Yoga Nidra: Interstellar Rest

Welcome to Yoga Nidra, an ancient path of wakeful rest designed to nourish every aspect of existence. In this practice you will embark on a gentle pilgrimage through the miracle of your own body, then out to the stars and back to earth. All without moving a muscle. All in a pose of deep surrender and rest. All you need is 29 minutes and a quiet space to lay down. Are you ready?

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Transcript

Namaste,

Welcome to Yoga Nidra.

My name is Shelly and I will be your guide for this practice.

The ancient art of Yoga Nidra offers us space and time to lie down,

Cozy in and let go.

There is nothing to do save follow the sound of my voice and drift along.

In Yoga Nidra we are invited to let go of the tugs and pulls of the external world and instead sweetly turn within.

Please begin by finding a supportive place to lay your body down and get completely comfortable.

This may be on the earth herself or on a mat or couch or bed.

Some place that offers both deep support and comfort.

Bringing in any props to help you snuggle in,

Cushions,

Blankets,

Maybe something to cover the eyes.

Taking time to make a sweet nest in which you can relax,

Surrender,

Let go.

So nestling in,

Making any final adjustments for ease,

Shifting the head,

The neck,

Shoulders and shoulder blades,

The back,

Hips,

Legs,

Feet.

You might rest your arms gently alongside your body,

A little bit away with palms up or you might rest your hands on your body,

Listen to what feels right.

And once you've settled in,

Finding your perfect repose,

Might you invite yourself to release into stillness.

Gently closing down the eyes,

Allowing awareness to turn and move deep within,

Resting,

Resting on the support beneath you,

Resting your weight down into the earth,

Releasing any little knots of tension,

Places and spaces where the body might grip and hold.

Letting go,

Relaxing into sensing,

Feeling,

Listening,

Taking a nice deep inhale.

And on the exhale,

Softening the shoulders,

Allowing them to drape down,

Down through the arms,

Wrists,

Hands,

Fingers,

Ungripping the hips,

Allowing them to let go,

Down through the legs,

Ankles,

Feet,

All the way down to the toes.

Gently softening the face,

All the little muscles around the eyes,

Allowing the brows to spread out to the temples,

The forehead to widen,

Releasing tension through the scalp,

All the tissues across the surface of the skull,

Gently releasing,

Unwinding,

Untangling,

Inviting the ears to soften and open,

Allowing the cheeks to become slack,

Releasing the hinge of the jaw,

And then starting to notice the natural rhythm of your breath,

Breath that is already always happening,

Ever here,

Gentle waves rolling in,

Gentle waves rolling out,

Where do you notice the breath?

And gently riding the rhythm of the natural breath,

Might you bring awareness closer to the inhale and the exhale,

The motion of breath drawing in,

Breath moving out,

And might you notice the length of the inhale and the length of the exhale,

And maybe you notice that one is longer than the other,

So we're not changing anything,

We're just observing,

And might you also notice the quality of the inhale and the exhale,

Is the breath smooth all the way in and all the way out?

Or might there be a place or two of a little hiccup or snag,

A bit of tension,

Just offering awareness to this miracle of breath.

Now for a few rounds of samavritti,

Even breath,

Noticing what is it like to invite the inhale and the exhale to be of even length.

So on your next inhale,

Counting to four as you breathe in,

And on the exhale counting to four as the breath moves out,

And if you keep going at your own pace,

Trying a few rounds of even breath,

Just observing,

Inhaling filling to the count of four,

Exhale emptying to the count of four,

And gently letting that go,

Coming back to the natural breath,

Welcoming awareness now of your heart space,

In the center of the chest,

The space of the sacred heart,

And connecting here with the breath of the heart,

Resting and breathing in the space of the heart,

It is time to welcome in your sankalpa,

Your intention from the deep heart,

Truth of your being,

Longing to be recognized,

To be known.

And if you're not working with a particular sankalpa,

Might you bring in a simple statement such as,

I am free,

Resting deeply,

Silently whispering your sankalpa to yourself three times,

And gently basking in the vibration of your heart's desire,

Will now take a gentle journey through the body,

Guided by the sound of my voice,

Carefully stitching awareness to each named part of your precious body,

You might think of this as a sacred inner pilgrimage,

Bringing all of your awareness to the tip of the left big toe,

The pelvic floor at the base of the spine,

Tip of the right big toe,

The pelvic floor at the base of the spine,

Sacrum,

Back of the navel,

Space behind the heart,

Tip of the left thumb,

Center of the chest,

Tip of the right thumb,

Center of the chest,

Back of the neck,

Back of the skull,

The left eye,

The space between the eyebrows,

The right eye,

Space between the eyebrows,

Crown of the head,

Opening up to the sky and beyond,

The whole left ear,

Lobe folds and deep within,

Crown of the head,

The whole right ear,

Lobe folds and deep within,

Crown of the head,

Both eyes,

The sensation of both eyes,

From the front of the skull all the way through to the visual cortex at the back,

Both nostrils,

The sensation of both nostrils,

Left and right,

Right and left,

Both lips,

The sensation of both lips,

Portal to the cave of the mouth,

Both jaws,

The sensation of both jaws,

Huge hinge guardians of the cave of the mouth,

Moving inside the cave of the mouth,

Gums and teeth,

The whole tongue from tip to root,

The inner cheeks,

The roof of the mouth,

The crown of the head,

Moving down into the center of the head,

The very center point of the whole sphere of the head,

Down into the center of the throat,

The very center point of the whole sphere of the throat,

Center of the chest,

The very center point of the whole sphere of the chest,

Center of the belly,

Very center point of the whole sphere of the belly,

Center of the pelvis,

The very center point of the whole sphere of the pelvis,

And down to the pelvic floor at the base of the spine,

Opening down to earth and beyond.

Now widening awareness to welcome the entire central energy channel from root to crown,

From the pelvic floor at the base of the spine,

Up through pelvis,

Belly,

Chest,

Neck,

Up into the brain stem,

Through the entire brain to the crown of the head.

And welcoming awareness of the central channel now,

Down from crown to root,

From the very tip top of the skull,

Down through the brain,

Brain stem,

Neck,

Chest,

Belly,

Pelvis,

Down to the pelvic floor,

The very root.

And noticing the natural rhythm of your breath.

On your next inhale,

Might you allow awareness to glide on the breath from root to crown.

And on the exhale,

Allowing awareness to glide on the breath down from crown to root.

Inhale,

Gliding up from root to crown.

Exhale,

Gliding down from crown to root.

And continuing with the pace of your own breath for a few rounds.

And gently letting that go.

And now further widening awareness to welcome the whole sphere of you,

The whole sphere of your presence resting here.

The physical body,

Subtle body,

Energy radiating out in all directions,

Out to the very edges of this splendid sphere.

Resting as spacious awareness of this splendid sphere of your presence.

And within this radiant sphere,

Might you sense an energy center,

Beckoning your attention,

A point of energy within the sphere,

Drawing your awareness down and in and allowing your awareness to compass to this point of energy within the sphere.

And just noticing what is it like to rest here in this energy center within the sphere.

Now gently expanding awareness from the center,

Back out to the periphery of the sphere,

All the way out to the very edges out at the circumference.

And noticing what is it like to rest here at the radiant edges of this sphere.

And then gently shifting again,

Drawing your awareness back to the energy center,

Back to that gem point,

All the way down and in.

And then gently expanding awareness back out to the periphery,

Out to the edges in all directions.

And then again,

Shifting awareness back down and into the center of energy.

And then noticing the natural rhythm of your breath.

On your next inhale,

Might you allow your awareness to glide on the breath from center out to circumference.

And on the exhale,

Allowing awareness to glide on the breath out from the edges back down and into the center.

Inhale gliding expanding out.

Exhale,

Gently dilating awareness down and in and back and forth a few rounds at the pace of your breath.

And then gently letting that go.

See if you can welcome awareness of both center and the far edges,

Both the farthermost edges and the center together at once.

And resting here as spacious awareness,

Buoyant,

Radiant,

This pulsing sphere.

Might you imagine you are a star out in the vastness of the universe.

Floating in the deep night sky,

Pulsing,

Luminous,

Radiating light,

Energy,

Perhaps even a hint of stardust.

Beaming in the deep night sky,

Resting in your spacious star heart,

Suspended in infinite space.

And as you are resting and beaming buoyant,

Might you begin to notice stars all around in every direction.

Your beloved star kin,

Bright stars and shy stars,

Single stars and star clusters,

Whole constellations,

Nebulae,

Nurseries of baby stars,

Swaths of cosmic dust.

So many variations of light and intensity and color,

All of you floating together as one.

An ocean of stars,

Buoyant,

Luminous,

Beaming,

An ocean of stars and resting,

Pulsing with your star kin,

Afloat together.

Might you notice off in the distance across the cosmos,

A beautiful blue and green marble,

The earth,

Her whole self,

Still and steady and gently turning on her axis,

Suspended,

Perfect.

And might you notice near her,

A small globe of reflected white light,

Earth's moon,

Calm and steady and gently revolving on her axis,

While also gently circling around the earth,

Earth and moon suspended in slow and graceful celestial dance,

Still and moving,

Both alone and together at once.

And in your heart space,

Your heart of hearts,

Might you begin to notice the sweet pull of earth drawing you near the tug of earth,

Her molten core,

Gently drawing you from the heart towards her,

Gliding you across the universe,

Slowly,

Steadily,

Allowing yourself to be drawn,

Drawn towards earth,

Graceful,

Steady movement.

And as you're being drawn near,

Noticing how earth slowly magnifies,

Filling more and more of your view,

Until she has big and round and fills your space of seeing.

And as you are drawing,

Oh,

So near,

Might you sense that you are being magnetized to the perfect place on earth.

The sweet space of your wakeful rest,

Right here,

Your bright star self,

Landing on earth as luminous presence,

Supported,

Nestled,

Held,

Resting here,

Resting here in this perfect place on earth.

Might you invite your Sankopa to come and be with you here and everywhere,

Allowing your heart's desire to resound through the universe,

The whole ocean of stars,

Rejoicing,

Senses resting,

Awareness,

Listening,

Resting here,

The whole earth supporting you.

Resting here,

The whole universe,

Supporting you and staying just as you are.

Might you begin ever so gently to draw your awareness back into your physical form,

Slowly gathering yourself to yourself here in the body,

Perhaps finding a deeper breath,

Perhaps discovering some small movement to slowly wake up your body.

You might gently move toes or fingers,

Perhaps swallowing or licking lips,

Maybe crinkling some of the little muscles of the face,

Or you might reach your arms overhead and stretch,

Savoring this sweet transition from abiding deep within and beyond to slowly,

Slowly coming back.

And when you're ready,

Just gently rolling over onto your right side and pausing,

Just noticing what's right here.

And when you're ready,

Using your hands to help bring your body up to a comfortable seat,

Staying inside,

Eyes closed,

Just bringing the body upright and taking a moment to notice how you feel,

What are the effects of the practice in this moment.

And then as you're ready,

Gently,

Gently opening the eyes,

There's no rush,

You might begin by just keeping the gaze soft and low.

And then as you're ready,

Maybe opening the eyes a little wider,

Glancing around,

Turning the head,

Taking in the space around you,

Seeing light,

Shadow,

Colors,

Shapes,

Contrasts,

Drinking in this conscious return to the waking world.

And appreciating whatever you notice in this transition.

From my heart,

I thank you and your dear body for joining me in this practice of yoga nidra.

Please continue resting,

Taking your time to soak in the remains of the practice,

Gently shifting and finding your way.

My name is Shelly.

It has been my true honor to share this practice with you.

I thank you for taking the time to drop into the deep wisdom of your beautiful being.

Namaste.

Reviews

Thank you🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻The bliss of ever expanding……..🙏🏻🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🙏🏻

Loved it, thank you 🙏

Fantastic thankyou kindly 🙏🌈😇

Very relaxing. Will come back and listen again for sure!

Compassionate, restorative and and effective. This is bookmarked in my library, thank you!

Wow! What a beautiful experience. I loved the journey outward and inward- accompanied by the teacher’s calming voice and poetic guidance. Lovely.