Welcome to today's practice of Yoga Nidra.
Settle in and get comfortable,
As comfortable as you can be.
And know that now it is time for you.
For the next 30 minutes or so,
You can let go of the world around you.
Let go of everything that's expected of you.
Let go of everything and allow yourself this time for rest,
Deep rest,
Restorative rest.
Here you really can let go.
And when you are ready,
Close down your eyes.
You might like to use an eye mask or a pillow,
But anything at all that can help encourage you to go within,
To leave the external world.
You might want to have a little low pillow for your head and covers over you to give you warmth.
Anything you need to find the deepest possible comfort.
And check in with yourself.
How you're feeling today?
How your body is feeling today?
And is there anything you can do to be a little bit more comfortable?
Any adjustments you can make to afford yourself even the tiniest bit more comfort?
Take a few moments to check in with yourself and see.
During the practice,
All you need to do is loosely follow the sound of this voice guiding you through the systematic practice to the liminal space,
The space between.
There's really nothing else you need to do.
You can leave all the doing and all the thinking behind and just ease into stillness,
Into rest.
Allow everything to unfold.
Trust the process.
Trust the practice.
Let's now take three deep cleansing breaths to fully arrive into practice.
Inhale in through your nose,
Deep into the depths of your belly.
And then exhale through your mouth.
Releasing everything from your day,
Just letting everything go.
Breathe in deeply again through your nose,
Really feeling the air nourish you.
And breathe out through your mouth,
Letting all tension and worry just melt away.
Once more,
Take a long full breath in.
And as you exhale,
Surrender completely,
Emptying every corner of your being,
Letting all the stresses and the strains dissolve away,
Releasing everything you no longer need.
Now close your lips and breathe naturally through your nose for the duration of practice.
Bringing your full awareness and attention to your body now,
Your whole body,
As if you were acknowledging another,
Become the witness.
Be aware of your physical form,
Your presence lying here.
Your body and its weight,
And its weight,
Your muscles,
Your bones,
Your physicality.
Really feel the weight of your body now.
Sense how gravity invites you,
How it cradles you,
Holds you,
Letting go to the support you're lying on.
Yield to this and surrender.
Yield to this.
Sense the air around your body now.
Feel it touch your face and perhaps your hands.
Be fully aware of the air around you,
Its temperature,
Its touch.
And then let the air dissolve away as you sink deeper and deeper into an awareness within.
Sense sound around your body.
Open your hearing wide and expansive and allow all the sounds around you to pour into your body without labeling or judging them in any way.
Simply notice them.
And then let all the sounds fade away and retreat further inside to your internal world.
Sense your breath.
Feel your breath.
Be aware of the most sensitive of sensations in your nose as the air enters your body,
Feeding you with nourishment,
With calm.
And trace your breath with your mind's eye as it enters and fills your body,
Your whole body.
And with every exhale now,
Release all the distractions of your mind and of your body.
Watch as one by one they soften and disappear,
Allowing you with each breath to flow deeper and deeper into the stillness within.
And then let all the sounds fade away.
Here in this vast space that exists quietly and infinitely beyond your senses,
Here there is nothing to seek,
Nothing to change.
Here you can simply be.
We move to set your intention,
Your sankalpa.
Create a statement that encapsulates your deepest and most heartfelt desire.
A short,
Positive statement made in the present tense.
You will repeat it silently to yourself at the beginning and at the end of practice so it can sink deeply and at the end of practice so it can sink deeply into your subconscious and be called forth into your life.
Prepare to repeat it three times silently to yourself,
Allowing it to become real in your heart and mind,
Calling it to life,
Breathing it to life.
Today's practice has been created to explore the tranquility within.
The word tranquility means to cross or go beyond,
To quietness,
Stillness,
Serenity,
To equanimity,
An evenness of mind.
It's the tranquility we have inside,
Regardless of anything and everything inside,
Regardless of anything and everything that may be happening externally.
One of the four sublime states,
Equanimity is the ease,
The composure,
Which comes from accepting the ebb and flow of life when we live without clinging to pleasure or resisting pain.
The steadfast,
Calm inside that transcends external challenges or the stories we tell ourselves or that others may tell us.
This equanimity,
This tranquility is reached when we become the stillness that observes it all.
Moving to rotation of consciousness,
Following the guidance,
Rotate your full awareness and attention around your body,
Noting different body parts.
And as you hear each body part named,
Call it to your mind.
Perhaps repeat the name silently to yourself,
Pouring your full focus and awareness onto each and every place like a light,
A light of tranquility and calm.
Bring your awareness and your light of attention to your right hand,
Your right hand thumb and the tip of your right hand thumb.
The tip of your first finger,
Second finger,
Third finger and little finger.
And between all your fingers and thumb,
The palm of your hand,
The back of your hand,
Your right wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
The right side of your chest,
To your hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Sole of foot.
And bring that light of attention now onto the very tip of your right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and little toe.
The top of your foot,
The whole of your foot,
The whole of your foot.
Now bring your attention to your left hand and allow your light of attention to land on the very tip of your left hand thumb,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger and little finger.
In between your fingers and your thumb,
The palm of your hand,
The back of your hand,
Your left wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
The left side of your chest,
To your hip,
Your thigh and your knee,
Your shin and your ankle,
The sole of your foot,
And the tip of your left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and little toe.
And little toe,
The top of your foot,
Your whole left foot,
Your whole foot.
Bringing your awareness and the light of your attention now to the back of your body,
Your heels,
Your calves,
The space behind your knees,
The backs of your thighs and your glutes.
Your back,
Your whole back,
Lower,
Middle,
Upper,
Your shoulder blades and your neck,
Your head,
Your whole head,
Your forehead,
Your right eyebrow and left eyebrow and the space between your eyebrows,
Your right ear and your left ear,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Nose,
The bridge of your nose to the very tip of your nose,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Your mouth,
Your whole mouth,
Top lip,
Bottom lip,
Your teeth and your tongue,
Your jaw and your throat,
Your right collarbone and your left collarbone and the space between your collarbones,
Your chest,
Your tummy,
Your abdomen and your pelvis,
The whole of your right leg and the whole of your left leg,
The whole of your right arm and the whole of your left arm,
From the crown of your head to the tips of your toes,
From the left to the right,
The bottom to the top,
The inside out,
Your body,
Your body,
Your whole body,
Your whole body complete now.
Rest here in the stillness,
Rest here in the calm,
Feeling fully embraced now by a feeling of connectedness to this calm,
This tranquility,
I invite you now to recall and bring to mind a time when you felt this connectedness to life,
A time when you felt everything was flowing together,
When everything felt connected and you felt part of the whole of everything.
And now,
While staying at ease and at rest,
Bring to mind a time when you felt disconnected,
Separate,
A time when you felt disconnected to everything.
Return now to that feeling of being connected like the roots of a tree deep in the earth or a single note of a symphony.
And then once again,
Without any judgment or critical thinking,
Allow yourself to feel that sensation of separateness,
Solitude,
That feeling of being alone,
Without anyone or anything that connects with you.
And then bring both these states of mind together at the same time.
And witness how everything softens like opposing waves settle into still water.
Watch how they dissolve into still water.
Everything softens like opposing waves settle into still water.
Watch how they dissolve into the same vast ocean of your being,
Of your consciousness,
Leaving only the quiet essence of equanimity,
Of tranquility.
And as the teacher and author Uma Dinsmortuli reminds us,
After moving between opposites,
We come to see nothing is missing,
For all exists within.
The essence of our experience is shaped not by what we seek,
But by where our awareness softly rests.
Nothing is missing,
For all exists within.
And when you realize that nothing is lacking,
You realize the whole world belongs to you.
I'm now going to name some images,
And I invite you to bring them forth in your mind's eye.
Allow them to come,
Forming in your imagination,
In your own unique way.
Trust what comes.
Imagine a steady candle flame,
Unwavering and constant.
Strong,
Steadfast mountains in a storm.
A river,
Free-flowing,
Without obstacle.
A river,
Free-flowing,
Without obstacle.
A tree,
Deeply rooted and grounded in the earth.
The open sky,
Vast,
Infinite and unchanging.
Impermanence.
A full moon above the clouds in a night sky.
The eye of a storm.
The endless horizon holding space between sky and earth.
An empty mirror.
The sleeping sea.
The interconnectedness of all things.
The unwavering calm within.
A still,
Tranquil lake.
The depths of tranquility.
The depths of tranquility.
The depths of tranquility.
Dive in now,
To the depths of tranquility and calm that lay within,
To the equanimity,
To the peace,
And witness the one true reality of all there is.
Gently now,
Bring your awareness back and prepare to repeat your sankalpa.
This time in your deeper state of rest and receptivity.
Not only have the words in your mind,
But in your heart.
Embody them as you repeat each and every word.
Be mindful of them all being absorbed into your mind.
Embody them as you repeat each and every word.
Be mindful of them all being absorbed and integrated into your being.
Bring them to life in your being.
And once you have repeated your sankalpa for the third time,
Let it rest gently in your heart,
Knowing it will guide you beyond this practice,
Into the unfolding of your life.
Repeat your sankalpa in the space that now follows,
Silently and wholeheartedly.
And then,
Let it go.
Let it go and fully trust that your subconscious knows how to awaken your sankalpa,
And how to integrate it into your life.
All shall be well,
And all shall be well,
And all manner of things shall be well.
And so we begin the closing of our practice.
Begin to breathe a little more deeply now,
Deeply into every corner and crevice of your body.
Send your breath into your whole body as you begin to breathe.
And take a moment to acknowledge how you feel,
How your body feels,
How your mind feels,
And how different you feel now to the start of practice.
And be grateful to yourself for having taken this time to reconnect,
To rest,
And to dive in deep to the tranquility within.
Begin to bring gentle movement into your body,
Perhaps wriggling your fingers or toes,
Breathing deeply into your body,
Bringing awareness to all your senses and the sensations of touch,
Of sound,
Of everything outside you.
Welcome back,
And know that all the benefits of this practice will remain with you as you welcome your external world,
The calm within,
The tranquility within.
May it remain with you.
Remember it is only in the still silence,
In the still lake of our mind,
Without ripples or any disturbance,
That we are able to find our true peace.
And may the peace which passes all understanding keep your heart and mind in the knowledge and presence of love.
This practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Thank you for taking the time to be here today.
