Good afternoon everyone.
Today we'll be doing a yoga nidra.
Thank you guys for joining.
A yoga nidra is essentially like a guided nap,
Guided relaxation.
It's a way to dip in between the worlds of sleep and awake into this liminal space that provides a great deal of rest for the mind.
The best time for yoga nidra is between 2 and 4 in the afternoon when our blood sugar drops.
And it really helps us sleep better at night.
If we find that we're not sleeping well at night,
We'll fall asleep in a yoga nidra.
And the best way to improve,
Or a wonderful way to improve your sleep at night is to continue doing yoga nidra.
So if you can put a 20 minute yoga nidra in every day,
You won't be dipping into your ojas,
Your life battery.
According to Ayurveda,
You'll be recharging your battery with prana.
Almost like you have this little battery that has a day,
A length of the day,
Like your cell phone battery.
It's like doing a little recharge before your battery dies.
So without further ado,
Let's start our guided relaxation.
This is a meditation where you can lay down if you'd like.
It's a really great type of meditation.
So find yourself a comfortable laying down position.
If you'd like to sit up,
You can.
Maybe bring the shoulder blades down the back,
Open the chest,
Tuck the chin slightly wherever you're laying down as if you're in shavasana.
Start noticing the breath.
Like a waterfall pouring down the body to cool the body.
As the stomach rises and falls,
The breath becomes an ocean with the waves coming and going.
The waves gently brushing along the shore of your mind and softening back into the abyss of the belly.
As the breath deepens,
Allow these questions to wash over you.
No need to answer,
Just feel.
How would it feel to soften every cell in my body?
How would it feel to soften?
How would it feel to fully surrender?
How would it feel to release any tension?
It's starting to bring the mind,
The awareness to the third eye in between the eyebrows.
Releasing any tension in the eyebrows.
Bringing the awareness to the jaw,
The face.
Releasing any tension in the face.
In the jaw.
Feeling the spaciousness in between the teeth.
Spaciousness in the face.
Bringing awareness down to the neck,
Releasing any tension that resides in the neck.
This beautiful neck that holds up our head,
Allows us to see and express ourselves.
A strong podium.
Releasing any tension in the neck.
Feeling our awareness to the shoulders.
Releasing any tension in the shoulders.
The forearms,
The arms.
Support our hands.
Letting the arms be heavy.
Bringing the awareness to the palms.
They say that the palms are extensions of our hearts.
Letting the palms radiate with love.
Each fingertip heavy.
These hands that work so hard,
Help us connect with others,
Help us reach our dreams and goals.
Can rest.
Time to rest.
Bringing our awareness back up the arms,
The shoulders.
Down to our beating heart.
This soft,
Gentle,
Beautiful organ.
Always working.
Always providing.
This beautiful heart.
Can rest.
The tension comes from the heart,
Down to the belly.
Rising and falling.
The tension that transforms our food into life.
Can rest.
The thighs,
Heavy on the ground.
The knees,
The legs.
And the feet.
Surrender to the earth.
These feet that take us to our dreams,
That take us traveling in the places that we want to go,
Can rest.
They can rest.
Fully surrendering.
Placing all of our tension.
All of our excess into the earth beneath us.
The strong and stable structure supporting us,
Always supporting us.
As we rest.
Deeply.
As children of this planet.
And I want you not to imagine,
As you lay on your back,
On this strong and stable planet.
Above you flies little fireflies.
But instead of the warm yellow light.
They hold a vibrant green light.
And you see them floating above your head.
Like stars in the night sky.
Lush,
Vibrant,
Green light.
Emanating.
And in the backdrop you see this beautiful green.
And the grass and the trees around you.
And as the fireflies surround you,
You find yourself in this beautiful ball of green light.
And as they fly away,
The green light is taken with them.
And you lay back on the earth.
And a waterfall appears above you.
As it trickles down from the top of your head and pours down the rest of your body.
A cooling blue.
Washing the cells.
Washing the mind away.
Purifying and cleansing the mind,
The heart,
The stomach.
Fully cleansed.
Fully cool.
How would it feel to be completely purified?
Fresh.
How would it feel to be fresh and purified?
The water cascades over the body,
Over and over.
Cleaning away the excess.
Cleaning away the dirt.
The frustration.
The anger.
Cleaned away.
Washed away.
And fully cleansed.
And you return back into your expansive and subtle body.
Back to the subtle sensations.
Back to the one who is observing.
The one who witnesses.
The body fully dissolves as it becomes one with this earth.
As we start to recognize that we are simply the earth.
We're the same.
Allowing this deep rest to wash over us.
A few more moments.
A few deep moments of nourishment and rest.
And as slowly as you arrive into this moment,
We'll start to come back to this moment.
Arriving back into consciousness,
Into presence.
Maybe wiggling the fingers and toes.
And in the next three to five breaths,
Ever so slowly,
We start the journey to lay onto either side in fetal position.
Taking whatever stretches we need along the way.
Whatever movement may feel nourishing for our body.
Can I create more spaciousness in my movements,
In my life?
As I turn onto my side,
You can use one hand as a pillow.
And take another few moments to connect deeply in with whatever's residing inside this body.
Whoever,
Whatever lives within you.
Into the seed that sprouts into you.
Connect back with that seed.
And the next three breaths,
Start to find your way into the journey of a seated position.
Pressing off from that support of earth into the space around you.
Bringing the hands to heart center or to the forehead.
And just taking a moment to bow to this great expansiveness.
The expansiveness within us that mirrors the expansiveness in front of us.
Love is knowing that we're everything.
Wisdom is knowing that we're nothing.
May the enlightened in me seize and honor as the enlightened in each and every one of you.
May you be restful.
May you take time for nourishment.
And for replenishing your vital energy.
Your life force energy.
May you be blessed.
May you be blessed.
May you be blessed.
May you be blessed.
