Yoga Nidra For Self-Development & Awareness - Seeds
Yoga Nidra is the science of complete relaxation. Including body awareness, bodily sensations, and visualizations. The brain reaches a delta state, which lies between sleep and awakening. On a basic level, Nidra is a comprehensive method for maximizing health and well-being. It is particularly beneficial for releasing stress and improving sleep. On a deeper level, it is a profoundly spiritual practice and somewhere in between, the most profound and accessible way to reshape the unconscious.
Transcript
Welcome to Yoga Nidra.
Take the time to make your way to Shavasana and get ready for the practice.
Lie down on your back,
The body straight from the head to the toes,
Legs slightly apart and the arms slightly away from the body with the palms of the hands facing up.
Feel free to use a blanket to feel warm during the practice and use cushion to place underneath your knees or underneath your head.
Now close your eyes and keep them strictly closed until you are invited to open them.
Take a deep breath and as you breathe out feel all the tensions flowing out of you.
With your next inhalation,
Develop the feeling of relaxation in the body.
You don't have to do any movement,
Just developing the feeling of relaxation.
Let this feeling unfold and welcome any sensation in the body associated with this feeling.
Yoga Nidra is a guided meditation.
Allow my voice to guide you throughout the practice.
You will experience alternating awareness,
Breathing and visualization exercises.
The whole session is conducted under the yoga of Asankalpa,
An intention that you will formulate for yourself.
During Yoga Nidra,
The brain reaches a delta level.
You will step down into the internal dimensions of your consciousness.
It is then possible to connect with the subconscious for countless benefits.
Don't try to understand everything or intellectualize it.
Just use the sound of my voice.
If you feel asleep during the practice,
Don't worry.
Your brain is still listening and it is maybe what the body and the mind need at this moment.
Now get ready.
Eyes closed and the body still.
The sound of your breath is slow.
Your body enters a state of relaxation.
Now repeat mentally with your inner voice.
I am going to practice Yoga Nidra.
I am awake and relaxed.
The whole atmosphere is charged of one energy,
A powerful vibration.
In this atmosphere,
You are lying on your back.
At this point,
You will bring to your mind Asankalpa.
Asankalpa is a resolution,
An intention.
It is a positive and simple intention that you bring for you.
If you have one specific intention for you already in your mind or in your heart,
You can formulate it now mentally.
If not,
You may make the intention to deeply relax through this experience,
Welcoming any sensation as it is.
Formulate Asankalpa of your own now and repeat it clearly three times with your inner voice to remember it.
The Asankalpa you make during Yoga Nidra plants a seed in the fertile soil of your mind.
It is said that the Asankalpa is meant to manifest in your life.
You are now going to focus on yourself,
Bringing attention to your own body.
Bring your attention to each part of the body that I will name,
One after the other.
Become aware of your right hand thumb and mentally say,
Right hand thumb.
No movement is required.
Only direct your attention to it.
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Right wrist,
Forearm,
Right elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Right side of the ribcage,
Waist,
Hip,
Right thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Right ankle,
Heel,
Top of the right foot,
Sole of the foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Now go to your left side.
Become aware of your left hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Left wrist,
Forearm,
Left elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left side of the ribcage,
Waist,
Left thigh,
Knee,
Left lower leg,
Left ankle,
Heel,
Top of the left foot,
Sole of the foot,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Now go to the back of the body,
Back of the head,
Back of the neck,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
Right part of the bottom,
Left part of the bottom,
Right hamstring,
Left hamstring,
Right calf muscle,
Left calf muscle,
Right heel,
Left heel.
Now the front of the body,
The crown,
The forehead,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Middle of the eyebrows,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Whole nose,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Both lips together,
Chin,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Right side of the chest,
Left side of the chest,
Middle of the chest,
Navel,
Upper abdomen,
Lower abdomen,
Right leg,
Left leg,
Right arm,
Left arm,
The whole of the head,
The whole body,
The whole body,
The whole body.
Become aware of the body lying on the floor in a surrender position.
Feel the points of contact of the body and the floor,
Both heels touching the floor,
The bottom,
The back,
The shoulders in contact with the floor,
The back of the head is in contact with the cushion or the mat underneath you.
Imagine the meeting point of the body and the floor.
Become aware of the whole body perfectly still on the floor.
Become aware of the breath.
Follow the flow of your breath in and out of the lungs.
The breathing is natural,
Rhythmical,
Automatic.
Maintain this awareness of the breath.
Focus on the movement of the navel,
This movement generated by the breath while inhaling and exhaling,
The navel rising up as you breathe in and going down as you breathe out.
With each and every breath,
The abdomen expands and contracts.
Concentrate on this movement synchronized with the breath.
Now direct your attention to the movement of your chest.
Follow each inhale and each exhale,
Noticing the chest rising up and going down.
Now guided by your imagination,
Find a feeling of heaviness in the body.
Feel the heaviness.
Feel each part of the body from the toes to the top of the head become heavy.
The body is so heavy that it is sinking into the floor.
Find that awareness.
Feel the heaviness.
Now become aware of the lightness in the body.
Awaken that lightness in each part of the body from the top of the head to the tips of the toes.
Each part of the body is light and weightless.
The body becomes so light that it might float off the floor.
Be aware of this lightness.
Feel this lightness.
Stay here for a moment and gradually start to relax.
Now recollect the experience of anxiety,
Intense anxiety and worry.
Feel that stress in the mind and the body,
But do not concentrate on its source.
Create the experience of anxiety as clearly as possible.
Feel all sensations in the body,
In the chest,
In the heart,
In the mind,
In the breath,
In the muscles.
Notice how anxiety manifests itself in your body.
Now allow the feeling of complete calm to envelop you.
Embrace the experience of calm in the entire mind,
Body and emotions.
Stillness in the heart,
In the mind.
Sensations of calm in the limbs.
Stillness in the breath.
You are relaxed and aware.
You are completely calm.
The whole body is calm.
The whole body is completely calm.
Now visualize beautiful rice fields in a soothing place,
All green.
The shades of green are so bright that you can't stop looking at the beauty of this landscape.
You are walking through a small path going through the rice fields and you can hear the sound of the wind playing with the leaves.
You feel the wind on your skin.
Every step you make brings you an intense feeling of gratitude and nourishes your soul deeply.
You can eventually smell the nature all around you.
The smell of the earth,
Of the air.
While you are walking,
You find a small cup on the ground.
The cup is full of seeds.
Seeds of different shapes and colors.
There is a scripture on the cup.
You can read,
These are the seeds of life.
As soon as you read this scripture,
You can feel the power of these seeds.
You can clearly see the seeds of peace,
Health,
Prosperity,
The seeds of abundance,
Honesty,
Kindness,
Humility,
The seeds of patience,
Courage,
Love,
As well as many others.
You grab the cup from the ground and continue to walk until you find a small area of ground without any vegetation.
You can notice that the soil is rich and it is the perfect place to plant the seeds.
With the seeds in your hand,
You carefully start to plant them one by one in the ground.
You feel a deep connection with these seeds,
Mindfully planted one by one by your hands.
Immediately,
The seeds are growing up and high.
Some leaves and flowers are starting to appear.
Flowers of different shapes and colors.
Beautiful flowers,
Beautiful colors,
Beautiful shapes.
You watch them grow,
Knowing that you are connected to these virtues of life.
You stay here,
Watching them in the middle of this beautiful landscape,
And you sit down for a moment,
Closing the eyes in a meditative state.
You want to remember this special moment where you are fully aware of your connection with the nature.
Now it is the time to remember your Sankalpa,
Your resolve.
Please repeat mentally the same Sankalpa that you've made at the beginning of the practice.
Bring it to your mind exactly as it was,
And repeat it three times with full awareness and confidence.
Come back to the feeling of your breath flowing in and out of the nostrils.
Maintain your awareness of the breath,
And at the same time,
Develop the awareness of your physical body,
The body relaxed on the floor.
Feel the container of your skin and the clothes and props that are touching you.
Notice the heaviness of the body as it rests on the floor,
And take your awareness into all the points that are touching the floor.
The back of your heels,
Thighs,
Buttocks,
Shoulder blades,
Arms,
Hands,
And head.
Do not open your eyes yet,
But visualize the surrounding room.
Imagine where you are in the room,
And visualize the other objects that are around you.
Lie quietly until you feel ready to move.
Start by slowly moving your hands and feet.
Take your time,
There is no hurry.
Slowly stretch your arms over your head,
Giving the body a nice stretch from the fingers to the toes,
And slowly form a ball by bringing the knees toward the chest,
Interlacing the arms around,
And sliding to one side in a fetal position.
Reconnecting with yourself,
Reconnecting with the sounds around you,
And slowly making your way to a sitting position.
Slowly starting to blink your eyes open,
Allowing the light to enter.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
