Please lie down on your back in Shavasana,
The resting pose.
Have the spine in one straight line,
Including the head.
Nice and long on the back of the neck.
The arms are slightly away from the body,
The palms facing up.
Allow the feet to naturally roll out to the sides.
Face,
Jaw,
And abdomen all relaxed.
And feel for an even weight across both sides of the body.
Take a few moments now to make any necessary adjustments.
If there's an adjustment you can make that would allow the body to be even 5% more comfortable,
Please make that adjustment now.
And allow a heaviness to move through the body.
Allow a heaviness to move through the body,
Feeling as though the body is becoming heavier and heavier,
Feeling heaviness throughout the whole body.
And now allow a lightness to move through the body.
Allow a lightness to move through the body,
Feeling as though the body is becoming lighter and lighter,
Feeling lightness throughout the whole body.
And now allow the body to return to its natural weight.
I'll invite you now to formulate an intention or resolve to be amplified in the practice.
In yoga,
This is called a Sankalpa.
This takes the form of a precise,
Positive,
Clear phrase of something you wish to have,
Change,
Or achieve in your life.
Take a few moments to formulate this phrase now.
And say it to yourself so that it can be repeated at the end of the practice.
And now move your awareness to the sounds outside of the room.
Push your awareness further and further outside of the room to find and notice sounds,
Loud sounds,
Soft sounds,
Close sounds,
And sounds in the distance.
Keep moving your awareness from sound to sound,
Always listening for a new one.
We're not analyzing sounds,
We're just hearing them.
Keep moving your awareness from sound to sound.
And now move your awareness to the sounds just outside of the room.
Find and notice all the sounds just outside of the room.
And now move your awareness to the sounds within the room.
Find and notice all the subtle sounds within the room.
And now letting go of the sounds,
Letting go of the sound awareness,
Letting it go.
And move your awareness to the body,
Whole body,
Lying across your space.
I will now ask you to rotate your awareness around parts of the body.
As I name a part,
Try to picture it in the mind,
And then listen for the next that is named.
And keep following my voice with full awareness.
Beginning with the right hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Pinky finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Armpit,
Shoulder,
Collarbone,
Right side of the chest,
Right upper abdomen,
Right lower abdomen,
Hipbone,
Front of the right thigh,
Kneecap,
Shin,
Top of the foot,
Sole of the foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe.
Keep following my voice with full awareness.
Moving to the left hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Pinky finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Armpit,
Shoulder,
Collarbone,
Left side of the chest,
Left upper abdomen,
Left lower abdomen,
Hipbone,
Front of the left thigh,
Kneecap,
Top of the foot,
Sole of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe.
Feel into both heels as they press into the floor.
Both calf muscles,
Backs of knees,
Backs of thighs,
The buttocks,
Middle of the back,
Upper back,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Space between shoulder blades.
Feel into the whole spine from the tailbone to the top between the ears,
The whole spine,
Back of the neck,
Back of the head,
Crown of the head,
Forehead,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Space between eyebrows,
The eyebrow center,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right cheekbone,
Left cheekbone,
Bridge of the nose,
Tip of the nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Jaw.
Feel into the whole right arm from shoulder to fingertips.
Feel into the whole left arm from shoulder to fingertips.
Feel into the whole right leg from hip to toes.
Feel into the whole left leg from hip to toes.
Feel into the whole right side of the body,
Whole right side of the body.
Feel into the whole left side of the body,
Whole left side of the body.
Now,
All at once,
Feel into the whole body,
Whole body,
Whole body.
And now,
Bring your awareness to the natural flow of breath as it enters and leaves through the nostrils.
Bring your awareness up to the space between the eyebrows.
The eyebrow center.
When you next breathe in,
Feel as though the breath flows in through the eyebrow center.
And as you breathe out,
The breath flows back out from the eyebrow center.
Keep on practicing with this awareness.
Now,
We'll add a count.
As you next breathe in,
Silently repeat 27.
And as you breathe out,
Silently repeat Aum.
Breathing in,
26.
Breathing out,
Aum.
Breathing in,
25.
Breathing out,
Aum.
Keep counting the breaths backwards until you reach zero.
If you lose count,
It's not a problem.
Just start back at 27.
This is training for the mind.
Keep on practicing.
Number on the in-breath,
Aum on the out-breath.
And now,
Let go of the counting and let go of the mantra.
And allow the breath to return to its natural rhythm.
I'll now go on and name some feelings and sensations.
These are all things you've felt before.
They can be felt and then let go.
When you hear each one,
Try to feel it throughout the whole body.
Beginning with the feeling of cold.
Feeling cold throughout the whole body.
Cold.
And now,
The feeling of warmth.
Feeling warmth throughout the whole body.
Warmth.
And now,
The feeling of agitation.
Feeling agitation throughout the whole body.
Agitation.
And now,
Bring about the feeling of ease.
Feeling ease throughout the whole body.
Ease.
And now,
The feeling of doubt.
Feeling doubt throughout the whole body.
Doubt.
And now,
Bring about the feeling of trust.
Feeling trust throughout the whole body.
Trust.
And now,
The feeling of desire.
Feeling desire throughout the whole body.
Desire.
And now,
Bring about the feeling of satisfaction.
Feeling satisfaction throughout the whole body.
Satisfaction.
And now,
The feeling of ignorance.
Feeling ignorance throughout the whole body.
Ignorance.
And now,
Bring about the feeling of wisdom.
Feeling wisdom throughout the whole body.
Wisdom.
Now,
The feeling of stagnancy.
Feeling stagnancy throughout the whole body.
Stagnancy.
And now,
Bring about the feeling of manifestation.
Feeling manifestation throughout the whole body.
Manifestation.
And now,
The feeling of irreverence.
Feeling irreverence throughout the whole body.
Irreverence.
And now,
Bring about the feeling of sacredness.
Feeling sacredness throughout the whole body.
Sacredness.
I will now name some symbols.
As I name each one,
Try to picture it in the mind.
It doesn't matter whether you can or can't.
Simply feel as though it is there.
Bring it to your mind.
Bring to mind an ancient forest.
An ancient forest.
An ancient forest.
A green bushy tree.
A green bushy tree.
Green bushy tree.
Smooth stones arranged in a circle.
Smooth stones arranged in a circle.
Smooth stones arranged in a circle.
A sacred altar.
A sacred altar.
A sacred altar.
Incense burning.
Incense burning.
Incense burning.
Wafts of white smoke.
Wafts of white smoke.
Wafts of white smoke.
Steam rising from a cup.
Steam rising from a cup.
Steam rising from a cup.
A pot of golden honey.
A pot of golden honey.
A pot of golden honey.
Bees buzzing.
Bees buzzing.
Bees buzzing.
A field of multicolored wildflowers.
A field of multicolored wildflowers.
A field of multicolored wildflowers.
A deer sitting in tall grass.
A deer sitting in tall grass.
A deer sitting in tall grass.
Weeds growing on the side of a road.
Weeds growing on the side of a road.
Weeds growing on the side of a road.
A puddle of water reflecting the clear blue sky.
A puddle of water reflecting the clear blue sky.
A puddle of water reflecting the clear blue sky.
And now,
Picture yourself standing at the edge of a wide,
Sandy beach.
It is early morning and the sky is perfectly clear.
The sun is sparkling on the waves of a turquoise ocean,
And you pause for a moment to take in the refined energy of the sun and water.
You step forward and begin to walk along the shoreline.
You feel the soft,
Warm sand beneath your bare feet and notice what is washed up on the shore.
You walk past clusters of seaweed and shells of different sizes.
As you continue on,
You see a clear glass bottle appear on the sand and step forward to take a closer look.
You see that it is sealed with a cork and has a rolled piece of paper inside.
You reach down to pick it up and continue walking along the beach.
Ahead,
You see a large rock formation in the dunes with a cave entrance in the rock.
With the glass bottle in hand,
You continue walking across the beach until you reach the tall,
Wide entrance of the cave.
There is a soft light emanating from inside,
And you step forward and into the cave.
The walls are embedded with many rose quartz crystals,
Which are giving off a pink glow.
The ground is covered with soft,
Woven blankets,
And in the center of the blankets is a body-length soft mat.
You walk over to the mat and sit down,
Still holding the glass bottle.
You pull out the cork and remove the slip of paper.
You unfurl the piece of paper and see that it is bare,
Except for a small,
Black dot in the center.
You pause for a moment and gaze at the small,
Black dot and allow sacred information of support to flow through you.
Taking note of this sacred information,
You lie down on your back on the soft mat,
Feeling the support of the earth below and the pink light from the crystals,
And enter a deeply restorative state and integrate the experience.
As you are lying on the mat within the cave,
You hear the sound of ocean waves outside.
You flutter open your eyes and see that on the ceiling,
There is an infinity symbol etched into the rock.
You take a moment to notice the details of this symbol.
Then you sit up and walk back out of the cave and towards the shore.
You feel the warm sand beneath your feet as you walk towards the turquoise water.
And you stand here on the shoreline,
Taking in the sunlight sparkling across the surface of the water and look out over the vast horizon and the clear blue sky ahead of you.
Now,
Let the visualization fade.
Letting go of the visualization,
Letting it go.
And bring your awareness up to Chittakash,
The mind space,
The deep,
Dark,
Infinite space of the mind behind the forehead.
It's like a viewing screen for the mind,
Yet it is infinite on the inside.
Gaze deeply into this space now,
Becoming aware of anything and everything,
Remaining as a witness without becoming involved.
Where is your awareness?
Have you become lost in a thought or are you the observer?
You are not the thoughts.
You are not the thinker.
You are the awareness.
Keep cultivating a witness consciousness.
And now,
Withdraw your awareness from the mind space.
Withdraw your awareness now from the mind space.
Keep withdrawing your awareness now from the mind space and bring your awareness back to the breath.
Feel the breath in the nostrils and deepen the breath a little.
And now,
Bring to mind the resolve you made at the start of the practice,
Your sankalpa.
Bring it to mind now and repeat it to yourself three times,
Sending it deep into the system for manifestation.
And now,
Bring your awareness back to the body,
Whole body,
Whole physical body,
Lying across your space,
Making sure that you're fully aware of your whole physical body,
Of who you are,
And where you are.
The yoga nidra practice is now complete.
Start to introduce some gentle movement into the body by wiggling the fingers and the palms.
Gently rock the head,
Hands,
And feet from side to side.
Take a deep breath in as you raise your arms up above your head,
Giving yourself a good stretch from fingers to toes,
Exhaling and allowing the arms to float back down beside you.
And now,
Come to lie on one side to transition for a few rounds of breath.
And whenever you're ready,
Being mindful of the neck,
Support yourself back up to a seated position.
