Journey Of The Self With Yoga Nidra
Professional Image of Zangden Lhamo meditating. The deep introspection and inner awareness of the body and its functions is prevalent in Yoga Nidra. This image was taken at North Burleigh Beach, Gold Coast Australia. Photographed in July 2021.
Transcript
So we're about to practice Yoga Nidra.
Finding a comfortable position lying on your back.
Either on the floor or on your bed.
Ensuring that your back is nice and straight.
And just looking down the body to ensure that your legs,
Abdomen and head are all in a nice line.
And now laying back,
Closing down your eyes.
Rest your arms down by your sides with palms facing up in an attitude of giving and receiving.
And taking a few nice long,
Slow,
Deep breaths.
Breathing in through the nostrils,
Down into the abdomen.
Feel it rising up into the chest.
Chest expanding,
Collarbones widening.
And when you're filled with breath,
Very slowly exhaling.
Allowing the breath to pull forth.
And when you're empty of breath,
Taking another nice long,
Slow,
Deep inhale.
Deep into the abdomen.
Filling with breath up into the lungs,
Into the throat.
And then a long,
Slow exhale.
And just doing a few more of these at your own pace.
Now becoming very aware of your body on the mat.
And feeling the connection of your body to the surface you're lying on.
That thin layer of connection where your body is touching.
Feel it.
Be aware of it.
And then noticing spaces where your body does not touch.
Be aware of it.
And allowing yourself to experience the sensation of the air around you as it touches your skin.
Feeling the air touching your skin.
Be aware of it.
And noticing your clothing as it touches your skin and the different textures.
Being aware of the different textures of your clothing as it touches your skin.
Now we're going to say a sankalpa.
A sankalpa is a resolution,
A resolve.
It's something of a positive nature.
It may be for healing.
It may be for manifestation.
It may be for overcoming a habit or an addiction.
It may be for yourself or somebody else.
Say your sankalpa three times now to yourself.
Now we're going to do what's called the body rotation.
And I'm going to name the body parts and you will follow with your awareness for where attention goes,
Energy flows.
And we'll move in fairly quick succession around the body.
Bringing your awareness first to your right hand thumb.
First finger.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
The palm of your hand.
The back of your hand.
Your wrist.
Lower arm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Arm pit.
Right side of the waist.
Hip.
Thighs.
Knee.
Shin and calf.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole of the foot.
Top of the foot.
Big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
And fifth toe.
Now bringing your attention to your left hand thumb.
First finger.
Second finger.
Third finger.
And fourth finger.
The palm of your hand.
The back of your hand.
Your wrist.
Lower arm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Shoulder.
Arm pit.
Left side of the waist.
Hip.
Thighs.
Knee.
Shin and calf.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole of the foot.
Top of the foot.
Big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
And fifth toe.
Now bringing your attention to your right buttock.
Left buttock.
Lower back.
Middle back.
And upper back.
The whole spinal cord.
Awareness of the whole spinal cord.
The whole spinal cord.
The back of your neck.
The back of your skull.
And the top of your skull.
Your forehead.
Broad and wide.
Right temple.
Left temple.
Right eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
And the eyebrow center.
Feel the eyebrow center.
The eyebrow center.
Right eye.
Left eye.
Right ear.
Left ear.
Right cheek.
Left cheek.
Bridge of the nose and the nose tip.
Right nostril and left nostril.
Upper lip.
Lower lip.
And the meeting place between the lips.
The connection.
Your throat and throat pit.
Right collarbone.
Left collarbone.
Right side of the chest.
Left side of the chest.
And the center of the chest.
Feel the center of the chest.
The center of the chest.
Upper abdomen.
Navel.
Lower abdomen.
Pelvis.
Now let's go inside.
Right side of the brain.
Left side of the brain.
The whole of the brain all at once.
The whole of the brain.
The whole of the brain.
Your eyeballs floating in their sockets.
Your sinus cavities.
Your teeth.
Tongue.
Upper palate.
Lower palate.
Your larynx inside of your throat.
Your trachea going down into the lungs.
Your right lung and your left lung.
Feel your lungs expanding and contracting with the breath.
Feel your lungs.
Your heart.
Your precious human heart.
Feel it.
Feel it beating.
Feel it beating.
Your stomach.
Your spleen.
Pancreas and liver.
Kidneys at the back.
Your upper bowel.
Lower bowel.
And your genitals.
Source of all human creation.
Now whole body parts.
Your whole right arm and leg.
Your whole right arm and leg.
The whole right side of your body.
The whole right side of your body.
Left arm and left leg.
Left arm and left leg.
The whole left side of your body.
The whole left side of your body.
The backs of your legs.
Buttocks.
The whole of your spine.
And the back of your skull.
The whole back of your body.
The whole back of your body.
The fronts of your legs.
Abdomen,
Chest and face.
The whole front of your body.
The whole front of your body.
Now experiencing the whole of your body.
All at once.
Awareness of your whole body.
All at once.
Your whole body.
Now bringing your attention to the area around your navel.
Focusing on your navel.
And just imagining that you can breathe through your navel.
And we're going to count back at the navel.
From the number 36.
Counting back with your breaths from the number 36.
Breathing in,
36.
Exhaling,
36.
Inhaling,
35.
Exhaling,
35.
Counting back at your own pace.
If you lose count,
Just start again.
Releasing the breath.
Exhaling the count at the navel.
And bringing your awareness now to the area between your eyebrows.
Your eyebrow centre.
Commonly known as the third eye,
Arjuna Chakra.
And we're going to repeat the same practice here.
Counting back from the number 36.
Inhaling 36.
Exhaling 36.
Inhaling 35.
Exhaling 35.
Counting back at your own pace.
If you lose count,
Just start again.
Inhaling,
35.
Exhaling,
36.
Inhaling,
35.
Now releasing the breath at the eyebrow centre.
And bringing awareness to your body once again.
And feeling sensations as if you're lying on a block of ice.
Sensations of your body as you're lying on a block of ice.
And feeling the cold from the ice penetrating into your body.
Feeling the cold penetrating into your body.
Your whole body is feeling cold.
Cold through every cell of your body.
Cold from the ice through every cell of your body.
Feel this cold.
So cold.
Now experiencing your body lying out in the midday sun.
The sun is shining down on your body and the warmth of the sun is penetrating into your body.
Feeling the warmth of the sun penetrating into every cell of your body.
Feeling it getting warmer and warmer.
This heat becoming hot in your body.
Feeling the heat of the sun throughout your whole body.
Feeling so hot.
So hot the heat from the sun.
Now feeling your body is heavy as you lay there.
So heavy.
Like you're made of a heavy substance.
A heavy metal like lead.
And you're weighted down.
So heavy you feel that you're sinking in to the floor.
The weight of your body is so heavy.
Feel this throughout your whole body.
So heavy.
Now your body is getting lighter and lighter.
Feeling this lightness through your whole body as if your body is made of a light substance like cotton.
Weightless.
So light that the air just passes right through you.
You're so light the air just passes right through you.
So light.
So light you feel you could almost lift off the mat.
Feel this.
Now thinking of something that has given you so much joy.
So much happiness.
Bring this to mind and see it there in front of you.
Whether it's a person,
A place,
An occurrence,
An object.
See it in front of you and feel this joy rising up in you.
Feel this joy.
See it.
Feel it.
Feel this joy.
Now thinking of something that has brought you sadness.
Visualising this in front of you,
Whatever it may be.
An event,
A person,
A place.
Allow yourself to feel this sadness through every cell of your body.
Feel this.
Experience this sadness.
Now releasing the sensations of opposites.
Releasing the emotions,
They're just an emotion.
Releasing it and bringing your attention now to the screen of the mind,
To the cash that lies behind the forehead and the eyebrows.
Now just imagining that you're in a movie theatre,
You're seated back in a comfortable chair and you're watching the screen.
And as I say the following images,
You project them up onto the screen.
See a blue sky with white fluffy clouds.
A blue sky with white fluffy clouds.
A forest with tall trees.
A forest with tall trees.
A field of sunflowers.
A field of sunflowers.
Waves crashing on a deserted beach.
Waves crashing on a deserted beach.
Birds flying across a sunset.
Birds flying across a sunset.
A crescent moon at night.
A crescent moon at night.
A bonfire on a beach.
A bonfire on a beach.
A vast desert.
A vast desert.
Raindrops.
Raindrops.
A candle in a cave.
A candle in a cave.
Now just keep watching the space of the mind to the gush with the attitude of a witness.
Allow thoughts,
Feelings,
Sensations to arise and then let them go.
Now slowly bringing your awareness back to your sankalpa.
Your resolution that you made at the start of the practice.
And say mentally to yourself three times,
Now your sankalpa.
The practice of your ganidra is now at an end.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
Hari Om Tat Sat Sat.
Hari Om Tat Sat Sat Sat.
Hari Om Tat Sat Sat.
