Full Yoga Nidra Practice

This is a full yoga nidra practice. It means that we are going through all eight steps including Sankalpa, body scan/body awareness, breathing, and more. By doing this Yoga Nidra you will feel relaxed, energized wakeful, rejuvenated, and focussed.

Transcript

Full Yoga Nidra Practice Hari Om Tat Sat Get ready for the practice of Yoga Nidra.

Find a comfortable space and lay down on your back.

Bring your hands down by your sides.

Let them rest a little distance away from the body,

Palms facing upwards in Shavasana.

Make adjustments for comfort.

When you're ready,

Close your eyes down and we will begin.

Sense your entire body and allow your awareness to rest within the body.

Feel the thin line of contact where the body meets the floor.

Feel the contact between your body and the surface below you.

Take three full deep breaths.

With each exhalation,

Feel a sense of letting go,

Physically and mentally.

Notice the feeling of the breath in the area of the belly.

Feel the belly gently rising with each inhale and falling with each exhale.

Feel the belly as you breathe.

Take your awareness and listen to the sounds that you can hear around you.

Choose one particular sound and begin to focus onto this one sound.

Now drop that sound and pick a different sound.

Focus all of your attention onto this sound.

Now it is time to set your Sankalpa,

Your heartfelt goal,

Your heartfelt desire,

Something that you are passionately working towards in your life.

This can be a big goal or a smaller goal.

Choose your Sankalpa,

Repeat it three times in your mind.

You're planting a seed into your subconscious.

You're planting the seed to create something in your life.

Remind yourself that you are practicing Yoga Nidra right now.

Say to yourself,

I will remain awake and aware throughout this practice.

We start by the rotation of consciousness.

I will name parts of the body.

Simply taking your awareness there.

Allow all of your awareness to rest in the body part that I name.

We begin with the right hand thumb.

Take all of your awareness to the right hand thumb.

Next move your awareness to the index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the right hand,

Back of the right hand,

Your wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper right arm,

The right shoulder,

Right armpit,

Right side of the waist,

Right hip,

Right thigh,

Right knee,

Right calf,

Right ankle.

Take all of your awareness to the right ankle,

The sole of your right foot,

Top of the foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Feel the whole right side of your body all at once.

Feel the right side of your body.

Now move your awareness to the left side of your body.

Begin with the left hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Left ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the left hand,

Back of the left hand,

Left wrist,

Left forearm,

Left elbow,

Left upper arm,

Left shoulder.

Take your whole awareness to the left armpit,

The left side waist,

The hip,

The left thigh,

Left knee,

Left calf,

Left ankle,

Sole of the left foot,

Top of the left foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth and fifth toe.

Feel the whole left side of your body all at once.

Feel the left side of your body.

Take your awareness to the front of your body.

Feel the forehead,

The right temple,

Left temple,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

The eyebrow center.

Rest all of your awareness at the eyebrow center.

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Your nose,

The bridge of your nose,

The nostrils,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

The lips,

The meeting point between the lips,

Your chin,

Throat,

Pit of your throat.

Allow all of your awareness to rest at the pit of your throat.

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

Center of the chest.

Allow all of your awareness to rest at the center of your chest.

Bring your awareness to the abdomen right now.

Bring all of your awareness to the navel,

The center of the belly.

Bring your awareness to the entire front side of the body,

Feeling and sensations that are present in the front of the body.

Bring your awareness to the back of your body right now.

Feel the back of your body in contact with the floor,

With the surface below you.

Feel the thin line of contact where your body meets the surface below.

Bring your awareness to the back of the right heel.

Sense the back of the right heel where it touches the surface below,

The left heel.

Feel the back of the left heel coming into contact with the surface below.

The back of the right calf,

Left calf,

The right buttock,

Left buttock,

The lower back,

Middle back,

The upper back.

Feel the right shoulder blades,

Left shoulder blades and the back of your head.

Feel the entire back side of the body.

Bring your awareness to the back of your body.

Feel the body parts together now.

Feel both arms together,

Both legs together.

Feeling the torso.

Feel the head and face together.

Now begin to feel the whole body all together.

Sense your entire body now,

Whole body awareness.

Become aware of the fact that you are breathing without changing the breath.

Simply become aware that breathing is happening.

Bring your awareness to the center of the belly,

The rise and fall of your belly as you breathe.

Begin to count your breaths with your awareness resting on the belly,

Counting down from the number 9.

Breathe in for 9 and out for 9.

Breathe in for 8 and out for 8.

If you finish counting,

Simply start again from the number 9.

Now let go of the awareness of your belly and bring your awareness to the sensation of the breath in the nostrils.

You can feel the air as it gently enters and exits through the nostrils.

Sense the temperature of the air as you breathe.

Focus all of your attention and awareness at your nostrils.

Begin to count your breaths with the awareness at the nostrils counting down from the number 9.

Breathe in for 9 and out for 9.

Breathe in for 8 and out for 8.

Let go of the awareness of the breath now.

Begin to feel the sensation of heaviness throughout the body.

Begin to feel as if the body is very heavy,

As if it is made of lead.

The body feels heavy and dense.

Let go of this heaviness now.

See if you can switch to sensing lightness in your body.

Your body feels as light as a feather.

You can lift it simply up from the floor.

Sense this feeling of lightness throughout your body.

Let go of this feeling of lightness now.

Now feel a sense of cold throughout the body.

Maybe you can remember a time when you felt cold and see if you can create this sensation now in your body,

This feeling of being cold.

Let go of this feeling of being cold.

See if you can feel a sensation of being warm throughout the body.

Visualize the warm sun warming your entire body.

Feel the sensation of warmth throughout your body.

Let go of this feeling of warmth now.

Now bring all of your awareness to the space behind the closed eyes,

The Chidakasha.

With the attention in this space,

Allow the following images to flow into your mind with a sense of ease.

A mountain,

A waterfall,

White clouds in a clear blue sky,

Soft green grass,

Raindrops on the window,

A candle flame,

Waves on a beach,

Calmly crashing on the shore.

Let go of these images now.

Yoga Nidra is coming to an end.

Repeat your Sankalpa three times mentally.

With your eyes still closed down,

You can take a deep breath in and let out a sigh as you exhale.

Begin to wiggle your fingers and toes,

Stretch your body.

When you're ready,

Slowly open your eyes.

The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

Hari Om Tat Sat.