Hello,
And welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra.
My name is Kumari,
And I'll be your guide today.
Yoga Nidra is a form of guided meditation.
It's an effortless practice,
So all you have to do is listen.
Do your best to remain still during the practice,
But know that if you do need to adjust,
Move,
Or even completely change position,
That's fine.
Just come back to stillness as soon as you can.
Taking the time now to really settle in,
Snuggle in.
In Yoga Nidra,
You are being guided through your layers of consciousness called the Koshas,
Where the whole being abides in a deep rest,
Just like the deepest stage of sleep,
Except your mind stays awake and aware.
Your body is asleep.
And don't worry if you fall asleep.
This is exactly what your body might need right now.
This practice of Yoga Nidra is profoundly healing.
This systematic journey delivers to you exactly what you need at this time to begin to release long-held emotional and physical stress in the body,
Mind,
And nervous system.
So let's begin.
Take a moment to scan your body.
Would it be possible to get a little more comfortable?
Make any adjustments now and then return to stillness.
Take your awareness to your right leg.
Squeeze all the muscles in your right leg and foot.
Take a deep breath in and release.
Now move your attention to your left leg and foot.
Squeeze the muscle,
Inhale,
And release with the exhale.
Now inhale and tense and lift your buttocks and hips,
Squeezing,
Let it go.
To the right arm and hand,
Make a fist with your hand and tense the entire arm.
Inhale and release.
To the left arm.
Again,
Make a fist and tighten your whole arm.
Take a deep breath in and release on your exhale.
Now lift the head just a few inches as you inhale and release with the exhale,
Feeling the whole body relaxed now,
Sensing the areas that your body is touching the surface beneath it,
Melting down into the earth.
The whole body at ease.
No place to go.
Nothing to do.
Only you right here,
Right now,
Receiving yoga nidra.
The ears hearing,
The body still,
And the breath naturally flowing.
Now we'll practice a breath called the physiological sigh.
This breath will deepen your state of relaxation.
So take two sips of air in through your nose like this,
And then release with one long exhale through your mouth,
Kind of like you're blowing out of a straw.
Let's do that together a few more times.
Inhaling.
Exhaling.
Again.
Keep going.
Let's do one more.
From here,
We'll bring intention or sankalpa into the practice.
You can allow something to come to mind that you greatly desire for your life.
It could be a word or a short sentence in the positive present tense,
Like I am the embodiment of inner peace,
Or perhaps you're already working with a sankalpa each time you practice.
Now when you're ready,
Repeat your sankalpa in your mind three times with feeling.
The sankalpa is like planting the seed of your deepest desire deep in your subconscious.
Continue to follow my voice as I guide you through a mental rotation of consciousness within your body.
Take your attention and sense the areas I guide you to,
Beginning with the tip of the tongue,
Now the base of the tongue,
And the inside of the right cheek,
And the inside of the left cheek,
Feeling sensation in the inside of your mouth,
In the top lip,
In the bottom lip,
Now both lips together,
The tip of the nose,
Feeling the breath in both nostrils,
Awareness of the right eye,
Eyebrow,
Right temple,
Shifting that awareness to the left eye,
Eyebrow,
Left temple,
Now feel into the sensation of both eyes together,
Into the center of the forehead,
The crown of the head,
And the pit of the throat,
The right side of the chest,
Right shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Feeling into sensation in the palm now,
In the top of the hand,
And all the fingers,
The thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And small finger,
Can you sense the whole right arm as one,
The density,
The space it takes up,
The whole right arm,
And now to the left side of the chest,
The left shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Forearm,
Wrist,
Feeling into sensation in the palm,
The top of the hand,
And all the fingers,
The thumb,
Index,
Middle,
Ring,
And the small finger,
And can you sense the whole left arm as one,
The density and the space it takes up,
The whole left arm,
Now to the center of the chest,
The solar plexus,
Navel,
Right hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Ankle,
And can you feel into the sole of the right foot,
And now the top of the foot,
And all the toes,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Your whole right foot alive with sensation,
Awareness of the entire right leg as one,
Feeling into the space of your whole right leg,
Moving to the left hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Ankle,
And can you feel into the sole of the left foot now,
And the top of the foot,
And all the toes,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
The whole left foot alive with sensation,
Awareness of the entire left leg as one,
Feeling into the space of your whole left leg,
And now shifting attention back to the navel,
And could you start to become aware of the whole body as one,
And the whole body subtly vibrating,
Feeling into the presence and the space of your whole body,
Awareness of the entire body,
And now can you focus awareness at the base of your spine at your sacrum,
Can you feel that area making contact with the surface beneath it,
Focus your attention there,
Feeling into that area,
Your root chakra,
Muladhara,
Start to imagine with each exhale this area begins to glow a deep red color,
The energy of your natural occurring breath moves to your sacrum and turns it red,
Now could you imagine that each red exhale leaves your body from the sacrum and reaches down to the earth,
Each exhale extending deep into the earth,
And leaving there any fears,
Anxieties or tensions,
Exhaling and releasing,
Now you might welcome the seed mantra for the root chakra with each inhale,
LUM,
Inhale LUM,
Inhaling up from the earth,
Calm and steady energy,
Inhaling the innate energetic stability of the earth,
Inhaling the grounded peaceful energy of the earth into your consciousness,
Inhaling LUM,
Exhaling through the sacrum red,
And allow the focus at your sacrum to dissolve now,
And come back to sensing the entire back side of the body,
In the back of the head,
The shoulders and upper back,
The arms and hands,
The buttocks and legs and the heels,
And can you sense the weight of your body here,
As if you are the observer of your body,
The body as one,
Heavy,
See the whole front side of your body,
And each breath expanding upward into space,
And can you sense a lightness,
An openness,
As if each breath could lift your body up to the sky,
And dissolving again into the back side of the body,
And begin to sense heat here,
The entire back side of the body is warm,
A soothing warmth on the back side of the body,
Warmth as if just the back of your body is floating in a warm cozy bath,
Sensing warmth here,
And now again tuning into the front side of the body,
And this side is cool,
A refreshing and soothing coolness,
As if you were lying under the perfect fan,
Sensing a cool sensation on your entire front side,
Bringing to mind now the warmth of a spring day,
The temperature is perfect,
A felt sense of that perfection on your skin,
And as if the soft breeze is bathing you,
And the perfect warmth upon your skin as you walk down a path of small brown rocks,
And you see a large boulder up ahead,
And it's flat and smooth from time,
And as you come closer,
You place your hands on the cool boulder,
Feeling its texture,
Its energy,
And the boulder invites you to lay upon it,
And you easily crawl onto its surface,
Lying back still feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin,
Eyes gazing into the most beautiful clear blue sky,
You simultaneously feel the boulder's coolness on your back,
It's comforting and you feel connected,
Held,
Grounded,
As if you could sink into this huge rock,
And this rock gives you a sense of security,
Energy and vitality,
And you allow yourself to bask here,
Resting in the awareness of your own true nature,
You are one with the earth and the sky,
Abiding here in the bliss of all that you are,
Union with your radiance,
Shimmering peaceful energy,
And in this place,
Could you see yourself and your heart's desire,
What does it feel like,
Does it have a color,
A shape,
A sound,
And in your own time,
Repeat your sankalpa three more times,
Feeling it in your whole body,
Notice there is a witnessing presence here,
Allow thoughts or feelings to arrive,
Just being,
Be,
Noticing your breathing,
Feeling the breath in the whole body,
The ebb and flow,
Infinite loop of your breathing body,
Start to invite some deeper breaths now,
Feeling how the body moves with these deeper breaths,
Awareness of the body,
The shape of the body,
The space your body inhabits,
Can you sense the energy and aliveness of your body,
Your body radiant with sensation,
Now start to allow any movements to organically arise here,
Awakening the body after the journey of yoga nidra,
And now in your own time,
And you might change position,
And just taking a moment here,
Allowing your senses to reach a little further now,
And your ears listening,
A sense of yourself here in the room,
Taking your time to open your eyes,
And move the body a little more,
Moving on with your evening of sleep,
Or your day,
Whatever is next for you,
I'm wishing you all the best,
Namaste
