Welcome,
My name is Emma Chow and this is the practice of yoga nidra,
An ancient practice that takes you into deep breaths,
Unplugging you from the outer world and plugging you into your inner world.
Make yourself a comfortable space where you can lay down flat with your toes falling outward and arms by your side.
You may like to have a bolster or pillow under your knees,
An eye mask or fabric over your eyes to block out light,
And a nice cozy blanket to keep you warm.
Allow yourself to settle into this easeful,
Comfortable place.
Let go of any expectations and any preferences that you might have for this time together.
Let yourself accept each moment as it comes.
As you settle in,
Begin to notice any sounds outside,
Maybe on the sidewalk or road,
The nearby park.
Bring your awareness closer,
Beginning to notice the sounds of the building that you're in.
Bring your awareness even closer now.
What do you hear within the room that you're in?
Now can you hear the sound of your breath?
Oceanic breath washing in and washing out,
Clearing loose debris in its wake with each lap.
Intentionally deepen your breath,
Welcoming fresh airwaves to swirl into your belly,
Allowing your chest to expand and fall as you let the breath wash away anything that is ready to be released.
You can do this once or twice more,
Making these the deepest,
Most cleansing breaths of your entire day.
Then allow your tongue to relax with the tip just placed on the roof of your mouth right behind the front two teeth as you welcome waves of effortless breath in,
In and out,
Just like the tides,
No control,
Effortless.
Let my voice be your guide.
And when you fall away,
Just come back to my voice.
You may drift off into sleep and that's okay.
It just means that you need more sleep.
And even if you do fall asleep,
Your subconscious is always listening.
As we turn our awareness from outside to inside,
We'll feel the solidity and strength of our body as we go through some progressive tensing and releasing now.
So we'll squeeze parts of our body as tightly as we can for a few moments and then release,
Starting with our fists.
Go ahead and squeeze your fists as tightly as you can.
And now release.
Now tense up your fists and your entire arms as tightly as you can.
And release.
Now moving down to your toes,
Squeeze your toes as tightly as you can.
And release.
This time moving to your entire legs from your buttocks to your toes,
Squeeze as tight as you can.
And release.
And now squeezing the face,
The jaw,
The neck and shoulders.
And release.
And tensing up the entire body as tightly as possible.
And completely relax at all.
Once again tensing up the entire body as tight as possible.
And relax.
Relax everything.
Let yourself spill out like a big puddle.
And one last time,
Final time,
Tense up the entire body as tight as possible.
And relax.
Let yourself melt down and out.
How wide and flat can you become on the earth that holds you?
Rest here.
This is where the practice of yoga nidra begins.
In the expansive stillness,
Land your attention to the center of your forehead,
Right above your brow point.
Imagine warm,
Glossy,
Honey colored liquid gold streaming down from the sky above you right into the space in the center of your forehead,
Penetrating your skin,
Passing through your skull.
The stream of warm liquid gold pooling in the very center of your brain,
In the space between your ears,
Right behind the brow point.
As more liquid pours down from the sky it swirls into a golden ball,
Taking up your entire skull until a thin stream of gold drips down the center of your throat like honey,
Radiating warmth as it falls into the center of your chest.
Gold liquid surrounds and pools your heart,
Wrapping your heart in this warmth,
Comforting embrace.
And it begins to seep into all the nooks and crannies of your heart,
Beginning to explore the infinitely complex passageways,
Endless possibilities,
Discovering the richness of this cavern,
Of this sacred space within your body,
This golden liquid nourishing your heart.
And as it nourishes your heart,
You feel its warmth radiating from the center of your chest,
Throughout your body,
Seeping into all the channels and spaces.
Warmth from this golden ball of energy to all your extremities and stretching beyond your skin to the space around your body.
How far can you feel this warmth at your core emanating to the left and to the right of you,
Above and below you?
Feel the glowing golden ball rippling out warmth and energy all around you,
Warm glow emanating from your heart.
And now concentrate your awareness back into the container of your heart where that warm golden ball is strengthening in its form,
Its vibrancy and its power as it nourishes your heart.
And as it continues to swirl around your heart,
It creates this vessel of protection.
So your heart feels so safe that it can whisper to you exactly what it needs right now.
Listen to your heart.
What is it whispering to you?
And with that whisper you formulate an intention that answers your heart's deepest desire.
We call this a sankalpa,
A present tense,
Positive statement beginning with I am.
For instance,
I am supported or I am worthy.
Begin to silently speak your sankalpa to your heart,
Allowing your sankalpa's frequency to echo through all heart chambers.
It's reverberating through your body.
Repeat it again and again so you can feel the liquid gold tuning to the frequency of your sankalpa or your intention.
A direct response to your heart's deepest desire.
And as the liquid powers up with the frequency of your intention,
You bring your awareness to the right side of your body.
And the gold stream follows the direction of your attention,
Making its way to your right thumb.
Begin to your index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
Palm of your hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Underarm,
Right side of the rib case and lung,
Waistline,
Thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Top of the right foot,
Sole of the right foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Baby toe.
Hold the entire right side of your body in your awareness,
The whole right side as it fills with warming honey liquid gold.
Fill your right side with your awareness now.
Move your awareness now to your left hand,
Bringing that liquid gold into your left thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
Palm of your hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Underarm,
Left side of the rib case and lung,
Waistline,
Thigh,
Kneecap,
Shin,
Ankle,
Top of the left foot,
Sole of the left foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Baby toe.
Wash the entire left side of your body with your awareness,
Whole left side.
Feel the entire left side of your body now.
Now to explore the back of your body moving from right to left fairly quickly.
Feel the sole of your right foot,
Sole of the left foot,
The soles of both feet together,
The back of the right heel,
Left heel,
Both heels together,
Right calf,
Left calf,
Both calves together,
Right knee,
Left knee,
Both knees together,
Right hamstrings,
Left hamstrings,
Both sets of hamstrings together,
Right buttocks,
Left buttocks,
Both sides of your buttocks together,
Back of your pelvis,
Lower back,
Middle back and upper back.
Feel your right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Both shoulder blades together,
The right arm,
Left arm,
Both arms together,
Back of your neck,
Back of your head,
And the crown of your head.
Feel your entire back body.
Now feel the crown of your head,
Your forehead,
Your right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Both brows together,
Brow center,
The right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Both eyelids together,
Right eyeball,
Left eyeball,
Both eyes together.
Feel your right nostril and your left nostril,
Both nostrils together,
The bridge of your nose and tip of your nose,
Your whole entire nose.
Feel your upper lip,
Lower lip,
Both lips together.
Feel your chin and the right side of your jaw,
Left side of your jaw.
Feel both sides of your jaw together.
Then feel your whole face.
Feel the right side of your head,
The left side of your head,
Both sides of your head together.
Feel the right side of your throat,
Left side of your throat.
Now feel your whole neck and throat together.
Feel your right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Both collarbones together.
Right side of your chest,
Left side of your chest,
Both sides of your chest together,
Your whole chest all together.
Feel the area of your abdomen from your ribs to your belly button,
Low belly,
Pelvis,
Root of your pelvic floor,
Both thighs,
Both kneecaps,
Shins,
Ankles,
And top of your feet.
Feel your right leg from your toes to your hip,
Your left leg from your toes to your hip.
Feel the entirety of both of your legs together.
Feel your right arm from your fingertips to your shoulder,
Left arm from fingertips to shoulder,
And now feel both arms together.
Keep your arms and your legs in your awareness and add your entire torso and your head to your feeling experience now.
Feel and sense your entire body,
Your whole body.
Feel your whole body together simultaneously right now,
Whole body awareness as it fills completely with beautiful golden liquid.
Come back to the space in the center of your chest where a golden sphere continues to swirl around your heart.
As you breathe in,
That golden sphere expands and as you breathe out,
Contracts,
Expands and contracts again and again.
See how expansive this golden sphere can become.
How big can it become?
Let it release back to the space that it naturally wants to occupy,
Expanding and releasing.
Rest in the spacious awareness here as we prepare to explore polarities.
So as I describe each state,
Let that sensation associated with the name state,
Fill your body and then melt away upon my cues.
What does being stagnant feel like?
What does it feel like to be sluggish without the energy to move,
Change or go anywhere?
Now let that sensation melt away.
What does it feel like to be changing,
To be evolving?
What does transformation feel like?
Now let that melt away.
As you come back to the golden sphere in the center of your chest,
Take a breath in as it expands and breath out as it contracts.
Now what does it feel like to be separate,
To be detached from something?
Now let that melt away.
Explain to your body what it feels like to belong.
What does it feel like to be a part of,
To belong?
Feel it.
Now come back to your heart space.
Breathe in and breathe out.
Let all those sensations melt away as you return to rest in spacious awareness,
The space where all is possible.
Feel your body whole.
Feel all parts of your body as it fills with energy,
As the warm golden liquid pulses through your body.
As it pulses you become stronger,
More expansive as the gates into the limitless are unlocked.
And you float effortlessly in white space,
Nothingness,
Where everything is possible.
As you peer into space,
A crystal case about an inch thick begins to form about 10 inches away from your skin on all sides of your body,
Beginning at your feet.
And that takes shape,
This clear crystal contoured form to the exact curves of your body,
Tailored to you.
This clear crystal layer creates a protective shield from the tips of your toes to the crown of your head,
Contoured just for you.
And it provides you with everything you need for this journey of transformation,
Offering the most oxygen rich air.
And it holds you perfectly suspended.
You are perfectly held.
And as you lay in this vessel of infinite possibility of incredibly divine safety and protection,
Rehoming yourself within your perfect body,
The golden liquid that fills your body instantly solidifies.
And you look down to realize that you are solid gold.
Incredible stillness,
Stillness where all time stands still.
You squint as bright pale light begins to beam through the crystal case.
As its warmth intensifies,
You begin to melt,
Starting with your head,
Solid gold to liquid in an instant,
Like a popsicle melting on a summer's day.
Your entire form quickly falls into a pool of liquid gold at the bottom of the case.
But a small hole punctures below your feet and a thin gold stream begins to leak onto the ground beneath you.
The glimmering raw blue calcite surface that lays several meters below you.
As the golden pool empties from the crystal case,
You become lighter.
You elevate higher and higher into the white space.
And as you rise up,
You begin to look down below as the gold rapidly seeps across the barren flat blue calcite ground that stretches out in all directions as far as you can see.
Like bright dye in a pool of water,
The gold covers everything in its wake,
Dripping into the rock,
Gold stretching out as far as you can see,
Creating this glimmering surface.
Your awareness is within the crystal case of protection,
Looking down at the shimmering gold expanse below.
Yet your body has disappeared as the gold has poured out.
What's left?
A sparkling invisible form.
Your awareness is up here.
Yet you,
The essence of you,
Is down there.
You are everywhere.
The gold that has saturated everything.
You are everything and nothing.
All at once.
Solid to liquid.
The bright light casts down to the gold surface,
Heating the liquid to a simmer.
Liquid to gas.
The liquid gold evaporating into the white emptiness that surrounds you in all directions that you gaze.
Blue calcite ground being revealed once again.
This time flecked with residues,
Impurities that it's held from the liquid gold in this process of evaporation and cleansing.
This pale blue rock with the power to hold onto the impurities as the gold lifts up as gas.
You watch this luminous gas rise up,
Up,
Up all around you,
Forming wispy clouds overhead.
And the wisps converge and disperse,
Dancing in a cool breeze.
They morph into shapes that soon begin to seem familiar.
The forming letters,
Gold letters overhead.
These letters merging into words.
Words that form a familiar phrase.
You read this phrase and you realize that it's spelling your sankalpa,
Your intention.
And you read this vow to your heart,
Repeating it again and again.
Feeling it,
Hearing it through all the channels of your entire body.
Reverberating through the chambers of your heart.
That listens and savors so sweetly,
Knowing that its whispers have been heard.
You are your sankalpa.
You are the solid gold.
The place of still eternity.
You are the flowing liquid honey that seeps into everything and leaves flecks of your beautiful essence on all that you touch.
You are the dancing clouds with the power to transform in an instant from one form to another.
You are worth every possibility that this lifetime offers you.
You look up,
Seeing the golden clouds converging together,
Spiraling in winds as they form a thin vortex that stretches down from way up high above you,
Stretching down towards you and like a corkscrew,
The tip of the vortex pierces through the very top of your crystal vessel.
Through the crown of your head and center of your torso,
Out the bottom of the vessel,
Down to the blue calcite ground below.
This vortex of gold winds bring you everything you need to be nourished,
Connecting you always to the ground gravity and the ether,
Carrying your sankalpa,
Rippling its echoes through your body with such velocity that with a single poof,
The crystal vessel transforms into a kaleidoscope of light particles that dissipate into the atmosphere in all directions,
Representing the truth of your potential.
Your potential is limitless.
You descend down the golden vortex to the sparkling blue ground as the vortex flows and the light beams fade.
You are given permission to lay down and do nothing but rest.
You feel the ground beneath you and you welcome big waves of breath to wash in through your nose and expand your belly and your chest and wash out of the channels through your throat and your mouth.
You welcome more big waves of breath to wash through as you deepen your breath and your breath brings your awareness back into your physical body.
You feel your back pressing into the ground as you inhale and feeling your back being caressed as you exhale.
You feel that sense of gravity anchoring you down.
And you use the power within to unlock the stillness of your body with some small movements.
And as your body awakens,
You begin to stretch out your body in whatever way feels natural.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
You roll to one side and you lay for a moment,
Curled up,
Hugging your knees in towards your chest.
And you use your power within once again to overcome the force of gravity and rise up to your seat,
Keeping your eyes closed.
Welcome yourself back home in this body.
As you gently use your right hand to squeeze the left wrist all the way up the arm to your shoulder,
Feeling the solidity of your body.
And doing the same thing on the other side,
Squeezing the right wrist with your left hand and going all the way up to your shoulder.
Coming back into this human form.
In this human form,
You are separated.
You are separate from everything.
And yet at the same time,
You are inherently a part of everything.
And because of this,
You have the potential to shape shift and transform in every instant.
Feeling the palms of your hands together,
Feeling the warmth and energy between your hands as you hold them in front of the center of your chest and gently bow your head down towards your heart in gratitude for this journey that you have just traveled.
A journey where your head surrendered to meet your heart's deepest desires.
And you honored and recognize the true infinite potential for your own individual transformation.
The journey into the limitless,
Which is always before you.
And as you sit in this stillness,
I invite you to bring in an intention for the rest of your day or evening,
Or perhaps even the rest of this week.
Let that intention soak in.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
HAPPY
