Welcome.
My name is Laura and I will be guiding you through today's yoga nidra practice.
Before we get started,
Take the time to set yourself up with care.
You're welcome to place a pillow behind your head or you might find a bolster behind your knees.
Lay yourself down lovingly with the same care that a new mother might find as she's lying her infant baby down to rest.
It may feel good to tuck yourself in under a blanket or even to cover your eyes with an eye pillow or a scarf.
And as you begin to land in your nest,
Begin to tune your awareness to the space around you.
At first,
Your eyes might still be open,
Taking in the surroundings.
And when you feel ready,
You can begin to close your eyes slowly.
And as your gaze begins to shift from the external to the internal,
Start to acquaint yourself with your internal environment.
Notice what's here with you today.
Without changing anything,
Just observe what's present.
And whatever it is,
Just allow it to be here.
Everything is welcome.
What we perceive to be positive or negative,
Good or bad,
Right or wrong,
Just let it all be here.
Here,
Now.
Let your bones begin to sink into the support of the ground beneath you.
And start to notice the rhythm of your breathing.
Be present with the process of your breath from start to finish.
And allow your awareness to become intimately aware of all of the subtleties that come along with the breath.
Notice where your body expands to accommodate the incoming breath.
Maybe even feel how the clothes on your skin shift to accommodate the expansion in the body.
Notice how the length of your breath might even begin to shift when you begin to pay attention to it.
And bring yourself to a space where you surrender the breath.
There's a receptive quality to the inhalation.
New space is created.
New life-giving energy is welcomed in.
And there's an invitation with each inhalation to call back the fragmented pieces of yourself.
And with every exhale,
We are given an opportunity to let go.
And to cleanse what is no longer life-giving.
To release what has grown stale and what needs to go.
This dynamic exchange between breathing in and breathing out allows us to find balance between two polarities.
Expansion brings contraction.
Fullness brings emptiness.
And it is through this dance between everything and nothing where we find a feeling of wholeness.
In this fluctuation of your breath,
You are complete.
And as your lungs dance with your heart,
Allow your breath to be effortless.
Let it be easy.
And allow the seat of your awareness to snuggle up into your heart.
And again,
Begin to attune your awareness to the subtleties of resting your awareness in your heart.
As your lungs move and wrap around the heart with every single breath.
And just here,
Where the practice of yoga nidra begins.
Begin to welcome in your sankalpa.
Allow it to bubble up from within.
As a positive and brief affirmation for your heart's desires.
Or it could simply express something that you're looking to have more of in your life.
If you're looking to feel more confidence,
Then you can work with I am confident.
If you're looking to feel more expressive and creative,
Then you could use I am creative.
Whatever it is that comes up from within your heart,
Allow it to be present and concise.
And once you have your sankalpa,
Begin to repeat it to yourself internally.
Allow it to drum away.
And with each repetition,
Feel it more and more.
Embody it within every cell of your body and feel it as if it's already true.
And without any lingering attachment,
Begin to let it go and trust that the seeds have been planted in the fertile soil of your internal garden.
We'll begin to move through a body scan.
So as I name part of the body,
You'll shift your awareness here and move with my words.
In your heart,
Begin to shift your awareness to your brow center.
And in this space,
A glowing lavender star begins to appear.
This star,
Along with all of your awareness,
Begins to shift to the center of your throat.
And then to your right shoulder joint,
To your right elbow joint,
And to your right wrist joint,
To the tip of the right thumb,
To the tip of the right index finger,
To the tip of the right middle finger,
And to the tip of your right ring finger,
To the tip of your right pinky finger,
And to the center of your right wrist,
To the center of your right elbow,
And to the center of your right shoulder,
And then back to the center of your throat.
The lavender star and all of your awareness begins to move to the left shoulder joint,
To your left elbow joint,
The left wrist joint,
To the tip of the left thumb,
To the tip of the left index finger,
To the tip of the left middle finger,
To the tip of the ring finger,
And to the tip of the pinky finger.
Bring the star and your awareness to the center of your left wrist,
The center of the left elbow,
To the center of the left shoulder,
And back into the center of your throat.
Bring this glowing awareness to the center of your chest,
And into your right nipple,
To the center of your chest,
And into the left nipple,
And then right into your heart center.
Continue bringing the star along as you move your awareness into your solar plexus,
And then into the navel center,
Just two inches below the belly button.
Shift your awareness into the right hip joint,
The right knee joint,
The right ankle joint,
And the right big toe,
The tip of the second toe,
The tip of the third toe,
The tip of the fourth toe,
And the tip of the fifth toe.
Bring your awareness into the center of the right ankle,
The center of the right knee,
The center of the right hip,
And back into the navel center,
Two inches below the belly button,
And begin to shift your awareness into the left hip joint,
The left knee joint,
The left ankle joint,
The left big toe,
The tip of the second toe,
The tip of the third toe,
The tip of the fourth toe,
And the tip of the fifth toe.
Bring your awareness in this glowing star into the center of your left ankle,
The center of your left knee,
The center of the left hip,
And back into your navel center,
Two inches below your belly button.
Begin to bring all of your awareness into your solar plexus,
Into the center of the throat,
Into the center of the heart,
And back into the brow center.
Call on each cell in your body in each point where your awareness touched to begin to glow as a lavender star.
Feel your body as whole,
Right here,
Right now,
As whole,
And as you lay here,
Allow the glowing embers of your lavender star to remain steady in your brow center.
Allow the boundaries of your physical form to dissolve,
And let this glowing lavender light begin to expand into the vast space within.
Allow the inhale to encourage this lavender light to expand and grow,
And with every exhale,
Allow this light to contract back just slightly into itself.
Begin to see your energy body as a pulsation of this light.
Rest breath,
Dance with this lavender glow,
The way a flickering distant star in the night sky might appear,
Suspended in time and space.
With each passing breath,
Allow the glow of the lavender light to get a little bit smaller as your awareness begins to settle to your brow center.
Begin to feel the boundaries of your physical form again.
Expand your awareness into every pocket and every core of your physical form.
Connect to the density and the weight of every single cell.
Feel matter inside of your body.
Create the sensation of being totally full from within,
The way a cup of water that is just about to overflow might feel.
Now begin to feel into the vastness of empty space inside of your body.
Feel into the roomy spaciousness that exists between every cell of the body,
And begin to connect to your body as if it was just the inside of an empty container.
And notice how it feels to be totally empty.
Begin to bring your awareness back into your brow center,
And begin to recall a time in your life where you gave everything you could.
A time where you might have expected nothing in return,
But you gave everything unconditionally.
Now recall a time in your life where you truly allowed yourself to be supported.
A time where you softened into receiving and trust in the world around you that everything you needed would be provided.
Bring your awareness back into your brow center,
And begin to connect to your body as it is.
Connect to each cell and allow yourself to be complete.
You and the distant flicker of the lavender star begins to appear in your brow center again.
You find yourself standing and looking up at the morning sky.
The sun is breaking on the horizon,
And not too far away from the low-hanging sun,
You see a star in the sky,
Flickering like a distant flame.
You begin to notice that you're in a field of lavender.
You smell the gentle aroma around you.
You feel the delicately flowing breeze on your skin.
Your bare feet are on the earth.
You might even soften your weight into the ground,
And allow yourself to feel the support of the earth beneath you.
Looking around,
You see a well-worn dirt footpath that you decide to follow.
There's a golden hue to everything as the morning sun moves higher into the sky.
The air even feels alive in your lungs,
And everything within your sight is alive.
At the edge of the lavender field,
You notice a greenhouse.
You can see that it's quite full,
And you decide to explore it.
The door is slightly ajar,
And there's a sign that reads,
All are welcome here.
So you feel comfortable going inside if you choose.
Inside of the greenhouse,
You find a lush environment.
Tropical plants cover almost every surface.
The air is warm and feels humid to touch,
But it's fresh.
As you move deeper into the greenhouse,
You can feel that the plants are welcoming you.
And with every breath out,
You feel like the plants are thanking you for being there.
And you notice that the plants might even look more alive with every breath out.
The foliage has a noticeable healthy green glow that seems to flicker with your breath.
And with every inhale,
You notice that you too feel more invigorated and more alive.
Upon surveying the far side of the greenhouse,
You notice that there's a potting bench with soil,
Pots,
Seeds,
And all that you might need to germinate.
As you move towards the bench,
You decide to sow your own seed and take it with you.
So you begin to gather all of the supplies that you need for planting.
The soil is the perfect balance of nutrients for young roots to grow in.
You find seed packets and you plant the seed and the rich soil mixture.
And you turn the packet around to read the care instructions.
And there's a message there.
It's a message that's just for you.
And it's exactly what you need to find balance.
You finish up your planting and you hold your pot in your hands right at your heart center.
The symbiotic relationship between your life and the plant life around you becomes apparent.
And with your freshly planted seed,
You begin to close your eyes and synchronize your energy field with that of the plant in your hand.
And you notice the overlapping presence of the plants surrounding you.
And you even begin to feel the distant hum of the plants from the outside field.
Your new plant begins communicating with you telepathically.
It is asking you to repeat your sankalpa.
Begin to repeat your sankalpa to yourself at least three times.
Feel it with every cell in your body until you feel it impart on the seed in your hands.
In this moment,
You are totally nourished.
Begin to become aware of the space that your body occupies.
Observe the connection between the earth and the parts of the body that are in contact with the ground.
Begin to reconnect to the subtleties of your body again.
Notice the movement of your clothes with your breath,
The murmur of your heart,
And any sounds from the body.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
You can begin to deepen your breath.
You can find small movements in your fingertips and allow these movements to get bigger in their own time until eventually you feel ready to roll to whichever side is calling you.
Gently push yourself up to a seat and lengthen your spine.
Bring your hands to your heart center and set an intention for the rest of your day ahead of you.
Thank you for taking the time to practice today.
Find some gratitude for yourself for carving out the time and self-care.
Aryam Tat Sat.
