Hello,
My name is Lynette and I invite you into this practice of Yoga Nidra.
First off,
Come into your most comfortable resting position.
Make sure you won't be disturbed and that you have everything you need to be extra comfortable.
And once you're in position,
Maybe just scan the body and ask yourself,
How could I make myself 1% more comfortable?
What would I do?
And then just let your legs be heavy.
Let your arms relax by your sides or anywhere else that feels good.
Adjust anything you need now so that you can rest freely.
This yoga nidra really is about.
Receiving and letting go.
The balance of both.
So as you take a deep breath in,
Just feel the breath nourishing you,
Filling your lungs.
And then as you exhale,
Sigh it out through the mouth and feel that feeling of letting go.
Do that a few more times.
Deep breath in through the nose.
Feel.
How you are receiving the breath.
And as you exhale,
Let it go.
Let it go.
Let it go.
Do that one or two more times and then just let the breath be natural.
And you're preparing to allow your body to rest deeply.
Your Consciousness might remain aware and awake as you listen to the sound of my voice,
But your body will start to relax more and more.
And if your mind drifts away,
Or if you fall asleep,
That is okay.
Just return to the sound of my voice whenever you hear it.
Letting my words wash over you like waves flowing in.
And flowing out.
Just become aware of all the sounds around you.
Let your hearing travel out to the most distant sounds you can hear.
And then bring your awareness closer to the sounds inside your room.
And then closer still to the sound of your own breath.
And then feel your body resting on the floor,
Feeling all points where your body meets the surface beneath you.
The back of your head.
Your shoulder blades.
The back of your arms and legs.
Maybe your hips and your heels.
Letting the support beneath you hold you.
Now,
As we create our Sankalpa or our resolve,
We come up with just a short,
Simple phrase in the present tense.
It's like a seed you want to see take root.
It's a quality you'd like to add to your life.
It's a desire that's deep within your heart.
It's a feeling.
So just take a moment here to bring that forth or let it rise within you.
And If you want to add the words more and more,
I am blank,
You can,
Or you can just repeat the word or the feeling.
It's like you're planting a seed deep in the soil.
And even though you can't see it once you cover it up,
You know it's there.
And all of that creative.
Life force energy.
All of that creation is happening in the dark.
So you're just repeating this phrase or this word to yourself three times,
Trusting that it's already happening.
And you can let it go.
And know that the roots are forming.
As we begin our rotation of consciousness,
This journey we will take through the body.
And as I mentioned,
Each body part,
Just feel a softening.
You don't have to force relaxation.
Just feel a gentle,
Natural letting go.
As you bring all of your awareness to your right thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
Little finger.
The palm of your right hand.
The back of your hand.
Your whole right hand.
Moving up the right arm to the elbow.
And the shoulder.
Your armpit and the right side of your ribcage.
Your waist.
Your right hip.
Die.
Knee,
Shin ankle.
Heal.
And the sole of your right foot,
The top of your foot.
And all of your toes together.
Your whole right foot.
Relax the whole right side of your body.
The whole right side.
And then your awareness moves to the left thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
And little finger.
The palm of your left hand.
The back of your hand.
Your whole left hand.
Moving up your arm to your elbow.
Your shoulder.
Armpit.
And the left side of your ribcage.
Waste,
And left hip.
Bye.
Knee.
Shin your ankle.
Heel.
And the sole of your left foot.
The top of your foot.
And all of your toes together.
Your whole left foot.
Relaxing the whole left side of your body.
Your whole left side.
Observe the sensations now at the back of your heels.
And feel into the whole back of your body,
All the way from your heels up the legs.
Uh,
Bye-bye.
To the back of your head.
The back of your neck.
The shoulder blades.
Your whole spine in the back of your ribcage.
The back of your pelvis.
The whole back body resting here.
Your awareness floats back to the top of your head.
And softens down your forehead.
To your right eye.
And left eye.
The right eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
And both of your eyes and both eyebrows together.
Traveling down the nose to the tip of your nose.
Feeling into the right ear.
And sweeping into the left ear.
Both ears together.
Feel your upper lip.
Your lower lip.
Your chin.
Your jaw.
Your throat.
Feel your whole face and head all together.
And then travel down into your right collarbone.
And left collarbone.
And feeling that space just between the collarbones.
And then bring your awareness down to the center of your chest.
Down into the heart space.
Down into the belly.
Down into the whole right leg.
The whole left leg.
Feel both legs together.
The whole right arm.
The whole left arm.
And both arms together.
The whole back body.
Your whole front body.
Your head and body together.
Relax your whole body.
Relax the space all around you,
All around your whole body.
As you relax now,
Just become aware of your breath and don't change anything.
Just watch your breath moving in and out like the wind moving over a field.
Or like clouds floating in the sky.
Feeling your breath in the nostrils.
It might be cool as you breathe in.
And warm as you breathe out.
Feel the breath in the chest.
And as you inhale,
Feel the lungs expand and receive.
And as you exhale,
Feel them soften and release.
Inhale,
Receive.
Exhale,
Release.
Inhale,
Receive.
Exhale,
Release.
And as you breathe,
You can count backwards.
From 28.
To one.
Inhale.
And exhale,
28.
Inhale.
And exhale 27.
Continue on your own like that.
And just start again at 28.
If you need to.
Inhale,
Receive.
Exhale,
Release.
You can let go of the counting.
When you're ready.
And as you relax,
Rest in the pause at the bottom of each exhale,
That small,
Quiet space where nothing is needed.
And as you rest here in this quiet space,
We awaken opposite sensations.
I invite you to feel warmth in your body.
Feel the feeling of warm.
Like the warmth of the late summer sun on your skin.
Or a warm fall day,
Feel that feeling of warmth on your skin.
In your body.
And now feel coolness in your body.
And on your body.
Like the feeling of the crisp air of an autumn evening.
Or a cool breeze on the face and hands.
Feel the feeling of coolness within the body.
And now feel the feeling of full,
Fullness.
Remember a moment this year when your heart felt full.
When you felt the feeling of gratitude and abundance.
The feeling of heartful and let that fullness spread through you.
And now emptiness.
Remembering the feeling of empty,
Like when something ends.
Or something has ended or is complete.
Allowing space for emptiness.
You don't have to fill it.
It might feel like grief.
Or completion like bare branches on a fall day.
Feeling empty.
Now feel fullness and emptiness together.
Side by side.
Like gratitude and grief.
Like light and dark.
Both held at the same time.
Fullness and emptiness together,
Feeling both.
Now I will name a series of images.
As you relax your body,
Let each image arise in the space behind your eyes.
Don't hold any of them.
See them?
And let them go.
A golden field of wheat.
A basket of red apples.
Rose hips clinging to the branch.
A flock of geese flying south.
A green leaf turning yellow.
The Dark New Moon.
Imagine yourself standing at dusk with the sky soft.
The color of orange and violet light.
The air smells of dry leaves.
At your feet is a woven basket.
Pick up the basket.
And start to walk slowly along the path that you see in front of you,
Gathering what has grown this year.
Your joys,
Your lessons.
Your moments of courage.
The love you gave and received.
Place each one inside the basket.
When your basket is full.
Sit down and look at what you've gathered.
Some of it is seed.
Precious.
Worth keeping.
Something that you want to plant.
And some of it is like dry leaves,
Things that were once alive.
And needed,
But are now complete.
A gentle wind rises.
And lifts the leaves from the basket.
One by one.
And the wind carries them away.
Feel them lift from your hands and watch them drift across the path into the dusk.
Into the setting sun.
What remains are the seeds.
Hold them close.
And notice the path in front of you leading into a forest.
Step by step follow the path.
Feeling the crunchy leaves under your feet.
Noticing them fall softly all around you.
Gold.
Red.
Brown.
As you walk,
The trees grow taller.
And the light grows dimmer.
But you feel safe and supported.
This path leads to a clearing and you see a big old stone near some flowing water.
You sit beside the stone in front of the water.
You put your basket beside you and you know someone is here with you.
It may be an ancestor.
A wise elder?
Someone you have loved.
A guide.
Or simply your own deepest self.
Let them come in whatever form they come.
You notice they have a gift for you.
It might be a word.
An image.
Of feeling.
Or an object.
Open your hands and receive it.
Thank them in whatever way feels right to you.
You watch them leave.
And you take one of the seeds from your basket.
And you kneel by the stone and gently place the seed in the dark,
Soft earth.
And you cover it up.
The sea doesn't have to do anything now.
It simply rests in the dark.
Held by the Earth.
Let yourself become like the seed.
As you lay down by the stone and the trickling water,
Resting in the dark.
You are held here.
You are safe.
There is nothing to do but rest in the stillness.
It is time to return.
You stand up and leave the forest and the stone.
Knowing your seed is resting safely.
You leave the water and the leaves.
You become aware of your breath.
And you become aware that your body is lying on the floor supported.
As you lie back down.
In your own room,
In your own space,
You remember your Sankalpa.
Your resolve that you made at the beginning,
Or maybe you heard another message.
Repeat this message or your resolve to yourself a few times,
Feeling it take root deep in the dark.
And the practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Become aware of your body lying in your space,
The back of your body resting on the support beneath you.
You take a deep breath in to receive the air.
And a deep breath out to release whatever you don't need to take with you now.
As you become aware of your room and the sounds around you.
Give yourself time to come back.
As you come back and maybe wiggle your fingers and toes,
You remember the message you heard.
Remember it as you stretch out your body in any way that feels good.
You're welcome to stay longer,
But when you're ready,
Roll onto your side.
Coming up slowly,
Caring with you.
Everything you want to take with you as you move forward.
Ready to receive.
Ready to let go.
Trust in the dark.
Trust in what you cannot see.
Trust that the roots are growing deep.
And if you'd like to journal after this,
You can just ask yourself,
What is complete?
What am I ready to let fall and let go?
Writing down one thing you're ready to let go of.
And then you can journal what is precious and true and something I want to carry through.
What is one seed I'm planting to take root?
To manifest over this next season.
And thank you so much for taking time for yourself today and for sharing your time with me.
Sat Nam.
Namaste.
