Being The Lotus: Nidra Practice For Resilience

This Yoga Nidra session will bring you deep within, as you journey along the path of the lotus. The lotus moves between the shadows of the dark water, up to the glory of the sun - day after day - and in this journey, we find the essence of resilience.

Note: This guided Nidra session touches on deeply held emotions. It is my hope that this will lead you towards release and a deep sense of internal bliss afterwards.

I hope you enjoy it. Remember, you are the Lotus, and you are resilient.

Transcript

Welcome to a yoga nidra practice in the theme of resilience.

This yoga nidra practice is titled Being the Lotus.

So for yoga nidra you really want to be in a very comfortable laying down position in shavasana,

Which is dead pose that gives you an image.

I personally like to make what I call a nidra nest.

So I'll put pillows under my knees,

Under my arms and under my head and I will put a blanket over top as well and that's really to give me a sensation of floating,

Being held in the nest.

So find your spot and what works for you.

Make sure you're laying down and give yourself some wiggles from side to side,

Just allowing the weight of your body to spread out evenly where it touches the ground.

And as you start to feel settled you can close your eyes and just take a few deep breaths to arrive.

Notice how nice it is to be supported by the ground,

How cozy it is to be warmed by a blanket and how nurturing it is to be guided by someone who cares about you.

And feel into the areas of the body that are making contact with the ground,

Starting at the head and feel the pressure points where the head meets the pillow.

And experience how the support in the back of the head just allows your face to rest open.

Move your attention now into the back,

Into the shoulder blades,

Feeling how they protect and support the upper spine.

And see if you can gently lean into the shoulder blades,

Pushing the chest slightly forwards,

Opening your heart into the room.

Bring your focus to the lower spine.

Feel how the flesh of your butt fans out and spreads across the floor.

And see if you can give 10% more of your body weight to the ground now.

Feel down along the back of the legs into where the heels make contact with the floor and stay there for a moment.

Can you find your heartbeat in the back of the heels?

And ask yourself now if there are any adjustments you can make to be even more comfortable.

And if there are,

Feel free to adjust.

And we now begin the practice of yoga nidra.

To begin,

Please greet yourself internally with a friendly hello.

And let your higher self know that you might fall into a yogic sleep but your intention is to stay awake for this practice.

I'm going to guide you through a scan of the physical body,

The Anamaya kosha,

The most external part of the self.

Just follow along the directions and whatever you witness or experience is the right thing for you today.

Bring your attention to the right big toe.

See if you can focus all the way into the nail bed.

And go past the nail now and into the flesh of the right big toe,

Moving your attention like a spotlight to where the outer edge of the skin meets the room.

And follow the outline of your toe now from right big toe to second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and baby toe.

Feel into the tiny knuckle of the right baby toe and move down the outer edge of the right side of your foot,

Landing your awareness in the thick skin at the base of the heel.

Feel into the flesh of the right heel.

Sense the sturdiness.

Start moving your awareness up from the base of the right heel up to the bottom of the toes along the sole of your foot.

Like a glass slowly filling with warm water,

Move up the sole of the foot,

Glass becoming more full,

All the way up to the base of the toes and slowly back down.

The glass empties.

Your awareness follows back down to the base of the heel and become aware of the top of the right foot.

Carefully move along all the delicate bones and tendons that stretch back to the ankle and wrap your attention around your ankle.

Bring your attention to the left big toe.

See if you can focus all the way into the nail bed and go past the nail now and into the flesh of the left big toe,

Moving your attention like a spotlight to where the outer edge of your skin meets the room.

Follow the outline of your toe now from left big toe to second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and baby toe.

Feel into the tiny knuckle of the left baby toe and move down the outer edge of the left side of your foot,

Landing your awareness in the thick skin at the base of the heel and feel into the flesh of the left heel.

Sense the sturdiness and start moving your awareness up from the bottom of the left heel up to the base of the toes along the sole of your foot.

Like a glass slowly filling with warm water,

Move up the sole of the foot,

Glass becoming more full,

Filling all the way up to the base of the toes and slowly back down,

The glass empties.

Your awareness follows back down to the base of the heel and become aware of the top of the left foot.

Carefully move along all the delicate bones and tendons that stretch all the way back to the ankle and wrap your attention around your left ankle.

Become aware of the right calf,

Back of the right knee,

The large muscles at the back of the right thigh.

Move your awareness from the back of the thigh through to the front by moving through the flesh and the bone and allow your attention to emerge and land in the large muscles at the front of the right thigh.

Become aware of the left calf,

Back of the left knee,

The large muscles at the back of the left thigh.

Move your awareness from the back of the thigh through to the front by moving through the flesh and the bone and allow your attention to emerge and land in the large muscle at the front of the left thigh.

Move your attention to the pace of my voice.

Right foot,

Left foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Baby toe,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Baby toe,

Right lower leg,

Left lower leg,

Right knee,

Left knee,

Right thigh,

Left thigh,

Both thighs together,

Both thighs together,

Both thighs,

Both knees,

Both lower legs,

Both heels,

Both feet,

Both legs together,

Both legs together.

Feeling into the base of the feet,

Imagine roots reaching down deep into the earth,

Planting and securing you in the depths of the rich soil.

And bring your attention now to the hips.

Feel into the right hip,

Left hip,

Right hip,

Left hip,

And moving around back,

Feel into the right butt cheek and the left butt cheek.

Feel into the flesh of the butt and land your focus at the base of the spine.

Place your attention on the right and on the left side of the spine and follow it up from the base up towards the middle of the back like it's the stem of a flower.

Just follow up and up towards the top of the back and land your attention in the neck.

And travel back to the bottom of the feet again and imagine vitamins and minerals being pulled up from the earth,

Traveling up through the lower body up to the base of the spine.

And move those nutrients up the spine vertebrae by vertebrae,

Now into the middle of the back.

And follow along slowly up and up,

Landing where the spine meets the neck.

And bring your attention to the right hand thumb.

Focus all the way into the nail bed and go past the nail now and into the flesh.

Move your awareness like a spotlight to where the outer edge of your skin meets the room.

And move your focus to the right into the pointer finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

And pinky finger.

And feel all the fingers of the right hand together.

Right hand palm,

Right wrist.

Follow the outer edge of the lower arm into the elbow joint,

Up the right bicep and triceps,

And into the right shoulder.

And bring your attention to the left hand thumb.

Focus all the way into the nail bed and go past the nail now and into the flesh.

And move your awareness like a spotlight to where the outer edge of your skin meets the room.

Move your focus to the left into the pointer finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

And pinky finger.

Feel all the fingers on the left hand together.

Left hand palm,

Left wrist.

Follow the outer edge of the lower left arm into the elbow joint and up the bicep and triceps and into the left shoulder.

And feel where the base of the skull rests on the neck.

Sense how naturally the neck cradles your head.

And bring your attention down the left and right sides of the jaw,

Letting go of any tension stored there.

Relax the teeth.

Sense the squishiness of the tongue.

And feel the whole face.

Imagine morning sunlight beaming down,

Landing on your cheeks.

Bring the warm morning sunlight into the caves of the inner ear,

Illuminating the inside of the skull.

Feel the right side of your brain and the left side of your brain.

The front interior of the skull and the back interior of the skull.

Feel the light shining through your eye sockets,

Down your nostrils,

And holding space in the mouth.

Feel your lips,

The corners of your mouth,

Your right cheek,

Left cheek,

The bridge of your nose,

Your right eyebrow,

Your left eyebrow,

And the whole forehead.

The whole forehead.

And land your attention in between the eyebrows.

Rest your attention here and bring your focus now to the breath.

Slowly and deeply inhale,

Bringing the breath deep into the stomach.

And slowly release,

Extinguishing all the air from your lungs.

We will now focus on the energy body,

The pranamaya kosha.

Prana is the life force.

It effortlessly moves through our bodies.

It's what breathes us.

Prana is often confused with the breath itself,

But it's more eternal than breath.

It's a force that is carried on our breath.

Bring your awareness back down to the feet and imagine the root system attaching your body to the earth.

And as you breathe in,

Pull the nutrients up from the soil,

Moving up along the stem of your torso and landing in the center of your skull.

And as you exhale,

Just let it go.

And again,

Breathing in,

Pulling the nutrients up from the soil,

Up into the stem of your torso,

All the way up,

Landing peacefully in the center of your skull.

And exhale fully,

Letting it go.

And keep breathing.

You can imagine a white light traveling up your body,

Landing in the center of your head.

Whatever you imagine the energy to look like is the right way to imagine it.

It's just pure energy traveling from the roots of the ground through you to be released into the atmosphere.

A gift from earth to air.

Follow the breath and watch the light move through you for the count of 11.

And breathe in 11 and out 11.

Breathe in 10.

And breathe out 10.

And breathe in 9.

And breathe out 9.

Breathe in 8.

And breathe out 8.

And breathe in 7.

And breathe out 7.

And breathe in 6.

And breathe out 6.

And breathe in 5.

And breathe out 5.

And breathe in 4.

And breathe out 4.

Breathe in 3.

And breathe out 3.

Breathe in 2.

And breathe out 2.

And breathe in for 1.

And breathe out for 1.

Keeping with the rhythm of the breath,

Release the direction of the energy.

And feel into the middle of the torso,

Below the ribcage,

And above the belly button into the solar plexus.

Imagine a thick happy yellow light like late morning sunshine radiating from the solar plexus.

And bring this image of sunlight out in front and all around you and watch the breath now be drawn in through the nostrils into the lungs all the way down past the legs landing in the toes and as you exhale let it all go.

And again breathing in pulling in the energy of the Sun through the nostrils into the lungs down the legs landing in the toes and exhale letting it go completely.

And keep breathing.

You can imagine the bright sunlight traveling down the stem of your body and landing at the base of your feet.

Pure energy traveling through you into the roots.

A gift from air to earth.

And follow your breath and watch the light for a count of 11.

Breathe in 11.

And breathe out 11.

Breathe in 10.

And breathe out 10.

And breathe in 9.

And breathe out 9.

And breathe in 8.

And breathe out 8.

And breathe in 7.

And breathe out 7.

Breathe in 6.

And breathe out 6.

Breathe in 5.

And breathe out 5.

Breathe in 4.

And breathe out 4.

And breathe in 3.

And breathe out 3.

And breathe in for 2.

And breathe out 2.

And breathe in for 1.

And breathe out for 1.

Filled with the energy of life we will now follow the path of the Lotus experiencing the duality of mind and emotion.

We enter the Manomaya Kosha.

Let's follow the bio rhythm of this ancient flower.

Imagine the feeling of darkness surrounding the body.

The roots of the Lotus are buried deep into the mud.

Imagine that elaborate root system functioning to anchor the plant to the muddy ground to absorb the vitamins and help it grow strong.

The base of the Lotus is surrounded by darkness and somehow in the mysterious cloudy murky waters the Lotus finds its connection to source.

And feel deeper into the darkness now.

What is in the dark for you?

What's down there?

Is there fear?

Sadness?

Grief?

Do the murky waters hold any experiences of disappointment?

Of loss?

Allow the darkness to be there.

You're safe.

Don't push the darkness away.

Release the need to push it away.

Let the darkness be felt with compassion for just how human you are.

Imagine placing your hand on your heart,

Feeling into the depth of the darkness and ask of your heart,

Don't close.

Don't close.

Don't close.

Darkness is where the primordial womb gives birth to the Lotus.

The darkness must exist in order for the Lotus to express its inherent beauty and ultimate potential.

The Lotus pushes up through the dark water through the shade of night and begins to uncurl.

The stem emerges and grows out of the soil.

It's thick,

Versatile,

And able to withstand the wind.

The Lotus flower emerges flawlessly clean from the muddy pond,

Lifting itself high up in the morning to greet the sun.

Its petals unfold one by one,

Bathing in all the sun's glory.

What is in the light for you?

What's up there?

Is there joy,

Excitement,

Hope?

Does the light hold any experiences of love?

Feel the sensations of light and the emotions that come with it and release the tendency to cling to those feelings.

Don't try to grip onto the light.

Let it embrace you.

Acknowledge how it brings you a feeling of being one with the source and imagine placing your hand on your heart and internally repeat.

Source is out there and in here.

Source is out there and in here.

Source is out there and in here.

The Lotus bathes in the splendor of the sun until dusk looms.

When the sun starts to dip,

The Lotus flower closes its petals tight,

Descending back down towards the dark undaunted by the murky water and there it rests for the night.

And feel back into the darkness.

How does your body feel in the dark?

What emotions are there?

Allow the darkness to be while releasing the need to push it away.

Feel the darkness surround you and in the darkness of the womb,

Feel into your heart and sense the remnants of the heat and light radiating there.

Relax back and feel both darkness surrounding you and light radiating from your heart.

Darkness and lightness at the same time.

As the sun rises above the shadowy waters,

The Lotus instinctually knows it's time to rise from the mud and the dark and it begins its journey upwards,

Unfurling slowly,

Breaching the crest of the water and rising up into the air.

And although it rises from the mud,

No dirt clings to the Lotus.

The petals unfold one by one,

Welcoming the warmth and light of the Sun.

Feel the sunshine for a moment.

How does your body feel in the light?

What emotions are there?

Allow the light to be while releasing the need to cling to it.

And feel the light surround you and in the brightness of the Sun,

Feel the coolness of the mud from your roots that are feeding you from underneath the water.

Relax back and feel both the light surrounding you and the darkness feeding you from below.

Feel both lightness and darkness at the same time.

Resilience is not being able to face either the light or the dark in a strong way.

Resilience is finding peace in both,

Knowing that life does not stay in one forever.

That movement comes for us over and over again and when it does,

Not if it does,

But when it does we have what it takes to journey through the transition.

We curl up when it's time and descend into the darkness to wait out the night and find solace in the primordial womb.

We unravel when it's time,

When the light calls for us.

We instinctually unfurl and rise,

Knowing we are forever connected to the dark while we bathe ourselves in the light.

We do not cling to the light when we are being called into the dark and we do not push away the darkness when the light temporarily disappears.

You are the Lotus.

You ebb and flow,

Ever resilient time and again.

You travel between the murky dark water and the light of the Sun,

Touching both,

Not clinging,

Not resisting.

You relax and release into the experience of both.

As you open and expand your awareness of self and resilience,

You have the opportunity to dive further into your subconscious.

We move now to the Visna Maya Kosha,

The wisdom body.

The wisdom body is where your creativity resides.

It's deeper than your personality,

Even deeper than your mind.

I will name different things and you will visualize them without thought.

Just be a spectator to the wonder of your wisdom.

Tall tree,

Laughing with a friend,

Path in the woods,

Cat stretching,

Foggy morning,

Foggy morning,

Foggy morning,

Peacock feather,

A giant rock,

Your reflection in a mirror,

A warm embrace,

A full cup of coffee,

Plump bumblebee,

Plump bumblebee,

Plump bumblebee,

Crackling fire,

A shy smile,

A relaxing afternoon,

A cabin in the woods,

A purple umbrella,

Moon over water,

Moon over water,

Moon over water.

Let go of the sensations and images now,

Letting them float out of your awareness and melt even further into the floor.

Bring your attention back to the breath and allow yourself to float,

Aware yet not fully there somehow,

Floating on calm water,

Safe,

Buoyant,

Protected.

And sense your heart filled with appreciation for your resilience and accept that you have everything you need for your journeys between light and dark and float here.

When we embrace our resilience,

We embrace the broad spectrum of the human experience and hold a space of stillness for a few minutes now.

I will watch the time so please don't concern yourself.

You float and I will guide you back when it's time.

You you you you bringing yourself back now into your body feel the temperature of the room and the weight of your blanket on your body invite some movement into your fingers and your toes and start to imagine the room that you are in the colors the decor the placement of the furniture and when you're ready open your eyes and welcome yourself back thank you for joining me on this meditation you're beautiful and you're resilient and I hope to see you again soon

Reviews

Very nice, thank you!

7*

Very powerful! I love the bodyscan, very different than standard. Thank you!
Only little bit awkward part is the count back of breath where the counting and directing continues all the way to one. My breathing rhythm is different and that clashed a little.

Namasté Julie
Thank you

That was very intense and deeply healing, just what I needed, a big thank you from the depth of my heart!

This beautiful Yoga Nidra found me at a time where it’s loving message was so welcome, perhaps quite needed, thank you for your wonderful guidance 🪷✨

Stayed awake this time but enjoyed a good yogic sleep. Very nice practice