Yoga Nidra: Exploring The Anandamaya Kosha

The Anandamaya Kosha, or the 'body that is made of bliss,' is the most subtle of our layers and is said to be composed of the joy of simply being. This practice includes a rotation of awareness around the body, breath awareness, rapid visualisation of images, and a long period of quiet for you to simply be. The practice is a part of my Yoga Nidra course 'The Art of Everyday Enlightenment', so if you enjoy the practice, you might also enjoy listening to the course.

Image by Shiho

Transcript

So make sure that you are warm, Comfortable and ready to begin. Bring yourself into a comfortable position and feel yourself gently relaxing as you prepare to begin the practice. Follow the breath as it flows in and out and notice how with every breath the body becomes more relaxed. Each exhalation guides the body into a deeper level of relaxation. Observe any sounds that are present in your environment and know that those sounds are not going to disturb you but that they will only help you to relax even more deeply. Remember your inner resource. Invite your feeling of safety and security to arise all around you and inside of you. Welcome the place, Objects and impressions that bring you the feeling of safety and wellness. Invite those impressions to arise all around you and feel the feeling of safety intensifying inside your body. Feel it vividly. Welcome it into every single cell. Safety, Security, Absolute peace and well-being. This is your feeling that you can return to at any time if you need to. It's time to begin our journey around the body. Bring the awareness to the eyebrow centre and rest at the eyebrow centre. Now move to the throat. Rest the awareness at the throat and the right shoulder. Move to the right shoulder, The right elbow, The right wrist, The tip of the right hand thumb. The tip of the right index finger. The tip of the right middle finger. The tip of the right ring finger. The tip of the right little finger. The right wrist. The right elbow. The right shoulder. The throat. The left shoulder. The left elbow. The left wrist. The tip of the left hand thumb. The tip of the left index finger. The tip of the left middle finger. The tip of the left ring finger. The tip of the left little finger. The left wrist. The left elbow. The left shoulder. The throat. The centre of the chest. The left side of the chest. The centre of the chest. The right side of the chest. The centre of the chest. The navel. The navel. The lower abdomen. The right hip. The right knee. The right ankle. The right big toe. The second toe. Third toe. Fourth toe. Fifth toe. The right ankle. The right knee. The right hip. The lower abdomen. The left hip. The left knee. The left ankle. The left big toe. The second toe. Third toe. Fourth toe. And the fifth toe. The left ankle. The left knee. The left hip. The lower abdomen. The navel. The centre of the chest. The throat. The eyebrows centre. The top of the head. Rest the awareness at the top of the head. Bring the awareness to the breath. Watch the breath flowing in and out. Observe the natural expansion and contraction of the chest as it moves with the breath. On the inhalation the chest expands. On the exhalation the chest contracts. Observe the subtle expansion and contraction of the whole of the body as the breath flows in and out. On the inhalation the body gently expands. On the exhalation it contracts again. Allow your awareness of expansion and contraction to extend out into the room around you. On each inhalation the awareness expands out into the room. On each exhalation it contracts back into the body. Allow the awareness to continue expanding and contracting. Inhaling to expand out of the building, Out of the area you're in. How far outwards can your awareness expand with every inhalation? And how far inwards can your awareness contract with every exhalation? And now drift the awareness away from the inhalations and exhalations. And rest the awareness in the spaces between the breaths. There's a natural pause at the end of every inhalation. And at the end of every exhalation. Rest the awareness into those pauses. Allow the breath to happen naturally by itself. And rest in the spaces between the breaths. Bring 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 I name it. We'll begin with a clear blue sky. A feather blowing in the breeze. A string of Tibetan prayer flags. An atom. A yogi in deep meditation. A clear pool of water. A snowflake. An empty room. The symbol of Om. A cave. The starry night sky. This is Yoga Nidra. Now you are free to be. Slowly start to turn your awareness back outward. Send the awareness to any sounds that you can hear in your environment. And just notice that those sounds are there. Feel into the feeling of your body resting into the surface beneath you. Begin to make some small movements to reawaken. Moving the hands and the feet. And give yourself a big stretch in any way that you need to. When you are ready, Slowly open your eyes to complete the practice.