Exploring Purpose And The Body With Yoga Nidra

Restore your appreciation for the body's important role in your essential purpose through this quiet but powerful Yoga Nidra practice. Please settle in with appropriate pillows, blankets, and support to ensure a soothing and comfortable experience navigating your awareness through the yogic practice of sleep.

With an intention established to receive the body's messages, you'll discover the arising, unfolding, and passing of bodily sensation and the role your body plays in your unique and beautiful purpose. You are love and you are loved. Please take this time to quiet yourself to discover just how true this has always been.

Transcript

Okay,

We're going to do a little practice of yoga nidra.

So in this little practice of yoga nidra,

We can remember at the very start that this whole idea is the yoga of sleep,

The yoga of understanding that sleep is another level of consciousness.

And in that level of consciousness,

There's knowing available to us,

Wisdom,

And there's a lot of healing available to us.

And so in order to prepare for yoga nidra,

Let's find a very comfortable position for our body.

I recommend that you lie down on your back,

And maybe place a cushion or a pillow underneath your knees,

And you can stack some cushions to give yourself sort of maximum comfort for your back and hips,

And let your arms be comfortable and at your sides,

And play with your hands a little bit.

Maybe you want your palms open to the sky,

Or maybe you want your palms closed to feel the earth beneath them.

And then settle your shoulders,

And it's nice maybe to have a pillow underneath your head.

Not too big of a pillow.

Think about giving your neck,

The natural curve of your neck,

A little more support,

And just giving the head a bit of softness.

And so taking a moment now,

As you settle your body into the position that feels right for you,

Making sure that your feet are uncrossed,

And make any little adjustments,

Anything that will help you become just that much more comfortable,

Relying on the ground to hold you.

It holds you so well.

Let yourself be held.

And so in this practice of yoga nidra,

We're going to just observe.

We'll observe in that very quiet,

Slightly sleepy state,

The condition of the body.

And we'll just notice that the body is always communicating with us.

And so our observation will be really a practice of listening in,

Of sensing in to the experience of the body.

This will be a feeling practice.

And at the outset,

Let's just set a bit of an intention for ourselves.

We'll remain gently awake,

And gently aware,

And we'll invite our body's messages.

And we'll receive them willingly,

With a welcome.

So we might even say to ourselves,

I'm willing to feel you,

Dear body.

And you may notice that even that can be slightly awkward.

And so if that prompts any sort of disagreement in you,

Settle your body once again,

And just see if it's possible to remain present and willing to feel your wonderful body.

And so having established that intention,

Now let's just recall our true purpose in this life.

And now I know I say that,

And that's a big ask,

But that's okay.

Our true purpose is a big endeavor.

And so as you settle,

Letting the ground hold you,

Just feel the bigness of your endeavor,

Your true and unique purpose in this life.

And it may be so much bigger than you've ever allowed yourself to think.

It may be so much bigger than anyone has ever encouraged you to believe,

But regardless,

It's your unique and beautiful purpose,

And your heart knows it to be true.

And so see what you find for a moment,

As you let yourself simply contemplate your true purpose in this life.

Maybe to teach,

Maybe to love,

Maybe to share or encourage,

Maybe to uplift,

Inspire,

Maybe to connect,

Maybe to be in a state of awe.

Who knows?

Your purpose,

Your heart knows your purpose.

And so just listen in for a moment to the response of your body,

As you allow yourself to consider your true purpose,

Sensing from within your body communicating,

Even from this very beginning point.

And now if you're willing,

Please take a nice deep breath,

And let yourself have a nice long exhale.

And let's just do that a few more times,

A nice deep inhale,

Offering the breath to your whole body.

And a nice slow and long exhale,

Allowing the body to return the breath to its source,

And to make space for this next deep inhale,

Nourishing every cell in the body.

And then here's another slow exhale,

Relieving the body,

Making space for the next breath the universe has to offer you.

And let's listen in once again,

Having deepened and lengthened the breath just a bit,

And felt every cell nourished,

And the relief,

The space that comes with every exhale.

And then the return of another inhale.

Let's just listen in to the wonderful body,

Sensing from within.

What does it feel like to breathe?

What does it feel like to be breathed?

And we may pause here to reflect once again on that big purpose,

That perfect reason for our existence.

And we might feel that once again in the body,

And reflect for a moment how every breath fuels our purpose.

Here is this very holy spirit coming in to nourish every cell in the body,

Relieving every cell of the body,

So that you,

In this wonderful body,

Can fulfill your purpose.

And now please,

Turn your awareness to the very tip of your nose,

And just notice sensation at the tip of the nose.

Hello,

Nose.

You may feel the breath.

You may feel the quality of the breath.

It may be cooler as it comes in,

Warmer as it goes out.

Let your awareness now move,

Please,

From the nose,

Into the nose,

In the nasal passage and then down into the space of the throat.

Just noticing sensation.

You may continue to feel the breath coming and going there,

The quality of its texture,

Its length,

Its temperature.

Move your awareness now into the space of the mouth,

Alive with sensation.

Feel the roof of the mouth and the gums,

And the inner walls of the cheeks and the tongue.

The tongue is alive with sensation.

The qualities of this sensation,

Perhaps it's radiant or vibrant or pulsating,

All of this sensation is alive in your awareness.

Now bring your attention,

Please,

To your lips,

Sensation in the lips,

And then to the cheeks,

The outer walls of the cheeks.

You may notice the touch of air on your skin.

Move your awareness now to your eyes.

Feel the weight of your eyes.

And notice the sensation,

Light moving in through your eyelids,

Perhaps.

There may be tension or ease in the eyes.

Move your awareness to the temples and then onto the brow.

Feel the forehead,

Please,

The forehead so alive with sensation that you experience in your awareness.

Let your awareness settle in the forehead and just notice that vibrant,

Radiant,

Pulsating quality of sensation in the forehead.

And moving your awareness now to the crown of your head,

Feeling the scalp,

The presence of hair or no hair,

The presence of air on the head,

In the hair,

All of this available in your sensation in your awareness.

Move now your awareness to your ears and feel that wonderful seashell-like quality of the ears.

Follow the curves of the ears in your awareness and then let your awareness move into the ears.

Let your awareness trace the passages of the ears.

Your awareness like sound itself traveling in.

Feel your awareness in the ears.

Notice the quality of sensation here.

And sometimes we can become a bit distracted or we can have thoughts that start to arise to distract us from sensation and if that happens,

That's okay.

When you notice that it's happened,

Just gently guide your awareness back.

I like to say,

Come on back.

We're feeling the inner ears,

Experiencing that radiant,

Pulsating sensation of the ears so alive in awareness.

And then letting awareness travel down the neck now and feel the space of the neck.

You may like to relax intentionally the neck and notice how that changes the experience of sensation there and maybe all the way up and into the jaw and tongue.

And then as you soften the neck,

You can refine your attention.

Let the attention move through the collarbones and into the shoulders.

Feeling sensation in the shoulders and then into the upper arms.

Radiant sensation in the arms.

So alive in your awareness and into the elbows and the forearms.

What is the sensation of forearms in your awareness?

And then into the wrists and these hands,

The sensation of hands.

And discover the aliveness in your awareness of the hands,

The palms,

The backs of the hands,

The pinky fingers,

Ring fingers,

Middle fingers,

All the way to the tips and the pointer fingers and the thumbs.

Feel the whole hand,

Both hands alive in your awareness,

Pulsing with sensation.

As we just pause at the hands for a moment,

Welcoming the sensation here,

Messages of the body.

You can see what it's like from here to see how these hands serve that greater purpose.

The hands are the wonderful action organs of our heart.

Our heart knows our purpose.

How do these hands,

So alive with sensation,

How do they enact your purpose,

That big reason for your existence?

And then moving awareness now back up the arms from the hands to the shoulders and then to the chest and feel the front of the chest and the back of the chest,

The sides of the chest,

All alive with radiant sensation.

And then into the belly,

The front of the belly,

The sides of the belly,

The back of the belly,

And the spine,

The whole torso,

Alive with sensation,

Radiant.

And feeling now the pelvis and the basin of the pelvis and the very root of your spine,

Tailbone,

Tailbone,

The pelvic floor and the groin,

The whole pelvic floor alive in your awareness,

Radiant with sensation.

Moving your awareness now into the hips and down the big bones of the legs,

And feeling the upper legs,

Pure sensation in your awareness.

And the knees,

And now please move your attention to the lower legs,

Listening to the sensation of the lower legs,

Radiant,

Pulsing in your awareness,

Sensation of the whole leg,

Both legs in your awareness,

Alive.

And then feeling the ankles and the feet,

Top of the feet,

And the soles of the feet,

And the heels,

And the toes,

Moving your awareness to the pinky toes and its little friends,

All the way through the middle and to the big toe.

And feel the big toes in your awareness,

The whole foot,

Both feet,

So alive in your awareness.

And let's pause here,

Gently awake,

Gently aware,

And let's reflect on that heart's purpose.

And let's just feel how these feet carry us in so many ways towards the things that are necessary for our purpose.

How these feet help us travel towards the resources that empower our greater purpose.

And now let's feel the whole right side of the body,

From the sole of the right foot,

Up the leg,

Into the hip,

The side of the torso,

To the shoulder,

And the right arm and hand,

The right neck,

And the right side of your face,

The right ear,

The right eye,

So alive with your awareness.

Listen in for a moment to the right side of the body.

And now please move your attention,

Shift your awareness and feel the left side of the body,

The sole of the left foot,

The left leg and hip,

The left side of the torso,

Shoulder,

Left arm and hand,

The left side of the neck,

The left side of the face and head,

Alive in your awareness.

And then shift once again,

Please feel the right side of the body,

Awake,

Aware,

Listening in to the body,

And the left side of the body now,

Awake and aware,

Listening in to the left side of the body.

Now I wonder,

Can you feel the front of the body,

The face,

The front of the chest,

The belly and legs?

And then just as we did before,

Shift and feel the back side of the body.

Feel the front of the body and feel the back of the body.

And now feel the whole body,

Alive with radiant sensation.

And this sensation pulses,

Vibrates,

It's radiant in our awareness,

Alive.

And notice how the sensation shifts as we observe,

It moves,

It changes,

This body communicates with us.

And its messages arise in our awareness,

Unfold,

And then pass.

Just notice this evolution of the body's messages for you.

And it may be that there's an area of the body calling for your attention.

If you're willing,

Bring your awareness there and discover the way the sensation will arise for you.

Listen in,

Sense,

Feel in to the way it unfolds,

Perhaps revealing its message for you.

And then how it passes,

It quiets.

When it's been heard,

We are gently awake,

Gently aware,

Feeling the body,

Sensing in to the whole body.

And as we sense now,

Let's pause for a moment and a moment and just discover how this whole body is a wonderful resource in your heart's true purpose,

On your life's journey.

Notice how your body has served you,

Has moved you,

Has given you access.

Discover how your body serves your essential purpose.

And now,

Please,

Let's recall our intention for this practice,

To welcome the messages,

To sense in.

And let's see if it feels important to carry this intention forward as we move into our day,

Move forward on our path.

And you may discover that there's ways that you can listen to the body,

Like a friend,

More carefully,

With greater attention throughout every day.

And now,

Please,

Take a moment and in the words that feel appropriate to you,

Quietly,

Offer your thank yous to your body and the sensations it's delivered to you,

To your mind,

For being willing to move and move and move to gather these sensations.

Maybe there's a thank you for your decision to do this practice.

And maybe there's a thank you to your heart,

Your spirit,

For carrying your essential purpose,

Your mission,

Always,

And letting it become available in your awareness.

And now,

Please,

Gently deepen the breath once again and feel that breath moving through you and letting each breath bring you a little closer back to this waking moment,

Returning yourself to the ground,

Every breath returning yourself to this room,

Every breath feeling the universe guide you back to this day,

To this moment,

Where you can carry all you've learned and use it in the service of your highest purpose.

And so now,

You may like to gently open your eyes as you take your nice breath in and then close your eyes as you breathe out,

Allowing yourself to transition back very gently,

Inhaling,

You can open your eyes,

And exhaling,

Closing your eyes.

And at a certain point,

You may find that your eyes stay open and you find your fingers and toes and you give them a little wiggle,

Coming back to the body by gently moving the body,

Moving the hands,

Moving the feet,

Gently stretching through the arms and legs,

Feeling your way back from your yoga nidra practice.

Thank you for doing this practice.

May it serve you well.