Yoga Nidra Jungle

Allow my voice during this yoga nidra sequence to offer you balance and relaxation into your daily life. There is no background music. Simply follow my voice prompts in an exploration of self by breath and body scanning, followed by an inner journey to a jungle complete with a ceremony.

Transcript

Welcome to your weekly yoga nidra.

My name is Penny and I will be your guide for about the next hour.

I'd like to start by taking a moment to extend appreciation to yourself for being here.

During this practice we will be turning inward to heal and to listen.

To begin it's important to find the most comfortable position that you could be in,

Either sitting or lying.

The suggested pose for yoga nidra is shavasana,

Which would be lying on your back,

Either on the floor or you could be on your couch or even in bed.

You may enjoy adding props such as pillow under your knees or head and it's suggested that you have a blanket nearby as your body may cool down as we get further into the practice.

Use whatever you need so that you can lie with comfort still without interruption.

Coming to lie on your back,

Making sure your head is in line with your spine,

Take a moment to address the macro movements you need to find ease.

Now shift to micro movements,

Little internal subtle shiftings that will help you get grounded and feel safe.

And recognize that you are in a perfect position here and it's time to let go.

This practice is done in complete stillness.

It cannot be done wrong.

Allow yourself to shift into stillness.

Ideally your palms will be facing up,

Your feet width distance apart with your feet gently rolling out.

Your belly is soft.

Feel the body resting into the surface beneath you.

Relax your tongue,

Softening through the mouth and jaw,

Becoming aware of your breath coming in and out through your nose.

Just a simple,

Even,

Easy breath.

With each exhale shedding another layer of tension you may have accumulated.

Allowing yourself to surrender into whatever is holding you.

Beginning to taste the freedom of understanding that there is now nowhere else to go,

Nothing else to do,

Nowhere else to be,

But right here,

Right now.

And the only person you need to take care of right now is you.

And by being present in the practice,

By following along to the best of your ability,

And by choosing to remain still and relaxed,

You are taking care of yourself.

Should you become uncomfortable,

Simply readjust.

It is possible that you could fall asleep.

And that is okay.

Simply allow yourself to be.

It's natural to flow in and out of awareness during this practice.

The deepest part of you is always listening.

So whatever your experience,

Do not judge.

You cannot do this wrong.

This practice works whether or not you think it does.

Allow the skin on your face to soften,

The skin on the palms of your hands,

The skin of your lips and mouth,

Your eyelids.

Keep sinking into every part of you that is touching the surface beneath you.

Notice where you're making contact with whatever is holding you versus where you make contact with the air in the room.

Let go of thinking.

Free yourself into sensing,

Feeling,

And just being.

Feel the space all around you,

The space beneath you,

The space above you,

The space in front,

And the space behind you,

Space to the left and space to the right of you.

Listening to the sounds carried within the space.

Sense of ears open in all directions.

Listening to the sound of your own breathing like waves.

Feel the skin.

The skin is breathing.

The skin expanding,

Expanding and contracting one breath at a time.

The mouth,

Soft jaws and root of tongue decompressing.

Full of ease.

Notice your nostrils,

The beautiful air filters that are your nostrils,

And the way they clean and clear and warm the air as it enters your body one breath at a time.

And feel the eyes,

All the muscles that would usually scrunch when you squint,

Allowing those muscles to release pressure,

Decompressing,

Broadening.

Vacation eyes resting in little hammocks at the back of your head.

Full of ease.

Effortlessness.

Peace.

Feel the eyes being gently bathed by the breath.

Feel the breath soak into the space between the eyebrows.

Breath by breath,

Bathing the space between the eyebrows.

Feel your breath as a stream of sensation,

Mingling from the eyes down to the heart.

Feel the breath touch the heart.

Heart being breathed.

And from the sensation of the awareness of the heart,

Feel anything you can be thankful for.

Anything worthy of appreciation or celebration.

At the heart of every Yoga Nidra practice is what is called a sankalpa.

A sankalpa is a conscious intention,

A heartfelt desire that you hope to bring into fruition in your life.

Sankalpas are always stated in the present tense as if they have already occurred.

Notice if you would like to set a personal intention,

A sankalpa.

And if not,

Know that you can embrace and relax with a sweetness of no intention.

However,

You could also bring your awareness to your heart and ask yourself,

Is there something in my life right now that could use some extra support or energy or encouragement?

This is the intelligence that wakens when we quiet the mind.

This intelligence that we simply don't access when we are busy doing and analyzing.

If you feel something naturally arise,

Take a moment to call it in,

Naming it inwardly in present tense form.

For example,

I am vibrant and healthy.

Or it could simply be a word like love.

Once you have your sankalpa,

Can you imagine what it feels like in your body as if it were already fully realized?

And can you allow the feeling of the fully realized sankalpa to spread into your heart,

Arms,

Hands,

Facial expression,

And your entire being?

Create a body memory of the intention or sankalpa as you repeat it to yourself three times in the present form.

Now give thanks and simply drop it into the pool of your practice and trust.

Nothing else you need to do.

I want you to recall in mind a favorite place you have.

This place could be real or imagined.

It's a personal safe haven where you feel secure,

Safe,

At ease.

A place where you experience a sense of overall well-being and peace.

Any place that's inviting to you.

In yoga nidra,

We call this place your inner resource.

Notice in your mind's eye what it looks like there and how you feel when you're there.

Are there any sounds or smells?

Notice how your body feels when you're there and notice where you're sensing it in your body.

You may return to your inner resource any time during practice.

Should you fall asleep and awake and feeling lost,

Simply return to your inner resource,

This place where you feel safe,

Secure.

Next,

Follow my voice as I speak of different body parts.

There's no need to do anything.

Just simply bring your awareness to the body part I mentioned.

Notice the sensation that meets your awareness just as it is without trying to change anything.

Bring your awareness to your whole face.

Feel your mouth.

Notice any sensations in your mouth.

Feel your jaw.

Notice your lips,

Your upper lip,

Your lower lip.

Feel your lips coming together.

Feel the sensation just behind your lips in front of your teeth.

Bring your awareness to your teeth and the roof of your mouth.

Notice where your tongue and the back of your tongue,

Under your tongue,

Sit in your mouth.

Notice where your tongue meets the insides of the rest of your mouth.

Feel the inner cheeks.

Now feel all the parts together as a whole.

Your whole mouth is a sensation.

And feel your nose.

Notice the nostrils.

Notice the top of your nose.

Notice the breath entering both nostrils and follow the breath through your nasal passages.

All the way inside.

Notice any sensations.

Bring your attention to your ears,

Inside your left ear,

Inside your right ear.

Feel both ears simultaneously.

Feel behind both ears and your earlobes.

Allow your awareness to travel into the ears,

Traveling through the ear canals,

Noticing the ears,

Receiving sounds.

Next,

Bring your awareness to your eyes,

The left eye and your right eye.

Feel both eyes together.

Become aware of the surface of your eyes.

Feel where your eyelids cover the surface of your eyes.

Notice where your eyelids touch and meet that space.

Feel your eyes now as livingness,

As sensation.

Feel your whole head,

Your scalp,

Your forehead,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Your right eyebrow,

The center between your right and left eyebrow,

The left eyebrow.

Feel your whole head and neck,

The front of the neck,

The back of the neck.

Bring your awareness to your shoulders,

Your right shoulder,

Your left shoulder.

Notice the base of the throat.

Bring your awareness to the right hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

Palm of the right hand,

The back of the hand,

The whole right hand and wrist,

Your forearm,

Elbow,

Right upper arm,

Armpit,

The right side of your chest and waist,

Right hip,

The right thigh,

Deep into the right knee,

The lower leg and right ankle,

Top of the foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Right pinky toe,

The sole of the foot,

The entire right foot.

Bring your awareness to the left hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Left pinky finger,

The left palm,

Back of the hand,

The whole left hand and wrist,

Forearm,

Left elbow,

The upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Left side of the chest,

Waist,

Hip,

The left thigh,

Deep inside the knee,

Lower leg,

Left ankle,

Top of the left foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Left pinky toe,

The sole of the left foot,

The whole left foot.

Feel the back body resting on the earth,

The whole back body alive,

Vibration,

Energetic,

The whole front body alive,

Vibrating,

Livingness,

Feel the whole body,

The whole body,

Your whole body.

Feel the body grounded,

Supported and safe,

Body heavy,

Being held by the heart of the earth,

Head heavy,

Arms heavy,

Torso heavy,

Legs and feet heavy.

Where in your body do you feel heavy?

Now imagine the body floating free and clear,

Lifting from the ground underneath.

What does that feel like?

Now go back to the body being heavy and supported,

Roots traveling down into the ground,

Heavy.

And now let your attention go back to the body being free,

Floating,

And then back to grounded,

Heavy,

Allowing your attention to go back and forth from heavy to floating,

Going back and forth,

Back and forth between heavy and floating.

Is there a moment where both are true,

Where maybe the two overlap,

Blend,

And coexist?

Now begin to imagine yourself shrinking down into a tiny,

Tiny version of yourself,

Essentially allowing yourself to feel very,

Very small,

As though a blade of grass towered above you,

Carpet fibers seeming enormous,

Become nearly microscopic,

Just so small.

Visualize yourself in the world being so tiny and just notice how you feel.

What do you notice when you feel small?

Now release the smallness and begin to fill out and fill out and surpass your normal size until you become gigantic,

Essentially becoming very large,

Towering above the tallest trees,

Above the highest skyscrapers.

What does it feel like to be big,

To be very large?

What do you notice as you look around?

Now bring your awareness back to being tiny and very small,

And then switch back to being very large and towering.

Can you go back and forth between the two,

Noticing possibly where they could overlap or blend?

Is it possible to be both at one time,

Beginning to come back to the normal size you are,

Aware of your whole body,

Lying here practicing yoga nidra?

You are aware of everything.

Behind your closed eyes,

Begin to construct a scene in a jungle,

Perhaps somewhere you've been or somewhere from your imagination.

This is your opportunity to create an environment in which you can get to know yourself better.

So notice the color.

Plants,

Trees,

Light.

Make it rich.

Sounds of animals and birds above you.

Scurrying of reptiles and insects below you.

Notice yourself walking through the jungle,

Making your way,

Looking for a cave in the jungle.

Notice up ahead an opening.

Coming now to the mouth of the cave,

Look inside and see a beautiful,

Beautiful,

Pristine,

Clear,

Blue lake,

Much like a Mexican cenote,

Water that is warm from a thermal release in the earth.

The space in this small cave is open,

Rugged rock overhead and water below.

You gently walk into this cave and slide into this beautiful,

Beautiful,

Blue,

Warm water.

Warm enough to feel comfortable,

Just cool enough to feel refreshing.

You can float or swim using any flotation device or staying near the edge to hold on if you wish.

All of you is illuminated by this beautiful,

Blue water.

Feel yourself letting go,

Feeling lighter,

More youthful and carefree.

Now find yourself in a jungle clearing.

You've stumbled upon a local tribe and they welcome you into their ceremony,

A ceremony of purification and of gratitude.

Notice the flowers.

Smell the incense.

Walking up to an altar,

You lay down a limited belief that you have of yourself.

Something you know is untrue and yet for years you fed it to yourself over and over again.

Perhaps this limited belief you have was inherited.

Perhaps it is a result of treatment you've received.

Whatever it is,

However it came to be,

This is the place you leave it and let it go.

Take the blessing from the tribe and recognize that you are supported in releasing this.

You are supported in remembering your true self.

Begin to exit the jungle scene,

Leaving the trees and plants,

Birds and animals,

Leaving the cave in the water,

Coming back into your body,

Coming back into your body,

Resting peacefully on the surface below you.

And recalling your sankalpa,

Your heartfelt desire from earlier in the practice.

Can you feel your sankalpa resonating in your body in any way?

In the space you have created for yourself,

Your sankalpa takes root and grows.

If you didn't have a sankalpa,

That's okay.

Your purpose for being here in the first place is enough.

It is possible that at this point in your practice a sankalpa could arise.

How does that feel you now?

Has anything changed or has your mind shifted?

Can you experience a feeling of gratitude for taking the time to practice today?

Welcome and offer love to yourself as a timeless,

Open and spacious well-being that is perfect just as you are.

And as your whole self is healthy and perfect just as you are.

And the understanding that you always know the perfect response to each moment as you take the time to welcome your deepest knowing.

Thank yourself one more time for taking the time to practice yoga nidra.

Should you feel to stay here and rest peacefully,

Perhaps drifting off to sleep,

Feel free to do that now.

Should you feel the desire to rise,

Simply allow yourself a few breaths here and gently wiggle your fingers and toes and arise very slowly being aware of each movement.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide.

It has been my honor to share this practice with you.

Namaste.