Yoga Nidra With Mountain Climb Visualization

Be prepared for deep relaxation. This practice of yoga nidra is less than 26 minutes long and begins with rotations of conciousness, short breath awareness with practice, and ends with a mountain climb visualization.

Transcript

You are about to practice yoga nidra.

Come to lying in shavasana with a light cover over your body.

Your arms are by your side with the palms facing upward and your legs are a little slightly wider than hip distance apart.

Let your feet flop to the sides.

Make any last minute adjustments.

Make sure that you're lying comfortably and that you're prepared to lie completely still throughout the entire practice.

At this point you can set a resolve,

A resolve to stay awake throughout the entire practice of yoga nidra.

And now begins the rotation of consciousness.

Through the whole body as quickly as possible,

The awareness jumps from point to point.

Please repeat mentally the name of each body part after me and simultaneously become aware of the part.

Experience the right hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Waist,

Hip,

Right thigh,

Knee,

Calf muscle,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Experience the left hand thumb,

The index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Waist,

Hip,

Left thigh,

Knee,

Calf muscle,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Moving to the back of the body,

Experience the right shoulder,

Left shoulder,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

The spine,

And the whole back together.

The top of the head,

Forehead,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

The eyebrow center,

The right eye,

The left eye,

The right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

The nose,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

The upper lip,

The lower lip,

The space between the lips,

The chin,

Jaw,

Throat,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

The right chest,

Left chest,

The middle of the chest,

Navel,

Abdomen,

And now experience the whole of the right leg and the whole of the left leg and both legs together.

The whole of the right arm,

The whole of the left arm,

And both arms together.

The whole of the back,

Whole of the front,

Whole of the head,

Together.

The whole body together,

The whole of the body,

The whole body.

Now become aware of the whole body and the floor,

And at the same time,

Become aware of the meeting points between the body and the floor.

These are very subtle,

Physical points between the body and the floor.

Feel the meeting points between the back of your head and the floor,

The shoulder blades on the floor,

The elbows on the floor,

The back of the hands on the floor,

The legs on the floor,

The calves on the floor,

The heels on the floor,

Awareness of all the meeting points between the body and the floor,

The sensation of the points simultaneously and evenly,

And go on feeling these points clearly and distinctly.

The body is lying still and full of life,

And you feel the life in your body,

And you also feel the breath.

The breath is moving.

The breath is moving in the body.

Constantly,

The body is breathing.

So you just let the body take care of the breath,

And you watch it,

You follow it,

No control.

Just that the breath is there,

And it doesn't matter how it is,

Just experience the breathing process as it is right now.

This is called breath awareness,

Not breath control.

Awareness of the breathing process,

Awareness of the breathing process in the body,

Air moving in,

Air moving out,

Feeling inhalation,

Feeling exhalation,

An undisturbed natural flow of breath in the body.

And now limit your awareness to the nose alone and feel the breath there.

Feel when the inhalation takes place in the nose and when the exhalation takes place,

The air moving in and the air moving out of the nose.

You can feel the air coming from outside,

Moving through the nose,

Through the nostrils,

And down into the body.

And then it comes from the body,

Moves through the nose,

And you can almost follow the air a little bit out of the nose.

Feel the difference between inhale and exhale.

The feeling,

The experience of the air is different when you breathe in compared to when you breathe out.

Notice the slight difference in temperature maybe,

Maybe sharpness or softness.

And now experience your breath as if you inhale through one nostril only,

And when you exhale,

You exhale out the other.

Again,

When you inhale,

You inhale through the other nostril,

And then you exhale through the first.

This is happening only in your mind,

And you may also feel it in your body.

It's a mental breathing of alternate nostrils.

So you imagine or feel that you inhale in through one nostril,

And you exhale out the other.

Again,

In through the other,

And out through the first.

And go on like this for a little while,

In through one nostril,

Feel it,

Imagine it,

And out through the other.

In through the other,

And out through the first.

Now when you've become familiar with this breathing,

Let us add counting.

When you inhale through one nostril,

Say silently to yourself,

One.

When you exhale through the other,

Say one.

Inhale through the other two.

Exhale through the first two.

Inhale through the first three.

Exhale through the second three.

Inhale through the second four.

Exhale through the first four.

Inhale through both nostrils five.

Exhale through both nostrils five.

In again six.

Out of the other six.

Seven in through the other.

And seven out of the first.

And go on like this at your own speed,

And keep counting,

And reach as high a number as you can without miscounting.

Without forgetting that each five you inhale and exhale through both nostrils.

And should you make a mistake,

It's okay.

It's part of the technique to start from the beginning again and again.

Continue with constant awareness of mental breathing and alternate nostrils with counting.

Now release mental breathing and awaken the feeling of heaviness in the body.

The feeling of heaviness.

Become aware of heaviness in every single part of the body.

You're feeling so heavy that you're sinking into the floor.

Awareness of heaviness.

Awareness of heaviness.

And now awaken the feeling of lightness.

Awaken the feeling of lightness.

A sensation of lightness and weightlessness in all parts of the body.

Your body feels so light that it seems to be floating away from the floor.

Awareness of lightness.

And now the experience of cold.

Awaken the experience of bitter cold in the body.

Imagine that you're walking on a cold floor in winter.

Your feet are very cold and you feel cold all over.

Awareness of coldness.

Awareness of coldness.

And now the experience of heat.

Awaken the sensation of heat.

The whole body is hot.

The whole body is hot and you feel hot all over.

Recollect the feeling of heat in summer when you're out in the sun with no shade.

There's heat all over the body,

Heat all around your body.

Awareness of heat.

And now the experience of pain.

Try and remember the experience of pain.

Any pain that you've experienced in your life,

Mental or physical.

Recollect the feeling of pain.

And now recollect the feeling of pleasure.

Any kind of pleasure,

Physical or mental.

Recollect this feeling and relive it,

Make it vivid.

Awaken the feeling of pleasure.

And now withdraw your mind and concentrate on the space you see in front of your closed eyes.

This is the space we call Chirikasha.

So you imagine before you a transparent screen through which you can see infinite space.

A space that extends as far as the eyes can see.

And now concentrate on this dark warm space with detached awareness.

And now imagine that it's very early in the morning.

It's still dark.

And you're walking through hills,

Climbing up towards the mountains and you're alone.

You're walking east and if you look back you can see a crescent shaped moon low in the sky.

Soon the sun will rise over the mountains ahead of you.

Far below in a valley,

The lights of a small town twinkle through an early morning mist.

The track twists back and forth on the side of a steep slope.

It winds between huge boulders and over bridges suspended across deep crevasses.

A gap between two hills gives a glimpse of a huge snow covered mountain ahead.

The pale sky behind it heralds the dawn.

You climb up through the snow and it makes a crunching sound as you break the surface and sink in.

A glacier lies across your path.

There are creeks and groans of moving ice as you quickly move across.

Near the top of the mountain it becomes very cold.

Winds howl around your body and snatch at your clothes.

Snow and ice cling to your shoes.

You reach the top in a magnificent scene of snow covered peaks and dark valleys.

To the west hills to rolling plains in the sea.

Intensify your imagination and visualize the scene.

You see the sun rise like a golden ball in the east,

Scattering rays of golden light off snow and dazzles your eyes.

Sweep your eyes across the sky.

To the west it's still gray and above you blue.

In the east a delicate pink as it nears the sun.

You watch the sunlight strike the tops of the mountains and move down their sides.

Deep valleys emerge as the shadows retreat.

You sit,

Legs crossed,

And contemplate this beautiful grand scene,

The dawn of a new day.

Let yourself experience this for some time.

Let your mind flow freely with this experience.

Let yourself experience this beautiful grand scene,

The dawn of a new day.

Let yourself experience this beautiful grand scene,

The dawn of a new day.

Let yourself experience this beautiful grand scene,

The dawn of a new day.

Let yourself experience this beautiful grand scene,

The dawn of a new day.

And now bring your awareness back to Chidikasha.

Bring your awareness to the dark space you see in front of your closed eyes.

This space can also be visualized in front of your forehead.

So if you want to explore it a little,

You can shift your gaze slightly upwards,

But don't strain.

And watch the darkness that you see before you very carefully,

With detachment,

Without becoming involved.

Rest your mind in the warm and friendly darkness.

And if any subtle phenomena manifests,

Such as colors or patterns,

Simply take note of these and continue with your awareness.

If thoughts occur,

Let them come and go.

And continue watching the dark warm space.

Continue with detached awareness.

Now become aware of your breathing.

Become aware of your natural breathing.

Develop awareness of your physical existence.

Become aware of your arms and legs and your body lying stretched out on the floor.

Start moving your body and stretching yourself.

Please take your time.

No hurry.

And when you're sure that you're wide awake,

Roll to your right side and take rest here.

The practice of Yoga Nedra is now complete.