Yoga Nidra 5 Koshas

This yoga nidra practice guides you to experience and integrate all layers of your being. The journey begins with awareness of your physical body and then travels inward to eventually land at your bliss body. This practice can help you tap into your inner peace and contentment. A useful practice for anyone needing a moment of calm, relaxation and recharge. Use this practice as needed to manage stress or anxiety. Used daily, this practice can also be helpful to those living with symptoms of chronic pain, autoimmune conditions, fibromyalgia, or chronic fatigue.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this Yoga Nidra practice for the five koshas.

During this practice you will be guided through awareness and integration of all levels of your being,

Beginning with your physical body and journeying inwards to Ananda,

Your bliss body.

So to begin finding a comfortable position for yourself,

That may be laying down on your back or perhaps seated upright if that's preferable.

The most important thing here is that your body is comfortable and at ease,

That you feel supported and able to relax into stillness.

So taking some time here,

Choosing your position,

Noticing how your body feels,

Taking whatever you need to support yourself here,

Perhaps a small pillow under your head or a cushion under the backs of your knees,

Fine-tuning your comfort here.

As you settle in,

Remembering that you can move at any time during this practice.

If you need to move,

Just moving slowly,

Mindfully,

And coming back to stillness when you feel ready.

But perhaps you can make yourself so comfortable here that you won't feel any urge to move at all.

Once you've settled into your comfortable stillness,

Then perhaps closing your eyes,

Beginning to turn your attention inward.

For a moment,

You may like to let your awareness of sound expand outwards,

Taking in sounds from the surrounding area,

Perhaps around the building that you're in,

And noticing sounds closer by,

Sounds within the room that you're resting in.

And then noticing sounds that may perhaps come from your own body,

Perhaps the sound of your own breath.

And in your mind's eye,

Seeing if you can picture the four walls of this room that you're in,

Picturing the ceiling,

The floor,

And seeing your body resting here in this space.

Taking a moment to feel all the points where your body is in contact with the ground or the chair beneath you.

Feeling your body supported here.

And now taking a moment to engage all of the muscles in your body,

Squeezing your hands into fists,

Flexing your feet,

Engaging through the muscles of your legs,

Squeezing through your glutes,

Pulling your belly button in towards your spine,

Tensing the muscles of the arms towards the bones,

Maybe squishing all of the muscles of your face in towards your nose and holding with those muscles tensed and engaged.

And then on an exhale,

Releasing,

Letting them all soften.

In a moment,

You'll hear my voice guiding you to move your awareness through your body.

As you hear a body part named,

You just bring your awareness there,

Whatever that means to you.

You might notice physical sensations or energetic sensations,

Or perhaps a complete lack of sensation in that body part.

Either way is fine.

Just bringing your awareness to the body part as you hear it named and then moving swiftly on to the next one.

And we'll take a journey through the physical body.

Beginning on the right hand side of the body,

Moving awareness to your right hand,

And then focusing all of your attention and awareness to your right hand thumb.

All of your attention and awareness to your right hand thumb,

Right index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

And little finger.

To the palm of your right hand,

The back of the hand,

Your left,

Your right wrist,

Forearm,

Upper arm,

And shoulder.

Aware of the right side of your ribs,

The right side of your waist.

Aware of your right hip,

Lower leg,

And ankle.

Down to the sole of your right foot,

The top of the foot.

Into your right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And fifth little toe.

Bringing attention now to your left thumb,

Left index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

And little finger.

To the palm of your left hand,

The back of the hand,

Your left wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

And shoulder.

Aware of the left side of your ribs,

The left side of your waist.

Aware of your left hip,

Upper leg,

Lower leg,

And ankle.

Down to the sole of your left foot,

The top of the foot.

Into your left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And fifth little toe.

Moving along the back of your body now,

Bringing attention to your right heel,

Left heel,

Right calf,

Left calf,

Right thigh,

Left thigh.

Your lower back,

Mid-back,

Upper back.

Aware of the whole length of your spine.

Your right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

The back of your neck,

Back of your head,

The very top of your head.

Bringing awareness to your forehead,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow.

The point between your eyebrows.

Aware of your right eye,

Left eye,

Your cheekbones,

Nose,

Your upper and lower lip.

Aware of your jaw,

Your chin,

The center of your throat.

Aware of your right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Right side of your chest,

Left side of your chest,

The center of your chest.

Bringing awareness to larger areas of your body now,

Noticing your whole right leg,

Your whole left leg,

Your whole right arm,

Whole left arm.

Aware of your whole torso,

Your whole head and neck.

Aware of your whole body,

Your whole body,

Your whole body.

And then beginning to notice your breath.

No need to change or control your breath at all,

But just noticing that you are breathing.

Noticing how subtle your breath can be.

As you continue to breathe easily,

Imagining that you're breathing in through the sole of your right foot,

Up the right leg,

Across your hips,

And then exhaling down the left leg and out through the sole of the left foot.

Breathing at your own comfortable,

Relaxed pace.

Breathing in through the sole of the right foot and out through the sole of the left.

Repeating this a few times.

Next time that you exhale down and out through the sole of that left foot,

Then reversing the flow,

Feeling that you are breathing in through your left foot,

Up your left leg,

Across your hips,

And exhaling down the right leg and out through the sole of the right foot.

Breathing at your own comfortable,

Relaxed pace.

Breathing in through the sole of the left foot and out through the sole of the right foot.

And practicing that for a few moments.

The next time that you exhale down and out through the sole of that right foot,

You can release that,

Letting that practice go.

And then bringing your attention to the palms of your hands.

As you breathe easily,

Imagining that you're breathing in through the palm of the right hand,

Up the right arm,

Across the chest,

And exhaling from the left shoulder down the left arm and out through the palm of the left hand.

Breathing at your own comfortable,

Relaxed pace.

Inhaling through the palm of the right hand.

Exhaling through the palm of the left hand.

And staying with that for a few moments.

The next time that you exhale down and out through that left palm,

Then reversing the flow.

Feeling that you're breathing in through your left palm,

Up your left arm to the left shoulder,

Across your chest.

And then exhaling from the right shoulder down the right arm and out through the palm of the right hand.

Breathing at your own comfortable,

Relaxed pace.

Inhaling through the left palm.

Exhaling through the right palm.

And staying with that for a few moments.

The next time that you exhale down and out through the palm of that right hand,

Then releasing that,

Letting that practice go.

And shifting your awareness to the top of your head.

As you breathe,

Feeling that you are inhaling through the top of your head down to the soles of your feet.

And then exhaling from the soles of your feet up and out through the top of your head.

Breathing at your own comfortable,

Relaxed pace.

Inhaling from the top of the head down to the soles of the feet.

And exhaling from the soles of the feet up and out through the top of the head.

And staying with that practice for a few moments.

The next time that you exhale up and out through the top of your head,

Then releasing that,

Letting that go.

And as you continue to breathe here,

Feeling that you are breathing in through your hands and feet.

Pulling that breath into your heart center.

And on the exhale,

Feeling that breath,

That energy expand out from your heart center.

Each inhale,

Pulling breath through your hands and feet to your heart.

And exhale,

Feeling that expand out from your heart center.

Breathing at your own comfortable,

Relaxed pace.

Breathing in through your hands and feet to your heart center.

And then exhale,

Feeling that energy expand out from your heart.

And staying with that for the next few moments.

The next time that you exhale,

Feeling that breath,

That energy expand out from your heart center.

Then releasing that practice,

Letting that go.

Allowing your breath to simply flow and allowing your awareness to settle there on the flow of your breath.

Watching the natural rise and fall of your body as you breathe.

And as you rest here in awareness of your breath,

Beginning to notice as thoughts arise.

Noticing your next thought and simply saying to yourself,

That is a thought.

Noticing your next thought and saying to yourself,

That is a thought.

Simply noticing thoughts as they arrive and identifying them as thoughts.

Noticing as thoughts come and thoughts go.

You may say to yourself,

I am thinking.

Just noticing that you are thinking.

As you observe yourself thinking,

Beginning to distance yourself from the thoughts.

Watching thoughts rising and falling.

Noticing that you can observe your thoughts from a distance.

Watching from a distance as thoughts rise and fall.

Allowing that distance to become even greater.

Seeing thoughts rise and fall.

Watching from a distance and allowing that distance to become even greater.

Noticing this great field of space that your thoughts and mind exist in.

Resting in this awareness.

Noticing the peace that spreads through your awareness.

Allowing this peaceful feeling to engulf your consciousness.

Body,

Peace.

Breath,

Peace.

Mind,

Peace.

Heart,

Peace.

Enjoying this peace for a few moments.

Slowly bringing your attention back to your breath.

Noticing that you are breathing.

You may like to take a few deeper breaths here.

Breathing deep into your belly.

Perhaps beginning to gently wiggle your fingers,

Your toes.

Feeling this breath and movement to reawaken your body.

Slowly taking any movements that your body needs.

Whether that's stretching your arms or rocking your head.

Moving however feels right for you.

And then when you're ready,

Slowly opening your eyes.

Reviews

That was terrific. I loved the pranayama. Also great voice