Ascent Of Self Yoga Nidra

This Yoga Nidra takes you on a deeply healing journey. It helps cultivate transformation, creativity, and being in the flow of your life. Both deeply relaxing and uplifting, expect to come away feeling nourished, soothed, and more at peace.
Background music track Bright Moon provided by Wisdom of Music

Transcript

Welcome to this yoga nidra.

My name is Lucy McCarthy.

Prepare yourself now for the practice.

Ensure the space you are within feels sweet,

Soothing and safe.

Then lay down on your back in the yoga pose,

Savasana,

Corpse pose.

Have any props that will allow you to rest deeply and comfortably for the duration of the practice.

A thin pillow for your head,

A light covering for your eyes and a blanket to drape over your whole body can all enhance the practice.

Set yourself up so that the whole body feels supported and at ease.

Tend to the body and its comfort with a feeling of reverence and tenderness.

Legs gently separated,

Feet falling out to the sides,

Hands palms up with your arms slightly away from the body,

Eyes gently closed.

Feel both sides of the body balanced and in symmetry.

Release any final fidgets so that the body can then melt into stillness.

Yoga nidra is a sacred ancient practice that takes us on a journey back home to ourselves.

It draws us into a liminal space between waking and sleeping.

A profound state in which deep healing,

Evolution and transformation can occur.

Here and now,

Make the inner commitment to stay awake and aware throughout the practice.

Allow to maintain calm,

Quiet awareness throughout.

Let my voice guide you into the depths of your inner mind.

Allow my words to meet your ears effortlessly.

Now feel your body heavy,

Relaxed and into the earth under the gaze of gravity.

Surrender into complete stillness for the duration of the practice.

The practice of yoga nidra begins now.

We will work on releasing any tension stored in the body by consciously creating tension in order to deeply release it.

Focus on feeling fully both the tensing and the releasing and relaxation that follows.

As you next inhale,

Draw your hands into fists,

Hold the breath,

Squeeze your fist as tightly as you can,

So much tension.

Then as you exhale,

Soften,

Relax and completely let go of any tension in the hands.

Again,

Inhale deeply,

Hold the breath and now squeeze and tense the hands and entire arms,

Squeeze.

Now exhale and feel the full letting go and release.

Now to the feet.

Inhale,

Hold the breath and squeeze both feet and all 10 toes tightly.

Exhale and melt all tension away.

Inhale again,

Hold the breath and this time squeeze and tense feet,

Legs all the way up to the buttocks.

Exhale,

Relax,

Feel your face,

Inhale deeply,

Hold the breath,

Squeeze your entire face,

Eyes,

Nose,

Ears,

Jaw,

Neck,

Toes,

Squeeze,

Exhale and embody a full letting go.

Now the entire body.

Inhale,

Hold your breath and squeeze everything as tightly as possible,

Face,

Chest,

Butt,

Legs,

Feet,

Squeeze,

Lots and lots of tension.

Exhale and relax,

Let it all go,

Relax,

Soften,

Release.

Feel the afterglow,

Soften into the sweet sense of surrender and deep relaxation.

Now become aware of your breath in your belly,

Rising and falling all by itself.

Notice your body laying on the earth,

Bones weightily rooting earthwards.

Bring your awareness to your nose,

Witness any smells in your environment.

Become aware of the act of smelling.

Now notice the inner waters of the body,

Sense your saliva in your mouth,

The soft pulse of the blood flowing through your veins.

Now feel the space your body is taking up in the room you're lying within.

Even noticing the space of the inner body,

Space inside the body,

Space outside the body.

We will now call in our sankalpa.

Sankalpa is a vow to our deepest inner soul's longing,

A statement of our becoming.

It is deeply rooted inside us.

What we already are beneath all the turbulence of limiting beliefs and doubts,

There lies our true essence.

Sankalpa allows us to awaken to our true eternal nature.

Listen deeply inwards and allow your resolve to reveal itself to you.

It could be anything as long as it is a vow to your highest truth.

Examples could be,

I am peaceful,

I am valid,

I am supported,

I am whole.

Feel it with your entire being and now state it three times silently in the garden of your mind.

Wholeheartedly watering it with commitment,

Passion and a knowing that it already is.

We will now go on a journey within your physical body.

I will guide you to specific sacred points within the body.

Each body part mentioned,

You will visualize an exquisite golden star anointing and lighting up the darkness of the inner body.

Let the placing of this golden star at each body part be a devotional offering,

A gesture of reverence and awe.

Bring the light of your awareness to your brow center between the two eyebrows.

An anoint,

Place and see an exquisite golden star at the brow.

Move your awareness to the center of your throat,

Anoint and offer a golden star there.

The right shoulder joint,

A golden shimmering star blessing it.

Right elbow joint,

A golden star lighting it up.

Right wrist joint,

Tip of the right thumb,

Tip of the right index finger,

Tip of the middle finger,

Tip of the ring finger,

Tip of the right pinky finger.

Place a star in the center of the right wrist,

Center of the right elbow,

Center of the right shoulder,

Center of the throat,

Placing a shimmering gold star in the left shoulder joint,

Left elbow joint,

Left wrist joint,

Tip of the left thumb,

Tip of the left index finger,

Tip of the left middle finger,

Tip of the left ring finger,

Tip of the left baby finger.

Anointing a star in the center of the left wrist,

Center of the left elbow,

Center of the left shoulder,

A star back in the center of the throat,

Center of the chest,

Right nipple,

A star back in the center of the chest,

Left nipple,

Heart center,

Solar plexus,

Navel center two inches below the belly button,

Shimmering golden star in the right hip joint,

Right knee joint,

Right ankle joint,

Right big toe,

Tip of the second toe,

Tip of the third toe,

Tip of the fourth toe,

Tip of the fifth right toe.

Anointing a star in the center of the right ankle,

Center of the right knee,

Center of the right hip,

Back to the navel center two inches below the belly button,

Placing and seeing a golden star in the left hip joint,

Left knee joint,

Left ankle joint,

Left big toe,

Tip of the second toe,

Tip of the third toe,

Tip of the fourth toe,

Tip of the fifth left toe,

Center of the left ankle,

Center of the left knee,

Center of the left hip,

Star in the navel center two inches below the belly button,

Solar plexus,

Heart center,

Center of the throat,

Anointing a final shimmering star back at the brow center.

Now feel your whole inner body lit up in an exquisite constellation of golden shimmering stars,

Inner body lit,

Whole inner body bathed in golden glistening starlight.

Become aware of your natural breath,

Spontaneously,

Effortlessly,

Air being and flowing,

And across the shores of your inner body.

Witness and fully inhabit the sensation of your body miraculously being breathed.

Without interference or even the subtlest form of control,

Allow yourself to be with the breath,

Being breathed.

This is where the ebb and flow of the breath arises most prominently in the body,

The nose,

And the chest,

Maybe deep in the belly.

Now glide your awareness to the subtle psychic inner channel that follows the spine,

Known as the Sushumna.

Start to follow the flow of your natural breath up and down the riverbed of your spine.

As you inhale,

Visualizing a healing light flowing from the root of the spine to the crown of the head.

As you exhale,

The healing light flowing back from crown to root.

Inhale ascending.

Exhale descending.

Now feel your whole pranic subtle energy sheath,

Vibrantly alive.

A luminous,

Egg-shaped,

Softly pulsating field that surrounds your entire body,

Reaching beyond the boundaries of your skin.

Sense the glow and pulse of this luminous egg.

Now glide your awareness to the space between the eyebrows and slightly behind.

This space is known as Chidakash,

A profound place of potentiality and limitless possibility.

Lead and root your awareness here at the brow center,

Remembering that you are in the practice of yoga nidra.

We will now play with pairs of opposites.

Various emotional states and experiences will be named.

Staying relaxed and attached,

The invitation is to conjure forth the felt sensation of the emotion as fully as you can.

Spontaneously awaken the sensation of heat in the body.

Sense the prickling intensity of the whole body flushed with heat,

Hotness permeating every inch of your inner body.

Waves of heat flowing over you.

Feel the purity of the sensation of heat.

Do your best not to react,

Simply allowing the state and feeling of heat to be.

Now conjure forth the feeling of cold in the body,

An icy wind sweeping across your whole body.

A feeling of frosty coldness settling deep within.

Your whole body shrinking under the intense coldness.

Now reawaken heat and hold both sensations of hot and cold simultaneously.

Feel felt sensations of both hot and cold filling you as you maintain deep relaxation.

Now completely let that go.

Spontaneously call forth the feeling of heaviness in the body.

The dense weight of your whole body pouring down into the earth.

As if your whole body was encased in an armour suit made of iron.

So heavy you couldn't even lift the body if you tried.

Whole body heavy.

Now awaken lightness,

A quality and feeling of lightness pervading your whole body.

Sensing the whole body becoming as light as a feather,

So light and delicate that you feel your whole body floating.

Whole body floating,

Gliding on the wings of the wind and air.

A complete feeling of utter lightness.

Remember the sensation of heaviness and feel both heavy and light now.

Feeling both heaviness and lightness simultaneously in your body.

Dissolve both feelings back into space.

What does stagnation feel like?

To feel stagnated.

Awaken the feeling of stagnation now.

A sense of being stuck,

Uninspired,

Apathetic.

How do you feel this in your body?

Fill your whole body with a felt sensation of stagnation.

Now what does being in the flow feel like?

To feel flowing,

A sense of free flow in the body.

Inspiration.

Ease.

Fill your whole body with a sense of fluidity.

Now hold both stagnation and fluidity at the same time in your felt awareness.

Stagnation and fluidity.

Being stuck and being in the flow.

Surrender all sensation of opposites.

Let it all release back into the nothingness.

And guide your awareness back to Chidakash,

The place behind your closed eyes.

Feel the transcendent space beyond all duality.

The unifying force of oneness.

We will now work with rapid image visualizations.

Each time you hear an image,

In your mind's eye,

Create a clear mental picture of said image.

Imagine,

See,

Feel and bear witness.

Allow any impressions to rise up onto the screen of your mind.

Then quickly let it go.

No judgment,

No inference.

Simply allowing the creative force of your mind to create and express from nothing.

Starlit sky,

Healing waters,

Ancient manuscript,

Ancient manuscript,

Ancient manuscript,

Old Persia,

A lush oasis,

A bucket in a well.

Candle flame,

Candle flame,

Candle flame.

A black hole in outer space.

Fragrant oil.

A baby in the womb.

A pack of female wolves.

Old woman's last breath.

Dew covered clover leaf.

A house made of shells.

Arabic writing on a wall.

Golden cobra.

Golden cobra.

Golden cobra.

Now see yourself standing under a pitch black moonless sky.

A lit with a canopy of stars.

An intoxicating scent of night blossoming Arabian jasmine fills the air.

A warm breeze caresses your skin.

Just ahead you make out an archway adorned with a jasmine.

You feel drawn to enter.

As you step through the fragrant archway,

You find yourself in the most beautiful,

Lush oasis.

The sound of trickling water meets your ears and you follow it.

You see a sacred,

Ancient bathing pool.

The water glistens under the starlit sky.

An inner knowing that these mineral-rich waters have been bathed in and healed for time immemorial rises up within you.

Beneath a canopy of stars,

You immerse yourself into the warm,

Sacred waters.

As the water flows over your body,

A profound sense of deep surrender fills you.

The water,

Like an elixir,

Cleanses you and returns you to the pristine,

Pure innocence you held in the waters of your mother's womb.

Your slate wiped clean,

Purified,

Cleansed,

Whole and healed,

Starting anew.

The stars above bearing witness to your rebirth.

You lay back,

Floating in the healing waters.

The mineral-rich water holding you,

Cradling you.

The deepest surrender.

The night sky above,

Vast and eternal,

Calling you into spaciousness,

Ever expanding and evolving.

You tear into the vast void of stillness and silence.

The deeper you surrender,

The more you feel the particles of the body dissolving and merging with the sacred water below you and the sky above.

From the depths of this spaciousness,

Once again your sankalpa rises up.

Your inner resolve.

Your statement of becoming.

Feel it fill your entire field.

Plant it internally three times,

Weaving it into your innermost tapestry.

Now glide your awareness onto your breath.

Feel its ebb and flow.

Notice the soft movement of your body in response to your breath.

Notice the weight of your back body connecting to the earth.

The soft touch of your clothing on your skin.

Become once more aware of the sounds in your space.

Sense the architecture of the room you are lying within and your place within it.

Notice how quiet your inner world is now.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Continue to bring gentle movements into your fingers and toes.

Gently slowly roll onto one side.

Sitting gently on your side in a seed-like position.

Notice the quality of your mind.

What's the residue left by the practice?

Pause.

Listen.

Feel.

When you feel ready,

Come up to sit in a tall seat.

Haryong tatsat.

Haryong tatsat.

Haryong tatsat.

The seen and the unseen.

The material and the ethereal.

Travel one.

Reviews

Just not interested to come back to this physical body. So seren pure feather like feeling. Ty very much 😊

Excellent

Warm, poetic, magnificent. Thanks so much. 🙏🏻✨👌🏻

This was sooo goood 🤎
Beautifully soothing and relaxing ~ I thank you!!

Your meditation took me to a beautiful aware place. Blessings and thanks to you 🙏💐

Amazing way to lead into a relaxation stage keeping the awareness of the work done. Thank you!

Incredible guidance. Today revitalizing and practice enhancing duality of sensations section. Thank you. Bookmarking this one as exceptional.

Deeply relaxing, thank you 🙏🏼💗🌸

Thank you for this truly peaceful yet deeply profound experience, which really captured the essence of yoga nidra for me I guess. That healing, transforming conversation subtly held between mind, body and energetic self, implicitly held throughout the practice. For me this practices provided exactly what a good nidra should, which is a shift towards balance, that however altering and transforming it might be, never feels anything other than peaceful and just the way it always was supposed to be. Guided into a sense of trust and of surrender that seems to come as natural as life itself, and brings about a feeling of delight. Of healing. Of relaxation. Of remembering a more transcendental part of being. Of ascension of Self even. So thank you. Great practice. Namaste 🙏

So very beautiful- thank you. Love & blessings.🙏💜

Such a lovely yoga Nidra with wonderful healing guidance and a great pace and voice. Thank you 🙏😍👌🙌💕🧚‍♀️💫xxx

So soothing and yet refreshing. Will definitely do again.

Wonderful yoga nidra. The cleansing, healing bath was great. Thank you.

One of the BEST yoga Nidra’s ever!! Thank you! Loved every moment of it.💫

Thank you🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻I am not a fan of muscle tensing during yoga nidra, however, I have resolved it by imagining doing it.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Beautifully paced, thank you 🦋🙏

Loved the body tensing exercises in the begging. I’ll definitely be listening again.

Beautiful. Lovely pace and really nice visualisation. It has a really sacred feel to it.

Beautiful and complete. Thank you