Yoga Nidra And The Art Of Letting Go: Part One

This is the first in a three-part series on "Yoga Nidra and the Art of Letting Go." The focus of this first practice is on "identification," while the second practice explores the shadows that haunt the manifestation of our Sankalpa. The third in the series explores the state of Bliss in relation to loving and belonging.

Transcript

In Blackwater Woods,

The poet Mary Oliver writes,

To live in this world you must be able to do three things.

To love what is mortal,

To hold it against your bones,

Knowing your own life depends on it,

And when the time comes to let it go,

To let it go.

Welcome and thank you for joining me in this Yoga Nidra practice,

A meditation on,

As well as practice in,

The art of letting go.

As you get ready for the practice,

Settle into the variation of shavasana most comfortable to you,

Perhaps with a bolster under the knees to support the lower back,

A thin pillow under the head.

Then do a basic body scan,

Starting with the toes and the feet,

Up through the legs,

The buttocks,

The torso,

Arms and the head,

Just to make sure you're as comfortable as you can be.

While you're doing this,

Think about how often we're told by friends or a colleague,

My parent,

Perhaps a therapist or a spiritual advisor,

That the time has come to let go and move on.

But what exactly does it mean to let go?

When Mary Oliver writes,

When the time comes to let it go,

To let it go,

What does she mean?

And what is the difference between letting go and simply forgetting or moving on,

Or worse,

Pretending that something never happened?

What exactly does it mean to let go?

In yoga nidra we believe that it's not past experiences that maintain a hold on us,

But rather us who hold on to patterns of thought and modes of being that no longer serve us.

But why do we do that?

Perhaps because we often think that without this or that impression,

This or that memory of an experience,

This or that way of thinking or pattern of behavior,

Who would we be?

Another way to put this is that over time we've come to identify with past experiences and the impressions they left on us.

But it's precisely through this identification with and our attachment to impressions that we create and constantly recreate our own suffering.

Letting go then means dis-identifying with past impressions.

And yoga nidra is the practice of dis-identification through which we convert impressions into the past inexperiences they were always meant to be.

Experiences are a bit like thoughts.

They're very real in the moment we have them,

But they shouldn't be confused with who we are.

Just as we are not what we do,

And we are not what we think,

We are also not what we've experienced.

And just as we meditate to allow thoughts to pass like clouds against the permanence of mind,

We do yoga nidra to allow experiences to pass against the permanence of our buddha nature or true self.

In other words,

We do yoga nidra to remind ourselves of the impermanence of both thoughts and experiences.

Letting go simply means restoring to thoughts and experiences their true impermanence.

We start this yoga nidra practice by deepening your general state of relaxation.

Let go of the need to interpret the world.

Let go of the need to understand yourself.

Let go of all thoughts and impressions.

Become aware of your body,

Your feet,

Legs,

Upper body,

Your arms,

Your hands,

And your head.

And we then deepen this general state of relaxation by briefly focusing first on the body and then on the mind.

Start with the body.

Bring your awareness to your face.

Bring your awareness to your face,

The face that you present to the world,

Where we carry much of our stress and anxiety because it's also our interface with the world.

In our face we carry much of how we'd like to be seen,

How we'd like to be perceived by others.

So bring your awareness to your face and,

Starting with your forehead,

Relax all the muscles in your face,

The muscles in your forehead,

The muscles in the eyebrows,

Around the eyes,

The cheeks,

Jaw,

Temples,

All the muscles in your face.

Just let your face drop into yourself.

Now let's prepare the mind too for the practice of yoga nidra.

Now let's prepare the mind too for the practice of yoga nidra.

It's important to calm the mind,

To let it stop racing around,

So that you can be present.

The mind is very much like a muscle.

It can be overactive,

It can be stretched,

It can go into a spasm,

Which is what we call monkey mind,

Our mind racing and jumping all over the place.

Like any other muscle we can massage the mind into quietude.

We do this first by becoming aware of the activity of mind.

Become aware of all the thoughts that are probably still racing through your mind.

The bits of conversation,

Incomplete plans,

Arguments,

Lost witticisms.

Become aware of how all these thoughts vie for competition,

And yet the mind never comes to rest with any one of them.

Become aware of this activity,

Its intensity,

And the heat it generates in your mind.

Note how your awareness is separate from mind's activity.

You can be aware of mind's activity,

Because your awareness does not participate in monkey mind.

Allow your awareness of mind to make an image of your busy mind,

And let that image be one of a thick piece of rope that runs from the left side of your field of vision all the way to the right.

In the middle of this rope is a big knot,

And that knot is the incessant activity of mind.

Now breathe in,

And on the exhalation breathe into that knot,

And as you exhale into it,

Sense how it becomes slightly undone.

Do this again,

A deep inhalation,

And on the exhalation breathe into the knot,

Becoming aware of how it loosens even more.

Do this another three or four times,

And on the last exhalation,

See how the knot becomes completely undone,

And the rope becomes a bit more loose.

See how the knot becomes completely undone,

And the rope dissolves into the background.

Take a moment to appreciate the quietude of mind,

The quiet,

Expansive mind that is now ready to start the practice of Yoga Nidra.

Bring that same awareness to your breathing rhythm,

The belly rising and falling with every inhalation and every exhalation.

Give yourself permission to be calm,

To be here,

And in the comfort and quiet of this moment,

Allow your sankalpa or positive intention to find you.

This is a heartfelt desire to exist in the world in a certain way.

Your affirmation can be as simple as,

I belong in the world,

Or I love and I am loved.

Take a moment to let your sankalpa surface,

And then repeat it three times quietly to yourself,

Meaning and feeling every word you say.

Then bring the awareness that allowed you to quieten your mind,

The awareness that recognized your sankalpa,

Bring that awareness to your right hand,

Right hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the hand,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

The wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Right waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Calf muscle,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Become aware of the left hand,

Left hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Left waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Calf muscle,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

The right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

The right buttock,

Left buttock,

The spine,

The whole back together,

The top of the head,

The forehead,

Both sides of the head,

The right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Middle of the eyebrow,

Right eyelid,

Left eyelid,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Nose,

Tip of the nose,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

The thin line where the two lips meet,

Chin,

Throat,

Right chest,

Left chest,

Middle of the chest,

Navel,

The whole of the back,

The whole of the back,

The whole of the front,

The whole of the front,

The whole body together,

The whole body together,

The whole body together,

Awareness of breathing,

Aware of your breathing,

Conscious of breathing,

Nothing else.

Bring your attention to the middle of your eyebrows,

Breathe in through the eyebrow center to a point at the back of the head,

In through the eyebrow center to the back of the head,

And out again through the eyebrow center.

Continue breathing in this way while you start counting down from 18,

18 in,

18 out,

17 in,

17 out and so on.

If your mind wanders,

You lose count or you get to zero before I continue,

Go back to 18 and start again.

If your mind wanders or you lose count or you get to zero before I continue,

Go back to 18 and start again.

Release your awareness from your breathing and connect to a feeling of heaviness in your left arm.

It's resting on the floor,

Heavy and relaxed.

Inhale and on the exhalation feel the arm getting even heavier.

And then find the sensation of lightness in the same arm.

On the next inhalation feel how the arm wants to follow the breath to become light as air.

Move to the right arm,

It's also resting on the floor,

Heavy and relaxed.

Inhale and on the exhalation feel how the arm drops deeper into the floor as you exhale all your weight into that arm.

Now lightness in the same arm.

On the next inhalation feel how the arm follows the breath to become light as a feather,

Following the inhalation before you exhale again.

Now the left leg,

Heavy and relaxed,

Lying on the floor.

Inhale and on the exhalation feel the whole weight of your body drain into your left leg.

And then allow the leg to become light,

It wants to float effortlessly into the air.

And then the right leg,

Heavy and relaxed.

Inhale and on the exhalation feel the whole weight of your body drain into your right leg.

Then allow the right leg to become light as a feather.

Then a feeling of heaviness in the whole body.

Connect to a feeling of heaviness in the entire body.

Feel how it sinks into the ground,

Profoundly heavy and relaxed.

And again lightness in the whole body,

Light as air,

Lighter and lighter into the air.

Allow your body to recall the physical sensation of feeling loved,

Loving or being loved.

Recall an instance when you felt very loved.

Make the situation vivid in as much detail as you can.

Feel loved and then let go of the memory but hold on to the feeling of being loved,

The pure sensation of feeling loved.

No images,

No memory,

Just the physical sensation of love and belonging.

Locate that part of your body where feeling loved makes itself felt.

Perhaps a warm glow in the chest.

The glowing sensation of love.

Then allow your body to recall feeling unloved.

Recall a story or incident when you felt unloved.

Nothing big or traumatic,

Just an instance of feeling unloved,

Of not quite belonging.

Allow your body to feel unloved,

To sense the feeling of feeling unloved.

Now remove the detail and let go of the memory but hold on to the feeling,

Just the physical sensation of feeling unloved.

Not being unloved,

Just feeling unloved.

Locate that feeling in your body,

Perhaps in the pit of your stomach.

These are all fleeting experiences,

Heaviness,

Lightness,

Feeling loved,

Feeling unloved.

Fleeting experiences that don't belong to you,

That are never permanent and as such do not define you.

They are mere sensations that you allow to drift across your being like clouds across the sky.

That you allow to drift across your being like clouds across the sky.

We now go on a short journey through the archive of consciousness and subconscious impressions.

Wander your awareness up to the center of the eyebrow and there invoke the following images.

Don't get distracted by memory or meaning,

Just recognize the image,

Place it in the context of your life and move on to the next one.

Invoke a burning campfire,

A burning campfire,

A statue of Buddha,

A statue of Buddha,

Statue of Buddha,

Flickering candle,

Flickering candle,

A car moving across the bridge,

Car moving across the bridge,

Dead body burning on a fire,

A dead body burning on a fire,

A dead body burning on a fire,

Starlit night,

Starlit night,

Full moon,

Full moon,

Dog standing,

A dog standing,

A cat reposing,

A cat reposing,

A cat reposing,

Rising sun,

The rising sun,

Horses racing on a track,

Horses racing on a track,

A big pond with murky water,

A big pond with murky water,

Clear blue sky,

Clear blue sky,

Morning dew glistening on a spider's web,

Morning dew glistening on a spider's web,

A sandy rubber bank,

A sandy rubber bank,

Compassionate Christ,

Compassionate Christ,

Chimney smoke,

Chimney smoke,

Someone walking away from you,

Someone walking away from you,

Someone walking away from you,

A brown leather suitcase,

A brown leather suitcase,

A child embracing you,

A child embracing you,

An infinite ocean,

Infinite ocean,

Infinite ocean,

Big swells in the ocean,

Rising and sinking under the dark sky,

A restless ocean,

You see the dark sky,

Floating on the vast ocean,

Feeling the swell of waves,

Allowing any spontaneous thoughts or impressions to arise,

Become aware of every thought or image,

Let it come into full view,

Recognize it,

Acknowledge it,

Then detach from it and let it go,

Allow the next image of thought to arise,

Recognize it,

Acknowledge it,

And then detach and let it go and so on,

Relax all your efforts and become aware of the whole body,

Awareness of natural breathing,

Quiet breathing,

Maintain this awareness and gradually deepen it,

Remember your physical existence,

Your body,

Your state of relaxation,

Take a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in and let it out,

Awareness of your body,

Deeply relaxed on the floor,

Awareness of the surrounding room,

Awareness of the surrounding room,

Awareness of breathing,

Of breathing in and out,

Record your sankalpa,

Repeat it three times to yourself with absolute faithfulness and integrity,

Relax all efforts and become aware of the whole body,

Awareness of natural breathing,

Quiet breathing,

Maintain this awareness and gradually deepen it,

Remember your physical existence,

Your body and your state of relaxation,

Take a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in and let it out,

Awareness of your body,

Deeply relaxed on the floor,

Awareness of the surrounding room,

Let your mind become external,

The sound of your breathing,

The sound of my voice,

Other sounds beyond the room you're in,

Other sounds beyond the room you're in,

And then start making small movements with your body,

Bend your fingers,

Move your toes,

Move your arms and legs,

Keeping your eyes closed,

Gently roll over onto one side and stay there for a couple of moments,

And when you're ready,

Push yourself up and open your eyes.

The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

Reviews

Thank you, Leonhard.
What a deep and beautiful journey....