Yoga Nidra Of Connection

The pace and demands of modern day life often fragments our attention which can leave us feeling disconnected and exhausted. Yoga Nidra of Connection invites you to sink toward rest as you lovingly turn your focus back toward yourself to reconnect with your body, mind and heart.

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Christy Kelly and welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra,

The practice of calling yourself home,

Home to your heart.

We begin the practice by lying the body against the earth.

You could be physically outside on the earth or perhaps you are lying on the floor of your home or in your bed.

Wherever you place yourself,

Do so with intentionality,

Making use of any support you may need beneath the knees,

The head.

Maybe placing a blanket over the body for warmth.

You may wish to have the eyes closed with an eye covering in the form of a scarf if more comfortable.

You're welcome to have the eyes partially hooded.

Invite yourself to meet the Yoga Nidra of connection,

Connection to self and the world around you.

And as you settle,

Begin to notice the relational qualities between you and the earth,

How she holds you as you rest into her support,

Giving your entire self for her to hold.

The breath lightly flows in and out through the nose and you begin to notice the relational qualities between the earth and the breath as she holds you.

Gently lift and lower the eyebrows and then allow them to rest into stillness.

Notice rests at the jaw,

Begin gently moving the jaw,

Noticing any holding or tension.

The jaw comes to rest,

The upper and lower row of teeth is slightly parted.

The tongue spreads the entire expanse of the mouth yet the lips remain lightly connected.

Your head begins to roll from side to side,

Moving ever so slowly and fluidly before it finds its way to the center on the axis of the spine where it begins to rest.

The chin is tucked ever so slightly to further elongate the stairway of the neck spine.

The shoulders melt away from the ears.

The arms rest comfortably.

Stillness lingers at the hands.

Gently wiggle the fingers before resting towards stillness.

Notice your lower back.

Make any little adjustments you need to bring comfort.

The legs are resting into the support beneath you.

Gently wiggle the toes and rest.

As you lay consciousness into your physical form,

You become alive to what is unfolding within,

Yet you settle towards stillness.

From this space with tenderness,

Notice what you bring to the practice.

Maybe there is a particular emotion that wishes to make itself known,

Or perhaps the busyness of the mind is serving as a distraction.

Whatever arises,

Can you allow it to be just as it is,

Knowing that much like the weather,

This too will give rise to another condition and experience.

As you acknowledge the truth of this moment,

You give permission for it to be.

Trust in the wisdom this brings forth.

The practice of yoga nidra begins now.

You're invited to follow my voice,

But if at any time you do not wish to follow my voice,

You may like to follow your breath,

And you're welcome to come back to the sound of my voice when you are ready.

Allow the experience to unfold,

Knowing it is the perfect response to the truth of the moment.

As you rest into the earth,

We begin to craft a sankalpa.

It begins with the powerful words I am,

Followed by the quality you wish to embody.

The sankalpa could be something like connection,

Confidence or trust.

The sankalpa is a positive statement spoken in the present tense that aligns with your truest self,

And it begins with the powerful words I am and the quality desired.

Imagine this intention and the intention statement.

If no intention arises,

Use the statement I am,

And silently repeat your intention three times.

So be it,

And so it is.

Know that the wisdom of the goddess yoga nidra will always guide you toward your highest good.

We begin connecting with the body,

Touring the architecture which makes your form.

As attention is rotated to different areas of the body,

You may like to visualize a soft glow of light within this space,

Or perhaps you'd prefer to say the name of the body part to yourself.

Go with whatever feels the most natural and easiest.

Right thumb,

Right index finger,

Right middle finger,

Right ring finger,

Right pinky finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Right wrist,

Right forearm,

Right elbow,

Right upper arm,

Right shoulder,

Right armpit,

Right side of the torso,

Right hip,

Right thigh,

Right knee,

Right calf,

Right ankle,

Right heel,

Sole of the right foot,

Right big toe,

Right toe,

Right second toe,

Right third toe,

Right fourth toe,

Right fifth toe.

Your awareness moves toward the left hand thumb,

Left index finger,

Left middle finger,

Left ring finger,

Left pinky finger,

Palm of the left hand,

Back of the left hand,

Left wrist,

Left forearm,

Left elbow,

Left upper arm,

Left shoulder,

Left armpit,

Left side of the torso,

Left hip,

Left thigh,

Left knee,

Left calf,

Left ankle,

Left heel,

Sole of the left foot,

Left big toe,

Left second toe,

Left third toe,

Left fourth toe,

Left fifth toe.

Your awareness moves toward the back of the body,

Right heel,

Left heel,

Right calf,

Left calf,

Right thigh,

Left thigh,

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

Lower back,

Mid back,

Upper back,

The entire length of the spine,

The stairway of the spine,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head,

Top of the head,

Forward,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow.

The space between the eyebrows,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

The upper lip,

Lower lip,

Both lips lightly meeting one another,

Chin,

Jaw,

Middle of the throat,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

Upper abdomen,

Navel,

Lower abdomen,

Right side of the pelvis,

Left side of the pelvis,

Middle of the pelvis,

The whole right leg,

The whole left leg,

The whole right arm,

The whole left arm.

Becoming aware of the entire face,

The entire head,

The entire torso,

The entire body.

Sense the entire body alive with consciousness.

And seeing yourself as oneness,

Resting into the space at the centre of the chest,

Attuning to the sensation,

The rhythm,

The current of electricity,

Attuning into sensation.

Every breath enlivening every cell and consciousness inhabits the entire body.

Gently rest your attention at the centre of the chest,

The home of the heart.

And on the next in-breath,

Take an in-breath for the count of three.

And on your next out-breath,

Exhale to the count of five.

In for three,

Out for five.

If you wish to change the breath count,

Do so.

Ensure that the exhale is longer than the inhale.

Your unique rhythm will become alive to you.

Allow this to guide you.

And shortly,

I will guide you to draw a line of iridescent light from the space between the eyebrows to the heart.

And then from the heart back to the space between the eyebrows.

On the next in-breath,

Rest into the space between the eyebrows.

And as you inhale to a count of three,

From the space between the eyebrows to the heart.

And then as you breathe out for a count of five,

From the heart to the space between the eyebrows.

And the breath draws a line of connection between the heart and the space between the eyebrows.

Inhaling for a count of three from the space between the eyebrows to the heart.

Inhale for a count of five from the heart to the space between the eyebrows.

Breathing between the third eye and the heart space.

Exhaling from the third eye to the heart and exhaling from the heart to the third eye.

My voice fades as the breath flows,

Illuminating the portal of the heart with the portal of the third eye space.

The breath returns to its natural easy rhythm and your awareness rests at the heart,

Resting within the portal of the heart.

From this comfortable state,

Pairs of opposites will begin to emerge.

As the breath leaves the body,

The body becomes heavier and heavier.

The exhalation sinks out and down through the back body.

The body sinking.

The weight and the heaviness of the body drawing you downward where you are held in the embrace of the earth.

How does it feel to be heavy?

The quality of heaviness becomes alive to you.

As the breath flows in,

Become aware of lightness.

As you inhale,

Notice lightness.

The body feels light.

The exhale moves out through the front body toward the sky above.

How does it feel to be light?

The quality of lightness becomes alive to you.

Heaviness begins to envelope the body once more.

The body heavy,

Descending toward the center of the earth before lightness begins to lift you once more.

Curiosity illuminates the desire to explore these sensations within the body.

Light and heavy.

Heavy and light.

As you notice these experiences of light and heavy,

Can you invite these to come alive at the same time?

Play with this idea of feeling both at the same time.

Allow heaviness and lightness to dissolve,

Resting into the neutral state of the body,

Resting at the center of the heart.

Notice the parts of you connected with the earth beneath,

Connecting you with the stability of the earth.

Notice how this connection anchors you to the here and now,

Present moment awareness,

Completely within the experience of the body.

How does it feel to be grounded?

Begin to call in the opposite,

Ungrounded.

The body-mind is scattered.

Concentration is challenging as you time travel from the past to the future.

Begin to explore these experiences of grounded and ungrounded.

Can you invite these to come alive at the same time?

Play with the idea of feeling both at the same time.

Allow the experience of grounded and ungrounded to begin to dissolve,

Resting into the neutral state of the body,

Resting at the center of the heart.

Feeling heart-centered more and more,

The connection illuminates an inner smile which radiates from your heart.

As the intensity of the smile radiates from the heart,

The smile begins to play across your lips and you begin to experience this smile of sensation which expands throughout the entire body.

Every cell is radiantly alive with connection,

An inner smile beaming,

Illuminating from every cell.

And here you are,

Radiant,

Blissful,

Timeless,

Deeply connected,

Deeply rested.

In this moment,

You are open to your intuitive wisdom and the place of knowing from deep within.

Begin to notice how it feels to listen to the oracle of the body.

And silently repeat to yourself,

I am deeply relaxed.

I am deeply connected.

I am deeply aware.

I am deeply relaxed.

I am deeply connected.

I am deeply aware.

Your soft presence settles within the center of the chest.

And in this restful space,

Repeat your sankalpa three times.

Sense the power of your intention and trust that seed has been planted.

It is done.

So be it and so it is.

Become aware of the breath moving in and out through the body.

The breath begins to awaken you from within,

Becoming more and more aware of the whole body held by the earth.

You are becoming awake and aware of this time and place.

Becoming increasingly aware of your presence within this environment.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

With grace and gentleness,

Begin to move your body and stretching into the container of your skin,

Luxuriating in how movement feels.

When you are ready,

Roll to your side.

Pausing,

Resting,

Noticing the body-mind,

Noticing what is true for you in this moment.

Notice how things may have shifted since beginning,

The yoga nidra of connection.

Were you able to create space for things to be just as they were?

Gently let this go.

With intentionality,

Become deliberate about how you move.

And as you make your way to an upright seat,

Use the support of your hands.

The heart leads the way as you press yourself upright.

The head is the last to arrive.

You're welcome to bring the left hand to the heart and the right hand to rest on the left.

And in this moment,

Honour all that you were,

All that you are,

And all that you are yet to become.