Yoga Nidra for Healing and Growth

Yoga nidra is a guided meditation for deep relaxation while listening to our own wisdom and truth. This practice is focused on discovering what you need most for deep healing and growth. It includes the opportunity to set a powerful intention called a sankalpa to guide you to what you really want in life. Following a rotation of conciousness, insights are guided to help you see your own wisdom. There is no ending bell in this practice to allow you to rest until you feel complete.

Transcript

Welcome.

Prepare for the practice of yoga nidra by lying down on your back.

You can lie down on the floor,

On a blanket,

A bed,

Or a sofa,

Any place that will allow you to relax and become comfortable.

As you settle in,

Take some time to make yourself as comfortable as possible.

Perhaps it would be nice to roll up a blanket,

Place it underneath your knees,

Or to find a small pillow to place beneath your neck.

Take a moment to change anything that is needed to make yourself as easeful and as comfortable as possible.

As you settle in,

Try placing your hands down beside you,

Next to your hips,

But away from your body.

Have your palms facing up,

If that's comfortable for you.

Allow your feet to relax and roll outwards.

Relax your shoulders,

Your hips,

And scan your body to find any other places where you can become more comfortable.

Yoga nidra is a deeply restorative practice that allows our body to rest when we explore our inner truth and experience our own wisdom.

As you practice,

Try to remain aware,

But don't worry if you drift off or fall asleep.

You'll come back at the perfect moment for you to receive what it is that you need.

Even if you do fall asleep,

Know that you're still gaining the benefits of yoga nidra while helping your body heal by receiving whatever rest or insight it needs most.

Don't worry about forcing anything at all.

Each nidra experience is unique and yours is perfect,

Exactly as it unfolds today.

The practice of yoga nidra begins now.

Relax even more and close your eyes if they're not already closed.

With your eyes closed,

Allow your gaze to slowly move to the sides of your temples,

Expanding outwards,

Finding even more relaxation.

Breathe in deeply and slowly.

Allow your breath to help you find ease.

There's no need to practice any specific type of breath,

But simply notice your deep,

Easeful breathing.

Imagine now a feather gently floating above you.

If you like,

You can imagine what color or colors it might be.

Imagine the feather slowly and gently floating down towards the floor with ease.

As you observe it floating,

You may also sink more deeply into whatever you are resting upon,

Allowing your body to relax,

Become heavier.

Slowly and gently,

The feather floats down,

Down,

Down until it gently finds rest on the floor and you too have sunk into a position of deep relaxation,

Letting go of as much as possible in your physical body right now.

From your deep relaxation,

Begin to scan around you for sounds.

Start with anything that you can hear the furthest away as possible.

Rather than resting your awareness on one particular sound,

See if you can move your awareness around like a radar system,

Finding something,

Registering it,

And then moving on to scan again.

Even if you just hear one sound,

Continue to allow your awareness to scan around you,

Searching,

Noting,

And continuing the practice of scanning.

Slowly bring your radar system a little closer,

Scan for sounds a little closer to you perhaps in the room.

Then guide your scanning very close to yourself,

Or maybe sounds very close to you,

Or perhaps you can observe the sound of your own breathing.

Allow your scanning to move to the center of your chest,

The location of your spiritual heart,

And then just focus on what you feel here.

Allow yourself to really settle in to anything at all that you can observe in the space at the center of your chest.

As you focus on this space,

Allow yourself to begin to listen for your heartfelt desire.

Give it the time and space to begin to reveal itself to you.

This desire is called the sankalpa.

It's a positive present tense statement that is a way of being you would like to cultivate.

Our sankalpa is an I am statement.

For example,

If you're living with stress,

We transform that limiting belief into a liberating one with a sankalpa like,

I am calm.

If you are feeling fearful,

Try,

I am brave.

If you have a feeling of not being important,

A sankalpa could be,

I am valued.

If you're facing the challenge of not meeting your own expectations for yourself,

Try,

I am enough.

Your sankalpa is a powerful seed of transformation.

Take the time to feel yours.

And as it begins to take shape,

Plant it deep within your heart.

Repeat it to yourself at least three times and try to feel your energy resonating from your heart to the rest of your body.

Notice if any of that energy may even extend beyond yourself and out around you.

We move now to our exploration of our physical body through the rotation of consciousness.

As a body part is named,

Try to bring your full awareness to that place.

Once another place is named,

Move on.

You don't have to try to redo anything you have missed.

Simply return and begin to follow the guidance again at any point along the path.

Begin by bringing awareness to your right hand.

Give your attention to your right thumb,

Your right index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

The palm of your hand,

The back of your hand,

Your wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

And shoulder.

Feel the right side of your ribs,

Your waistline,

Your hip.

Sense your right thigh,

Your knee,

Lower leg,

Right ankle,

The heel of your foot,

The sole of your foot,

The top of your right foot,

And all five right toes.

Now concentrate your awareness on the whole right side of your body.

Bring the entire right side of your body into awareness and deep focus,

Your whole right side.

Move your focus now to your left hand.

Give all of your attention to your left thumb,

Your left index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

The palm of your left hand,

The back of your hand,

Your wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

And shoulder.

Bring your awareness to the left side of your ribs,

Your waistline,

And hip.

Feel your left thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Your left ankle,

Heel,

The sole of your left foot,

The top of your foot,

And all five toes.

Right now on the entire left side of your body,

Focus your attention and awareness into feeling your left side,

Your whole left side.

Move now to the back plane of your body.

Begin with the soles of both feet,

The backs of both heels,

Both calves together.

Feel the backs of both knees,

Your hamstrings,

Your glutes.

Sense your low back,

Your mid back,

And upper back.

Bring your awareness to feeling your shoulder blades.

Sense the curve of your neck,

The back of your head,

The crown of your head.

Bring awareness to your forehead,

Your eyebrows,

Your brow center,

And both eyes together.

Feel the bridge of your nose,

Your nostrils,

The tip of your nose,

Your entire nose.

Feel your upper lip,

Your lower lip,

And both lips together.

Sense your teeth,

Your tongue,

Your upper palate,

And then feel your whole mouth,

Your chin,

Your jaw,

Your entire jaw.

Bring your awareness now to your right ear,

Your left ear,

And both ears together.

Feel the space right between your ears in the center of your head,

Your pineal gland.

Sense on the space in the center between your ears.

Travel down from your pineal gland to your throat in the center of your throat.

Focus to the right,

To the left,

And bring awareness to your whole throat.

Move your focus down to the center of your chest.

Feel your right lung,

Your left lung,

And both lungs together.

Feel your physical heart between your lungs,

A little left of center.

Feel both lungs and your heart together.

And expand that awareness to your whole entire rib cage.

Move your attention to the middle of your upper abdominals into your low belly and your whole pelvic floor.

Feel the front of each thigh,

Both kneecaps,

Your shins.

Feel the tops of both feet and all 10 toes.

Sense your entire right leg,

Your entire left leg.

And now feel both legs together.

Continue feeling your legs along with your entire torso.

Add your right arm from your shoulder to your fingertips and your left arm from your shoulder to your fingertips.

So now you're sensing everything from your shoulders to your fingertips and toes.

Add your neck,

Your head,

Your face,

Your throat,

Wrapping your whole entire body in your awareness.

Feel your whole body.

Sense your whole body.

Connect and focus on feeling your whole body.

With your eyes closed,

Allow your field of vision to expand,

Feeling your whole body deeply within your own awareness.

If you've drifted away,

You can choose to return now or at any other time that serves you.

Remain relaxed but deeply aware and continue to focus.

From your whole body awareness,

We move now into the exploration of your energy body by shifting focus from your body to your breath.

Take a mindful breath here and use your inhale as a tool to deepen your focus and concentration of the experience of your breath.

As you exhale,

Let that breath go.

This time as you breathe in,

Try to feel a sensation of expansion.

Let your breath expand your awareness out and around you.

As you exhale,

Bring your focus back in towards the center of your chest.

Inhale and expand and exhale to bring it back towards your center.

This time as you inhale,

Let your breath bring a sensation of lengthening from wherever you feel your breath begin up towards the crown of your head.

As you exhale,

Let your breath wash down from the crown of your head to your toes.

Inhale and pull breath all the way from the soles of your feet up through your body and through the crown of your head.

Exhale let that breath wash back down.

Inhale and lengthen.

Just observe where your sensation is guiding you.

Exhale let the breath wash down.

You may feel that your breath goes further past the crown of your head,

Beyond the soles of your feet.

Just stay open to experiencing what you can feel in this moment connecting with your breath right now.

Now bring your focus back to the center of your chest.

Focus on whatever you feel as you breathe deeply right here.

This time as you inhale,

Let your awareness slide from your spiritual heart up to the space of your third eye.

You may feel it right between your ears or perhaps between your brows.

Settle your awareness here and as you breathe in deeply,

Notice what you feel.

As you continue to breathe and remain focused on your breath,

Notice what you connect with within yourself,

Where your energy and awareness flows moving with your breath.

Continue to remain deeply relaxed in your body while your mind remains aware.

We move now to the exploration of our thoughts and emotions.

Begin by bringing your focus to the center of your chest once again and allow your awareness to rest here.

If you've drifted away,

You can remain aware while letting your body continue to relax deeply.

And now to feel how it feels to be serious,

To experience seriousness.

What sensations rise up in your body as you feel very serious?

Shift now to how you feel when you experience being playful,

What sensations rise up and what can you observe about the state of being playful?

Shift back to focusing on the experience of being serious.

Move now to the experience of feeling playful.

Hold seriousness and playfulness together in your awareness.

Allow those sensations to dissolve and return to your focus at the center of your chest in your heart space.

Now allow the sensation of weakness to rise up within you.

What do you feel as you concentrate on how it feels to be weak?

What rises up with weakness?

Shift to feeling powerful,

What does powerful create within you?

What can you observe about this state of power?

Return to weakness,

Shift to powerful,

Hold weakness and power together in your awareness.

Return now to your heart space and let those sensations dissolve away.

Now allow the sensation of confusion to rise up.

What does confusion feel like in your body?

What can you observe as you focus on the feeling of being confused?

Shift now to clarity.

What does it feel like to experience the insight and the knowing of clarity?

Confusion,

Clarity.

Confusion and clarity together.

Return now to the space at the center of your chest and allow other sensations to dissolve.

Shift now to feeling emptiness.

What does emptiness feel like?

A sensation of lack,

Of feeling empty.

Shift to feeling fullness,

Of having enough experience of being full.

Emptiness,

Fullness.

Emptiness and fullness together.

Return now to your heart space and from this place connect with feeling your whole body,

Your whole body connected.

These opposites represent duality,

Two parts of a greater whole.

When we get stuck in one side,

We can explore the other to find our way back to our whole.

We move now to our exploration of our insight body beginning with rapid visualization.

With your eyes closed,

Allow yourself to see each image in your mind's eye and then let each image go as it's time to move on.

Allow yourself to see an ice cream cone,

A dictionary pulled out of a bookshelf,

Pillows fluffed up on a sofa,

A waterfall cascading into a pool below,

A daisy,

A castle wall made of smooth round stone,

Purple pants,

A rhinoceros playing a banjo,

A crackling fireplace,

Sunshine sparkling on freshly fallen snow,

Fresh green grass.

You look up from the fresh green grass and find yourself in a garden.

What does it look like?

Allow the garden to take shape around you.

Sunshine streams in and you feel an energy of peace,

Warmth and acceptance.

You notice that the garden is full of flowers.

What colors do you see?

Are the flowers ones you recognize or are they new to you?

Motion catches your attention and you hear a beautiful zipping sound.

It's like electricity,

But there's also a rhythm like music.

You notice that the sound is coming from a beautiful hummingbird moving around the garden.

The hummingbird now comes close to you,

So close you can see it clearly.

What does it look like?

What colors are its feathers?

Do you see any shimmer or markings as you observe it?

The hummingbird hovers at eye level with wings moving faster than her eyes can see while also seemingly holding completely still.

You look into its eyes and you see each other.

In this moment,

You transform and become the hummingbird.

You gain the ability to fly,

To move around the garden and zipping wherever attracts you most in each moment.

As you look at the flowers as the hummingbird,

You now see not only the blossoms,

But also the qualities you're seeking to grow in your life.

Allow your hummingbird eyes to observe each flower.

What attributes do you see?

What color is the flower for each quality?

Your garden can have a flower for anything you want to cultivate in your life.

Love,

Peace,

Joy,

Compassion,

Friendship,

Forgiveness,

Acceptance,

Growth,

Anything at all.

Your garden can expand past what you see here and even out into the cosmos if that is where you will find what it is that you are seeking.

As the hummingbird,

You move around the garden and enjoy the nectar of each flower that helps you heal and grow.

Feel the energy that each blossom brings into your being.

You can move around as quickly or as slowly as you like knowing that simply your intention will bring you the power of each attribute as you move around with grace as the hummingbird.

Once you've enjoyed the qualities of each flower and what they have shared with you,

You fly back to where your human body has been sitting on the fresh green grass in the sunlight.

You look at yourself and you see a smile on your own face.

Once you fly close enough as the hummingbird,

You look yourself in the eye,

In your human body and you return back to your own human form.

As you return to your body,

You feel your sun culpa within your own heart beginning to blossom as it is fueled by the nectar of the flowers.

It grows within you.

You hear your sun culpa echoing throughout yourself.

With emotion and conviction,

Repeat your sun culpa at least three times within your heart and allow yourself to see the truth of your sun culpa already manifesting in the present.

You may choose to return with what you have learned on your journey so that it can continue to help and guide you.

What you feel here is entirely of your own creation,

It is entirely your own wisdom grown from the power within you.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Allow yourself to take a deep breath in,

Fill yourself with air and as you exhale,

Allow that breath to reach your fingers and your toes.

Bring some movement back into your toes and fingers.

Slowly roll through your hips and your shoulders.

Eventually bend your knees and draw the soles of your feet to touch while your knees gently fall out wide.

Bring your left hand to your heart,

Your right hand to your belly.

As you return to your awareness,

Take a moment here to connect with your own sources of intuition and wisdom.

Take a breath in,

Allow your right hand to rise,

Pull air up into your chest,

Your throat,

Hold it at the top,

Then exhale,

Let it go.

When you are ready,

You can roll to one side,

Push yourself up,

Come to a seat.

All is truth,

All is reality,

All is good.

Namaste.

Reviews

thank you Shannon for this nidra. I feel uplifted and like I've lightened my load.

Thank you for a wonderful yoga nidra again ❤️. I follow you on Spotify and it is a Great pleasure to fins you here also!

Magnificent! I love the alternate feelings, so healing.

Thank you so much. This was so healing for me. Namaste. 💙

Wonderful ✨🙏✨
I need to revisit as I drifted away a few times but soooo relaxing
Merci 💕

Wonderful. Thank you.

Interesting and a pleasant yoga nidra session 🙏🏼

Feeling absolutely relaxed after this yoga nidra. Thank you.

Pleasant surprise, relaxing, thanks. 😊

🛐🕉simply beautiful... extremely relaxing & cultivating...

Thank you

Namaste 🕉🧚‍♂️🤷‍♀️