Forest Bathing Yoga Nidra

This 44-minute relaxation takes you through forest imagery to help relieve stress. You will be guided through a body scan, breath awareness, and then a visualization of a forest to promote relaxation and healing.

Transcript

Welcome, Everyone, To our forest bathing yoga nidra practice. Please take another half a minute or so to make yourself completely comfortable. If you have an eye pillow, You can put that in place. If you have some lavender essential oil or some other calming scent, You can dab that so that you can smell it. Once you're comfortable, Close your eyes and we'll keep them closed until the end of practice. Remember that in the practice of yoga nidra, It's not about effort or trying. It's not even advisable to try to have a particularly deep practice. There's no effort, No concentration, No trying involved in yoga nidra. We're not even trying to stay awake. You get to simply listen to the instructions and internally observe your response. In this practice, You'll be hovering at the threshold between sense consciousness and sleep consciousness. This is a very receptive state of being. It's normal, Especially for new practitioners, Not to remember all parts of the practice. Don't worry. Your subconscious mind is still responding and benefiting from yoga nidra. If thoughts or outside sounds distract you from time to time, Just continue listening to the sound of my voice and take each moment as it comes. As we begin this relaxation process, Become aware of your breath. You do not need to change the breath in any way. Just be aware that you are breathing. Feel your belly rising and falling with every breath. When you inhale, Your belly rises. When you exhale, Your belly falls. Let all of your attention be on this, The synchrony of breath and movement. Slowly become quiet and still and then take three long, Deep breaths. Each time you breathe in, Feel yourself more deeply letting go. Take a moment here at the beginning to acknowledge your intention to give this practice your undivided attention for the next 40 minutes or so and open your mind to the unique experience of yoga nidra that unfolds on this particular occasion. Let yourself move now into the heart of profound relaxation. Develop awareness of this room, The walls, The ceiling, And your body lying down. Become aware of your breath, The natural breath. Yoga nidra begins now and will begin with setting a sankalpa together, A resolve or intention. First, Cultivate a sense of gratitude and acceptance. Now extend this feeling of gratitude to include a feeling of gratitude for all the choices, All the decisions, And the paths you've chosen in life that have shaped your unique life journey and culminated in you becoming the person you are right now practicing yoga nidra. Let us set an intention, A sankalpa for healing for ourselves and the planet. I am a source of love and healing on this planet. Let my words be your words. I am a source of love and healing on this planet. I am a source of love and healing on this planet. We continue the practice with the rotation of consciousness throughout the body. I will name individual parts of the body in a specific sequence. As I name the part, Bring your awareness to that part of your body and feel it become alive with sensation. Remember, No trying and no effort. Starting with your right hand thumb, Bring your awareness to your right hand thumb. Second finger, Third, Fourth, And fifth. The palm of the right hand, Back of the hand, Right wrist, Lower arm, Elbow, Upper arm, Shoulder, Armpit, The right side of the waist, Right hip, Right thigh, Kneecap, Calf muscle, Ankle, Heel, Sole of the right foot, Top of the foot, The right toes, Big toe, Second toe, Third, Fourth, And fifth. Bring your awareness to the left side of your body and beginning with your left hand thumb. Second finger, Third, Fourth, Fifth. Palm of the left hand, The back of the hand, Left wrist, Lower arm, Elbow, Upper arm, Left shoulder, Armpit, Left side of the waistline, Left hip, Left thigh, Kneecap, Calf muscle, Heel, Sole of the left foot, Top of the foot, Left toes, Big toe, Second toe, Third, Fourth, And fifth. Now, To the top of your head, Bring your awareness to the top of your head, Your forehead, Right eyebrow, Left eyebrow, Eyebrow center, Right eyelid, Left eyelid, Right eye, Left eye, Right ear, Left ear, Right cheek, Left cheek, Right nostril, Left nostril. Bring your awareness down the bridge of your nose to the tip of your nose, Upper lip, Lower lip, Chin, Jaw, Throat, Right collarbone, Left collarbone, Right side of the chest, Left side of the chest, The middle of the chest, Upper abdomen, Navel, Lower abdomen, Right groin, Left groin, Right thigh, Left thigh, Right knee, Left knee, Right calf muscle, Left calf muscle, Right ankle, Left ankle, Right toes, Left toes. Now, The back plane of the body begin with the sole of the right foot, Sole of the left foot, Sole of the right foot, Sole of the right foot, Sole of the left foot, Sole of the left knee, Back of the right thigh, Back of the left thigh, Right buttock, Left buttock, Right hip, Left hip, Your whole spine, Right shoulder blade, Left shoulder blade, The back of the neck, Back of the head, The top of the head. Now, Your whole right leg, Whole left leg, Both legs together, Your whole right arm, Whole left arm, Both arms together, Your entire face and head together, The whole back body together, The whole front body together, The whole body together, The whole body together, The whole body together, Simultaneously feel the entire physical body, Pure sensation, Sensation everywhere, Feeling the radiance that you are. And notice how all of these sensations and whatever you are experiencing, Thoughts, Feelings, Emotions, Images, Notice how everything is continually changing, Coming and going within your awareness. Become aware of the meeting points between your body and the floor, The meeting places where your body touches the floor or the bed, Whatever you may be lying on. Feel the meeting points between your body and the floor intensely, Evenly. Bring your attention now into the soles of your feet. Feel the skin on the soles of your feet from the heels to the tips of the toes. Go to the palms of your hands and feel the skin on the palms of your hands and fingers. Feel the skin and also become aware of the lines on your palms and fingers intensely and with full awareness. Bring your awareness to your face and become aware of the skin on your face. Develop your awareness of the skin on your face. Develop your awareness of the skin on your forehead, Your cheeks and your chin. Become aware of any lines on your face. Bring your attention now to your eyelids, Your upper and lower eyelids. Feel the meeting points between the eyelids where they touch. And now your lips. Feel your upper and lower lips and bring awareness between the lips, The places where your lips are touching. Now notice the body breathing itself and join your attention to the natural flow of the breath without changing the breath in any way. Begin to feel the air flowing in and flowing out of the nostrils. Notice the chest rising and falling, The belly rising and falling, The body rising and falling. Feel the whole body breathing by itself. And imagine a dividing line down the center of the body running from the nose to the navel and place your attention over in the left nostril. Feel how the breath is flowing in and out through the left nostril. You are still breathing in and out through both nostrils, But your awareness is in your left nostril. Now open up your awareness to feel the entire left side of the body breathing. Feel the breath traveling to every cell in the left side of the body. Feel the left side of the body filling with breath on the inhalation and emptying of breath on the exhalation. Perhaps you can feel the breath in the left arm, In the left hand, In the left eye, In the left ear. Spontaneously explore the entire left side of the body on the breath. Now open up your awareness to the entire right side of the body as if that whole side of the body, Every cell, Every tissue is breathing by itself. The right side of the body filling with breath on the inhalation and emptying of breath on the exhalation. Perhaps you can feel the breath in the right arm, The right hand, The right eye, The right ear. Spontaneously explore the right side of the body on the breath. And now move back and forth a few times, Taking your attention from right to left and from left to right. An exhalation into one side and then an inhalation. And at the top of the inhale, Shift your awareness to the opposite side. Go back and forth across this midline of the body, Breathing out through one side of the body and then breathing into it and on to the other side. Alternate side of the body breathing, Just shifting your awareness back and forth. And when it feels right, Allow the dividing line to dissolve and feel the entire body simultaneously breathing together, The whole body breathing, No parts. The body is a global sphere of radiant sensation, Breathing itself, Exhaling, Inhaling, Radiating in all directions simultaneously. And note now as you scan through the body, Noticing all of the sensations arising, Notice any feelings, Any thoughts, Any images or glimpses of daydreams. Notice how everything within your awareness is continually changing. Feel yourself as an observer of all this that is constantly changing. Notice how the sensations are coming and going within your awareness, How everything is coming and going within your awareness. We move now to awareness of sensations. Begin by awakening the feeling of heaviness in your body, The feeling of heaviness. Become aware of a feeling of heaviness in every single part of your body. Feel the pull of gravity getting stronger and you become so heavy that you feel yourself sinking into the floor, Every cell very heavy as though your body is made of a single piece of iron. Heighten the sensation of heaviness. And now lightness. Awaken a feeling of lightness. Feel yourself becoming more and more weightless in every single part of your body. It is as if your body were made from cotton. You feel so light that it seems like you're floating away from the floor. Your body is weightless and you feel the sensation of lightness. Now cold. Cold. Experience the sensation of cold. Awaken the experience of bitter cold in your body. Imagine you're walking barefoot on a cold floor in the middle of winter. Your feet are very, Very cold and you feel that cold all the way into your body, Everywhere. Heighten the awareness of coldness. Awareness of cold. And then the sensation of heat. Awaken the experience of heat. Your whole body is hot. The whole body is hot. You feel hot all over, Inside and out. Recollect the feeling of heat in the summer like you're getting into a hot car that has been sitting in the sun with its windows rolled up. Very, Very hot. Heat all around the body. Heat all through the body. You feel so hot you could begin to sweat. And now allow all of the sensation throughout your entire being to become one harmonious sensation. So each layer of your existence is perceived simultaneously. Front and back. Right and left. Light and heavy. Hot and cold. Inside and outside. Every sensation melting one into the other. Sensing your whole being as a mass of sensation that radiates in all directions simultaneously. Feel the pulse of this radiant consciousness. Now bring your awareness to the inside of your forehead and we'll move to image visualization. As I move from object to object, Just allow your imagination to form an image of the thing that I name. We'll be flowing effortlessly from image to image. Focus your awareness on the inside of your forehead now. Look at the inside of your forehead as if it were a movie or a slide screen and just allow the images to appear there. We'll begin with red rose, Yellow square, Car moving on a road, An elephant walking, Cat in repose, Bouncing ball, Snowcapped mountains, Tall majestic tree, White clouds floating across the sky, Fire burning in a fireplace, Half moon, Dark tunnel, River running down a mountainside, Torrential rain, Naked body, A spider's golden web, Fire burning in a fireplace, Pond of clear water, Snowcapped mountains, A well going down into the ground, White lotus flower, Red lotus flower, Pink lotus, Wise old man, Full moon, Yourself lying down without clothes, Completely naked, A pond of clear water, Dark sky, Golden egg, Temple bell ringing, Waves breaking on a deserted beach, The infinite ocean, Infinite expansive ocean. And now imagine you're walking along in a forest crowded with trees, Big trees, Little trees, Bare trees, Trees with leaves, Widespreading trees, Tall stately trees, Notice moss on the ground and scrub bushes underfoot. Feel the humid clear air on your skin and smell the freshness of nature. The sun is low on the horizon and there's dappled light falling through the leaves and branches. The pathway is deserted except for yourself. The forest is beautiful with such a variety of nature. Even some woodland creatures are going busy about their ways. Walk across the springy moss on the path and listen to the owls hoot into the evening. As you follow the pathway, You come across a creek, A small babbling brook with little tiny tadpoles swimming. See their graceful movements. There is a clearing in the trees. You follow the path to an open meadow. The grass is lush and green and in the meadow is a circle of stones placed in a spiral shape spread out maybe 20 feet in diameter and circling inward to a center place. Each stone is around two feet wide and sits just above the surface of the green grass. They seem to have been placed here since ancient times and hold an aura of mystery, Curiosity and wonder. As you examine the stones, You notice the pathway to the center of the spiral. Begin walking into the spiral slowly, Mindfully, Following the stones, Circling around and around to the center point of the circle. In the middle of the spiral of stones, You sit down or you may choose to lie down. The space is big enough and it's welcoming. Look up at the sky. The first stars are appearing in the twilight. You feel completely safe and at home as you gaze up at the stars. You feel a meditative state of awareness as you ponder the earth, The stars, The expanse of outer space. A sense of deep peace and harmony envelops you as outside sounds fade into the distance. Now imagine the light from one of the distant stars extending its rays all the way down to the earth and connecting with your right eye. This is a gentle experience. The light from the distant star is nourishing you, Healing you and the same time another light from another distant star extends its rays down to the earth and connects with your left eye. Again, A gentle experience that you welcome as it nurtures and provides calm, Rejuvenating energy. A third star extends its rays to the point between your eyebrows, Your third eye center, Awakening your intuition, Your inner vision, Your creativity and your own healing power. You may remain here soaking up the rays of these three stars, Replenishing you, Restoring you with peace and calm. You may remain here soaking up the rays of these three stars, Replenishing you with peace and calm. Now, Relinquish this role of observer and let it become just simply observing. Being, Observing. Being, Observing. Go of the separation between the observer and the observed and just being observing, Aware of it all. Feeling and experiencing the body as pure sensation, Thoughts as sensation, Emotions as sensation, And feeling how sensation is continually moving and changing. Feel yourself as pure awareness, Pure presence, Pure being. Unchanging being that contains all the changing contents of consciousness. Notice if there is any striving to achieve anything. Can you give up the striving and set yourself free? Just being with what is right now. Allowing yourself and everything to just be. Experiencing your true nature which responds perfectly to anything that occurs in life at each moment revealing the correct action for you to take. Now let's touch back into our heartfelt desire, Our sankalpa. Return to a sense of gratitude for your own life experience, For all the challenges and the triumphs. A sense of gratitude for your own wisdom and understanding. Allow my words to be your words. I am a source of love and healing on this planet. I am a source of love and healing on this planet. I am a source of love and healing on this planet. And begin to transition now to a waking state. If you prefer to remain at rest, Please just remain as you are comfortably breathing, Relaxed. But our formal practice will end in a few moments. Begin to feel the physical body, Its weight, Its density. And begin to tune in to your physical surroundings. Notice the sounds around you. Feel the temperature of the air on your skin. Notice the ground beneath you and the meeting points between your body and the floor. Remember where you are and where you are located in the space that you are in. In a few more moments, When you're ready, Begin to take some deeper breaths. Feel the breath moving throughout the whole body. And you may want to begin to stretch and move the body a little bit. Take your time. There's no hurry. You can move through fingers, Move through toes. Maybe gently turn your head from side to side. Explore movement in your neck. Begin to stretch through arms and legs. When it feels right, And only when it feels right, Bend your legs, Roll over to your right side. Use your arm as a pillow and rest here for a few more moments. Thank you for taking the time to practice yoga nidra today. Yoga nidra is a service of love you provide for yourself and all others. It mentors us into the experience of our own true nature of expansiveness. It shows us that when we serve ourselves, We serve all others. And when we serve others, We serve ourselves.

Reviews

Great practice, thank you 😊 🙏

Clear crisp calm centered cleverly guided words took me away from this analytical, hyper mode mind to a beatiful seréne place. Returned back after 40 mnts which felt like 5 mnts. Thank you very much.

Excellent, metta, Ian

Wonderful. I love your clear voice. The cough and throat clearing contributed to my appreciation of this authentic and deeply human meditation experience. Thank you.