Hi,
I'm Christy Kelly and welcome to the practice of yoga nidra,
A practice to return home,
Home to yourself.
We begin by lying with the earth,
The back body draped restfully over any support you may need.
The head,
The neck and the spine are aligned.
And as you begin to settle,
It becomes an invitation to release external distractions,
Gently drawing your focus back toward yourself.
The busyness and the fullness of life begins to dissolve as you welcome the potential to come alive to your inner realm.
Rest into the here and now,
The shoulders sinking away from the ears and the hands resting wherever it's comfortable.
The eyes are softly closed or partially hooded by the veil of the eyelids.
Our inner compass is constantly offering feedback.
This practice of yoga nidra nurtures the realm of the energetic body with the tension directed toward the primary energetic centers,
The chakras,
The spinning wheels of light which are housed from the base of the spine to the crown of the head.
And these portals are stations of information,
Transmitting,
Transmitting and receiving.
Each chakra influences and harmonizes the physical,
Mental,
Emotional and spiritual bodies.
When something shifts within one chakra,
It will affect the entire system.
The body is the gatekeeper of deep wisdom and will always seek equilibrium.
And so we move through this practice to clear stagnant energy and rebalance the system.
Open your mouth a little and gently move your jaw up and down,
Side to side,
Sensing into the movement at the hinge of the jaw.
Becoming alive 20 sensations that may be present.
And you allow the jaw to come to rest,
The upper and lower jaw slightly part,
Yet the lips lightly graze one another,
Softened and relaxed.
And the tongue spreads within the mouth,
Inhabiting the entire space.
The face is expressionless.
Any tightness,
Any holding begins to dissolve.
Your awareness drifts toward the eyes and gently lift and lower the eyebrows a few times before settling into stillness.
And ever so gently,
Circle the eyeballs clockwise three times and anticlockwise three times.
And the eyes sink toward the center of the eye socket.
And although the eyes are closed,
You can see variances of color dancing behind the veil of the eyelids,
Shape shifting and merging into one another.
And you are watching whatever comes and goes.
Your eyes are restful,
Watching this inner space.
This quiet watchfulness in stillness as the colors and shapes dance and effortlessly diffuse into and from one another.
Your awareness is drawn toward the center of the chest.
And you begin to notice what it is that's moving through you.
And as you become alive to what it is that's moving through you,
You make a gentle agreement to honor what is present for you,
Moment to moment,
Releasing the desire for it to be something else and placing trust in the wisdom that is present.
The practice of yoga nidra begins now.
Throughout yoga nidra,
Your body and mind are asleep,
Yet your consciousness is awake.
You're invited to follow my voice.
But if at any time you do not wish to follow my voice,
You're welcome to follow your breath and come back to the sound of my voice when you are ready.
Know that it is the nature of the mind to think,
Acknowledge the thoughts as they arise and sink toward a deeper seat of awareness from within.
This is your experience.
There is no need to make anything happen.
And as you soften into the space at the center of the chest,
You come to weave an intention for your practice.
A sankalpa,
A positive statement,
Beginning with a powerful pronoun I,
Which is stated in the present tense and aligns with your truest self.
Begin to imagine your sankalpa and the statement.
It could be something like I am balanced.
I am grounded.
What is your sankalpa?
With reverence,
Repeat your sankalpa three times.
Sense into the truth of this.
And so be it.
And so it is.
I will guide you to trace a pathway of the body.
And as a region of the body is named,
Visualize a soft glow of light in each area mentioned.
Or if it feels more comfortable,
Move your awareness from one point to the next,
Feeling and sensing without the visualization.
Rest into the space between the eyebrows.
Rest into the space between the eyebrows deep within the midbrain.
Visualize a soft glow of light,
A soft glow of light emanating from the space between the eyebrows deep within the midbrain.
This soft glow of light begins to descend toward the hollow of the throat,
Where it travels toward the right shoulder joint to illuminate the right elbow and the right wrist.
The light dances the entirety of the right hand,
Where it begins to move back toward the right wrist,
The right elbow joint.
The light dances at the right shoulder,
Where it illuminates the hollow of the throat.
The light then moves toward the left shoulder,
Illuminating the left elbow,
The left wrist,
Saturating the entirety of the left hand.
The light illuminates the left wrist,
The left elbow,
The left shoulder,
Illuminating the hollow of the throat.
The light illuminates the center of the chest,
Where it then illuminates the center of the right chest,
Returning to the center of the chest before illuminating the center at the left side of the chest before returning to illuminate the center of the chest itself.
It begins to descend toward the solar plexus,
The space just beneath the ribs,
The navel center,
Where it descends toward the right hip joint,
The right knee,
The right ankle,
Illuminating the entirety of the right foot before ascending toward the right ankle,
The center of the right knee,
The center of the right hip,
Meeting once again at the center of the navel before traveling toward the left hip,
Illuminating the left knee,
The left ankle,
The left foot.
The light travels toward the left ankle,
The left knee,
The left hip,
Illuminating the home of the navel,
Ascending toward the solar plexus,
Illuminating the center of the chest,
The hollow of the throat,
And the space between the eyebrows,
Resting into the space between the eyebrows,
Deep within the midbrain.
Expanding into the center of the brow,
You begin to sense and feel all of the 61 points illuminated at once.
The soft glow gently illuminating the body,
The soft glow effortlessly luminous against the backdrop of the body.
The body-mind begins to harmonize.
You are connected to the Earth's energy,
The heartbeat of the Earth moves as subtle pulsation throughout.
You are as vast as the cosmos.
Your awareness begins to trace the entire length of the spine from the base of the spine toward the crown,
Where your awareness curls back on itself to descend from the crown down the stairway of the spine toward the base.
And you're tracing the path of the seven major power centers within,
Connecting with the chakras.
Gradually your awareness settles at the base of the spine,
Settling at the base of the spine.
You may wish to bring your hands to the hips,
Connecting with a visceral sense of this space,
Or if you prefer simply rest your attention within the base of the spine.
The base of the spine is pulsating in rhythm with the breath,
A gentle awareness of the base of the spine and the pelvis breathing.
And perhaps expand your awareness to see the color red,
A vibrant red flowing,
Filling the space at the base of the spine and the pelvis.
The color red is vibrant,
Steady,
Grounding and centering,
Grounding and centering.
The color and the vibration of the base chakra is luminous,
Strong,
Steady.
Your attention is silently drawn toward the space below the navel.
You're welcome to place your hands at the space below the navel,
Or simply allow your awareness to rest here.
The space beneath the navel pulsates in rhythm with the breath.
And perhaps you begin to expand your awareness to see the color orange,
Orange flowing with the rhythm of the breath,
Filling the space below the navel.
The color orange is vibrant,
Connecting you with your emotions and sense of self-expression.
The color and the vibration of the sacral chakra is luminous,
Glowing,
Vibrant.
And silently,
Your awareness is drawn toward the stomach.
You're welcome to place your hands at the stomach or allow your awareness to rest here.
The home of the solar plexus pulsates in rhythm with the breath.
And perhaps you begin to expand your awareness to see the color yellow,
Yellow flowing with the rhythm of the breath,
Filling the space of the stomach.
The color yellow is vibrant,
Drawing you into relationship with yourself,
Connecting you with your self-esteem,
Self-respect,
Belief and confidence.
The color and the vibration of the solar plexus is luminous,
Vibrant,
Golden.
Your awareness is drawn toward the heart.
You're welcome to place your hands at the heart or allow your awareness to rest here.
You become alive to the pulsation of the heart,
Becoming alive to the pulsation of the heart.
Your awareness begins to expand to see the color green,
Which is filling the space of the heart,
The integration point of the upper and lower chakras.
And the color green is vibrant,
This feeling center bringing you toward relationship with unconditional love.
And the color and the vibration of the heart is unwavering,
Compassionate,
Welcoming and all-encompassing.
Your awareness is drawn toward the throat,
The bridge between the mind and the heart.
You are welcome to place your hands at the throat or allow your awareness to rest here.
The energy of the throat pulsates rhythmically and the color blue begins to fill the space of the throat and the color blue is vibrant,
Connecting you with the energy of communication and expression.
The color and the vibration of the throat is strong,
Harmonious,
Truthful and connected.
Your awareness is drawn toward the third eye.
You're welcome to place your hands at the third eye or allow your awareness to rest here.
The third eye deep within the midbrain pulsates rhythmically and the color indigo becomes alive and the color of the night sky,
Indigo flowing with the rhythm of the breath and filling the space of the third eye.
And the color indigo is vibrant,
Connecting you with the energy of awareness,
Of your intuition,
Your sixth sense.
And the color and the vibration of the third eye allows you to see the unseen with confidence,
Sincerity.
Your awareness is drawn toward the crown.
You're welcome to place your hands at the top of the head or simply allow your awareness to rest here.
And the crown is alive with energy,
Pulsing.
And the colors of violet,
Gold and white are intermingled,
The colors flowing with the rhythm of the breath,
Filling the space of the crown.
And the colors of violet,
Gold and white are vibrant,
Connecting you with your higher consciousness,
Clarity,
Wisdom,
The intuition of oneness,
And the color and the vibration of the crown uniting the experience of oneness.
And here you are resting into the home of the body,
Resting into the spine,
From the tail to the crown,
Sensing the spinning energy centers,
Sensing the vibration as the feeling of connection becomes alive from within.
The sense of connection saturates the body mind.
You become alive to how it feels to embody connection.
And then sense into its opposite,
Disconnection.
Disconnection pervades the body and become alive to how it feels to embody disconnection.
This gradually begins to dissolve as you rest into the pulsation of the body,
Resting into the pulsation of the body.
And the feeling of imbalance becomes alive within you.
The feeling of imbalance becomes alive.
How does it feel to experience imbalance?
You begin to sense into its opposite,
Balance.
Balance becomes alive within the home of the body.
How does it feel to experience balance?
You gradually let this go to rest into the pulsation of the body,
And the pulsation of the body.
And resting into the pulsation of the body,
Trusting in what happened or what may have not happened,
Trusting in whatever was encountered and revealed.
You feel yourself within this internal space of energy,
Taking in the sweetness,
The surprises,
And allowing areas that may be calling out for further exploration to rise to the surface.
Welcoming images,
Thoughts,
Feelings,
Holding this awareness with gentle,
Curious acceptance.
Softening in toward the experience more and more.
And the eyes rest behind the veil of the eyelids.
You can see,
And you find yourself walking through a grassy field beneath the blanket of the inky night sky,
Smattering of stars here and there,
Illuminating the vast cosmos above.
And the mystery of the cosmos peaks your attention,
And you trust in the stars to guide your way.
The map of the stars guiding your way.
You are guided to rest a little,
To lay your back with the earth so you can gaze into the magnificence of the midnight sky.
And as you rest and wander,
A star shoots across the night sky,
And the friction of electricity moves through you.
And spontaneously,
The indigo night sky becomes swathed in a diffusion of colour.
Shades of reds,
Yellows,
Oranges,
Greens,
Blues,
Indigo,
And white shimmer.
The soft,
Billowing colours intermingled in relationship with one another.
The hues painting the night sky.
You are spellbound,
Without words,
And the colours effortlessly diffusing,
Bleeding into one another.
You are curiously transfixed,
Your body alive with the very same colours.
Your body is alive with the very same colours.
And within this ease of resting in awareness,
You settle into a feeling of connection,
Of belonging,
Of deep contentment,
A visceral feeling that all is one envelopes you.
You sense the realignment from within,
Rebalanced,
Harmonised.
Your energy is free-flowing.
Your sankalpa rises to the foreground.
You feel into the truth of this as you see it is already so.
You gently repeat your sankalpa three times,
Allowing it to land within the heart.
And so be it,
And so it is.
And the practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
You gradually become more and more aware of this time and space,
Sensing this moment in time,
In the environment you inhabit,
And you welcome what is unfolding in the here and the now,
Becoming more and more aware of the whole body lying with the earth,
The whole body lying with the earth.
And gradually begin to wriggle the toes and the fingertips,
Perhaps delighting in a full body stretch.
And gently roll yourself to the side,
Resting into the orientation of lying on your side.
And in this moment,
Observing the body-mind and noticing what is alive and true for you within this moment.
Noticing how things may have shifted since the beginning of your practice.
And with non-judgmental awareness,
Simply noticing.
Remind yourself of the gentle agreement that you made to honor what was true moment to moment.
And notice how easily you were able to meet this,
Trusting in the wisdom of the moment.
And gently let this go,
With the support of the hands and the chin tucked in,
Leading with the back of the heart,
Making your way to seated.
Bringing the left hand to the heart and the right hand to rest over the left.
And sensing into the pulsation and the movement of energy from within.
And in this moment,
Honoring all that you were,
All that you are,
And all that you are yet to become.
