Welcome to your yoga nidra practice with Stari.
I'll be your guide into a profound relaxation.
Yoga nidra is the yoga of sleep.
It invites you to deeply rest in states between waking and sleeping.
It's perfectly okay for your mind to drift,
To come back gently to the practice again and again.
And if you fall asleep,
You will still be reaping the rewards of the practice.
You will still benefit from the deep,
Profound relaxation of yoga nidra.
So make sure that you are situated,
Laying down,
With no possibility of being disturbed.
Your phone and devices are off.
You might try having some support,
Pillows or such,
Or a bolster underneath your knees.
You can even rest your legs over the couch with your back flat on the floor or over the edge of the bed.
Whatever works for you.
You might support your neck with a rolled up towel or blanket.
The perfect size roll to rest your neck and let it reset if you're having neck issues.
It will also be beneficial to have your eyes covered with an eye pillow or just a scarf or a washcloth,
Something light.
Your body does tend to drop in temperature,
So you might have a blanket nearby.
Take a deep breath and a long exhale.
Do that three times.
Big breath in,
Soft belly,
Long exhale.
You can even make a noise with that exhale if it feels good.
Notice what your body is calling for.
If you still don't feel settled,
You might rock your hips from side to side a little bit.
Or stretch open your face and your mouth for a moment.
Or wiggle your toes or your fingers.
Let your body settle down.
Let your body be heavy,
Heavy,
Soft.
Noticing from the top of your head,
Your head is heavy,
Your face is soft,
Your heart is soft,
Your belly is soft.
Hips heavy and open.
Thighs,
Knees,
Calves and feet relaxed.
Let go of any thoughts or activities or any feeling of having anything to do.
There's nothing for you to figure out,
Nothing for you to attend to except being here right now,
Safe in your body,
Relaxed and open.
Begin to notice the sounds in the room around you,
Sounds of your own breathing perhaps,
Sounds outside the room.
Let your hearing be like a radar,
Going around your environment,
Noticing each sound and letting it go.
Take a moment now to set an intention.
Traditionally in Yoga Nidra we set a Samkapa,
Which is a vow above all vows.
Something that furthers you towards your life's purpose,
The meaningfulness of your life,
Of your existence.
For now just think of how you want to feel at the end of this practice and going into your day or evening.
Repeat that phrase if there's a phrase with that three times.
And relax,
Let go of everything,
This is your time.
We're going to do a body rotation scan now.
I'm going to say the part of your body and you are just going to take your awareness there and let it rest there.
I'll be going just fast enough so that you won't linger too long in any one spot.
Just let your awareness follow.
Take your awareness to your third eye,
The point between your eyebrows.
Light and relaxation at your third eye.
Awareness to your throat.
Your right shoulder.
Your right upper arm.
Your right elbow.
Relaxing.
Your right forearm.
Your right wrist.
The palm of your right hand energy and your right palm.
Your right thumb.
Your right index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
Your right pinky finger.
Top of the right hand.
Right wrist.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Right shoulder.
Right armpit.
Your awareness at your throat.
Soft and open.
Left shoulder.
Left upper arm.
Left elbow.
Left forearm.
Left wrist.
Soft,
Relaxed.
Palm of the left hand,
Feeling the energy in your palm.
Left thumb.
Left index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
Left pinky finger.
Top of the left hand.
Left wrist.
Left forearm.
Left elbow.
Left upper arm.
Left shoulder.
Left armpit.
Awareness at your heart.
Soft and open.
Right chest.
Left chest.
Solar plexus.
Naval center.
Pubic bone.
Your right hip.
Center of your right hip.
Right thigh.
Right kneecap.
Right shin.
Right ankle.
Top of the right foot.
Right big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Right pinky toe.
Sole of the right foot.
Right heel.
Right ankle.
Right calf.
Back of the right knee.
Right hamstrings.
Right buttocks.
Your sacrum.
Attention at your tailbone.
Left hip.
Center of the left hip.
Left thigh.
Left kneecap.
Left shin.
Left ankle.
Top of the left foot.
Left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Left pinky toe.
Sole of the left foot.
Left heel.
Left ankle.
Left calf.
Back of the left knee.
Left hamstrings.
Left buttocks.
Tailbone.
Awareness at your sacrum.
Lower back.
Right back ribs.
Left back ribs.
Right shoulder blade.
Left shoulder blade.
The whole spinal column from your tailbone all the way up to the back of your neck.
Back of your neck.
Back of your head.
Top of your head soft and open.
Your scalp.
Your forehead.
The center of your forehead.
Point between your eyebrows.
Right temple.
Left temple.
Right eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
Right eye resting in its socket.
Left eye resting in its socket.
Bridge of the nose.
Tip of the nose.
Right nostril breathing in the air.
Left nostril flowing air.
The whole nose.
Right cheek.
Left cheek.
Right ear.
Left ear.
Upper lip.
Lower lip.
Upper row of teeth.
Lower row of teeth.
Feel your tongue resting in your mouth.
Your whole mouth.
Your chin.
Your throat.
Your whole body.
And the area around your body six inches.
The energy around your body.
Your whole right leg.
Your whole left leg.
Your whole right arm.
Your whole left arm.
Your right leg and your left arm together.
Your left leg and your right arm together.
Your whole torso.
Your whole head.
Your whole body.
Your whole body breathing.
And just being aware of your natural breathing.
The rhythm of your natural breath.
Flowing in,
Flowing out naturally.
Now imagine that your body is getting heavy.
It's very heavy.
Your body is feeling like a mountain.
Heavy,
Sinking into the earth.
Deep into the earth,
Getting heavier,
Heavier.
You can imagine your body sinking through layers of dirt and earth.
All the way sinking down to the heart of Gaia.
Down to the center of the earth.
Now imagine that your body is getting lighter.
It's rising up,
Floating,
Becoming weightless.
Imagine your body floating away from the floor to the top of the room.
Looking down,
You can see yourself laying there.
Just aware of the possibility of you seeing yourself laying there.
Rising above the buildings,
Above the trees.
Floating high in the clouds.
Space all around you.
Now coming back to your position on the floor.
Imagine that your body is getting cold.
You're feeling cold,
Bitterly cold.
Remember the last time you felt bitterly cold.
Now you're feeling hot.
Imagine feeling hot,
Hotter and hotter,
The hottest day of your life.
Or sitting by a fire on a hot day on the beach.
Hot,
Heat blazing.
Your body on fire.
Now back to your normal temperature.
Bring your awareness to your heart center now and imagine a pinpoint of light,
A bright brilliant blue light at the heart,
At the middle of your heart.
A tiny dot of light.
Imagine you can go into the tiny dot of light,
Like a microscope.
Tinier and tinier.
You are becoming smaller and smaller.
Going into the tiniest pinpoint of light to the very cellular structure.
The center of the center of the center.
Tinier and tinier.
Now imagine that you're beginning to expand.
You're beginning to get bigger.
You feel that you are that blue light in your heart expanding and opening.
Bigger and bigger and brighter and brighter.
Expanding beyond your body and into the atmosphere,
Environment around your body.
Just getting huge,
Getting gigantic,
Like a telescope but endless.
Opening and opening.
Bigger than the earth,
Bigger than all the stars,
Space,
Space,
Spaciousness.
Bringing your awareness back to your body.
I'm going to do the practice of Chitakash.
Also being aware of your forehead.
Being able to see what your eyes see on the inside of your forehead.
Or it might appear like a screen on the outside of your forehead.
I'll name off images and you just imagine you can see these images.
Imagine ocean waves lapping the shore.
Ocean waves lapping the shore.
A cascading waterfall.
A double rainbow.
Double rainbow.
A soaring bird.
A bird soaring through the sky.
A child laughing.
Child laughing.
Bees humming.
Bees humming around flowers.
A shooting star.
A salty sea breeze.
A golden sunset.
Palm leaves waving.
A steady burning fire.
The smell of cookies baking in the oven.
A shooting star.
Foggy mountain peaks.
A city skyline at night.
A friendly marketplace.
The planet Earth.
A bowl of melting ice cream.
Footprints in the wet sand.
A dog wagging its tail.
Morning dew drops in the grass.
Now you're lying there.
Imagine a point of light,
Golden light about a foot above your head.
Sparkling golden light.
Watch the light as it starts to spiral.
And create a cocoon.
It's spiraling around and out and around,
Out and around and around,
A thread of sparkling golden light that encloses you around your head.
Filling you with light around your shoulders and chest,
Slowly making its way around.
A cocoon of golden light around your belly,
That's widest spot.
And your hips.
Making its way around your thighs.
Your feet.
And this golden light filling your cocoon as it closes up about a foot below your feet,
Encasing you with protective golden light.
Filling you with goodness.
Feeling safe,
And content,
And peaceful.
And inside the golden cocoon.
Bringing your awareness back to your heart space,
To your home space in your body.
As we come to the near the end of your yoga nidra,
Know that you have reset your nervous system,
You've connected to your deepest being,
Your deepest self,
Your witnessing self.
Know you've received nurturing,
Replenishing rest.
And bring to mind your Samkapa,
Your sacred intention that you started off the practice with.
You can say it three times to yourself.
Begin to bring your awareness out to the environment,
Hearing the sounds around you.
Even as you notice your breath deepening now.
Scanning the sounds in the room,
Including your own breath,
And outside the room.
Take a deeper breath now.
Deep full breath.
And know you can come back and do yoga nidra again and again as a regular practice.
Daily,
If possible,
To reset your nervous system.
Bring you more vitality,
More peace,
More connectedness.
When you're ready,
You can wiggle your toes,
Wiggle your fingers,
Place your hands on your body in a way that your body is enjoying and it feels good to your body.
Rest as long as you want to.
And when you're ready,
You can move back into sleep or into your day.
Thank you.
