Morning Yoga Nidra: Rise Rooted Day 3

Rise Rooted is a 3-day series welcoming you into the power of beginning your day with intention. During this day 3 practice, I'll be teaching on how to unwind tension from your body using tools you have with you at all times. We can hold onto patterns of tension that are unconscious to us until we become truly relaxed. Tension is not the only pattern we store inside our bodies. We are essentially operating on programming learned from before your first breath. To break free from programming that no longer serves you, you must become present, to learn how to hold presence on what you're feeling and why you're feeling it. Leverage the power of your Sankalpa during the mind's most absorbent state - alpha. You can practice this series as a beginner to Yoga Nidra or an advanced practitioner. Come with an open heart and lay your head to rest. Relaxation is the key that unlocks our greatest potential on all levels.

Transcript

Welcome to the practice of yoga nidra.

If you find a spot inside your home or wherever you are that is comforting,

Welcoming,

And somewhere that you can feel safe enough to close your eyes.

Closing your eyes is an indication that it's time to rest to the body.

It starts to slow the breath.

Breath cues the body to relax the muscles from the bone.

The bones become heavier and whole body begins to be absorbed by the earth.

The shape of Shavasana is encouraged with symmetry from left to right.

Hands and legs at equal distance from midline.

Chin gently tucked towards the throat,

Imagining as though you can see the breath being pulled through the nasal passage,

Down the back of the throat,

And all the way down the spine and into the pelvic bowl,

Beyond the capacity of the lungs.

Using the inner senses,

Explore your body for any areas of dis-ease,

Any places that may need to be adjusted,

Supported,

Comforted in any way.

And then really start to tune into how you're breathing,

Where you're breathing.

And if you do a lot of stillness,

A lot of meditative techniques,

This cue can seem old,

It can seem regurgitated,

But there's really no cue quite like it or tangible practice to bring your awareness into your body than to tether it to how you're breathing,

Where you're breathing.

And you'll continue to drop more and more into the physical body,

Noticing the areas that are fighting you to drop tension away.

And if this becomes something that seems like a pattern of tension that you hold in your life,

Squeeze the area that you're having trouble relaxing,

Squeeze it tight,

Hold it for a count of three,

And you may notice you're holding your breath at this same time.

And then as you breathe out,

Relax your whole body.

And you continue to move through that.

There are a few different areas that tend to cause us significant tension without a lot of conscious awareness,

And two of those places are jaw and neck,

Shoulders.

You may even want to gently part the teeth and roll your bottom jaw from side to side,

Maybe even opening your jaw to its full capacity,

And then slowly,

Slowly,

Slowly closing the jaw to where the teeth just meet.

And if you are someone who struggles with keeping your eyes closed,

The mental body wants to constantly be externalized,

Watching,

Witnessing,

Not present,

Open your eyes gently and gaze just above you in one specific spot.

And if your gaze is being held in that one specific spot,

Start to fade out the periphery of what's around that spot.

So it almost be like fading out in a picture.

And then let your eyes start to slowly blink,

Slowing down the pace of each closed eyelid,

And more slowly as you open again to glance.

In yoga this is known as a drishti,

A place of focus.

And even just slowing down the rhythm of the blinking eye lets your body begin to relax enough to keep the eyes softly closed without a lot of tension.

And then we'll clear out any residual tension held in the shoulders by taking in a longer breath,

Breathing in through both nostrils,

Letting it fill into your belly.

And don't force this one if it doesn't feel like a big breath,

Just hold it here once you're full.

It's really about the time under tension,

So continue to hold.

And then a big open mouth sigh to release.

And then we'll do another breath just like that,

Slowly filling.

Watch how the mind wants to control and be the fullest breath of all the breaths breathed in the world,

And how there may be judgment around not being able to breathe in as much as you think you might or should be able to breathe in.

And then hold at the top.

And maybe this is the absolute perfect breath for you,

Your lung capacity,

Your body's needs.

Hold,

Hold,

Hold.

And as you exhale,

Exhaling trust into the fact that you were made exactly as you needed to be made.

Your breath is as big as it needed to be,

As full as it needed to be.

And the whole body welcomes this acceptance of perfection.

And on your last breath,

You'll breathe in for a count of five,

Four,

Three,

Watch what the mental body's doing,

Two,

One,

Hold.

And in this time of tension,

I want you to think about how the ideals throughout your whole life have shifted and changed.

What the perfection is,

Has changed completely.

And then open mouth sigh to release.

And now we'll step back from the mental body and ask it to show us our unconscious.

Ask it to be made aware of subconscious programming that may be stored,

And anything that is ready to shift,

To move,

To change,

To come forward today in your practice.

And you may already be experiencing symbolism with that prompt to the unconscious.

And there may be complete blackness,

Darkness,

Nothingness,

And all of that is okay.

It may even still feel like you are in control of your thoughts,

Like you're manipulating your thoughts.

And if that's the case,

I'm asking you to go more into your physical body and still work with your tension.

So from the crown of the head to the tips of the toes,

Continue to soften,

Soften,

Soften.

And as we call upon the unconscious to make invisible visible,

To bring awareness to our conscious state,

We must stay in a very soft body.

The moment that the body starts to hold that pattern of tension again,

The Yoganidra brain state has moved into a beta brain state,

Which is the ego mind is attached,

The logical mind,

The analytical mind,

The mind that has programmed every experience of your life and continues to program your future with your past experience.

So stay so incredibly soft.

And if that's the only thing you accomplish in your practice is to stay so incredibly soft yet aware,

Just on the edge of sleep,

Hovering above unconsciousness,

Where the unconscious becomes visible to the conscious mind.

And the whole practice of Yoganidra is a devotional practice because it takes time and devotion to hold awareness through all states of consciousness.

Where someone may fall asleep and completely detach from consciousness,

A Yoganidra devotee will stay present and aware.

While their body sleeps and snores,

They'll still be experiencing the tether to the outside world through sound,

My breath,

My guide,

My voice.

The only thing that you are hearing is this.

You are present with sound.

All other senses turn inward towards the heart and become alive inside your body.

And it is here where we begin our descent into total relaxation,

Where our sankalpa,

Which is I would say in modern day times the remedy to samskara,

A limiting pattern that is creating a repetition cycle of events that continue to happen.

The samkalpa is here to disrupt that,

To become the disruptor,

To create and rewire a new program.

And this is a very broad and massive impact statement.

It isn't I want to win the lottery or I am rich or if money is your wound,

If money is where you watch this repetition come through over and over again,

Perhaps what you really are seeking is a feeling of safety or the feeling of having enough being enough and maybe even more so that money equates to power in some way.

I am powerful.

If you've noticed a powerlessness theme throughout your life and if it's not money,

It's love.

So there'll be a theme around love.

I'm always chasing love and then I throw it away.

Or I'm chasing love blind to all consequence.

What you are seeking so deeply is this need to feel full,

To feel already enough.

So the same sort of symptom or general feeling,

But different symptoms.

They're coming through in a different way.

So this is why we make the sankalpa so broad that its vibration translates across all stories.

And throughout guiding consciousness for how many years I have,

I've noticed that there is the root of all limiting beliefs is that we don't feel safe.

In some way,

We keep trying to control with experiences and make exceptions to this similar experience so that we can relive it again.

But we can consciously fool ourselves,

Fool our inner knowing into thinking that this time is different.

But when we plant in sankalpa so deeply into the unconscious subconscious mind,

It's not the conscious mind that has to onboard because most of the day is spent in our subconscious programming.

And very little of it is conscious.

So to do this work is how we remap our lives to our conscious will.

And that is what separates us from other beings is our will and our ability to hold memory and our ability to project into the future and to want more for our lives to consciously vibrate into the future.

So here in your heart,

I'm asking you to feel your vibration and what it deeply desires to be felt.

And you may have been working with a sankalpa for a long time.

And I'm asking you to check again,

To not be in that robotic patterning and ask your heart today what it really needs.

Is this my sankalpa?

Do I need to feel into more?

Do we need to go broader?

Do we need to go deeper?

And a sankalpa could look like I am loved,

I'm valued,

I am free,

I am worthy.

And have your heart create the frequency of your sankalpa and feel it vibrate through your cells three different times your whole body's energy pattern wakes up with this vibration of the sankalpa as it's placed into the heart from the heart.

And as we've onboarded our will,

We've shifted out of observation,

Come back into observation,

Let go of your sankalpa.

Be aware of any tension in your body and let it drop.

Anamaya Kosha rotation of consciousness will rotate conscious awareness through the body from right to left,

Whole body back to front,

Whole body.

Stay with me,

Try not to go ahead,

Especially if you are a devoted practitioner.

Stay with me without judgment and just be here.

Let your awareness be moved by my voice be guided into each different pocket without any judgment.

Become aware of the energy in your right hand,

Your right palm,

Your fingertips,

Your fingernails,

Your thumb,

And all four fingers.

Imagine as though you become aware of your right palm that the area inside your brain that stores the memory of your right palm illuminates with the color blue.

Bring your awareness to your forearm,

The right forearm,

And let this awareness dissolve into each and every cell of your skin,

Your muscle,

Your bone,

Your ligaments.

And then that energy moves up through the elbow,

Into your bicep,

And into the tip of the right shoulder.

And the whole right arm is holding conscious awareness of itself and illuminating that portion of the brain which then turns blue.

Hold awareness of the whole right arm as you bring awareness up and through the shoulder,

Into the clavicle bone,

And all the way up the right side of the neck.

And if you've ever had an injury,

Be aware of how your body is responding to your neck and the energy that is held within the right side of your neck,

All the way down into the tip of the right shoulder,

But the interior of the body,

So just behind the lung.

And as you hold this conscious awareness of the whole right hand,

Right arm,

Right shoulder,

Clavicle,

Neck,

Tip of the shoulder,

Back of the lung,

The area of your brain that maps this part of your body becomes illuminated with the color blue,

And all of your consciousness is resting in just this area of your body.

The rest is non-existent right now.

Maintain awareness of the whole right arm,

Right neck,

Interior of the shoulder blade,

Back of the lung,

And become aware of the front of the chest,

The right breast,

The tissue that's inside of your breast,

And allow the mind to illuminate blue where this memory of this area of your body is stored,

And feel the vibration as the whole of your right breast,

Right chest,

Right arm,

Shoulder,

Neck is illuminated with your conscious awareness.

Hold awareness,

And then bring it down into the belly,

And behind the right side of the navel,

Into the organ body,

Intestines,

Digestive system,

The whole of the right side body,

Behind the navel,

Interior of the waist.

Now move into where this is stored inside the brain.

See it illuminate in blue.

Continue holding awareness as you move down through the right side leg,

Over the hip,

Into the femur,

Center of the knee,

Back of your calf,

And then go to where this is stored inside the brain.

Feel,

See the color blue illuminated as it's aware of where this physical imprint has or is still stored.

Holding awareness,

Move into the sole of your right foot.

Feel cold touch the sole of your right foot,

And have that illuminate in the portion of the brain that is connected to the sole of your right foot.

Go to the energy of each toe,

And then where it is stored inside the brain.

Conscious awareness of the whole right side body,

And where it is stored in the brain simultaneously.

Awareness held at both points.

Whole right side body,

Whole right side body,

Whole right side body.

Soften your awareness of your right side body,

But hold it outside of self in the periphery.

Drop the color down to yellow.

Whole right side body vibrating yellow energy.

Hold awareness of yellow energy,

And then shift to the left side body,

Left hand,

Palm,

Fingerprints,

Fingernails,

Thumb,

All four fingers.

Consciousness moves into the whole of the left hand,

And where the left hand resides inside the brain,

This now illuminates yellow.

Consciously move from the left hand up the forearm,

Into your elbow,

Over your bicep muscle,

Where it inserts into the elbow,

Into the shoulder.

Feel the interior of the shoulder,

Whole of the left arm illuminated inside the brain,

The color yellow.

Gather awareness from your fingertips up the whole of your left arm,

Through the shoulder,

Over the clavicle,

Up the left side of the neck,

Becoming aware of any injury or old story locked inside the neck,

And how it tethers to the base of the shoulder blade behind your left lung.

Brain illuminates yellow where this is stored.

Bring your awareness deeper and higher through the left chest,

Left breast,

The tissue of your left breast,

The home of your heart.

Locate this memory of your physical imprint in the brain,

Illuminated yellow.

Drop awareness behind your left navel,

Interior of the belly,

Organ body,

Digestive system,

Intestines,

Whole left side body,

Interior of the waist,

Wrap this in the brain,

Create the connection,

Hold awareness two places at once,

And feel your awareness be pulled through the hip socket,

Into your left femur,

Straight through the center of your kneecap,

Touching the back of your calf.

Feel your whole left leg and place it inside the mind,

The brain,

The color yellow.

Feel the bottom of your left foot as though the Sun is touching the sole of your left foot.

Become aware of all five toes and place this inside the brain where the color yellow illuminates.

Hold awareness of your whole left side body,

Whole left side body,

Whole left side body,

The color yellow prominent,

The color blue secondary.

Subtle awareness of right side body,

Less awareness of left side body,

More awareness of right side body,

Until the side bodies unite,

Equal awareness.

Soften your whole body as we roll awareness back to front,

Heels to head,

Ground to toes,

Toes to heels,

Heels to head,

Ground to toes,

Toes to heels,

Heels to head,

Ground to toes,

Whole body awareness,

Whole body awareness,

Whole body awareness.

And the brain may turn the color green or you may see a completely different color.

Hold awareness of your whole body,

Soft awareness of your brain,

Whole body,

Whole body,

Whole body.

Pranamaya Kosha,

The energy sheath,

Life force,

The energy that powers your body,

Your vehicle.

Become aware of the spirit that feeds it.

Each breath is a sip of spirit quenching all cells of your being.

It is the union of heaven on earth.

Each breath sacred,

Whole,

A ceremony in itself.

Take away all of the judgments you have made,

Where this body,

This vehicle falls short of what your mind has told you it hungers for.

Call back Sankalpa,

Accept the gift of spirit,

The sip of life,

And breathe slowly,

Steadily,

Without tension in the body.

For ten,

Nine,

Eight,

Right and left side body sinking,

Seven,

Six,

Five,

The cage of the mind cracks open,

Four,

Three,

Two,

Stay in Pranamaya Kosha,

Stop counting,

Absorb yourself in breath,

How each breath is perfect,

And how often we miss this union with our breath.

Become aware of any feelings as you bring your body home.

Heaven and earth collide in the brain,

In the lungs,

In the body,

And all aspects of ourselves arrive from the underworld to the upper world.

What's unconscious becomes conscious,

And truly see yourself,

The energetic imprint of who you are,

The karmic cycling of your experiences,

And how your unique vibration is the perfect harmony for the entire universe at this time.

Even just by the act of breathing,

You are changing the world around you,

Rippling out like a stone thrown into the center of a pond,

The lifting of a finger,

The turning of a head,

Your voice,

Your words,

Your actions,

Your movements,

All of this is cast out from the center you,

Everywhere around you.

Pranamaya Kosha,

A little slower than normal,

Visuals arriving,

Smells,

Scents,

May cause memories to arrive to the surface,

Experiences,

Preferences,

Continue to stay so soft in your body,

Awareness of your breath,

My voice,

As you call to mine,

The scent of freshly cut grass,

Freshly cut grass,

Freshly cut grass,

The sound of a wailing baby,

Endlessly wailing,

The sound of a wailing baby,

Aware of any emotion,

Experience,

The sound of a wailing baby,

Velcro shoes being undone,

Over and over again,

Velcro shoes being undone,

Over and over,

The sound of water bubbling through a riverbed,

Touching rocks,

Logs,

Riding on the backs of fish,

Frogs,

The temperature is cold,

The smell of lilacs on a hot summer day,

The sound of bees buzzing,

The smell of lilacs on a hot summer day,

Notice if your mind has wandered away and followed a thought,

Observe where your thought is taking you,

Focus on the time,

Three o'clock,

Let go of the concept of time,

No time,

No space,

Travel backwards or across,

Maybe this is even forward,

No time,

No space,

Go to an experience that's desperately asking to be seen,

How can you bring your sankelpa towards this experience,

You can lay it as a foundation,

Overarch it like the sun,

Go into the parts of yourself that are colored blood red and bring out the memory,

Go to the parts of yourself that are colored dark blue and bring out the memory,

Every breath you take a healing experience,

Illuminating what you need to know,

Go to the parts of yourself that are colored in orange,

You may not find this in your physical body,

Maybe in the energy body,

And ask it what it means,

Feel your feet touching warm earth,

Bare feet,

Warm earth,

Feel a worm wriggle between your toes,

The sign of life,

Feel an ant crawl across your skin,

Feel yourself weighted into the earth,

Pressing against all the life stored inside the earth,

Notice all signs of life around you,

See them as sacred,

Interesting,

Curious,

Become aware of any life above you,

Become aware of life within you,

These are the small organisms,

Go to your gut,

All the way into the microbiome,

Acknowledging the existence of life within life,

Life sustained by life,

And see your important and crucial role,

Hold presence there,

Go all the way from the sun to the moon,

From the stars to the sand,

The sky to the sea,

Coast to coast,

Shoreline to shoreline,

Life bubbling,

Creating an energetic frequency,

See your vibration,

The color you emit into this world,

See it circle out from the center of you,

Upward,

Downward,

Forward,

Side to side,

Presence sharpens the color,

Completely aware of your body in space,

Completely aware of your body in space,

Completely aware of your body in the room,

As your mind comes back from the underworld to the upper world,

Hold with you sankalpa,

I am,

I am,

I am,

Tap your fingers on the ground,

1,

2,

3,

4,

5,

Inhale fully,

1,

2,

3,

4,

5,

Breathe out,

5,

4,

3,

2,

1,

Stop suffering,

Breathe naturally,

Let go of the tension in your body,

Notice your pattern of breath,

How you're breathing,

Where you're breathing,

And when you try to control your breath,

Notice how your body responds,

Breathing in,

1,

2,

3,

4,

5,

Exhaling,

5,

4,

3,

2,

1,

Stop suffering,

Find your natural breath,

Breathing,

Breathing,

Breathing,

Squeeze the eyelids and jaw,

Take a full breath in,

And as you exhale,

You can start to flutter your eyes open,

And make any shifts or movements through your physical body,

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete,

Reviews

Beautiful healing practice. Thank you so much. 🙏💙

What an amazing journey you took me on. By far my favorite yoga nidra. Loved doing this first thing in the morning and connecting with consciousness.

That was so deep it was frightening yet so necessary….thank you Teacher for the opportunity to experience what I needed to remember

Beautiful nidra that brought me right into deep relaxation. 💕