Yoga Nidra: Be Present, Find Deep Calm

Hello everybody and welcome to this yoga nidra practice where we're going to anchor in the present moment through deep rest.

And as we begin this yoga nidra practice I want to remind you to give yourself permission to allow anything that happens to just be.

Throughout the practice you might have some disturbances from some external forces or maybe you'll find yourself drifting into memories or thoughts or maybe something will just spontaneously come up as a result of my suggestions or as a result of the practice itself.

But whatever does come up just allow it to be.

Practice welcoming it in.

You don't have to try to resist it or to force it down whatever it is.

Recognize it for what it is.

It's simply a thought,

It's a memory,

It's a sensation.

And practice being the witness to it.

The more you can be the witness the more you can stay in the present moment.

Allow whatever does arise to anchor you to awareness itself.

Allow each disturbance or each thought or memory to be an invitation to come back to the present moment.

It's not your job to fix anything or to try to change anything.

It's simply your job to be the witness.

Rest will be at the forefront of this practice because rest equals presence.

Rest allows us to anchor to the present moment.

You might notice when your body and mind is rested you might feel less inclined to worry about the future or to wallow in the past.

It's easier to just be here and now.

So follow my words throughout this practice and as you do you'll cultivate a deeper awareness.

You'll become more relaxed and you might become so relaxed that you find yourself drifting into sleep.

And if you do sleep that is okay.

We'll try to avoid sleeping as best we can but just remember that even if you do fall asleep the part of you that I'm speaking to today is always listening.

Let's begin by allowing a few deep sighs out of your mouth.

Breathe in through your nostrils and let it all out.

Ah Repeat that a few more times and allow yourself to get as comfortable as possible.

See if you can make yourself even 10% more relaxed.

Now I invite you to open up into a broad awareness.

What are you most aware of in this moment?

It could be something external or internal,

A physical sensation,

Temperature.

What is it that you're most aware of in this moment?

Whatever it is,

Practice welcoming it in.

Recognize it for what it is and be the witness to it.

Whatever you're most aware of in this moment,

You are welcoming it,

Recognizing it and simply being the witness to it.

Now I invite you to hear the sound of my voice.

Try not to label it as good or bad.

It's simply information that you are processing right now.

The words that I'm speaking are not even important.

All that matters is that you are welcoming,

Recognizing and witnessing the sound of my voice.

Now I invite you to become aware of the feeling in your heart.

It's neither good nor bad,

But just be aware of it.

You might feel the physical beating of your heart or it might be more like an energy or a sensation around the area of it.

You are simply welcoming,

Recognizing and witnessing the feeling in your heart right now.

Now come back to the sound of my voice.

Bring all of your awareness to the sound that you are hearing.

And now bring your awareness back to the feeling of your heart.

You are feeling whatever that feeling is around your heart right now.

Now become aware of both the feeling in your heart and the sound of my voice at the same time.

Try not to overthink it.

It doesn't always have to make sense.

But in this moment you are aware of the sound of my voice while also being aware of the feeling in your own heart.

Now in this moment I invite you to open up once again to what you are most aware of.

What are you most aware of in this moment?

We're just a few minutes into this practice,

But you might notice if you have become more aware or if you have become more relaxed.

But remember there's no goal in yoga nidra.

There's no right or wrong way to practice it.

There's no way to win at yoga nidra.

Once again you're just simply opening up to what you are most aware of in this moment.

Now I invite you to create your sankalpa for this practice.

Your intention for practicing yoga nidra today.

Your sankalpa is something that is positive,

It is optimistic and it is realistic.

And most importantly your sankalpa is always rooted in now.

It's always in the present tense.

So I invite you to come up with your own sankalpa today.

Maybe something personal to you,

Something you're working on or trying to cultivate more of in your life at the moment.

And if where you want to be is not where you are now,

You can use statements like I am on the road to,

Or I have everything in front of me.

That I need to or the universe is ready to bless me with.

So come up with your sankalpa now.

Your positive statement of truth.

And repeat it silently to yourself a few times.

Now we will journey to your inner sanctuary.

That place that is real or imagined.

Where you can feel happy,

At peace and where you can feel well.

This is your own inner oasis.

And I invite you now to fill in all the details of this sanctuary using your senses.

So don't just imagine that you're there but really feel yourself being there.

So for example,

What can you see in your sanctuary?

See all of the different textures and colors and objects that are around you.

What can you hear in your sanctuary?

Hear that sound now with your ears.

Are there any tastes associated with your sanctuary?

Notice that taste flooding your taste buds now.

What's the temperature like in your sanctuary?

Can you feel certain fabrics or clothing against your skin?

And notice now what emotion comes up as a result of being in your sanctuary.

Allow that emotion to arise.

Welcome it in.

Recognize it.

And witness this emotion of your sanctuary.

Now I invite you to feel the sensations of your sanctuary.

Feel the sensation of your entire body.

Feel your body lying on the floor.

Remember there's nothing to fix or change.

We will be using the sensation of the body as a tool to hone our attention and to develop awareness.

The more we can be aware,

The more we can be present.

So listen to my words and allow them to trace the sensation of your body.

Feel the sensation of your mouth.

Teeth.

Feel into the empty space of your mouth.

You're just welcoming the sensation of mouth.

Into your awareness.

Now become aware of the sensation of eyes.

Notice your eyeballs.

Your eyelids.

Maybe you can even sense the feeling of eyelashes.

Become aware of the muscles around your eyes.

And as you do so,

You might feel them relaxing even more.

Everything is becoming softer as you bring your awareness to it.

Bring your awareness to your ears.

Your nose.

You might even be aware of the breath moving in and out of your nostrils as you breathe.

And as you do so,

You might feel the sensation of the breath moving in and out of your nostrils as you breathe in and out.

Become aware of your forehead.

Temples.

Eyebrows.

The bridge of your nose.

Now feel your entire face as sensation.

And once again,

You might notice the more you bring your awareness to the face,

The more relaxed it becomes,

The softer it feels.

Bring your awareness now to the crown of your head.

Feel the back of your head.

Bring your awareness once again to your entire face.

And now bring your awareness back to the crown and the back of your head.

Feel into only the right side of your head now.

You are only aware of the right side.

Now feel into the left side of your head.

Become aware of the right side once again.

And now bring your awareness back to the left side of your head.

Now bring your awareness to the sensation of your entire head.

There's nothing to do.

You are welcoming,

Recognizing and witnessing the sensation of head.

Trace the sensation of throat.

Feel your collarbones,

Shoulders.

Now feel your entire shoulder girdle and both of your arms at the same time.

Tracing both of your arms from shoulder to elbow,

Elbow to wrist.

And wrist into the hand.

Feel your entire shoulders and arms.

Now I invite you to adopt a feeling of heaviness in your shoulders and your arms.

Feel your shoulders and arms as weight.

They are comfortably heavy,

Completely grounded.

You are feeling your shoulders and your arms as very heavy.

Now feel your shoulders and arms as lightness.

They're as light as a feather and they could almost float above of the ground.

Feel the shoulders and arms as heavy again.

Comfortably heavy and grounded.

Now feel the shoulders and arms as light again.

Effortless,

Easy.

Now for a moment I invite you to feel your shoulders and arms as both heavy and light.

This doesn't have to make sense,

But your arms and shoulders are heavy and light at the same time.

You could think of this as the inside of your arms being light and the outside being light.

The inside of them being heavy.

Sensations and feelings such as being heavy and light come and go.

But what doesn't change is awareness.

By feeling one then the other,

We tap into the ability to refine awareness.

And as we refine this awareness,

We become more present.

By highlighting what changes,

We highlight what never changes,

And that is awareness.

We are always aware,

Because awareness is all that you are.

Through your yoga nidra practice,

You're sharpening your ability to keep your awareness in the present moment.

Feel yourself as a body lying on the floor again.

You are aware of body lying on the floor.

As awareness,

Feel yourself as the sensation of chest.

Maybe you can feel the sensation of heart and lungs.

Perhaps you can sense movement in your heart.

Or maybe you can notice how your chest gently rises and falls with your breath.

Now become aware of the sensation of your back and your spine.

You're welcoming,

Recognizing and witnessing the sensation of back.

You are awareness in a human body,

Feeling what it's like to have a back and a spine.

And I'd like to remind you that if anything is arising spontaneously for you,

Whether it's thoughts,

Memories,

Emotions,

Physical sensations,

Whatever it is,

Just welcome it in.

Recognize it for all that it is,

And be the witness to it.

Right now,

You are the witness to a human body having a human experience.

As the witness,

Begin to witness the sensation of pelvis.

Start to trace the sensation of both legs,

From the pelvis to the knees.

Knees to ankles.

Ankles to feet.

All the way to your toes.

For a moment,

Feel only your left big toe and your right thumb.

All of your awareness is concentrated into your left big toe and your right thumb.

Now allow your awareness to gather only in your right big toe and your left thumb.

You are aware of only your right big toe and your left thumb.

Now feel both of your big toes and both of your thumbs at the same time.

All of your awareness being concentrated into only these four points.

Now allow your awareness to travel back through your entire body and feel yourself as a body lying on the floor.

Feel yourself as sensation.

As sensation comes and goes,

It reveals awareness.

I invite you to feel into the energy of your body right now.

Energy can feel different to different people.

You might feel it as a vitality,

As a color,

As a buzzing.

As groundedness or dullness.

Whatever way you interpret energy,

Tap into the energy of your body right now.

Without changing it,

Become aware of your breath.

Witness this human body breathing in this human way.

And wherever you feel energy the most in your body,

Send your breath to that area.

Even if that part of the body has nothing to do with the lungs,

Imagine as though you could almost breathe in and out of that area.

Keep sending your breath to wherever you're feeling energy the most.

And as you do so,

You might observe if there's any colors arising,

Any textures or images or anything else that might be spontaneously cropping up as a result of sending your breath into this energy.

And if not,

That's okay.

We're only welcoming,

Recognizing and witnessing whatever does or doesn't come up.

Bring your sankalpa back into your mind.

That positive statement of truth.

And repeat it silently to yourself.

For a moment,

Go back into your sanctuary.

Bring it alive again using your senses.

You're not watching the sanctuary on a screen.

You're not looking at a photograph of it.

But you really are there right now.

Because you've practiced yoga nidra today,

You have refined your ability to be aware of the present moment.

To be aware of only what's happening here and now.

And as a result of this,

As you move back in through your day and through your daily routines into the rest of your week,

You'll find it easier to be present.

You'll catch yourself quicker when you're drifting off into the future or back into the past.

And you'll be able to appreciate the beauty of the present moment.

As Thich Nhat Hanh once said,

The present moment is filled with joy and happiness.

If you are attentive,

You will see it.

So going forward,

You will witness all of the joy and happiness of the present moment.

And in a moment,

I will count backwards from five,

Signaling the end of our yoga nidra practice today.

5,

4,

3,

2,

1 Yoga Nidra is over.