Welcome to Grace Yoga.
Begin setting aside any of the cares from today.
Anything that came up,
Now is the time to let it go.
Now is the time to sleep.
To prepare yourself,
Take in a deep breath in through your nose and sigh the breath out through the mouth.
Allow your muscles to begin to feel heaviness set in.
Take a few more breaths just like that.
With each exhale,
Let your body feel even more relaxed and heavy.
Let your arms begin to feel heavy like soft,
Warm clay.
Allow your torso to feel heavy like soft,
Warm clay.
Heavy.
Feel into your legs.
With your next exhale,
Completely surrender and let go.
Allow your legs to feel heavy like soft,
Warm clay.
Surrender your body to gravity.
Let whatever support you have beneath you to completely hold you.
Scan your body and search for the places in your body where you can sense your heartbeat,
Your pulse.
Perhaps you feel your heartbeat at your heart center.
Perhaps you feel your pulse in the tips of your fingers,
The palms of your hands,
The soles of your feet.
Let your heels feel like anchors.
Let your hips feel heavy,
Easing into the earth.
Relax your shoulders.
Relax your arms.
Let your head feel supported.
If your eyes are still open,
Close them now.
Let your eyes rest.
No need for any seeing or visualizing.
Just let it go and let it be.
Allow your eyelids to feel like gentle covers over your eyes.
Allow the tiny muscles around the eyes to rest,
To soften.
Bring your awareness to the space just outside of your body.
Notice any sensations of clothing or blankets in contact with your skin.
Notice the quality of the air as it brushes against your skin.
Let yourself be the witness during this practice.
Just observe what arises for you.
No need to force anything to happen.
Just be that observer and witness and allow the practice to unfold.
Any thoughts that arise,
Let them come and let them go like clouds over the horizon.
See yourself lying here as safe and comfortable.
Visualize the space where you're lying.
Visualize the room that you're in,
Its walls and ceiling and floor.
Remember the shape of the room within your mind.
Recall any furniture,
Any doorways or windows and their location.
Begin to tune into your sense of hearing.
Observe the closest sound that you can hear to you.
Listen for other sounds within the room.
Listen for sounds outside of the room.
And bounce your awareness from sound to sound without labeling any of the sounds.
Just observe and witness them and then move to the next,
Near,
Mid,
Far and back.
Release any focus on the sounds.
Now is the time for the practice of San Calpa.
You may already have a San Calpa,
And if you do,
That's okay,
You can hold it in the back of your mind.
If you would like to choose a different San Calpa,
I will give just a few examples.
A San Calpa is a short,
Positive statement that's said in the present tense,
As if it's already happening.
It's something that you want to see happen in your life.
Maybe something you want to achieve.
Maybe a virtue or a quality that you would like to manifest and cultivate.
For example,
I find joy in the little things.
Sleep comes easily to me.
I relax with ease.
Maybe some of these examples resonated with you.
You're welcome to use one of them.
Or take some time right now and decide on your own San Calpa.
Search your heart,
Search your mind for something that you believe sends you on your life path.
Choose your San Calpa now.
Begin to visualize what your life would look like if your San Calpa were already happening.
Allow yourself to experience the emotions that would arise if your San Calpa had come to pass already.
What would it feel like?
Would you feel a sense of satisfaction,
A sense of peace,
Excitement,
Joy?
Whatever it looks like for you,
Allow the emotions to arise from within your heart.
And now release the visualization.
Hold the emotions.
And with those positive emotions,
Say your San Calpa with a bit of passion.
And say it three times in your mind.
Now let your San Calpa go.
Now is the time to practice the rotation of consciousness.
I will say a part of the body.
And as that body part is named,
All you have to do is bring your awareness to that body part.
Perhaps you prefer to become aware with a felt sense,
Feeling into that part of the body as it's named.
Or perhaps you are more of a visual person.
If so,
You can visualize the body part in your mind.
Or you can visualize that body part lighting up with an amber glow.
Bring your awareness to your right hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Right side ribs,
Right side waist,
Right hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Bring your awareness to your left hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left side ribs,
Left side waist,
Left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
The right heel,
The left heel,
Both heels,
The right knee,
Left knee,
Both knees,
Right hip,
Left hip,
Both hips,
The lower back,
Middle back,
Upper back,
The whole back,
The back of the neck,
The back of the head,
The crown of the head,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Both ears,
The right cheek,
The left cheek,
Both cheeks,
Right side of the jaw,
Left side of the jaw,
The entire jaw,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Both nostrils,
The right eye,
Left eye,
Both eyes,
The right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Both eyebrows,
The right side of the head,
The left side of the head,
The whole head,
Right arm,
And the left arm,
Both arms,
Right side of the chest,
And the left side of the chest,
The whole chest,
The right leg,
The left leg,
Both legs,
Right side of the body,
Left side of the body,
Right side of the body,
Left side of the body,
Whole body,
Whole body,
Whole body,
Observe your body,
Notice the quality and the state of the body,
Observe your mind,
Noticing the quality and the state of the mind,
Observe your lower abdomen,
Notice how the belly rises with the inhale,
The belly falls with the exhale,
Now begin to count every exhale from 20 all the way down to 1,
Exhale 20,
Exhale 19,
Keep going,
If you lose track,
Just start again at 20.
Now begin to count every exhale from 20 all the way down to 1,
Exhale 20,
Exhale 20,
Exhale 20,
Exhale 20,
Exhale 20,
Exhale 20,
Exhale 20,
Exhale 20,
Now release the counting of your breath,
Allow the body to drop even deeper into a state of relaxation,
Observe the body as it relaxes and as you let go even more.
Now is the time to witness sensations of opposites.
Begin by letting your body feel heavy,
Heavy as if it were made of lead or stone,
Heavy.
Now transform that feeling into a sense of lightness,
Weightlessness,
Return to the sensation of heaviness,
Now return to the sensation of lightness,
Weightlessness.
Imagine that you are rummaging through a box of items and you come across an item of great value,
Conjure up this sensation of valuing something,
Let that go and imagine that you come across an item of no value,
Allow that feeling to arise,
Let that go and return to that emotion of valuing something and letting that go,
Return once more to the sensations,
The emotions of coming across something with no value and let go any emotions of opposites,
Any sensations of opposites,
Just return to a neutral feeling.
Bring your awareness to the screen of your mind in this visualization space,
Allow whatever arises naturally to appear,
All you have to do is observe and now in this screen of your mind,
Visualize a large willow tree,
A large willow tree,
An ocean wave,
An ocean wave,
A big puffy cloud,
A big puffy cloud,
An owl,
An owl,
Emerald green grass,
Emerald green grass,
A blue sky,
A blue sky,
A sunflower,
A sunflower,
A full moon,
A full moon,
A clear night sky,
A clear night sky,
A sunset,
A sunset.
In this visualization space,
Allow your sankalpa to come to the forefront of your mind.
Imagine that you are watching a movie on a big screen and that on this screen,
You see your life as it would look if your sankalpa had already come to pass.
What would it look like?
What emotions would be evoked within?
Let yourself feel it.
Let yourself experience it.
Allow yourself to enjoy and experience your life across this screen,
As if your sankalpa were already true right now.
And now let the visualization go.
You can always return there again and again,
But for now let it fade away.
Remember those positive emotions.
And with those feelings,
Say your sankalpa in your mind and say it three times.
Let your sankalpa go.
Now it is time to allow yourself to fully experience rest.
Let go.
Allow yourself to drop into the deepest state of relaxation,
Comfort,
And sleep.
Allow your awareness to drift and to let go.
Allow the rest to come.
Now it is time for sleep.
