Yoga Nidra: Gratitude

This Yoga Nidra has been brewing in my heart for a while. I saved it for August, my favourite month of the year. Inspiration comes from the Wizard of Oz and after listening to one of Dr. Jean Houston's interviews. I've always been a fan (and could relate) to the cowardly lion in the movie and so I wanted to add a little of that flavour into this yoga Nidra. It's a love note to all of you this month. Gratitude is an antidote to many things, including fear.

Song: Floating by James Anthony Walker

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Lynette,

And welcome to this practice of Yoga Nidra for gratitude.

I invite you to lay down and get comfortable in a space where you can take some time for yourself.

You may want some extra cushioning below,

Maybe a blanket on top,

And if it feels okay for you,

You can cover your eyes.

Once you lie down,

Scan your body,

And be sure you feel balanced and safe in your own little cave of relaxation.

Listen to your heart,

And be sure you have taken care of all your needs and wishes.

Here you can take a few deep,

Cleansing,

Fiery exhales as you drop down into the space beneath you.

Inhale deeply from the base of the spine,

Up through your belly,

Up through your heart,

And to the top of your head,

And then exhale a big audible sigh out.

Two more times like that.

Inhale deeply from the base,

All the way up to the top,

And exhale,

Let it out.

Last time,

Deep breath in,

And deep breath out.

Exhale all tension from your body,

And return to a regular rhythm of breathing,

And know that as you do this practice,

You may feel like your body and mind fall asleep,

And that's okay.

Do your best to follow the sound of my voice,

And luxuriate in relaxation,

And surrender without needing to know what comes next.

With each exhale,

Start to let go of any controlling tendencies you might be holding on to.

If you notice any squeezing in your hands,

Squeeze them a few times,

And then relax.

If you notice tension in your eyes,

You might blink them a couple of times,

And then soften.

If you notice a furrowed brow,

You can squish your eyebrows together,

And then release.

Relax your body again,

And notice if any other parts of you are asking for you to let go,

And do that now.

Be what you are in this moment,

And not what you think you should be.

From here,

We will begin this nourishing practice.

Step down into the very center of your heart,

All the way inside,

And know this is your safe space.

This is where you can go to rest,

To ask questions,

To refuel your energy.

As you pause here,

Just notice how it feels,

The center of your heart beating.

In rhythm with your lungs breathing,

Steady and stable like a bonfire.

The place where people gather for light,

For warmth,

For connection.

Know that this is your space for whatever you need.

You might take a few deep exhales,

And sink down into the center a little more,

And just listen.

Listen to the whispering of your heart,

Your guide.

You can trust what you hear.

As you listen,

Can you start to hear a statement of intention,

Starting with the words,

I am them?

This isn't a materialistic wish,

It's a feeling of value,

A quality of how you want to show up in this world.

This is the message of your Samkalpa.

Listen.

Once you have something that resonates for you today,

Start repeating it to yourself,

And repeat it at least three times.

It might start out as a whisper,

But then feel the words being sung around the bonfire of your heart.

Let these words ring throughout your whole body.

And then let it go,

And you might quietly say to yourself,

Thank you,

Thank you,

Thank you.

Feeling the feelings of gratitude shining in the center of your heart as you bring awareness to different parts of your body.

You'll draw a spark of gratitude to each body part mentioned,

But always going back to your heart.

All of the attention now rests at the center of your heart.

If you want,

You can even imagine a steadying bonfire in the center,

Burning brightly,

Drawing you in,

Never out of control,

Just steady and consistent.

Now draw a line up to the center of your eyebrows and back down to your heart.

Draw a line to the right temple and back down to the heart.

To your right ear,

Back to the heart,

Right shoulder,

And back to the heart.

Right side of the rib cage,

All the ribs,

And over to the center of your heart.

Right side of your pelvis and hip,

And up to the center of your heart.

Right thigh and back to the heart.

Right knee to the heart.

Right ankle and to the heart.

And to the tips of all your toes on the right foot.

And then back up to the center of your heart.

A line of light shines down to the tips of the toes on the left foot.

And back to the heart.

Left ankle and back up to the heart.

Left knee and back to the heart.

Left thigh and heart.

Left side of your pelvis and hip,

And back to the heart.

Left side of the rib cage and all the ribs,

And back to the heart.

Left shoulder and over to the heart.

Left ear and heart,

Left temple and to the heart.

Up to the center of your eyebrows once again.

Then back down to the center of your heart.

Now draw a line of light up to the center of your head,

The space between your ears.

And then all the way down the spine to the center of the pelvis between the hips.

And back up to the heart.

And back up to the space between your ears.

And then up to the top of your head.

And then back down to the center of your heart.

Resting here in the center,

In the middle of this bright sun-shaped light that you've drawn around your whole body.

Surrounding you,

Shining down on you,

Guiding you.

This light now moves to the right shoulder and down the right arm,

Elbow,

Wrist,

Palm of the hand,

And down into each finger and thumb.

And the light shines out of just the tips of your fingers and thumb.

This moves back into the palm,

Wrist,

Elbow,

Up to the shoulder and glides over to the left shoulder and down the left arm.

Elbow,

Wrist,

And palm of the hand.

And down into each finger and thumb of the left hand.

And then feel the light shining out of just the tips of your fingers and thumb.

Awareness moves back in the palm,

Wrist,

Elbow,

Up the arm to the shoulder and back to the center of your heart.

Now watch this line of light move back up to the space between your eyebrows.

Over to the right eye,

Left eye.

Down the bridge of the nose,

Right nostril,

Left nostril.

Tip of the nose,

Upper lip,

Upper teeth,

Lower lip,

Lower teeth,

Your tongue,

Your whole mouth together.

Move down to your throat and to the center of your heart.

And rest here and relax your whole body.

You are surrounded by light,

This nourishing boundary of gratitude soaking it in as you breathe in and out.

Now as you rest in the center of your heart,

Exhale all of your air and bring your attention to the very center,

Feeling the warmth of gratitude shining bright in your heart.

And as you inhale,

The light of this gratitude expands outwards until this sun-shaped barrier of light is surrounding your whole body.

Exhale,

Brings all of your attention back to the center of your heart.

And inhale,

Moving back out into this light that surrounds your whole body and even further.

Maybe it fills the room you are in.

And exhale,

Releasing all tension from the body as you come to rest back in the center of your heart.

Inhale expands your awareness outwards as far as you want to take it out into space.

And as you exhale,

Come back to the center,

Centering yourself in your heart.

Inhale out.

Exhale back in.

Inhale.

And exhale.

You choose how big and far this light shines out.

Continue to breathe like this for 24 more times,

Counting backwards.

Inhale.

Stop counting your breathing and just float in the sensations of your breath.

We are going to flow between opposite feelings in the body.

Just know that you are safe in your sun-shaped light.

Remember a time when you really wanted to do something,

But felt scared to.

You really wanted to,

But you felt nervous to start.

Notice those feelings in the body.

Now let that go.

Remember a time when you felt really brave inside and had the courage to follow your dreams and your desires.

Notice those feelings in the body.

Let that go.

Remember a time when you didn't feel good enough,

Maybe like you didn't belong,

Maybe you even felt alone.

Notice these feelings in the body.

Let that go.

Remember a time when you felt whole and complete and filled with self-love,

Surrounded by love,

And knowing you were always supposed to be here.

Notice these feelings in the body.

Let that go.

Now remember this feeling of connection.

Let it sink in.

Remember you have everything you need.

From this place in your heart,

You start to feel gratitude for all of the abundance already in your life.

Sink into this feeling of gratitude.

Rest in the feeling of gratitude for all that you are and all that you have,

Knowing you are always supported,

And relax your whole body.

Feel this gratitude with you in your heart,

Like a hidden superpower,

As you listen and follow along.

Imagine now that you are seeing yourself from above,

Lying down,

Practicing yoga nidra.

You see your body now quietly stand up and slowly make your way to the front door.

You step outside and close the door behind you.

In front of you,

You see a winding golden pathway.

The shimmering stones are inviting you to follow,

So you do.

There is a moment of hesitation,

But you are also very curious.

So you start walking.

As you go along this golden path,

The colors around you become more and more vibrant.

Off to one side,

You see dark pink and purple flowers,

With dragonflies and honeybees flying above.

As you walk down another curve,

You see tall green trees,

With a trickling creek of water flowing below.

You continue to follow the golden pathway,

And as you look above,

You see a blue sky,

With sunrays reflecting off the leaves,

And resting on one of the tree branches is a big owl who meets your gaze.

You feel a light breeze on your face as the path continues,

And as you walk,

You feel at peace.

As you walk along the path,

You come across a younger version of you from your past,

Who once upon a time felt not good enough and alone.

You welcome this younger version of you into your arms and listen.

And then from the perspective of your current self,

You whisper words of encouragement.

What do you say?

They smile and disappear,

And you continue your journey,

Curious which you'll see next.

Once again,

You come across another version of yourself,

A past version of you that had a hard time expressing their emotions and speaking up for what they needed and wanted.

You take their hands and listen,

And then you whisper in their ear words of encouragement from you now.

What do you whisper?

They thank you and disappear,

And you carry on down the path feeling lighter and lighter.

After a few breaths,

You notice one more version of yourself come into view in front of you.

This version of you is scared of so many things.

You hold out your hand to them to comfort them as you listen to their fears.

What are they scared of?

And then you tell them something really important that you've learned.

What do you say?

This version of you smiles and exhales deeply and disappears,

And your heart fills with so much gratitude that you could share some of the lessons you've learned so far.

And you know it's time to make your way back to where you started.

As your feet touch the golden stones,

You see your door in front of you.

You quietly open and close it behind you.

You walk back to your space and lie down and close your eyes,

Soaking up this feeling of freedom,

Lightness,

And gratitude.

And you know it's time to make your way back to where you started.

As you relax more and more,

You feel the warmth and compassion of your unconditional love flickering in the center of your heart.

And you begin to remember the words of your samkalpa,

The intention you created at the beginning.

Repeat them to yourself at least three times.

The words start as a whisper,

And then they get louder and louder until the message is heard at the center of every cell in your body.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Begin to feel the space around your body as you take a few deep breaths in and out.

Listen to the sounds around you.

Take your time as you land back in this space and this time.

There's no rush,

Ever.

You can start to wiggle your nose or scrunch up your toes as you land.

And if you want to stretch out your body,

You can.

Or you can just roll over to one side.

Just don't rush.

Take your time.

If you want to,

You can return to a seated position or you can stay where you are.

I invite you to place your hands on your heart and take a moment of gratitude for whatever you are thankful for today.

Thank you for sharing your time with me today.

Have a beautiful rest of your day and shine your light out into the world.

Namaste.

Reviews

I enjoyed the body rotation and visualization components. Your voice is so soothing. Thank you for this beautiful practice. I feel centred and filled with self compassion and gratitude.

Thank you for sharing this practice here. It was v peaceful & a benefit to me. Take care!

This was exactly what I needed! I'm going to use this recording daily, I think. It has everything I need. 👏🏻👏🏻💜💜🙏🙏 Thank you so very much!!!

What an amazingly beautiful journey.💖 thank you so much and many blessings to you!🙏🌈

What a beautiful nidra. Thank you so much for your special words and wonderful, calming voice. Much gratitude 🙏🏻.

Delish ~ perfect beginning to this day in beautiful Sayulita ~ thank you! Namaste
🌞🌺🙏🌺🌞

Just reading other comments and was delighted to realize you are in Puerto Vallarta! We are taking the bus from Sayulita to PV for a daytime of exploration.

A very inspiring practice! I definitely felt better after.

That was beautiful thank you 🙏🏼

Amazing way to start the day.

This was really wonderful! Thank you!

Hele mooie meditatie. Hartelijk bedankt.

Lovely, Thank you Lynette!