Welcome to Nale Yoga,
Your place for yoga nidra journeys for deep rest and more.
I'm Ruthie Eisenberg and I'm very grateful to be here with you today.
This is a minimal cues yoga nidra practice which means that I will be seeing the minimal necessary to move the practice along while leaving ample space for silence where you can rest within your own experience without any external intervention.
This is considered an intermediate advanced level practice for those who have enough prior experience with yoga nidra to be okay without too much detail or embellishments.
Also some of the imagery might be emotionally evocative so if you haven't had prior practice with yoga nidra then I would suggest you trying another episode first and once you feel familiar enough with this practice this episode will be waiting for you to come back to.
Before we begin please take a moment to subscribe to help this podcast grow.
Now let's get started with our concise minimal cues practice.
Please prepare for yoga nidra by lying down in a resting pose on your back in complete spinal alignment.
Rest your feet comfortably apart and your arms loosely by your sides with the palms facing skyward.
You may shift around to find yourself in complete comfort and symmetry.
Commit to staying still and awake.
Set an intention by saying to yourself I will stay awake for this practice.
And now you may close your eyes and take a deep breath in,
Tensing every muscle in your body and breathe out completely.
Once again inhale,
Tensing every muscle in your body.
Hold and breathe out,
Melting into the surface beneath you.
Soften your shoulders,
Your knees and elbows,
Letting go of any stress you may be holding.
Now let's bring about a feeling of inner relaxation for the whole body.
From a space of complete stillness scan your body from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes and notice any areas of tension or ease.
Bring awareness to your breath at its natural pace and rhythm.
And in your mind's eye visualize a rising sun.
A rising sun.
You are exactly where you need to be.
The practice of yoga nidra begins now.
Bring to mind your intention,
Your sankalpa or kavana for today's practice.
Say your intention to yourself three times in the present tense with feeling.
I am.
Now let it go.
Your intention has been planted.
We now move through the five sheaths of consciousness,
Starting with the sheath of the physical body.
As we begin the rotation of consciousness by going a journey through your body,
In your mind repeat each part I say and simultaneously feel that body part.
We start with the right hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth.
Palm of the hand.
Back of the hand.
The wrist.
Lower arm.
The elbow.
Upper arm.
The shoulder.
The armpit.
The right side body.
The right hip.
Thigh.
Kneecap.
Lower leg.
The ankle.
The heel of the right foot.
Soul of the foot.
The top of the foot.
The big toe.
Second toe.
Third.
Fourth.
Perceive the entire right side of the body.
Now we cross over to the left hand thumb.
Second finger.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Palm of the hand.
Back of the hand.
The right hand thumb.
The right heel of the foot.
The right heel of the foot.
The right heel of the foot.
The right heel of the foot.
The right heel of the foot.
The left side body.
The left hip.
Kneecap.
Lower leg.
Ankle.
The heel.
Soul of the left foot.
Top of the foot.
Big toe.
Second toe.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth toe.
The right heel of the foot.
The left heel of the foot.
The right heel of the foot.
The right heel of the foot.
The right heel of the foot.
The right heel of the foot.
The right heel of the foot.
The right heel of the foot.
The right heel of the foot.
The right eye.
The left eye.
The right ear.
The left ear.
The right cheek.
The left cheek.
The nose.
The upper lip.
The lower lip.
The chin.
The throat.
The right side of the chest.
The left side of the chest.
The middle of the chest.
The abdomen.
The navel.
The pelvic region.
Now the back.
Bring awareness to the right shoulder blade.
The left shoulder blade.
The upper back.
The mid back.
The lower back.
The glutes.
And the entire curve of your spine.
Now the whole back all together.
Now perceive the entire right leg.
The entire left leg.
Both legs together.
Now just the right arm.
Just the left arm.
Both arms together.
Now the entire back of the body.
Now the entire front of the body.
And now the whole body together.
The whole body together.
The whole body all together.
The sheath of the breath.
Become aware of your breathing.
Sense the flow of your breath in harmony with the rising and falling of your chest.
And now start counting your breaths backwards from 70 to 1 like this.
Inhale,
Chest rises.
Exhale,
Chest falls.
70.
Inhale,
Chest rises.
Exhale,
Chest falls.
69.
So on and so forth.
You may continue counting on your own in synchrony with the breath.
And if you lose track of your count,
You may start over again from 70.
And wherever you are,
You may stop counting as we move on to awareness of opposites.
The sheath of the mind.
Allow yourself to experience a feeling of heaviness in the body.
Sense areas where you're feeling heaviness and let the heaviness take over you.
Now let it go and allow yourself to experience the feeling of lightness.
Sensing how your body is feeling very light.
Light,
Weightless.
Experience lightness.
Now let it go and explore the experience of heaviness and lightness both at the same time.
Now let it go.
Now bring to mind the image of a steep uphill mountain climb.
And imagine yourself climbing uphill on a steep incline.
And sense how that affects your body.
Steep upward ascension.
And now imagine yourself descending down the slope.
And see how this feels in your body.
Descending down a steep incline.
And now perceive moving upward and downward in both directions at the same time.
Now let it go.
Are you still awake?
Please try not to fall asleep now.
Remind yourself that you are awake.
Shift your focus now to concentrate on the inner space behind your closed eyelids.
Observe this space as a spectator watching a screen without getting too involved in the content.
And the sheath of your deep intelligence.
I will say a series of images.
Try to visualize them as vividly as possible and experience them on all levels of awareness.
Visual,
Feeling,
Sensation,
Thoughts,
Emotions.
And memory associations.
Observing with curiosity and non-attachment.
A flickering lamp.
A tall palm tree.
An olive tree.
A blossoming almond tree.
A car moving on a road.
Clouds of smoke rising up.
Many colored clouds.
White clouds.
Blue clouds.
Purple clouds.
Blue clouds.
Green clouds.
Yellow clouds.
Orange clouds.
Red clouds.
A starlit night.
A fluffy dog wandering around.
A galloping horse.
A family of elephants.
A rainbow in the sky.
A faded memory.
A gray gravestone.
The setting sun.
A big pond of clear water.
A blue fish.
A red fish.
A white fish.
The sandy bank of a river.
Worshippers praying before a wall.
A warm winter.
A rainy winter.
A white winter.
A fire burning in the house.
A child learning.
Your favorite teacher.
Concentrate on your teacher.
Concentrate on your teacher's eyes and see your reflection in them.
Just be here.
Resting in complete stillness and quiet of the mind.
Letting go of the last remnant of thought and connecting with the source consciousness.
The sheath of bliss and divine unity.
And now it is time to return to your intention.
Repeat your connection to Pavana Sankalpa three times with conviction in the present tense.
Letting the truth that your spirit already knows integrate into the body and mind.
I am.
And now we begin to return to waking consciousness taking with you what you have learned and experienced.
Return to your breathing orienting back to your inhales and exhales with naturalness and awareness.
Orient your awareness back to your body scanning your body from head to toe.
Notice how you're feeling at this time.
Perceive the space around you and beneath you as you start bringing back some small movements to your fingers and toes.
Gradually returning your awareness to the ordinary waking state.
Take a few moments to integrate your experience from this practice and the parts that you would like to remember and take with you.
And when you're ready you may open your eyes.
Welcome back to the present moment.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
