Now we begin our practice of Yoga Nidra.
Lay down on your back,
On your mat,
Or if you're listening to this recording on a blanket or some other soft surface.
Allow yourself to rest in Shavasana.
And take a few moments just to settle in.
Start to notice how your body feels resting on your back.
And make any adjustments that feel appropriate to allow yourself to become settled and still.
Now make any final adjustments that feel necessary and allow yourself to come to a place where you feel like you're not going to need to move at all for the next 25 or 30 minutes.
Feel that stillness for a moment.
And now bring your awareness to your breath and notice that your body,
Resting on your back,
Is breathing in and breathing out.
Notice the sensation associated with inhaling and the sensation or sensations associated with exhaling.
Without trying to control the breath in any way,
Just follow the flow of the breath.
Flowing in and flowing out.
Stay with the flow of the breath.
Try to let everything else go.
Let go of memories of the past.
Let go of predictions about the future.
Notice deeply the experience of this moment.
And then settle into the moment.
Start to feel any tension in the body draining out so that the body becomes more and more still,
More and more serene.
And now we'll begin the phase of Yoga Nidra called Rotation of Consciousness.
In this part of the practice,
I'll name a part of the body and let your awareness rest on that part until you're invited to draw the awareness somewhere else.
Begin with the thumb of your right hand.
Bring all of your focus,
All of your awareness to the right thumb.
Let your awareness rest there.
See what you can experience about your right thumb just by resting your awareness on it,
Just by focusing on the thumb.
Now shift the focus to the index finger on the right hand.
Let your awareness rest on the right index finger for a time.
Now shift to the middle finger on the right hand.
And now the right ring finger.
Now shift to the pinky finger on the right hand.
Let all of your awareness rest on the right pinky finger.
Now bring awareness to the palm of the right hand.
Become aware of your experience of the right palm.
Now draw the awareness around the back of the right hand.
And now shift to the right wrist,
Right elbow,
Right shoulder,
Right hip.
Focus on the outside of the right hip,
Right knee,
Right ankle,
Top of the right foot,
Bottom of the right foot.
Notice the heel.
Notice the ball.
Notice the instep.
Notice the ball of the right foot.
Now bring your awareness to the big toe on the right foot.
Focus on the whole right big toe.
Now broaden your awareness to the whole right side of the body.
Focus on the right side of the body from the tips of the toes on the right foot to the very top of the head,
The right side of the body.
Shift the focus now to the thumb on the left hand,
Left index finger,
Left middle finger,
Left ring finger.
Focus on the left ring finger,
All of your awareness resting there.
Now shift the focus to the pinky finger on the left hand.
Now the left palm,
Back of the left hand,
Left wrist,
Left elbow.
Now focus on the left shoulder,
Left hip,
Left knee,
Left ankle,
Right ankle.
Now become aware of the top of the left foot,
Bottom of the left foot.
Notice the left heel,
The instep,
And then the ball of the left foot.
Shift your focus to the left big toe.
Let 100% of your awareness rest on the left big toe.
Now broaden your awareness.
Focus on the whole left side of the body,
From the tips of the toes on the left foot to the crown of the head,
The whole left side of the body.
Now notice your whole body all at once.
Focus on the whole body.
Let your awareness rest on the whole body for a time.
Now become aware that the whole body is breathing.
Notice the inhale.
Notice the exhale.
Stay focused on the breath through five complete cycles of inhale and exhale.
Try not to become too involved in the breathing.
Just notice that the body is breathing in and breathing out.
Notice the movement of the breath.
Just observing,
Just watching.
Now bring your awareness to eyebrow center.
Let your awareness rest on the surface of the forehead,
Just between the eyebrows.
Now draw your awareness inward,
About two or three inches to the center of the skull,
Still at the level of eyebrow center.
This is called the third eye chakra.
Focus your awareness right in the center of the skull.
Let your awareness rest there.
Stay focused on the third eye chakra.
Now draw your awareness up to the surface of the forehead again,
And let your awareness rest between the eyebrows on the surface of the forehead.
Notice what,
If anything,
You feel there.
Now begin to notice what,
If anything,
Is arising for you with your awareness resting at eyebrow center.
Try not to push anything away.
Try not to dismiss anything arising.
Notice any thoughts.
Notice any sensations.
Notice any feelings or emotions with your awareness resting at eyebrow center.
Now shift the focus to the throat.
Focus right at the pit of the throat.
This is the throat chakra.
Let your awareness rest on the throat.
See what arises for you here.
Thoughts,
Sensations,
Feelings.
If your awareness wanders off somewhere else,
Just gently guide it back to the throat chakra and let your awareness rest there gently.
There's no need to force the awareness to a particular place.
Just guide it and let it rest there.
All of the awareness resting on the throat chakra.
Now bring your awareness to the heart space.
Focus on the surface of the chest,
Just in the middle.
Now allow the awareness to move down about two inches,
Coming close to the spine.
Let your focus rest there.
Now begin to notice what arises for you with your awareness on the heart chakra,
Anahata.
The heart chakra is said to be the source of joy.
See what you sense with your awareness resting at the heart space.
If you find that your awareness has wandered off somewhere else,
Just gently guide it back to the heart chakra and let it rest there.
Now bring your awareness to the root chakra at the base of the spine.
Focus on the root chakra for a time.
What,
If anything,
Do you sense there?
Now bring your awareness back to your whole body.
Feel the whole body.
And now allow yourself to become aware not just of the physical body,
But of the energetic body.
Signs of the energetic body may be a buzzing or a vibration.
See if you feel vibration anywhere in the body,
Perhaps in the tips of the fingers,
Perhaps the lips,
Perhaps the toes.
Allow yourself to perceive the energy body.
The energy body animates the physical body.
Without the energy body,
The physical body would not be alive.
It would not move.
Allow yourself to tune in to that energy.
Now return your awareness to the whole body,
From the tips of the toes to the top of the head.
Focus on the whole body.
Notice that the body is breathing in and breathing out.
And now begin to remember where you are.
Remember the room that you're in.
See if you can summon a memory of any detail about the room.
And now as we begin the process of reawakening from our practice of yoga nidra,
Bring awareness to the hands and then invite gentle movement into the fingers,
Very gently at first,
Very small movement.
Then invite larger movement into the fingers and hands.
You can start to wiggle the toes if you'd like.
Rotate the feet at the ankles and the hands at the wrists.
And eventually bend your elbows.
If you'd like to reach your arms up and overhead,
Invite a big stretch as if you were awakening from a long and restful sleep.
Take a deep breath in.
Exhale,
Let the breath go.
Do that one more time.
A deep breath in.
Fill the whole body with breath.
And now as you exhale,
Bend your knees and roll over to the left side.
Take a moment or two resting on your side.
Exhale.
Feel free to cradle your head and your arm if you'd like.
Now just notice what arises here,
Resting on your side with your knees bent.
Now slowly come to a seat.
You can bring your palms to your knees,
Soften the wrists,
Soften the elbows,
Soften the shoulders.
Breathe in through the nose.
Breathe out through the nose.
Do that once more.
Inhale through the nose.
Exhale,
Let it go.
And that concludes our practice of Yoga Nidra.
You can open your eyes when you're ready.
Well,
Thank you all so much for being here and for practicing Yoga Nidra.
