Please prepare yourself for this yoga nidra session.
Lie down on your bed or on the floor and and adapt this position called the Shavasana.
In this position your body should be straight from head to toe,
The legs slightly apart and the arms a little away from the body.
Make sure the palms of the hands are turned upwards.
Adjust everything,
Your body position and your clothes until you're completely comfortable.
During this entire practice there should be no physical movement.
Close your eyes and keep them closed till you are told to open them.
Take a deep breath and as you breathe out feel the cares and worries of the day just flow out of you.
Basically in this practice you are going to develop the feeling of relaxation in the body.
It's like the feeling you have just before you fall asleep when that relaxation becomes deeper,
Sleep comes but you should try to keep yourself completely awake.
Now this is very important in yoga nidra.
You really have to be alert.
You cannot fall away into deep sleep.
Make a resolution to yourself now that I will not sleep,
I will remain awake throughout the practice.
During this entire practice you are functioning on the levels of hearing and awareness and the only important thing is that you follow my voice.
Do not try to analyze the instructions as this will disturb your mental relaxation.
Simply follow the voice with total attention and feeling.
Of course thoughts will come to disturb you from time to time.
Do not worry about that.
Just continue to practice.
Allow yourself to bring your awareness back with the help of my voice.
Just take a few seconds to relax before we start this practice.
Be as relaxed as possible.
Take in a deep breath and then breathe out.
Now as you feel that inner relaxation in the entire body,
Concentrate on the body and become aware of the importance of complete stillness.
Feel the stillness in your entire body.
Just be aware of the body from the top of the head to the tip of your toes and mentally repeat the mantra.
Again just be completely aware of the whole body.
I do not need you to concentrate on any part of the body.
Just be aware of the body.
Again mentally say,
The awareness of the whole body.
Become aware of the fact that you're going to now practice yoga nidra.
Tell yourself,
I am aware.
I am going to practice yoga nidra.
Repeat this to yourself again.
The practice of yoga nidra now begins.
At this moment you should make your resolve.
The resolve will be simple.
Try to discover your resolve naturally.
It should be a short positive statement in a simple language,
Stated three times with awareness,
Feeling and emphasis.
The resolve you make during yoga nidra is bound to come true in your life.
I would ask you to allow the resolve to come up naturally.
If you can't think of a resolve right now,
Just let it be.
But whatever your resolve is,
Make it a short positive statement.
Now we are going to be rotating your consciousness or you're rotating your awareness by taking your awareness through the different parts of the body.
I'm going to be repeating the names of different body parts and all you need to do is bring your awareness to that part of the body.
Remember you do not need to concentrate.
It's going to be a quick process and you will just need to bring your awareness to that part of the body.
Keep yourself alert but like I said do not concentrate.
Become aware of the right hand,
Your right hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand.
Become aware of your palm,
The back of the hand,
Your wrist,
Lower arm,
The elbow,
The upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
The right waist,
The right hip,
The right thigh,
The right kneecap,
The right calf muscle,
The ankle,
The heel,
The sole of the right foot,
The top of the foot,
The big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and the fifth toe.
Now become aware of the left side of your body,
The left hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
The wrist,
The lower arm,
The elbow,
The upper arm,
The shoulder,
The armpit,
The left waist,
The left hip,
The left thigh,
The kneecap,
The calf muscle,
The ankle,
The heel,
The sole of the left foot,
The top of the foot,
The big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Now bring your awareness to the back.
Become aware of the right shoulder blade,
The left shoulder blade,
The right buttock,
The left buttock,
The spine and your entire back together.
Now go to the top of the head,
The top of the head,
The forehead,
Both sides of the head,
The right eyebrow,
The left eyebrow,
The space between the eyebrows,
The right eyelid,
The left eyelid,
The right eye,
Left eye,
The right ear,
The left ear,
The right cheek,
The left cheek,
The nose,
The tip of the nose,
The upper lip,
The lower lip,
The chin,
The throat,
The right chest,
The left chest,
The middle of the chest,
Your navel,
The abdomen.
Now bring your awareness to the whole of the right leg,
The whole of the left leg,
Both legs together,
The whole of the right arm,
Your entire left arm,
Both arms together,
The whole of the back,
Your buttocks,
Spine,
Shoulder blades,
Abdomen,
Chest,
The back and front of your body together,
Now the whole body together,
The whole body together,
The whole body together.
Be totally aware,
Don't fall asleep and no movement.
We're going to do this one more time,
The right side of your body,
The right hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
The wrist,
The lower arm,
The elbow,
The upper arm,
The shoulder,
The armpit,
The right waist,
The right hip,
The right thigh,
The right kneecap,
The calf muscle,
The ankle,
The heel,
The top of the foot,
The big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Now move to your left side,
Your left hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
The wrist,
The lower arm,
The left elbow,
The upper arm,
The shoulder,
The armpit,
The left waist,
The left hip,
The left thigh,
The kneecap,
The left calf muscle,
The left ankle,
The heel,
The sole of the left foot,
The top of the foot,
The big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And the fifth toe.
Now bring your awareness to your back,
Become aware of the right shoulder blade,
The left shoulder blade,
The right buttock,
The left buttock,
Your spine,
And your entire back together.
Bring your awareness now to the top of the head,
The top of your head,
Your forehead,
Both sides of the head,
The right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
The space between the eyebrows,
The right eyelid,
The left eyelid,
The right eye,
The left eye,
The right ear,
Left ear,
The right cheek,
The left cheek,
Nose,
Tip of the nose,
The upper lip,
The lower lip,
The chin,
Throat,
Right chest,
Left chest,
Middle of the chest,
The navel,
The abdomen.
Now bring your awareness to the entire right leg,
To your entire left leg,
Both your legs together,
Your entire right arm,
Your entire left arm,
Both arms together.
Now awareness of the entire back,
Your spine,
Shoulder blades,
Awareness to your front,
Your chest,
Now your entire back and front together,
Your head,
Now the whole body together,
Awareness of the whole body together.
Do not fall asleep.
Your body is lying on the floor.
Now see your body lying perfectly still on the floor or on your bed.
Visualize this image in your mind.
Now become aware of your breath.
Feel the flow of your breath in and out of your lungs.
Do not try to change the rhythm of your breathing.
Breathing is automatic,
You're not doing it,
There is no effort.
Just be aware of your breath.
Just complete awareness of your breath.
Now concentrate and bring your awareness on the movement around your navel area.
Just watch your navel movement as it rises and falls slightly,
With each breath.
Keep watching this.
Be very aware.
If you tend to drift away,
It's perfectly all right,
But bring your awareness back.
Now we're going to start counting your breath backwards from 11 to 1.
Be very alert.
So 11,
The navel rises.
11,
Navel falling.
10,
Navel rising.
10,
Navel falling.
9,
Navel rising.
9,
Falling.
8,
Rising.
8,
Falling.
Keep saying the words and numbers mentally to yourself as you count your breath,
But do not make a mistake.
If you do,
You have to go back and begin again.
10,
7,
Rise.
7,
Fall.
6,
Rise.
6,
Fall.
5,
Rise.
5,
Navel falls.
4,
Rise.
4,
Fall.
3,
Rise.
3,
Fall.
2,
Navel rising.
2,
Navel falling.
1,
Navel rising.
1,
Navel falling.
Now shift your attention to your chest.
Watch how your chest is rising and falling with each breath.
Now the same way,
We're going to count from 11 backwards to 1.
11,
Your chest rising.
11,
Your chest falling.
10,
Chest rising.
10,
Falling.
9,
Rising.
9,
Falling.
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3.
Now bring your attention to your throat.
Become aware of your breath moving in and out of the throat.
Again,
The same way,
Counting backwards 11 to 1.
You cannot make a mistake,
So be aware.
11,
Rise.
11,
Fall.
10,
Rise.
10,
Fall.
Your awareness is around your throat.
9,
Rise.
9,
Fall.
8,
7,
6,
4,
3.
Now stop counting,
Leave your breathing,
And we are going to come to visualizing.
A number of different things will be named and you should try to develop a vision of them on all levels.
At all levels means you will feel it,
You'll be aware of it.
If there is an emotion associated with it,
Be aware of that.
And of course,
You've got to imagine it as best as you can.
Initially,
You might find imagining these visions to be a little difficult.
That is completely normal.
Over a period of time,
As you practice it more,
You will notice that the visualization is easier.
So now I'm going to be naming some things.
Just try to visualize it.
A burning candle.
A burning candle.
A burning candle.
Endless desert.
Endless desert.
Endless desert.
A pyramid.
Pyramid.
Pyramid.
Heavy rain.
Heavy rain.
Heavy rain.
Snow-capped mountains.
Snow-capped mountains.
Snow-capped mountains.
A Greek temple at sunrise.
A Greek temple at sunrise.
A Greek temple at sunrise.
A coffin beside a grave.
A coffin beside a grave.
A coffin beside a grave.
Birds flying across the sunset.
Red clouds.
Red clouds drifting.
Red clouds.
Stars at night.
Stars at night.
Stars at night.
Full moon.
A full moon.
A smiling Buddha.
A smiling Buddha.
Wind from the sea.
Wind from the sea.
Wind from the sea.
Waves breaking on a deserted beach.
Waves breaking on a deserted beach.
The restless sea.
The restless sea.
An eternal restless sea.
Waves breaking on a deserted beach.
Now is the time to repeat your resolve.
Repeat the same resolve you made at the beginning of the practice.
If you still do not have one,
That's perfectly all right.
Wait for something to arise naturally.
But if you have the resolve,
Then repeat the resolve three times.
Do not change it.
Just be aware of it and repeat it with feeling.
Now relax.
Draw your mind outside and become aware of your breathing.
Become aware of the room around you.
Be aware of your whole body.
Feel your entire body relaxed on the floor or on your bed.
Be aware of the body from the top of the head to your toes and again mentally in your mind,
Repeat OM.
Two more times.
Now be aware of your surroundings,
Your room around you.
Lie down quietly for some time.
Just keep your eyes closed.
Now gently start moving your body and stretching yourself.
Take your time.
Do not hurry.
When you're sure that you're wide awake,
Open your eyes and sit up.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
