Yoga Nidra,
Your true nature is joy.
Take some time to settle down in a comfortable position on your back.
The body stretched out,
Feet a little apart,
Arms a little away from the sides of your body.
With palms turned upwards.
A long straight line from the tailbone and all the way to the back of the head.
Arms and legs at equal distance from the midline of the body.
Eyes gently closed.
Soften the muscles around your eyes.
Relax your jaw.
Start to relax every part of the body.
This is your time.
A time just for yourself and your own well-being.
Right now the focus is on relaxing and letting go.
On being instead of doing.
Slowing down,
Softening,
Surrendering.
Make all necessary adjustments now so that you are as comfortable as possible.
And sinking a little deeper into your resting pose.
And feeling the support of the floor or bed.
And then you come into stillness.
No longer any need for movement,
Just a relaxed stillness.
A peaceful place to be.
Everything you experience during this practice will help you to enhance and support the understanding of your true self.
This is the essence of yoga nidra.
Remain relaxed and present to every experience throughout the practice.
And you say to yourself,
I am awake and present to every experience during the yoga nidra practice.
Everything I experience deepens my understanding of my true nature.
Let my voice become your voice during this practice.
Be aware of the mind.
Feel and explore sensations in your mind and in your body.
Feel and explore sensations inside and out.
On the outside experience the floor,
The ceiling,
The walls,
To the left,
To the right,
In front,
Behind you.
And be aware of the sensations in your body.
And now be aware of the sensations of air flowing in and out of your nose.
Air flowing in through the nostrils on the in-breath and out on the out-breath.
In and out.
In and out.
Gently and naturally.
Cool air flowing in and warm air flowing out.
Just your natural breathing.
Now be aware of any sensations around your nose.
And then any sensations around your eyes and mouth.
Any sensations in your face.
And be aware now of any sensations inside your head.
And then around your head.
And radiating down into the body.
Up into the crown.
Into the back of the head and into the face.
And now be aware of sensations in the back of the head flowing down into the neck,
Into the throat and then into the left shoulder.
Left armpit,
Left elbow,
Wrist,
Palm of the left hand,
Left thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger and then left palm,
Left wrist,
Elbow,
Armpit and shoulder.
And then into the right shoulder.
Right armpit,
Right elbow,
Wrist,
Palm of the right hand,
Right thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger and then palm,
Right wrist,
Elbow,
Armpit and shoulder.
Now bring your awareness from the throat and down into the chest.
And feel the back of the chest,
Front of the chest,
Left wall,
Right wall,
The ceiling of the chest and the floor of the chest.
And feel the sensation in the whole chest.
Feel the gentle movement of the breath in the chest and the rib cage.
A gentle expansion and contraction.
Relax into the rhythm.
Let go and feel the back resting on the floor.
And now bring your awareness into the abdomen.
Notice any sensations here.
Be aware of the back wall of the abdomen,
Front wall of the abdomen,
Left wall,
Right wall,
Ceiling,
Floor of the abdomen.
And notice any sensations anywhere in your abdomen.
Let go of any tension in your abdomen.
Allow any holding patterns to dissolve and allow the abdomen to be soft.
Now focus on the pelvis and any sensations there.
Back of the pelvis,
Front wall of the pelvis,
Left wall,
Right wall,
Ceiling,
Floor of the pelvis.
Notice any tension here and just let it dissolve.
Relax and let go.
Now take your awareness into the left hip,
Left knee,
Ankle,
Left foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe and then back up through the left ankle,
Knee and hip.
And take your awareness now into the right hip,
Right knee,
Ankle,
Right foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe and then back up through the right ankle,
Knee and hip.
And then feeling both hips and legs together.
So giving up thinking for a moment and just focusing on feeling both hips,
Legs,
Feet and toes.
Just noticing what is going on there.
Any sensations,
Even the smallest sensation.
Now feeling your legs,
Pelvis,
Abdomen,
Chest,
Throat and neck,
Shoulders,
Arms,
Hands,
Back up the arms again to the throat,
Neck,
Head,
Eyes,
Nose,
Ears,
Mouth,
Tongue,
Feeling.
No thinking right now,
Only sensation.
For the moment no thinking,
Only sensation and awareness of the body,
A presence in the body.
Moving away from the active mind for now and just resting in the body and the sensations there.
Visualizing now the body as energy and this energy is radiating in all directions at the same time.
In the back,
Front,
To the left of the body,
To the right,
Down below the body,
Up above the body.
The energy radiating out in all directions and inward as well.
And now be aware of your breathing.
Inhaling and exhaling,
Inhaling,
Exhaling and awareness of your breathing but without changing the breath.
Just a gentle and natural rhythm of your breath and take your awareness to the left side of your body.
Inhaling,
Exhaling and being aware of the left side of the body.
Feel the energy there.
Now take your awareness to the right side of the body.
Inhaling,
Exhaling,
Being aware of the right side of the body and feeling the energy there.
Feeling the back of the body,
Inhaling,
Exhaling and being aware of the back of the body.
Notice the energy there.
Feeling the front of the body,
Inhaling,
Exhaling and being aware of the front of the body.
Notice the energy there.
Now be aware of the body below the navel,
The lower part of the body.
Inhaling,
Exhaling and being aware of the lower part of the body.
Notice any sensations.
Now be aware of the body above the navel,
The upper part of the body.
Inhaling,
Exhaling and being aware of the upper part of the body.
Notice any sensations.
Now be aware of the entire body.
No body parts,
Just one unit.
One body.
One whole.
One sensation.
One energy.
Now imagine the sensation of heaviness and being grounded.
Sinking into the floor.
A sense of heaviness.
A solid body on the floor.
Feeling secure,
Steady and safe.
A sense of heaviness and steadiness.
And find the opposite feeling now of lightness and almost floating off the floor.
The body is light,
Not heavy but light.
Feeling easy,
Soft,
Floating.
Still safe but light and easy.
And locate now a feeling of joy in the body.
You may recall a time when you felt joyful and happy.
Maybe you were in a beautiful location or with people you love.
So try to recall a time when you felt joyful.
Experience again this feeling of joy in the body.
Simply experiencing joy in this moment,
Right now.
Feel it.
Allow the feeling of joy to evoke a deep inner smile.
Feeling the inner smile coming from your heart center.
A warm feeling in your heart.
Moving into the lips as a joyful smile.
And then into your eyes,
Chest.
Feeling the heart center radiating.
And this deep inner joy spreading in all directions,
All around the body.
Feeling this joy deep in your body and your heart and all around your body.
Spreading in all directions.
Joyful radiance everywhere.
Be aware of the feeling and sensation of joy in your body and mind.
Your heart is expressing its true nature which is joy.
Connect with a warm feeling of joy in your heart and allow your body mind to rest in that.
This is your true nature.
In all states of consciousness,
Deep sleep,
Dream state or fully awake,
Maintain the connection of your true self which is joy.
And now feeling the body starting to wake up and starting to return to normal waking consciousness.
You start to move your body a little when you feel ready.
Slowly and gradually coming back from this yoga nidra practice.
And when you are ready,
You open your eyes.
