Hello,
My name is Dennis,
And this is a practice of yoga nidra,
Breathwork and sound meditation.
Before we begin,
Make yourself as comfortable as you possibly can,
Lying down.
Using pillows,
Blankets,
Whatever you need to cocoon yourself,
110% comfortable.
Alan Watts,
The Zen philosopher,
Once wrote,
Regard yourself as a cloud,
Clouds never make
mistakes.
Did you ever see a cloud that was misshaped?
Did you ever see a badly designed wave?
No,
They always do the right thing.
So let's discover the lightness and the heaviness of clouds.
And this is about following your own intuition.
The practice is a tool for you to discover it by yourself.
So we'll begin with some breathwork,
Breathing in through the nose,
Filling up,
Filling up
and exhaling through the mouth.
Breathing in,
Relaxing on the exhale.
It's a circular breath,
No stopping in between the inhale and the exhale.
Perhaps you feel that the belly,
The lower ribs are expanding.
You open up the ribcage on the inhale and contracting on the exhale.
If you don't feel the expansion in the lower part of the lungs,
That's all right.
See if you can deepen it on your next inhale.
A sigh of relief on the exhale.
Keep the exhale relaxed.
Wonderful.
Put your hands on the lower ribs.
See if you can feel that expansion.
A slight activation on the inhale.
And the exhale is light as a cloud.
Dropping down the shoulders on the exhale.
Away from the ears,
Softening the jaw,
Softening around the eyes,
The forehead,
Softening the
brain muscle.
Let yourself flow beyond structures,
Beyond time,
Timeless.
They don't care about time,
They just float,
And so can we.
Inhaling,
Filling up,
And let go.
Inhaling in through the nose,
Exhale through the mouth.
Notice how the feeling tone in the body is changing,
Even if it's very subtle.
Notice how it changes from moment to moment,
Just like clouds,
Taking different shapes
in the sky,
According to the wind,
Changing its color,
Always in the present.
Just floating,
Going back to your natural breath.
Let the body breathe itself,
Perhaps taking down your hands to the side of your body.
Notice if there's any changes in the body and in the mind.
Just observing,
Staying curious.
Life itself is amazing.
As you feel the body breathe itself,
Just notice the next inhale and the freshness of
this moment.
When we stop analyzing,
We go into just feeling,
And just feeling can be very healing.
Imagine yourself drifting on a cloud.
It doesn't have to be up in the sky,
It can be close to the ground as well,
Perhaps on
a foggy field.
Let yourself drift for a while.
Open up your heart for imagination.
Being weightless,
Let that feeling rotate through the body,
Starting at the base of
the spine,
The middle of the back,
Weightless,
Shoulders completely weightless,
Surrendering
to whatever is,
Middle of the throat,
Back of the head,
Top of the head,
Forehead,
Between
the eyebrows,
Left eye,
Right eye,
Both of the eyes,
Softening around the eyes,
Left
ear,
The right ear,
Both of the ears.
Let the sounds come and go,
Just observing,
Left nostril,
Right nostril,
Both nostrils,
Left cheek,
Right cheek,
Both cheeks,
Base of the tongue,
Middle of the tongue,
Top of
the tongue,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Both lips,
Shin,
The jaw,
Weightless.
Again,
The center of the throat,
Heart center,
Middle of the chest,
Both of the upper arms,
Elbows,
Lower arms,
Wrists,
Palms of the hands,
Top of the hands,
All the fingers,
Simultaneously,
Weightless.
Center of the chest,
Once again,
Lower ribs,
Just observing,
Belly,
Softening,
Inside the left hip,
Inside the right hip,
Pelvic bowl,
Upper legs,
Knees,
Lower legs,
Ankles,
Heels,
Soles of the feet,
Top of the feet,
All the toes,
Simultaneously,
Going back to the base of the spine,
Mid-back,
The whole body,
Weightless,
Just drifting,
Just being,
No need to change anything,
If any thoughts appear,
Let them come and go,
Just like clouds,
Being friends with the weather,
With however you feel,
In the mind and in the body,
Just watching the breath from a distance,
Coming and going,
On the next inhale,
Let a sense of lightness,
Of feeling weightless,
Occur in the mind and in the body,
And then a sense of heaviness,
A dark cloud,
Let that occur in the mind and in the body,
And now feeling both,
Lightness and heaviness,
At the same time,
Feeling the importance of them both,
Just like the earth,
Needs the sun and rainfall,
Continue to just drift,
The whole body,
Becoming one cloud,
Absolutely perfect,
Just as it is,
Absolutely wonderful,
Just as it is,
With its silver linings,
It's in the cracks,
Where the light gets in,
Taking different shapes,
Colors,
Going slow,
Going a bit faster,
Just being,
Being one with the wind,
Being complete,
Just as you are,
Let yourself drift in this oneness for a little while,
When you're ready,
Begin to wiggle the feet and the hands,
The toes and the fingers,
Stretching out the body,
Taking one big breath in through the nose,
Exhaling through the mouth,
Take a few more if you need to,
Thank you so much for practicing with me,
I mentioned Alan Watts,
And I also wanna thank Leonard Cohen,
Who wrote,
There is a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in,
Have a wonderful day,
And welcome back,
Anytime.
