Yoga Nidra: Blossoming Presence

Immerse yourself in the radiant beauty of "Blossoming Presence," a deeply nourishing yoga nidra journey that guides you to experience a profound sense of oneness and presence.

As you visualize the flowering of a blossom within your body, feel waves of radiant sensation cascading through every part of you. This meditation invites you to embrace yourself fully, shift out of reactivity, and trust in the path that has brought you to this moment.

Feel love grow and expand from your core, touching others deeply as you carry this awareness into your everyday life. Every moment becomes a sweet caress of present-centered awareness, unfolding within the spacious openness of presence. Embrace the oneness that underlies all of life, allowing each moment to arrive paired with its perfect response.

This journey encourages you to welcome and respond to life’s experiences, cultivating a serene and responsive presence in your daily life.

Music by Chris Collins

Transcript

So,

Welcome to this Soma Nidra and just allowing yourself to settle in.

So,

You can be lying back or seated in the most supportive way possible and allowing your eyes to gently close,

Perhaps putting an eye pillow over the eyes to invite that inward movement of attention and just taking a little bit more time to settle into a position that feels just right and opening to a receptivity and trust in whatever arises.

As you soften into the earth beneath you,

Let your whole body drop into the embrace of the earth.

Know you are welcome here.

Welcome here in this space,

On this land,

Fully welcome.

And whatever arises within,

Be it sensation or feelings,

Emotions,

Thoughts,

Images,

Desires,

Or if any distractions arise from outside,

Just allow it to all be here with a sense of welcoming.

Let it be an invitation to move you more deeply within,

Knowing all along that you are held here in a safe space.

And allow all expression now to fade away from your face,

Tiny muscles around the eyes and mouth,

Cheeks softening,

Sliding down toward the floor,

Softening the jaw,

Letting the tongue rest in your mouth.

As your face lets go,

Notice how your whole body responds.

And let's take a full breath in together,

And let go fully,

Feeling yourself beginning to enter a deeper level of stillness.

As we enter this yoga nidra,

Simply allow your body to respond non-mentally and directly to my words,

Without any interference from the mind.

And now shift from thinking and doing to feeling and being.

And now as you invite your attention towards sensation in your body,

Allow for the following to arise that brings a felt sense of safety.

Be it a person,

An animal,

An element of nature,

Or something else.

Simply invite in and notice what shows up.

Notice whatever arises from the intelligence of your body,

Rather than what comes to mind.

Just notice whether an image or a felt sense comes into your awareness.

No matter how bizarre it may appear,

Just trust it.

And trust that this is what is needed to evoke a deeper felt sense of safety.

This becomes an inner resource.

And drink it in to every cell.

And within the safety and protection of the potent space that is yoga nidra,

We will now invite your attention towards an intention,

Your sankalpa,

For this practice.

This way of being that is born of your heart.

It's a wish for yourself that aligns with your deepest heart's yearning or desire.

So either state it in simple words,

A present tense,

Or it could be a felt sense or an image.

And let it echo through your body.

If you're using words,

State it to yourself three times.

Let it invoke a feeling,

An image,

Or a felt sense that deeply resonates.

Deeply trusting in your own soul's wisdom that already knows the ways of your deepest heart's desire.

And now take several slow,

Deep breaths.

Allow each inhale to fill your lungs with breath.

Filling from the bottom to the top,

Like filling a water bottle.

And at the top of the inhale,

For a few moments,

Hold,

Allow for some tension to build.

And then release with a gentle sighing breath out the mouth.

Do this several more times.

Inhaling holding the breath until a bit of tension builds,

And upon exhaling letting your body soften even more with each outgoing breath.

Now allow the breath to simply rise and fall naturally in its own rhythm,

Observing the quieting of each breath.

If at any point you need to move or make any adjustments,

Do so mindfully,

And then return to stillness as soon as you're able.

Feel yourself descending down into the stillness beneath the mind.

Feeling more,

Thinking less.

Allow the commentary of the mind to dissolve into sensation and into bodily presence.

Allow your vaster awareness to settle into the silent effortless spaciousness of being.

We will now explore the body by rotating awareness through it.

As I name a part of your body,

Allow your attention to follow the sound of my voice.

As I guide you from point to point,

Remain in non-doing,

Silent awareness.

Let your attention follow my words and bring each part alive with your felt sense.

Guide attention now to sense your mouth,

Lips,

Cheeks,

Nose,

Ears,

Right eye,

And left eye,

Forehead,

And scalp.

Feel your eyes as radiant orbs of sensation.

Sense your throat and neck,

Right shoulder,

Elbow,

Right hand,

And fingers.

Sense the blossoming of a flower in your right hand palm.

The blossoming flower radiates its beauty into every cell of your hand,

Up into elbow,

Right shoulder.

Sense left shoulder,

Elbow,

Left hand,

And fingers.

Sense the blossoming of a flower in your left hand palm.

The blossoming flower radiates its beauty into every cell of your hand,

Up into elbow,

Left shoulder.

Sense into your chest.

In the cave of your heart a flower blossoms with radiance,

Touching every cell of your chest,

Ribs,

Lungs,

Back.

Sense into your belly.

At the navel center a flower blooms with radiance,

Touching every cell of your internal organs,

Putting its beauty into the pelvic bowl,

Bringing every cell alive with color and light and fragrance.

Sense your right hip,

Knee,

Right foot,

And toes.

Sense the flowering of a large blossom at the sole of the foot,

Radiating its beauty into every cell of your right foot,

Calf,

Knee,

Thigh,

Right hip.

Sense your left hip,

Knee,

Left foot,

And toes.

Sense the flowering of a large blossom at the sole of the foot,

Radiating its beauty into every cell of your left foot,

Calf,

Knee,

Thigh,

Left hip.

Sense your whole left leg as a field of radiant sensation with the blossoming beauty of the flower.

Sense your whole right arm as a field of luminous sensation with the blossoming beauty of the flower.

Sense your whole left arm as a field of luminous sensation with the blossoming beauty of the flower.

Sense your whole torso as a field of radiant sensation,

Blossoming from the beauty of the flower at your navel.

Sense your eyebrow center,

Blossoming into the whole head,

Sensing it as a field of vibrant sensation.

Sense your whole body as a unified field of radiant sensation with beautifully flowering blossoms at your eyebrow center,

Heart center,

Palms,

Navel,

Soles of the feet.

Sense your whole body smiling with the vibrancy of these blooming flowers as you are held in vast,

Spacious,

Loving awareness.

Now bring attention to an emotion that is present in your body or one that you are working with in your life.

Perhaps it is helpful to recall a memory that invites a particular emotion into your body,

Welcoming the emotion as sensation in your body,

Inviting this emotion to unfold fully as sensation in your body.

If no emotion is present,

There is no need to make anything happen,

Simply welcoming whatever is present.

If an emotion is present,

Where are you feeling it in your body,

Allowing it to blossom fully,

While welcoming thoughts,

Images,

Or memories that co-arise with this emotion,

Knowing that you always have your inner sanctuary,

Your inner felt sense of safety,

Your inner resources to fall back on if anything distressing arises.

And now allow an opposite emotion to emerge,

Again perhaps recalling a memory that invites the opposite emotion into your body.

If an opposite emotion is present,

Where do you experience it in your body,

As sensation,

Taking your time,

Welcoming this opposite of emotion.

And now begin to move back and forth several times between opposite emotions,

Experiencing first one,

Then the other,

Sensing how each is experienced in the body.

And now,

With witnessing presence,

Reach back into awareness that perceives both emotions at the same time,

Without thinking,

Simply experiencing how this affects your entire body-mind.

In this domain of integration,

You are witness to all that is happening,

But doing nothing to make it happen.

Remain empty and free from all doing,

Giving yourself full permission to just be.

Drop into a timeless space of the heart where all doing stops.

Rest in this vast,

Open,

Vibrant,

Loving space of awareness.

Here you invoke the loving presence that holds you in full acceptance of who you are.

Here everything is effortlessly seen,

Felt,

Experienced,

Held,

And loved.

Without struggle,

Without effort.

This is the way of being born of the heart.

Now allow your whole body to respond spontaneously and effortlessly to what I say.

I accept and hold myself lovingly and fully as I am.

I shift out of reactive feelings and allow myself to accept and feel what is in my body.

I trust the path that has brought me to this moment.

Now you have prepared the base from where love grows and expands.

This is a beautiful emanation from the original source of love that powerfully moves through you and deeply touches others.

At this sacred moment,

Your whole being has made a major paradigm shift.

Now take a few moments and sense your thoughts,

Emotions,

And sensations that are coming and going.

Imagine yourself back in your everyday life,

Walking,

Talking,

Relating,

Working,

Playing,

Eating,

Sleeping,

And sense how every moment and every situation of your life are unfolding within the sweet caress of present-centered awareness.

Every movement,

Every moment unfolding within the spacious openness of presence.

Sense the flavor of this pervading everywhere.

Everything arising out of present awareness.

Not separate.

A oneness that underlies all of life.

And you are a part of this oneness.

And the revelation that every moment arrives paired with its perfect response.

And as you learn to abide as presence in the midst of your daily life,

Welcoming and responding to rather than reacting,

To every moment,

Every situation in life.

Sense a situation in your life and then feel the ever-present background out of which flows your perfect response to each situation.

And take a few final moments before coming back to your eyes-open state of mind to feel once again yourself as open,

Spacious,

Timeless.

Perfect without need of anything.

Without need of knowing anything.

Without need of doing anything.

Simply perfect just as it is.

Just as it is.

Just as you are.

Now begin to become aware of the rising and falling of your breath.

Letting the breath become a little louder now.

Welcoming the breath into the body and anywhere it feels called to enliven and awaken more warmth and love and blossoming.

And invite your sankalpa,

Your intention,

Back in.

Let it echo with a felt sense through your whole being once more.

And now welcome some movement back into your body.

Begin with wriggling your fingers and toes.

Taking your time to fully come back to your eyes-open,

Alert and wide-awake state of mind.

When you're ready,

Allowing your eyes to slowly open.

Stretching out.

Feeling refreshed,

Energized,

Peaceful.

Sensing your consciousness rising to the surface of waking awareness.

Feeling your body resting on the ground beneath you.

Feel the air gentle on your skin.

And as we begin to close this yoga nidra practice,

Take a moment to honor your own time and commitment with gratitude,

Having taken this time throughout each session as an act of self-care and self-love.

In doing so,

You nourish your inner resources,

Which honors a deep care for yourself,

In turn allowing for deeper expression of authentic care for others.

Feel free to remain still for as long as you like,

Or begin easing to your day or perhaps into your night.

Being aware of your body,

Your breath,

The quality of your thoughts.

Notice how soft and quiet they may be.

In your own time,

Rolling to your side.

Whenever you feel ready to rise into your seat or perhaps drifting into sleep.

This yoga nidra is now complete.

Trust you have received exactly what you need from this practice.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

Reviews

Excellent practice, took me to a lovely deep place.
Thank you 😊 🙏

Wow, thanks so much, just what I needed today! Loved this ❤️