Namaste.
Welcome,
Dear one,
To this gentle sunrise yoga nidra practice.
As autumn deepens,
The days grow shorter and the light softens.
A quiet time of transition.
This season invites us inward.
To slow down.
To listen.
To tend the quiet flame within.
Yoga nidra is like a gentle sunrise within.
A soft remembering of your inner light.
Your true nature.
As the veils between worlds thin,
And the darkness of the season wraps around us,
We turn inward.
Kindling that quiet luminosity that is never lost,
Only waiting to be felt.
Let this practice be a remembering of the light that dwells within you.
The first step on your journey begins by coming down and onto the earth.
Lying down on the back of the body.
Settling into a comfortable and relaxed position.
Extending the arms and the legs.
And if you need reaching for pillows,
A warm blanket,
An eye pillow or covering.
Adjusting the position of the body.
Allow the eyelids to soften and become heavy.
Closing down the eyes.
Releasing the grip of the external world.
As you slowly start to turn your awareness inward.
Into the peaceful presence of this moment.
For now,
Your yoga nidra practice begins.
Allow the body to become completely still.
Heavy.
Deeply resting on the earth.
Take a gentle breath in through the nose.
And out through the mouth.
Settling deeper and deeper and deeper down into stillness.
Feel a sense of the support beneath the back of the body.
Notice where you feel gravity.
Allow the body to melt.
Feel the gentle touch of air on the skin of your face.
The darkness behind closed eyes.
That quiet,
Dark inner space.
Notice any moisture or tastes inside of the mouth.
The gentle touch of breath inside of the nose.
The gentle rise and fall of the navel with each breath.
Following the pathway of the breath.
From the tip of the nose down to the navel.
And back out through the nose.
Notice the ears.
Listening.
Welcoming in sounds.
Hearing.
All of your senses wide open.
Coming to rest.
As you draw your awareness further inward.
Magnetized by the gentle pull of the heart.
The seat of the soul.
Or the light of the self.
Like a moth to a flame.
Let your awareness be silently drawn into the space of the heart.
Visualize a golden light.
A flame.
A candle burning.
Unwavering by the winds of the breath.
This eternal light.
As you soften into this warm radiance within.
Begin to bring forth your sankalpa.
Listening to the heart's wisdom.
You may be working with your own sankalpa.
Or you might borrow the phrase.
I am the light that gently rises within.
I am the light that gently rises within.
Welcome your sankalpa.
To be here now.
In this moment.
As the body rests in stillness.
Savoring the invitation for deep rest.
That is presented to us at this time of year.
Surrendering to it.
This natural force.
We will begin to rotate awareness throughout the physical body.
Begin by inviting your awareness to rest at the center of the forehead.
Noticing sensations that are present at the forehead.
Visualize a golden point of light.
Warmth and radiance at the center of the forehead.
Like the soft light of the rising sun.
Bring awareness down to the center of the throat.
Visualize a warm golden orb of light.
Warmth and deep rest.
Bring awareness to the center of the chest.
Behind the sternum abides a golden orb of light and energy.
Illuminating the cavity of the chest.
The right side of the chest.
The right shoulder.
Filled with golden light.
Palm of the right hand.
Tip of the thumb.
Tip of the second finger.
Tip of the little finger.
The light of your awareness comes down to rest in all five fingers.
The whole right hand.
The right side of the chest.
Resting deeply.
Illuminated with sensations.
Drawing awareness back to the heart center.
The golden light illuminates the cavity of the chest.
The whole left side of the upper chest.
Shoulder.
Palm of the left hand.
Tip of the thumb.
Tip of the first finger.
Tip of the second finger.
Tip of the little finger.
The soft glow of your awareness comes to rest in the whole left hand.
The whole left arm.
Left side of the chest.
Radiant with sensations.
The warmth of aliveness.
In both hands.
Both arms.
Both sides of the upper chest.
Heart center.
A beacon of light.
Down to the navel center.
Vital organs.
Coming to rest.
The whole pelvic bowl.
Low back and sacrum.
Rests in the hip.
Sole of the foot.
All five toes.
Starting in the big toe.
One.
Two.
Three.
Sensing and feeling the whole right foot.
The whole right leg and hip.
Resting.
Radiant with sensations.
The whole pelvic bowl.
To the left hip.
Sole of the left foot.
All five toes.
Starting in the big toe.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
The light of your awareness resting in the whole left foot.
Resting as sensations.
The vital energy.
In all ten toes.
Both feet.
Both ankles.
Light ascends into the upper thighs.
Like the rising sun into the hips.
Navel center.
Solar plexus.
Heart center.
Golden light ascending across the inner landscape of your being.
Into the upper chest.
Shoulders.
Both hands.
All ten fingers.
All ten fingers.
Both legs.
The whole trunk of the body.
Both arms.
Resting deeply.
Quietly observing sensations that are already present from the inside out.
The essence of aliveness that shines from the inside out.
Inviting awareness now back down to the center.
The feet.
As you come to notice the breath.
The natural rhythm of the breath.
And imagine as if you could breathe in through the feet.
Up the legs.
Pull back.
Hemisphere of the body.
To the crown of the head.
Exhale from the crown.
All the way down the front hemisphere of the body.
Down the legs.
Back out through the feet.
Just imagine.
Breathing in from the feet.
Up the back side of the body.
To the crown.
Exhale down the front side of the body.
And out through the feet.
Breath flowing in.
Ascending from feet to crown.
Breath flowing out.
Descending from crown all the way back down.
Breath flowing in.
Breath flowing out.
And now begin to invite in a felt sense of whole body heaviness.
The whole body becoming so heavy.
And with every exhale.
Becoming heavier.
And heavier.
Like a stone dropped into the ocean.
And now.
Welcome an experience of lightness.
And spaciousness.
Throughout the whole body.
As if the body were like air.
Spacious and free.
Or like a feather.
Floating.
With every inhale becoming lighter.
And lighter.
Becoming buoyant.
The whole body.
So light.
Inviting in both opposing sensations at the same time.
Consciously invite in heaviness.
And lightness.
Simultaneously.
Every exhale.
The body becomes heavy.
The body becomes light.
Heaviness and lightness at the same time.
Peacefully resting in the experience.
Of both opposing forces.
At the same time.
Equanimous.
As the stillness deepens.
The silence expands.
Begin to imagine yourself resting.
In a vast velvety darkness.
Like the night sky.
Like deep fertile soil.
A darkness that pervades everywhere.
Deeply resting.
In this abiding healing darkness.
And slowly.
At the heart.
Center.
A soft warm golden light.
Begins to glow.
Faint at first.
Like a little ember.
Then gently growing.
And brighter.
Like the first rays of dawn.
This golden light and warmth.
Expanding from the space of the heart.
Feel this inner sun rise with grace.
Illuminating every corner of your being.
To the boundary of the body and beyond.
Let it's warmth spread throughout the body.
Dissolving any heaviness.
Or lightness.
Or stagnation.
Inviting a sense of clarity.
Strength.
Rest into the inner radiance.
The light that is your true nature.
Every cell illuminated.
Life itself manifested.
Resting as pure.
Spacious awareness.
Like the sun that shines behind every passing cloud.
Always shining.
The light of the sun.
Resting as pure.
Spacious awareness.
Resting so deeply.
Begin to recall your Sankalpa.
Perhaps.
I am.
The light that gently rises within.
Mentally repeat your Sankalpa now three times.
Planting it like a little seed.
In the fertile soil of the subconscious mind.
Bring your awareness slowly back down and into the body.
Sensing and feeling the body resting on the earth.
Mentally trace the boundary of the body.
Feel the support of the body.
The earth beneath the body.
Notice the breath.
Slowly start to deepen or amplify the breath.
As you start to become aware of the room around you.
Notice how you feel.
As you slowly emerge back into a waking state or Vishwa.
The light of the self remains in the space of the heart.
Take a gentle breath in.
And out.
And in.
When you feel ready.
Start to wiggle fingers and toes.
Find a gentle stretch.
And roll over onto one side.
Give yourself time and space to rest here.
To integrate.
To remember.
May you take the light,
The energy,
The radiance that you may have cultivated here today.
Out and into the rest of your day.
To embody this light and love of your true nature.
To spread it out and into the world.
Into a world that truly needs it the most at this time.
For a single point of light.
Has the power to dispel a million years of darkness instantaneously.
Remember your light.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
Have a beautiful and blessed rest of your day.
Namaste.
