
As you look around,
The sea of lush,
Vibrant flowers,
You notice the petals start to open and bloom,
And the fragrance of the flowers permeates the nostrils.
In the middle of the meadow,
The flowers seem to sway slightly to create an opening,
Free to lay.
Using the flowers undisturbed,
They welcome you,
Surround your body.
You feel the clarity and the peace of the supported bed of flowers.
As you lay,
You hear the gentle flick and hum of the flowers.
As you lay,
You hear the gentle flick and hum of a hummingbird's wings.
As you look around,
You realize each flower has a hummingbird of the same color.
Every direction you look,
Flowers and hummingbirds as far as the eye can see.
As the sun continues to shine down,
Soft,
Wispy clouds moving through the sky.
You begin to hear the subtle sound of trickling water.
As you gently rise and walk through the flowers,
On the other side of the meadow,
There's a stream that trickles down gently over the rocks and the tree roots.
The diamond colored shimmering stream that has the ability to clear all toxins,
Worries and pains in the body,
Slushing them all away permanently.
You reach down and allow the hands to settle into the stream.
The pure water runs over the fingers.
You scoop up some water and take it to your lips,
Drinking the fresh liquid.
Feeling the nourishing qualities permeate through each cell of your body.
Witnessing the beauty of healing from within.
With the next drink of pure healing water,
You feel a sense of bliss.
Coming through your body.
As you close your eyes,
Letting your whole being be touched by the diamond shimmering waters flowing inside of you.
The current of the flow washing through you sweeps you into a deep inner cave.
Of rest,
Ease,
Surrender and pure bliss.
Remaining there in the deep inner cave,
You realize that the start of every flower begins in a place before you.
By dissolving the mental picture of a flower before its physical life,
You're able to see that all flowers come from seeds.
Even the most grand thousand year old tree was once before a small seed.
Srep be z dent zvort on eas 2.
This is the place that the seed of the Senkalpa is born.
Tuning into your truth,
A seed you're ready to grow in the form of yourself.
The I AM statement,
Sense of feeling or knowing,
Recalling your Senkalpa and repeating it three times mentally and energetically ready to plant that seed inside of you.
Coming back to the experience of time,
Your body right now in this moment in time,
Seeing your body from above laying on the ground,
Observing the shape of your body,
The color of your clothing,
The placement of any props,
Flowing completely into your body,
Noticing any new sensations,
However small,
Noticing the smell of the moment,
The taste inside your mouth,
Consciously deepening the wind of your breath to touch the whole body awake.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
Harayom tatsat,
Harayom tatsat,
Harayom tatsat.
If you feel called to remain in a lying position totally still that is fine.
Otherwise gently inviting small movements into the fingertips,
Toes,
Gently bringing bigger movements into the wrists and ankles.
The stretch would feel good to feel into the body,
Invite that as well.
Whenever you feel ready,
Gently coming onto either side supporting the head and the body.
As soon as you're ready,
Finally arising to a seated posture,
Keeping the eyes closed and the attention directed inwards,
Finishing with a short seated meditation,
Observing the stillness and relaxation in the body,
Any subtle changes,
Areas of relaxation or any last tension that can be dissolved away into the breath.
Remaining still for a few more moments,
I will be here to invite you back.
Namaste.
4.6 (65)
Recent Reviews
Janis
February 13, 2023
This was beautiful. I loved the visualizations! Thank you, I will be back🪶✨❤️
Alyona
February 8, 2023
This was a peaceful experience. Thank you for sharing this practice here.
Mary
August 14, 2021
Absolutely beautiful thank you ☺️
Lorena
April 19, 2021
Thank you🙌🏻🙏🏻
Dawn
January 15, 2021
So relaxing that I slept through the part with the hummingbirds, so I will definitely do this again. Thank you so much, David 🙏🏻❤️
Angela
December 7, 2020
thank you so much that was amazing they will be bookmarking this
Catherine
December 6, 2020
Thank you🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻Never saw that many hummingbirds together...🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻