Welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra.
Settle your body into a comfortable position,
Ensuring that you are warm,
As the body will cool upon entering this deep relaxation.
Yoga Nidra is a systematic rotation of awareness.
Use my voice as an anchor to rest within the place of sleep and awake.
Deep relaxation is able to arise when we allow ourselves to settle into the safety of our surrounds.
As you lay in stillness here,
Take some time to listen to the sounds around you,
Sounds in the distance,
And sounds closer to you.
Bring your awareness towards your internal landscape now.
Notice your breath.
Breath moving in,
And breath moving out.
Breath moving in,
And breath moving out.
Allow an intention to arise here,
Perhaps finding a quality that you would like to see a little more of in your life.
This might arise as two or three words.
Let this become your sankalpa.
Sankalpa,
A commitment towards your higher truth.
Formulate your sankalpa into a short phrase,
Or a few potent words,
And repeat this to yourself three times.
Moving your awareness around your body now,
As I name a body part.
Repeat it silently to yourself,
And release any tension that you can.
Take your awareness to your right hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
The back of the right hand,
The palm of the hand,
Right wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Armpit,
The right side of the chest,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Right ankle,
The top of the foot,
Sole of the foot,
The right big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
And fifth toe.
Shift your awareness now to your left hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
The back of the left hand,
The palm of the hand,
The left wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Armpit,
The left side of the chest,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Left ankle,
Top of the foot,
Sole of the foot,
The left big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
Fifth toe,
Right heel,
The left heel,
The right buttocks,
Left buttocks,
Middle back,
Upper back and shoulder blades,
Back of the neck,
Back of the head,
Crown of the head,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Brow center,
The right eye,
Left eye,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Bridge of the nose,
Tip of the nose,
Top lip,
Bottom lip,
Right side of the jaw,
Left side of the jaw,
Chin,
Throat,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Sternum,
Heart center,
Abdomen,
Navel center,
Pelvic floor,
All of the right side of the body,
All of the left side of the body,
Whole body,
Whole body,
Body,
Resting within the depth of awareness.
Return your awareness to your breath.
Notice the flow of breath into and out of the body.
Allow yourself to move through a short visualization here.
Imagine that you are walking through the forest.
The sound of the forest floor underneath your feet,
The smell of the trees,
The feeling of the sun upon your skin.
Keep walking through the forest until you come to a clearing.
This is a familiar place.
In the clearing,
Find yourself a small temple and recognize this temple as your mind.
And as you approach the temple,
Notice perhaps the windows a little dusty.
As you open the door and enter into the temple,
Walk over to the corner,
Collect the broom so that you might sweep out the floor,
Sweeping out any dust that has settled here.
Anything that the mind no longer needs.
Once you have swept the dust out of the door,
Take the bucket and cloth and start to wipe the windows so that the sun may stream in.
Be joyous as you undertake these activities.
Looking around the temple,
Allow yourself to feel accomplished.
Cleaned away some of the residual dust.
Walk over to the altar and perhaps light some incense,
A candle.
Pick up the basket of rose petals that you find there.
Think about sprinkling those rose petals across the floor of the temple now.
Notice the scent and the color of the petals.
Notice how light it makes you feel to have swept out and freshened up this temple of your mind.
Take a moment to bask in this freshness and in the clarity that it brings.
Return your mind now to the sankalpa you created at the start of the yoga nidra.
Repeat it once again for yourself,
Three times.
Feel into your body as it rests here.
Take some time to listen to your surrounding environment,
Taking your awareness back out deep and into your breath.
Begin to move your fingers and toes,
Perhaps stretching your arms overhead.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
Take some time to roll to one side,
Allowing yourself to sit up slowly.
Bring your hands into your heart,
Allowing deeply into yourself.
Namaste.
