Throat Chakra: Uncloak Your Self Expression: Yoga Nidra

In this yoga nidra you will be guided into cleansing any blockages or limiting beliefs that stand in the way of your authentic self. A profound journey to reclaim your voice and your unique expression into the world.

Transcript

Welcome to this practice of Yoga Nidra.

My name is Lucy McCarthy,

And this practice is an invitation to uncloak your self-expression,

Harness your authenticity,

And to creatively own your truth.

This is a laying-down practice in which we allow ourselves to receive from within and without.

To prepare for the practice,

Lay down on your back on the earth,

Supported by some props to ensure maximal comfort and ease.

A bolster or a couple of cushions for the backs of the knees,

A thin pillow for beneath the base of the skull,

A light eye covering,

And a blanket to lay on top of you can all facilitate deep rest and relaxation.

Place the body symmetrically,

Allowing for it to feel spacious and supported.

Once the eyes are closed,

Consciously direct your awareness inwards.

Yoga Nidra is a sacred ancient art form that utilizes self-observation.

Begin by scanning your body from top to toe,

Observing any areas of tension or holding that you can sense.

Take your time to comb your awareness through the inner body.

We will now do a simple breath practice to allow for a deep releasing and surrender as we enter into the practice.

We will inhale deeply through the nose,

Then as we exhale,

Audibly sigh out.

As you sigh out,

This is an invitation to soften and let go of any areas of tension that you observed a moment ago.

So go ahead,

Inhale through the nose,

Gather any tension,

Then exhale a big sigh and let it go.

Repeat this a couple more times,

If needed,

Until you feel a genuine shift of your energy and body.

The practice of Yoga Nidra begins now.

From now on in,

All that you need is simply your hearing and awareness.

Surrender all other forms of doing so that we can drop into the potent realm of being.

As the body is guided into deeper and deeper states of relaxation,

Vow to stay awake and aware for the duration of the practice.

This is the art of Yoga Nidra,

To surf the liminal state in between waking and sleeping,

Where healing,

Transformation and profound re-patterning can take place.

Bring your awareness into the center of the throat.

Feel the soft throb of life here.

Then call forth an expression of your Sankalpa.

Sankalpa is an expression of our most sincere inner desire,

A desire whose roots are seeded at the soul level.

We use the words I am,

Followed by whatever it is that is your truest yearning.

Listen inwards and allow yours to bubble up from the depths of you.

Once you have it,

Allow yourself to express it silently within,

In the midst of the throat.

State it three times with an inner expression of conviction and faith.

We will now move through the physical sheath of our experience.

With a rotation of consciousness through the body.

Each body part named.

Observe what you can feel there.

Then silently chant here the sacred seed sound of divine creative expression.

Hum.

Hum.

Self-observation married with raising the vibration of our body through sacred sound Shabda.

We will move the light of our awareness through 61 sacred points in the body.

Creating a profound energetic circuitry for healing and awakening.

Begin by placing your awareness at the brow center.

The place between the two eyebrows.

And observe what you can feel here.

And then offer the sacred sound of hum to the brow center.

Sense and feel the sound reverberating through this area.

At each body part named from now on,

Feel and place the sacred sound of hum.

Center of the throat.

Right shoulder joint.

Right elbow joint.

Right wrist joint.

Tip of the right thumb.

Tip of the right index finger.

Tip of the right middle finger.

Tip of the right ring finger.

Tip of the right baby finger.

Center of the right wrist.

Center of the right elbow.

Center of the right shoulder.

Center of the throat.

Center of 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.

Center of your left wrist.

Center of the left elbow.

Center of the left shoulder.

Center of the throat.

Center of the chest.

Right nipple.

Center of the chest.

Left nipple.

Heart center.

Solar plexus.

Navel center two inches below the belly button.

Right hip joint.

Right knee joint.

Right ankle joint.

Right big toe.

Right second toe.

Right third toe.

Right fourth toe.

Right fifth toe.

Center of the right ankle.

Center of the right knee.

Center of the right hip.

Navel center two inches below the belly button.

Left hip joint.

Left knee joint.

Left ankle joint.

Left big toe.

Left second toe.

Left third toe.

Left fourth toe.

Left baby toe.

Center of the left ankle.

Center of the left knee.

Center of the left hip.

Navel center two inches below the belly button.

Solar plexus.

Heart center.

Center of the throat.

And returning once more to the brow center.

Now allow your awareness to fill the whole body.

Sense the whole body.

Whole body.

Whole body felt now.

Illuminated by the light of your awareness.

The sacred vibration of hum coursing through your subtle energetic channels.

Clearing all blockages.

All hesitancy.

All doubt.

We will now move into a subtler layer of our experience.

That of the energetic body.

Bring your awareness onto the natural breath.

And simply observe the effortless,

Spontaneous flow of the breath.

Resist any urge to change it.

Simply witness the breath.

As you continue to witness the natural breath,

Begin to sense the sacred inner mantra of the breath.

The whispered essence of the breath.

Hum as you inhale.

Sigh as you exhale.

Observe the inhale.

Hum.

Observe the exhale.

Sigh.

Be with the inhale.

Hum.

Be with the exhale.

Sigh.

This ancient mantra mystically imprinting into you the remembrance.

I am that.

That all-pervading,

Everlasting,

Benevolent,

Creative presence.

Now surrender your focus of the breath and the mantra.

And instead see if you can attune to the subtle energy that is behind the breath.

This is vital life force energy that animates all that is and is not.

A gentle hum or throb that passes through the fabric of the universe.

That is both within and beyond you.

Sense yourself held in an egg-shaped field of dynamic,

Pulsating energy.

We will now work with the mental and emotional realm of our experience.

Through playing with pairs of opposites.

Each sensation or emotion named.

Call it forth as fully as you can into your being in the here and now.

While staying as relaxed as you can.

Remembering that you are practicing Yoga Nidra.

Bring your awareness to the brow center.

And ever so slightly inwards into the midbrain.

This is a point known as Chidakash.

The seat or space of consciousness.

A space of total creative freedom.

All possibilities and potentialities exist here.

We will use this as a home base to return to as we go on this journey of opposites.

What does self-doubt feel like?

Always second-guessing yourself before you speak.

Uncertain.

Unsure.

Filled with doubt about what it is you have to share and express.

Allow yourself to feel self-doubt fully.

Whilst remaining relaxed and at ease.

Now let that go.

Now awaken the sensation of self-belief.

To believe in yourself and what it is you have to say.

Fill your whole being with this feeling of self-belief.

Where does this register in your body?

How does it feel?

Now let that melt away.

And bring your awareness back to the point at the brow center and in towards the midbrain.

Now conjure forth the sensation of needing to fit in.

What does it feel like when you feel pressured to fit in?

To follow the crowd.

Fill yourself with that feeling of needing to fit in fully.

Now release that.

And what is it like to be willing to walk your own path?

To carve out your unique niche.

To have the courage to express who and what you are.

Fill yourself with that.

Now surrender that fully.

And hone your awareness back to the brow center.

What does it feel like to be silenced?

To self-silence?

Or to be silenced by others?

Fully immerse yourself into the sensation of being silenced.

Notice any thought forms,

Sensations or images that rise up alongside this feeling of being silenced.

Now let that fall away.

What does it feel like to authentically express yourself?

To speak your truth.

To own your own narrative.

To speak your unique creative expression into being.

Now fully surrender that too.

And bring your awareness back to the brow center.

Into Chid Akash.

The space of consciousness.

This space of oneness and union beyond all seeming duality.

We will now move into the intuitive and wisdom sheath of our experience through inner visualization.

See,

Visualize or imagine the most brilliant white beam of light.

So exquisitely white that it's almost blinding.

This beam of pure white light pouring into your throat center.

As it enters the throat center,

At the front,

You start to see the light refract out in all directions from the throat.

A myriad of colors.

A plethora.

Rainbow colors refracting out in all directions from the throat.

Each bold beautiful color,

A unique expression.

What is it that you have not been saying?

What light have you been holding back from sharing?

As this light pours out in every direction,

In all these different colors,

Feel these pent up expressions being freed.

Free yourself.

Speak your truth.

Howl your heartbreak out.

Be jubilant for your joy.

Let it all be expressed.

What is it that you have to say?

Unapologetically shout it from the rooftops and feel yourself liberated with every form of expression and communication made.

Know that you are free to speak,

To express,

To create as the unique expression of divinity that you are.

Now allow yourself to be taken by whichever color you are most drawn to,

Out into the far off cosmos.

From wherever you have journeyed,

Once more allow your sankalpa to fill this space.

Your I am statement of your innermost desire.

Express it three times in the fertile garden of your light filled being.

Now let that integrate.

And slowly now,

Sweetly anchor your awareness all the way back down to lay back in the physical body,

In the space you are lying within,

In the here and now.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Start to become aware of your breath filling and emptying your body.

The sensation of your clothing in contact with your skin.

Any sounds in the far off environment meeting your ears.

And any sounds in the closed space around you.

Then slowly begin to move the fingers and the toes,

Reawakening into the present moment.

Hug your knees into your chest,

Then roll to one side.

Pause here in this seed-like position.

Notice the quality of your mind.

The feeling in your throat.

Then slowly press yourself up to a comfortable tall seat.

Seal the hands together in prayer in front of the brow center.

May we know our own mind.

Place the hands in prayer in front of the lips.

May we express ourselves with truth,

Integrity and kindness.

Then bring your hands in front of your heart.

May our life be an expression of our deepest heart's longing.

As above,

So below.

The divine impulse to create lives as much in us as it does in nature.

Many blessings.