A welcome to this practice of yoga nidra for those who are tired and weary seeking to recharge with nature.
Please settle into a comfortable position,
Lying back or seated in the most supportive way with generous use of your props.
Arrange yourself so you feel supported for entering a journey through nature to connect to your own nature.
Make any necessary adjustments so you can be just another 5-10% more comfortable.
As you settle,
Let yourself move within,
Becoming still.
If any disturbances occur,
External or internal,
Let them invite you more deeply within.
Allow yourself to let go of worry and tension.
Allow all your senses to be wide open.
Shift from thinking and doing to feeling and being.
Now,
Let's breathe in fully,
And exhale with a deep sigh.
And again,
Breathe in fully,
And exhale with a deep sigh.
And again,
Breathe in fully,
And exhale with a deep sigh.
Let go even more.
As you let go,
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 and the earth's body becoming one unified body of land.
Now,
Allow us to plant in the heart of the land of the body a seed of intention that is your sankalpa.
This is a way of being that is born of your heart.
Allow for an intention to arise that may take form through words that are stated several times in the present tense,
As an expression of your heartfelt mission or desire,
And let it echo through your body as though it were already so.
Or,
If words cannot be formulated in this moment,
Simply trust in the deeper,
Intuitive guidance of your own body and soul's wisdom that already knows the way.
Now,
Allow my voice to be your guide as we venture around the body.
Feel your attention awaken sensation in each area of the body that is named.
Invite your awareness to remain present and aware.
Gather all your attention to the eyebrow center.
As your attention comes to rest here,
A star appears that beams its pulsing light from this area.
Your attention moves to the pit of your throat where another perfect star beams its pure essence.
Your attention follows the next star to your right shoulder,
Right elbow,
Right wrist.
Sense a star twinkle its light into the palm of your hand and radiate out into each fingertip,
Twinkling from each finger.
Your attention follows the next star to your left shoulder,
Left elbow,
Left wrist.
Sense a star twinkle its light into the palm of your hand and radiate out into each fingertip,
Twinkling from each finger.
Return to the star beaming at the pit of the throat.
Feel or see light filled rivulets flow through your arms,
Hands,
Fingers,
Flowing streams of light moving and clearing any stagnant groups that hold debris,
Outworn patterns,
Organic matter,
And energies that have no place here anymore.
A star beams down on your heart center,
Uniting its purity in the meeting of the radiance of the heart.
A star emits its luminosity at the navel pit,
Shining deep into the basin of organs of your body.
A sparkling glimmer at the middle of the mound of the pubic bone.
A shimmering light on the right hip,
Right knee,
Ankle,
Starlight twinkling in the sole of the foot,
With starlit streams radiating out each toe.
A shimmering light on the left hip,
Left knee,
Ankle,
Starlight twinkling in the sole of the foot,
With starlit streams radiating out each toe.
Sense your whole lower body swirling with star-soaked shimmering energy,
Flowing streams of light moving and clearing any stagnant grooves that hold debris,
Outworn patterns,
Organic matter,
And energies that have no place here anymore.
Starlight melts into the pit of the navel,
Dissolving into the organs of your body,
Sensing the absorption of its radiance and healing light essence.
A star shimmering in the middle of the chest,
Vanishing into the cave of the heart,
Then glows steadily outward in all directions.
Star twinkling at the pit of the throat.
Like a meteor of inspiration,
A shooting star merges at the eyebrow center,
Nourishing the brain with its radiance and light.
Feel the whole body illuminated with clear,
Sparkling star energy,
Every cell in your body awakened and animated with a sparkling living life force.
Now witness all the stars of your body sparkling within the backdrop of the sky of your awareness.
A vast spaciousness,
A pervading stillness,
Silent and aware.
Now sense the in-and-out flow of your breath like the lapping waves on the ocean shore.
Bring attention to the moments when the breath turns.
For these gentle pauses,
These moments of transition are brief windows into a timelessness in which a movement turns from one into another,
Completely naturally,
Without the need to control or manipulate or interfere.
A cycle ends and a new one begins,
A pattern as old as existence itself.
Sense the cyclical rhythms of breath expanding and contracting at the heart space.
Feel these rhythms travel through your body like rivers of energy,
The circle of breath connecting us with the circle of life.
The in-and-out flow of breath connecting us with the cycles of the coming and going,
Like the expression of the dawning of a new day and the easing into night.
Remembering that our bodies are expressions of the cycles of Mother Nature herself,
The movement of breath reflected in the ebb and flow of ocean tides and lapping waves on the ocean shores.
Sense and follow the flow of breath.
Let yourself flow in trust with each breath,
Knowing the next in-breath will arrive just as the next out-breath will arrive too,
Knowing how it connects you deeply with the rhythms of life.
A rhythm that moves in cycles,
A rhythm that is held in the greater trust of the supreme intelligence of nature and of life.
Observing this cyclical rhythm within our own body reconnects us with the deep wisdom of the earth and all that moves and nourishes life.
Simply being in this flow calls us home to a place where we are held and nourished,
Where we can trust and let go.
Letting go into being openness of a wearing presence.
Sense into the vast space around you and within you.
Sparkling stars lighting you up from within and amongst endless space surrounding you with an easeful ebb and flow of the tides of breath.
Rest in the space of the heart.
There,
Everything is seen,
Felt,
Experienced and loved.
Deeply rest here,
Without effort,
Without struggle,
Just a great allowing.
Resting in pure presence.
Rest in this vast,
Open,
Spacious presence,
Where all doing stops.
Effortless being.
Here,
You invoke the loving presence that can empower your intentions.
In the soil of being,
The seed of intention can take root.
So take this moment to revisit your Sankalpa.
Remember,
This is a way of being born of the heart.
Be it by repeating your chosen words and letting them resonate through your being as a direct present moment experience as though it were already so,
Or by trusting your heart's deep wisdom that its guidance will show up when needed in its own perfect time.
Allow for an openness of simply welcoming.
Body and soul's wisdom to emerge.
Now begin to become aware once again of the rising and falling of your belly with your breath.
Slowly feel yourself rising to the surface of your waking state.
Sense your own body's weight now resting on the earth's body.
Notice the sensation of air that touches your skin.
Observe the sounds around you.
Listen for the quietest thing in the farthest distance.
Now invite attention into your body and begin to invite movement in the fingers and toes.
Ease back to eyes open wakefulness without hurry.
When you feel ready,
Open your eyes and reorient to your surroundings,
Feeling grounded and nourished.
This practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
We come in peace.
We go in peace.
