Welcome everyone.
I'm Kate Colby Nelson and I'm happy to share this Yoga Nidra winter practice with you.
Today we will celebrate the birth and light of consciousness,
The return of light and the brilliance of love.
This Yoga Nidra practice will take you through various stages of consciousness and brainwave states from an awakened and relaxed state to the deeper state of awakened dreaming.
And finally into a very deep and receptive state of being,
Turiya,
Where you are pure witnessing consciousness.
In this state your body and brain can restore and heal.
This is a state of being where samskaras,
Old experiences are digested and new seeds of thought,
New intentions are easily received.
For the practice you will lie comfortably on the floor using a mat or blanket and pillows and bolsters if you like.
I call this making a nest.
Your nest should be as comfortable as possible so that you can remain completely still,
Completely motionless during your practice.
So take a moment now to organize your nest and try it on,
Really sink into the nest,
Taking care that it will be comfortable for the duration of our practice.
Although Yoga Nidra is referred to as yoga sleep,
You will remain awake throughout the duration of your practice.
You will be deeply relaxed yet listening for the sound of my voice.
If you start to drift off,
Gently remind yourself to stay awake.
The more you practice Yoga Nidra,
The easier it will be to reach a very deep state of relaxed consciousness while maintaining witness awareness.
In this practice we will reveal the light within,
The fire within and cultivate an inner glow for gentle transformation.
So if you have not already done so,
Lie down into your nest and gently close your eyes,
Making yourself exquisitely comfortable.
Listen for the sound of my voice.
As you relax,
Allow the body to feel completely supported by the floor.
Feel the weight of the head against your mat.
Feel the softening of the jaw,
The cheeks,
The forehead,
Becoming soft,
Relaxed,
Letting go.
Let the ears feel heavy,
Feel the scalp and all of the connecting muscles releasing now.
The face relaxed,
The head heavy.
Sensing the muscles of the neck,
Letting go,
Relaxing.
Feel the back of the shoulders,
Back of the arms,
The back of the hands.
Feel the imprint of the body against the earth.
Feel the ribs,
The spine,
The width of the pelvis,
Heavy,
Melting,
Relaxed.
Let the legs feel heavy,
Feel the weight of the thighs,
The heaviness of the calves.
Feel the imprint of the heels against the earth,
Letting go.
Allow the body to melt.
And now take your awareness to the sense of hearing.
Listen for any sounds that you might hear.
Listen for sounds that are farthest away.
Perhaps the sound of the street,
The movement of the wind outside.
Listen for all sounds.
Gradually draw your sense of hearing into the space around you.
Listen to the sounds of the room,
My voice.
Listen to the sound of your breath.
Listen to the sound below the breath,
The hum of life.
Listening to my voice,
Begin counting your breaths from 12 to 1.
If you lose count,
Begin again with the number 12.
Say to yourself,
Inhaling 12,
Exhaling 12,
Inhaling 11,
Exhaling 11,
Inhaling 10,
Exhaling 10.
Continue counting down on your own.
When you reach the number one,
Breathe naturally.
Exhale.
Exhale.
Exhale.
And now it is time to set an intention for your practice,
A sankalpa for your practice.
Embracing the element of light,
The glow of transformation.
Is there an intention that you would like to create a spark around?
Or is there something you would like to throw into the fire of your practice for purification?
From this place of deep quietude,
Ask your heart to reveal its desire.
What to be revealed to you in the language of the heart?
Ask your heart to reveal to you its desire.
You may have a felt sense of your desire,
Experiencing colors,
Shapes,
Sounds,
Or feelings.
Allow the revealing of your desire,
Your intention,
Your sankalpa to come fully into your awareness.
Feeling as though this desire is fully present within you and expressing in your life now.
From this felt sense of your desire,
Formulate your sankalpa into a short,
Repeatable affirmation.
From this felt sense of your desire,
Formulate your sankalpa into a short,
Repeatable affirmation that is in the present tense.
Allow this affirmation to well up in your being.
When you have your affirmation,
Repeat it to yourself in the voice of your mind slowly,
Three times.
And now deeply rest.
Welcome every experience as it arises.
Become aware of that within you that is always at ease and always at peace.
Experiencing yourself to be eternal well-being,
A witnessing presence that is welcoming everything.
Let the sound of my voice be your guide and support the sensing and awareness of your body.
Knowing that whatever arises is just perfect in this moment.
Bring the light of your awareness to the crown of your head.
The space between the brows.
The center of the throat.
Awareness.
The center of the right shoulder.
The center of the right elbow.
Noticing.
Letting go.
The center of the right wrist.
The tip of the right thumb.
Awareness.
The tip of the right index finger.
The tip of the right middle finger.
Letting go.
The tip of the right ring finger.
The tip of the right smallest finger.
Awareness.
Center of the right wrist.
Center of the right elbow.
Relaxed.
Center of the right shoulder.
Center of the throat.
Noticing.
Awareness.
Center of the left shoulder.
Center of the left elbow.
Center of the left wrist.
Relaxed.
Tip of the left thumb.
Tip of the left index finger.
Tip of the left middle finger.
Awareness.
Tip of the left ring finger.
Tip of the left smallest finger.
Center of the left wrist.
Letting go.
Center of the left elbow.
Center of the left shoulder.
Relaxed.
Center of the throat.
Center of the heart.
Awareness.
The solar plexus.
The area around the navel.
The base of the spine.
Awareness.
Center of the right hip.
Relaxed.
Center of the right knee.
Center of the right ankle.
Noticing.
Awareness.
Tip of the right big toe.
Tip of the right second toe.
Tip of the right third toe.
Awareness.
Tip of the right fourth toe.
Tip of the right smallest toe.
Center of the right ankle.
Relaxed.
Awareness.
Center of the right knee.
Center of the right hip.
Letting go.
Base of the spine.
Center of the left hip.
Noticing.
Center of the left knee.
Center of the left ankle.
Awareness.
Tip of the left big toe.
Tip of the left second toe.
Tip of the left third toe.
Awareness.
Tip of the left fourth toe.
Tip of the left smallest toe.
Relaxed.
Center of the left ankle.
Center of the left knee.
Center of the left hip.
Awareness.
Base of the spine.
The area around the navel.
The solar plexus.
Awareness.
The center of the heart.
The center of the throat.
The space between the brows.
The back of the eyes.
The roof of the mouth.
Back of the throat.
Front of the chest.
Center of the heart.
The upper back.
The sides of the ribcage.
The area around the navel.
The lower back.
The whole front body.
Awareness.
The whole back body.
Noticing.
And sensing the entire body.
Sensing the entire body.
Inside and outside.
As a radiant field of sensation.
Be aware of all that you are sensing as this radiant field of awareness.
Experiencing yourself as a field of radiant sensation.
Bring your awareness to your breath.
Notice the breath.
Witness the rise and fall of the abdomen.
Just notice.
Cultivate gratitude for this breath.
Sensing the breath.
Grateful for what is breathing you.
Allow the sensation of light.
Soft golden yellow.
To enter the body through the crown of the head.
Sahaswara.
And as you inhale this soft yellow light.
Moving it downwards to the soles of your feet.
Exhaling and expanding this light throughout the body.
Inhaling golden light through the crown of the head.
Moving it downwards to the soles of your feet.
Exhaling and expanding this light throughout the body.
Inhaling golden light.
Exhaling it out to the fingertips.
Filling the fingertips with golden light.
Inhaling through the crown of the head.
Exhaling to the tips of the toes.
Golden light.
Allow this glow.
This luminosity.
This light to radiate and expand.
Inhaling and exhaling through the entire body.
And an effulgence of light.
Full body breathing.
Allow this golden radiant light to saturate every cell.
Every tissue and organ throughout your body.
Flooding the space around you.
Experiencing your body as warm radiant light.
And exquisite well-being.
Bring your breath and the light of your awareness to the crown of the head.
The center of the brow.
The center of the throat.
The heart.
The solar plexus.
The navel.
The base of the spine.
The light of your awareness to the soles of your feet.
The soles of the feet.
Warm.
With the eyes of your mind.
In the space between the brows.
See the soles of your feet.
Warm.
Wearing warm socks.
Covered in warm boots.
The soles of your feet.
Against a blanket of moonlit snow.
Standing on this moonlit snow.
In a snow-covered meadow.
With just the light of the moon around you.
Notice the warmth of your breath.
The warmth of your fingertips.
The warmth of your soles of your feet.
Taking one step and then another.
Moving quietly through the snow.
The air around you is filled with tiny scintillating crystals.
Sparkles of frost hanging in the air.
Moving one step at a time.
The sound of the snow gently crushing beneath your feet.
There is a stillness so deep in the crisp air that even the crystals just hang in the air like stars.
So still.
So quiet.
So calm.
Peace.
Holy.
As you move through the stillness.
Warm hands.
Warm feet.
Warm heart.
Holy.
You come to the edge of a blue-black lake.
You see the reflection of the moon and the stars in the depth of this quiet,
Still,
Motionless lake.
You cannot tell in the stillness,
Surrounded by sparkling frost crystals where the moon and stars end and their reflections begin.
Standing here in this moonlit meadow at the edge of this blue-black lake,
Filled with the brilliance of the stars and the moon.
You move your gaze across the lake to the horizon.
Fill the space between your brows with your inner gaze.
Fill the space between your brows with this horizon.
See the lake,
The stars,
The moon,
The crystals in the air.
Feel the warmth of your body,
The warmth of your breath.
So quiet.
So still.
Holy.
See in the screen of your mind the horizon in the space between your brows.
Chidakasha.
See the words I'm about to say.
Allow them to fill the space between your brows.
Crackling bonfire.
Shooting star.
Welding spark.
Pink sunset.
Candle flame.
Slow-moving lava.
A lantern in the snow.
Northern lights.
Smoke from a chimney.
Smoldering embers.
Moonlight on water.
Lightning strikes.
Chinese lantern in the sky.
A firefly.
The blue flame of a Bunsen burner.
The blue flame of a Bunsen burner.
One thousand floating candles.
One thousand floating candles.
The Milky Way.
The Milky Way.
A brilliant shooting star.
A brilliant shooting star.
Allow your gaze to experience this horizon as open and infinite space.
The vast unending horizon of your consciousness.
It has no beginning and no end.
It is infinite and eternal.
In this vast and unending horizon of your mind,
Allow the activities,
Memories,
Sensations,
And emotions of this season to move as reflections across the horizon of your consciousness.
In the vast unending horizon of your mind,
Allow the activities,
Memories,
Sensations,
And emotions of this season to move as reflections across the horizon of your consciousness.
Just observe them coming and going.
Just observe.
Thoughts,
Emotions,
Memories,
And sensations move like the stars and planets across the infinite horizon of your consciousness.
Here in this holy moment,
You are pure witnessing awareness,
Aware and awake as radiant well-being,
As pure light.
As pure witnessing awareness,
Allow memories,
Sensations,
Activities,
And feelings of this season to move through your consciousness,
The open,
Vast,
Infinite space.
Observe all images,
Colors,
Sensations,
And sounds as they move as reflections across the horizon of your consciousness.
You are a radiant field of pure light.
Unchanging spacious awareness in which everything is coming and going.
Experiencing yourself as brilliance,
As light,
Warmth,
And spacious eternal well-being,
Perfect just as it is,
Perfect just as you are.
Experiencing yourself now as luminosity and brilliant light,
Radiating wholeness,
Health,
And perfection just as you are,
As spacious awareness in which everything is unfolding,
Everything just as it is,
Yourself just as you are.
.
.
.
Slowly bring your awareness back to the breath,
Back to the center of the heart,
Noticing and welcoming all that arises,
All that is now present,
Sensations,
Emotions,
Feelings,
Just as you are,
Whole and complete.
From this deep lightness of being,
Bring to mind your heartfelt desire,
Your sankalpa,
Your intention,
Recalling your sankalpa,
Your desire,
Your intention,
Bringing it into your body as a resonant sensation.
Recall your heartfelt desire,
The felt sense of your intention,
Your sankalpa.
When you have the felt sense of your sankalpa,
Allow it to take shape into your affirmation.
When you have the felt sense of your sankalpa,
Allow it to take shape in the form of an affirmation.
And in the voice of your mind,
Repeat your affirmation gently to yourself three times.
Slowly bring your hands over your heart in gratitude for your practice.
And slowly begin to enliven the body now,
Gently bringing movement into the body,
Opening and closing the hands,
Moving the feet,
The toes,
Gentle movement to the body,
Becoming fully awake,
Fully awake,
Yet deeply relaxed,
Bringing movement to the body now,
Perhaps gently rolling the head from side to side,
Fully awake,
Awake yet relaxed.
Enroll gently to the right side of your body.
Allow the yoga nidra practice to be integrated in the body and the mind,
Fully awake,
Fully aware,
And very gently,
Using your hands,
Return to a seated position,
Fully awake,
Yet deeply relaxed.
Bring your palms together,
The thumbs at the root of the heart in Anjali Mudra,
A mudra of gratitude.
Your yoga nidra practice is complete.
Thank you so much for joining me in this yoga nidra winter practice.
May you be blessed by this practice.
May it serve you in peaceful and joyful ways.
And as it serves you,
It serves all others.
Namaste,
My friends.
Take good care.
Aum and blessings.
