Step One Yoga Nidra Practice

This is from a series of practices dedicated to recovery using the foundation and principles of the Twelve Steps. This is a subtle, honest approach to letting go of the dis-ease of addiction. The practice reveals Step One through a Yoga Nidra practice, go slow with it and allow the practice to work on you. Every cell in the body changing as the practice moves through the body.

Transcript

Welcome.

My name is Lane Kennedy,

And I'm so grateful that you're taking the time to honor your recovery with this practice.

Thank you.

In this practice,

You will lie down and rest your body.

You may use a bolster under your legs or a thin pillow under your head.

You want to create a cozy environment.

You may use a blanket over the top of your body so your temperature may drop as you experience this ancient practice.

This is a practice of yoga nidra.

You cannot do it wrong.

Your body will stay steady and still once you find the perfect placement.

Your mind will rest and stay wakeful as you drop through different states of consciousness.

So many humans seek relief.

We seek to quiet the nerves,

The banter in our heads,

The monotony of self-doubt,

The daily insecurities,

The reach for perfectionism in everything we do.

We are seekers.

When that perfect life is not created,

And we are disappointed,

We begin to doubt.

Life doesn't go the way we dream.

We dive into behaviors of self-destruction,

And we drink.

We use.

We neglect ourselves until we are nearly broken.

We find ourselves torn and twisted in the dark night of the soul,

And then something happens.

We live another day and wake up.

We call this a miracle.

Something occurs,

And we find a way to safety.

Without drinking,

Without using.

We stop.

It's pure.

It's divine.

It's grace.

We accept being powerless over the imperfections of what we reach for and what we were drinking to hide from,

And now search for stillness.

In this practice,

We will observe the senses and feel into this grace.

In this generous present moment,

Begin to witness your breath as it enters your nose.

Feel it move through every single nose hair,

And breathe as if you've just now taken your first sober breath.

Inhale deeply.

Feel your breath.

You live in recovery,

Far from hurting yourself or anyone you love.

Exhale and surrender to this life you've been given.

A life of freedom.

Freedom from drinking.

Freedom from using.

Inhale from the top of your head to the soles of your feet,

Allowing the breath to move through you entirely.

Using my voice as a guide,

But allowing your breath to move through your body effortlessly.

Inhale and exhale.

The stress gives away from the forehead.

Your eyeballs fall back in their sockets.

The cheeks melt.

The upper lip parts from the mouth.

The jaw becomes loose.

Your tongue falls heavy and settles away from the roof of your mouth.

Your breath folds upon itself,

Breathing into the body.

The body rests effortlessly.

The practice of Yoga Nidra now begins.

On your next breath,

Land gently in the center of your chest.

Fully nestled perfectly within yourself,

Fall deeply into your heart and listen to the sound of your very own heart,

Beating as you breathe.

Allow the breath to move from the right chamber of the heart to the left chamber in a perfect circle,

Perfect harmony.

Here begin to take 5 slow,

Deep breaths,

Expanding the heart awareness from right to left,

Slowly moving and expanding the heart in your time and your breath.

Just hear in the heart that we listen for your sankalpa,

A message,

An intention from your soul.

It's often a whisper,

And typically simple.

You may hear an I am statement,

Such as,

I am love,

Or I am complete,

Or I am enough.

Listen for your soul to share this wisdom.

If you feel you do not hear it,

That's alright.

We will come back to this.

And for now,

You can simply say,

I am awake.

Breathe into your heart and listen.

Notice any sensations in your body as you breathe.

Rather than placing words to the experience,

Focus on feeling.

Feel into the experience.

Continue breathing into your entire body as I begin to name body parts with the rotation of consciousness.

Allow the senses to follow my voice and land within your body.

Bring your attention and land in your right thumb.

Feel your right index finger,

The right middle finger,

The right ring finger,

The right pinky finger.

Feel into the palm of your right hand,

The back of your right hand,

And your entire right hand.

Now bring your awareness from your right hand to your elbow joint,

And up to your shoulder,

Moving under and around and under to the right underarm,

Through the right ribcage,

Into the right waist,

Move your attention to the right hip bone,

And then all the way down into your right foot.

Now feel the entire right side of your body,

The right side of the body,

Merging.

The entire right side of the body relaxes even more deeply,

And breathe,

And now bring your attention to your left thumb,

Your left index finger,

Left middle finger,

Left ring finger,

And left pinky finger.

Feel the palm of your left hand,

And the back of your left hand.

Feel your entire left hand.

Now bring your awareness from the left hand to your elbow,

Up to the shoulder joint,

Moving around,

Up and over and under your arm,

To the left underarm,

To your left ribcage,

Moving into your left waist,

Your left hip joint,

And then all the way down to your left foot.

Feel the entire left side of your body,

The left side of your body.

The entire left side of your body relaxes even more.

The body relaxes more.

Now drop your attention down to the soles of your feet,

Breathing into them,

Allow the breath to move up the back of the body,

Through the calf muscles,

The hamstring,

Up and over the buttocks,

Into the sacrum,

And now it moves into the low back,

Moving through the vertebrae,

Slowly moving up the mid back,

Into the upper back,

Into the neck.

The attention moves all the way up to the top of your head.

Feel the experience,

Allowing the body to rest.

And now bring your attention and settle on the brow center,

That spot between the eyebrows,

The seat of knowledge.

The pituitary and pineal gland are here working the chemistry of your being,

Releasing chemical signals to release hormones for serenity.

You can come back here over and over again,

Resting gently here at the brow center.

Allow your breath to move through this center point,

Allowing the release of serenity.

In recovery,

We shapeshift and evolve,

We constantly outgrow ourselves.

Step one is something we take every day,

And every day we must admit that we are powerless over drugs,

Alcohol,

And the vices we use to escape.

As we enter pairs of opposites,

Breathe into the brow center,

A place of neutrality and safety.

Here,

You may fall into yourself,

Fall deeply into yourself.

Walking in the land of sobriety often leads to resentment.

Feel into the experience.

How does it feel to live with resentment?

Bring into your awareness resentment.

Allow the resentment to bubble and fill your body.

You're familiar with this feeling.

Resentment is the number one offender.

Feel the resentment in your bones,

Your blood,

Your entire being,

Full of resentment.

Now land back in the brow center,

Back at neutral,

Releasing the resentment,

Coming back to neutral,

Coming back to yourself.

As you attune yourself to sobriety,

You learn that acceptance is a common solution.

Every time you do,

You feel a great sense of relief.

Generate calmness into your being.

Allow your body to feel the gentle nudge of peace as you fall into acceptance of how amazing your life truly is while living in recovery.

Breathe into being untroubled and composed.

Allow tranquility to fall upon your entire being.

Bring forth a sense of deep gratitude for calmness you live with now.

Feel into it.

Come back to the brow center,

Back to neutral.

Many days bring uncertainty.

As we live this sober life,

We question everything.

Bring forth a feeling of anxiety,

And how you feel unsure of your day-to-day living.

How does it feel to be full of anxiety?

Breathe into and feel the body respond to anxiety.

Come back to the brow center,

Neutral,

Without anxiety,

Back to breathing into yourself.

As the days pass,

And abstinent moments turn to abstinent days and months,

Years,

There is a sense of ease and comfort in your being and knowingness.

Bring into your body the feeling of life being effortless,

Perfect in every moment.

Your body feels the peace and stillness of recovery,

The ease of daily living without using,

The ease of daily living,

A knowing of comfort.

Bring into your awareness the ease and comfort of your recovery.

Come back to the brow center,

Back to neutral,

And breathe into your entire being,

Landing gently back in your heart.

The journey to one's recovery is nothing short of a miracle.

You are just that,

A perfect miracle.

Breathe into this miracle,

Called your life.

We now venture into rapid visualization.

I'm going to name a few objects.

Allow the mind to visualize them through feeling,

Awareness,

Emotion.

Do not get stuck on one image.

Keep them moving through your being.

Bring into the awareness of a field with lavender in bloom,

Windy,

Gray-colored clouds,

A flickering candle in a window,

An empty shot glass on the bar,

A rainy night,

A baby's hand reaching out,

A baby's hand reaching out,

A baby's hand reaching out,

Fresh green grass under your feet,

Monks chanting Aum.

Experience the sound of Aum all around you.

If you are not familiar with the sound,

It is simple,

And sounds such as this,

Aum.

Hear the sound of Aum.

Hold it within you.

Hear your voice saying Aum.

Breathe into your heart.

Find yourself sitting in a cathedral,

With the sound of Aum bouncing off the structure.

Notice the color of the walls.

There is a familiar smell that you love,

Wafting in the air.

As you sit,

You begin to see images appearing on the walls of the structure.

You begin to see your future.

The Aum sound lowers,

And you can slightly hear a conversation.

Listen.

You realize you know you are listening to your younger self.

Listen to your younger self.

What are you saying?

The wiser you simply smiles and wraps yourself around the younger you,

Not letting go.

Filling your body with warmth,

The sound of Aum begins to widen,

And the colors on the walls begin to dance.

The entire cathedral begins to merge and shapeshift into what feels like a wisp of clouds.

You breathe into the dance of colors,

And the older you smiles gently,

Everything is there,

And everything is with you.

And as you smile,

The vision begins to evaporate,

And you feel complete.

In your heart,

You know you've lived a long,

Abstinent life in recovery.

A life of grace.

A life filled with miracles.

Become more aware of your breath as you remember your heart's felt revolve.

Become more aware of your breath.

Feel it as you remember your Sankalpa,

The message from your heart,

The I AM statement that was whispered to you.

Repeat your Sankalpa three times silently,

To yourself,

With absolute faith,

And resolve this is yours now.

And as you bring awareness back into your body,

Bring awareness to your feet.

Bring that awareness to your legs,

And hips,

And trunk of the body.

Bring the awareness into the arms,

And into your face.

Visualize your body back in the room where you began.

Allow yourself to glide gently back into yourself,

Slowly,

Shapeshifting back into your being,

And place movement in your right ankle,

And then slowly move your left wrist,

Bringing yourself back with silence as you slowly,

Slowly allow yourself to come back,

And on your time,

You may roll to one side when you're ready,

Only when you're ready,

Keeping your eyes closed,

And staying within,

Staying with yourself,

Take the time you need,

Coming back,

And placing the palms of your hands together,

Rubbing them gently together,

And placing an intention here for the rest of this day in recovery,

Your day in recovery,

Just for today.

The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

Yoga Nidra is something we practice,

Just like recovery.

It is a practice we come back to again,

And again,

And daily.

Thank you for practicing with me today.

Thank you for being in recovery,

And making a profound effect on this world,

And an effort to change yourself and everyone you touch,

One day at a time.

Hari Om Tat Sat.

Hari Om Tat Sat.

Hari Om Tat Sat.

Namaste.

Reviews

Amazing! Two nights in a row, and some self are time through the weekend