Yoga nidra for kula.
Prepare for the practice of yoga nidra by lying on your back in shavasana.
If shavasana doesn't feel appropriate,
Take any other position you find suitable for meditation.
Get as aligned and symmetrical as possible.
Also make sure you're comfortable.
Take as much time as you need.
Even if that means pausing this audio.
Even if that means pausing this meditation.
Imagine that you're lying on the sand by the ocean.
If the ocean doesn't feel right,
Choose any body of water that represents safety,
Security,
And comfort to you.
Notice that this body of water,
This ocean,
Is soothing,
Nurturing,
And relaxing,
And at the same time energizing,
Healing,
Fulfilling.
The next time you inhale,
Feel the tides,
The ocean waves rolling over your toes,
Your feet,
And your ankles.
And as the ocean wave retracts,
Feel it taking away any tension or suffering.
Feel the traces of salt from the water on your skin.
And on your next inhale,
Feel an ocean wave lap over your toes,
Your feet,
Your ankles,
Lower legs,
And knees.
And on the exhale,
Feel the wave retracting and taking away tension,
Stress,
Disappointment,
And misunderstandings.
On the next inhale,
Feel the ocean wave move over the toes,
Feet,
Lower leg,
Knees,
Upper leg,
Hips,
All the way to the abdominals,
To the abdomen.
And as the wave contracts,
Feel it taking with it any negative energy,
Shame,
Guilt,
Anxiety.
And on the next inhalation,
Feel the wave moving across the feet,
Legs,
Hips,
Abdominals,
All the way to the chin.
And as the wave retracts,
Feel it taking away any sorrow,
Hurt,
Lost loves,
Painful memories,
Pain.
And begin to notice the breath.
And on the inhale,
Feel the ocean of the body rising.
And on the exhale,
Feel the ocean of the body falling,
Retracting.
And in the ocean of awareness,
Connect to the heartbeat.
And with this ocean of awareness,
Connect to the lungs.
And feel the lungs expanding and rising and falling and contracting.
And feel the heart beating.
And in the heartbeat,
Hear the heart's desire,
Known as a Sankopa,
An affirmation,
A resolve.
And if no resolve,
Affirmation,
Or statement comes to you,
For today,
Simply use the Sankopa,
I honor myself.
Using your own personal Sankopa or the statement,
I honor myself,
Repeat it three times mentally with full awareness and the confidence that it will come true.
Moving on to the rotation of consciousness through the body.
And with this ocean of awareness in the body,
And with this ocean of awareness in the body,
Connect to the eyes.
Feel the moisture in the eyes.
And remember any tears that may have come out of the eyes.
There are numerous health benefits to crying.
Tears are like the ocean.
They're made of salt water.
They protect us as they lubricate the eyes.
They remove irritants,
Reduce stress hormones.
And they contain antibodies that fight pathogenic microbes.
After crying,
Typically our breathing and our heart rate decrease,
And we enter into a calmer biological emotional state.
Crying stimulates the production of endorphins.
And endorphins are our body's natural painkiller.
They're known as a feel good hormone.
Crying makes us feel better.
Swami Kripalu said,
Crying is the highest spiritual practice.
Those who know crying know yoga.
In a celebration of tears and their healing potential,
Place a gentle tear on the right hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And pinky finger.
Feel a tear drop into the palm of the hand,
The back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Side of the right rib cage,
Right waist,
Right hip.
Feel a tear on the upper leg,
The knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel,
Instep,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
And feel tears dropping on the right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe.
Stay awake and aware and bring the healing tears to the left hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And pinky finger.
Feel a large tear in the palm of the hand,
At the back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Side of the left rib cage,
A tear at the left waist,
Left hip,
A tear falls in the upper leg,
Kneecap,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel,
Instep,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
And tears across the left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe.
And stay awake and aware and bring the tears to the top of the head,
The forehead,
The right temple,
The left temple,
The right eyebrow,
The left eyebrow,
A tear at the eyebrow center,
A tear on the right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Across the right eyelashes,
Left eyelashes,
Right ear,
Left ear,
At the bridge of the nose,
The tip of the nose,
Right nostril,
The left nostril,
Upper lip,
Tear at the lower lip,
Chin,
Roads,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Follow between the collarbones,
Right chest,
Left chest,
A tear at the heart center,
Upper abdomen,
Navel,
Lower abdomen,
Pelvis,
Sex organs,
Right buttocks,
Left buttocks,
Lower back,
Middle back,
Upper back,
Tears up and down the entire spinal column,
A tear at the right shoulder blade,
The left shoulder blade,
The back of the neck,
The back of the head,
The top of the head,
Feel tear drops up and down the whole right arm,
Bring the healing tears up and down the whole left arm,
Feel the tears touching both arms together,
Feel the tears up and down the whole right leg,
Bring the healing tears to the whole left leg,
Feel the wetness of tears on both legs together,
Feel tears dripping on the arms and legs together,
And like a gentle rain,
Feel tears on the whole front of the body,
And like an ocean mist,
Feel tears on the whole back of the body,
And feel the whole body together,
Wet,
Anointed,
Covered with healing tears,
And let the tears dry on the body,
And visualize the remnants of salt,
Feel the slight saltiness to the body where the tears once were,
And connect to the breath,
Bring awareness to the breath,
Bring awareness to the oceanic breath,
And with the inhale,
Feel the belly rise,
And with the exhale,
The belly fall,
Inhale,
The belly rises,
And exhale,
The belly falls,
And breathe in and out of the nose,
Making an oceanic sound,
And we'll begin the practice,
And the practice of the Hong Sa Kriya will begin.
The Hong Sa Kriya uses the universal mantra,
The sacred vibration associated with the incoming and outgoing breath.
This mantra is available to all humankind.
There is no need for initiation by a special teacher or master.
When one focuses on the breath on the Hong Sa Kriya,
One's mind is fully focused only on the present moment.
With continued practice,
One develops a profound ability to focus intently on any concept or life issue and see solutions very clearly.
Let the breath flow in through the nose and mentally chant,
Hong,
Hong as in long,
Hong as in song,
And when the breath flows out through the nose,
Men's sleep chant,
Song as in hall,
As in law,
Inhaling,
Mentally chanting,
Hong,
Exhale,
Mentally chanting,
Song,
And begin working with this practice of inhaling,
Hong,
And exhaling,
Song.
There is no sound between the inhale and the exhale.
The inhalation and exhalation are not forceful.
There's no straining,
No holding of the breath,
No need to breathe to a rhythm.
Just observe the breath as it is and mentally say Hong and mentally say song.
And at the point between the exhalation and inhalation,
Remain in silence.
Stay with the practice of chanting Hong,
Song.
And now let go of the chanting of Hong,
Song,
And come back to natural breathing.
And in the natural breath,
Notice if there's any moisture in the nose.
And notice any moisture in the mouth and eyes.
And examine the body and find any places where the body is moist.
And let that awareness of moisture move across the entire body.
Let the body be moist.
Know the body is moist.
And then let go of the experience of moisture and come to the opposite sensation of dryness.
Examine the body looking for dryness.
Perhaps the hands feel dry or the feet.
Maybe the face is dry.
Connect to a place that is dry.
Spread the dryness across the entire body.
Let the whole body be dry.
Experience the body as dryness.
The body is moist.
And now let go of the dryness.
Let go of the opposite practice.
And come back to the breath.
And notice the breath as it travels up the body.
And feel the breath expanding the mind.
And bring awareness to the Chitakash,
The mind space in front of the closed eyes.
And in that space,
The mind moving,
See a pond.
Look into that pond and see your reflection.
See your reflection as if you were looking into a mirror.
Look at yourself in that pond and turn the attention to the reflection itself.
Become aware of your own reflection.
Become aware of the knowingness that lets you perceive all of this.
Feel an inner spaciousness that holds together all the sensations,
Feelings,
And thoughts that make up your experience at this moment.
Focus your attention on your own reflection.
See yourself as if you were looking in a mirror.
Reflect on your reflection.
Notice how you feel when you look at yourself.
Now gently place your mind in a nourishing stillness.
Let yourself be.
Focus your attention on your own reflection.
Experience your reflection with love and compassion.
Gently let your mind find a place of nourishing stillness and let yourself be that nourishing stillness.
So now gently notice your breathing.
And now in the pond,
In the pool,
See her there,
Kula,
The goddess of self-reflection.
She's calm.
She's collected.
Her left hand form the mudras of giving boons and dispelling fear.
Her right hands hold a book in a mala.
She's there,
A representation of spirituality.
And as you see her in the pool,
Know with the entire being that she is inviting you to accept yourself for who you are.
She's encouraging you to chant mantra and study spiritual.
She's encouraging you to chant mantra and study scripture.
She reminds us all that sometimes we need to get quiet to find the answers to life's big question.
Our spiritual practice is a mirror of our lives.
Our spiritual practice is a reflection of our personal traits and relationships.
To transform ourselves,
We must devote more time to sadhana,
More time to spiritual practice.
See her there,
Kula,
As a manifestation of your connection to the divine.
She's there to support you as you take a critical and objective look at yourself.
And she's also here to remind you that rituals are important in life.
Now,
Watch Kula as she enters the pool.
Enter the pool with Kula.
Enter her for tonight,
Three nights,
Four nights,
Four nights,
Four nights.
Enter her for tonight,
Three nights after the full moon is a great night for cleansing and bathing.
Enter this pool,
This pond with Kula and sit there with her,
Feeling relaxed and purified.
And honor her by chanting her name.
Om Kula,
I know your name.
Om Kula,
I bow to you.
Mentally repeat,
Om Kula Ye Namaha.
Om Kula Ye Namaha.
And then watch her as she ascends.
She comes out of that spiritual bath and dries herself.
And you too come out of the bath,
The pond,
The pool,
Transformed and renewed.
And dry yourself.
And when your hand touches the heart space,
Connect to the heart's desire,
The Sankopa,
The same one that was used in the beginning of the yoga nidra practice.
I honor myself for your personal Sankopa and repeat it three times mentally with full awareness and the confidence that it will come true.
And then find yourself again lying down or in whatever meditative position you chose.
Reconnect to that space and that position.
And feel grounded in the position.
Feel all the points of contact between the body and the floor.
Feel the moisture in the mouth and nose and eyes.
Connect to the breath.
Inhaling deeply and exhaling fully.
And say it to yourself mentally,
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
Keep the eyes closed but begin to wiggle the fingers and the toes.
Roll the wrists and ankles one way and then the opposite direction.
And take any kind of intuitive movement the body is asking for.
Take a big stretch,
A large yawn.
And roll the arms back side to side.
And then roll over onto the right side in a fetal position,
The position of rebirth and renewal.
And in this position of rebirth and renewal,
Say some words of kindness to yourself like good job or I meditated or I honor myself.
And when you're ready and there's no need to rush or hurry,
Push yourself up to a comfortable seated position with your hands at the heart center.
Ari Om Tat Sat Namaste.
You're welcome.
