Explore Your Being With Yoga Nidra

This Yoga Nidra invites you on a journey through all the koshas (bodies) to explore the essential nature of your Being. It is suitable for everyone and based on the traditional sequence as introduced by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Relax, rejuvenate, get inspired, transform and meet yourSelf!

Transcript

Welcome to this practice of Yoga Nidra.

Bring your body into the shape of Shasana,

Laying on your back with your legs slightly apart,

Feet are falling to the sides,

The arms are resting on your sides and the palms facing up.

Make sure you find yourself in a fully comfortable position,

You feel supported and held.

And also make sure that you are warm.

Perhaps your body is covered with a blanket to nourish the body temperature,

As this will likely drop throughout the practice.

And as you settle in your shape for the practice,

Bring the attention to your jaw.

Let any tension in this area of the body dissipate into space and allow your jaw,

Your mouth,

Your lips to be at ease.

And bring that same sense of ease to your forehead and your eyes.

Let your eyeballs gently drift towards the middle of the head as they start to rest into a warm,

Supported space.

Be aware that throughout this practice you will receive the medicinal impulses your being needs at this moment in time.

Your intuition will take in whatever is needed and leave aside what is not needed today.

So allow yourself to rest and trust that inner wisdom to offer you healing where needed,

Guidance where desired and inspiration where it is of benefit to your growth and peace.

So before we dive in,

See if there are any last tweaks or adjustments you would like to make on the level of your physical body.

See if there is anything you can do or that is needed so you can be 5 to 10 percent more comfortable at this point.

And make these adjustments now.

And once they are complete,

See if you can make a commitment to stay still for the duration of this practice.

If at any point you feel very uncomfortable,

Then bring yourself to a more comfortable position.

However,

Try your best to settle in right now in a good way so you can fully relax into the practice from here on.

And besides that commitment of staying still,

See if you can also commit to stay awake and alert for the duration of this practice.

A simple way to do that is to say to yourself,

I will not sleep.

Intention is very important,

Yet if nonetheless your attention drifts away throughout the practice,

Then notice it and gently bring it back.

Simply join in wherever we are.

The practice of Yoganidra begins now.

Start by bringing your attention to your senses and invite a feeling of allowing them to rest.

First let your awareness travel to your closed eyes.

Again,

Notice how they can soften into the warm periphery towards the middle of your head.

And with this give them allowance to take a break from all the stimuli they are taking in throughout the day.

The eyes are resting,

Finding their way to a more soft internal vision.

And then let your awareness travel to your mouth and a sense of taste.

Notice if there is any taste you can perceive in this moment and feel it,

Taste it.

And then give this sense organ permission to rest.

From here your awareness travels up to the nose and a sense of smell.

Let any kind of fragrance come to you,

Let it gently flow in with the next inhale.

Give it a moment of full attention before you also entice the sense of smell to take a rest.

Then notice your sense of touch,

The clothes on your skin,

The touch of the blanket,

The mat or surface underneath you.

All the little sensors of touch are receiving information.

Take in what is there right now and then offer these sensors we pose as they surrender to rest.

Then let your awareness travel to your ears and a sense of hearing.

Notice how your ears are receptive to various kinds of sounds at the same time.

One of the sounds that you hear is the sound of your ears.

Notice how your ears are responding to the sounds at the same time.

What are the sounds you can perceive at the far distance?

What are the sounds you can perceive within the borders of the walls of this room?

What are the sounds you can notice in your immediate environment and what are the sounds inside you?

Maybe you can hear your heartbeat,

Maybe you can listen to the steady pulse of your blood.

Whatever is there,

Notice and listen.

Slowly come to find completion on sensing and listening to any sounds far and near.

Then let your sense of hearing rest on the sound of my voice.

You can trust that the combined potential of my voice and your inner wisdom will guide you towards your greatest healing,

Your most potent truth and your inner infinite source of peace,

Joy and love.

And as we complete the journey through our senses,

Let your awareness travel to your heart space.

Let your entire awareness come to rest in the soothing,

Warm comfort of your heart space.

Let your senses come to rest in the peace and calm of your heart space.

Let your awareness come to rest in the soothing,

Warm comfort of your heart space.

And listen to your heartbeat,

Listen to your heart's whisper.

Tune in with your heart and its language.

And see what is alive in your heart space today,

In this moment.

As you tune more and more into the heart's language,

See what it is whispering in your direction.

Is there a wish?

A heartfelt wish?

Is there a longing,

A yearning,

A prayer?

Let your thoughts aside and let arise very naturally what wants to arise.

Give it space from your heart space.

Once your heart's whisper in form of a longing or wish is clear,

I want to invite you to start to formulate your samkalpa,

Your deep resolve or intention at this moment in time.

And our samkalpas are formulated in the present tense,

Starting with the words I AM.

So for example,

If you wish for more health,

Say I am whole.

If you long for intimacy and belonging,

Say I am connected.

If you simply desire a deep sense of ease and peace,

You can say I am a vessel of spirit.

So once your samkalpa is clear,

Take a deep breath in,

Hold your breath at the top,

Repeat it three times wholeheartedly.

And then with the next exhale,

Give thanks and let it go.

And I will now guide your awareness through your physical body,

Through Anamayya Kosha.

And for this,

Remain relaxed and alert.

Remain open and receptive to my voice as your awareness travels through your physical body and brings relaxation to different parts.

And we will begin by bringing the awareness to the right hand thumb.

Notice how your entire awareness can rest in the right hand thumb without you seeing or touching it.

Your full awareness in your right hand thumb.

And then your awareness travels onto the second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Pinky finger,

To the spaces between the fingers.

The tips of the fingers,

Palm of the right hand,

Back of the right hand,

Your entire hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Right shoulder.

And then become aware of your entire arm,

Your entire arm.

And your awareness travels down the right side of the body to the chest,

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Heel,

Arch of the right foot,

Top of the right foot.

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And pinky toe.

And the spaces between the toes and the tips of the toes.

And now feel the whole right side of the body at once.

The whole right side.

And now shift your attention to the left hand thumb.

Your entire awareness rests in the left hand thumb.

And again,

Notice how you can be aware of your left hand thumb without seeing or touching it.

And then let your awareness move to the second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Pinky finger,

To the spaces between the fingers on the left side.

The tips of the fingers,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Your entire hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Left shoulder.

And be aware of your entire arm.

Your entire arm.

And then let your awareness dribble down the left side of the body to the chest,

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Heel,

Arch of the left foot,

Top of the left foot.

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And pinky toe.

And the spaces between the toes and the tips of the toes.

And now feel the whole left side of the body at once.

The whole left side.

And now we bring the awareness to the back side of the body and all the contact points with the floor.

Notice your entire body sinking deeper and deeper into the earth.

Surrender your body to gravity.

And now we bring the awareness to the front side of the body.

While you are deeply resting on the ground,

Notice how your front body opens to the space above you.

How it opens to the sky.

And then notice back and front body at the same time.

Your body is rooted to the earth,

Yet open to the sky.

And in that include the left side of the body.

And then the right side of the body.

Notice the whole body in its completion,

In its wholesomeness,

In its perfection.

Your whole body is laying on the floor,

Deeply at rest and practicing yoga nidra.

And as your physical body is resting,

Bring your attention to your energy body,

To pranamayakosha and your breath.

Notice your breath.

Let it be as it is.

Inhale and exhale.

No effort.

No change.

The breath is completely natural.

Now shift to a whole body breathing experience.

Extend your perception from the mere flow of oxygen through your nostrils to your entire body.

As if every cell of your body was breathing.

Allow every cell to open like a flower to receive fresh oxygen.

And once the prana has been absorbed,

Release the breath with the exhale.

Entire body is breathing.

Inhale into every cell.

Exhale out of every cell.

And continue with this whole body breathing experience.

Notice how the boundaries of your body become more and more transparent.

Imagine how your body starts to expand,

To merge with the space surrounding it.

First maybe you are just opening to the immediate sphere around your physical body.

And then with every breath,

Your perception starts to move out.

Your body and breath start to become one with the space around you.

No boundary.

There is a free flow of energetic exchange between you and the space around you.

You are floating in this space.

You are a part of it.

Yet the boundaries between you and the space have become undefined.

And we will now move on to the mental and emotional body,

Manu Mayakosha.

For this bring your attention to the eyebrow center,

Chidakash.

And from here we will bring our awareness to opposite sensations in the body.

And continue to feel completely relaxed and at ease in your body.

You are physically still,

Yet awake and alert.

You are practicing Yoga Nidra.

First invite the sensation of heaviness into your body.

Feel heaviness in your arms.

Like heavy weight on the ground.

And then heaviness in your legs.

Lying heavily on the floor.

Heaviness in your pelvis.

In your entire torso.

Heaviness in your head.

There is heaviness,

The experience of heaviness in your entire body.

You are relaxed,

The body is deeply relaxed and at rest.

You are having a direct experience of the density and weight of your physical body.

And now shift to the opposite.

Shift to and invite the sensation of lightness in your body.

Sense all the little spaces that are in between each and every cell of the body.

Like a little universe of interconnected spaces in your body.

And experience the sensation of lightness in your body.

All the inner space.

Like the body is becoming more and more transparent.

A feeling of floating and expanding into space.

And have this experience right now.

And now invite sensations of heaviness and lightness at the same time.

Notice how heaviness and lightness can exist next to each other in your body.

And don't think about it.

Let the wisdom of your body show you.

Haviness and lightness as they are slowly dissolving into each other.

And now let go of these sensations.

Let them dissolve into the infinite space of your chitta kash,

Your eyebrow center.

And as these sensations dissolve into this space,

Witness your experience right now.

And we will now move into the wisdom body,

Vijnanamayakosha.

And remain with your awareness in the eyebrow center.

I will enumerate a few objects and as I name them,

Try to visualize them in front of your inner eye.

Remain relaxed and at ease.

Let the images arise naturally.

Don't think about them.

If they don't show up naturally,

Don't worry.

Just move on to the next image mentioned.

Children playing outside.

A rocket ship.

Full moon.

Strong waves of the ocean.

Gentle waves of the ocean.

A golden spider web.

A beautiful garden.

A fountain.

Elevator.

A wide unicorn.

A wide unicorn.

A wide unicorn.

The playground you always went to as a child.

The scent of someone you deeply love.

Face of your mentor.

Snow covered mountains.

A candle in a dark room.

A green elephant.

Sitting on a bench in a garden.

Sitting in meditation.

Eyes closed.

And now look within and become aware of a golden egg in the center of your brain.

A golden egg.

It is very small yet bright in its golden light.

A golden egg.

The seat of your higher consciousness.

The seat of supreme consciousness is right at the center of your being.

Try to get closer to it.

Merge with it.

Become it.

Be it.

Say to yourself,

I am that.

And stay with this for a few moments.

Remain in a state of meditation.

Witness your experience.

Dive deep into your current experience.

And let your higher consciousness guide you.

And in this state of meditation,

In a state of deep peace and quiet,

Bring back to mind your sankalpa.

Repeat the same sankalpa you made at the beginning of this practice,

In the same words and from a whole hearted space.

Repeat your sankalpa now three times clearly,

Planting the seed firmly in your being.

And then with the next exhale again give thanks and let it go,

For it is done.

And then slowly,

Slowly come back to your physical body.

Slowly come back to your physical body.

Witness your body laying deeply,

Relaxed on the ground.

Whole.

Complete.

Perfect.

The entire body has become so quiet,

Tranquil and peaceful,

Yet so refreshed,

Revived and energetic.

Let the whole body become aware of the whole body.

Become aware of your breathing,

Your natural flow of breath.

Inhale more and more deep,

Extend the exhale.

And at this point notice the peace in you and around.

Notice the harmony between your inner and outer worlds.

And with this the practice of yoga nidra is complete.

Luka samastam sukhino bhavantu.

May all beings everywhere be happy and free,

And may the thoughts,

Words and actions of my old life contribute to that happiness and to that freedom of all.

Reviews

✨💗🙏💗✨ A wonderful Yoga Nidra. Thank you and Namaste 🙏

The good part starts about 4 1/2 minutes in, and after the body scan I fell asleep. Nice voice. Nice music.

Very, very good. I'm new to nidras, started practising them just a week ago, but I've been doing a lot. I liked this one very much. Nice voice, music, traditional style(?) nidra.

Short for the kind of koshas' trips I have experienced but since I woke up inspired and connected this took me to great joy in seamesly and easy flow, thanks! 💕

Such a wonderful Yoga Nidra that encompasses a wonderful body scan and healing visualisations which feels so beneficial on many levels. I read a review from someone that said the music was off putting for them, however, I loved the background music and felt it enhanced the Nidra. Thank you so much 🙏👌😇🧚‍♀️🤗🙌💕xxx

Thank you for this beautiful yoga nidra. I prefer yoga nidra without music. For me the music is to loud and is distracting.

I have really been enjoying your Nidras. I'm wondering if you've learned from the same teacher as I have, my mentor Tanis Fishman. I hear a lot of her influence in your Nidras which always brings me so much joy. Looking forward to listening and practicing with the rest of your Nidras. Really beautifully done. 🙏🙏🙏

Thank you for sharing this lovely Yoga Nidra practice Katharina. I loved the progression into deep inner places and will come back to this meditation often.

Very lovely. Soft and naturally spoken, peaceful background music. A deep experience. Thank you.

Just wonderful. So little ego. ... enabled me to go to such a perfect space within.

And once again! Just a silky smooth and deep way to come into the day. Sublime. So grateful.

Lovely! Thank you

I really needed this. You give me peace and connection. Thanks a lot🌻

Beautiful. Thank you!

Beautiful practice Katherine. Deeply peaceful and restful. 🙏

Thank you so very much for an absolutely beautiful practice

Thank you! I’m new to yoga Nidra. Why did you repeat a few animals 3 times? Very cool. Thank you again.

Soothing tone, pace. Deeply Restorative.
Thank you!

Thank you🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

That was so beautiful! Deep immersion into pure love. I bow in gratitude to you!🙏

Really nice yoga nidra. Nice pace, voice nd music. Very relaxing, thank you