50-Minute Yoga Nidra - Grounding Into Joy

Welcome,

I'm Jocelyn.

This is a full yoga nidra through all five subtle selves,

Or koshas,

And it is focusing on grounding into joy.

So just taking a minute to find yourself in a comfortable place,

A place where your body feels supported,

Where you can be as effortless as possible.

That might mean laying down and getting a pillow for under your knees or your head or under your ankles.

It might mean laying back in a lazy chair where you can feel the support beneath your body.

You might want to get a mask for your eyes or a blanket to put over you.

Often when you do a yoga nidra,

Your body temperature lowers,

So making sure that you're warm,

Comfortable,

And supported.

And as you're becoming present in your body,

Just take notice of where your body is touching the surface beneath you.

Just being aware of where you are being supported,

Allowing yourself to be supported,

Easing back into whatever is holding you up,

My friend.

Maybe taking a deep breath in through your nose,

Opening your mouth and sighing it out.

And maybe taking another deep breath through your nose,

Opening your mouth and sighing out.

And one last deep breath,

Inhaling through your nose,

Getting present,

Opening your mouth and sighing out,

Bringing your awareness to your eyes.

Now all the parts of your eyes,

The muscles behind your eyes,

The globes of your eyes,

Your eyelids,

Your eye sockets,

Just bringing your awareness there.

Because as we bring our awareness there,

We naturally begin to rest in that area.

So allowing your eyes to rest back and down.

They don't have anything to do for the duration of this yoga nidra.

Allow them to rest.

And bring your awareness to your ears and your inner ears.

Can you open your inner ears to the sound vibrations all around you on this recording,

In your space,

Outside,

Even in the space within your body?

Might you soften your ears and your inner ears?

And might you bring your awareness to the back of your tongue and your jaw?

For your jaw,

Your back of your tongue.

Might you simply scan your awareness down to the backs of your shoulders?

Laying down the control.

Laying down the pressure.

And simply resting the back of the shoulders along the support that holds them up.

Gently scanning down the spine and the curvature.

All the way down to the lumbar spine,

The lower back,

And the tailbone.

Might you sense what parts of your spine are in contact with the support beneath you?

And might you melt down into that support?

The way water,

When poured on a material,

Spreads out in all directions.

And might you bring your awareness to your hips?

Our hips do so much work for us.

Might you allow them to rest for a short while?

Allowing your body scan to move down the backs of your legs.

Down to the heels of your feet.

And noticing where the backs of your legs and the heels of your feet are supported beneath them.

Allowing them to take a rest,

If only for a short while.

Taking three more deep breaths in through the nose.

Opening your mouth and sighing out.

Feeling your body move against the support.

Inhaling through your nose.

Opening your mouth and sighing out.

Inhaling through your nose one last time.

Opening your mouth and sighing out.

In Yoga Nidra,

We begin our practice with a Sankalpa.

A Sankalpa is a heart's intention.

A true north.

A heart's desire.

And a Sankalpa begins with an I AM statement.

That is stated in a positive way.

You might be working on a Sankalpa already,

If you have a Yoga Nidra practice.

And you are so welcome to use that Sankalpa.

But you might also simply bring your awareness to your heart.

Internally asking,

What is my heart's intention?

Listening closely,

See if any words or phrases come to mind.

You might find a Sankalpa all your own,

Or you might use I am grounding into my joy.

Life with my feet on the ground.

I am whole in my joy.

When we work with a Sankalpa,

We repeat that Sankalpa to ourselves silently on the arc of a breath,

For three separate breaths.

So join me now as we inhale.

And on the exhale,

Slowly saying your Sankalpa to yourself.

More times.

Inhaling.

Releasing that now.

I am going to gently guide your awareness across your body.

Naming different places on your body.

Might you imagine,

As you follow my voice across the landscape of your body,

That at each place I mention,

There is a gentle pressure applied to this place and then lifted.

Almost like a button that releases after it's pressed down.

Might you imagine,

In different areas of your body,

As you're guided with my voice,

That gentle pressure in each place and then the release of that pressure,

Allowing for a greater release and expansion.

The top of the head,

A gentle pressure and release,

Expanding out from the top of the head.

Center of the forehead,

The mind's eye,

A gentle pressure and release,

Expansive.

The bridge of the nose,

The nasal passages,

All of the little muscles behind the right eye,

A gentle pressure and then release into expansiveness.

The globe of the eye,

The eyelid,

The eyebrow,

And right temple,

A gentle pressure and then release into expansion.

The center of the back of the head,

The left temple,

Eyebrow,

The globe of the eye,

And all the little muscles behind the left eye,

A gentle pressure and release into expansiveness.

The tip of the nose,

The right cheek,

Right ear,

The right inner ear,

The space between the ears,

A gentle pressure and release,

Allowing for expansiveness.

The left inner ear and the left ear,

The left side of the jaw,

The roof of the mouth,

The floor of the mouth,

The inside of the right cheek,

A gentle pressure and release,

The inside of the left cheek,

The tip of the tongue,

The back of the tongue,

A gentle pressure and then release,

Allowing for expansiveness.

The back of the throat,

The center of the throat,

The heart space,

A gentle pressure and release into expansiveness at the heart space.

The back of the heart,

The right ribs,

Right shoulder,

Upper arm,

Wrist,

Palm of the hand,

A gentle pressure and release at the palm of the hand,

The tip of the thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

A gentle pressure on all five fingers of the right hand and release into expansiveness.

The heart space,

Front of the heart,

A gentle pressure and release,

Allowing for expansiveness from the front of the heart.

The left ribs,

Left shoulder,

Upper arm,

The center of the left palm,

A gentle pressure and release.

Allowing expansiveness across the left palm,

Tip of the left thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

A gentle pressure across the tips of all five fingers on the left hand and release.

The navel center,

A gentle pressure and release.

The lower belly,

The pelvic bowl,

The tailbone,

A gentle pressure and release,

Allowing expansiveness at the tailbone.

The right glute,

Right hip,

Thigh,

The top of the foot,

The tip of the big toe,

A gentle pressure and release into expansiveness at the tip of the right toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

The center of the bottom of the right foot,

A gentle pressure and then release,

Allowing for an expansiveness from the bottom of the right foot,

The tailbone and the pelvic bowl,

The left glute,

Top of the foot,

The tip of the left big toe,

A gentle pressure and release,

Second toe,

Third toe,

The center of the bottom of the left foot,

A gentle pressure and then release.

Allowing for the expansiveness of the bottom of the left foot,

The whole left leg,

A gentle pressure and release.

The whole left side of the body,

A gentle pressure and release into expansiveness.

The whole right leg,

The whole right side of the body,

A gentle pressure and release,

Allowing for expansiveness across the whole right side of the body.

And the whole body,

The whole body,

A gentle pressure and release into expansiveness from the whole body.

Might you release that now and simply bring your awareness to your breath,

Just noticing your breath,

Not trying to change it or manipulate it in any way.

Just noticing the ocean of your breath as you inhale and exhale in your own unique rhythm.

Just noticing the birth of each inhale and exhale in their own perfect timing,

Knowing that each breath feeds you life.

Noticing where it moves the body with expansion and contraction,

Allowing yourself to be in awe of this process in your body.

Knowing that your body knows exactly what you need and just by bringing your awareness to your breath,

Your breath simply deepens.

And might you imagine on your next inhale that you are inhaling from the center of your root chakra,

Expanding out from the center of the root chakra at the base of your spine.

And as you exhale,

You're contracting back to that center of the root chakra,

The root energy center.

Imagining as you inhale,

You're expanding out from that center of the root chakra,

The base of the spine,

And as you exhale,

You're contracting back to that pinpoint center of the root chakra.

Might you imagine that with every breath,

Every inhale,

You expand further out.

And every exhale,

You come right back to the center of that chakra,

The base of the spine.

Your breath to be in its own rhythm,

Its own timing,

Just imagining as you inhale,

You're expanding out from the center of your root chakra,

The base of the spine,

Further and further out.

And as you exhale,

You're coming right back to the center of that chakra,

The base of the spine.

Place of foundation,

Of groundedness,

Of survival,

Of safety and security.

And might you imagine as you notice your breath as it inhales and exhales,

Like your body is being breathed by the ocean of air around it.

Might you imagine on your next inhale that you're inhaling from the center of the root chakra all the way up to the center of the solar plexus,

That navel center.

And as you exhale,

Your breath is moving from that navel center all the way down to the center of the root chakra at the base of the spine.

Might you imagine this breath moving from the root chakra on your inhale all the way up to the solar plexus chakra,

The navel center.

And as you exhale,

That breath is moving from the solar plexus,

Navel center,

All the way down to the center of the root chakra.

And as you're noticing and staying in awareness with your breath and your own rhythm,

Might you imagine as the breath moves from the root chakra to the solar plexus chakra,

That each time it becomes more expansive further out past the limitations of your body and back to the center cores of each chakra.

Might you imagine this dance of breath,

Releasing that now and gently allowing your awareness to spread across the areas in your body and across your body that feel light.

That feel like air,

Lightness,

A sense of joy even,

Allowing your awareness to settle across the areas of your body that feel light.

And might you now bring your awareness to the parts of your body or the areas of your body that feel heavy,

That feel solid,

Strong even.

Allowing your awareness to dance across the landscape of your body and land on the places that feel the heaviness,

The sturdiness,

The groundedness.

Might you bring your attention back to the areas across your body that feel light,

The areas of your body that might feel free,

Joyful,

Light,

Airy.

Parts of your body that could take flight.

Might you bring your awareness back to the areas across your body that feel heavier,

More grounded,

Sturdy,

Where you feel stability.

Where you feel that stable strength,

Where you're rooted into your body.

And might you bring your awareness to both places in your body and across your body at the same time.

Both the places that are light and free and joyful and airy,

As well as the places where you feel heaviness,

A grounding,

A security,

A stable strength.

Might you bring your awareness to both of these places in your body simultaneously,

Releasing your awareness.

The feet of a child ready to jump.

The widespread wings of a hawk.

A squeeze like a hug from someone you trust.

A moment of laughter.

A slinky going down steps.

Running across a field on a beautiful spring day.

The warmth of covers on a winter's night as you enter the dream world.

A map of where you've been.

A photograph of where you're going.

A smile of someone you love.

Contagious.

And the sound of I love you.

I'm going to remain quiet for a few minutes.

Bringing yourself back to your sankalpa.

It might have been,

I am grounding into my joy.

Or,

I am joyful in my life with my feet on the ground.

I am whole in my joy.

I invite you to silently say to yourself your sankalpa on the arc of a breath for three separate breaths.

Starting now.

Inhaling.

And simply beginning to deepen your breath.

Inhaling through your nose.

Opening your mouth and sighing out.

Feeling your breath leaving your body.

Inhaling through your nose.

Filling you up.

Opening your mouth and sighing out.

Emptying out.

Emptying out.

Inhaling through your nose.

Opening your mouth and sighing out.

And on these last two,

I invite you to put some sound on your sigh.

Inhaling through your nose.

Opening your mouth and sighing out with a bit of sound.

And one more time,

Inhaling through your nose.

Opening your mouth and sighing out.

Stop.

Bringing your awareness to the bottoms of your feet and your toes and your ankles and maybe just wiggling them.

Bringing your awareness up to your knees,

Allowing your knees to wiggle just a bit.

And your hips,

Just feeling where your hips are meeting the ground.

Allowing your body to sway a bit or wiggle.

Letting your awareness come up to your shoulders and your spine,

Allowing your spine to undulate just a bit.

To feel that ground beneath it.

And your shoulders,

Allowing your head to simply roll just a little bit back and forth.

You might want to stretch your mouth open.

Feel your lips across your teeth.

You might want to take a full body stretch.

And when you're ready,

Allow your eyes to simply blink open gently.

You might want to place a hand over your heart or your belly.

Thank you so much for joining me in this Yoga Nidra about grounding into joy.

The beauty of a simple awareness on the strength and the foundation and the safety and security that allows us to fly free in our joy and our laughter.

I like to think back to that child beginning to jump,

How they place their weight in their feet,

How they push down into the ground in order to fly,

To jump wherever their imagination is taking them in that moment.

Knowing that when we have a foundation,

We can really fully feel into that joy,

Into that flight,

Into that lightness.

So thank you so much again for joining me.

I hope you enjoyed this Yoga Nidra.

Namaste.