40-Minute Yoga Nidra ~ Each Breath An Invitation To Remember

Welcome,

I'm Jocelyn.

This is a yoga nidra.

Yoga nidra is an effortless practice.

If you could find yourself into a place where your body feels as effortless as can be,

This might mean that you put a pillow under your knees or your head or your ankles.

If you don't have pillows you might use rolled up towels,

You might use folded blankets,

But just offering your body the chance to be held so your body can be as effortless as possible.

I invite you to close down your eyes and bring your awareness inward as we inhale through our nose,

Exhale through the mouth,

Inhale through the nose,

Exhale through the mouth.

In your own time and place,

Inhaling through your nose and on the exhale allowing your body to lean into that effortlessness and to release back and down,

To let go and surrender.

Inhaling through your nose,

Exhaling through your mouth,

Letting go and surrendering.

Breathing in your own time at your own pace,

Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth.

Inhaling through the nose,

Exhaling through the mouth.

And releasing that.

In a yoga nidra we work with a sankalpa and a sankalpa is a heart's intention,

It's your true north,

Your heart's desire.

A sankalpa usually begins with an I am statement and you might be already working on a sankalpa or you might want to simply be present with your heart and see what it's calling for today.

You might also want to use I am present with my body and my heart or I am trusting my body and my heart or I am present with my true self.

When working with a sankalpa,

You repeat it three times silently to yourself.

So inhaling and repeating your sankalpa silently three times.

I'm going to walk you through a rotation of consciousness and you can allow my voice to guide your awareness across the body.

You might imagine your awareness watercolor paint on a paintbrush and when it touches down on the paper,

The way the watercolor spreads gently,

Easefully and effortlessly across the paper's surface.

Imagining your awareness doing the same.

Gently and effortlessly spreading across the surface of your body in that area.

You might even choose a color for yourself as we enter into this rotation of consciousness.

Beginning with the top of the head,

Imagining your attention like watercolor laid gently on a piece of paper.

A piece of paper.

Your awareness gently and effortlessly expanding,

Spreading across the surface of the top of your head.

The center of the forehead,

The mind's eye.

That effortless spreading of your awareness across the center of the forehead.

The bridge of the nose,

Tip of the nose,

The nostrils,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Lower lip,

Chin,

Center of the throat.

Your awareness like that watercolor spreading across the center of the throat,

Back of the tongue,

Tip of the tongue,

Inside of the right cheek,

Inside of the left cheek,

Roof of the mouth,

The teeth,

Right cheek,

Right cheekbone,

Right temple,

Eyebrow,

Right eye,

Globe of the eye.

All the little muscles behind the right eye,

Your awareness spreading across all the little muscles of the right eye,

Right ear,

Lobe of the ear,

Inside of the right ear,

Inside of the right ear,

The inner ear,

The space between the ears,

The muscle of the mind,

Your awareness spreading gently and effortlessly across the muscle of the mind like watercolor gently laid on paper,

The left inner ear,

Inside of the left ear,

Lobe of the ear,

The left ear,

All the little muscles behind the left eye,

Your awareness effortlessly,

Globe of the eye,

The left eye,

Left eyebrow,

Temple,

Cheekbone,

The jaw,

Back of the head,

Your awareness spreading effortlessly across the back of the head,

Back of the neck,

Neck,

Right shoulder blade,

Right back ribs,

Right shoulder,

Upper arm,

Elbow,

Forearm,

Inside of the right wrist,

Palm of the hand,

All five fingertips of the right hand,

Back of the hand,

Forehead,

Crease of the elbow,

Armpit,

Clavicle,

Center of the chest,

Left back ribs,

Shoulder blade,

Left shoulder,

Upper arm,

Elbow,

Forearm,

Inside of the left wrist,

Palm of the hand,

Your awareness effortlessly spreading across the palm of your hand,

Like watercolor,

Across a page,

All five fingertips of the left hand,

Back of the hand,

Crease of the elbow,

Left armpit,

Center of the chest,

The heart space,

Effortless awareness spreading across the heart space,

Like watercolor across a paper surface,

The front ribs,

Solar plexus,

Belly,

Lower belly,

Pelvic bowl,

Lower spine,

Tailbone,

Right hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Inside of the right ankle,

Bottom of the right foot,

All five toes of the right foot,

Your awareness spreading effortlessly,

Like watercolor across a paper surface,

Top of the foot,

Knee,

Hip crease,

Tailbone,

Pelvic bowl,

Left hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Inside of the left ankle,

Top of the left foot,

All five toes of the left foot,

Bottom of the foot,

Ankle,

Knee,

Left hip crease,

The pelvic bowl,

A heart space,

The whole right side of the body,

Your awareness spreading effortlessly,

Like watercolor across a page,

On the whole right side of the body,

The whole left side of the body,

Awareness effortlessly spreading across the whole left side of the body,

The whole back side of the body,

The whole front side of the body,

Effortless awareness spreading across the whole front side of the body,

The whole body,

The whole body,

Your awareness effortlessly spreading across the whole body,

Might I invite you now to bring that effortless awareness to your breath,

Just allowing your awareness to spread across each inhale and exhale,

As your body breathes you,

Just noticing with a subtle awareness each time your body inhales and exhales,

Knowing that there's an intuitive knowledge and knowing of what your body needs with each breath,

Just allowing your awareness to spread across each inhale and each exhale,

Not trying to manipulate it,

Not trying to deepen it,

Just allowing your awareness to spread across each inhale and exhale,

And might you imagine for a minute that each inhale is birthed from the heart space,

As you inhale,

It starts at the very center of the heart space and expands out,

Forward,

Back,

Right,

Left,

Expanding into other areas of your body,

And as you exhale,

That breath simply recedes back to that center point of your heart center,

Just imagining that your breath is born in the very center point of your heart space,

And as you inhale,

It spreads across the heart space,

Front,

Back,

Right,

Left,

Spreading across your chest on each inhale,

And on each exhale,

That breath recedes back to that center point of the heart space,

Just bringing your awareness to this inhale and exhale being birthed in the center of the heart space,

One of my favorite quotes I heard recently having to do with the breath was that we inhale to remember and we exhale to forget,

That is so profound,

We inhale to remember and we exhale to forget,

Which means in the present moment we are always birthing our existence over and over again,

There is so much hope in that,

So while you are witnessing and allowing your awareness to spread across your breath,

Being birthed from the heart center,

Might you imagine on your inhale what it feels like to remember,

And might you imagine on your exhale what it feels like to forget,

Imagining what it feels like to remember on each inhale,

To remember who you are,

Your strengths,

The depths of your heart,

Your victories,

Your vulnerabilities,

What it feels like to remember who you are and where you came from,

And on each exhale,

What does it feel like to forget,

To let go,

To surrender,

What does it feel like to allow yourself a blank page,

On each exhale,

What does it feel like to forget,

And just leaving your awareness on your breath,

Letting it spread across the inhale,

Remembering,

Remembering,

And letting your awareness spread across the exhale,

Your forgetting,

Gently let go of that,

And simply allow your awareness to settle on the places in your body that remember,

Are there places in your body that hold on to who you are,

Are there places in your body that hold on to where you came from,

I invite you to bring your awareness to these places,

That hold who you are and where you came from,

That remind you of your vulnerabilities,

Your joy,

Even your heartache,

Where in your body do you remember,

Allow your awareness to spread across these parts of your body,

And might you now place your awareness on the places in the body where you let go,

Where you surrender,

Where you forget where you're born again,

Where in your body do you surrender to the moment,

Where you forget what came before,

Where you spark new life,

Allow your awareness to gently spread over these areas of your body,

Where you forget,

Where you have a blank check to be whoever you want to be,

And might you bring your awareness back to those places in your body that remember,

That hold who you are,

Where you came from,

Will hold the memories,

The pieces of you,

And might you bring your attention and awareness back across the parts of your body that have forgotten,

That are that blank check to whatever you want,

Bring your awareness back to the parts of your body that surrender,

That let go,

That do not answer to the past,

The parts of your body that forget,

And might you bring your awareness now to both places,

The places that remember and the places that forget,

There is something so beautiful in this dance between this present awareness,

This infinite cycle,

Can you bring your awareness to both the places in your body that you remember,

That you know,

And the places that you surrender and let go,

What a beautiful dance,

And you can let that go,

A string of lights,

A circuit,

The roots of a tree deep in the soil of the earth,

And the dried leaves atop the ground,

An infinity symbol,

An ancient book,

And a brand new journal,

The eyes of an elder,

The laugh of a newborn child,

A single seed in the palm of a hand,

A gentle rainfall,

A sunny day,

And kind words being whispered,

I'm going to stay quiet for a minute,

And slowly bringing your awareness back to the breath,

Back to your inhale and your exhale,

Just being aware of how your inhale spreads across your body,

And how your exhale recedes back to its center of that breath,

You might want to gently deepen your breath,

Allowing your breath to settle in your lower belly,

And rise up from there,

And you may want to make your exhale a little bit longer than your inhale,

You can inhale 2,

3,

4,

Exhale 2,

3,

4,

5,

6,

Inhale 2,

3,

4,

Exhale 2,

3,

4,

5,

6,

Inhale 2,

3,

4,

Exhale 2,

3,

4,

5,

6,

Letting that go,

Just taking a nice deep inhale in through the nose,

Opening your mouth and sighing it out,

And one last time inhaling through your nose,

Exhaling through your mouth and giving it some sound if you feel like it,

Just feeling that vibration in your throat and around your mouth,

And you might want to wiggle your hands,

Your fingers,

You might want to shimmy your shoulders a little bit,

Or roll your feet around your ankles,

You might want to take a nice deep body stretch,

Fluttering your eyes open when you're ready,

And coming up to a seated position if that feels good,

But you can stay where you are as well,

Just placing a hand over your heart,

Just recognizing the heart,

Recognizing that dance between remembering and forgetting,

That dance of breath that happens right in the heart space,

Being grateful for the opportunity to birth ourselves in each breath.

Thank you so much for coming along.

Namaste,

My friends.