Yoga Nidra: Himalayan Elements
In many traditions, the five elements that compose the universe are earth, water, fire, air, and space. This yoga nidra will guide you on an exploration of these both within yourself and in the outside world. The body scan incorporates the Himalayan Tradition 61-point relaxation exercise, visiting highly energetic centers called marma points to soothe and awaken the physical self and one's consciousness. Music by Libori Conti
Transcript
Make sure any devices that are connected to the internet are in silent mode and do not disturb so that you can really take this time to disconnect from the outer world and see what lies within.
Feel your body kind of melting towards the ground,
Releasing the tensions of the day and the week,
Letting yourself just give way to gravity,
Letting the muscles melt towards the earth.
Begin to feel your natural breath,
Your inhales and your exhales,
Which might be a little fast still,
A little rapid.
Maybe the breaths are a little shallow or perhaps your breath is already a bit deeper and slower and longer.
Whatever the breath is doing in this moment,
Just simply observe it.
Say hello to the breath,
No matter its state.
And just feel that process of breathing in the body.
And then we'll take three breaths together to help release any tensions or anything else we don't want to take with us in our practice.
So first,
Just let out all your old stale air with an exhale.
And then take a deep breath in through the nose.
Exhale out the mouth.
Let's do that two more times,
Taking a deep breath in through the nose,
As deep as you can breathe in.
So begin a little more and releasing out the mouth,
Letting go whatever you don't need with that exhale breath,
Just seeing it blow away.
And one more time,
Deep inhale,
Biggest breath yet today.
And then exhale it all out,
Let it go.
And then just breathing normally.
And feeling that with each exhale that you're relaxing a little bit more.
That any tensions or thoughts that you don't want to dwell on,
Just exiting the body and the mind with the exhale breath.
And then begin to listen to sounds.
Listen to the sounds that are all around you.
The rhythmic sounds and the arhythmic ones.
The high pitched and the low.
And see what kinds of sounds you can hear that are very far away.
Stretching your sense of hearing far outside the building and listening for those sounds far away.
Now see what kinds of sounds you can hear that are within the room with you.
Scanning the room for sounds all around.
Up and down and side to side.
Noticing what you hear,
Yet not attaching yourself to it.
Just observing and listening.
Okay.
Notice if you can hear any sounds very close to the body.
And then notice any sounds from the body.
Sounds of the breath.
Digestion.
The heartbeat.
Then draw your awareness to the heart space.
Feel the heart space.
And bring to mind your sankalpa.
Your resolve.
The sankalpa is the intention you make for yourself during the yoga nidra practice.
It's something that you would like to create or manifest in your life.
It could be simple or complex.
Whatever this heart's desire is.
Feel it now within yourself.
And then repeat this heart's desire three times mentally with full awareness and conviction that it will manifest somehow in your life.
This seed we plant here in our subconscious mind still works in our day-to-day waking lives.
So use this moment to plant that seed now to grow for you.
Plant that seed now to grow for you.
We'll now move on to the rotation of consciousness through the body.
This time as each body part is named bring your awareness to it.
We'll place a shining star at that body part.
We begin today bringing awareness to the eyebrow center.
The hollow of the throat.
Right shoulder.
Right elbow.
Right wrist.
Tip of the right thumb.
Tip of the second finger.
Tip of the third finger.
Fourth finger.
Fifth finger.
Right wrist.
Right elbow.
Right shoulder.
Hollow of the throat.
Left shoulder.
Left elbow.
Left wrist.
Tip of the left thumb.
Tip of the second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
Fifth finger.
Left wrist.
Left elbow.
Left shoulder.
Hollow of the throat.
Heart center.
Right chest.
Heart center.
Left chest.
Heart center.
Navel.
Lower abdomen.
Right hip.
Knee.
Right ankle.
Tip of the right big toe.
Tip of the second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Tip of the fifth toe.
Right ankle.
Right knee.
Right hip.
Lower abdomen.
Left hip.
Left knee.
Left ankle.
Left big toe tip.
Tip of the second toe.
Tip of the third toe.
Fourth toe.
Tip of the fifth toe.
Left ankle.
Left knee.
Left hip.
Lower abdomen.
Navel.
Heart center.
Hollow of the throat.
Eyebrow center.
Now bring your awareness to the whole right leg.
The whole left leg.
Both legs together.
The whole right arm.
The whole left arm.
Both arms together.
The whole head.
The whole back side of the body.
The whole front side of the body.
The whole right side of the body.
The whole left side of the body.
The whole body together.
Awareness of the whole body together.
Now feel the connection between the back side of the body and the supports beneath you.
Feel everywhere the body touches the supports beneath you.
Feel the connection between the back side of the body and the supports beneath you.
Feel all those points of connection between the body and the floor.
Feel the point where the heels touch the floor.
Backs of the legs and the floor.
The buttocks and the floor.
The back and the floor.
The right elbow and the floor.
The right hand and the floor.
The left elbow and the floor.
The left hand and the floor.
The upper back and the floor.
The back of the head and the floor.
The whole body and the floor.
Feel the whole body against the floor.
Become aware of the element of earth in the body.
Feel your bones,
The muscles,
The heavy strong supports of the body.
Feel your bones and muscles.
Become aware of the element of water within you.
The plasma and the blood.
The urine and lymph.
The lubrication between the joints of the body.
The element of water within you.
And then become aware of the element of fire.
Feel the heat in the body anywhere the body is hot.
Feel the fire of digestion in the stomach where food is transformed into energy.
Feel fire in the body.
Now become aware of the element of air within you.
Feel the breath moving in and out of the lungs.
Feel the breath,
This energy,
This prana moving in and out of the whole body.
Feel even more cells breathing.
Feel the element of air in the body.
And then become aware of space.
Feel space in the body.
The space between the organs.
The space in the sinuses,
The ears,
And the mouth.
Feel the space between the fingers.
The space under the knees.
The space between the toes.
Become aware of the space within and around the body.
Bring your awareness to your breath again.
See if you are asleep or awake.
And use your willpower to stay awake and alert and watch the breath.
Perhaps observing if the breath is any different than when you began the practice.
And feel the breath at the navel.
Feel how the inhale expands the area around the navel.
Front and back and side to side.
And the exhale breath gently contracts the area.
Everything there just relaxes inward.
With the exhale expand the area around the navel.
And the exhale contracts.
Inhale expanding.
Exhale contracting.
And then begin to count the breaths backwards.
From the number nine.
Inhaling nine.
Exhaling nine.
Inhaling eight.
Exhaling eight.
And so on.
Counting breaths backwards from nine to zero.
With awareness of breath at the navel.
You lose the count just start again at the number nine.
And if you make it all the way to zero,
Simply begin again at the number nine.
Anytime you lose count or fall asleep,
Just start again at the number nine.
I'll let go of the count and awareness of breath at the navel and just breathe naturally.
Notice how you feel.
Notice what you're thinking.
Notice if you are awake or asleep.
And begin to let yourself feel heavy.
Feel the bones and the muscles become very very heavy.
Like they are made of rocks or stone.
Feel yourself sinking and sinking and sinking towards the earth.
Feeling so heavy,
It would be hard to lift a finger or raise your eyelids.
Let yourself be heavy and succumb to heaviness.
Now release the feeling of heaviness and feel its opposite lightness.
Feel its opposite lightness.
The body is now completely light.
Feel the space in the body,
The air in the body and feel that lightness within you.
Let that lightness manifest more and more so that you feel as if you were floating.
You are so light,
You are coming away from the supports beneath you,
Lifting towards the ceiling.
Manifest a feeling of lightness within you.
Feel the air,
The space,
The lightness.
Now release lightness and feel yourself once more.
Against the floor.
Feel where the body touches the supports beneath you.
And then bring your awareness to the eyebrow center.
The space behind your closed eyes.
And simply watch the space.
Rest in the space here.
And observe like you are on a train,
Watching the scenery pass through the window.
Watching the thoughts and the images,
The emotions of your mind,
Like scenery through a window on a train.
And now I will name a series of images and try to envision them as best you can,
Engaging all of your senses,
Sight,
Smell,
Touch,
Hearing,
Taste.
And if nothing comes to mind,
It's perfectly okay.
Just move on to the next image.
And do not try to concentrate too much.
So see before you now a mountain and a large mountain range.
Huge boulders in a field.
Small pebbles in a stream.
A mountain,
A gravel road.
Loamy soil,
Your hand running through the soil.
See yourself planting a seed in the soil.
Watering the seed.
And watching it grow and blossom and expand towards the sky.
See a torrent of rain.
Yourself in the rain.
Feel the steaminess of the humidity.
See a boat on a tumultuous seam.
A calm and placid lake like glass.
See yourself reflected in the mirror-like surface of the lake.
See a blazing fire.
A pyre consuming a forest.
A fireplace burning.
A family sitting around it.
A campfire.
A candle flame.
A child blowing bubbles.
The rainbow bubbles floating on the breeze.
Popping when they land upon a surface.
A warm woman singing.
A crystal clear sky.
A nice breeze on a sunny day.
Clean mountain air.
A tornado.
Puffy white clouds in a blue sky.
A wide open expanse of a prairie.
A seemingly endless sky.
Stars at night.
Galaxies and universes in space.
A comet flying by.
A tiny atom.
Electrons orbiting the center of the atom.
The cells of the body.
And the space between the cells.
A DNA strand spinning.
The space of the universe.
Now feel the space of your own self.
Feel the space of your physical body.
Feel the tangible elements of yourself.
Feel the skin,
The bones,
The hair.
And notice if you can feel yourself outside that physical space.
Maybe you expand just an inch or so beyond the skin.
Maybe you feel yourself expand a few feet.
Maybe you feel limitless.
Notice the physical space of the body.
And the space of yourself.
And then recall again your sankalpa.
The statement you made at the beginning of the yoga nidra practice.
Repeat it again three times mentally with full conviction.
And know that it will grow and manifest in your life.
Begin to listen for the sound of the breath and the heartbeat.
And any other sounds of the body.
See if you can hear any sounds close to you.
And notice what kinds of sounds are in the room.
They are similar to when you started or something different.
Notice the sounds that are very far away outside the room.
And try to find sounds that are very far away and notice what you hear.
And then remember the room you're in.
Recall the colors,
The objects within it,
The textures.
Maybe people or pets or plants you share the room with.
And see yourself behind closed eyes.
And then begin to deepen your breath.
Putting in a conscious effort to make the inhales and exhales a little bit deeper.
A little bit fuller.
Gradually reawakening the body to reenter the world.
Thanking yourself today for taking this time out for you.
And reconnecting with yourself and giving yourself a chance to just rest.
And thank you all so very much as well.
Namaste.
