Take the time you need right now to get settled in this space,
To get really comfortable,
And also time to mentally and emotionally let go of the external world.
Some days are easier than others.
There's no reason we need to rush that process.
Maybe just kind of setting an intention to have this time be for you.
And perhaps in this time,
Solutions to problems in your head or things on the to-do list might come to mind,
And that's perfectly fine.
But really,
It's just a space to come back to yourself,
Come back to the body,
And back to the breath.
And however you are positioned today,
See if you can make yourself even just a tiny bit more comfortable.
And then take a deep breath in through the nose,
And let it go out the mouth,
And let it go out the mouth.
Breathing naturally here,
Noticing how it feels to take that big breath,
Inhaling deeply and exhaling fully.
And just noticing the effects.
And just breathing normally.
But perhaps mentally repeating to yourself as you exhale,
Letting go.
And becoming aware of the body letting go a little bit more,
The thoughts letting go,
Intense emotions letting go,
Softening their grip.
And now listen for sounds.
Tune in to your sense of hearing,
And listen for all the sounds around you.
Trying not to overanalyze them,
Trying not to attach emotions to them,
But just listening.
Observing,
Like an orchestra around you.
Listening to the various pitches and tones and rhythms of all of these sounds.
Listening to the sounds that are very far away.
And the sounds that are closer in the same space that you are.
And then the sounds of yourself,
The sounds of the body.
Notice any sounds here,
Perhaps very subtle sounds,
Or more prominent sounds like that of the breath,
Sound of the heartbeat.
And then bring awareness to the heart space.
Feel that space in the center of the chest.
And become aware of your heart's desire,
Your Sankalpa.
Sankalpa is an intention or affirmation you set for yourself.
It's truly your heart's desire,
Something that you would like to manifest in your life.
So when you feel this heart's desire,
Envision it as if it's already happening.
Try to experience it as if you are feeling it right now.
Notice how it feels to live this Sankalpa.
And then repeat your Sankalpa three times mentally with the same wording.
And know that it will manifest somehow in your life.
We move on now to the rotation of consciousness in the body.
Keep the body still.
And only let your awareness move.
Let the awareness travel to each part as it's named.
It might help to visualize the body part or mentally repeat its name.
Simply bring your awareness to it and welcome any and all sensations that may or may not occur.
We begin as always by bringing awareness to the right hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Right side of the rib cage,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Hamstring,
Back of the knee,
Shin,
Calf muscles,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Arch of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Now bring awareness to the left hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Third finger,
Little finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Lower arm,
Elbow,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left side of the rib cage,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Hamstring,
Knee,
Back of the knee,
Shin,
Calf muscle,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Arch of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Now bring awareness to the right heel,
Left heel,
Right calf muscles,
Left calf muscles,
Back of the right knee,
Back of the left knee,
Right hamstring,
Left hamstring,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
Right lower back,
Left lower back,
Right middle back,
Left middle back,
Right upper back,
Left upper back,
Left upper back,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Right shoulder,
Left shoulder,
Back of the neck,
Back of the head.
The whole scalp,
Forehead,
Crown of the head,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right eyebrow,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
The eyebrow center,
Right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Right eyelashes,
Left eyelashes,
The whole right eye,
The whole left eye,
The muscles around the right eye,
The muscles around the left eye,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Bridge of the nose,
Tip of the nose,
The whole nose,
The space between the nose and the lips,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Both lips together,
The space between the lips,
The space between the lips,
Teeth,
Tongue,
Gums,
The whole mouth together,
Chin,
Jawbone,
Throat,
The whole neck,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
The hollow between the collarbones,
Right chest,
Left chest,
Heart center,
Upper abdomen,
Navel,
Waist,
Lower abdomen,
The whole right leg,
The whole left leg,
Both the legs together,
The whole right arm,
The whole left arm,
Both arms together,
The whole right side of the body,
The whole left side of the body,
The whole back of the body,
The whole front of the body,
The legs,
Head,
Right,
Left,
Together.
Awareness of the whole body together,
The whole body together.
Awareness of the whole body together.
Now become aware of the breath,
The natural breathing process that happens all on its own.
Awareness if you are awake or asleep.
Staying awake and aware and bringing that attention to the breath.
Feeling the breath move the body,
Feeling the belly rise and fall with each and every breath.
Feeling the breath like a wave and visualizing this wave of the breath like waves on a shore.
As you inhale the waves come to the shore and as you exhale the waves recede back to the sea.
With inhale the waves come to the shore and exhale they ebb back to the sea.
Just following the rhythm of your breath.
Visualizing the waves moving at the rhythm and pace of your breathing.
Now keeping this visualization of the waves and the breath.
Begin to add a count.
Counting down from the number 54.
As you inhale 54 and as you exhale mentally thinking 54.
Inhaling 53 exhaling 53 and so on.
Counting the breaths backwards from 54 to 0 with awareness of the wave of breath and the waves on the shore.
If you lose the count or fall asleep just start again at the beginning at the number 54.
The goal is not to get to zero.
The object is to stay focused and aware.
Aware of the count.
Aware of the breath.
So anytime awareness slips start again at 54 as many times as you need.
Now let go of the count.
The visualization of the wave of breath.
Just breathing naturally easily.
Allowing the breath to breathe you.
Draw awareness to the body and where the body touches the floor beneath you.
Feel the plane of contact between the body and the floor.
The contact between the body and the floor.
The thin plane of contact.
And notice that space that's also neither the body nor the floor.
Notice where the heels are in contact with the floor.
The backs of the legs and the floor.
The hips and the floor.
The back and the floor.
The right elbow and the floor.
Left elbow and the floor.
Right hand and the floor.
And the left hand and the floor.
And the left hand and the floor.
Awareness of the back of the head and the floor.
Feeling all these points individually.
And feeling them simultaneously.
Awareness of the body and the floor.
Allow the body to begin to be heavy.
Creating a sensation of heaviness in the body.
Let the body be heavy in every single part.
So heavy that you begin to sink more and more towards the floor.
The body is completely heavy.
Completely heavy in the hips,
The legs,
The feet and the toes.
Heavy in the shoulders,
The chest.
Heavy in the hands and fingers.
Heavy in the cheeks,
The jaw,
The eyelids,
The forehead.
The whole body is heavy.
Heaviness in the body.
Now begin to feel light.
The body was connected to the floor.
But now those points of contact are lightening.
There is more space between the body and the floor.
As the body grows lighter and lighter.
The body feels very light in the chest and the back.
Light in the arms.
Light in the hands and fingers.
There's lightness in the hips and the legs.
Lightness behind the knees.
Lightness in the feet and toes.
Lightness behind the neck.
And lightness in the head,
The scalp.
The whole body feels incredibly light.
Feeling lightness in the body.
Now let go of lightness and start to feel cold.
Create a sensation of cold in the body.
There might be parts of the body now that are cold.
See if you can go into that sensation and create more of that in the body.
Or imagine what it's like to be cold.
Maybe touching something cold out of a freezer.
Or walking outside with thin clothing on in a cold breeze.
Try to create the sensation of cold in the body and go into the sensation.
Experiencing it with curiosity.
Feeling cold in the body.
Now allow that sense of cold.
To begin to warm and heat.
Heating up in the body now.
Starting to feel very hot.
Perhaps there is warmness or heat in certain areas of the body.
See if you can go into that sensation of heat.
And start to create that in other areas.
Recall a time you were very hot.
Maybe on a summer day in the bright sun.
Maybe in the sauna.
Maybe opening an oven,
Feeling the heat coming from that.
Manifest heat in the body as best you can.
Feeling heat in the body.
Now let go of heat and come to a feeling of constriction.
A feeling of compression or constriction.
This might be a physical sensation or an emotional,
Mental sensation.
Whatever comes to mind to you,
Whatever you feel first.
Feel the sense of compression and constriction.
Go into the sensation and examine it.
Not shying away from any discomfort.
But feeling a sense of compression and constriction.
Now release that feeling of compression and feel openness.
Completely open,
Completely free.
Feel a sense of openness in the body and around the body.
Maybe notice how openness feels if it's confined to a close area around the body.
Or if it's a wider spread around you.
If it's hard to do,
Try to remember a time when you felt very open.
Let yourself explore the sensation of openness.
Now release openness and come to a feeling of anger.
Maybe remembering something that makes you very angry,
Possibly now or in the past.
And let yourself experience this emotion,
This sensation of anger.
Exploring.
Where you feel it in the body.
What aspects of anger are present within you?
Is there a heat,
A compression,
An energy?
Go into this anger and be with it.
Exploring anger.
And now release anger and come to a feeling of love.
Let yourself feel love.
Maybe that's a love for someone in particular or an animal,
Place.
It could be love for many things at once or even love for yourself.
But focus on this object of love and the sensations that love creates within you.
Go into the feelings of love in the body.
Noticing its physical effects as well.
And let yourself feel a sense of love.
Now release love and just notice the body.
Notice the breath.
And bring your awareness to your mind's eye.
The space behind the closed eyes.
Chittakasha,
The mind space.
And rest your awareness here.
Just exploring this space.
There's nothing in particular that should or should not be here.
Just watch the space and notice if anything comes up.
Or if there's simply darkness or maybe other colors.
Just observe.
And then notice what you're thinking right now.
Become aware of your surroundings.
Be aware of your present thoughts.
And stay focused on this thought for now.
Whatever it is.
Keeping your awareness on this thought.
And then see if you can create the opposite thought.
Use your mind's power to create this opposite thought.
Visualizing it.
Feeling it in great detail.
As an observer.
Not getting involved too much in the thought emotionally.
But observing and watching with a curious mind.
And then go back to the original thought.
Come back to that first thought.
And again,
See if you can be with the thought as a witness.
As an observer.
Can you be with the thought without getting involved in memories or emotions?
Can you feel the emotions or the memories associated with the thought?
But still observe them.
Experiencing the thought.
And observing it simultaneously.
And then let that go.
Let that thought go.
And just rest the mind.
And just stare behind the closed eyes once more.
And remember your Sankalpa.
The statement you made at the beginning of the Yoga Nidra practice.
Visualize that Sankalpa.
Feel it again as if it's already happening.
And repeat it three times mentally.
Knowing that this seed you've planted in your practice will grow in your life.
Become aware of the whole body.
The whole body from head to toe.
Become aware of the temperature in the room.
The touch of the clothing on the skin or maybe the blanket.
Aware of the sounds in the room.
And any other sensations like scents.
Other things you might sense with touch.
And trying to visualize the room as best you can.
Behind the closed eyes.
Begin to make little movements in the body.
Wiggling fingers and toes.
Take your time to open the eyes and come back to the world.
Being sure to take a moment for yourself to thank yourself for your practice.
Taking time to rest and reconnect.
I thank you all so very much as well.
Namaste.
