Yoga Nidra And The Art Of Letting Go: Part Three
This is the third in a three-part series on "Yoga Nidra and the Art of Letting Go." The focus of the first practice is on "identification," while the second practice explores the shadows that haunt the realization of our Sankalpa. This third practice explores the state of Bliss in relation to loving and belonging.
Transcript
Hello,
My name is Leonard Prague.
Welcome to this meditation on and practice in the art of letting go.
Much of our suffering results from believing that we don't have a right to exist or that we don't belong in the world.
If we can really trust that we belong in the world,
We'd be able to let go of much of our suffering,
Bad habits,
Persistent self-doubt and other shadows that haunt us.
It's surprisingly common to believe that we don't really belong in the world,
That we don't have a right to exist,
A belief which is often grounded in the deeper conviction that we are incapable of loving or undeserving of being loved and that we therefore don't belong in the world.
As long as we cannot trust that we can love and that we deserve to be loved,
We cannot trust that we belong in the world and as long as we don't trust that we belong,
We'll keep returning to those patterns of behaviour which,
However briefly,
Always give us a temporary sense of relief and belonging.
Like all Yoga Nidra practices,
This practice will encourage you to encounter your bliss or supreme body,
The most fundamental of our five bodies or koshas as they're known in Yoga Nidra.
The bliss body is that point of intersection between the individual self and the divine,
The source or being.
When we do Yoga Nidra,
The ultimate aim is to return to that state of bliss that precedes the emergence of the individuated self or ego.
Think of the divine as an ocean and the individual self as a wave in the ocean.
We come and go,
Like waves in an ocean that was there before and will be there after us.
By returning to this point of emergence or bliss,
We affirm our right to exist and experience a deep and profound sense of belonging.
In other words,
By affirming our divine right to be and belong,
Yoga Nidra allows us to short-circuit our addiction to all those habits that give us a false and temporary sense of belonging.
So let's begin this journey back to the interface between source and self,
Back to the origin of the wave you think of as yourself.
There's a long pause towards the end of the practice that should not be confused with the end of the practice,
Which will be clearly stated.
Take a deep breath in,
Fill your lungs to capacity,
And when they fill,
Hold your breath.
Hold it.
Hold it.
And then exhale slowly through your mouth,
And as you do so,
Let all the worries and concerns,
All the intellectual constructs about your life and the world,
Fall away.
Yes,
For the duration of this practice,
Stop interpreting the world or trying to understand yourself.
This is not always easy,
So let's do it again.
Take a deep breath in,
Fill your lungs to capacity,
And when they fill,
Hold your breath.
Hold it.
Hold it.
And then exhale slowly through your mouth,
And as you do so,
Let all the worries and concerns about your life and the world,
Fall away.
From here,
There's no need to interpret the world or understand yourself.
Just become aware of your whole body,
From your head,
Down the shoulders,
Abdomen,
Arms,
Thighs,
Legs,
Feet,
Toes.
Become aware of your whole body,
Your whole body,
Your whole body.
Now let the resolve or positive intention for this practice articulate itself.
It's always advisable to work with one sankalpa over an extended period.
This allows that heart's desire to really take root,
Grow and blossom and actualize as you water that desire with further repetitions over time.
Take a moment to let your sankalpa articulate itself,
Then state it three times to yourself with intention and awareness.
To deepen your physical state of relaxation,
We'll now rotate your awareness throughout your body.
We're going to name a specific body part,
Visualize it,
And simply allow for it to be soaked up in your awareness.
Right hand,
Right hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Right side,
Right waist,
Hip,
Right thigh,
Kneecap,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe,
Left hand,
Left hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left side,
Left waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Kneecap,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe,
Crown of the head,
Forehead,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Space between the eyebrows,
Bridge of the nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Thin line where the two lips meet,
Chin,
Jaw,
Throat,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Right chest,
Left chest,
Middle of the chest,
Upper abdomen,
Lower abdomen,
Navel,
Right groin,
Left groin,
Right thigh,
Left thigh,
Right knee,
Left knee,
Right ankle,
Left ankle,
Right foot,
Left foot,
Right heel,
Left heel,
Back of the right ankle,
Back of the left ankle,
Right calf,
Left calf,
Back of the right knee,
Back of the left knee,
Back of the right thigh,
Back of the left thigh,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
Right hip,
Left hip,
The whole spine,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Back of the neck,
Back of the head,
Crown of the head,
Awareness of mind,
Brain,
Nasal passage,
Tongue,
Upper teeth,
Lower teeth,
Roof of the mouth,
Inside right cheek,
Inside left cheek,
Right eardrum,
Left eardrum,
Throat,
Right lung,
Left lung,
Heart,
Stomach,
Right kidney,
Left kidney,
Small intestine,
Large intestine,
Whole of the right leg,
Whole of the left leg,
Both legs together,
Whole of the right arm,
Whole of the left arm,
Both arms together,
Whole of the head together,
Whole of the back together,
Whole of the front together,
All the internal organs together,
The whole body,
The whole body,
The whole body,
Awareness of your whole body lying on the floor,
The whole body aware of itself,
Awareness of every point of contact between body and floor,
Head and floor,
Shoulders and floor,
Arms and floor,
Back and floor,
Buttocks and floor,
Thighs and floor,
Calves and floor,
Heels and floor,
The whole body lying on the floor,
The whole body lying on the floor,
The whole body lying on the floor.
And you're still breathing,
Navel rising and falling,
Rising and falling like a gentle swell in the ocean,
Breathing knows its own rhythm,
Navel rising and falling.
Start counting down from 9 to 0 on every exhalation,
Aware of the navel rising and falling,
Breathing in,
9,
Navel falling,
9,
Navel rising,
8,
Navel falling,
8,
And so on.
If you lose count or make a mistake,
You must go back to 9,
Start again.
Now shift your awareness from your navel to your heart centre,
And your chest rising and falling,
Breathing in on the 9,
Chest rising,
Breathing out,
Chest falling,
9,
8 in,
8 out,
And so on.
If you lose count or your mind wanders,
You must go back to 9 and start again.
From your chest to your nostrils,
Air flowing into your nose as you inhale,
And out as you exhale,
Breathing in 9,
Breathing out 9,
Breathing in 8,
Breathing out 8,
And so on.
Stop the counting now,
But remain aware of your breathing.
Every time you exhale,
Feel how your body sinks deeper and deeper into the floor.
Inhale,
And on the exhalation feel the body sink deeper and deeper,
Heavier and heavier into the floor.
Let the intention of exhaling make the body heavier and heavier every time you exhale.
Now allow the body to recall the experience of lightness.
With every inhalation,
Feel how your body becomes lighter and lighter,
As if it wants to follow your breath into the air.
Up,
Up,
The sensation of floating.
Exhale gently,
Then inhale and feel the body rising with the inhalation,
Light as a feather.
Allow the body to deepen its sense of heaviness again.
On the exhalation,
Feel how the body sinks deeper and deeper into the floor.
Inhale again,
And on the exhalation,
Feel the body sinking even deeper and deeper,
Heavier and heavier.
And now lightness again,
The physical sensation of lightness.
On the inhalation,
Feel how your body becomes lighter and lighter.
Visualize your body lying on the floor,
Perfectly still on the floor in this room.
Release awareness from your body and allow your awareness to wander up into your mind,
To where awareness is aware only of itself.
There,
Focus your awareness on the dark space in front of your closed eyes,
Where you now see a submarine,
Submarine,
Submarine,
Pencil,
Pencil,
Pencil,
Typewriter,
Typewriter,
Typewriter,
Empty bookshelf,
Empty bookshelf,
Empty bookshelf,
Brown leather suitcase,
Brown leather suitcase,
Brown leather suitcase,
Red rose,
Red rose,
Red rose,
A cup and saucer,
A cup and saucer,
A cup and saucer,
A black bicycle,
Black bicycle,
Wooden chair,
Wooden chair,
Kitchen table,
Kitchen table,
Pedestrian crossing,
Pedestrian crossing,
An open book,
An open book,
Closed gate,
Closed gate,
An apple,
An apple,
A shopping bag,
A shopping bag,
A broom,
A broom,
Garden path,
Starry night,
Empty grave,
Birds flying across the sunset,
Footsteps on the side of a dune,
A cliff dropping off into the sea,
Waves crashing on the rocks below,
Restless waves,
Endless ocean,
Infinite horizon,
Clear blue sky,
Thrusting,
Infinity,
Thrusting,
Infinity,
Thrusting,
Infinity.
It's time to repeat your sankalpa again.
We planted the seed at the beginning of practice and we now fertilize it by repeating it again,
Exactly as you stated it at the beginning,
With full awareness,
Allowing the intention of every word to sink into your heart.
And now we start to make our return from the state of bliss back to the physical world.
Develop awareness of your body,
Deeply relaxed,
Lying on the floor.
Visualize the surrounding room.
Let your mind become completely external.
Start making small movements with your body,
Bend your fingers,
Move your toes,
Move your arms and legs.
As you become aware of your physical self and surroundings,
The sensation of the floor,
Perhaps a blanket over you,
The sounds and smells,
You may also become aware of a little pang of sadness for having to leave the state of bliss.
This is normal.
We'd like to stay there,
But we can't.
As with all forms of suffering and happiness,
Bliss too is impermanent.
We return to the state of bliss to reconnect with our true self,
To learn what we can,
Only to return again to this world,
To do what we're here to do.
Become aware of that little pang of disappointment,
Acknowledge it and let it go.
And you're still breathing,
Navel rising and falling.
Feel your whole body on the floor,
Every point of contact with the floor.
Visualize the room around you and allow the sounds in the room and beyond to enter your mind.
Lie quietly a little longer with your eyes closed.
And when you're ready,
Gently start moving your body,
Beginning with your toes and fingertips,
Then your feet and hands,
Legs and arms.
Allow your life force to seep back into your body.
Eventually roll your head from side to side.
And when you're ready,
Stretch out and allow the pleasure to remind you that body and mind are one.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
5.0 (12)
Recent Reviews
Rob
February 19, 2025
That was excellent. I appreciate your thoughtfulness in the design of this meditation. I enjoyed the body scan bringing awareness to organs and the long time set for breathing. What a gift this one is.