Welcome to this yoga nidra practice.
I invite you to lay on your back with your arms a bit away from your body in a neutral position or in a beautiful chair that is fully supportive of your body.
Press your arms on the floor and allow your chest to rise as your shoulder blades hug onto your back and then slowly release down.
If you're sitting in your chair,
Feel how you're pressing against the side of the chair.
Push your shoulder in and bend your belly forward like you're doing a beautiful cat cow.
Just go in and out.
Release your back down and let your eyes settle into the sockets.
Lips part.
Let the back of your tongue drop away from the roof of your mouth.
Allow the fingertips to gently curl in and your feet to flop.
Feel your body release into the earth.
You want to remain as still as you can for the practice.
So take your time letting go and making any adjustments you need.
You are welcome to move at any time during the practice to make yourself comfortable.
Try and move slowly.
Keep the eyes closed as you do and remember it's better to get comfortable than to lie or sit distracted in discomfort.
As we begin the yoga practice,
Don't worry about what you should be feeling or how deep you are going to go.
Tell yourself that you are going to listen to the sound of my voice and you are going to remain awake.
Tune into your senses of hearing to the sounds around you.
Take in the most distant sounds you can hear.
Something outside of the room.
As far out as you can hear.
No need to seek it out.
Open your awareness to receive.
Acknowledge and release.
Jump from one sound to the next and now move a little closer to this room.
Perhaps to the sounds within the walls or the floors.
Jump around from sound to sound.
Moving closer.
Sounds within your body.
Your breath.
Your heartbeat.
As you move to the inner landscape of your mind,
Allow there to be a sense of coming home.
Of turning in.
A safety.
A comfort.
Remind yourself that you are going to stay awake.
You are listening to the sound of my voice and stay awake.
If at any time you need to change the story,
My words,
The awareness or leave the practice,
You are welcome to do so.
You are in charge and can open your eyes at any time and re-enter at any time.
We are going to move through a rotation of consciousness.
Your body will remain still while your mind's eye follows my guidance.
If you can't see or feel the part of your body,
You can silently repeat it back to yourself.
See a white light shining bright and pure.
Watch as it resets below your feet and begins to rise up into your toes and then spread through the soles of your feet,
Over your heels,
Into your ankle and bathe your feet in pure light.
Let the light rise up your legs,
Filling the chins and calves.
It glows onto your knees,
Shines into your upper legs,
Your thighs and your hamstrings.
Then all the light pulls into your pelvic floor,
Flooding it in pure white light.
The light begins to shine up into the tailbone,
Lightening up each vertebrae as it rises.
It pauses at the sacrum and shines out.
The light pours into the whole pelvic ball and hips.
Draw the light back in and watch as it rises up to the behind the navel and shines out into the belly.
Fills your low back so much light,
Filling your organs and drawing back into the spine to rise all the way to the heart and then shines out into the heart,
Into your lungs and filling up your rib cage.
The light shines through the whole belly and chest,
The upper back.
You are bathed in light and it all draws back to the spine to shine into your throat,
Filling the neck.
It cascades down over your shoulders and pours down the front of your arms,
Into the elbows,
Creases and through the forearms,
Over your wrists to fill your palms in the light.
Let it flow down into the thumb,
Second fingers,
Third fingers,
Fourth fingers and fifth fingers.
Fill the backs of your hands in light and watch as it shines up to the back of your wrist,
Through the forearms,
Over the elbows and back up over the triceps,
Through the shoulders and back to the spine.
The light rises all the way to the top of your spine.
Watch as the light travels through the roof of your mouth into the brain,
Breathing the brain in pure white light,
Cleansing the conscious mind,
The subconscious mind and the unconscious mind.
Let it float up the crown,
Over the forehead and shine into the brows,
Over the eyes and nose,
All the way down over the upper and lower lips.
Watch the light spread over the cheeks,
Through the jaw,
Ears and wash back off the head until the whole body is bathed in pure white light.
The whole body together in this beautiful healing white light,
Your whole body.
Remind yourself you are going to stay awake.
Bring your awareness to your breath.
Don't change it,
Just feel the gentle inhales and exhale.
As you inhale,
Imagine the light rising from the base of the pelvic floor all the way down to the crown of the head.
And as you happen to exhale,
Watch the light drop back.
Begin to count backwards from 11.
The light rises and falls 11,
Rises and falls 10.
If you lose your place,
Just start over.
You are counting backwards from 11.
If you lost your place,
Just start over again.
Let go of the counting.
There is nothing you need to do to make it up.
Remind yourself that you're going to stay awake and you're going to listen to the sound of my voice.
And if you drift off,
Come back when you remember.
Begin to awaken the sensation of heaviness in your body.
Let your body grow heavier and heavier with each passing moment.
It is as though you were being filled up with sand.
Your heels feel heavy,
Your legs feel heavy,
Your hips are heavy,
Your spine feels heavy,
Your arms feel heavy,
Your head is so heavy you couldn't even lift a finger if you tried.
Awaken the sensation of heaviness.
The whole body is heavy.
Now awaken the sensation of lightness in your body.
Feel as if the sand were leaving the body and you were being filled up with air.
So light,
Floating from the ground.
Your heels are light,
Your legs are light,
Your hips are light,
Your spine is so light,
Your arms are light,
Your head is light.
You are floating like you are weightless.
Awaken the sensation of lightness.
The whole body feels so light.
Now you awaken a feeling of expansion.
Expanded in the body.
Space in your joints and muscles.
Expanded in your mind and thoughts.
Expansive emotionally.
Fully experience a state of expansion.
You might recall a memory or imagine a way where you can expand yourself.
Now let go of this visual and just tap into the emotions and the feelings of being expanded.
Now release that feeling and awaken contraction.
How does the body feel while being contracted?
What comes with it?
Awaken the sensation of contraction in the physical body.
Feel contracted in the mind and thoughts.
Contracted emotionally.
Fully immerse yourself in the feelings of contraction.
Now move back into an expanded state.
Fully immerse yourself.
Expanded body.
The space you create for yourself.
And let this go and move back into feeling contracted.
Where does it go in your body?
Does it have a specific starting point?
Now let go of feeling contracted and move back into the expanded feeling.
And while you're inviting this expanded feeling,
Invite at the same time a feeling of contraction.
Where does that resolve in your body?
Is it able to be there all at the same time?
How does that make you feel?
Just follow the sensations in your body and just be there present with it.
What does it need?
If it needs anything.
Now just let it all go and find your way back home with your breath,
With your sensation.
We begin to move some different images.
Allow whatever comes up to move up spontaneously for you.
Without attachment,
Without emotion or a story.
It may be an image but it could be a smell or a sound or a feeling.
Let it float up and then release it moving on to the next as quickly as I move through them.
A rainbow spreading across the sky.
Climbing a mountain.
Sunrise over the river.
Dancing your heart out.
Belly laughter.
A wise elephant sharing his stories with you.
Your favorite book.
Your favorite teacher.
A blank page.
Waves crashing into the shore.
Meditation.
Smell of fresh rain on the pavement.
A lullaby.
A deepening breath.
Crowd cheering.
Singing along to your favorite song.
Wind blowing through your hair.
Silver crescent around the moon.
A thousand petals lotus flower.
Inspiration.
Unconditional love.
Trust.
Surrender.
Wisdom.
Let all of this go and remind yourself you are going to stay awake.
See yourself in this beautiful forest.
You are standing just under the trees and you're looking out on this beautiful wide open space.
There are plains of green grass and bushes.
There are flowers growing.
Different trees are there.
And you start to walk into the beautiful fields.
Feel how your step is easy and simple.
You're following your breath for your rhythm.
You just keep following your steps and just pay attention to what you are seeing.
What is around you?
What are you feeling?
You come about this beautiful place where there are loads of willow trees.
You find a place to sit against one of the trees and you feel how the rhythm of the tree,
The heartbeat of this tree,
Is connecting with yours.
You feel the healing supportive energy that is around you.
It's like a beautiful warm blanket.
You stretch your legs long.
You play with the long grass between your toes.
You just take a deep breath in and sigh.
You are here.
You're safe.
And at this moment you are coming home to yourself.
When you look around you see this beautiful goat coming towards you.
The goat is jumping up and down,
Eating a little bit,
Coming a bit closer,
Moving around a little bit more as well.
And slowly,
Slowly the two of you are entering each other's energies.
You connect with this beautiful animal.
The goat is a symbol of balance.
Jumping with ceaseless and energy,
Perching easily on the even,
The narrowest footholds.
Its vitality and grace is infallible.
Your tree,
Your beautiful willow tree,
Is a symbol of mourning and often appearing around gravestones.
In the Greek mythology,
Willows are said to be the mark to enter the underworld.
When combined with a goat and willow showing up for us here,
That there may be losses to suffer,
But we can overcome them with renewed energy and the right balance.
Realign yourself with your goals to regain control about your own dreams and manifestation.
Just take a moment to sit with this message,
This combination of the two things together.
Feel how the willow tree is transporting you back to you,
Finding your home,
Where the goat is helping you to rebalance.
Find your footing and notice that right here,
Right now,
Your unconscious mind,
Your spirit,
Your heart's desire,
Are slowly bubbling back up.
Embrace them.
Start to notice how you are rebalancing yourself out,
Knowing that you've been taking some different detours,
But it's all okay.
You're picking up your lessons,
Giving them a special place in your heart,
And then together with the goat you go and jump around in your new re-found balance in the shade of the beautiful willow tree.
You are able to tap into the universal consciousness,
Which comes with lessons.
The information is simple,
Available to you by following guidance and receiving support.
They come flooding in.
Allow yourself to be in this space.
Any questions,
Any doubts or desires,
Fears will leave or will be answered,
Will become clear.
Just be here.
This is such a beautiful moment to get ready to work with your sankalpa,
A seed,
An intention.
If you have one already,
You will continue to use it until it manifests in your life.
If you are looking for one,
It is a quality you are looking to bring into your life,
Something that you feel strongly connected to,
That you are deeply desiring,
Something you feel an emotional connection to.
It will be stated as if it already exists in your life.
It will be put in positive terms.
Some examples are,
I am making healthy choices.
I can let go of my past easily and step into my new future.
I give and receive love unconditionally and I trust the intuition and wisdom of my body.
When you have found your sankalpa,
See it being written across the screen of your mind three times in your handwriting.
It may also come in other forms,
Images or sounds.
Just see or hear it clearly.
Allow your breath to begin to deepen and tap into this beautiful sankalpa,
Your intention.
It grows out of love,
Every seed you plant.
Allow your breath to begin to deepen and feel yourself coming back to this room,
To this space,
To this body.
Wiggle your fingers,
Point and flex your feet and stretch your arms over your head.
If you're laying down,
You can draw in your knees and roll to the side.
Keep your eyes closed for a moment and just gently make your way up to sitting.
If you were laying down,
Readjust yourself in the chair you're sitting in.
With your eyes closed,
Put your hands in front of your heart and honor yourself for coming today to this practice,
Making time for you,
Your sankalpa and to reconnect with your body,
With your home.
Sit nice and tall with a long spine and just feel how grounded and strong you are.
Slowly open your eyes and open your heart.
Namaste and I feel honored that you have practiced with me today.
