Yoga Nidra For Illumination & Bliss

In this yoga nidra practice, we seek to deeply relax the body and mind. Using the technique of yoga nidra, we cultivate a state of deep rest and then focus on harmonising the nervous system and mind through the use of breath awareness and mantra. Using the classical mantras So Hum & Om, we harmonise breath and mantra for an experience of transcendent relaxation. The practice of yoga nidra has been shown to induce deep rest, improve sleep, and significantly improve concentration & memory.

Transcript

Let's just take our final minute to get ourselves set up,

Get comfortable.

Ideally we're practicing yoga nidra from the position of shavasana,

Lying on our backs,

Palms facing upwards.

The reason for that is so we don't stimulate our fingertips.

Can be comfortable,

Sometimes you can have your hands on your belly.

I'm certainly not a fundamentalist when it comes to these things.

So comfort is paramount in establishing a steady asana.

So we'll do a little bit of work with the breath just to help ourselves settle down,

Settle into our posture.

Inhaling and exhaling,

Connecting with your breath.

Noticing as the breath moves through you.

Taking a deeper,

More diaphragmatic breath now,

Breathing right down into your diaphragm.

Allowing the diaphragm to expand before you release it.

We're going to do that again.

Take a big,

Deep diaphragmatic breath,

Breathe into the belly and this time continuing to breathe up into the chest.

Full yogic breath.

Now hold that breath and as you hold the breath,

Squeeze your fists,

Clench your fists,

Activate the arm muscles and then let that go.

Breath and the arms.

Let's do that again.

Inhaling in fully deeply.

Clench the fists,

Activate the arm muscles,

Curl the toes,

Activate the leg muscles,

Squeeze your pelvic floor and then let it go.

Again big,

Deep,

Full breath in.

Squeeze everything,

Hold everything,

Arm muscles,

Leg muscles,

Toes,

Pelvic floor,

Squeeze everything and then let it go.

Let's do that one more time.

Full breath in.

Hold the breath,

Clench the fists,

Scrunch your face,

Squeeze everything,

Curl the toes,

The legs,

The buttocks,

The pelvic floor,

The chest,

The back,

Hold it,

Hold it,

Hold it and then open them out.

Let it go.

Breathing gently now.

Allowing with each exhalation this ongoing experience of softening.

Feeling as though your body is sinking down into the floor.

The body is sinking down into the floor.

It's creating a little divot,

A dent into the floor.

Noticing the plane of contact,

That sensation of touch on the back body.

Noticing the plane of contact,

The sensation of touch upon the front body.

Coverings touching you.

The touch of the air upon exposed parts of the skin.

Awareness of the outline of your body.

Now let's shift our attention toward the dimension of sound.

Becoming aware now of sounds as they exist outside.

Sending your attention awareness outwards now into the day.

In this technique where I'm practicing active listening,

Pure listening in the sense that we're not contemplating the sounds,

Analyzing the sounds or judging the sounds.

This is just a practice of listening.

Just hear the sound.

Hear a sound,

Become fully present with that sound.

Bear witness to that sound and then let that sound go.

Move on,

Find another sound.

Listening to this practice with a beginner's mind,

Hearing these sounds as though it's the first time.

As though it's the first time that you have ever heard that sound.

As though it's a brand new sound,

Which is in fact true.

You may sound like something you've heard before,

But each sound is indeed a brand new sound.

Cultivating a sense of awe,

Reverence.

Hear a sound,

Become fully present to that sound.

And then gently let it go.

Move on,

Find another sound.

Sending your awareness outwards as far as you can,

Seeking out the sound that is farthest away.

Notice the sound that you can hear that is farthest away.

Coming inwards slightly,

Steadily making your way inwards.

Seeking out sounds that are slightly closer.

Becoming inside this room now.

Seeking out sounds that are inside this room.

Then coming closer,

Becoming aware of your own personal sounds.

Can you hear,

Or perhaps imagine that you hear the sound of ringing in your ears?

Can you hear the sound of your own heart beating?

The sound of perhaps blood moving through your veins?

Perhaps you can imagine the sound of your own metabolism,

Or hear the sound of your own metabolism.

Seeking out now the sound of your natural breath.

Can you hear the sound of the breath as it moves through you?

The whisper of the inhalation,

The whisper of the exhalation.

It's said that the sound of the exhalation contains the sound of hum.

The sound of the inhalation contains the sound of so.

So with the inhalation,

Hum with the exhalation.

I am that.

Sacred mantra of the breath.

So hum.

I am that.

Can you hear the sound of so within your inhalation?

The sound of hum within your exhalation.

This next stage of Yoga Nidra practice we introduce for the first time our sankalpa.

Sankalpa is made in Yoga Nidra as a result.

It is a seed from which life change can grow.

Sankalpa should support your Dharma,

Your highest calling,

Your deepest needs.

Sankalpa ultimately should be framed in a way that is positive as though it's already true.

So for example if I wanted to improve my physical health I would have a sankalpa something like I am radiant and well or I have wonderful health.

If you have a sankalpa repeating it now a number of times introducing the resonance of that sankalpa.

If you don't yet have a sankalpa just becoming open to what that might be.

Allowing sankalpa to rest now.

In the next stage of Yoga Nidra practice we rotate consciousness,

Rotate awareness through out the physical body.

I'll direct your attention to a body part,

Place your full awareness there perhaps visualising a glow,

Luminescence,

Radiance within that body part.

We begin by bringing our full attention into the right hand thumb.

Bringing full awareness,

Full attention into the right hand thumb.

And then sense of illumination within the right hand thumb.

Now we're moving to the right hand forefinger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger.

Awareness and light come into the palm of the right hand,

Back of the right hand,

Right wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Right shoulder.

Awareness and light come into the right side of the chest,

Right ribs,

Waist,

Hip,

Right thigh,

Right knee,

Shin,

Calf,

Ankle.

Top of the right foot,

Sole of the right foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Little toe.

Awareness and light come now through that whole right side of the body,

Experiencing,

Visualising a smokey golden light,

Luminescent within that right side of the body.

And now we move to the left side of the body,

Bringing awareness into the left hand thumb,

Left hand forefinger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the left hand,

Back of the left hand,

Left wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Left shoulder.

Awareness and light come down the left side of the chest,

Left ribs,

Waist,

Hip,

Left thigh,

Left knee,

Shin,

Calf,

Ankle.

Top of the left foot,

Sole of the left foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Little toe.

And now again,

A golden light,

Smokey golden light infused through the whole left side of the body,

Experiencing light,

Luminescence,

A golden light within that left side of the body.

We're going to journey back now again to the right hand thumb.

We'll begin again in the right hand thumb for another full rotation there.

Full awareness,

Golden light within and around the right hand thumb,

Moving into the right hand forefinger,

The middle finger,

The ring finger,

The little finger,

The palm of the right hand,

The back of the right hand,

The right wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Right shoulder.

Awareness and light come into the right side of the chest,

The ribs,

The waist,

Hip,

Right thigh,

Right knee,

Shin,

Calf,

Ankle.

Top of the right foot,

Sole of the right foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Little toe.

Again a golden light throughout the whole right side of the body,

Whole right side of the body,

Illuminated.

Let's move again to the left hand thumb.

Full presence,

Left hand thumb,

Left hand forefinger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the left hand,

Back of the left hand,

Left wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Left shoulder,

Left side of the chest,

Waist,

Hip,

Left thigh,

Left knee,

Shin,

Calf,

Ankle.

Top of the left foot,

Sole of the left foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Little toe.

And again a golden light infused throughout the whole left side of the body,

Smoky golden light luminescent within the whole left side of the body.

We'll come now to the back of the body,

Experiencing the plane of contact again where the body lies upon the floor.

The back of the right leg,

The heel,

Calf,

Thigh,

Buttock,

And back of the left leg,

Heel,

Calf,

Thigh,

Buttock,

The lower back,

The whole right shoulder blade,

The whole left shoulder blade,

The back of the neck,

The back of the head.

Notice of the whole spinal column where the spine connects with the skull all the way down to the tip of the tailbone,

Experiencing light within the whole spinal column.

And again the back of the neck,

The back of the head,

The crown of the head,

Forehead,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow.

Find the point of brahmatia directly between the eyebrows.

Come to the right eye,

The right eyeball,

The right eyelid,

And then find the plane of contact where the eyelid rests upon the eye.

Come to the left eye,

The eyeball,

And then the eyelid,

And again the plane of contact where the eyelid rests upon the eye.

Coming to the nose,

The bridge of the nose,

The tip of the nose,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

The whole nose,

The whole nose,

Both nostrils,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

The right ear,

The top of the ear,

The earlobe inside the right ear,

The left ear,

Top of the ear,

Earlobe inside the left ear,

The whole left ear.

Come to the lips now,

Top lip,

Bottom lip,

Finding the plane of contact where the lips touch.

Coming inside the mouth,

The top of the mouth,

The top of the tongue,

Underneath the tongue,

Bottom of the mouth,

Top teeth,

Bottom teeth.

Come to the very tip of the tongue,

Just the tip of the tongue,

Full awareness there,

Full presence at the tip of the tongue,

And now experience the whole mouth,

Teeth and tongue together.

Whole mouth,

Teeth and tongue together.

Now experience the whole face coming outside the mouth,

Experiencing the whole face.

Coming down the front side of the body,

The front of the neck,

The right side of the chest,

The left side of the chest,

The right ribs,

The left ribs,

The upper abdomen,

The navel,

The lower abdomen,

And now the pelvis.

Experiencing the whole right leg,

Whole right leg,

Whole left leg,

Whole left leg,

Both legs together,

Awareness of both legs together.

Experience the whole right arm,

The whole left arm,

Both arms together.

Awareness of the whole torso,

Now the neck and head.

And again experiencing both legs together,

Both arms together,

Whole torso,

Neck and head.

And again both legs together,

Both arms together,

Whole torso,

Neck and head.

And now the whole body,

The whole body,

Whole body,

Experiencing the body integrated,

Homogeneous,

Simply at rest.

Awareness of the whole body,

Whole body,

Whole body.

And now let's again seek out the thread of our breath,

Seeking out the thread of breath,

Watching the breath as it moves through you.

And then bringing acute attention to the breath,

Just in the navel,

Watching the breath at the belly button.

Watch as with your inhalation the belly button rises,

And with your exhalation as the belly button falls.

Exhaling belly button rises,

Exhaling belly button falls.

Add now a mantra to this practice.

We're going to use the mantra om here.

So as the belly button rises when we inhale we chant silently the mantra om.

As you exhale the belly button falls,

The mantra om.

Om with the inhale,

Om with the exhale.

Om,

Belly button rises,

Om,

Belly button falls.

Letting the om mantra be a metronome for the breath.

Om as the belly button rises,

Om as the belly button falls.

Now gently redirecting awareness toward the nostrils.

Noticing the very subtle touch of the breath as it enters and exits within the nostrils.

Notice that subtle touch right there at the tip of the nostrils.

Perhaps a slight variance in the temperature between the inhalation and the exhalation.

Perhaps you can notice the touch of the exhalation on the top lip or as it moves across your lips.

Now we're going to do a practice of anuloma voloma or psychic nadi shodan,

Alternate nostril breathing done mentally.

So we begin this practice with focusing an inhalation just through the left nostril.

Focusing an inhalation just through the left nostril.

And then focusing an exhalation just through the right.

We're inhaling through the right nostril.

We're exhaling through the left.

Inhaling left nostril.

Exhaling right.

Inhaling right nostril.

Exhaling left.

And now we're going to add a mantra to this practice.

As you inhale through the left nostril the mantra so.

As we exhale through the right nostril the mantra hum.

Again inhaling right nostril the mantra so.

Exhaling left the mantra hum.

Doing in this way inhaling so.

Exhaling hum.

And then with your next exhalation letting that practice go.

We're going to expand this practice.

We're now going to bring awareness into the soul of the left foot.

Again exhaling fully and with your next inhalation awareness rises from the soul of the left foot up the left side of the body.

Through the left leg,

The hip,

Through the torso,

All the way to the eyebrow center.

And then we're exhaling awareness descends down the right side of the body.

Through the chest,

The hip,

And down through the right leg to the soul of the right foot.

Awareness ascends back up through the right side of the body.

All the way to the eyebrow center and we exhale awareness descends down the other side of the body.

Exhaling that breath again as a smoky golden light.

Breath awareness and light moving as one.

So inhaling and exhaling through an upside down V.

The apex of the V is in the eyebrow center.

And again adding a mantra into this practice.

Again the mantra so with the inhalation as the breath ascends.

The mantra hum with the exhalation as the breath descends from the eyebrow center down to the soul of the foot.

Exhaling awareness ascends awareness breath light and mantra moving as one.

So for the inhalation hum for the exhalation.

So hum.

Now letting go with your next exhalation releasing that practice.

Bringing awareness now to the souls of both feet.

Awareness to the souls of both feet.

Now we're going to inhale awareness rises up both legs together from the souls of the feet up through the legs,

The pelvis up through the chest.

This time all the way to the crown of the head.

It's like a line of light moving through the body.

We exhaling awareness descends from the crown of the head through the neck,

Chest,

Pelvis down through both legs again to the souls of the feet.

We're inhaling awareness rises.

We're going to introduce now the mantra hum.

With this practice we go back to the mantra hum.

Hum as the breath ascends from the souls of the feet to the crown of the head and hum as the breath and awareness descend from the crown of the head to the souls of the feet.

Hum with the inhalation.

Hum with the exhalation.

Awareness,

Breath,

Light and mantra moving as one.

To your next exhalation consciously intentionally let go of the mantra.

Let it rest.

Let go of any effort with the breath now.

Let everything rest.

Allow awareness to rest within your inner space,

Within the heart space,

Within your internal space.

Connecting with an abiding sense of safety,

Contentment.

Resting now within your inner space.

There is nowhere to go.

There is nowhere to be.

Awareness is at rest.

Now bringing awareness to the space behind your closed eyes into the space of Chitaka.

We're going to do a practice of visualization and in this practice we're going to be working with memory.

In Yoganidra we're seeking to deconstruct the machinations of the mind and memory is a construct of the mind.

Time is a construct of the mind.

We're going to be walking back in time.

We'll begin by becoming present in this time.

Become present and aware in this time.

And then step back an hour,

One hour before you came here today.

Where were you?

Who were you with?

How did you feel?

Grabbing a snapshot,

Rewinding the tape and replaying.

How did you feel watching that play out behind the closed eyes,

Connecting with the memory?

Then going back further still,

About 10.

30 this morning or so,

Mid-morning today.

Where were you?

Who were you with?

How did you feel?

Reliving that memory.

Then back to early this morning.

First thing this morning,

How did you feel?

Finding that time first thing this morning,

Reconnect with that memory.

Go back to dinner time last night.

What did you eat?

What did it taste like?

Who were you with?

And how did you feel?

Go back to lunchtime yesterday,

Around lunchtime yesterday.

Again,

Just grabbing a snapshot,

Perhaps it was your meal or something that you did.

Now coming back to this time,

Become fully present in this time.

Fully present in this time.

And again into this time we introduce our sankalpa,

The same sankalpa made in the beginning of yoga nidra practice.

If you don't yet have a sankalpa,

Again just becoming open to what that might be.

It can evolve over time and ultimately should exist to serve our dharma,

Our highest calling,

Our deepest resonance,

The highest expression of our personality.

Repeating that sankalpa now a number of times.

Allowing it to sink deep into this fertile soil of your subconscious mind where it can take root and permeate all throughout your life until the resonance of that sankalpa becomes absolutely true.

Let it rest now.

Awareness is again directed toward breath.

Noticing the touch of the breath.

Notice with the inhalation the chest expand,

The belly expand.

Feeling the touch of the air upon your skin.

Feeling the weight of your body on the floor.

Becoming aware of the outline of your body.

Hearing now the sound of breath.

Taking a deeper,

Fuller inhale and exhale here.

Then hearing other sounds outside of you.

The sounds of the day.

Becoming aware of the sounds of the day.

Knowing the sounds outside of you.

Knowing where you are.

Knowing what time it is.

What's making those sounds.

Knowing that you have been practicing yoga nidra and that practice is now coming toward an end.

Bringing awareness back to the physical body.

You can again take another deep,

Full breath in.

Wiggle the fingers now.

Having awareness and breath back into the fingers,

Into the toes,

Making some small movements.

Having when you're ready a little stretch.

Give yourself a cuddle.

Taking as long as you need there,

Rolling over onto one side.

Again,

Just giving yourself as much time as you need before making your way back up to a seated position.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Hari Om Tat Sat.

Reviews

Always perfect

Awesome practice! I really enjoyed going over both sides twice during the points of awareness part, got me deeply relaxed. Thank you!

Thank you

Liked this one. Could I hear birds in the garden ?

Mark, this is a beautiful meditation. I love the long body rotation and breath work. Thank you so very, very much.

A bit different from other yoga nidras - double body part rotation and an extended breath work visualization practice w/ mantras. Ultimately very relaxing even though I missed some of the elements of a more traditional nidra. Excellent guidance - steady and confident pace.

Thoroughly relaxing! Thank you!