Be The River Yoga Nidra

This Yoga Nidra practice is designed to help you remember the authentic, peaceful ground of being which lies at your essence. The visual of "being a river" is intended to invoke a sense of fluidity, ease and being held and cradled by the earth itself.

Transcript

So taking a deeper breath in and sighing out anything that you might be holding at this moment.

And that's your arriving in this space and letting yourself settle making any sacred wiggles or adjustments.

Those tiny movements that just signal to your body that it's time to let go.

As you're doing that and noticing your breath,

You might imagine a beautiful body of water,

A river or a lake or a stream or even a pond.

And then imagine you have a pebble and you're going to throw the pebble in the air and the pebble begins to fall down into that body of water.

And after the pebble touches the surface of the water,

It allows itself to sink slowly into the river,

The pond,

The lake.

The pebble reaches the bed of the river,

The bottom of the river without any effort.

And once the pebble is at the bottom of the river,

It continues to rest.

It allows the water to pass by.

The pebble reaches the bed of the river by the shortest path because it allows itself to fall without making any effort.

So is it possible that you can allow your body to rest like a pebble,

To sink naturally without any effort to the position of release?

Resting is a really important practice.

And we have to learn the art of resting,

Allowing your body to rest right now,

Releasing all effort,

Allowing our mind,

Your mind to rest.

The mind as well as the body needs to rest.

Tig Nat Han said,

It is very important to realize that we have the habit energy of struggling.

We have to be able to recognize a habit when it manifests itself.

Because if we know how to recognize our habit,

It will lose its energy and will not be able to push us anymore.

Is it possible that for this period of time,

You can allow yourself to rest fully?

And you may notice from time to time,

That struggle or doing or activity creeps back in.

And every time you notice that,

Perhaps you can invoke the vision of that pebble effortlessly,

Gently gliding to the bottom of that river.

Effortlessly,

Gently resting at the bottom of the river.

So as we enter the practice of yoga nidra now,

Without any struggle or effort,

Or even thinking,

Take a moment to notice if there is an intention present for you in your heart right now,

A sankalpa,

A burning desire.

Just take a moment to notice if nothing is coming into your mind,

Do your best not to search,

Do your best to just to allow that as well.

Knowing that some part of you,

The part that matters is aware and releasing the sankalpa the intention and again invoke that pebble softening through the belly,

Through the thighs,

The buttocks.

Using any doing or tension around the mouth,

The jaw,

Allowing the whole tongue to lie on the bottom of the mouth.

Maybe again,

Like that pebble.

Can your tongue be effortless?

No struggle.

You might imagine the whole tongue widening from the base of the tongue at the root of the throat to the sides of the tongue to the tip of the tongue.

As if your whole tongue and your jaw as a result is melting.

Once again,

Allowing your awareness to float to your heart center.

Can you soften and welcome everything in your heart at this moment?

Non-mentally,

Just the feeling state.

And then allow that same receptivity to float down into the belly.

Allowing,

Releasing,

Being,

Widening,

Melting,

Creating more spaciousness through the breath.

And back up through the heart and through the throat center.

Imagine clear blue sky at the throat center.

And up through the third eye center,

Spaciousness,

Ease,

Widening,

Softness.

And effortlessly up through the top of the head.

On the next deep breath,

Can you imagine inhaling all the way to the sole of the right foot?

In beginning a body scan,

Bringing your awareness into the right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Feel or sense all five toes.

Again,

Invoking the image of that pebble resting on the body of the earth.

The sole of the right foot,

The top of the right foot,

The right heel,

Releasing,

Letting go.

The right ankle joint.

The right knee joint.

The right hip joint.

The entire right leg.

A bit less.

And let your awareness float now to the left foot,

The left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

All 10 toes are like pebbles resting on the earth at the body.

At the bottom of the lake,

The stream,

The pond.

Bring your awareness to the sole of the left foot,

The top of the left foot,

Left heel,

Ankle joint,

Knee joint,

Hip joint.

Both legs together.

Heavy and light and easy all at once.

Letting your awareness rest now on the tailbone and on the pelvis,

The entire pelvic bowl floating down from the surface down to the bottom to rest on the bed.

Both buttocks,

The belly,

The belly,

Watery belly.

Effortless belly.

All the organs in the belly sinking down to the ground,

Floating,

Resting,

Releasing.

Bringing your awareness now to the rib cage and feeling the sensation of the breath inside the rib cage.

Imagine the breath itself as water,

Fluid,

Easy,

Soft,

Gentle.

Letting your awareness float once again to the heart space.

Imagine your heart and your lungs resting easily at the bottom of this body of water.

Being aware of the breath,

Making space between the collarbones and the shoulder blades.

Imagining the breath,

Making space under your arms in the armpits.

Perhaps sensing or imagining both shoulders floating in water.

Being filled by the watery breath.

Being held in and releasing through water.

Your liquid breath washing any tension off the shoulders.

Then moving down the right arm,

The right forearm,

Into the wrist joint,

And into the right thumb,

Right index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger.

All five fingers of the right hand,

Easy,

Fluid,

Hollow,

Weightless.

Becoming aware of the skin on the palm of the right hand and the skin on the back of the right hand and imagine your liquid,

Fluid breath coming into this space.

And into the whole right arm.

You might even imagine inhaling through all five fingers of the right hand and then up through the forearm,

Through the elbow,

The upper arm,

All the way to the tops of the shoulder.

And as you exhale,

Any remaining tension in the right arm,

The right shoulder is melting down through the forearm,

Through the wrist,

Out through the fingers.

Bringing your awareness now to the hollow at the base of the throat.

Perhaps noticing the sensation of the breath at the hollow of the throat.

And moving over to the left shoulder,

Left elbow joint,

Left wrist joint,

Left thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger.

Coming back to this image of inhaling through all five fingers of the left hand,

Up through the wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

And the exhale sweeps through the shoulder,

The upper arm,

The forearm melts out through the all five fingers of the left hand.

And is it possible now to imagine breathing in through all 10 fingers up the arms to the shoulders,

The wave of breath gathering any remaining tension in the shoulders and washing down through the upper arms,

Forearms,

Hands,

Fingers.

The liquid breath washing up even under the arms,

Perhaps even back into the chest.

Or where your liquid breath wants to go.

Now bringing your awareness to the throat.

Can you imagine that the throat fills the entire neck?

Now can you imagine all this space inside the throat?

Is it possible to imagine the space between the space inside the throat and the space inside the heart?

Allowing your awareness now to come to the nose and imagining the space inside the nostrils of the nose.

The breath washing through that space through the sinus cavities,

Perhaps even through the entire face.

Each exhale melting any remaining tension from the forehead,

The eyes,

The cheeks.

Bringing your awareness to the upper lip and the lower lip.

The space between the lips and the space inside the lips.

Becoming aware of the roof of the mouth.

And imagining the roof of the mouth on each inhale melting more widening broadening away from the bottom of the mouth.

And each exhale releasing.

Perhaps even imagining the roof of the mouth like a diaphragm.

Expanding upwards towards the nose and the eyes as you breathe in.

And then downwards towards the tongue,

Helping the tongue to rest on the bottom of the mouth as you breathe out.

Each inhale widening the space between the tongue and the roof of the mouth.

Each exhale softening any holding any tension,

Any doing in the mouth.

And can you widen that awareness that imagination of the interior of the mouth to include both cheeks.

So that each inhale widens the cheeks,

The roof of the mouth,

The tongue away from each other.

And each exhale is a gentle wind,

Allowing any tension to melt.

Is it possible to imagine that whole space including both cheeks,

The entire mouth and keeping that space in mind?

Can you also feel or sense the space inside the heart at the same time and include the space inside the heart,

The space inside the whole mouth and the space between the two?

Can you sense or imagine the space between the ears and include also the space inside the ears at the same time?

Allow your awareness now to float to both eyes sensing,

Feeling or imagining both eyes.

Can you imagine again breathing into the space occupied by both eyes and include the space between the eyes,

Behind the eyes,

To the sides of the eyes,

In front of the eyes.

It's almost like you're imagining the eyes floating outside of the head.

Watching the space in front of,

To the sides of,

Between,

Behind,

Below both eyes.

Letting your awareness float now to the forehead and the space between the temples.

Is it possible just for this moment to imagine,

Sense or feel the space inside the entire cranium,

The effortless fluid liquid breath filling the space inside the cranium?

And can you imagine keeping this vision of the space inside the cranium while at the same time becoming aware of the space inside the whole belly?

Is it possible to imagine breathing into both of those spaces,

The space inside the cranium,

The space inside the belly and the space between?

And now is it possible to imagine the space inside the entire physical body,

Allowing your entire body to be breathed,

To be filled by fluid liquid breath,

Without any effort.

It's almost like your body has come to rest like that pebble at the bottom of this pond or river or lake.

And now can you imagine your body becoming one with this beautiful body of water,

So that your whole being is held by and surrounded by water,

Infused by water,

Informed by the qualities of water?

And releasing this visualization for now.

Now imagine feeling the solidity of the earth under you.

Now can you imagine becoming one with the earth,

Invoking the qualities of the earth,

The heaviness,

The denseness,

The solidity?

Can you imagine being earth for right now?

And once again,

Returning to the sensation of the breath.

And now from being earth,

Can you imagine your breath infusing your body and making your body air?

So that your breath is gently lifting your whole body from the ground,

Your whole body,

Your whole being becoming lighter,

Floating,

Might even be traveling.

Now for just this moment,

Is it possible to imagine being both air,

Light,

Floating,

Fluffy,

And earth at the same time?

Just for this moment,

Can you feel both sensations,

Groundedness,

And airiness?

Feeling sensing or imagining the pull between the dichotomy of being grounded and floating at the same time?

So staying in this space as long as it feels nourishing to you,

You might even come back to that pebble or that beautiful body of water.

Whenever you're complete taking your time,

You can slowly deepen your breath and beginning the process of coming back to this moment towards a more awake state of being.

I will leave you now.

Stay as long as you like.

Thank you for sharing your practice with me.

Namaste.