This Yoga Nidra practice is inspired by Yoga Sutra 1.
14.
Sattu Durgakala Nainantarya Satkala Savitho Dridha Bhoomi Practice becomes firmly grounded when it is cultivated for a long time,
Without interruption and with sincere devotion.
In the previous sutra,
But Anjali helped us understand that practice is the effort to return to steadiness.
Here he takes that teaching deeper.
He reminds us that practice becomes stable when we stay with it.
Not for the few days,
Not only when we feel inspired,
Not only when life is easy,
But over time with continuity,
With sincerity and with care.
This practice is an invitation to feel what it means for something to become rooted within you.
Not forced.
Not rushed,
Simply nourished again and again until what once felt fragile begins to feel steady.
So allow yourself now to rest.
There is nothing to achieve.
Nothing to do.
Simply listen and let the practice work quietly beneath the surface.
Lie down in a comfortable position.
Let the legs rest slightly apart.
Allow the arms to rest a little away from the body.
Palms facing upward if that feels natural.
If lying on your back is not comfortable,
Rest on your side or choose any position that allows the body to feel supported.
If you are sitting,
Let the spine remain upright but relaxed.
Support the head if needed.
Let the hands rest on the thighs.
Make any final adjustments.
And once you are comfortable,
Allow your eyes to close.
Let the forehead soften.
Relax the space between the eyebrows.
Let the jaw loosen.
Let the tongue rest quietly.
Soften the shoulders.
The arms.
The hell?
Let the belly soften.
Let the legs become still.
Take a slow breath in.
And breathe out gently.
Once again.
For the evening in.
And breathing out.
Allow the breath to settle into its own rhythm.
Nothing to control.
Nothing to improve.
Just Breathing.
The body is resting.
The breath is moving.
Awareness is here.
Feel the weight of the body meeting the support beneath you.
The body does not need to hold itself up.
Let yourself be held.
Imagine that the surface beneath you is firm earth.
Steady.
Reliable.
Supporting you without effort.
Feel the whole body resting on this ground.
The whole body is supported.
The whole body bdhite.
And silently notice.
There is support beneath me.
There is support beneath me.
Let the body soften and do that support.
Now bring to mind your Sankalpa,
Your inner resolve,
Your intention,
A short and simple intention.
Whatever is your intention,
Repeat it silently three times,
With attention,
With sincerity,
With feeling.
Let the words settle like a seed placed into fertile soil.
No need to force it to grow.
Simply plant it.
And trust the process.
We go now into the rotation of consciousness.
Move awareness from point to point.
Do not move physically.
Simply hear the name of each part and feel it.
Inwardly.
We begin from the right side.
Right hand thumb.
2nd finger.
Third.
Forward.
Fair.
Bomb of the hand.
Back of the head.
Rest.
Lower arm.
Elbow Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Ampeg right side of the chest.
Right Waist Right Hip.
Like,
Tie.
.
.
Knee calf Shen.
Angle Heal soul of the right foot.
Top of the right foot.
Light a big dole.
2nd Tool Toad.
Fold.
Fair.
Now we move to the left side.
Left Hand Thumb 2nd finger Third finger.
Forward.
Fifth.
Bomb of the hand.
Back of the hand.
List.
Lower arm.
Elbow Upper arm.
Shoulder Ampe!
Left side of the chest.
Left Waist Left hip.
Left thigh.
Knee.
Golf.
Shin.
Ankle.
Heal,
Soul of the left foot.
Top of the left foot.
Left big toe.
2nd Tool TADA!
Bored.
Fed.
The whole left side.
Now the back of the body.
Back of the head.
Back of the neck.
Right Shoulder Blade Left Shoulder Blade Oppo back.
Metalback.
Lower back.
Right Buttock.
Left Buttock the whole spine.
The whole back body.
Now the front of the body.
Top of the head.
Fatherhood.
Right temple.
Left Temple Right Eyebrow Left Eyebrow The Space Between the Eyebrows Like I.
.
.
Left Eye Write g.
Left Chi nose,
Tip of the Nose Upper lip.
Lower lip.
Gen.
Jaw.
Road.
Right Collarbone Left Collarbone center of the chest.
Right side of the chest.
Left side of the chest.
Upper abdomen.
Naval.
Lower abdomen.
Pelvis,
The whole front body.
Now both legs together.
Both arms together.
The whole back body.
The whole front body.
The whole head.
The whole body.
The whole body resting.
But are you there?
Held in awareness.
Now bring awareness to the natural breath.
Feel the breath at the nostrils.
Cooler air entering.
Warmer air leaving.
No need to deepen it.
No need to change it.
Just observe.
Breath after breath.
One for that.
Then another.
Then another.
Each Breath Arrived.
Each breath leaves,
And yet the rhythm continues.
Notice the simple continuity,
Breath after breath,
Moment.
After movement.
Nothing dramatic.
Nothing forced,
Just continuity.
Let the breath become a quiet symbol of practice.
Not intensity.
Rhythm,
Not urgency.
Steadiness.
Now bring your awareness to the inner space behind the closed eye.
Chidakasha,
The inner space behind the closed eye.
The quiet inner sky.
Bring your awareness to that space.
Perhaps there's darkness,
Perhaps color.
Perhaps shapes,
Perhaps nothing.
Do not search.
Do not control.
Simply observe.
Todd's Meal Advice.
Images may appear,
Memories may come.
Let them pass.
Remain with the space itself,
The open field of awareness.
Now silently hear the Sutra.
SATU DIRGA KALA NAINANTADIYA Sat Kadasavito Draddha Purnima.
Sathu Durgakala Nayantharya Sat Kadasavito Tantabul.
Practice becomes firmly grounded when it is cultivated for a long time.
Without interruption and with sincere devotion.
Let the meaning settle.
Long time?
Continue it.
GED.
Firm ground.
Now imagine that you are standing in a quiet garden at dawn.
The earth is cool.
The light is solved.
The ground beneath you is dark,
Rich soil.
You kneel down.
And in your hand is a small seed.
Very small,
Almost insignificant.
You place the seed into the soil.
Cover them gently.
And water.
Nothing dramatic happens.
The surface looks almost exactly the same.
But beneath the ground something has begun.
Imagine returning the next day.
You water the soil again.
And again.
Day after day.
Some days there's sunlight.
Some days rain.
Some days the sky is grey.
Still,
You return.
You do not dig up the seed every morning to check whether it is growing.
You trust what is happening beneath the surface.
Feel that.
Quiet.
Good old.
.
.
Invisible growth.
Now imagine the seed beginning to open.
A small root extends downward.
Than another,
Fine roots spreading into the soil.
Day after day.
Deeper.
Why though?
Stronger.
You continue to care for it,
Not excessively.
Not obsessively,
Just steadily.
And over time a small shoot begins to emerge.
Tendo.
G'day A lie.
You continue returning again and again.
The shoot glows.
A stem,
Leaves.
Branches.
And beneath the soil the roots deepen.
The tree becomes more stable.
Wind comes,
The branches move,
But the roots hold.
Rain comes,
Seasons change,
Still the roots remain.
Feel the tree now,
Firmly grounded.
Dread the boomy,
Firm ground.
Notice that the tree did not become strong in one day.
It became strong through time.
Continuity.
Yeah.
Let the tree become a symbol of your own practice.
Not perfection,
Rootedness,
Not intensity,
Depth.
Not force.
Devotion.
Now we move into Rapid Image Visualization.
Let each image appear briefly.
Do not hold it.
Do not analyze.
Let one image arise and then fade.
A seed.
Dark Soil A drop of water.
Morning Dew.
A green shoot.
A young sapling.
Roots Beneath The Earth a tree trunk.
A ring inside a tree.
A strong loot.
A mountain.
A STORM BOT A candle burning through the night.
O'clock.
A sunrise.
Another sunrise.
Another sunrise.
A calendar page.
A hand turning a page.
Footsteps on a path A well worn trail.
A cup placed in the same place every morning.
A meditation cushion.
And open journal.
A pen.
A single breath.
Another of that.
A bell.
A steady flame.
Rain falling on soil.
Sunlight truly.
Are they worth lowering?
Update.
A woven thread.
Other.
A hand watering a plant.
A tree in wind.
A mountain beneath clouds.
A lamp being lit.
A heart.
Two hands resting together.
A quiet doom.
A path continuing into the distance.
The word Patience.
The word continuity.
The word devotion.
And now let all images dissolve.
Rest in the quiet after the images.
Now imagine a single golden thread.
Very fine.
Very simple.
The thread represents your relationship with practice.
Notice that it does not have to be thick.
It simply needs to remain.
Bring to mind one practice in your life that matters.
Perhaps meditation.
Or movement,
Or writing,
Or prayer,
Or breath awareness.
Or the way of speaking or the way of relating to others.
Let one practice appear.
And gently ask.
What would it mean to stay in relationship with this?
What would it mean to stay in relationship with this?
Not perfectly,
Not intensely,
But sincerely.
What would it mean to stay in relationship with this?
What is the smallest version of this practice that you can return to?
What is the smallest version of this practice that you can return to?
Let the answer arise.
Perhaps five minutes,
One breath,
One page,
One walk,
One pause,
One moment.
Now see the golden thread connecting you to that practice.
Even on difficulties.
Even when motivation fades,
Even when the form changes,
The tread remains.
Silently Say.
I keep the thread alive.
I keep the thread alive.
Now let the thread dissolve.
Return to the sense of the body resting on the earth beneath you.
Feel the firmness of the support.
The ground is there.
You do not need to create it.
You can rest on it.
Imagine that your practice is becoming like this ground.
Steady.
Reliable.
Available,
Not perfect,
But rooted.
Silently healed.
Long die.
Continuity.
CAB Firm ground.
Rest pure.
And now bring your Sankalpa,
Your intention,
Your resolve,
Bring it back into awareness.
The same intention that you made at the beginning of the practice.
And repeated silently three times with feeling,
With sincerity.
Let it settle deeply.
Like roots growing quietly beneath the surface.
Now begin to notice the physical body.
Feel the body resting on the surface beneath you.
Feel the back of the head.
The shoulders,
The arms,
The Hand.
The spine.
The pelvis,
The legs.
The feat.
Notice the natural of that.
Feel the air around you.
Become aware of the area that you are in.
The sounds.
The Temperature.
The Space.
Move the fingers.
Move the toes.
Stretch the body.
Take your time.
If you are lying down,
Roll gently to one side whenever you are ready.
Let this position be a bridge between deep rest and waking life.
And remember,
You do not need to transform everything at once.
You only need to remain in relationship with what matters.
The turn.
Nadesh.
Stay.
Let time do some of the work.
And whenever you are ready,
Slowly return to a seated position or remain resting.
Bring the palms together at the heart if that feels natural.
Take a slow breath in.
And breathe out gently.
And if your eyes were closed,
You can open your eyes.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
