Welcome to this practice of Yoga Nidra.
Let's begin lying down on the back in Shavasana,
Corpse pose.
Arms away from the body,
Palms facing up,
And the legs soft and heavy,
Rolling outwards.
Feel the spine already beginning to lengthen.
Lots of space between every bone.
Lots of softness and warmth in every single joint.
Take the next minute or so to get as comfortable as possible,
Propping the body using cushioning and placing your blanket over you,
So that you can remain undisturbed.
As the body begins to get more and more comfortable and relaxed,
You start to notice how the ground or the surface that you're on is rising up to meet the body,
Just as much as the body is sinking down onto the ground.
Notice this sense of balance between body releasing downwards and surface supporting upwards.
Notice the skin and the face and how it feels like it's loosening.
Loosening and losing its normal shape,
Beginning to melt down.
In this practice of Yoga Nidra,
It is essential to remain awake and alert.
Do not fall asleep or lose consciousness.
Bring to mind for a moment your Sankalpa,
Your personal resolution,
Your intention for your entire practice,
And for the transformation that you want to occur in your life.
Now we'll begin by noticing the breath moving in and out,
The breath breathing the body.
Notice the breath in the center of the chest,
Lifting and dropping.
Notice if the breath presses into the back body,
Into the surface,
Pressing and releasing.
Now with every inhale,
Recite to yourself the mantra,
SO,
And with the exhale,
HUM.
Just gently watching breath come in as SO,
And breath go out as HUM.
As if the sound was coming in with the breath,
And you were just observing from afar,
The body breathing in SO,
And breathing out HUM.
Release all expectations of your practice,
And trust that the highest good will occur.
Body breathing in SO,
Breathing out HUM,
And we'll begin to rotate the consciousness around the body.
The moment I call a body part,
Place the whole of your attention there.
And when we move to the next,
Leave the body part completely by itself.
Notice what happens as you place your full concentration in one area,
And then notice what happens when you leave it completely alone.
In this process,
We will begin to lose body sensation,
Quieting the physical body,
Putting it into a deep,
Deep sleep state,
While the mind remains alert and lucid.
Leave the breath alone now.
Bring your attention to the right thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
The right palm,
Back of the hand,
Right forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Right shoulder,
Right side of the chest,
The right rib cage and waist,
Right hip and buttocks,
Right thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Right heel,
Angle joint,
Top of right foot,
Sole of right foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And pinky toe.
Now move your attention to the left thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
Left palm,
Back of left hand,
Left forearm,
Elbow joint,
Upper arm,
Left shoulder joint,
Left side of the chest,
Rib cage and waist,
Left hip and buttocks,
Left thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Heel,
Left ankle joint,
Sole of foot,
Top of foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And pinky toe.
The lower back,
The middle back,
And the upper back,
The tops of the shoulders,
The entire chest,
Solar plexus,
Abdomen,
The neck,
The throat,
The jaw,
Both cheeks,
The tip of the nose,
The top lip,
The area above the top lip,
Bottom lip,
And the area below the bottom lip.
Both lips together,
Both eyelids,
Both eyeballs,
Both eyebrows,
The entire area of both eyes all together,
Both temples,
The forehead,
The scalp,
Both ears from the outside all the way in,
The whole of the brain,
The entire brain,
The brainstem,
The spinal cord traveling all the way down the back,
The kidneys,
The colon,
Spleen,
Stomach,
Liver,
Gallbladder,
Lungs,
The heart,
All of the glands,
All of the nerves of the body,
All of the blood vessels in the body,
Every cell in the body all at once.
Begin to wrap your attention around the spinal column,
Wrapping attention around the entire length of the spinal column,
Attention like a shining bright light spiraling around the column.
Notice the color of the light that's spiraling around your column.
When you hear the sound of the bell,
The light brightens,
And when the chime begins to dim,
The light dims as well.
Focus there,
Wrapped around the entire length of spine.
Now rest your attention in one area of the spinal column,
Wherever you're drawn to rest.
It could be one segment or one whole region.
Resting and focusing your attention within the spinal column,
Wherever you're drawn to rest.
Imagine this location like a fertile soil.
Touch the soil and feel its coolness.
Use your hands or your feet.
Sit down or lie down in this area.
Smell the soil,
Moist and cool.
Notice the color of the soil here.
Go ahead and sit down in the lotus position,
Seated on this fresh,
Cool soil,
This fertile earth.
Close your eyes in meditation here,
And now recite to yourself your Sankalpa.
Recite your Sankalpa.
Recite your Sankalpa.
Recite your Sankalpa.
Notice the base of your spine starting to tingle as the spine lengthens down gently,
Making its way into the earth,
Into this fertile soil,
Like the root of a tree or a sapling or a flower,
Extending down from the seed.
See this root continue to grow downwards,
Deeper and deeper,
And outwards,
Branching off.
Notice the porousness,
The malleability of these roots as they wind their way around rocks and other obstacles,
As they absorb the moisture in the soil and the nutrients,
Sending all of this energy and nutrition back up into your spine as you sit in meditation.
The location of the spine that you chose to plant yourself within is receiving all of the energy and beginning to bloom and blossom.
Notice what it looks like as the chakra in this location blossoms,
Spirals,
Radiates,
Expands,
Vibrates more and more.
How many petals are opening on the blossom?
Which direction is it spinning?
What colors do you see?
What shapes do you recognize?
Keep watching as you're seated here in Padmasana lotus pose with your eyes closed,
Deep in meditation,
Pulling up the energy of the earth and awakening the chakra in this section of the spine.
Remain awake and alert.
Notice all of the details of what you see.
Do you hear a mantra associated with the blooming?
Do you hear a melody,
A humming,
White noise,
Or anything else?
Can you get the sense that this expansion is serving you in transforming and reaching your highest good?
Keep focusing here,
Just watching,
Observing from your comfortable meditation seat.
When you hear the sound of the bell ring three times,
Find yourself lying down on your back again,
In the same room,
Practicing yoga nidra,
Completely still and present.
Begin to notice the weight of your body against the ground.
Notice your breath again,
And notice any sensations of air on the skin,
On the face.
Begin to deepen your breath and wiggle the fingers and the toes,
Activating the physical body,
Re-enlivening the physical being.
Begin to make your movements a little larger,
Leaving the eyes closed.
Stretch and move in any way that feels right.
In your own time,
Making your way onto one side in a fetal position,
Completely soft.
Using as little effort as possible,
The arms and hands assist you as you come up to find a comfortable seat with the spine straight.
Index fingers and thumbs gently locked at the tips,
Eyelids softly closed,
Internal gaze at the third eye center.
This concludes the practice of yoga nidra.
Namaste.
