Yoga Nidra: The View From Mindspace

This is a yoga nidra – the sleep of the yogis – in which we settle the body, breath, and mind into a state of deep relaxation, before moving into the boundless space of open awareness. It includes a powerful visualization technique that takes our awareness into the furthest reaches of the universe for a wider perspective on everything. It's a profoundly relaxing practice that can carry you towards full sleep... or leave you feeling revived depending on your needs.

Transcript

Really actively begin relaxing yourself.

So take the time now.

As we settle into the practice of Yoga Nidra,

The most important thing is to be as relaxed as you possibly can.

The traditional posture for Yoga Nidra is Shavasana.

So lying on your back with your legs extended out on the ground in front of you,

The feet a little bit apart,

The arms lying on the ground either side of your body,

Palms facing up.

But if that's not comfortable,

Please do feel free to take pretty much any position that you can be comfortable in.

A good option is feet on the floor,

Knees bent,

Knees pointing up towards the ceiling,

Constructive rest position.

This is a nice alternative.

I mean,

Even you could do,

You can do Yoga Nidra sitting in some way on a chair.

But if you're up for doing it classical style,

Get yourself as relaxed as you can in Shavasana,

Your legs out in front of you.

Make any small movements that you feel could help you become just 1% more comfortable.

Allow that.

If you need to make any small wriggles,

Let it happen.

There's a gentle kind of intention through the practice of Yoga Nidra to be still throughout the practice.

So right at the beginning,

It can be useful to get a few movements out.

And that said,

Even if in the depth of the practice you need to move,

Of course you move.

It's a very,

Very gentle intention to be still.

If you are happy to close your eyes,

Let your eyes close now.

If you aren't going to close your eyes,

A very soft gaze.

Closing the eyes,

Letting the body relax a little bit more.

Is there anything you can do to become just a tiny bit more relaxed?

Let's take two or three big breaths.

So really filling up on the inhale and then extending your exhale.

Letting your exhale take as long as you can draw it out for.

Just two or three big breaths like that.

Big inhale,

Fill it up,

And then really long,

Slow exhales.

And then letting your breath settle into its own relaxed,

Natural rhythm.

Let's notice the points of contact between the body and the ground.

So become aware of the back of your head and the ground beneath it.

And become aware of whatever it is that's between your head and the ground beneath it.

Become aware of your back on the ground.

Become aware of the ground beneath your back and whatever it is that's between your back and the ground.

The arms on the ground,

The hands,

Sacrum,

Buttocks,

The legs,

The feet or the heels.

Just feel the contact that the body is making with the ground right now and that the ground is making with the body.

And just contemplate for a very brief moment.

Can you determine precisely where your body ends and the ground begins?

Or where the ground ends and your body begins?

That is a matter of direct felt experience,

Not intellectual analysis.

Now let your awareness range wide and listen to sound for a short while.

Wherever you hear sound,

Far away,

Nearby,

Wherever,

Just listen to sound.

Allow your awareness to move from one sound to another.

Not analysing the sound,

Not judging it.

Simply noticing the raw energy of sound.

And slowly start bringing your awareness back in now towards your body.

Bring your awareness back into your body and form an impression of the space around you without opening your eyes.

Just some awareness.

However it works for you.

I'd be visualising,

Whatever,

But just be aware of the space you're in.

The ceiling above you,

The walls around you,

The ground beneath you and your body lying in this space.

Now's the time to set a sankalpa or a resolve,

If you'd like to do that.

A sankalpa is an expression of your deepest desire for the best you,

For whatever you most want to embody,

Your deepest expression of your values.

You may have something that you're working with and if you don't have something,

Immediately just lie still and see if anything comes up to you as you contemplate it.

But if you have something,

This is the time to express it.

And examples of a sankalpa might be,

I'm confident,

I'm calm,

I'm full of love.

Whatever your deepest desire is for embodying your best you.

And if you have something like that,

You just repeat it to yourself three times.

Short,

Simple,

Handful of words.

Repeat it three times to yourself.

We'll now rotate awareness through the whole body.

I'll name various parts of the body in reasonably quick succession and you simply allow your awareness to move from one part to the next.

You just follow the words,

Let your awareness move from one part of the body to the next.

If that helps you to name the part yourself,

Do.

Otherwise,

Just letting awareness move freely.

So starting off by bringing your attention to the right side,

To the thumb of the right hand.

Thumb of the right hand,

Forefinger,

Middle finger,

The ring finger,

The little finger,

The palm of the right hand,

The back of the hand,

The wrist,

The forearm,

The elbow,

The upper arm,

The shoulder,

The armpit,

Right side of the body from armpit to waist,

Right side of the body.

The right hip,

The right thigh,

Front of the thigh,

Back of the thigh,

Both sides of the thigh.

The kneecap,

The back of the knee,

The calf,

The shin,

The ankle,

The heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Little toe.

Moving to the left side,

Coming to the left thumb.

The left thumb,

Move your awareness.

Left forefinger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Palm of the left hand,

Back of the hand,

The wrist,

The forearm,

The elbow,

The upper arm,

The shoulder,

The armpit,

The left side of the body from armpit to waist,

Left side of the body.

The left hip,

The left thigh,

Front of thigh,

Back of thigh,

Both sides of the thigh.

The kneecap,

The back of the knee,

The calf,

The shin,

The ankle,

The heel,

Sole of the left foot,

Top of the foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

I'm gonna move back up the legs now,

Switching from one side to the other.

So move your awareness to all the toes of the right foot,

All the toes of the left foot,

The top of the right foot,

Top of the left foot,

Sole of the right foot,

Sole of the left foot,

Heel of the right foot,

Heel of the left foot,

Right ankle,

Left ankle,

Right lower leg,

Left lower leg,

Right knee,

Left knee,

Right thigh,

Left thigh,

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

Both buttocks together,

Move your awareness to the lower back,

The middle of the back,

The upper back,

The right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

The spine running from the bottom of the head all the way down to the pelvis,

Right side of the body,

Left side of the body.

Move your awareness now to the back of the neck,

Back of the head,

Crown of the head,

The forehead,

The right temple,

The left temple,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

The space between the eyebrows,

The right eyelid,

The left eyelid,

The right eye,

The left eye,

Right eye socket,

Left eye socket,

Right ear,

Inside of the right ear,

Left ear,

Inside of the left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Bridge of the nose,

Tip of the nose,

The right nostril,

The left nostril,

Top lip,

Lower lip,

Space between the lips,

Top row of teeth,

Bottom row of teeth,

Roof of the mouth,

Floor of the mouth,

The tongue,

Front of the throat,

Side of the neck,

Both sides of the neck,

The notch at the base of the throat between the collarbones,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

The breastbone,

The sternum in the middle,

Front right ribcage,

Front left ribcage,

Abdomen between ribcage and navel,

Abdomen between navel and the bottom of the pelvis.

We'll go through bigger parts of the body now,

So moving awareness to the right arm,

The left arm,

Both arms together,

The right leg and the left leg,

Both legs together,

The whole back of the body,

The whole front of the body,

The head,

The whole body together.

Bring your awareness to the whole body,

The whole body together.

Spend some time now noticing the breath closely.

So we're going to notice each inhale coming in and each exhale going out.

Don't need to adjust the breath in any way,

Just allow it to come in its own way.

But making a point of noticing each breath coming in,

Each breath going out,

Covering the breath completely with awareness.

Try counting the breath.

We'll count down from 27.

So for example,

We could go inhaling 27,

Exhaling 27,

In 26,

Out 26,

In 25,

Out 25.

And continue like this,

Just counting down from 27 towards zero.

If you lose your count,

Please don't worry,

Just start again at 27.

Stay with the breath for a little while longer.

Let's leave the counting alone now,

It doesn't matter.

We weren't rushing to get to zero,

So if you haven't got anywhere near zero,

Don't worry,

Just release the counting now and let your breath breathe itself.

Let the breath breathe the body.

No need to do anything with the breath.

Bring your awareness now to the darkness in front of your closed eyes.

The eyes are closed,

But look into the darkness in front of your closed eyes.

Notice its nature.

It's not necessarily pitch dark.

There might be flickering lights,

All sorts of phenomena taking place there,

But simply gaze into that darkness as if into a night sky.

Take a few moments to see if you can determine an end point somewhere in that darkness.

Does that darkness end anywhere?

Are there barriers?

Is there a top or a bottom?

I'm looking to see if you can experience this darkness in front of the closed eyes as wide open space.

The yogis call this cittakasha.

It means mind space,

Or sometimes mind sky.

But gaze into this mind space very softly,

Seeing if you can sense its wide open nature.

As you gaze into this mind space now,

See if you can picture yourself lying in a beautiful garden,

Small,

Beautiful garden.

It's a clearing in a forest.

Lush,

Soft green grass.

You're on your back on a clear day.

There's a small stream flowing through this little clearing in the forest.

It's a beautiful,

Soft green grass.

It's a beautiful garden.

There's flowers everywhere.

Ferns,

Sound of birds,

Trees of the surrounding forest,

Whispering gently in the soft,

Warm breeze.

And the whole place is suffused with an atmosphere of deep,

Deep,

Deep peace and calm.

See yourself there for a few moments.

Feel yourself there,

However it works for you.

Now,

Imagine your awareness is just above your body,

Looking down at your body,

Lying in this beautiful clearing in a forest,

And allow your awareness to start rising upwards,

As if it were a camera rising above you,

Looking down at you.

And as your awareness rises higher and higher,

You see your body getting smaller and smaller,

And your awareness keeps pulling upwards.

And soon,

You see the clearing from above,

And you see the trees,

The forest surrounding the clearing.

And your body's really small now,

From the perspective you are at.

And your awareness keeps rising higher and higher.

And soon,

You're taking in a whole forest,

Surrounding countryside,

Towns,

And your awareness is going higher still.

And you can barely make yourself out now,

Down in this little clearing in the forest.

You are a speck.

And your awareness keeps rising higher and higher,

And you're taking in more and more of the earth beneath you.

You can barely make out the clearing in the forest in which your body is lying.

The clearing,

Too,

Is a dot now.

And you keep going higher and higher with your awareness.

You can barely make out anything other than different colours on the earth beneath you,

As the view from an aeroplane that high up.

And still,

Your awareness is going higher and higher and higher.

And there comes a point where you cross into the darkness of space.

You go through the various stages of the atmosphere,

And soon,

You are in the darkness of space.

And you keep going higher and higher and higher.

You now see the earth as the magnificent blue planet hanging in the darkness of space,

As you keep pulling up and up and up and up,

Further away from our magnificent planet,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep into the darkness of space.

Soon,

That blue planet shrinks down to marble size,

Down to pinprick size,

And you can no longer see it.

And you are just deep in the darkness of space.

Stars around you,

Far from you,

Far out in the depths of space.

Gently bring your awareness back to the darkness in front of your closed eyes as you lie here now.

Noticing the darkness of mind space,

The cittacasa.

As we move towards the end of the practice of Yoga Nidra,

This is the time to repeat your sankalpa,

Your resolve that you made right at the beginning of the practice.

If you made a resolve,

Sankalpa,

Repeat it inside your mind space.

Repeat it inside three times now.

Allow your breath to become a little more audible.

Allow your breath to,

Not forcefully,

But just let your breath,

Take a few breaths that you can hear.

Start bringing some movement into your body.

Might be small wrigglings with the fingers,

The toes.

It might be a bigger stretch.

Whatever your body signals you to do,

Allow that to happen.

Just bringing ourselves back from the depths of the exploration of consciousness,

Becoming fully embodied again,

Feeling the body through small movements,

Bigger movements if you want.

Maybe scrunch up the muscles of the face and soften a few times,

Just scrunch up the face.

Soften a few times.

Whenever you're ready,

Let the eyes gently open,

Let the light back in.

Take a few moments just lying here as we come slowly to the end of the practice of Yoga Nidra.

If you wanted to roll onto one side of your body,

Do that for a few moments.

Just hang out.

When you're ready,

Carefully bringing yourself up to sit for a few moments.

And this brings us to the end of the practice of Yoga Nidra.