Nidra For Liberation

This guided Yoga Nidra is a journey inward through the layers of body, breath, and spirit. Through potent intention, expanded consciousness, and transformative visualization, you’ll release tension, restore balance, and awaken embodied liberation, peace, and bliss.

Transcript

Welcome to your yoga nidra practice.

In this journey,

We will turn inward.

In stillness,

We will connect with the power of our attention and intention to expand our consciousness and cultivate liberation.

Gently traveling through the layers of our being,

We ultimately arrive at bliss embodied.

Let's begin by collecting any supports or resources you may desire.

A blanket,

An eye mask,

A bolster beneath your knees.

Slowly with reverence,

Lay yourself down and tuck yourself in for the journey ahead.

You may sway,

Rock,

Adjust,

Or fidget before finding stillness in your body.

As you do,

Notice the places you are held.

The ground beneath you,

The cotton on your skin,

The gravity all around you.

Feel the sensation of touch,

Of contact.

Gaze around your space,

Noticing and orienting to the colors,

Shapes,

Textures,

Lingering here and there as your gaze travels side to side,

Up and down.

Now close your eyes down and turn your gaze inward.

Begin to notice the sounds around you,

Beginning as far outward as your ears sense birds,

Wind,

Eventually noticing the sounds closer and closer to you,

The hum of a fan,

Your breath,

Your blood moving through your veins.

Notice the taste of your mouth,

The taste of this moment,

Notice the sense in the air as your breath comes and goes,

And notice your breath,

Its natural rhythm here and now.

On your next exhale,

Consciously release all the breath in your lungs.

Find the bottom of your breath,

Find empty,

Experience empty.

Now,

Take a slow,

Deep,

Full breath in.

Find the top of your breath,

Find full.

Stay with full,

And then release again.

Take a few more breaths like this,

Expanding each inhale and each exhale as you go,

Softening into the spaces between each.

If you find an urge for deeper release through sound,

You may follow that.

On an exhale,

You may make some noise,

Return to your natural breath,

The natural rhythm of your breath here and now.

Now the practice of yoga nidra begins.

We begin by selecting our sankalpa,

An intention that guides the practice.

It begins with I am,

And it ends with that which you are becoming.

For this practice,

We will be cultivating liberation,

The freedom to inhabit and express yourself totally and completely,

To feel,

Move,

Expand,

Take up space,

Ache,

Shake,

Dance,

Burn,

Create,

And embody in a way only you can.

Please select an I am statement that represents liberation to you.

I am free.

I am safe.

I am expansive.

I am sovereign.

You may have found yours if the cells in your body hum in agreement,

Or it sounds like music,

Like your favorite song,

Or it could feel like your name coming from your lover's lips.

Repeat your sankalpa silently to yourself,

Letting it amplify through the fibers of your being,

Letting it pulse with each beat of your heart.

I am.

I am.

We will now distill the full body presence you've cultivated into one body part at a time.

As I name a body part,

Drop your awareness completely into that space,

Lighting it up with the sensation of your full awareness.

If at any point your awareness drifts,

Invite yourself back and continue connecting to the next body part I name.

We begin with your right hand.

Feel your right thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

The palm of your right hand,

The back of your right hand,

Your whole right hand together.

Feel your right wrist,

Forearm,

The soft space between your lower and upper arm,

Your upper arm,

Shoulder,

And your whole right arm together.

Feel your way down through the right side of your ribs and your waistline to your right hip point,

Right thigh,

Kneecap,

Shinbone,

The top of your right foot,

Your big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Pinky toe,

The sole of your right foot,

And your whole right foot together.

Feel the entire right side of your body now together,

The whole right side of your body.

Now feel your left hand,

Left thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

The palm of your left hand,

Back of your left hand,

Your whole left hand together.

Your left wrist,

Forearm,

Upper arm,

Your left shoulder,

And now your whole left arm together.

Feel into your left armpit,

The left side of your ribs and your waistline,

Your left hip point,

Left thigh,

Kneecap,

The top of your left foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Pinky toe,

The sole of your left foot,

And your entire left foot together.

Feel the whole left side of your body now.

Now feel the soles of both feet together,

The heels of both feet.

Feel both your calves together,

Your hamstrings,

Your glutes.

Feel your lower back,

Feel your mid-back,

The whole curve of your mid-back,

Both shoulder blades together.

Feel your neck,

The very top of your spine.

Feel the back of your head,

The crown of your head.

Feel your forehead,

Your right eyebrow,

And your left eyebrow,

Both eyebrows together,

The brow center,

The space between your two eyebrows.

Feel your right eye,

Your left eye,

And feel both eyes together,

Both.

Feel the bridge of your nose,

Your right nostril,

Your left nostril,

Both nostrils together,

Your whole nose.

Feel your right jaw,

Your left jaw,

And your whole jaw together.

Feel your upper lip,

Your lower lip,

Both lips together.

Feel your teeth,

The top row of teeth,

The bottom row of teeth.

Feel your tongue,

Feel your tongue in your mouth.

Feel your whole mouth,

Your throat.

Feel down your throat and into your chest.

Feel your heart,

Your beating heart.

Your whole body now,

Feel your whole body now.

Your whole body awake and alive with your presence,

Your awareness.

Now sense in to the subtle energy of your body.

Feel the quality of your energy,

The signature essence of you,

Attune to the color,

The weight,

The texture,

The temperature,

The frequency of your energy.

Feel it in every cell and every fiber of your being.

Feel your energy collect in the breath you inhale into your lungs,

Feeling the fullness of your energy circulating before you release that breath and exhale again.

Notice this energy,

Your essence,

Pulsing in your root,

Your pelvic floor.

Draw this energy up into your lower belly.

Feel it radiating into your upper abdomen,

Blooming into your heart,

Expressing into your throat,

Expanding into your third eye and finally glowing out of the crown of your head.

Now return to your breath.

Notice your body breathing.

Notice your heart beating.

Notice the neutrality of this moment.

Experience how neutral feels and materializes in your mind and body.

You are welcome to return here to neutral whenever or if ever you choose neutral.

Now invite in to your level of comfort a sensation of heaviness.

Experience a feeling of weight like gravity becomes more visceral.

Notice the sensation of heaviness in your body and mind like warm honey poured over you,

Like a blanket draped over you,

Heaviness.

Return to neutral now,

Your body as it is,

Your breath coming and going,

Lungs filling and emptying,

Heart opening and closing,

Neutral.

Now feel a sense of lightness.

Experience a feeling of weightlessness like you could float up from the ground,

Your energy dancing freely in and out and all around you.

Embody lightness like a feather in the air or a sound wave traveling through space.

Notice the liberation of letting what comes come and what goes go.

Letting go of all lightness.

Return to neutral now.

Now call forth your intuition and your creative mind.

Allow visuals and imagery to materialize in your mind's eye as I guide you,

As if you are painting the picture I name.

The color yellow,

Sunshine,

A golden retriever,

Your best friend,

A tall redwood tree,

Someone who challenges you,

The Statue of Liberty,

A belly dancer,

A volcano erupting,

Yourself lying as you are right now.

Visualize yourself from above.

Notice your chest rising and falling with your breath.

Attune to your essence,

Your energy flowing in and out of your body.

Witness yourself as you are,

Here and now.

Now visualize yourself as a baby,

Gaze at your small delicate body,

Your small hands and feet.

See this version of you begin to cry.

Take in the sounds,

Movements,

What is being expressed and what is not being expressed.

As you continue gazing at this version of you,

Sense into what this part of you is needing.

Soothing sounds.

Imagine this part of you receiving that now.

A cry for help,

Being met.

Take that in.

Now visualize yourself as a child.

Notice the way you sit,

The expression on your face,

Your personality more materialized now.

What does this version of you express in words or otherwise?

Again,

Noticing what is being expressed and what is not.

And attune to what this version of you needs.

Play.

Structure.

Encouragement.

Imagine this part of you receiving that now,

An expression being seen and honored.

Notice how it lands in your body,

Your face,

Your spirit.

Now visualize yourself as a teen.

Notice how you've grown and how you've stayed the same.

This version of you has something to say.

Notice how they say it as much as what they say.

What's beneath it?

What are they really asking for?

Attune to that.

Is it pleasure?

Release?

Autonomy?

Imagine this part of you receiving permission to do that.

And visualize this teenager moving through that now,

An emotion felt and expressed.

Notice the ripple effect of that.

Take it in.

Now visualize yourself as an adult.

Notice how you carry yourself,

The subtle and explicit ways you express yourself.

Notice what you say,

How you say it.

What you don't say,

Why.

Notice how you move and how you stay still.

Sense into what this part of you desires or needs.

Is it movement?

Truth-telling?

Nature?

The support of a loved one?

Take it in.

Imagine this part of you putting aside tasks,

Excuses,

Responsibilities,

For a moment and giving this to yourself.

Watch yourself dance,

Rage,

Shake,

Paint,

Yell,

Sing,

Sleep.

Witness yourself allowing yourself to feel,

Express,

And move.

Finally,

Visualize yourself as a wise,

Well-lived elder.

Notice your hands,

Your skin,

How you carry yourself,

The look in your eye,

The expression on your face.

This future version of yourself,

So full of wisdom and clarity,

Has something to say,

Something to express and share with all these past versions of you.

See all the past versions of yourself gather together now.

The baby,

The child,

The teen,

The adult.

The elder looks around the room,

Taking each younger version of you in,

And they smile.

They say something.

The words that leave their mouth are yours,

Senkalpa.

I am free.

You feel it ripple through all versions of you,

Past,

Present,

And future,

Gathered here.

Notice how it lands in each part,

Growing more resonant and more powerful.

Liberation.

Bliss.

Take that in.

Slowly,

Slowly,

Come back to the present-day self,

The one carrying all versions,

Past,

Present,

And future.

See yourself once again from above,

This time meeting yourself with the liberation and bliss you've cultivated here today.

Come back to your body,

Drop back into your body,

And notice how it is to be here now.

Notice the temperature,

Weight,

And vibration within and around you.

Notice your breath rising and falling.

You may begin to invite in gentle movements,

Wiggling your fingers and toes,

Stretching your arms and legs,

Tuning into the sounds of your space,

Connecting to this present moment while carrying the residue of your journey with you.

Lay here as long as you need or want.

You know what needs to happen next.

Give yourself that.

You are free.