Welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra,
A guided relaxation that touches the body and mind very deeply for healing and rejuvenation.
This Yoga Nidra practice will take your awareness to all the parts of your body.
Stay with the suggestions to the best of your ability.
Whenever you get lost or confused,
Just come back to the body and back to the practice.
So ensure that you are comfortably lying down now.
Your head is square to the shoulders,
Arms free of the body and your feet dropping comfortably apart.
Allow your whole body to relax and this will happen by letting go of resistance physically,
Mentally and emotionally.
And have the mental attitude that you are going to practice Yoga Nidra.
Take a moment to connect with the natural breath that streams in and out of your body.
Connecting with the breath rhythm helps you to be fully present and awake.
Let the breath be relaxed just as it is.
No need to feel that you must control how you breathe.
Let it be natural and relaxed.
We begin the practice of Yoga Nidra with a sankalpa or a resolve.
A sankalpa is a determination to become something or to do something in your life.
Something that is for your highest good.
It is a seed that you create and then sow in the bed of your mind.
For example,
I will awaken my creative potential or perhaps I will achieve total health.
Something along those lines.
Keep it short and to the point and it's always a very positive statement.
Be patient.
It may take time to realize just what that determination is.
So in the meantime,
Be open and receptive and you may receive then the inspiration as to what your determination might be.
Now if you have a sankalpa,
Repeat it three times silently with heartfelt meaning and determination.
Please go ahead.
Now leave your sankalpa.
Leave it to rest in the bed of your mind.
And we come to the practice now of rotating awareness throughout the body.
Follow my suggestions as we touch on each individual part of your body.
Stay with my voice.
Stay with the instructions.
Maintain the steady evenness of breath.
As you bring your mind now to your right hand thumb,
Be aware of your right hand thumb.
The right index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger and small finger.
Be aware of the palm of the right hand and the back of the hand,
The right wrist,
The right forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm.
And be aware of the right armpit.
Be aware of the right area of the waist,
The right hip,
Your right thigh muscle,
Your knee and the lower leg,
The right ankle and heel and the sole of the foot,
The top of the foot,
The right big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth toe and fifth toe.
Now be aware of the whole right leg and foot,
The right side of your torso and the whole right arm,
Hand and fingers.
Slowly moving your awareness now to your left hand thumb,
Be aware of your left hand thumb.
The index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger and small finger.
Be aware of the palm of your left hand and the back of the hand,
The left wrist,
The forearm,
The elbow,
Upper arm and be aware of the left armpit,
The left armpit.
The left side of your waist,
The left hip,
The left thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
The left ankle,
Heel and the sole of the foot,
The top of the foot,
The left big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth toe and fifth toe.
Now be aware of the whole left leg,
The foot and toes,
The left side of the torso and your whole left arm,
Hand and fingers.
Check that your breathing is even and steady and that you're calmly following the suggestions,
Remaining alert and relaxed.
Now please bring your awareness to the very back of your head,
Where the head rests on the pillow or cushion.
Be aware of the back of your neck,
Be aware of the back of your neck.
Be aware of the right shoulder and the left shoulder.
Both shoulders together,
Allow your shoulders to drop and release any heaviness or worry or burden that you may be carrying.
Just for now,
Feel your shoulders relax.
And now be aware of your spine,
The top of the spine just at the base of your skull.
And follow your spine down your back,
In between the shoulder blades,
At the area of your waist,
Into the lower back and to the base of your spine.
Be aware of your whole spine,
Your whole spine relaxing.
Now be aware of the right collarbone and the left collarbone.
Be aware of the right shoulder blade and the left shoulder blade.
Be aware of the whole right side of your back and the whole left side of your back,
The right buttocks and the left buttocks.
Be aware of your whole back,
Easy breathing.
Bringing the mind to the chest now,
Be aware of the right rib cage and the left rib cage,
The right lung and the left lung.
Be aware of your heart,
Be aware of your heart.
It is a quiet heart now,
A calm,
Quiet heart,
Resting.
And so bring your awareness to the abdominal area,
The upper abdominal muscles,
The lower abdominal muscles and the area of the navel.
You may be aware of the breath gently raising and lowering the abdominal area.
And as you hold that awareness of the breath,
Be aware that that soothing rhythm is relaxing all the organs within that part of the body.
It's a soothing,
Calming rhythm,
Sinking deeply into the body,
Relaxing,
Easing.
So the whole torso is relaxed now,
Front and back,
The whole torso is relaxed.
Be aware of your whole right arm and left arm together,
Your whole right leg and left leg together.
And now moving your awareness to the face,
Be aware that the lower jaw drops a little,
The teeth part and the tongue softly spreads in your mouth.
Be aware of the right cheek and the left cheek.
Be aware of the upper lip and the lower lip.
Be aware of your right eye and the right eyelid softly closed.
The left eye and the left eyelid softly closed.
Be aware of your both eyes lightly closed.
And the space between the eyebrows is very soft and vast.
As you relax the right eyebrow and the left eyebrow.
And the forehead,
The forehead is smooth and relaxed.
The right temple and the left temple.
Be aware of your whole skull and your scalp and be aware of the very top of your head,
The crown of your head.
And so the whole body is relaxed.
Be aware of the whole body.
Whole body.
Whole body relaxed.
Bring your mind to the soft easy steady breath.
And as you breathe in and out,
Silently say the words to yourself.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Please continue.
Following the breath in and out.
Really be there.
Leaving breath awareness now.
And gently prepare to visualize in the mind's eye the objects now that I give you.
See them clearly,
As clearly as possible.
Or think of the object.
Move again along with me from object to object.
Avoiding getting stuck on any one object.
So visualizing now.
A flickering candle.
A weeping willow tree.
A tall palm tree.
A car moving on a road.
Clouds gathering in the sky.
Clouds gathering in a clear blue sky.
A starry night.
A full moon.
A dog standing.
A snow capped mountain.
A horse racing.
A rising sun.
Waves on the ocean.
A pond with clear water.
A white lotus.
A white lotus flower.
A sandy bank of a wide river.
A boat sailing on the water.
A cross on a church tower.
A temple bell ringing.
Birds flying across a sunset.
Waves breaking on a deserted beach.
Imagine now that you go to an island within yourself.
There are beautiful trees,
Streams of clear water,
Birds,
Sunshine and fresh air.
On that island within yourself now,
Be there.
Beautiful trees,
Streams of clear water,
Beautiful birds,
Sunshine and fresh air.
Rest here now,
Rest in that peaceful island within yourself.
Come back now,
Gently coming back.
As you rest in that calm,
Peaceful place within yourself,
The mind is truly receptive to auto-suggestion now.
So it's time to repeat your Sen Kalpa once again,
Repeating it three times with heartfelt meaning and determination.
Or just remain peaceful and calm.
Please go ahead.
And so leave your Sen Kalpa now.
Leave the Sen Kalpa to rest in the bed of your mind,
In the bed of that subconscious mind.
Where it will grow and manifest in your life.
And so now,
Beginning to breathe once again with awareness.
Externalising your awareness,
Listening to sounds perhaps outside or even sounds within your own body,
The sound of the breath.
And begin to move your fingers and toes a little.
And as you take the next deep breath in,
You might like to stretch your arms back over the head.
And feel your body stretching and waking up,
Feeling that vital life force energy within your body now.
So the practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Yom Tatsat Shanti Shanti Shanti.
You might like to rest a little longer.
Or you might like to gently roll over,
Stand up and stretch.
Thank you.
Namaste.
