Nidra Nap For Clarity
A Yoga Nidra practice to inspire a clear and calm mind. At the beginning, you are invited to acknowledge any area of your life that you are seeking clarity in, or to ask a question. As you relax deeply on every level, the mind will naturally find its way to a deeper state of peace and calmness. The meditation includes a long body scan, breath awareness with a golden light visualisation, exploration of opposites confusion and clarity, and time to rest with calming background music. Background music Gaby Lopez Image by Mariana Pedroza
Transcript
Welcome to your rest.
Make sure that you are comfortable and ready to begin.
Take any support that you need for your body,
Any pillows,
Blankets or cushions and make yourself as comfortable as you can possibly be so that you won't be distracted by any physical discomfort during the practice.
And once you're feeling settled,
Just let your awareness drift into your body.
Feel your body safely supported by the surface beneath you and notice how with every exhalation your body becomes a little more peaceful,
A little more relaxed.
With every exhalation tension melts away from the muscles as you quietly surrender into relaxation.
Now float the awareness into the ears and rest the awareness on the insides of the ears.
With the awareness inside the ears just acknowledge any sounds that are present in your environment right now.
Let the awareness jump from sound to sound without getting too involved in any one sound.
Just acknowledge that they are there and know that none of the sounds are going to disturb you as you practice but that they can only help you with your relaxation.
If there is a specific area of your life that you are seeking to find clarity in or if you have a question to bring to the practice,
Bring that question or problem into your awareness now.
Take a moment to acknowledge it.
And now let it go completely.
There's no need to think about it anymore.
The practice will naturally be working on it as you rest.
We're going to take a journey around the body.
Rest the awareness at each body part as its name.
Beginning at the tip of the tongue,
Bring the awareness to the tip of the tongue and rest the awareness at the tip of the tongue.
Move to the whole of the tongue.
Awareness on the whole of the tongue.
And the roof of the mouth.
The bottom of the mouth.
The teeth.
The gum.
The upper lip.
The lower lip.
The chin.
The jaw.
The right ear.
The left ear.
The right cheek.
The left cheek.
The inside of the right nostril.
The inside of the left nostril.
The nose.
The tip of the nose.
The eyebrow centre.
The right eyebrow.
The left eyebrow.
The right eye.
The left eye.
The right ear.
The left ear.
The right temple.
The left temple.
The right temple.
The forehead.
The top of the head.
The back of the head.
The back of the neck.
The right shoulder.
The right upper arm.
The right elbow.
The right lower arm.
The right wrist.
The palm of the right hand.
The back of the right hand.
The right hand thumb.
The right index finger.
The right middle finger.
The ring finger.
And the little finger.
The palm of the right hand.
The back of the right hand.
The right wrist.
The right forearm.
The right elbow.
The right upper arm.
The right shoulder.
The right side of the chair.
The right side of the abdomen.
The right waist.
The right hip.
The right thigh.
The right knee.
The right shin.
The right calf.
The right ankle.
The right heel.
The sole of the right foot.
The top of the right foot.
Each of the right toes.
1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
The whole of the right foot.
Rest the awareness at the whole of the right foot.
The whole of the right leg.
The whole of the right arm.
The whole of the right side of the body.
Now move to the left side.
Bring the awareness to the left shoulder.
The left upper arm.
The left elbow.
The lower arm.
The left wrist.
The palm of the left hand.
The back of the left hand.
The left hand thumb.
The left index finger.
The left middle finger.
The left ring finger.
The left little finger.
The palm of the left hand.
The back of the left hand.
The left wrist.
The lower arm.
The elbow.
The upper arm.
The left shoulder.
The left side of the chest.
The left side of the abdomen.
The left waist.
The left hip.
The left thigh.
The left knee.
The left chin.
The left calf.
The left ankle.
The left heel.
The sole of the left foot.
The top of the left foot.
The left toes.
1,
2,
3,
4,
5.
The whole of the left foot.
Bring the awareness to the whole of the left foot.
The whole of the left leg.
The whole of the left arm.
The whole of the left side of the body.
Now send the awareness up the back of the body.
Bring the awareness to the right heel.
And the left heel.
The back of the right knee.
The back of the left knee.
The right buttock.
The left buttock.
The spine.
Send the awareness up every vertebrae of the spine.
The right shoulder blade.
The left shoulder blade.
The back of the neck.
The back of the head.
The top of the head.
And send the awareness down the front of the body.
Rest the awareness at the forehead.
The right eyebrow.
The left eyebrow.
The eyebrow centre.
The right eye.
The left eye.
The right ear.
The left ear.
The right cheek.
The left cheek.
The nose.
The tip of the nose.
The upper lip.
The lower lip.
The chin.
The jaw.
The right collarbone.
The left collarbone.
The space between the collarbone.
The right side of the chest.
The left side of the chest.
The centre of the chest.
The navel.
The lower abdomen.
The right hip.
The left hip.
The right knee.
The left knee.
The right ankle.
The left ankle.
The right toe.
The left toes.
And the whole of the body together.
Awareness on the whole of the body together.
The whole of the body together.
Bring the awareness to the breath.
Follow the flow of the breath as it moves in and out of the body.
Watch the chest gently expanding and contracting as the breath flows in and out.
Now see a golden light flowing into the body with the breath.
Watch the golden light flowing into the lungs.
Illuminating the chest with golden light.
With each inhalation see the golden light flowing into the body.
Follow the golden light as it flows into all of the parts of the body.
Into the feet.
Into the arms.
Into the abdomen.
Into the back.
Into the arms and the hand.
Into the head and the face.
With every inhalation see the whole of the body filling with golden light.
The whole of the body becoming illuminated with golden light.
Now invite the feeling of confusion to arise inside the body.
Welcome the feeling of confusion.
If it helps to bring the feeling you might like to recall something that you feel confused about.
Or remember a time that you felt very confused.
Or you can just allow the feeling to come by itself.
The feeling of confusion.
Feel into your body and observe how the feeling of confusion manifests within the body.
Feel it vividly.
The feeling of confusion.
The feeling of confusion.
And now invite the feeling of clarity to arise.
Welcome the feeling of clarity.
If it helps to bring the feeling you could remember a time when your mind felt very clear.
Or you can just allow the feeling to come up as it comes.
Welcome it.
The feeling of clarity.
And as the feeling of clarity intensifies feel into your body.
And feel how the feeling of clarity arises within your body.
The feeling of clarity.
Feel it vividly.
Clarity throughout the mind and the body.
And now bring the awareness to both of those feelings together.
Can you invite the feelings of clarity and confusion to arise together at the same time?
Welcome them both.
Feel both feelings vividly as they arise in the body together.
The feelings of clarity and confusion together.
Clarity and confusion together.
Move the awareness to the eyebrow centre.
Rest at the eyebrow centre.
I'm going to name some different things.
Allow an impression of each one to arise as it's named.
There is no need to force anything to happen.
Just allow each one to arise by itself however it comes.
Beginning with a drop of water.
Silver stars in a clear night sky.
The full moon reflecting off the still surface of a lake.
The vast expansive ocean.
Taking a deep breath of fresh air.
A mirror.
A snow-capped mountain.
A burning fire.
A cascading waterfall.
A cloudless blue sky.
Very slowly begin to turn the awareness back outwards.
Notice any sounds that are present in your environment and just let the awareness jump from sound to sound.
Without getting too involved in any one sound.
Just observe that they are there.
Acknowledge them.
And become aware of the feeling of your body resting on the surface beneath you.
Feel all of the meeting points where your body connects into that surface.
Become aware of the flow of the breath.
And start to make some small movements to reawaken the body.
Begin to move the fingers and the toes.
The ankles and the wrists.
And give yourself a stretch in any way that feels good for you.
When you are ready,
Slowly open your eyes to complete the practice.
Thank you for joining me today.
