Yoga Nidra - 61 points and visualization

In this Yoga Nidra session, you will access a deeper side of your consciousness. We will use the 61 point technique as well as a guided visualization. This practice will help you relax and be more focused.

Transcript

Hi there,

Welcome to your meditation space.

In today's session we will do a yoga nidra practice in which you will be able to relax and access a deeper level of your consciousness and we will activate the relaxation mode in our body and mind,

So what we also call the rest and digest system.

Yoga nidra is a practice that works with the consciousness rotation tool or exercise.

So what we do is to bring all our attention just to one point.

Somehow what we want is to make our mind busy enough so that it will not think about other things but at the same time it's a relaxing practice so you will feel how your body will relax,

Your mind will relax and then we will be able to reach a deeper relaxation state.

At the very end of the practice there is a silence and that's to enjoy the stillness,

The calmness,

The inner peace that we created with the practice.

So it has all the benefits of deep sleep but we remain awake.

So once again the goal as you can imagine is not to sleep but if you do so,

If you fall asleep,

It's okay.

Don't be too hard on yourself.

You can try again at any other time.

What we try though is to concentrate on the words,

The instructions that I will give you.

Try to follow my voice and just do what I would be asking you to do and we will start finding a comfortable position,

Laying down on the floor on Shavasana,

Corpse position.

We do not want to do this practice in bed because the bed may be too comfortable and it may trigger our sleep mode so it's better if you can if you lay down on your mat,

On the floor,

On a carpet and you are just laying down with your belly facing upwards,

Hands and legs comfortably on the floor and you can close your eyes here.

Make sure to be warm enough.

The practice will last for about 35 minutes so just make sure also that you are comfortable with the temperature and if you need to just grab a blanket or a jacket and make sure that you will be comfortable for the session.

So the practice of Yoga Nidra starts now.

We are going to start with some breath awareness,

Trying to reach or access Pratihara.

So we just want to be aware,

We want to concentrate on the air flowing in and out of the body.

Become aware of your breath,

Feel the temperature of the air,

Maybe a little bit cooler as it comes in and a little bit warmer as it flows out.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Observe now the motion of your belly and your chest as you breathe through the nose.

Keep focusing on your breath,

Just observing the motion,

The path of every inhalation and exhalation.

Now it's time to choose our sankalpa for this session.

The sankalpa is a short,

Positive,

In present tense sentence and it's a pure desire,

Something that you really want for your life,

Something which is meaningful and at the same time,

Something which is general enough,

Not based on superficial things but something that you truly desire with all your heart which will make your life better.

So for example,

It could be I am relaxed,

I am at peace.

Just decide on which intention you want to set for this session and you will repeat it for yourself three times.

Very good.

We will keep this sankalpa,

This sentence for later as we will use it again at the end of the practice.

Now we are going to start with the rotation of consciousness and we will use the 61 point exercise created by the Himalayan Institute.

So basically what we are going to do is when I say a body part,

You will bring your full attention and awareness to that part,

To that point and we will move along with 61 points.

So bring your attention to the space between the eyebrows,

The eyebrow center.

Keep your attention at this point and think of the number one.

We will now proceed through the remaining 60 special points of the body.

Bring your awareness to the center of your throat,

Two.

Focus now on your right shoulder,

Three.

Right elbow,

Sense the elbow,

Visualize it,

Put all your attention into that part.

Right elbow,

Four.

Right wrist,

Right wrist,

Five.

Tip of the right thumb,

Six.

Tip of the right index finger,

Seven.

Tip of the right middle finger,

Eight.

Tip of the right ring finger,

Nine.

Tip of the right little finger,

Ten.

Now come back up to the right wrist,

Eleven.

Right elbow,

Twelve.

Right shoulder,

Thirteen.

Bring your awareness to the center of your throat,

Fourteen.

Now go across to the left shoulder,

Fifteen.

Left elbow,

Sixteen.

Left wrist,

Seventeen.

Concentrate and sense the tip of the left thumb,

Eighteen.

Tip of the left index finger,

Nineteen.

Tip of the left middle finger,

Twenty.

Tip of the left ring finger,

Twenty-one.

Tip of the little finger of the left hand,

Twenty-two.

Back up to the left wrist,

Twenty-three.

Left elbow,

Twenty-four.

Left shoulder,

Twenty-five.

Bring your awareness to the center of the throat,

Twenty-six.

Now bring your awareness down to the center between the two breasts,

Twenty-seven.

Now across to the right breast,

Twenty-eight.

Back to the center between the two breasts,

Twenty-nine.

Across to the left breast,

Thirty.

Again,

Back to the center between the two breasts,

Thirty-one.

Now bring your awareness down to the navel,

Thirty-two.

Come down to the pelvic center,

Thirty-three.

Go across with your awareness to the right hip,

Thirty-four.

Down to the right knee,

Thirty-five.

Right ankle,

Thirty-six.

Now bring your awareness to the big toe of the right foot,

Thirty-seven.

Second toe,

Thirty-eight.

Third toe,

Thirty-nine.

Fourth toe,

Forty.

Little toe,

Forty-one.

Now come up to the right ankle again,

Forty-two.

Right knee,

Forty-three.

Right hip,

Forty-four.

Back to the pelvic center,

Forty-five.

Now go across to the left hip,

Forty-six.

Left knee,

Forty-seven.

Left ankle,

Forty-eight.

Bring your awareness to the big toe of the left foot,

Forty-nine.

Second toe,

Fifty.

Third toe,

Fifty-one.

Fourth toe,

Fifty-two.

Little toe,

Fifty-three.

Now come up to the left ankle,

Fifty-four.

Left knee joint,

Fifty-five.

Left hip,

Fifty-six.

Come back to the pelvic center,

Fifty-seven.

Up to the navel,

Fifty-eight.

Up to the heart center,

The heart of your chest,

Fifty-nine.

Bring your awareness to the throat center,

Sixty.

And come up to the eyebrow center,

Sixty-one.

Continue to breathe deeply,

Smoothly,

Evenly,

And without a pause or a noise for a few minutes.

Inhale,

Inhaling,

And exhaling.

Very good.

Now we are going to start the visualization part.

The goal is to move our consciousness from one idea to the next.

Please note that these are random concepts,

Random ideas,

And there is no hidden meaning.

We will just try to visualize everything I mention,

And we will move from idea to idea pretty quickly.

So just try to create a picture,

An image in your mind,

And move on.

Let's start.

Imagine,

Visualize a candle,

A tree in the autumn,

A very high palm tree,

A car on the road,

The fire in a fireplace,

Dark clouds in the sky,

Golden clouds in the sky,

Pinky clouds in the sky,

White clouds in the sky,

Clouds moving with the wind,

A dark night,

A fresh summer night,

The full moon in a dark sky,

A dog walking,

A cat laying down,

A horse running,

A deer running,

An elephant walking,

The sun rising,

The sun setting down,

The waves in the ocean,

The bell of a church,

A field full of flowers,

A plane in the sky,

A sandy beach with white sand,

A sandy beach with black sand,

People laying on the beach,

People walking along the shore,

A red triangle,

A spider web,

Imagine yourself laying down on the floor,

Imagine your body,

Look at your body as if you were looking at yourself from above,

Observe your body from above and imagine you are entering your mind.

We keep visualizing a golden egg,

A golden bird,

A river flowing,

A small boat in the port,

Sailors rowing,

Crystal clear water,

A lake with a blue lotus flower,

A red lotus flower,

A white lotus flower,

A yellow lotus flower,

An old house,

The smoke coming out of the chimney,

The fire in the fireplace,

A crocodile,

A tiger,

A fish swimming in clear waters,

An elephant,

A deer,

A bird,

A red rose,

Very good.

Become aware once again of your breath,

Feel your breath flowing in and out of your body,

The movement of every inhalation and every exhalation,

The temperature of the air as it comes in and as it flows out,

The sounds that your breath is making.

Concentrate now on your heels,

Your hips,

Your shoulders and head and the feeling of heaviness that those body parts have against the floor,

Against the surface you are onto.

Feel the heaviness of your heels,

Your hips,

Your shoulders and head.

Allow them to sink,

To go deeper.

And now focus on your toes,

The tip of the toes and the fingers,

Your heart,

Your nose and feel the lightness sensation,

That light feeling almost as if they had no weight.

And we repeat that again.

Feel the heaviness of your heels,

Your hips,

Your shoulders and your head.

And now the opposite,

The lightness of the toes,

The fingers,

The heart and the nose.

Very good.

It is now time to repeat our sankalpa,

Our intention for this session.

So go ahead and repeat the same sentence,

The same mantra or affirmation three times as you did at the beginning with faith and confidence.

We are now going to enter the silent part of this session to deepen the relaxation and the self-awareness.

Just breathe normally and observe the relaxation that we created in your body and in your mind.

This state is called Turiya.

Just stay still and in silence and I will bring you back when the time has come.

Feel your body once again,

The weight of the body,

The muscles,

The joints.

Feel your breath,

How it flows in and out through the nose.

Become aware of the sounds inside of your body,

The sounds of your body,

The sounds of your breath,

The sounds of your mouth and throat.

Now become aware also of the sounds outside of your body,

Maybe the sounds in the room,

In the space,

In the building or even outside of the space where you are.

Still with your eyes closed,

We are going to imagine the room.

Visualize the room where you are right now.

Very good.

And now bring your palms together,

More or less above your head and wrap your palms against each other to create some heat.

When you are ready you can place your hands above your face,

Feeling the heat onto your face and you can blink here nice and slowly.

Still with your hands above your face you can now leave your eyes open,

Letting them adjust to the change in light,

Observing,

Breathing,

Sensing.

The practice of yoga nidra has finished.

Just stay as you are in silence and stillness one more second,

Just observing everything that's going on,

Enjoying this deep relaxation state.

And now I will chant Aum Shanti and you are welcome to join me or just listen to it.

Inhale through the nose.

Aum Shanti Enjoy this new inner peace.

Namaste.

Reviews

I love how clear the instructions were. This was a lovely practice.