Yoga Nidra Wisdom Of The River

This is a guided Yoga Nidra to relax and soothe the nervous system. This is time to be guided down through the layers of your being. In the language of Yoga Nidra these are called Koshas. We store all kinds of stories in the layers of our being, and this meditation is a way to release and cleanse the body of these stories. Let your imagination flow, tap into your intuitive source and rest to feel more awake. The track begins and ends with a peaceful cello rift from the beautiful Michele Madden.

Transcript

Welcome to this yoga nidra called Wisdom of the River. Settle into a comfortable position to rest. Know that if you need to move your body or adjust, You may for comfort and ease. The same as a riverbank will adjust to allow the river to flow. You may stay awake or you may fall asleep. Your body knows what it needs. Allow your experience to be just as it is. Without effort, Heed the needs of the body. There is no striving in yoga nidra, Just a letting go into beingness. Declare that you are welcoming a precious moment of rest in your day. Become aware of the center of your heart. Take awareness into the center of your heart. Notice what welcomes you. From this place, I invite you to create a sankalpa, A statement of intention. Honoring a deep wish that you have in your heart and stated as a positive statement, As though fully true right now in this moment. Listen deeply as you say that statement three times with your inner voice. Pause after each time to feel the resonance of those words. Allow those words to settle inside the body. Lay to rest just where they need to be. Declare I am awake and aware of my experience of yoga nidra. We'll now take awareness around the landscape of the body. Allow your awareness to flow from point to point within your body. Focus on sensation and what you feel. It may help to repeat back that point which you hear using your inner voice. We'll begin with the left hand thumb, Index finger, Middle finger, Ring finger, Little finger, Back of the hand, Palm of the hand, Wrist, Lower arm, Elbow, Upper arm, Shoulder, Arm pit, Side ribs, Waist, Hip, Upper leg, Knee, Lower leg, Top of the foot, Sole of the foot, Big toe, Second toe, Third toe, Fourth toe, Little toe. Take awareness to the right hand thumb, Index finger, Middle finger, Ring finger, Little finger, Back of the hand, Palm of the hand, Wrist, Lower arm, Elbow, Upper arm, Shoulder, Arm pit, Side ribs, Waist, Hip, Upper leg, Knee, Lower leg, Ankle, Top of the foot, Sole of the foot, Big toe, Second toe, Third toe, Fourth toe, Little toe. Take awareness to the top of the head, Forehead, Left eyebrow, Temple, Eye, Right eyebrow, Temple, Eye, Both eyes together. Become aware of the sensation of breath inside the nose. Feel breath flowing in and out of the left nostril. Feel breath flowing in and out of the right nostril. Now feel the flow of breath through both nostrils together. Take awareness to the left cheek, Outer ear, Inner ear, The right cheek, Outer ear, Inner ear. Feel both ears together. Take awareness to both lips and the space between the lips, The teeth, The soft space between the teeth, The gums, And the tongue. Allow the tongue to melt and fill the space of the lower palate. Take awareness to the left side of the brain, The right side of the brain, The very center of the brain, The whole brain. Take awareness to the back of the head, The front and the back of the neck together, The center of the throat. So now take awareness over the map of the back body. Left shoulder blade, Right shoulder blade, The space between the shoulder blades, Middle back, Lower back, The sacrum, The tailbone, And the whole back side of the pelvis, The backs of the legs, And both heels. Now take awareness to the front side of the body, The base of the throat, The left collarbone, The right collarbone, Both collarbones together, The heart, Left lung, Right lung, The heart, And lungs together, The sternum, Belly, Front of the pelvis, Front of the legs, Tips of the toes and the toenails. Draw awareness to the feeling of your body breathing. Sense the movement of breath in the body. Notice where you sense this. Just notice. Observe your body breathing with a sense of open curiosity. Feel how the flow of the inhale creates an expansion in the body and the release of the exhale yields a contraction. Become aware of how your breath is a continuous flow. Become aware of the space at the bottom of the exhale. The space where exhale transforms into inhale. Hold awareness inside this space. Allow breath to be natural as you observe this on the inside. Take awareness to the top of the inhale. Into the space where inhale transforms into exhale. Hold awareness within the space. Gently let that go. We'll drop down the layers of the body with breath. Just as a river has layers, We'll drop down the layers of the body. Beginning with the skin, Exhale to land awareness on the surface of the skin. Focus on sensation. Feel the touch of your clothing on your skin. Feel the points of the body and the skin connected to the surface that's supporting you. And feel the touch of air on the surface of the skin and the temperature of the air. Exhale to drop down to the layer just beneath the skin. Fluids and insulation for the body. Feel the flow of life just below the surface of the skin. Exhale as you drop down a layer into the muscles. Allow muscles to melt from solid to liquid. Feel muscles softening and letting go into the flow of breath. Exhale to drop down into the layer of the bones. Feel the bones floating within the body. Feel the currents and the pulse of aliveness. Feel the waves of breath carrying and holding the bones. Exhale as you drop down a layer into the organs. Let the organs sink with gravity and come to rest at the back body like leaves slowly falling to the bottom of a pond. Exhale as you drop down a layer into the pulse, Vibration and flow of your aliveness connecting the millions of tiny cells in your body. Sense this aliveness, Feel the cells full of life. Declare I'm awake and aware of my experience of yoga nidra. Draw awareness to the very center of your heart. The home of joy in your body, The source like a wellspring from which joy flows and pours out of. Real sensations in the body arise as you rest your awareness inside the home of joy. Draw awareness to the home of grief and sadness in your body, The source from where grief and sadness flow out to cleanse the emotional body when needed. Feel and welcome the sensations that arise in the body as you rest your awareness in the home of grief and sadness. Hold both the source of joy and the source of grief and sadness simultaneously within your awareness. Notice what sensations arise and what you feel. Declare I'm awake and aware of my experience of yoga nidra. Will now bring the imagination to life. I invite you to visualize a river. Notice where you are. What colors and textures can you see around you? What shapes surround you? Look yourself close to the edge of the river. Notice the movement of the water. Notice what is beneath the surface. And notice what you see on the banks of the river. Observe the continuous flow of water. Look around to find a comfortable place to sit by the riverside. Sit down at the edge of the river and watch the water. Listen deeply. Listen to the voice of the river. The river wishes to offer you a takeaway, A gift from your visit. Wait with patience. Send some gratitude to the river for this gift. And if you did not receive anything but the river, The voice of the river and the quiet of this place in nature, Perhaps that is the gift. Rest here by the riverside and come back to your source of joy within your heart. Experience your whole body sitting quietly with all the time in the world to be here with the river, To be in nature, To marvel and wonder. Feel the joy in this moment flowing in your whole being. Begin to draw your awareness outside your body to witness yourself sitting by the riverside. See yourself from behind, The shape of your back, The back of your head and the shape of your head and or your hair. Send love and compassion to yourself sitting by the riverside. Simultaneously feel that love and compassion on the back of your body and the sensation it brings. Feel it there just a few millimeters outside your clothing on the back of the body. It's the beginning of time you have visited this river and each river, Watching the flow and ease of the river, The power of the water, The hidden force, The power to cleanse. A witness of change. You have come here since the beginning of time to hear and listen to the voice of the river, Each time familiar and each time a brand new experience. Really let that go and begin to draw your breath deeper into the body. Take awareness into the heart and using your inner voice, Listen deeply as you state your sun kalpa again three times, Pause each time to feel the resonance of those words on the heart of a bird sighing. Allow those words to settle within the layers of your being and come to rest just where they need to be. Invite some gentle movement into your fingers and toes. Notice how that feels. Allow a smile to spread upon your face and notice what happens inside your body as you do that. If you are lying on your back, I invite you to roll to the side body. Do this slowly and with a lot of care. Make it comfortable to rest on the side body. Let go all over again as you rest on the side body. We've come to the end of the yoga nidra. I invite you to reconnect with the gift of the river. Come to realize what that was and what that means for you. Let some gratitude flow through your being for making the time to rest. I wish you the flow of ease as you carry on with the rest of your day. Thank you.