Yoga Nidra - Woodland Sanctuary

Hello and welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra.

My name is Kumari and I'll be your guide today.

Go ahead and take some time now to create the most comfortable position,

Whether that is lying down on your bed or sitting in a comfy chair or on the couch.

The body temperature will drop so you might consider having a cover or some support under the knees if you're lying down.

I love to put a soft cloth over my eyes.

The more comfortable you can become,

The easier your body will be able to really relax.

Yoga Nidra is called the yogic sleep because in the practice the body sleeps but the mind is aware,

Reaching higher levels of inner awareness.

The practice guides you through the layers of your being and brings you to the most subtle layer where you can experience oneness with your true nature.

Beyond the spiritual and mental benefits,

There is the benefit of tissue regeneration,

Brain repair,

And healing of the body and all of its layers due to the slowing down of the brainwaves.

I trust that you have gotten yourself comfortable now.

Is there anything else you could do to get even 2% more comfortable and start to become aware of your breathing?

Imagine the lungs like the gills of a fish,

Softly opening and closing with each breath.

Take a deep breath in through the nose,

Pause,

And now let that go.

Again,

Inhaling,

Pause at the top and let it go.

One more time,

Inhaling,

Pause,

Let go.

And now come to notice the space between your fingers,

The space between each toe,

And now the space to the right of you,

The space to the left,

The space between your lips,

The space between your chin and chest,

The space above the crown of your head,

The space below your feet,

The space under your body.

Could you sense the space between your body and the beginning of the earth?

And now the space above your body.

Sense the space between your body all the way up to the sky.

And now a sense of your whole body resting in space,

Your whole body resting,

Feeling your whole body resting and the breath flowing within this body,

A feeling of release,

Letting go,

Relaxing down onto the surface you're upon.

In Yoga Nidra,

We practice sankalpa.

Perhaps you are already working with a sankalpa each time you practice.

If not,

I invite you to use this one.

I am one with the divine wisdom of my inner being.

Repeat your sankalpa three times in your mind.

I am one with the divine wisdom of my inner being.

Next on our journey is the rotation of consciousness.

We'll move through the body filling each area with awareness.

And within this awareness,

The body is guided to let go even more.

We'll begin on the inside of the mouth.

Sense the tongue and all the taste buds on the tongue.

Sense the base of the tongue,

The tip of the tongue,

The roof of the mouth,

The gums and teeth,

The whole inside of the mouth.

Could you sense all the subtle sensations happening in the inside of the mouth?

Move your attention to the inside of your throat.

Now go inside the skull.

Imagining you could sense the brainstem and now the brain itself.

The right hemisphere,

The left hemisphere,

The entire brain,

The entire brain within the skull.

And now come to the awareness of the space between the eyebrows.

Sense both eyebrows,

Both eyes,

Both ears,

Both cheeks,

The jaw.

A subtle awareness of all the tiny muscles in the face and now the forehead,

The whole scalp.

Sensing and feeling your entire scalp,

The whole head,

The back of the head,

The base of the throat,

The right shoulder,

Left shoulder,

Both shoulders,

The crease of the right elbow,

The crease of the left elbow,

Both elbows,

The right wrist,

Left wrist,

Both wrists,

The center of the palm of the right hand,

All five fingers,

Whole right hand.

And now the center of the palm of the left hand,

All five fingers,

The whole left hand,

Both hands shimmering with energy,

Both arms.

Attention moving to the very center of the chest,

Very center of the chest,

The solar plexus,

The space just below the navel,

The pelvis,

Right hip,

Left hip,

Both hips at the same time,

Right knee,

Left knee,

Both knees,

Right ankle,

Left ankle,

Both ankles.

Feel the sole of the right foot and all five toes.

Feel the sole of the left foot and all five toes.

Both feet,

Awareness of both feet and both legs,

The tailbone.

Move your awareness all the way up the spine to the base of the skull,

Your whole head,

The whole backside of your body,

The whole backside of your body,

And the whole front side of your body,

Your whole body.

Sensing and feeling your body in its entirety,

One with the life force energy in your whole body.

Back to the breath.

Feel your natural breath moving within the natural,

Effortless rise and fall of your breath.

Begin to become aware of the movement of your breath on the inside of your body.

Feel your diaphragm working.

Feel the breath at the ribcage.

Feel your breath inside your chest,

Under your collarbone,

Into the sinus cavity.

A felt sense of the breath happening on the inside of your body.

Start to become aware of the breath happening on the outside of the body.

Feel the skin moving and pressing into the clothes.

Tuning into the places where you feel your breath expanding.

Feeling the breath between the upper back and the surface you are on.

Aware of all the places the breath expands outward into space.

And now a sense of the whole body breathing.

A sense of the breath expanding outward in all directions with each inhale and releasing back to your center with each exhale.

Your breath expanding and deflating as if you were breathing in and out of every pore.

Awareness of the breath dissolving.

Dissolving into the felt sensation of your body as very heavy.

The whole back half of your body sinking down.

Sense all the places that you feel your body touching the surface underneath you.

Your body heavy,

Dense,

Releasing down to the earth.

And now with each inhale,

Imagine your body becoming lighter.

Each breath filling your body like a balloon.

A feeling of lifting up from the floor because of the buoyancy of your body.

The whole body light as a feather,

Floating.

And now with your next exhale,

Come back to sensing your body as heavy.

A body weighted down as if it were filled with sand.

Returning to each inhale,

Creating lightness.

A body rising up energetically because it is filled with air.

Lightness of the whole body.

And now could you begin to sense these opposites simultaneously.

Simultaneously feeling the body as heavy and light.

No need to overthink.

Just a felt sense of these polar opposites.

Heavy and light.

Grounded and airy.

And now fully releasing back to the ground.

Resting on a soft bed of grass.

Feeling the stability of the earth.

Looking up at the clear blue sky.

A vast blueness.

Infinite sky.

Imagine you're resting under trees and you can see the leaves above shimmering in the wind.

The branches responding to the light breeze.

The sound of the woods.

The sounds of the trees.

Of the small animals rustling.

The song of a bird.

The buzzing of friendly insects.

Continue to rest here in this sacred space of the woods.

Safe and secure.

You are held by nature.

One with all life.

Welcoming any visions.

Any information from your inner being.

You are one with the radiance of your true nature.

Deep healing.

Rest.

Effortless connection.

The universe.

Resting.

And now come back to your personal sankalpa.

Or the offered sankalpa.

I am one with the divine wisdom of my inner being.

Feel this sankalpa in your whole body.

Begin to become aware of your breath once more.

Feeling the wave of your infinite breath.

Deepening the breath.

Becoming aware of the body moving as you take in deeper breaths.

Deeper breaths.

Filling your lungs.

Emptying your lungs.

Moving back into awaking state.

Become aware of any sounds in your space.

Become aware of the space all around you.

You might visualize the ceiling.

The walls.

The floor.

Welcome gentle movement.

Slowly waking up the physical body.

In your own time you might roll to one side.

Resting in the awareness of the profound of the profound nourishing effect of yoga nidra.

Take your time now to move to the next segment of your day or evening.

Thank you for joining me for the practice today.

I truly appreciate you and I'm wishing you all the best.

Namaste.