Yoga Nidra,
Rainbow and Clouds I now prepare for Yoga Nidra.
Lying on your back,
Make yourself comfortable.
Allow your arms and legs to stretch out away from the body with your palms facing up.
You may wish to put a pillow under your head and underneath your knees to feel comfortable and relaxed.
Adjust your head,
Neck and shoulders so they are in line with your spine and completely relax,
Letting any tension go.
Now close your eyes and allow them to remain closed during the entire practice of Yoga Nidra.
Make any last adjustments to make sure that the body can remain completely still throughout the practice.
However,
If you become uncomfortable or restless during the practice and this prevents you from being able to follow the practice,
Then there is no harm in adjusting the body.
During Yoga Nidra we focus on the act of hearing and feeling,
Heightening our awareness,
And the only thing to remember is to follow the voice of the instructor as you completely let go.
You don't need to analyse or intellectualise the instructions,
Just simply follow them with feeling and your complete attention.
And now bring awareness to the breath in the body.
And in the next exhale,
Let your body fall completely heavy.
And again,
Exhale and completely let go.
Letting your body sink deeper.
Just letting go.
And now become aware of the sounds outside the room.
Draw your attention to each sound one by one.
And now bring your awareness to the sounds inside the room,
One by one.
And now bring your awareness to your entire physical body lying on the floor in complete stillness.
Bring your attention to the entire body,
From the top of the head to the tips of the toes.
And now repeat within yourself the mantra or sound,
Aum.
And again,
Complete stillness and awareness of the whole body,
Repeating within,
Aum.
And now become aware that you're practising Yoga Nidra and say silently to yourself,
I am practising Yoga Nidra.
I am awake and alert.
And now it is time to make your intention or sankalpa.
This is a clear,
Positive statement in the present tense of something that you would like to encourage more of in your life or something that you would like to let go of.
You can take your time to develop an intention and if you do not create one now,
You can do so at another time.
You need to believe,
Feel and experience your intention as manifesting now,
At the present moment.
And now begin to state your intention,
Saying it three times over,
With feeling and commitment while engaging all your senses.
And now we will begin to rotate the consciousness through different parts of the body.
We will move quickly from one part to another and all you have to do is bring your awareness to each part of the body by either imagining or simply bringing your awareness there.
Or you may choose to repeat the name of the part of the body after the voice.
And so now we begin.
Bring awareness to the right hand thumb,
Index finger on the right hand,
Middle finger,
Ring finger and little finger.
Awareness to the palm of the right hand,
Back of the hand,
Right wrist,
Right shoulder.
Bring awareness to the right waist,
Upper leg,
Right knee,
Lower leg,
Sole of the right foot.
Bring awareness to the right big toe.
Now bring awareness to the left hand thumb,
Index finger on the left hand,
Middle finger and little finger.
Bring awareness to the palm of the left hand.
Awareness to the left shoulder.
Bring awareness to the left waist,
Upper leg,
Lower leg,
Sole of the left foot.
Bring awareness to the left big toe,
Remaining awake and alert.
And now bring awareness to the back of the body,
Both heels touching the floor,
Back of the legs touching the floor,
Both butt cheeks touching the floor,
Pelvis,
Whole of the spine.
Awareness to the whole spine from the bottom to top.
Awareness to both shoulder blades.
Bring awareness now to the top of the head,
Forehead,
Right eyebrow.
Space between the eyebrows.
Space between the eyebrows.
Bring awareness to the right eye,
Right ear,
Right cheekbone,
Left cheekbone.
Now bring awareness to the nose,
Tip of the nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril.
And now bring awareness to the upper lip,
Roof of the mouth,
Right jaw.
And now bring awareness to the chest,
The heart center.
Bring awareness to both legs at the same time,
Both arms at the same time,
Back of the body,
Front of the body,
And now the whole body.
Bring awareness to the whole body.
And now bring awareness to the natural rise and fall of the breath in the body.
Bring awareness to the breath as it rises and falls from the heart center.
Continue to maintain awareness of the breath as it rises and falls from the heart center.
Now counting the breaths from 21 to 1.
The breath rises 21.
It falls 21.
It rises 20.
It rises 19.
It falls 19.
It rises 18.
It falls 18.
It rises 17.
It falls 17.
And now continue from 16 until 1,
Remaining awake and alert.
And now bring awareness to the space between the eyebrows.
Imagine an infinite space,
A space that extends as far as the eyes can see.
Become totally aware,
Without becoming involved with anything which may arise.
Thoughts,
Feelings,
Memories.
Allowing whatever comes up to come and go.
And now bring awareness back to the rise and fall of the breath in the body.
Imagine the body as light as a feather.
And now imagine the body so light that it gently gets up and begins walking outside.
Imagine looking outside,
Noticing the environment around.
And now imagine the body becoming so light that it starts to float up to the sky.
Floating effortlessly in the sky.
Noticing the landscapes and the dark blue ocean below.
Drifting amongst the clouds and towards a beautiful rainbow across the sky.
Feeling such ease and peace.
Approaching the magnificent rainbow.
Become immersed in its colors.
First is red,
Bathed in vibrant red light.
And then orange.
Feel waves of orange caress the entire body.
Feel the soothing color of yellow cascade over the body.
A beautiful wave of green penetrates and begins to heal the entire body.
A deep shade of blue fills the entire being.
And then indigo.
A vibrant shade of blue-purple penetrates every fiber.
And finally violet.
An exquisite shade of purple pervades all the cells.
Feel the entire body bask in this rainbow of color.
Filling it with peace and joy.
And now slowly drift back through the sky.
Passing clouds.
Overlooking the ocean.
And descending back home.
Quietly stepping back into the room.
Lying down,
Practicing yoga nidra.
Complete stillness and peace.
And now bring awareness back to the breath and the body.
And now it is time to state the same intention made at the beginning of the yoga nidra session.
Repeat this same intention three times.
Believing,
Feeling and experiencing the intention as manifesting now.
At the present moment.
Engaging all the senses.
And now bring your awareness back to the natural rise and fall of the breath and the body.
Become aware of the meeting points between your body and the floor.
Feel the weight of the body on the floor.
And bring your attention to the sounds outside the room.
Lie quietly,
Keeping your eyes closed.
Noticing the effects of the practice.
Having the intention to bring awareness into the rest of the day.
Slowly begin to gently waken the body with small gestures of your fingers and toes.
And perhaps your head side to side.
Bend your knees to your chest and roll over to the right side of the body.
Crawling into a ball.
And now gently push up into an upright position.
Hands in prayer and a gesture of thanks and gratitude.
Take a moment to reflect on all the things you feel grateful for.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
