Yoga Nidra: Land Of The Body
Experience "Land of the Body," a Yoga Nidra meditation guiding you to explore the vibrant life force within your body. Sense your body as an island enveloped by an ocean of awareness. Release old struggles, embrace new possibilities, and empower your intentions. Yoga Nidra, or "yogic sleep," is a meditation technique that induces deep relaxation and healing. After the meditation, you will feel deeply rested, rejuvenated, and connected to your inner self. Experience heightened awareness and clarity, and carry this calm and empowered state into your daily life. Music by Chris Collins
Transcript
Welcome to this practice of yoga nidra.
Welcome home to yourself.
Allowing the eyes to be gently closed.
So having made and arranged yourself to feel supported for entering a deep state of self inquiry and exploration as we're going to move through the elements within you,
The land of your body.
So if you could be another 5 or 10% more comfortable,
Make any adjustments now.
In yoga nidra you are guided to notice and feel physical sensations,
The breath,
And feelings,
Emotions,
Tuning in with presence.
Allow for the experience of yourself as the witness of all that comes and goes.
Whatever your experience is,
Is perfect just as it is.
No need to change anything.
Simply rest at ease and follow my guidance.
Take a deep breath in,
And at the top of the inhale hold the breath for a moment.
Allow a bit of tension to arise,
And then release the breath.
As you release,
Listen to your exhale as it gently,
Audibly releases,
Hearing a gentle come as the breath exits.
And so do this one or two more times.
A deep inhale,
Holding the breath at the top.
Allow for a little bit of tension to build before releasing into the exhale,
Letting go with an audible sigh or hum.
Bring your total undivided attention to your full body.
Sense that you have created a field of protection around you in where you feel safe and peaceful,
Where nothing can touch you.
Now allow all your senses to be wide open.
As you feel the earth beneath you,
Notice the smells in the air.
More dominant smells,
And more subtle smells.
Bring attention to the water in your mouth and notice any tastes.
Now observe the light dancing behind your closed eyelids.
Heavy images appear,
Simply notice without judgment or engaging any thoughts about it.
Perceive now the sensation of air touching your skin.
Notice any difference of temperature of the air and in your body.
And now allow your attention to drift to the sounds you hear carrying through the open spaces surrounding you.
Notice sounds off in the distance.
Notice the spaces between the sounds.
Notice the sounds close by.
Notice the spaces between the sounds close by.
Notice the sounds in this space.
Notice the sounds within you.
Notice the spaces between the sounds within you.
Allow your senses to be wide open and alive.
If any disturbances occur external or internal,
Let them draw you more deeply within.
As you settle in more deeply,
Let yourself move within becoming still.
Slowly following the guidance of my voice.
Allow yourself to let go of all thoughts,
Worry,
And tension.
Now shift from thinking and doing to feeling and being.
Then breathe in fully and as you exhale with a deep sigh,
Let go into the earth and sense the earth beneath you.
Sense the earth rising up to embrace the weight of your body.
Sense the connecting points of your own body with the body of the earth.
Feel your own body fusing with the body of the earth,
Your body and the earth's body becoming one unified body of land.
And within the land of the body,
Allow us to plant in the heart a seed that is your intention,
Your sankalpa,
A way of being that is born of your heart.
One that will blossom as you nourish it with your attention and your care.
Your sankalpa might be formulated in words,
But you can simply trust in the deeper intuitive guidance of your own soul's wisdom.
Can you listen to your heart and say yes?
If you have words,
State it to yourself several times in the present tense.
And let it echo in your body as though it were already so.
And then letting that go.
We will move through the land of your body exploring 61 points.
As the element of nature that will be named seeps into the land of your body,
Let your attention activate each point.
Let the 61 points connect and let your attention on each point activate energies through the body of land,
Feeling each point activated and connected to the next through a stream of flowing,
Cooling waters.
Just like this island's body is infused with a grid of interconnected rivers and water pathways,
The depths of the land of your body is a network of blood vessels and energy circuits and your very own being can be cleansed and nourished.
Healing waters of the land of the body cleansing all impurities,
Outgrown patterns,
Matter and energies that no longer serve the deep well of your soul.
As you bring attention to the points in the land of the body,
Sense the activation of meridians,
Your nadis.
Sense the pranic flow dissolving all blockages and holdings.
Thereby ceremonially releasing what no longer serves so that you may allow for the emergence of possibilities and a new cycle to support the flow of your whole being.
You will now begin with venturing through the land of your body.
Bring all your attention to a gurgling spring of fresh water that is at the eyebrow center,
The third eye,
Perhaps even a few centimeters within the rich,
Dark,
Earthy soils of the brain.
As your attention comes to rest here,
A star appears that beams its pulsing light into this area.
Then your attention drifts to a small pool at the pit of your throat,
Where another perfect star beams down its pure essence.
And your attention follows the next star to your right shoulder,
Sensing the absorption of its radiance and healing light essence.
And the next to the right elbow,
Sensing the merging of the starlight into your right wrist.
Seeing a star twinkle its light into the tip of your right thumb,
Tip of the index finger,
Tip of the middle finger,
Tip of the ring finger,
Tip of the little finger.
And the light merges in the right palm,
Swirling at the point of the wrist.
Seeing how the starlight continues to merge into the land of your body as your attention moves up to the elbow,
Right shoulder,
Returning to the star beam at the pit of the throat.
And your attention follows the next star to your left shoulder,
Sensing the absorption of its radiance and healing light essence.
And the next to the left elbow,
Sensing the merging of the starlight into the left wrist.
Seeing a star twinkle its light into the tip of your left thumb,
Tip of the index finger,
Tip of the middle finger,
Tip of the ring finger,
Tip of the little finger.
And the light merges in the left palm,
Swirling at the point of the wrist.
Seeing how the starlight continues to merge into the land of your body as your attention moves up to the elbow,
Left shoulder,
Returning to the crystalline pool at the pit of the throat.
Sense the light-filled rivulets flowing through the arms,
The hands,
The fingers.
Flowing streams,
Moving and clearing any stagnant troughs that hold debris,
Outworn patterns,
Organic matter and energies that have no place here anymore.
Inviting the infusion of all cells of the land of the body with vibrant energy full of potential.
And then another star beams down on your heart center,
Immediately uniting into its purity in the meeting of the radiance of the heart.
And another star glimmers into the right nipple,
Permeating its healing light beneath the skin of the land of your body.
And another star glows in the middle of the chest,
Vanishing into the cave of the heart.
Followed by a star glimmering into the left nipple,
Permeating its healing light beneath the skin of the land of your body.
And another star beams down on your heart center,
Immediately uniting its purity in the meeting of the radiance of the heart.
A star emits its luminosity at the navel pit,
Which is sensed fully and received deep into the basin of the organs of the land of your body.
The middle of the mound of the pubic bone receives the sparkling glow of another star,
Which merges with a little river that flows along the ridge of the right hip,
Right knee,
Ankle.
Starlight twinkling upon the tip of the right big toe,
The tip of the second toe,
Tip of the third toe,
Tip of the fourth toe,
Tip of the little toe.
And sensing starlit streams joining all the toes,
Starlight whirlpools into the sole of the right foot,
Rising into the ankle,
Gaining momentum up into the right knee,
Swirling along the ridge of the right hip.
The mound of the pubic bone receives the sparkling glow of another star,
Which merges with a little river that flows along the ridge of the left hip,
Left knee,
Ankle.
Starlight twinkling upon the tip of the left big toe,
Tip of the second toe,
Tip of the third toe,
Tip of the fourth toe,
Tip of the little toe.
And sensing starlit streams joining in all the toes,
Starlight whirlpools in the sole of the left foot,
Rising into the ankle,
Gaining momentum up into the left knee,
Swirling along the ridge of the left hip.
Sense your full lower body swirling with star-soaked fluid energy.
Bring your attention to the middle of the mound of the pubic bone where another star beams dissolves into the lakes of water-bearing organs of the land of your body.
Starlight melts into the pit of the navel where the current continues up toward the middle of the heart space,
Where it radiates from as one unified source.
And another star twinkles on the waters of the pool at the pit of the throat.
And a final shooting star falls in to merge fully at the eyebrow center,
Seeping into the rich soils of the brain.
Feel the whole land of the body illuminated with clear,
Pulsing,
Liquefied energies.
Every point in the land of the body,
Every meridian knotty,
Every ley line awakened and flowing,
Animated with the sparkling living life force.
Sense this sparkling living life force fully throughout your entire body.
Sense the land of your body as the planet Earth.
See the magnificent sun shining down brightly above you.
Sense the strong life-giving force of light of the day shining down upon the land of your body.
Sense just its pure light,
Holding pure light in your awareness fully,
Pure light.
And now sense into the darkness below the land of your body where there is complete absence of light,
Where the long and dark night resides.
Sense this darkness fully,
A darkness that supports complete inward contemplation and restoration.
Sense pure darkness,
Holding darkness in your awareness fully.
Now sense back into the full light of day,
Full luminosity.
Now sense back into complete dark of night,
Complete darkness.
Now go back to sensing total light,
And then back to total absence of light,
All dark.
Get your own rhythm going back and forth between the two.
Sensing with your whole being beyond just seeing the light and dark,
Really sensing it,
Light and then dark.
And then reaching back into your field of awareness in which you can hold both the light and the dark,
Being able to hold both at the same time just as the earth does.
And notice how this affects the land of your body.
Now bring attention back to your eyebrow center.
Allow images to appear as though projected on a screen,
Simply allowing the images to arise naturally without judgment.
Clearly capture with your mind's eye the experience and observe the effects on the land of your body.
A full moon in the dark sky,
You surrounded by utter darkness,
Clouds passing before a bright sunrise,
A tall majestic tree full of spring blossoms,
A tall majestic tree at the height of its growth and fruiting in a summer season,
A tall majestic tree losing its leaves in gusts of wind,
A tall majestic tree with bare branches as it conserves its energies,
A large black beetle,
The ringing of a temple bell,
A dying person,
Calm serene ocean,
A seed being planted in the soil of your heart that will blossom into a unique gift you have to offer the world.
And allow for any spontaneous images to arise.
Now revisit the living,
Vibrating life force moving through the land of your body.
And observe that there is also a vast,
Pervading stillness,
Silence and spaciousness.
And reach with your awaring presence into all directions,
Above you,
Beneath you,
To your right,
To your left,
Top of your head,
Bottom of the feet.
Sense the land of your body as this island,
As its own little planet surrounded and infused by wide,
Open space.
Rest in this vast,
Open space,
An ocean of awareness.
In this space,
You can glimpse the subtle direction of your own soul's purpose.
Let go of clinging to old struggles.
Glimpse the possibilities that are opening for you now.
Here you invoke the presence that can empower your intentions and fuel your journey ahead.
You are the space of awareness,
The substrata of everything that is seen,
Felt and experienced.
Bring your attention to the space of awareness that you are,
And deeply rest.
No effort,
No struggle,
Just allowing whatever comes into your field of awareness to be present without judgment or commentary.
Now recall a memory or a particular person,
Animal,
Place or circumstance that invites joy and happiness into your being.
Sense the feeling of joy or happiness expanding throughout the land of the body,
Every cell in the land of the body welcoming its natural feeling of joy,
Pleasure.
Perhaps experience an inner smile radiating from the cave of your heart,
Radiating throughout the entire landscape of your body,
Joy,
Pleasure,
An inner smile washing through all the hills and valleys of your body's landscape,
Through the meadows and lakes that make up your face,
Torso,
Arms and legs.
The entire land of your body alive with the feeling of joy,
Pleasure,
Happiness.
In the soil of being,
The seed of intention can take root.
Take this moment to revisit your sankalpa,
This way of being that is born of your deepest desire,
Your heart guided by your soul's wisdom.
Here your intention can be actualized and fulfilled with effortless ease,
Simply trusting your heart's deep wisdom.
Its guidance will show up when needed in its own perfect time.
There is no need for you to do anything about it,
Simply allowing for an openness,
A welcoming of this deep wisdom to emerge.
If you choose,
You can land it with words spoken in the present tense to yourself silently and let it resonate and echo through your being as direct present moment experience as though it were already so.
Allow it to be received at the most subtle level of your being.
Now that your intention has been heard,
Received,
Is being acted upon without you having to do anything about it,
Simply allow it to happen.
This is the domain of grace.
Now begin to become aware of the rising and falling of your belly with the breath.
Slowly feel yourself rising to the surface of awareness.
Rising up from the bottom of the ocean,
Sense your own body now resting on the earth.
Become aware of the quality of air that touches your skin,
The feeling of the in and out flow of your breath and notice how relaxed your body is,
How soft the breath is.
How silent the mind is.
How quiet the heartbeat is.
Be still and be grateful,
Taking this peacefulness with you into your waking state and if there is an impulse to move or stretch,
Do so.
Trust you have received exactly what you need from this practice.
Gradually,
When you are ready,
Opening your eyes,
Allowing in the sense perceptions with this completing your practice of yoga nidja.
Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti Namo.
