Yoga Nidra: The Stairway To Self-Discovery
This yoga nidra features an extra-long body scan to deeply relax the body. With the physical body at ease, your awareness is able to explore the depths of your consciousness through a guided journey. What might you discover in your inner travels?
Transcript
Set up your space like it's a little spa day or vacation for yourself.
Just let yourself relax.
Allow the body to grow heavy and just sink into the supports beneath you,
Trying not to resist gravity in any way,
Just letting go and letting yourself be supported by the earth and then start to listen for the sounds that are all around you,
Soundscape of your world in this moment now.
And there are all sorts of sounds.
Maybe there are the rhythmic sounds of equipment,
Like the refrigerator,
Hum of traffic,
Perhaps other types of sounds that are more random.
Sometimes they might feel jarring or surprising,
But for now,
Just try to observe the sounds and scan around with your hearing,
Just noticing everything that's out there and then letting your attention rest on a particular sound,
Just observing its qualities and properties and then moving on to another sound.
And like that,
Just moving from sound to sound,
Spending some time with each of the sounds,
Observing and feeling them.
Now,
See if you can notice any sounds that are very close to you,
Sounds close to you within the room and then sounds of the body.
Usually we can hear our breath the most clearly,
But maybe there are some other sounds of the body that you can pick up on.
Do not try to strain to pick up anything in particular,
But just notice what's there,
What may or may not be apparent.
Then hear the sound of your breath,
Focusing on the sound of the breath.
See if you can hear the heartbeat,
Maybe feel the heartbeat in the body,
If not in the chest,
Maybe in other pulsations,
Somewhere else within yourself.
See if you can hear the whisper of your Sankalpa,
Your heart's desire.
The Sankalpa is the intention or affirmation you set for yourself in the Yoga Nidra practice.
Something that you would like to manifest in your life.
So hear this heart's desire now,
The sound of your heart's desire and then repeat your Sankalpa three times mentally with full awareness and the conviction that it will manifest somehow in your life.
We move on now to the rotation of consciousness in the body.
We keep our bodies still and let our minds travel through it.
As I name each body part,
Let your awareness travel to that part.
Sometimes it can help to visualize the body part or mentally repeat the name of the body part.
But whatever comes up for you,
Just observe and experience.
Try not to concentrate and if you lose place,
Just join in again whenever you're able.
Begin as always with the right hand thumb.
So bring your awareness to the right hand thumb.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
Fifth finger.
Palm of the hand.
Back of the hand.
The whole right hand.
Wrist.
Lower arm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Armpit.
Right side of the chest.
Waist.
Hip.
Thigh.
Knee.
Back of the knee.
Shin.
Calf muscles.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole of the foot.
Ball of the foot.
Inch of the foot.
Top of the foot.
Right big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Fifth toe.
All of the right toes.
The whole right foot.
The whole right leg.
The right side of the body.
Now bring your awareness to the left hand thumb.
The left hand thumb.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
Fifth finger.
Palm of the hand.
Back of the hand.
Whole left hand.
Wrist.
Lower arm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Armpit.
Left side of the chest.
Waist.
Hip.
Thigh.
Knee.
Back of the knee.
Shin.
Calf muscles.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole of the foot.
Ball of the foot.
Arch of the foot.
Top of the foot.
Left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Fifth toe.
All of the left toes.
The whole left foot.
The left leg.
The left side of the body.
Now bring awareness to the back of the body starting with the back of the head.
The neck.
Right shoulder blade.
Left shoulder blade.
Upper back.
Middle back.
Waist.
Lower back.
The whole spinal column.
The buttocks.
Right leg.
Left leg.
And now the front of the body starting with the crown of the head.
Right temple.
Left temple.
Right eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
The eyebrow center.
Right eyelid.
Left eyelid.
Right eyelashes.
Left eyelashes.
The whole right eye.
Whole left eye.
Right cheek.
Left cheek.
Right ear.
Left ear.
Bridge of the nose.
Tip of the nose.
The whole nose.
Upper lip.
Lower lip.
Teeth.
Gums.
Tongue.
The whole mouth.
Chin.
Jawbone.
Throat.
Right collarbone.
Left collarbone.
The hollow between the collarbones.
Right chest.
Left chest.
Heart center.
Upper abdomen.
The whole lower abdomen.
Now we will work with the opposite sides of the body.
Bring awareness to the right toes.
The left toes.
All the toes together.
Right sole of the foot.
Left sole of the foot.
Both soles together.
Right ankle.
Left ankle.
Both ankles together.
Right lower leg.
Left lower leg.
Lower legs together.
Right knee.
Left knee.
Both knees together.
Right upper leg.
Left upper leg.
Both upper legs together.
Right hip.
Left hip.
Left hip.
Both hip points together.
Right side of the back.
Left side of the back.
The whole back together.
Right side of the waist.
Left side of the waist.
The whole waist.
Right side of the chest.
Left side of the chest.
The whole chest.
Right hand thumb.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
Fifth finger.
Left hand thumb.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
Fifth finger.
All the left fingers.
All the fingers of both hands.
Right hand.
Left hand.
Both hands together.
Right arm.
Left arm.
Both arms together.
Right shoulder.
Left shoulder.
Both shoulders together.
Right side of the neck.
Left side of the neck.
The whole neck.
Right side of the face.
Left side of the face.
The whole face.
Back of the head.
Top of the head.
The face.
The whole head together.
The whole head together.
Awareness of the brain.
The spinal cord.
The spinal cord.
The digestive organs.
Respiratory organs.
Excretory organs.
Reproductive organs.
Awareness of the whole right leg.
The whole left leg.
Both 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.
Awareness of the whole body together.
The whole body together.
Complete awareness of the whole body together.
Now become aware of your breath.
Check to see if you are awake or asleep.
Try to stay awake.
And keep your awareness and your attention on your breath.
Just feel the natural rhythm of your breath.
The body is very still.
Yet there is still this movement of the breath.
Notice how the breath moves the body.
Feel the rise and the expansion of the inhalation.
And the gentle compression of the exhale.
As you inhale,
The body gently expands.
And as you exhale,
It relaxes.
And feel that with every inhalation,
You are taking in goodness,
Energy,
Vitality.
A soothing revitalization.
Revitalization.
With every inhale,
You are bringing in energy and good things.
And with every exhale,
You are releasing tensions,
Worries,
Frustrations,
Toxins,
Jealousy,
Anger,
Guilt.
Releasing through the exhale whatever you don't need,
Whatever you don't want.
With every inhalation,
You bring in new energy and vitality.
With every exhalation,
You release what you don't need.
Continue with this cleansing breath.
And begin to add a count to it.
Like so.
Inhaling 27.
Exhaling 27.
Inhaling 26.
Exhaling 26.
And like so.
Continuing to count the breaths backwards from 27 to 0.
With full awareness of breathing and counting.
Should the mind begin to wander and you lose the count,
Simply start again at the number 27.
As many times as you need to.
Starting over at the beginning number.
Keeping your focus on counting and breathing.
Breathing and counting.
If you make it all the way to 0,
Just start again counting the number 27.
Now let go of the counting.
Just notice if you are asleep or awake.
Trying to remain awake and aware.
And notice that your breath is smooth and relaxed.
The space behind your closed eyes.
The space behind the closed eyes known as Chittakash,
The mind space.
And just rest your awareness here.
And in this space,
See before you a stream or a river.
Flowing water.
You can hear the sound of this flowing water.
The scent in the air is fresh.
And the flow of the water is like music to your ears.
You watch this water.
Watch the water flowing.
And sometimes objects appear upon the water and continue to float down it and away from you.
Perhaps leaves from the trees.
Maybe ducks swimming upon the river.
Perhaps fish flowing with current.
Just observe and watch the water.
Now let go of the imagery of the water and come back to your own mind space.
Notice the darkness behind the closed eyes.
And then notice whatever thoughts,
Images or other ideas might appear here.
And as if you are watching that stream or river,
Watch your own mind space in the same way.
Just observing the thoughts,
The images and the ideas flow.
Not attaching to anyone.
But letting them flow naturally through your mind.
Observing and watching in a calm manner.
Just like you are on the riverbanks.
Observing the flow.
Now see before you a tall tower.
A spire reaching towards the sky.
Maybe it looks like a fairytale tower or a bell tower.
But it's a tall shape stretching towards the sky.
And you are in front of it.
In front of its door.
You open the door to the tower.
And there is a large spiral staircase inside.
Leading to the top.
You make your way up the steps of the tower.
The tower is naturally lit by small windows along its way.
That let in the sunlight.
And occasionally you stop in front of the windows.
And observe the scenery outside.
Maybe your scenery is a countryside.
Maybe it's a city.
But as you make your way further and further up the tower.
You see more and more of the landscape.
The individual objects grow tinier.
But you see more and more as you climb higher and higher within the structure.
Finally you make your way all the way to the top.
And the stairs open into a room surrounded by windows.
The sunlight illuminates the whole space.
And you go to the windows and take in the landscape.
You are so high up.
The clouds even drift by you.
Sometimes creating shadows within the room as they pass by.
You take some time to admire the landscape.
To be part of the sky.
And then you notice a table in the center of the room.
And on the table appear to be various pieces of a puzzle.
Like a jigsaw puzzle.
You begin to put the pieces of this puzzle together.
You don't know what the image is.
And as you compile pieces and fit them together.
Hints begin to appear.
You continue to assemble pieces of the puzzle.
And the picture is becoming clearer.
You are almost sure what this image will be.
You are now down to the last few pieces of the puzzle.
You place the last piece in.
And step back and admire your creation.
Notice what image is there.
And if this picture has any sort of meaning for you.
If you're not sure that's okay.
The answer might come later.
Or you could ask now.
What does this image mean to me?
Now let go of the image and the tower.
And find yourself back in your space.
Back in your room.
And remember your sankalpa.
The affirmation you made at the beginning of the practice.
Repeat it again.
Three times mentally.
And know that it will come true somehow.
Some way in your life.
Become aware of the whole body.
Feel the connection between the back of the body and the supports beneath you.
Feel the breath moving in the body once more.
And open the eyes and look around you.
Just taking insights.
And as you're ready starting to move the body gradually.
Coming back into the external world.
And taking a moment here to thank yourself.
For your practice today.
And taking time out in a busy world.
To reconnect with you.
I thank you all so very much as well.
Namaste.
