Yoga Nidra 50 Minutes
Yoga Nidra Class of 52 minutes. Read by Kara Billingham and used in a live yoga class. Excerpts read from 'Yoga Nidra' by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Kara teaches a live yoga Nidra class every week. It has deep and profound healing effects on the body, mind, and spirit. The more it's practiced, the more adept one becomes at receiving all the benefits of one's connection to their own consciousness.
Transcript
Please get ready for yoga nidra.
Lying down in shavasana,
Body stretched out feet apart.
The palms of the hands turned upwards,
Eyes closed.
Making any necessary adjustments so that you are as comfortable as possible.
There must be no movement,
Neither conscious nor unconscious.
Remember that you are about to practice yoga nidra,
Psychic sleep.
That you have only to maintain awareness of hearing and feeling.
The body sleeps but the mind remains awake.
You must remain alert so that you do not sleep.
Say to yourself mentally,
I will not sleep.
I will remain awake.
Take a deep breath and as you breathe,
Feel coolness and calmness spreading throughout the body.
Breathing in.
And as you breathe out,
Feel your cares and worries flowing out of you,
Dropping away.
Become aware of your body and relax yourself completely.
Make yourself physically calm and steady.
Feel that the legs are relaxed,
The trunk,
The head,
The arms and hands.
Help awareness of your physical body right from the top of your head to the tips of the toes.
And say in your mind,
Om.
Complete awareness of the whole body.
Say to yourself again,
Om.
Relax your whole body mentally.
Relax yourself mentally.
Relax yourself by breathing normally and becoming aware of the breath as it moves between the navel and throat.
Awareness of your natural breath,
No forcing.
Navel to throat breathing.
Please go on with this awareness and slowly feel yourself becoming more relaxed.
Now leave your breathing and become aware that you're going to practice yoga nidra.
Think of something that you would like to resolve in your life.
Repeat your resolve with feeling and awareness three times mentally.
Rotation of consciousness,
Awareness of the parts of the body.
The consciousness should move around the body and keep on moving.
As it moves,
It changes into prana,
The vital energy in the form of a current of energy.
Do not concentrate on any one part,
But let your mind jump freely from one part to the next.
Right side.
Right hand thumb.
Second finger.
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth,
Palm,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Waist,
Hip,
Right thigh,
Kneecap,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole,
Top of the foot,
Right toes,
12345.
Left side,
Left hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Waist,
Hip,
Left thigh,
Kneecap,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole,
Top of the foot,
Left toes,
12345.
Right side reverse,
Go to the right toes and start from the bottom.
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth,
Top of the foot,
Sole,
Heel,
Ankle,
Calf muscle,
Kneecap,
Thigh,
Hip,
Waist,
Armpit,
Shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Lower arm,
Wrist,
Back of the hand,
Palm of the hand,
Right thumb,
Second finger,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth,
Left side reverse,
Go to the left toes,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth,
Top of the foot,
Sole,
Heel,
Ankle,
Calf muscle,
Kneecap,
Thigh,
Hip,
Waist,
Armpit,
Shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Lower arm,
Wrist,
Back of the hand,
Palm of the hand,
Left thumb,
Second finger,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth.
Hold back down,
Go to the back of the body.
Go to the back of the head where it touches the floor.
Back of the head,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Whole spine,
Right hip,
Left hip,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
Back of the right thigh,
Back of the left thigh,
Back of the right knee,
Back of the left knee,
Right calf muscle,
Left calf muscle,
Right ankle,
Left ankle,
Right heel,
Left heel,
Hold back up,
Right ankle,
Left ankle,
Right calf muscle,
Left calf muscle,
Back of the right knee,
Back of the left knee,
Back of the right thigh,
Back of the left thigh,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
Right hip,
Left hip,
Whole spine,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Back of the head,
Whole front down,
Go to the front of the body,
Go to the top of the head,
Top of the head,
Forehead,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
The space between the eyebrows,
Right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Chin,
Jaw,
Throat,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Right chest,
Left chest,
Middle of the chest,
Navel,
Upper abdomen,
Lower abdomen,
Right groin,
Left groin,
Right thigh,
Left thigh,
Right knee,
Left knee,
Right toes,
Left toes,
Whole front up,
Right toes,
Left toes,
Right knee,
Left knee,
Right thigh,
Left thigh,
Right groin,
Left groin,
Lower abdomen,
Upper abdomen,
Navel,
Right chest,
Left chest,
Middle of the chest,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Throat,
Jaw,
Chin,
Lower lip,
Upper lip,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Eyebrow center,
Forehead,
Top of the head,
Major parts.
Now the major parts of the body,
The whole of the right leg,
The whole of the left leg,
Both legs together,
Whole of the right arm,
Whole of the left arm,
Both arms together,
Whole of the back together,
Whole of the front together,
Whole of the head together,
The whole body,
Whole body,
Whole body.
Visualize the whole body.
Visualize your awareness,
The whole body,
The whole body,
The whole body.
Become aware of the meeting points between your body and the floor.
Feel the meeting points between the body and the floor.
Sharp meeting points,
Body and floor.
Feel the floor holding you to its bosom like a baby in arms.
Now concentrate on your body as if you are seeing it from the outside.
Look on your body as an object.
See your head,
Your clothes,
Your whole body from top to bottom lying in the dead man's pose on the floor.
See your body as an object,
A reflection in an imaginary mirror.
You are looking at your own reflection in the mirror and you see yourself lying on the floor,
Your feet,
Your legs,
Abdomen,
Chest,
Arms,
Hands,
Clothing,
Nose,
Clothes,
Your head,
Forehead,
Forehead,
Hair,
Everything reflected in that mirror.
Notice of your body as an object.
Make sure you are not sleeping.
Using your attention to the natural quiet breath.
Become aware of the breath through the nostrils.
The natural breath flows through both nostrils and meets at the top of the nose to form a triangle.
The spontaneous breath enters through the nostril openings,
Moves upwards and draws together to form a single triangle with its apex in the eyebrow center.
Be aware of the breath passing through both nostrils.
Become aware of both breaths separately and simultaneously.
Think of the breaths as starting separately from a distance,
Drawing near and uniting in the eyebrow center.
Now concentrate on each breath and try to determine its temperature.
Move back and forth and compare the temperatures.
In yoga,
We say the left nostril breath is Ida,
Moon,
And the right is Pingala,
Sun.
Ida,
The left breath is cooler.
Pingala,
The right breath is warmer.
Continue your awareness of breathing.
But imagine you are now breathing through alternate nostrils,
In through one nostril and out through the other,
Up and down the sides of the triangle and back again.
Maintain your awareness and start counting each breath with full attention.
Inhale left 54.
Exhale right 54.
Inhale right 53.
Inhale left 53.
Inhale left 52.
Exhale right 52.
And so on.
Continue counting and breathing to zero.
Total awareness of counting and breathing.
If you make a mistake or reach zero,
Start again from 54.
Inhale left 54.
Inhale left 54.
Stop your counting and remain aware of the breath only.
Breathing evenly through both nostrils.
Total awareness.
No sleeping.
No sleeping.
Awareness of sensations.
Heaviness.
Imagine the experience of heaviness in the whole body.
Become aware of heaviness in each part of the body as it is named.
Toes,
Heels,
Ankles,
Calves,
Knees,
Thighs,
Buttocks,
Back,
Abdomen,
Chest,
Shoulders,
Arms,
Palms,
Head,
Eyelids.
The whole body.
Heavy.
The whole body.
Heavy.
The whole body.
Heavy.
Experience this feeling of heaviness in the whole body.
Lightness.
Manifest the experience of lightness in the body.
Experience the feeling of lightness from the top,
From the top of the head,
The whole head,
Shoulders,
Palms,
Back,
Chest,
Abdomen,
Thighs,
Knees,
Calves,
Heels,
Soles,
Toes.
Manifest the experience of lightness in the whole body from top to toe.
The lightness of the body can be developed by feeling the meeting points between the body and the floor.
Point by point or as a whole,
A whole surface of body,
Floor,
Meeting.
Change on this area of meeting and gradually experience lightness.
Feel yourself floating up from the floor.
You are so light that you are floating to the ceiling,
Drifting back and forth.
Continue this experience until lightness is manifest.
Go on.
Pain.
Recollect the experience of pain.
Any kind of pain you have experienced in your life.
Head pain,
Stomach pain,
Any physical pain or mental pain.
Everyone has experienced pain at some time in his life.
Remember that pain.
Feel that pain.
Try to make that experience of pain as clear as possible.
Open your awareness and feel that pain intensely,
Acutely.
Continue to concentrate on the experience of pain.
Pleasure.
Try to experience the feeling of pleasure,
Any pleasure.
Concentrate and remember the feeling of pleasure.
It may be according to your sense of touch,
Smell,
Taste,
Hearing or sight.
Any kind of mental pleasure.
Recall that pleasure and try to develop it into an intense ecstatic experience.
Good luck.
Now you're going to travel into your past in the same way you have traveled from the past to the present,
Retracing the steps of your memory and consciousness backwards from this time.
The past is part of time and time is part of your mind.
Normally you walk forward in time.
This time try and walk backwards.
By remembering your past,
You're going into the deeper recesses of your consciousness.
Try to remember what happened from the present time to the time you got up this morning.
You have to go back in time as if you were watching a film running in reverse.
Remember back to the start of the yoga nidra.
Then recall what you were doing in the half hour before that.
Remember the important objects and feelings in that time.
And then keep on proceeding in half hour or one hour stages.
To when you woke up.
Stage by stage with full awareness.
Visualize and recall what you were doing,
Thinking and feeling.
When you have finished,
Bring your mind directly back to the present.
Bring your awareness to the present and make sure you're not sleeping.
I am going to name a few objects and you should try to visualize them on the levels of feeling,
Awareness,
Emotion and imagination as best you can.
You should move fast,
Jumping your mind from image to image.
Do not waste your time concentrating on any one image.
But keep moving.
Glickering candle,
Weeping willow tree,
Tall palm tree,
Car moving on a road,
Colored clouds gathering,
Yellow clouds,
Blue clouds,
Starlit night,
Full moon,
Dog standing,
Cat reposing,
Elephant moving,
Horse racing,
Rising sun,
Setting sun,
Ocean with waves,
A big pond with clear water,
Blue lotus,
White lotus,
Pink lotus,
Gold and spider web,
Sandy bank of a wide river,
Boat sailing on the water,
See the ripples,
Golden cord extending from your navel into the sky,
Cross over a church,
Within the church,
A priest praying,
Worshiper kneeling,
Chimney smoke rising from an old house,
A cold winter,
A fire burning in the house,
Dawn of the day,
Temple bell ringing,
A monk with shaven head,
A yogi sitting in deep meditation.
Intensify your awareness.
Intensify your awareness and go to an infinite ocean,
Calm and quiet and try to discover a sound there.
There is a sound,
An infinite ocean,
Dark green jungles on the shore,
Snakes,
Lions and goats living in friendliness.
From the shore,
A path leads to a lonely cottage in the jungle and a yogi is sitting outside in lotus pose.
There is a fire and a smell of incense,
The fragrance of flowers and an atmosphere of tranquility.
All around can be heard the sound of om,
The chanting of om over the infinite ocean.
Resolve,
Resolve,
Resolve.
Remember your resolve and repeat it three times with maximum feeling and awareness three times.
Now relax all efforts and bring your attention to the natural breath,
The natural breath flowing in and out of the nostrils.
Explain your awareness of the breath and at the same time,
Develop your awareness of physical relaxation.
Awareness of relaxation and awareness of your physical existence.
Become aware of the physical existence of your body.
Develop awareness of your body and visualize your body lying on the floor.
Take your mind out and visualize the surrounding room.
Let your mind become completely external.
Do not open your eyes.
You are practicing note yoga nidra.
Become aware of this fact.
Apply quietly until your attention is completely externalized.
Start moving,
Moving your body and stretching yourself.
Please take your time.
There is no hurry.
Awareness of yoga nidra is now complete.
