Welcome to this practice of Yoga Nidra on finding balance.
Beginning by setting up your space,
Making sure it's extra comfortable.
A pillow behind the knees,
Behind the head,
Maybe an eye-covering blanket over the whole body,
Allowing yourself to experience this yogic rest.
Closing your eyes,
Bringing your attention inward with your breath,
Inhaling through the nose,
Exhaling out the mouth.
Just allowing yourself to arrive here,
Feeling the surface beneath you.
Just taking a mental scan over your energetic body.
Notice if it's fast or slow,
Frenetic,
Chaotic.
Just notice what you notice and gather the energy.
If it's up and away and around you,
Just imagine even stilling it so it comes to a standstill.
Sending it down into the earth,
Connecting yourself deeply with the mother,
Rooting yourself into practice.
And then visually,
Imagine drawing a circle around yourself,
Disconnecting from anything you were doing before and anything you have to do after.
Just allowing yourself to occupy this now moment.
Whatever was happening before will be there for you when you return.
It's safe to rest and receive here.
Just tracing the outside edges of that circle with your mind's eye.
Seeing a visual separation in space and time.
The practice of Yoga Nidra begins now.
Allow your Sankalpa to begin to find you.
A Sankalpa is an intention,
A state of being that we use in Yoga Nidra to anchor in a presence that we desire to know and become and learn from.
If you've been working with one for some time,
You can use that.
Or I also like to open it up because I find that spirit often knows I am ready for a new one before I do.
So just expand your awareness,
Allowing your Sankalpa to find you.
I am peace.
I am truth.
I am free.
Just listen for the word that wants to come for you today.
When you have it,
Repeat it internally three times.
And then finding your attention in the center of your heart.
Feeling the essence and energy of balance right here at the center of your chest,
Including both sides of you.
And then follow my cues as I move around different areas of your body bringing your full attention to this space.
From the heart,
Moving to the brow center.
Right temple,
Right cheek,
Right shoulder,
Right chest,
Right thigh,
Right ankle.
Feel the whole right side lit up with your awareness.
The whole right side.
Crossing the midline of the body now.
Moving to the left ankle,
Left thigh,
Left chest,
Left shoulder,
Left cheek,
Left temple,
All the way into the midbrain between the ears.
Whole left side.
Feel the whole left side.
Bringing both sides into your awareness now.
Feeling the whole body lit up with your conscious awareness.
Vibrating with your awareness.
Bringing your attention now into the center of the chest.
With your mind's eye,
Begin to notice a figure eight.
From the heart,
Down through the lower chakras,
Out the feet,
Down into the core of the earth.
Threading the needle through the core of the earth and bringing it back up through the cross of the heart and up through the upper chakras.
Threading the needle through the center of the sun.
Bringing it back down,
Crossing at the heart again.
With your mind's eye,
Just trace the movement of this figure eight down into the earth,
Connecting with the mother,
Up into the heavens,
Connecting with the father,
Bringing it back down,
Crossing at the heart.
And then bring your attention to the space around this figure eight.
The outside edges.
Notice how far out your awareness can go.
The container of this figure eight will begin moving through pairs of opposites.
I will state a word and bring your full body awareness into the energy of that word.
If a story begins to arise,
Just set it to the side.
We're only feeling the energy of the word itself.
What do endings feel like?
Let your whole body light up with the energy of endings.
What do endings feel like?
And then let that go.
What do beginnings feel like?
Let your body light up with the feeling of beginnings.
And then letting that go.
What does the masculine feel like?
Not a story around the masculine.
What does masculine energy feel like in your body?
Letting that go.
What does feminine energy feel like?
Letting that go.
What does fear feel like?
And let it feel uncomfortable.
You're just getting information from your body.
And then letting that go.
What does love feel like?
Let your body fill up with the energy of love.
Letting that go.
Bringing your attention back into the center of your heart.
Stilling and settling that experience.
And finding yourself in a place in nature.
It might be a familiar place,
A brand new place,
Or a hybrid.
Looking down at your feet,
Noticing what's beneath you.
Is it soil,
Grass,
Sand,
Water,
Rocks?
Just take in this location.
Looking up around you,
Noticing the time of day,
The quality of light on your skin,
The smells in the air.
Feel it with all your awareness.
And off in the distance,
You notice a bonfire.
You begin to walk towards it.
And as you get closer to it,
You notice that you desire to keep walking.
And you walk past it.
And your body begins to loop around as if it's drawing a figure eight.
Going out away from the fire,
Arcing back towards the fire again and out the other direction in a figure eight.
And each time you cross the center of the fire,
You begin to notice that one side of the figure eight is dark and the other side is light.
You notice that the dark side feels heavy,
Dim,
Maybe even uncomfortable.
And as you cross to the light side,
It feels free and open and expansive.
And you're just collecting the data of these different sides,
Noticing how they're different,
Noticing that they are just mirrors of one another,
One opposite the other.
And as you walk into the dark side,
You begin to notice a child in the center of that darkness longing to be picked up or held,
Comforted.
And if you're comfortable with it,
Picking up that child and carrying it with you.
And as you carry that child to the light side,
They begin to brighten and smile and change.
And you take it back over to the dark side.
But it feels more comforted knowing that you're here.
And this child is your own inner child that has been unattended,
Unknown by you.
You begin to have compassion for this child.
And each time you take it over to the light,
A little bit of the darkness comes with you and it gets cleansed by the light.
And each time you walk back into the dark side,
The light comes with you and cleanses the dark as well,
Balancing these opposites,
Bringing harmony,
Security,
Peace.
You notice that this child seems to have a message for you that wants to share some information with you about an experience or its time in the dark.
It may be really joyful that you're here.
It may be really angry that it's been left here for so long.
Just allow yourself to receive its message as you continue to walk back and forth,
Feeling the balancing and the cleansing.
The child is feeling more comfortable noticing that you are aware of it now.
And its nervous system is beginning to calm down.
You notice the call of the mother.
She's standing at one point on the triangle,
The Divine Feminine.
And you notice the father,
The Divine Masculine,
Is standing at another point on the triangle.
And you and this child are at the third point.
You begin to realize that as you are holding space for this young child,
The Divine Mother and Divine Father have been holding space for you as well.
Maybe you need to have a tantrum.
Maybe you need to let out your feelings and your experiences the way your young child did for you.
You notice the mother and father have already been holding space for you to do this.
They have always been here.
They have always been aware of you.
They have always been holding you.
You have never been alone.
They honor and witness and support you.
They're excited for you to reunify with this inner child.
To notice that you are a parent for it.
At the same time,
You recognize you also have a Divine Mother and Father parenting you as well.
Allowing yourself to receive that stillness,
That balance,
That support.
They hold space for you as well.
You notice that there is a whole chain of support.
A whole connection.
You just being one dot in a much larger matrix.
A much larger geometry.
You see that your place in the world is so incredibly needed.
You have power and control to light your light at your point in the grid.
But you're only capable of lighting up your point.
You can encourage others to awaken by lighting your light.
But there's a sense of peace and relief that you aren't responsible for anything more than is yours.
It almost feels like an easier task now.
That you know that's your only job.
Just feeling your whole heart light up with this awareness.
The joy,
The smile,
The laughter of your inner child with this message as well.
And before we leave the Mother and Father,
Just see if they might also have a message for you.
Maybe your inner child has another message as well.
And then thanking them for this beautiful wisdom and this time with them.
The awareness of this inner child that was lost and afraid can stay with you now.
Feeling safe and secure,
Held and loved.
Bringing your attention into your heart space.
Beginning to bring yourself back now with your breath.
Inhaling through the nose,
Filling up the lungs.
Exhaling out the mouth.
Begin feeling your spirit arrive back in your body.
Feeling the surface beneath you.
And just stating your sankalpa three more times.
Feeling all of you arrive back in your body now.
Hearing the sounds in the room beginning to wiggle your hands and feet.
Just bringing yourself all the way back.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Bringing some breath back into the lungs.
Maybe bending the knees,
Placing the feet on the floor.
And when you're ready,
Turning your body to one side.
Just allowing yourself to rest here for a moment.
Receiving this information and acclimating back to the physical world.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
Sat Nam
