Welcome to this yoga nidra practice.
Before we begin,
I invite you to make yourself as comfortable as possible.
Lay on your back with a thin pillow under your head and a bolster under your knees if you desire.
Lay with your legs hip distance apart,
Your feet relaxed,
Your arms by your side with your palms facing up.
You may also place your hands on your belly or on your heart.
Close your eyes.
Soften into the surface beneath you.
The practice of yoga nidra begins now.
Notice your body lying on your mat.
Feel the sensation of the back side of your body touching the mat.
Feel the sensation of your clothes on your skin.
Feel the weight of the blanket on your body.
Feel the sensation of air on your face.
Listen for any sounds you hear outside the room you are in or inside the room.
What is the furthest away sound you can hear?
What is the closest sound you can hear?
Let your ears move from sound to sound without staying too long on any one sound and without any judgment or attachment to what you're hearing.
Bring your awareness to your breathing.
Without judgment,
Just simply notice your breath.
Notice your inhales.
Notice your exhales.
Feel the temperature of the air as it enters your nostrils.
Feel the temperature of the air in your nostrils as you exhale.
Make a decision to stay awake during this yoga nidra practice.
Say to yourself,
I will stay awake and aware during this yoga nidra practice.
Stay present to the sound of my voice.
Let my voice be your guide as together we move through this yoga nidra practice.
Put away any worries or stress and instead choose to focus on the present moment.
Remember,
You are in a safe and comfortable place.
The goal of yoga nidra is to put our bodies to sleep while keeping our mind conscious and awake.
Between sleep and wakefulness is where we can listen deeply to our inner wisdom.
It is where questions can be answered and insights can be heard.
Magic happens in this space.
Be open to this magic.
Bring your attention once again to your breath.
Feel the air in your nostrils as you breathe in and breathe out.
In through the nose and out through the nose.
Feel your belly rising and falling.
Become aware of your body being breathed.
Become aware of your body being breathed.
Your body and your mind are now beautifully open and receptive.
I invite you to set an intention or sankalpa that speaks of your heartfelt desire.
Your sankalpa is a positive and affirming statement in the present tense and starts with I AM.
It could be I AM worthy.
I AM trusting.
I AM healthy.
I AM confident.
I AM accepted.
Choose your sankalpa now and silently repeat it to yourself three times.
We'll now begin the rotation of body consciousness,
A trip through the different parts of the body.
Stay connected to my voice and as I say each body part,
Repeat the part in your mind while at the same time focusing on that body part and then release it.
Keep yourself alert but do not concentrate too intensely.
We start with the right side of your body.
Become aware of your right hand,
Your right hand thumb,
Right index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
All five fingers of your right hand,
Palm of the right hand,
Back of the hand,
Your whole right hand,
Your wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Armpit,
Shoulder,
Your whole right arm,
The right side of your chest,
Right rib cage,
Right side of the waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Your whole right foot,
Your right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
All five toes of your right foot,
Top of the foot,
Sole of the foot,
Your whole right foot.
Transfer your awareness to the left side of your body.
Become aware of your left hand,
Your left thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger,
All five fingers on your left hand,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Your whole left hand,
Your wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Armpit,
Shoulder,
Your whole left arm,
The left side of your chest,
Rib cage,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Your whole left foot,
Your left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
All five toes on your left foot,
Top of the foot,
Sole of the foot,
Your whole left foot.
Bring your awareness to the top of your head,
Your forehead,
The left side of your head,
Right side of your head,
Left eyebrow,
Right eyebrow,
The space between the eyebrows,
Right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Right eyeball,
Left eyeball,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Your nose,
The tip of your nose,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Both lips together.
Feel the inside of your mouth,
Your tongue,
Teeth,
Right inside cheek,
Left inside cheek,
Your chin,
Neck,
The inside of your throat.
Feel your entire whole head.
Feel the entire front of your body.
Feel the entire back of your body.
Feel your entire whole body,
Your whole body,
Your whole body.
Bring your awareness to your breath,
Your prana,
The vital energy within you.
Effortless and natural,
Notice the flow in and out of your lungs.
On an inhale,
Feel the rise from throat to navel.
On an exhale,
Notice the fall from navel to throat.
Complete awareness of your natural breath.
Begin to count up from 1 to 27.
Inhale for 1.
Exhale for 1.
Inhale for 2.
Exhale for 2.
Keep counting on your own.
If you lose count,
Start again from 1.
Release the counting.
It doesn't matter if you made it to 27 or not.
Everything is exactly as it needs to be.
We will shift awareness to visualizations of opposing sensations,
Finding balance through each pair.
We can release the charge and attachment that they may hold,
Letting the sensations arise and expand with less hold on our minds.
What remains is a deeper sense of equilibrium.
Feel yourself heavy on the ground.
So heavy.
Envision your insides,
Each organ and muscle heavy like lead.
With each breath,
Adding more weight,
Starting to imprint into the ground,
Sinking heavy into the ground.
On each exhale,
Sinking heavier.
Now bring the sensation of lightness into the body.
With each exhale,
Letting go of more and more weight.
Feel yourself start to levitate.
Awareness of your body floating off the ground.
Feel spacious and untied.
Complete awareness of lightness.
Feel heavy and light at the same time.
Inhale and exhale.
Rooted and spacious.
Bring the sensation of being cold into your body.
You can imagine yourself standing in the snow,
The crisp air on your cheeks,
Breathing in the tiniest ice crystals from the air,
A chill through the body,
A deep feeling of cold through the entire body.
Focus on your awareness of feeling cold.
Now experience heat,
Like walking into a sauna.
Feel the warm air envelop you and your body starts to sweat.
Your body increasing in temperature,
Feeling intense heat from head to toe.
Complete awareness of heat all over your body.
Experience the cold and the heat together in the body and then let it go.
Let the feeling of pain awaken in your body.
Any kind of pain you have experienced in your life.
It could be a pain you felt from illness or something that deeply hurt your heart.
Focus on the intensity of the pain,
The visceral feeling throughout your body.
Become fully aware of pain.
Now start to awaken the sensation of pleasure.
Recall a moment of intense pleasure that you have experienced that you may associate with a sense of touch,
Taste,
Sound,
Smell,
Or sight.
It could be a moment of pure joy filled with love and euphoria.
Notice the experience of pleasure.
Experience pain and pleasure in the body both at the same time.
Now let go of the pain and let go of the pleasure.
Bring your awareness to your mind's eye,
That space behind your forehead.
Imagine there is a projector there that is projecting images onto a screen in front of your closed eyes.
Listen to my voice as I call out various images.
Imagine these images playing out on that screen in front of your closed eyes.
Focus on the image and then let it go as the next one is called out.
A bright white light.
A red blanket.
A bright blue sailboat.
A beach ball.
Sand flowing in an hourglass.
A crowd in a shopping mall.
Sipping a hot coffee.
A deer running in a field.
A mountain sunset.
A crisp $20 bill.
Rain falling onto the sidewalk.
A candle burning.
Focus on the flame of the candle.
Focus on the flame of the candle.
See the flame flicker and dance.
Notice that you are holding the candle in your hand.
It is dark,
But the flame of the candle illuminates your surroundings.
You see that you are in a room.
You look up and notice that the ceiling is high above you,
But since it's dark you can't really tell how high up it is.
The height makes you feel expansive.
You look around and can see the four walls of the room.
The walls are bare.
Nothing is on them.
There are no windows and they appear to be painted white.
On one wall is a door.
It is closed and you wonder where it leads.
As your eyes adjust to the darkness with the help of the light of your candle,
You notice that there are unlit candles sitting on the floor throughout the entire room.
You have a thought to start lighting them.
You start with the candle closest to you.
You use your candle to light the flame of the unlit candle.
It sparks to life.
You light the next candle you see.
It sparks to life too.
You light the next candle.
And the next.
And the next.
Until the room is brightly lit,
Almost like being in daylight.
The room is so bright from the light of all the candles that you have lit.
You notice how amazing it is that from one candle all this light was created.
From the one candle you held in your hand,
The room is now bright and warm and welcoming and cozy and safe.
As you gaze around the room at all the light and brightness,
You are filled with a deep joy and a deep gratitude that begins in your heart and fills your soul.
You feel a deep joy and gratitude that begins in your heart and flows from your heart into your whole body.
This joy and gratitude starts to overflow from your heart and from your body and starts to radiate out into the room,
Making the room even more bright with more light.
You feel joy and gratitude in every cell of your body,
Vibrating and radiating.
You realize that the light is within you.
You don't need a candle to light up the room.
The light comes from you.
It is you.
You are the light.
The light is you.
And your gift is to shine and spark and illuminate and radiate outwards from you into the world.
You realize that with this light inside you,
You can create warmth and brightness and safety for all those you care about in your life.
You are warmth.
You are brightness.
You are safety.
You are light.
Bright.
Light.
Shining.
Warm.
Grateful.
Joyful.
Into the light that you have created,
Your whole being is open to your heart's innermost desire,
Your intention,
Your sankalpa.
Into this light,
Place your sankalpa.
Repeat your sankalpa now three times silently.
Slowly.
Quietly.
Reverently.
Travel back to your body.
Back to your breath.
Breathe in.
And breathe out.
Breathe in.
And breathe out.
Breathe in.
And breathe out.
Recall that you are practicing Yoga Nidra.
Begin to notice your breath.
The inhale.
And the exhale.
Feel the air in your nostrils as you breathe in.
And as you breathe out.
Feel your belly rise and fall.
Feel your heart beating in your chest.
Feel your body lying on the mat.
Feel the weight of your clothes on your body.
Feel the air moving over your face.
Return to your body.
Your beautiful,
Blissful,
Perfect body.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
Start to bring gentle movement to your fingers and your toes.
Slowly.
And gently.
Begin to roll your wrists and ankles.
It may feel good to place your hands on your heart or your belly for a few breaths.
Slowly.
Gently.
And with care,
Roll over to your side body.
Lay here quietly with your eyes closed,
Supporting your head and your neck.
When you are ready,
Bring yourself to a seated position and slowly blink your eyes open.
