Yoga Nidra: Inner Peace- Journey To The Meadow

Yoga Nidra- Journey to the Meadow. All that is required is to make yourself comfortable in a savasana posture with props, blankets, possibly an eye pillow and enjoy. This practice is intentionally designed to cultivate inner harmony in all layers of being.

Transcript

Journey to the meadow.

Let's get ready now for yoga nidra practice.

Getting comfortable in shavasana posture.

Lying down on your back comfortably.

Bolster underneath your knees.

Arms relaxed by your side,

Palms facing upward.

Feet hip-width distance apart.

Adjusting your blanket if you'd like on top of you or underneath you.

Or both.

Just getting comfortable.

Make sure you're warm,

Free from distraction.

Close your eyes and keep them closed.

Feel free to place an eye pillow to deepen your practice.

In yoga nidra you function on the level of awareness plus the level of listening.

Keep on listening to my voice as best as you can throughout the practice.

Repeat mentally to yourself now,

I am going to practice yoga nidra.

I will not sleep.

I will remain awake.

Give yourself some time to become calm and steady.

Make any little movements or adjustments now.

Take a deep breath in and as you breathe in,

Feel calmness spreading through all inner walls of your body.

And as you breathe out,

Mentally repeat to yourself or say aloud,

Ahhh.

Do this a few more times.

Become aware now of sounds in the distance.

Let your sense of hearing range into the distance outside of the room and notice what you find.

Try not to identify the source.

Just notice,

Observe,

Witness these sounds.

And then now bring your sense of hearing closer to sounds within the room.

Notice sounds within the room.

Sounds in the room close by,

Noticing.

Now develop your awareness of the room.

Visualize in your mind the walls,

Ceiling,

Floor and now your body lying on the floor.

Feel your physical existence,

Your body lying on the floor in the room.

Contract,

Release.

Take a moment now and bring your awareness to your hands.

Making two fists with your hands,

On an inhale,

Engage all muscles in the arms,

Squeeze,

Squeeze,

Long exhale out and release the tension.

Feel the arms become soft.

One more time,

Squeeze,

Squeeze,

Make fists,

Squeeze the arms,

Muscles engaged,

Long exhale out,

Soften,

Let go of the holding.

Take a moment and observe contrast between contract,

Release.

Now for your legs and feet,

Bring your awareness here.

Either point or flex the feet to engage all muscles in the glutes,

Upper legs,

Lower legs,

Feet.

Inhale,

Squeeze,

Squeeze the legs,

Exhale,

Relax.

One more time,

Inhale,

Squeeze,

Tense and contract the muscles of the legs,

Exhale,

Let go,

Legs soft.

Awareness to the abdomen,

Bring the navel down to the spine,

Contract the muscles of the abdomen,

Inhale,

Squeeze,

Tense,

Exhale,

Let go,

Belly soft.

One more time,

Contract the muscles of the abdomen,

Inhale,

Squeeze,

Tense,

Exhale,

Let go,

Belly soft.

Now for the face,

Squint your face as though you're frowning,

Eyebrows point towards each other,

Forehead wrinkles,

Inhale,

Squeeze,

Squeeze,

Exhale,

Soften the face.

One more time,

Inhale,

Squeeze,

Tense the face,

Exhale,

Relax,

Face soft,

Smooth.

Whole body together now,

Arms,

Legs,

Abdomen,

Glutes,

Face,

Inhale,

Squeeze,

Squeeze,

Tense,

Exhale,

Let go,

Whole body soft.

One more time,

Inhale,

Squeeze,

Intense,

Whole body,

Exhale,

Let go,

Whole body soft.

Feel yourself becoming more and more quiet from the inside out.

Awareness to all parts of the body,

Soft,

Holding no effort.

Notice your breath now,

Feel your breath,

Natural breath as it flows through your body.

Feel the effortless breath,

Notice the breath is automatic,

You are not doing it,

Witnessing your breath as it is.

Awareness to the navel area,

Begin to count your breath like this,

10 navel rising,

10 navel falling,

Silently to yourself 9 navel rising,

9 navel falling.

And so on.

Continue,

Continue counting the breath in this way.

Wherever you are with your counting,

Let go of the counting.

Come into the heart space,

Feel the space here,

Notice qualities of your breath in and around your heart,

Temperatures,

Anything else you notice.

This is the time now to repeat your sankalpa to yourself,

Your resolve.

Maybe it's the same resolve you've had in previous practices or it's a new one.

Just asking yourself who do you want to be,

Your heart's deepest longing.

Stating your sankalpa now three times in the same tone and pitch with as much feeling,

Emphasis and awareness as possible.

Repeating your sankalpa now.

Notice now breath flowing gently through right and left side nostrils.

Feel your breath streaming in evenly through both sides,

Swirling at the back of the throat,

Through the nasal passage and back out.

Just observing.

Notice a coolness possibly as your breath flows in and warmth as the breath flows out.

Continue feeling the breath flowing through the nostrils.

Rotation of consciousness.

As quickly as possible your mind is to jump from point to point,

Following my voice as best as you can.

Become aware now of your right hand,

Right hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the right hand,

Back of the right hand.

Feel whole right hand,

Right wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Right upper arm,

Armpit,

Right side shoulder,

Collarbone,

Chest,

Ribs on the right side,

Right side waist,

Hip,

Buttock,

Right inner groin,

Right thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Right foot,

Sole of the right foot,

Top of the right foot,

Feel the right heel,

Inner arch,

Awareness to right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Little toe,

Feel all toes on the right foot.

Go now to your left hand,

Bring your awareness to your left hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Palm of your left hand,

Back of the left hand,

Whole left hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Left upper arm,

Armpit,

Left side shoulder,

Collarbone,

Chest,

Ribs,

Left side of the waist,

Hip,

Buttock,

Left inner groin,

Thigh,

Left knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Foot,

Sole of the left foot,

Top of the left foot,

Left heel,

Notice left inner arch,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Little toe,

Feel all toes on the left foot,

Feel whole left foot,

Back of the body now,

Feel back of the head,

Right shoulder,

Left shoulder,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

The whole of the spine,

The whole of the back.

Go now to the top of the head,

Feel top of the head,

Forehead,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Eyebrow center,

Right eyelid,

Left eyelid,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Feel both eyes together,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Nostrils,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Nose,

Bridge of the nose,

Tip of the nose,

Feel the whole of the nose together,

Notice upper lip,

Feel lower lip,

Observe the space where the two lips meet,

Chin,

Jaw,

Feel the whole of the face together,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Right side chest,

Left side chest,

Middle of the chest,

Sternum,

Navel,

Abdomen,

Upper abdomen,

Lower abdomen,

Feel whole of the right leg,

Whole of the left leg,

Both legs together,

Whole of the right arm,

Whole of the left arm,

Feel both arms together,

Whole of the back together,

Whole of the back together,

Whole of the front together,

Whole of the front together,

Feel the whole of the head,

Whole of the head together,

Feel now the whole of the body together,

The whole of the body together,

The whole of the body together.

Coming back into your breath,

Notice your natural in-going and outgoing breath.

Feel your natural breath flowing in and out of the nostrils,

Filling the lungs,

Contracting the lungs.

Repeating mentally to yourself now,

I am awake and aware,

Practicing yoga nidra.

Awareness of sensations.

Awaken now the feeling of heaviness in the whole body.

Become aware of heaviness in every single part of the body.

You are feeling so heavy as if you're sinking into the floor and you could barely lift the body.

Whole body heavy.

Feeling heaviness.

Heaviness in the whole body.

Awaken now the feeling of lightness.

Awakening the feeling of lightness.

A sensation of lightness and weightlessness throughout the entire body.

Your whole body feels so light as if it could lift right up off of the floor.

Whole body light.

Whole body light.

Switching the idea now,

Come back to heaviness.

Feel so heavy throughout the entire body.

Whole body heavy.

Heavy and sinking.

Switching the idea back now to lightness.

Feel lightness throughout the whole body.

Whole body light.

Whole body light.

Rapid visualization.

Bring your awareness now to the eyebrow center.

Space between the eyebrows.

Notice the space.

I'm going to name some things as I name them.

Try to feel and visualize them as best as you can with as many senses as possible.

Darkness.

Lone elephant.

Red apple.

Dog sleeping.

Stone wall.

Dense forest.

The sensation of bare feet and soft green grass.

Autumn leaves.

Bark of a tree.

Blue jay.

Bird nest.

Horse running wild at sunset.

The rising sun.

The sound of laughter.

Warm bath.

Waves on the ocean.

Mountain stream.

Big garden of blooming flowers.

The scent of lavender.

Snow-capped peaks.

Emerald green.

A quiet evening.

Golden sunlight.

The sound of crackling firewood.

Full moon.

People swimming.

Sunflower.

Candle burning.

Cold windy day.

White fluffy clouds.

Stars twinkling in the clear night sky.

Steam from a warm cup of tea.

Cat sleeping.

The sound of chirping birds.

Half moon.

Now we begin to take a journey.

A journey that involves visualization and all senses.

You begin now to gently lift off of the ground and are now floating.

Noticing how it feels floating.

You lift off into the sky.

The sky above.

You are traveling now among the clouds.

Feel the clouds.

Clouds all around.

You are now high,

High up in the sky.

You look around and notice the sky around you.

Feeling all that space.

You notice now the clouds are carrying you.

They begin to lower you down gently.

Very gently.

You realize now you are heading towards the earth.

The you land on the earth.

You stand up now and begin to feel the earth beneath your bare feet.

You hear the chirping of the birds.

Hear them all around.

Birds chirping.

You are on a grassy patch smelling the grass.

Feeling the grass beneath your feet and in between your toes.

There are dandelions scattered all around the grass.

You see a big grassy meadow scattered with yellow dandelions.

You see a mowed path before you.

You begin now to walk down the path.

The path leads to a hill.

Notice your steps.

Notice your pace.

You begin walking up the grassy patch.

Step by step.

Hearing the sounds as you walk.

You notice an animal coming to greet you along this path.

Reach out to touch the animal.

Notice your feelings as you begin to pet the animal.

You both now keep walking up the winding hill.

Grassy hill.

Step by step together.

You both arrive now to a clearing at the top of the meadow hill.

You arrive here in the clearing.

See and feel all of its details as you look all around.

You start to receive guidance here.

An inner or external guidance that you meet at this clearing.

Eventually after some time you feel spacious like a cloud.

The bliss that has always been here within now fills you completely.

You feel yourself as pure bliss.

Radiant.

Alive.

Connected.

Everywhere.

You feel that there is no separation.

You are complete with yourself.

Yourself,

Surroundings,

And the whole world.

You absorb this guidance and allow this blissful sensation to root deeply into your whole entire being.

You look around you.

Arms wide open and begin to spin around slowly in a circle taking it all in.

Noticing the air as you breathe in while you're twirling in the circle.

You're in the center of the circle.

You kneel down.

Knees touch the earth and you bow to all beings.

All places and all times.

Your hips gently come back towards your heels.

Coming into extended child's pose.

Forehead touches the earth.

Release the full weight of your head here.

Notice all feelings,

All sensations.

Feel your breath rise and fill your lungs and then empty the lungs.

Breathing in the dirt,

The earth.

Take a moment here to just be here as best as you can.

Kneeling and bowing to the earth beneath your feet.

You rise slowly and notice the animal patiently waiting next to you.

You reach out to the animal and touch it.

You both begin to stand now and begin to walk to the starting point.

You walk down the grassy hill now back to where you landed from the cloud.

Begin now to see yourself here on the ground,

Here on earth,

In this room practicing yoga nidra.

Notice your breath.

Feel your breath's rhythm,

Pace,

Temperature.

Feel all places where your body and the ground meet.

Come into your heart space.

This is the time now to repeat your sun kalpa,

Your resolve,

Positive statement.

Repeating your sun kalpa three times now to yourself.

You come back to your breath,

Noticing its rhythm,

Space,

Temperatures.

We are now completing yoga nidra.

Gently begin to deepen your next inhalation.

Feel your breath becoming stronger.

Then take a long slow exhale out.

Awareness to your hands and feet.

Begin to slowly move fingers and toes.

Begin to gently rock your head and your neck side to side,

Noticing sensation as you move fingers,

Toes,

Rocking the head.

And when you feel ready,

Begin to make larger movements,

Possibly reaching the arms up and overhead above you on an inhale.

And exhale,

Feel your elbows become soft,

Whole body relaxes.

Eventually draw one foot in,

Then the opposite,

Then the knees towards your chest,

Hugging your knees,

Rocking side to side,

Massaging the back body.

And when you feel ready,

Roll over to your left side,

Resting here in fetal posture,

Nourishing position,

Taking a few breaths.

Just noticing how you feel,

Observing whole body.

Begin to slowly press your body up to a comfortable seat,

Keeping your eyes closed,

Eyelids soft,

Crown of the head aligned over the base of the spine.

Notice your breath traveling up the spine,

Down the spine.

Joining the hands together in front of the heart,

Anjali Mudra,

Bowing the head,

Closing with the sound of Aum.

Take a full breath in,

Long exhale out,

Letting it go.

Inhale.

Aum.

Namaste Aum.

Shanti,

Shanti,

Shanti.

Peace to you.

Namaste.