Yoga Nidra for Inner Wisdom

Yoga Nidra for profound awareness, deep relaxation, and inner wisdom.

Transcript

So get as comfortable as you can.

And for the next several moments,

Our primary job is to welcome,

Recognize,

And witness.

And if something comes up for you,

You know,

A big fire engine drives by outside or something,

And it arrests your attention,

Practice welcoming the sound,

Recognizing it as a sound,

And just being the witness for the sound.

If there's sensation in your body that comes up,

See if you can hang with it for just a moment.

Welcome,

Recognize,

Witness,

If you must,

Respond,

But only after you've practiced those other three elements.

So my hope is through our practice today,

We'll become increasingly more aware of the deepest ground of our being,

Which I would prefer is awareness.

That's our whole goal,

Is to become more aware.

But through this awareness,

My hope is that we'll move back out into our world and be ever more powerful in the domain that we are responsible for,

Our jobs and our relationships and our relationship to the community.

But again,

That's all a wonderful byproduct of presence.

So as we begin,

I invite you to think for a moment,

Is there something that you need,

Some element of healing,

Some sort of enlightenment you're searching for?

Create a dedication of this practice to someone or something,

And sort of place that on the sanctuary in your heart.

Now,

If I could ask you to somehow get 10% more comfortable than you are in this moment,

What would you have to do just to get 10% more comfortable?

I invite you now to be open to everything in this moment that feels external.

By external,

I'm talking about temperature and sound,

Even the clothes on your skin.

And again,

Just welcome,

Recognize,

Witness everything that feels external.

You don't have to do anything about it,

Right?

We're just witnessing.

And then switch to everything that feels internal.

What feels internal in this moment?

Thoughts,

Emotions,

Internal sensations.

You don't have to do anything.

You're just curious.

What's going on inside?

Go back to the external realm.

Welcome,

Recognize,

Witness.

Go back to the internal realm.

Now,

In this moment,

Feel both.

Be aware universally,

Internal and external.

There's nothing to do and nothing to control.

And then I invite you to find in your mind a place that is your sanctuary.

Where's a place that you love to be?

A place where you can feel most alive and even could be an imaginary place.

But maybe for you,

It's a designated holy place,

Like a temple or church or synagogue or holy ground.

Or maybe some place that's just holy because you love it so much,

Like a certain beach in Maui or you're alone in your bathtub with a good book.

But choose a place that for you is a sanctuary.

And then start to fill in the details.

Let's let that place manifest.

What are the colors you see in your sanctuary?

What are some of the objects,

Perhaps other people,

Animals?

What do you see in your sanctuary?

What do you smell in your sanctuary?

What does it smell like?

What are the sounds in your sanctuary?

What's the temperature like in your sanctuary?

Now,

What kind of emotions do you feel while you're in your sanctuary?

And notice to what degree you feel that in this moment.

You feel that temperature.

You feel that emotion.

You hear those sounds in your head,

Those smells.

This is an inner resource we can always reference,

We can always come back to whenever we want it.

Whether in waking consciousness or dreaming consciousness,

Whether doing yoga,

Nidra,

Or anything else,

This is a resource that never diminishes,

And it's right there.

We're going to bring awareness to our body,

And in so doing,

You'll become very,

Very relaxed.

Don't worry about trying to stay awake.

Without changing anything,

Just bring attention to the sensation of your mouth,

Your lips,

Your teeth,

Your tongue.

And remember,

We're just welcoming,

Recognizing,

And witnessing.

Bring attention to the sensation of your mouth.

Feel the sensation of your eyes.

Just notice their presence.

Feel your ears.

Be aware of the left side of your entire head.

Start with the left side of your face,

Your forehead,

And eye,

And nostril,

And cheek.

Your left ear and the back of your head.

And bring all your attention now to the right side of your head.

Go back to the left side.

And back to the right side.

Now,

Feel your entire head.

Feel the space of your entire head,

And begin to feel into the space around your head.

As if your head suddenly had no periphery,

And you could feel in all directions.

As if suddenly your head had no center.

And then,

Just simply welcome,

Recognize,

And witness anything that you're aware of in this moment.

And we might start to notice that sensations will change in one moment you're feeling this,

And the next moment you're feeling that.

And while sensations are changing,

They will reveal an unchanging awareness.

The context,

The backdrop for everything else in our world.

With your awareness,

Feel your arms.

Start at your shoulders and move down to your elbows.

Down through your forearms and wrists into your hands.

Feel your left arm from shoulder to fingertips.

Nothing to do.

Just feel aware of sensation.

Be aware of the sensation of your right arm.

Left arm.

Right arm.

Now feel both arms simultaneously.

Nothing to do or not do.

Remember you're just welcoming the sensation.

Recognize it as sensation.

Just witness the sensation of your arms on the floor,

Or on your body,

Or wherever.

Now feel the motion of your breath as it moves in and out of your chest and your belly.

Nothing to do or change.

You just notice it's happening.

You have the sensation of your back on the floor,

Or wherever you're lying.

Bring attention to the sensations of your pelvis.

Welcome,

Recognize,

Witness not only sensation,

But anything that spontaneously arrives as a thought or emotion.

As you bring attention to the sensation of your pelvis.

Now trace the sensation from your legs,

Hips down to your knees,

And your knees down to your toes.

Now be hyper aware of the entire left side of your body.

Head to toe.

Tune into the sensation of the left side.

Now tune into the sensation of your right side.

And then left side again.

And right side.

Now feel the sensation of your entire body.

Feel your entire body at the same time.

Then begin to feel into the space around you.

To your right and to your left.

Above you and below you.

As if suddenly you're like the rings of a tree where there's a perimeter around you,

But there are more rings extending out in every direction.

And inward in every direction.

As if the perimeter of your body was not all that there was about you,

But that you extended infinitely in every direction.

Be the space to your right,

To your left.

Feel into that space.

And remember sensation will come and go.

And you're feeling this in one moment,

You're feeling that in the next moment.

But remember these changing sensations will reveal that unchanging awareness.

Be that unchanging awareness.

I want you to adopt the feeling of heaviness.

Everything is heavy.

Your arms are heavy and your legs are heavy.

Your head is heavy.

Comfortably heavy.

Like somebody put a bunch of quilts.

Feels nourishing and comfortable,

But heavy.

And now everything feels very light.

Adopt the feeling of lightness.

Like you could almost float.

Everything is light.

And now heavy again.

And light again.

Now this isn't supposed to make sense,

But now be both heavy and light.

This extends beyond rational thinking.

Be both heavy and light.

What is that part of you that is both heavy and light?

Bigger than either.

We're going to meet up with a wise person through a visual journey.

And they're going to tell you something specific to you and when that happens you'll know it'll be the first thing that comes into your mind.

Don't think about it.

Don't try to conjure it or create it.

It will just happen on its own.

If you go with this journey with me,

Imagine yourself walking down a long hallway.

And you feel your body moving,

Footstep by footstep,

Down this long hallway.

You can hear your footsteps.

You can hear your clothes rustle as you walk.

Acutely aware of each breath moving in and out of your nostrils.

You feel the brush of wind as you move down this hallway.

At the very end of this hallway there's a door off to your right.

As you walk in the door,

They're standing there.

It is the wisest person that you know.

Who is the wisest person you know?

This could be somebody that you're related to.

Maybe even somebody who's passed on.

A family member,

A relative,

A teacher.

Somebody imaginary.

I think of Gandalf sometimes.

Who's the wisest person you know or could imagine?

Let's say this wise person isn't only wise,

But they also know you inside and out.

They know your entire story from the beginning.

And not only do they know you,

But they're your biggest fan.

They know your successes.

They know all your mistakes.

They can practically read your mind.

They know you so well.

And yet they're also the wisest person that you know.

If you were to spend some one-on-one time with this wise person,

This wise person that knows you so well,

What would you do?

Would you go on a walk or would you go sit in front of the fire or would you have a meal?

What would you do?

Play on the playground?

Can you remember a time in your life when you felt such a trust for somebody that you could say anything to that person?

And you would know that they would understand you and hear you unquestionably.

Can you remember a time when you felt so much trust that you could take any kind of criticism or any sort of information,

Knowing that it was for your best?

And you could hear anything,

Anything this other person would tell you.

Let that feeling of trust begin to move through your body into your heart,

Down into your belly,

Down through your legs,

And your arms,

And up into your head.

And the more time you spend with this person,

You confirm that feeling that they know you so well and that they love you so well.

And there's this brief lull in conversation at which point this wise person kind of pauses with a little smile,

Looks over at you,

And they say,

You know,

Something about you?

And fill in the blank,

What's the first thing that comes to your mind?

What would they tell you about you?

You know,

Something about you?

What's that first thing in your head?

What does that wise person tell you about you?

Repeat that to yourself in your own mind,

What this wise person says to you.

Welcome,

Recognize,

And witness everything that's happening in this moment inside and out.

Eventually,

You bid farewell to this friend,

They're always there,

This wise person is always just down the hallway.

You bid farewell,

You walk back up the hallway,

Step by step,

Retracing your steps,

But now with this treasure of knowledge that this wise person bestowed upon you about you,

You carry that as your gift.

And the last thing this wise person tells you is that you're a gift you must share with the world.

This thing about yourself isn't just for you,

It's for the whole world.

And you're responsible to share that with the whole world.

And you'll figure it out.

As you walk back up the hallway,

Imagine yourself again here lying on the floor,

Feel your body.

Hear the sound of my voice.

Become aware of your surroundings,

The temperature,

The feeling of your body on the mat.

Start to remember some of the events that have happened today.

In a moment,

I'm going to ring a bell and that will signal the end of our meditation,

Our yoga nidra practice.

But you'll take not only this wisdom with you,

But the degree that you've been able to practice presence,

You'll take that into your lives,

Into your jobs,

Into your relationships.

And you'll find yourself more powerful in every level.

Yoga nidra is over.

Reviews

So powerful, grounding, & moving💕 Very unique, loved it for a morning / midday nidra. The clarity it provides is beautiful. Thank you!!!

✨welcoming, recognizing, witnessing✨ <—going on a sticky note :)

Thank you….felt good to practice welcoming, recognizing and witnessing…

I really like the matter of fact way the instructions were given. It was a great yoga nidra and I feel great 👍

Intense nidra. Feeling joyful after this. Like I found something great.
Lead by a voice of someone who could be a friend, simple, straight forward. I like different styles and this is one of them now.
Thank you. I'll come back to this for sure and check if you have others.

That was absolutely wonderful 🌟 such a powerful practice. I feel so relaxed and empowered. 🙏🏻

Extremely relaxing - what a great way to begin my day - thank you! Namaste 🙏 😊 ❤️

Not what I was expecting. I liked it. I’ll be back

A new experience, I became very aware of the sensations in my body. Great wisdom, another lead on my journey. thank you 🙏💫

I appreciated being led by a man. Scott’s personality comes through. The body scan was different from other yoga nidra practices I have done. Under his direction, I accessed one of my resources & connected to a wise friend. Thank you.

This is a beautiful journey, thank you

Will have to listen again, fell asleep in the first minutes. Namasté! 🙏

Amazing, words of wisdom this drew out and the emotions really made me feel at peace after

Beautiful, thank you.

Gentle, different guided meditation. I'll definitely do it again.

Superb meditation to learn how to unite the awareness of "here and now" via our external sensory and internal conscious. I suggest it after a short morning meditation to start the day with clarity, on the path to that which you are looking for :)

Excellent! Thank you

Amazing journey and introspection. So much was revealed in those 25 min. Thank you for creating and sharing this with us.
Namaste 💞💫👣

Brought up some interesting concept different than many other guided meditation’s that I have experienced

Very relaxing and explanatory

Excellent! Thank you! 🙏🏻❤️🕉