Heart Flower Yoga Nidra

This audio file is an excerpt from a live class. It begins when we are settling into the yoga Nidra nest. We then journey to our inner realms to experience the heart flower blossoming into bliss. Waking is a gentle experience of coming back to the body and present, more rested, relaxed and centered. This is a lovely nap time Nidra or one you may like to drift off to sleep with. Soft music transitions the student into the practice and ends it.

Transcript

And when you are feeling ready,

You can begin to make your way down into your nest for the evening.

Making sure that you are supported and warm,

Cozy.

And settling down into your body now and down into the support of the earth.

And feel that Mother Nature is holding you,

Rising up to support you.

And feel yourself comforted here in her embrace.

And trusting perhaps that you are exactly where you are meant to be in this moment.

And you will receive exactly what it is that you are meant to receive.

Even if you move in and out of conscious hearing,

This practice will still work.

So allowing your bones to be heavy,

Bones heavy and sinking into the earth.

Maybe inhaling deeply and exhaling release,

Heavy and sinking.

Feel the pull of gravity as your body grows heavy.

And feel your breath.

Feeling your breath become light and float through your body.

Feel your breath.

And letting your thoughts grow dense and sink now into the back of your head.

Feelings and feelings grow heavy as though they were a substance and flow away from your body.

Even your personalities and roles that you play now grow heavy and flow away into the ground.

Feel your body relaxed.

And repeat these words in your mind.

I am awake and aware,

Awake and aware.

And imagine yourself now in a place that feels so peaceful and sweet.

It could be some place that you know or a place that you are creating in your mind's eye right now.

It may be outside in nature or inside.

Somewhere special.

Feel yourself here and notice the surroundings,

The colors,

The light,

Any special objects,

Angels or animals or flowers.

See yourself here but mostly notice the sense of peace and tranquility.

This is your inner sanctuary,

A wellspring that you can return to at any time.

All you have to do is guide yourself back and remember.

Your inner sanctuary is part of who you are and it's a part of this practice.

So now turning to the breath,

Begin to feel your breath,

Your natural breath.

Fear of the breath in your chest,

The easy rise and fall of the breath in your chest.

And now go inward deep inside and notice what is my heart's deepest desire?

What does my heart long for?

Listen to the voice of the heart.

Your heart may answer in words or color,

A song or an image.

Allow your heart to express its longing.

And from your heart's longing,

Create a positive statement in present tense as though it's already happening.

Something like I rest in the garden of serenity in the center of my heart.

Or something simpler like I am enough.

And state this phrase three times to yourself now.

And now we're going on a journey of sensation in the body.

Rotating your conscious awareness beginning with the soles of your feet,

Aware of the soles of your feet,

And the tops of the feet,

Aware of right foot and left foot,

Right ankle,

Left ankle,

Right knee,

Left knee,

Right hip,

And left hip.

Aware of the pelvis and the low,

Low back.

Right shoulder,

Right elbow,

Right wrist,

The back of the right hand,

And the palm of the right hand.

The right hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third,

Fourth,

And pinky finger.

And the whole right hand sensing the whole right hand alive with energy.

And right elbow and right shoulder.

And now aware of left hip and the length of the left side of the body.

Left underarm and shoulder.

Left elbow and wrist.

The back of the left hand and the palm.

The left hand thumb,

Second,

Third,

Fourth,

And pinky fingers.

And the whole left hand now vibrating and sensing energy here in the left hand.

And left elbow and left shoulder.

Aware of belly and chest and heart center.

Aware of the throat center and the back of the neck and back of head and crown.

And the whole right side of the face,

The right eye,

The right cheek and jaw,

And the whole left side,

The left eye,

Left cheek and jaw.

Aware of the ears listening and receiving sound.

Aware of the nose and the temperature of the breath as it flows in and the warmth as it flows out.

And aware of eyes resting in their sockets.

All tension releasing around the eyes,

Eyes soft and clear.

Aware of eyebrows and the whole brow as relaxed and flowing like water or warm honey flowing.

And now aware of the whole right side of the body,

Whole right side,

And feeling the whole right side grow dense and heavy.

Whole right side of the body dense and heavy.

And the whole left side now dense and heavier still,

Even heavier.

And now feeling the whole body,

Whole body,

The whole global body resting heavy.

And returning awareness now to your breath,

Your natural breath.

Your natural breath moving through you,

Noticing inhalation and aware of exhalation.

And now imagine that your next exhalation flows out your left nostril and the inhalation flows in through the left nostril.

Awareness crosses over the bridge of the nose and as you exhale next,

The breath flows through your right nostril.

Exhaling now through right nostril,

Awareness crosses the bridge of the nose,

Exhaling out left nostril.

Feel your breath continuing in this pattern.

Continue on your own now.

Feeling your breath alternating sides all on its own.

And now returning awareness to the heart space.

Feel the heart space and sense its energy.

Feel its color and sensations.

And now let this color and sensations fill the rest of your body.

This color like a warm liquid flows into shoulders,

Down the arms and into hands.

Fever of heart color and sensation from the heart flows down through the torso,

Belly,

Hips through the tunnels of the legs into the feet.

Heart color flows upward into the neck and throat to fill the head,

The eyes,

The nose,

Mouth,

Ears and third eye.

And now the whole body bathed in the color and light of energy.

Whole body bathed.

Whole body bathed.

And now imagine your body feeling contracted.

All muscles and tissues are pulling inward,

Inward flowing like a seed,

Tiny,

Tight and small,

Dark and protected from the cold.

Feel sensations of contraction in your body.

And now feel the opposite.

Feel your body expanded,

Open and spacious,

Outward flowing.

Feel the sensations of expansion.

And now feel a place in your body that feels tight and contracted.

Let that feeling of contraction spread through your body,

Feeling the contraction fully.

And now feel a place in your body that feels open and free.

And let that awareness of openness spread through your whole body.

See if on your own you can go between feeling contracted and expanded.

And now can you feel them both at the same time?

And now we're going on a journey.

Awake and aware,

See yourself standing outside.

It's an open field covered with white fluffy snow.

It's nighttime,

But the whole field is bright from the light of the moon.

You feel cool,

Refreshing air,

Basks you in energy of the full moon.

Your body remains warm as you have dressed just right.

At the edge of the field,

You see a line of trees and walk towards them,

Hearing the snow crunch under your feet,

Enjoying fresh air,

Invigorating your lungs.

You take in all the sizes and shapes of the trees.

The trees waving their branches,

Beckoning you come closer.

You feel protected and welcomed by the forest and the light of the moon illuminating your path.

You take the path over a beautiful sturdy wooden bridge.

And as you cross the bridge,

You notice that the temperature is noticeably warmer.

The sun begins to rise and you are now standing in a beautiful meadow.

You can smell the green grass surrounding you.

And taking off your shoes,

You feel the soft grass beneath your feet.

You smell springtime in the air around you and take it into your lungs with a deep,

Deep cleansing breath.

You look around and see birds flying and hear their sweet chirps.

Trees are budding,

Crocuses and tulips blooming,

Small creatures chasing each other.

A sense of rebirth and love is all around you.

And you lay down in the grass,

Allowing the sun to warm your entire being,

Especially you feel a warmth in your chest.

Bring all awareness to your heart center,

Feeling the rise and fall of your breath.

As you deepen your awareness,

You envision a flower bud in heart center and notice its color.

With the warmth of the sun and the flowing breath,

You feel the heart chakra opening,

Your heart being filled with love and light,

Filling with love and light.

Notice the flower petals opening,

This beautiful light releasing your heart of any sadness,

Any anger,

Releasing frustration or unforgiveness.

With this release,

The petals open more and you send this loving,

Healing energy throughout your entire being,

Your whole body being cleansed of all pain and disease.

Witness any pain or emotions from the past rising to the surface,

Being released with your breath.

You sense a lightness and a freedom and complete peace and love envelops you.

Lightness,

Peace and love linger here.

And here in this place,

Remember your heart's intention and state it again three times to yourself as it's happening in the present.

The seed has now been planted deep inside you where it will flourish and grow.

You rise up from the grass,

Your heart feeling light,

Smiling,

Full of new life and energy,

Full of limitless possibilities and grateful for this healing.

And now you find yourself resting once again,

Resting on your yoga mat,

Feeling your physical body,

Gentle awareness returning to your physical nature and yet still aware of the supple body,

Aware of the part of you that has been witnessing,

Aware of both at the same time,

Present in your body and aware at the same time.

And feeling your breath flowing through you,

Feel your breath and maybe deepening your breath a little,

Sighing out the exhale.

And when you're feeling ready to begin to move small parts of the body,

Fingers and toes,

Taking your time and just feeling what you feel.

And it might feel good to begin to move the head from side to side or to stretch a little more maybe arms overhead or hugging knees in,

Deepening the breath even more,

Sighing out the exhale.

When a fetal posture is part of your reawakening ritual,

You can roll over on your side,

Take your time.

Our practice is coming to a close so I'll be stopping the recording here and saying good night to whoever is listening later.

Reviews

Sheryl is my favorite guide. Her voice pace, level, and tone are so easy to hear and her words lead me on such a meaningful journey.