Space Playground Yoga Nidra (Live Recording)

By first grounding awareness of our body's connection to the Earthly realm, we invite the opportunity to expand beyond the borders of time, space and form. Embark on a pilgrimage of the body as you traverse the sacred sites of inner knowing and contentedness, within the container of cosmic rest. Space Playground is an invitation to explore what lies beyond closed eyelids through slow and spacious guidance, accompanied by soft ambient sounds produced by Tru Sound.

Transcript

Prepare yourself for the practice of yoga nidra.

Put your body at ease,

Place it in comfort,

Creating a supportive environment within which the body can just let go,

Gathering your blankets,

Your pillows,

Anything that may support you on your journey.

Perhaps even a soft cloth to cover the eyes with and to signal to the brain that it is time for rest.

And if you are pregnant or experiencing lower back discomfort,

You can roll over onto your left side in the fetal position,

Draping a right thigh over a pillow or placing a cushion between the thighs.

And if practicing in the shape of shavasana,

Corpse pose,

Rest yourself upon a firm and stable surface,

Ensuring there's enough space around you for the limbs and no possibility for sliding or falling.

And now slide the arms away from the torso,

Turn the palms upward in a receptive position,

Allowing the shoulder blades to receive full support from the ground.

And similarly with the limbs of the lower body separating the legs,

Sliding the feet away from one another as you consciously let go of all muscular effort through the legs,

All the way down into the soles of the feet to the tips of the toes.

And tune into the backside of your body,

Tuning into the right side and the left side.

And do you feel the weight of your body more or less evenly distributed between right and left sides?

Consider sliding a pillow or a loosely rolled up blanket underneath the backs of both knees.

Ensuring that you feel as stable and supported as is possible for this moment.

Tune into the position of the head and your neck.

If the chin is pointing up toward the ceiling,

Consider tucking it just slightly down toward the chest.

This is a practice as well as a ritualistic act of self-worship.

And you are so deserving of your comfort today.

So ensure that you are as comfortable as you can be.

The Anidra is also a practice of trust and a willingness to surrender as we traverse unknown lands through the vehicle of this body.

It is a willingness to give up the thinking mind to the inner wisdom of your own body.

This is a practice that can reconnect us with the undercurrent of our existence.

One that is already whole,

Already connected,

Already at peace.

And know that if the body calls you toward complete sleep today that this is perfectly okay and welcome.

That as you rest in trust of your body,

You also know that there is no one right way to practice and that deep relaxation paired with awareness is the portal through which we may commune with our highest teacher.

There will be intentional spaces of silence from my side as there is a part of you who can only communicate with you and be heard through the space of silence.

Once you feel comfortably situated with the bones at rest upon the surface of the earth,

You can close and cover the eyes and just notice how the body begins to settle.

As the body continues to settle into this space of restfulness and stillness,

Remembering that this practice is spontaneous and playful in nature,

Mirroring the design of this life.

And that a state of consciousness may arise on its own when it's time,

But that there is no need to force or will yourself anywhere today.

There is no end destination.

All that is required of you is an openness to surrender and remain present as the experience unfolds before you.

And as the sound of my voice accompanies you on your journey as a guide,

Also remember this is truly self-led,

Perfectly unique to you.

While your sense of hearing remains online,

Awareness may ebb and flow in and out of consciousness.

With this practice,

We are rehabilitating our psycho-spiritual faculties,

Our imagination,

And intuition.

You can think of it as like a series of healing games,

All invitational,

All optional.

As you explore playfully how to enter deeply relaxed states through the vehicle of your own body,

As the practice of yoga nidra begins now,

We arrive by taking three full breaths in through the nose,

Briefly holding at the top,

Letting the exhale go through parted lips,

Perhaps releasing an audible sigh out the mouth.

So when you are ready,

You can begin this breath,

Inhaling through the nose and hold and exhale out an open mouth.

Breathing yourself through this twice more,

Breathing in through the nose,

Hold and open,

Releasing the air out.

Last breath in,

Hold and exhale,

Let it go.

You've arrived.

Welcome yourself here into this conscious space of rest.

Welcome yourself exactly as you are in whatever emotional landscape you may find yourself in today.

This is not the place where we have to compose or costume or mask ourselves.

All parts of you are welcome here.

As you welcome all parts of yourself back home,

Simultaneously give yourself the permission or the space to shift and morph throughout different emotions or feeling states.

And call forth now the part of you who brings you here today.

Perhaps it is singular,

Perhaps it is multifaceted,

But which parts do you honor by laying your bones down to rest today?

This could take form as one word or a string of words or experienced as a feeling state.

If it works for you,

You can fill in the blank of this sentence with my self brings me here today.

With gratitude or appreciation,

Take the time to think this part of yourself and allow a gratefulness for what you are in this moment to permeate throughout the whole body.

This whole body experience of gratitude now expands beyond the borders of the body.

This energetic feeling creates an imaginary bubble of protection,

Encapsulates and holds you like a cocoon,

Holding you here while you can rest back fully.

You are safe here to let go as you acknowledge your connection to this earthly realm and the world of form.

Connect awareness into the backside of the body,

The backside of the body in direct connection with the earth below,

This land upon which you rest as your home.

And similarly feel into the space above you and your connection to the vast and infinite sky and the cosmos as if you could see the sky above and paint a picture with your mind's eye of which kind of sky you are gazing into.

And imagine what kind of surface of the earth you could be resting on right now as if your imagination could take you anywhere in the world upon which landscape,

What kind of soil would you be resting.

Perhaps you see yourself resting upon the forest floor or in a field of wild flowers upon a soft bed of moss.

Perhaps you rest on a smooth slab of rock that's been warmed up by the sun,

Warming you evenly from the inside out.

Or perhaps you lay upon the shoreline of a quiet and enclosed beach near the sea.

With your sense of outer vision removed,

Your inner sense faculties become heightened and sensitive as you take in the sights and the sounds and the sense and the textures through your power of imagination.

The body continues to settle in to stillness.

Open yourself up to the infinite possibilities that await you on this journey via the vessel or the spaceship of your physical body.

And as you bring awareness to the physical body and your posture,

Notice if there's any urge to fidget or move or perhaps you've decided you want to retrieve warmer layers,

More blankets.

Make these adjustments now so that you can confidently rest in stillness for the duration of this practice and know that you can always turn onto the left side in the fetal position or come into a supportive upright seat if physical discomfort becomes unbearable in any way today.

Make the resolve to maintain awareness as the body descends further into deep rest.

Connecting your attention with the cycles of the breath,

Tuning in to how it currently flows on its own.

Can you sense or feel a natural expansion of the body through the breath and its complementary contraction?

Do you bring awareness now to the nose,

Both right and left nostrils?

And observe the air as it travels in through both nostrils as you breathe in and out,

Maybe even noticing the temperature of the air as you do so.

Now imagine you can watch the air travel in through the left nostril on the inhalation and out through the right on the exhalation.

Imagine of the breath traveling in through the left and out through the right.

Notice awareness between both nostrils,

Witnessing the breath traveling in through both and out through both.

Now witness the breath traveling in through the right nostril on the inhalation and out through the left on the exhalation,

In through the right and out through the left.

Imagine once more balancing awareness of the breath between both nostrils as you witness.

Notice awareness entirely within the experience of the exhalation,

The breath of relaxation and its accompanying sigh of release.

Notice how it happens on its own without any interference from you.

The exhalation yielding and surrendering in nature,

This is the yin side of your breath.

Continue to observe as you allow the exhalation to serve you as a grounding force now.

Each continuous out breath has your back body surrendering,

Grounding just slightly closer And with each cycle of breath,

There is also an invitation to shed layers of tension,

Stress,

Whether it be conscious or unconscious,

Known or unknown.

Imagine that you could collect and gather it through the breath in and give it up to the earth as you breathe out.

The earth as this elemental force of alchemy and transformation as she receives anything and everything into her soil without discrimination to compost and transform.

The physical body at rest,

You take delight in this stillness and this state of non-action,

Intuiting that the earth below is your supportive force as you continue to rest in this imaginary cocoon-like protective bubble.

And as the earth supports you here,

Grounds you physically,

Awareness can remain untethered and free.

Free to explore realms and dimensions that exist beyond time,

Space,

And form.

Allow yourself to be completely held here.

You bring awareness to the entirety of your face.

Awareness glides over and through the entire face.

It is required of you to experience a softening through all of the muscles in the face.

The forehead softens now from its centermost space outward toward right and left temples.

And both right and left temples release,

Melt down toward right and left ears.

And the weight of the right and left ears releases down toward the ground.

Some eyeballs,

Both right and left eyes,

Soften back into their cradles of the eye sockets.

Outward vision temporarily suspended and on pause while inward vision grows and expands.

Feel the right side cheekbone down right side of the jaw,

Left side cheekbone down the left side of the jaw,

And meet yourself at the chin.

The whole entire jawbone surrenders,

Hangs from this hinge joint,

Whole jaw is relaxed.

As the mouth comes along for the ride and you feel into the upper lip,

And the lower lip,

Both lips fully soft and supple,

You crawl into the experience inside of the mouth sensing upper row of teeth,

Lower row of teeth,

And the tongue releasing all effort as the tongue floats in space within the mouth.

Take a journey from the tip of the tongue to the base of the tongue.

From base of the tongue,

Travel down the hollow of the throat and rest back,

Soften through the back of the throat.

Sense the structure of your bones,

Their density and shape as you give up the bones to the earth,

Tuning into the connective tissue and the network of your fascia as being spacious and fluid.

Open yourself to the ways in which you are currently held and supported in this moment,

Body cradled by the earth as you rest awareness now within the spaciousness of the pelvic bowl,

The whole pelvis within the lower abdomen,

Awareness ebbs and flows in rhythm with the breath within the pelvic bowl.

Notice the natural expansion and contraction that occurs within this space,

Effortless observation.

As the body drifts closer toward sleep,

Awareness of the body in space remains online.

Your sense of hearing is connected to the soft sound transmitted through my voice,

Sound of my voice as just another vibration entering through your sensory field.

Bring awareness into the palm of the right hand,

Connected into the back of the right hand.

Place awareness in the right hand thumb,

Pointer finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger and the small finger.

You sense all four fingers and the thumb and the whole right hand relaxed and sense the right wrist joint,

Right elbow joint,

Rest in the right shoulder joint.

Travel down the right side of the torso to caress the right hip point,

Traverse the length of the right thigh and rest in the right kneecap,

Move awareness down lower leg to the right ankle joint.

Your awareness becomes a soft loving force upon the top of the right foot through to the sole of the right foot,

Sense the right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and the fifth toe,

Sense the spaces between the toes and the whole right foot,

The whole right leg,

Whole right side of the body.

Earth receives whole right side as it surrenders its weight into the earth.

Place awareness now inside the palm of the left hand,

Full attention and awareness pool and collect within the palm of the left hand.

Notice as this soft loving force softens you through the left palm into the backside of the left hand.

Sense or feel the left hand thumb,

Left pointer finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger and the small finger,

All four fingers and the thumb on the left hand.

Sense the left wrist joint,

Left elbow joint,

Rest within the space of the left shoulder joint,

Glide awareness down the entire length of the left side torso over the hip point,

Traversing length of the left thigh,

Rest within your left knee cap.

Find yourself further down lower leg,

Meet yourself at the left ankle joint and sense a softening through the top of the left foot into the sole of the left foot.

Sensing the left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

All five toes and the spaces between the toes,

Whole left foot,

Whole left leg,

Whole left side of the body softens into the earth.

Earth receives you through the whole left side,

Both right and left sides of the body are at rest,

Backside of the body supported and held,

Front side of the body receptive and open,

Rest lightly upon your third eye center,

Energetic space between the eyebrows.

You return to this imaginative protective bubble that holds you on all sides to hold your whole entire body in your awareness,

Entirety of the individual points,

Places and spaces playing a role integrated into the wholeness of you.

You switch on to your subtle energetic body as signals of pulsation or vibration,

Tuning into the signals that communicate the ways in which you are currently alive and well in this moment.

Resting further within this healing bubble of your cocoon as you meditate on the experience of gravity,

This universal and fundamental force,

Invisible yet enigmatic in its effect,

Keeping us literally grounded upon this earth,

Keeping this earth in orbit,

To rest within the spaciousness of the heart,

Rest within this knowing,

This felt experience of gravity that lies at the heart of some of today's greatest mysteries.

This constant force becomes like a weighted blanket for you now,

Drapes lovingly over the whole body,

Holding the whole body close to the earth as you plant a deep trust within the ripe soil of your body,

A trust that you will be guided to the places you are meant to journey today within this capsule of cosmic rest.

You are safe here to expand beyond the borders of known territories,

Of known lands,

Into the world beyond form,

And you will be guided back when it is time.

You are safe here to expand beyond the borders of known territories within this capsule of You You You You Awareness gently reconnects to the sound of my voice as you locate yourself wherever you may be As if you could replay any scenes from the viewing screen of your mind's eye Illuminating the places that you've been As you move into the spaciousness of the breath and its cycles You tuning in further to that space where the breath Turns from the inhalation into the exhalation And from the exhalation into the inhalation Just be in this space This void that resides Within the place where the breath turns Tracing your breath all the way back to its point of origin its source Softly rest your presence upon what it is that is breathing you Feel into what you are.

Hear the words I am that Have direct knowing of the ways in which you are supported by forces both seen and unseen Witness how life creation continuously chooses you through this breath And inviting in a gratitude or appreciation for this cyclical ancient and wise process of the breath operating in the background of this journey keeping you alive and at ease Keeping you in a constant and direct exchange with the natural world And it is here that we shift from the seat of the observer to the seat of the doer as this practice of yogic sleep draws to a close You'll use the breath as your pathway back into the physicality of your body The body resting here at peace on the ground in the shape of shavasana Re-engaging with your voluntary side of the breath as you consciously draw a breath in The exhales happen on their own Locating yourself back into present moment time and space and form As the practice of yoga nidra is now complete Remembering that this work is continuous Will continue to permeate and trickle through your day to day But when you feel ready to awaken you can reanimate the body through spontaneous movement Perhaps sliding the tongue across the fronts of the teeth and swallowing Perhaps sliding the thumbs along the fingertips wiggling the toes wiggling the fingers circling the joints of the ankles and the wrists Re-inviting life movement back into the body in the way that feels best for you As you keep your eyes closed you can lift the arms up overhead out from underneath the blanket with a full breath in stretching the limbs in opposite directions away from one another and as you breathe out allow for a soft collapse back onto the ground stepping soles of the feet one at a time onto the earth Perhaps drawing the knees in toward your chest to slowly gently roll yourself onto the left side and pause in the fetal position with the eyes still closed as you maintain that connection to your inner world your inner space for just a few moments longer and welcome yourself back and in your own time in your own way supporting yourself to rise and return to an upright position when you are ready you'll take a moment to close your practice in a way that is ritualistic for you anything that symbolizes that the practice is complete for you today so thank you for joining me I wish you a beautiful transition into the next part of the day wherever that takes you you

Reviews

Soothing well paced voice and spacious background music with a relatively short rotation of consciousness. I would have preferred less instruction and more space.
Thank you 🙏

Thank you Katherine. It was a very amazing sensation of been awakened while going thru a deep relaxed state. Your voice was very soothing and allowed me to feel a sense of unknown, yet exciting travel. Looking forward to traveling with you again!

Wonderful blessing of a Yoga Nidra. I slept so well!!! Thank you. 🕊

I listen to this track at least once a week to help me deeply relax , reduce anxiety , and rest.

Wonderful! Thank you 🦋🙏

Definitely one of the best yoga nitra meditations I have done. I certainly recommend a go. I will be returning to this one regularly.

Katherine is an expert at her craft! This is a wonderful Yoga Nidra. Takes me to a place that is so relaxing. It is a journey oh, and her voice is so soothing and hypnotic. Thank you for sharing your wonderful gift!