Yoga Nidra: The Constellation Of You

We are all star stuff. Come explore the starscape of the Universe and You in this yoga nidra practice. This longer meditation gives you plenty of time to rest, rejuvenate and rediscover your inner self.

Transcript

Take this time now to get set up however you think best today.

Traditionally,

We lie down on the back and just let the arms and legs lie naturally by the sides of the body with the palms face up.

But if for whatever reason that's not the most comfortable position for you today,

Maybe try lying on the side or reclining in a chair.

You could even lie on the stomach if that is going to be comfortable for you.

The most important thing is that it's a pose where you can be still.

We don't have to move or fidget.

Use the time now to get any of those fidgets out and become aware of your body,

Aware of how you feel here in this moment,

Maybe also aware of how you felt today,

Recently,

And then just coming back to the moment now and focusing on your breath,

Noticing how it feels to breathe,

What the breath is telling you here and now.

If the breath is fast or slow,

Shallow or deep,

And noticing where you feel the breath the most in the body,

Maybe in the chest and the lungs,

Perhaps you notice it in the abdomen,

Rising and falling,

Maybe at the nose,

Feeling the coolness of the breath as it enters the body and the warmth of the breath as it leaves,

And becoming aware of any sounds that you hear,

All the sounds in the space around you that are close by and the sounds that are further away outside the room,

And let your attention go from sound to sound,

Just focusing on one sound at a time,

Getting to know that sound for a little bit,

And then moving on to another,

Just moving from sound to sound like this,

Noticing each sound's characteristics,

Just like you notice the characteristics of your breath.

Try to examine the qualities of every sound you hear.

Now see if you can hear any sounds close to you,

Any sounds that might be very close by,

Listening carefully for them,

And then listen to the sound of your own breath,

Your own breathing.

Notice its qualities,

Just as you did with the other sounds,

With an introspective mindset,

Remembering more and more about your own breath,

And then let your awareness rest in your heart,

Your heart's space,

And see if you can hear the whisper of your sankalpa,

Your heart's desire.

Sankalpa is an intention or affirmation you wish for yourself,

Something that you would like to see manifest in your life.

Some people wish for perfect health,

Or success,

Or something with relationships,

But whatever your sankalpa is,

Feel it now within yourself,

Visualize it in your mind as if it's already happening.

And then repeat the sankalpa three times mentally,

With complete awareness and the conviction that it will come true for you.

Now feel the backside of the body,

The whole backside of the body,

And the connection between the back of the body and the supports beneath you,

Everywhere you touch the supports beneath you.

Feel that connection,

Feel those individual points of contact,

And feel them all simultaneously.

Feel the connection between the heels and the floor,

The backs of the legs and the floor,

The buttocks and the floor,

The back and the floor,

The back of the head and the floor,

The right elbow and the floor,

Left elbow and the floor,

Right hand and the floor,

Left hand and the floor,

The whole body and the floor,

The whole body.

And then become aware of your palms,

The right palm and the left palm,

Feeling the palms together.

See if you can notice the lines on the palms,

And feel the backs of the hands,

Back of the right hand,

Back of the left hand,

Backs of both hands,

And feel the lines there.

Feel the joints in the fingers,

The fingernails,

The fingertips.

Feel the whole right hand,

The whole left hand,

Both hands together.

Let your awareness travel to the soles of the feet.

Feel the soles of the feet,

From the heels to the middle,

Around the arch,

The balls of the feet,

The bottoms of the toes.

Feel the soles of both feet,

And then the tops of the feet,

And then feel the joints of the toes,

The toenails,

Tips of the toes,

All of the toes,

And both feet together.

Feel the right foot and the left foot,

Both the feet together.

Now draw awareness to the lips.

Feel the upper lip,

The lower lip.

Feel the space between them.

Feel where they touch,

The upper lip,

The lower lip,

The lips together,

And the places where there is contact between the lips,

And where there is not,

But simply space.

And then draw awareness to the eyelids.

Feel the lower and upper eyelids,

And where the eyelids touch one another.

Feel the point of contact between the eyelids.

Feel the eyelashes.

The eyelashes connecting and touching one another.

Feel the plane of contact between the eyelids and the eyelashes.

Now we will take our awareness through the whole body,

One part at a time.

And today,

As each part is named,

Place a shining star upon it.

As each body part is named,

Bring your awareness to it,

And place a star upon it.

So bring your awareness now to the right hand thumb,

And place a star upon the right hand thumb.

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Right side of the chest,

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Back of the knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

See the whole right side of the body filled with stars.

And then bring the awareness to the left side of the body,

And place a star on the left hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Left side of the chest,

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Back of the knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

See the whole left side of the body now filled with stars.

Now bring awareness to the back of the body and place stars at the heels,

Back of the legs,

Buttocks,

Lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

The whole spinal column,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head,

Top of the head,

The whole back body covered in stars.

And then the front of the body,

The forehead,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

The eyebrow center,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Bridge of the nose,

Tip of the nose,

Lips,

Teeth,

Gums,

Tongue,

The whole mouth,

Chin,

Jawbone,

Throat,

Right chest,

Left chest,

Center of chest,

Upper abdomen,

Navel,

Lower abdomen,

The whole right leg,

The whole left leg,

The whole right arm,

The whole left arm,

The whole right side of the body,

The whole left side of the body,

The whole head,

The whole back of the body,

The whole front of the body,

The whole body surrounded in stars.

Awareness of the whole body together,

The whole body together,

The whole body surrounded in stars.

Now see these stars that you are composed of up in the sky.

See yourself as a constellation in the sky.

You are in darkness but you are a glow,

A starlight and you see other stars all around you in the space.

Maybe there are other objects or people you recognize in the stars.

They are twinkling in many colors just like you but all have their own unique shapes and patterns.

Let this constellation of you float in the sky.

Feel yourself breathing and as you breathe,

See your stars pulse with the inhale and the exhale breath.

Feel and see the stars glowing,

Sparkling and breathing with you.

Now start to feel the breath in your physical body again.

Feel again the connection between your body and the supports beneath you.

Feel the breath in the physical body.

Let go of the stars and feel your whole physical body.

Feeling the breath in the body and letting yourself feel heavy,

Letting yourself release into these supports beneath you.

Allowing yourself to release into the earth with every exhale letting go more and more.

Feeling heavier and heavier,

Feeling a heaviness in the body and then begin to feel light.

It's now like your body is made of air or ether.

Your body is light again like when it was in the stars.

Your body is very light like it's no longer touching the earth beneath you.

Your body feeling so light,

It's weightless.

Any tension in the muscles or aches or pains gone because you are so light.

Let yourself feel light like you are floating in the sky with the stars.

Feel lightness.

Now feel the physical body again.

Feel your body and cultivate a feeling of groundedness and connectedness.

You feel connected to the earth.

You feel grounded and safe.

Let yourself feel completely safe.

Completely safe and protected by feeling grounded to the earth.

Now let go of groundedness and feel spacious and free.

Feel open and spacious like you are space.

Awaken a sense of openness,

A sense of freedom.

Let yourself expand into this space,

This freedom.

Create a sensation of freedom and spaciousness.

Now let that feeling go.

Notice your body again.

Notice how you're feeling.

Notice if you are asleep or awake.

And remember that you are practicing yoga nidra.

You are awake and aware of every sensation and experience.

Now bring that awareness to your mind space.

Bring your focus behind the closed eyes.

That space there called chittakasha,

The mind space.

And let your awareness rest here.

Notice if you are watching a screen,

Just letting whatever appear,

Appear.

This is your opportunity to let your mind be free.

So try not to repress any thoughts or push them away.

Let the mind release what it wishes to hear.

And sit back as an observer,

Watching without judgment,

Observing with curiosity and awareness.

Now within this space,

Hear the sounds of a piano.

You can hear piano music playing.

What kind of song is playing for you?

Listen to the sounds of the notes.

Feel the music within you.

And as you listen to this music,

You begin to see colors emerging along with the notes of the piano.

As the piano plays,

The various notes and chords create a scene of colors.

Feel the music and let the colors emerge naturally.

Now within the music of the piano,

The sound of ocean waves begins to make its way through.

The piano fades and the ocean grows louder and louder.

And now you are standing on a seashore,

Hearing the sound of the waves and the wind.

Standing here on the shore,

You see little crabs scurrying in and out of the sand.

Sandpipers darting between the waves.

And there are tide pools full of tiny creatures.

You walk along the beach,

Hearing the waves and the wind and the occasional sound of the birds calling to one another.

You can hear the sound of shells tumbling to the shore.

There are many,

Many shells of all shapes and sizes here at the sea.

All sorts of pastel colors.

Let yourself explore the seashore,

Shells and the tide pools.

Let yourself watch the waves.

You see something large begin to make its way to the shore.

It's a large conch shell,

But not so big you can't hold it in your hand.

You pick up the conch shell and look at its beautiful colors and you hold the shell to your ear.

You can indeed hear the sound of the sea,

But you also hear the whisper of your Sankalpa speaking out to you through this shell.

Hear your Sankalpa mixed with the sounds of the sea and the shell and the ocean waves.

And repeat your Sankalpa to yourself three times mentally,

Knowing that the seeds you plant here in your practice will grow in your life.

And to feel the body once again,

Your legs,

Your arms,

Your hips,

Your torso and head.

Feel the touch of the clothing upon the skin,

The temperature of the air.

And with the eyes still closed,

Try to remember the space around you,

The colors and textures,

The objects and things you share the space with.

And see yourself clearly in your mind's eye.

Perfectly relaxed and at ease.

And begin to wiggle the fingers and the toes.

Gently move the head side to side.

Reawakening yourself.

Making your way back to the external world.

Taking a moment to thank yourself today for taking this important time to reconnect with yourself,

To take care of yourself,

To give you a chance to rest and reconnect with the true you.

I thank you all so much as well.

Namaste.

Reviews

Thank you🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻Experiencing myself as a constellation of stars in the sky/Universe, and so much more: WOW! LOVE it🙏🏻🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🙏🏻