Hello and welcome to your yoga nidra meditation for healing and ancient wisdom
As we begin this practice,
I invite you to lay down and orient your physical body
Using the four directions.
Laying down in a way that allows the left side of your body to face
The east,
Feet towards the south,
Right side of the body towards the west and head towards the north
And as you settle on your back
Offer a bit of space between your legs
Bringing the arms a little bit away from the body
Soften any obvious areas of tension and be around the jaw,
The neck,
The shoulders
And we'll begin this practice with four deep breaths
Inhale
And exhale let it go
Three more breathe in
And breathe out
Two more inhale
And exhale
Last one inhale
And exhale
I invite you to awaken to your senses
And bringing awareness to what you can hear in this moment wherever you're practicing
Noticing sounds within you or around you
Noticing any smells in the environment that you're practicing in
Noticing any tastes in the mouth
And noticing the sense of touch,
The texture of your clothing,
Or the touch of the air on the surface of your skin
And now I'll invite you to bring your attention towards the east as you welcome and orient your body
Honor the direction of the east
And then shift your attention to the direction of the south as you welcome
And honor the direction of the south
And gently shifting your attention towards the west as you welcome and honor the direction of the west
Shift your attention towards the north
Welcome and honor the direction of the north
And now bring your awareness to your physical body
To your sacrum
And as you connect with this region of the body
I invite you to imagine there is a cord of light extending from your sacrum
To the very center and the core of the earth
Anchoring you,
Grounding you
And tethering you in time and space
Allowing your body and perhaps your breath to sync with the rhythms of the earth
And then shift your awareness to your heart center,
The front and center of your heart
And I invite you to imagine there is a beam of light extending from your heart to the sky and beyond
Infinite,
Limitless,
Possibility,
Clarity,
Wisdom
As you connect your heart with the sky
Welcoming a sense of support and ease to your whole body
Feeling supported,
Relaxed,
And at ease
And from this space here I invite you to offer a sankalpa
A positive affirmation or I am statement,
Sankalpa,
A vow,
A vow of remembering
Something to be true about you,
For example,
A vow of remembering that you are enough
I am enough,
I am valid,
I am brave and courageous,
I am whole and healed in this moment
Take a moment to find your sankalpa and then repeat it three times
And gently bring your awareness to your third eye center,
The space between your brows
Every time I name a point of the body I invite you to imagine a warm glow of light
Resting at each named area and beginning with the third eye center
Your throat center
Your right shoulder joint
Right elbow joint
Right wrist joint
Right thumb
Right forefinger
Right middle finger
Right ring finger
Right pinky finger
Right wrist joint
Right elbow joint
Right shoulder joint
And center of the throat
Right elbow joint
Left shoulder joint
Left elbow joint
Left wrist joint
Left thumb
Left forefinger
Middle finger
Left ring finger
And left pinky finger
Left wrist joint
Left elbow joint
Left shoulder joint
And center of your throat
Center of your chest,
Your heart center
Right side of the chest
Center of the chest
Left side of the chest
Left side of the chest
And the center of the chest
Your solar plexus area of the upper abdomen
Your navel center two inches below your navel
Your right hip joint
Right knee joint
Right ankle joint
Right big toe
Second toe
Third toe
Fourth toe
And baby toe
Right ankle joint
Right knee joint
Right hip joint
Your navel center
Left hip joint
Left knee joint
Right ankle joint
Left ankle joint
Left big toe
Second toe
Third toe
Fourth toe
And baby toe
Left ankle joint
Left knee joint
Left hip joint
Navel center
Solar plexus
Heart center
Throat center
Third eye center
And feel each named point of the body become illuminated all at once
As if your body is mirroring the stars in the sky
A map within your own body
A map of the stars
Each star holding its own healing its own wisdom
And gently shift your awareness from your body to your breath
And allow your breathing to be soft and effortless
And we'll begin alternate sides of the body breathing
So as you inhale sense your right nostril and right side of the body
And as you exhale sense your left nostril left side of the body
Inhaling left side
Exhaling right side
Inhaling right side
Exhaling left side
And as you exhale allow your breath to be soft and effortless
And allow your breath to be soft and effortless
And allow your breath to be soft and effortless
And allow your breath to be soft and effortless
And allow your breath to be soft and effortless
And allow your breath to be soft and effortless
And allow your breath to be soft and effortless
And allow your breath to be soft and effortless
And allow your breath to be soft and effortless
And allow your breath to be soft and effortless
And allow your breath to be soft and effortless
And allow your breath to be soft and effortless
And allow your breath to be soft and effortless
Supported and at ease
I invite you to open to your creative and wise mind
As I offer some images and visualizations
Begin by bringing your awareness to the direction of the south
The direction that represents the season of summer
Imagine the warm sun and the longest day of the year
Welcoming the social aspect that comes along with the season
The summer
If helpful imagining your community
Your friends or just the places that you go where other people are as well
And now let that go and we will locate the opposite
Gently guide your awareness to the direction of the north
The direction that represents the season of winter
Imagining the shortest day of the year
The darkness
And welcome the solitude that we experience in the winter months
And staying in more often
And some time alone to ourselves
And now I invite you to imagine from the crown of your head to your feet
A rainbow arcing over your body from your head to your feet
From the north to the south
And imagine
There's another arc,
A rainbow behind to the back of your body
From your heels to the crown of your head
Creating a circle
Allow your breath to follow the arc of the rainbow
Creating a circle
Allow your breath to follow the circle
Breathing in
And breathing out
Visualizing this circle
This circle
That connects the north and the south
Be open to welcoming both into your awareness
As you cycle through this circle
The space between the light and the dark
The summer and the winter
The sun and the moon
And as you steep in this visualization
Allow yourself to welcome
The healing and the wisdom
That the seasons can offer
That nature can offer
There's nothing you need to do
And gently breathe into healing and wisdom
And simply allow yourself to receive
And gently release that visualization
Release any thoughts
Any images
And return to the sensation of your breath
Flowing into and out of your body
Soft,
Effortless breath
And bring awareness back to your physical body
And bring awareness to
The cord of light extending from your sacrum to the center of the earth
Grounding you,
Holding you
Holding you in community with all other human beings on this planet
Allowing your connection with the earth alone to be healing in itself
And bringing your awareness to that beam of light
Extending from your heart to the sky
Allowing yourself to receive the wisdom
Infinite possibility,
Clarity
From the sky,
Cosmos,
And beyond
Pouring into your heart
And from this place of healing
And from this place right here
I invite you to offer your sankalpa once again
Repeat it three times
And say it the exact same way each time
And as the practice of yoga nidra comes to an end
You can begin to deepen your breath
You can begin to wiggle your toes and your fingers
Return to your five senses
As you gently blink your eyes open
Coming back into the space around you
From my heart to yours,
Thank you
