So welcome to this Yoga Nidra practice.
Just take the next few moments to sit back and shift from thinking and doing to feeling and being.
Simply follow my guidance in making this important shift.
Allow yourself to get comfortable in your seat.
Let your weight release into the surface beneath you.
Allow your spine to remain long,
Arms resting by your sides or in your lap,
Feet grounding into the earth,
With your head light.
As you enter into this practice,
Set the intention to welcome all that is arising with a sense of allowing,
A sense that all is welcome here.
Now receive a deep inhaling breath and sigh it out through the mouth.
Let your body soften with each exhaling breath.
And now feel into your physical body,
Notice the connection points of your body with the surface beneath you.
Let your weight soften into these connection points and give over any tension into the earth.
Scan your body for any remaining tension.
Now bring attention to your mouth,
Jaw tension dissolving as you gently and lightly separate teeth and lips,
Your eyes softening all the muscles around your eyes,
All expression melting from your face,
Shoulders melting away from ears,
Notice sensation in your arms and hands,
Belly soft and supple as it receives the breath,
Sitting bones and sacrum relaxed,
Observe sensation in legs and feet,
Easing into the ground beneath you.
Breath and energy sensing,
Notice the gentle movement of your belly and chest with the in and out flow of your breath,
Notice the very sensation as the air enters and exits your body through your nose,
Sense this movement in the belly and chest.
Now begin to count the breath down from five,
Inhale for five,
Exhale for five,
Inhale for four,
Exhale for four,
Continue on your own,
Then letting go of the count,
Return to the breath.
Mental emotional body sensing with opposites,
Now observe any thoughts cycling around,
Thoughts coming and going,
Thoughts that stick,
Thoughts that pass,
Simply observe the movement of thoughts without following any particular train of thought,
Thoughts moving through without comment or judgment,
Simply observing.
Now notice what emotions may be present,
Is there a particular emotion calling your attention?
If so,
Does it have a location in your body?
Where does it inhabit your body?
Even if no emotion is present,
This too is just fine.
If there is an emotion present,
See if you can simply make space for it,
Allow it to just be here.
And if it feels appropriate,
Does this emotion have an opposite?
If so,
Where does this opposite emotion locate itself in your body?
Simply allow it to be here too.
And again,
If nothing in particular is present,
Then this too is just perfect as it is.
A wisdom body.
Now tune in to a subtler dimension yet,
That of the wisdom body.
Allow the following images to appear as though projected onto a screen.
Simply remain open and observe the effects on your body-mind as the image is evoked,
Receiving what is exactly as it is,
A full moon glistening over sparkling seas,
Torrential rains pouring down,
The hum of insects emanating from a majestic tree in blossom,
Dogs scrapping in an alleyway,
The smell of moist earth in a cave.
Now allow for any spontaneous images to arise,
Observing what may appear before the mind's eye.
And as you notice images,
Sensations,
Breath,
Energy,
Thoughts,
Emotions,
Can you reach back into the sky of awareness that is able to hold all that is arising and passing through?
Sense yourself as the one who is aware.
Being that awareness.
Resting as awareness.
Release any need for doing,
For figuring things out and just drop into the very feeling of spacious being.
Dissolving into a vast,
Pervading stillness.
Silence and spaciousness.
Rest here,
Held in an ocean of compassionate,
Loving awareness.
And remain present to that sense of being and begin to invite your intention back to the in and out flow of breath.
Sense the surface that supports you.
Feel the ground beneath you,
Holding your whole body.
And begin to enliven your whole body and being with your breath.
Coming back,
Feeling invigorated,
Refreshed,
And renewed.
And begin to open your eyes.
Sense a connection to your breath and deeper awareness.
This journey through the five bodies,
The Koshas,
Is now complete.
Arriving back in your body,
Fully grounded,
Fresh.
Namaste.
