Yoga Nidra For Connecting To Your Heart

Hello and welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra.

I'm Kumari and I'll be your guide today.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Go ahead now and get yourself as comfortable as you possibly can.

Traditionally,

Yoga Nidra is practiced in a lying down position.

But you can always practice it in any position that you can really let go and relax in.

If there is light in your space,

You may choose to cover your eyes with a soft scarf or an eye pillow or eye mask.

And be sure to cover yourself with a blanket or some cozy clothing as it's natural for your body temperature to drop as we relax more and more.

So Yoga Nidra really has the power to connect us back to who we really are when we lose sight of it in our daily lives.

Sometimes Yoga Nidra is called the yogic sleep.

And while we're in this state,

We're mimicking our brainwave cycles like when we're asleep.

And so because of this,

There are many,

Many benefits.

One is balancing the nervous system and healing and regenerating the entire physical body.

We're restoring our body's rhythmic cycles.

And your body's innate wisdom is welcomed to the forefront.

So we'll begin by just listening for any sounds in your space.

Your ears receptive to sounds that are close and sounds that may be beyond your space.

And now turning our awareness to our physical bodies.

Sensing your body and where it rests upon the surface you're on.

A sense of the weight of your head.

The jaw relax.

The eyes relax.

Your cheeks,

All the muscles in your face.

Letting go.

Head surrendering back.

Now a sense of your arms,

Your hands,

Your legs and feet.

The whole backside of your body.

Begin to sense the space farther beneath you beyond what you're resting on.

The space between you and the earth below.

Sensing the space above you.

The space between your body and the sky.

The space to your right and the space to your left.

A sense of the space between your legs,

Between your feet.

The space between your arms and your body.

Your whole body.

Sense the space your body takes up.

A sense of the weight of your muscles,

Your bones,

Your blood.

Whole body softening.

Softening.

Surrendering.

Melting down.

And now coming to you,

Sense the breath that's flowing within.

The silent observer of the rise and fall of your breath.

Feeling how your body moves with each natural breath.

And now welcoming in a very gentle breathing practice of simply counting your breath.

For instance,

Inhaling for the count of four,

And exhaling for the count of six.

Start to follow your own breath and count.

Not trying to extend the inhales or the exhales.

Simply breathing and counting.

Continue to stay with the breathing count.

Using our breaths to take us into an even deeper state of letting go.

Release the focus on the counting.

And expand your awareness back into your entire body.

Sensing your body from head to toe.

Take your awareness now to the center of your chest.

Energetically entering the cave of your heart.

Feeling your breath in the area of the chest.

Imagine you could hear your own heart beating.

Connecting with your precious heart.

Tuning into the wisdom of your heart.

And now feel the backside of your heart in your mind.

As if someone was next to you,

Putting their hand in the middle of your back,

Behind your heart.

Imagining this sweet support.

Guiding you into a closer union with the energy of your heart.

Welcoming in our sankalpa for the practice.

Now repeat in your mind after me.

I am loving and I am love.

I am loving and I am love.

Our sankalpa is like planting a seed deep in the subconscious where it can flourish and grow.

Our sankalpa is like planting a seed deep in the subconscious where it can flourish and grow.

Next is the rotation of awareness around the body.

Allowing us physical and energetic release that guides us into a deeper level of rest.

Follow my voice as I take you on a journey around your body.

Beginning with the thumb tip of the right thumb,

Tip of the right thumb,

Tip of the right index finger,

Tip of the right middle finger,

Tip of the right ring finger,

Tip of the right pinky finger.

Sensing all five fingertips now.

And now the center of the right palm.

The center of the palm.

Spreading your awareness now into the entire palm and all five fingers.

The entire palm and all five fingers.

The top of the hand.

The whole right hand filled with shimmery sensations.

The right wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

And shoulder.

The whole right arm and hand as one.

Allow your awareness to drift to the tip of your left thumb,

Tip of the left index finger,

Tip of the middle finger,

Tip of the ring finger,

Tip of the pinky finger.

A sense of all five fingertips now.

To the center of the left palm.

Awareness spreads into the whole palm and all five fingers.

The left palm and fingers shimmering with sensation.

The top of the hand.

Your whole left hand.

Left wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

And shoulder.

The whole left arm and hand as one.

And now come to sense both arms and hands simultaneously.

Both arms and hands.

Now to the hollow of the throat.

The center of the chest.

The right side of the chest.

Left side of the chest.

The whole chest.

The solar plexus.

Navel.

The entire abdomen.

The whole abdomen.

Flow your awareness to the tip of the right big toe,

Tip of the second toe,

Tip of the third toe,

Tip of the fourth toe,

Tip of the fifth toe.

Sense all five toe tips.

And now the center of the sole of your right foot.

The center of the foot.

And now the entire sole of the right foot and all five toes.

The top of the foot.

The whole right foot.

Ankle.

The whole right leg and foot as one.

To the tip of the left big toe,

Tip of the second toe,

Tip of the third toe,

Tip of the fourth toe,

Tip of the fifth toe.

All five toe tips.

To the center of the sole of the left foot.

The center of the sole of the left foot.

Allow your awareness to spread into the whole sole of the foot.

The top of the foot.

The whole left foot.

Left ankle.

Lower leg.

Knee.

Thigh.

Hip.

The entire left leg and foot.

Welcome back in the awareness of your right leg and foot.

Sensing both legs and both feet simultaneously.

Can you sense your pelvis?

Your tailbone.

Sacrum.

Your right glute.

Left glute.

Your lower back.

The middle of your back.

Your upper back.

Right shoulder blade.

Left shoulder blade.

The back of your neck.

The front of your neck.

Back of your head.

Top of your head.

The center of your forehead.

Center of the forehead.

Imagine you could drop in through the center of your forehead to sense the brain.

The right hemisphere.

The left hemisphere.

Your whole brain.

The whole brain within your skull fills your awareness.

The brainstem.

The base of the tongue.

The tip of the tongue.

The entire muscle of your tongue.

Roof of your mouth.

The tip of your tongue.

The tip of your tongue.

The inside of your right cheek.

The inside of your left cheek.

Your gums and your teeth.

Your lips.

An awareness of your whole mouth.

Shimmering with subtle sensations.

Your nostrils.

The right nostril.

Left nostril.

Both nostrils taking in and out your breath.

Your whole nose.

Your right eyeball.

Eyelid.

The whole right eye.

Left eyeball.

Eyelid.

The whole left eye.

The whole right eye.

And now come to sense both eyes at once.

The right earlobe.

The right ear canal.

The whole right ear.

Left earlobe.

Left ear canal.

The whole left ear.

Now sensing both ears.

To the point between the eyebrows,

Your third eye.

Sensing the point between your eyebrows.

Letting your awareness spread into your entire head.

Sensing your skull,

Your scalp,

Every hair follicle,

Your whole head.

Now your whole upper body.

And your whole lower body.

Your whole body.

Your whole body.

Sensing and feeling your whole body as one.

Radiant vessel of light,

Shimmering.

Return to the awareness of your breath flowing.

Sensing and feeling your breath.

The natural rhythm of your breath.

Start to focus your attention on the center of your chest.

Feeling the rise and fall of your breath.

Sensing the energy of your heartbeat.

Now with each inhale,

Imagine a green,

Vibrant light shining out from the center of your chest.

Each inhale,

The light grows brighter and bigger.

Inhaling green light.

Inhaling,

The green light expands upward.

Now add in imagining this green light on the exhale,

Leaving your breath as it is.

The back side of your body.

Each exhale,

Green light releasing down to the earth.

And each inhale,

Green light expanding up towards the sky.

Visually seeing your breath expand and soften back down.

Radiating a beautiful green glow on the inhale and exhale.

Sensing your life force energy creating these breaths.

And now start to let go of the awareness of the breath.

Returning to sensing the back side of your body.

The whole back side of your body.

The whole back side of your body sinking down.

Relax.

Grounded.

The whole back side of your body making contact.

And now sense the whole front side of your body.

The entire front side of your body.

The whole front side of your body now.

Sense of the whole front side.

A feeling of openness,

Of expansiveness.

Light and airy.

Receptive.

Let your awareness sink now to the whole back side again.

Feeling the weight of your limbs,

Your head.

A felt sense of weight.

Of being held or grounded.

And return now to experience a sense of the front side of your body.

The quality of openness.

Expansiveness.

Flow.

The whole front side of your body.

And now an experience of feeling the back side and the front side simultaneously.

A sense of weight and groundedness at the same time as a sense of openness and spaciousness.

The front and back side of your body simultaneously.

Now letting go.

Feeling your body resting on the earth.

Outside.

Your body held by the earth.

Your eyes gazing through closed lids to the sky.

Your whole body resting back.

Eyes taking in the spaciousness of the whole sky.

What do you see?

The reals of your mind's eye.

Open.

And receptive to whatever arises.

You are safe and held by the earth and the sky.

You are one with the entire universe.

Resting here as your true nature.

Abiding in this space of pure presence.

Floating in the awareness of love.

Held.

Embraced.

In the energy of pure love.

A felt sense of the sankalpa.

I am loving and I am loved.

Perhaps repeating that a few more times in your mind.

Your radiant love.

You are love.

Begin to bring your awareness back to the center of your chest.

Hearing your heartbeat.

Begin to welcome some deeper breaths here.

A sense of your whole body expanding and softening with each breath.

Now begin to sense the edges of your body.

Where your body ends and the space begins.

Become aware of your skin.

The feel of your clothing on your body.

The sense of your whole body in this space of deep relaxation and rest.

Now begin to touch the tip of your thumb to the tips of the other fingers.

Allow that movement to become bigger movements of the fingers,

The hands,

The wrists.

Gently move the toe,

The ankle.

Nodding the head from side to side.

Coming back to the awareness of your body in space.

Sensing your whole body once again.

Awakening from the state of yoga nidra.

Perhaps rolling to one side and just resting here.

Taking notice of how you're feeling.

Opening your eyes as you're ready.

It's my honor and my pleasure to share this practice with you.

I'm wishing you all the best.

Namaste.