We practice mindfulness and meditation as a technique to induce clarity of mind
by inviting the mental life to slowly settle.
We do this by focusing on a fixed
point like the breath,
A bodily sensation,
An image,
A sound.
In this practice of
yoga nidra we will develop concentration by letting our attention travel to
different focus points.
We will use our senses,
Our breath,
Our body and our
imagination to increase clarity and lucidity and improve our ability to
focus longer and perform better on tasks.
To begin,
Come to lie down on a comfortable surface in a quiet room.
It
is important that you take the time to adjust your posture in order to be as
comfortable as possible and get the most of the experience.
Use pillows behind
your head and knees if needed and of course if you can't lie down you can
practice sitting.
Ensure that the body is warm enough as we will stay still for
several minutes and your body temperature will drop.
Feel free to cover
your eyes too if you'd like to practice in obscurity.
Now once you've made final
adjustments,
Slowly transition into complete stillness.
Let your body relax
on the surface you're on.
Let your muscles soften and smoothen your face by
untightening the jaw.
Now notice if you could be five or ten percent more
comfortable.
Are there any small areas in your body which you can soften a little
bit more?
Maybe the backs of the knees,
The low back,
The shoulders,
The forehead.
Slowly let your attention travel towards your five senses.
Pay attention to how
they help you position yourself in the space around you and create an increased
connection to the moment.
Listen to the sounds in the space around you,
The
sounds farther to you,
Maybe outside,
And the sounds closer to you,
In the building,
In the room.
Smell the air passing through your nostrils,
Maybe identifying
a smell that is proper to the environment you're in.
Taste the inside
of your mouth.
Let the tongue explore the back of the teeth,
The roof of the mouth.
Feel the touch of the ground on your body and more subtly even the touch of
your clothes on your skin.
Relax the eyes under your eyelids,
Observing the small
dots of light in the darkness.
Start to turn the vision internally,
Letting go of
what is happening behind your closed eyes.
Let's now define your sankalpa,
Your positive heartfelt intention for this practice.
Can you bring to mind
something that you really desire?
It doesn't have to be a material thing,
It
can be the action of doing something,
It can also be the expression of a feeling
and an emotion.
Can you formulate this desire in a positive present tense,
Simple sentence?
Now imagine yourself living in the fulfillment of this desire.
What would it be like or feel like if this desire was your reality?
Now repeat it five times in your head and let it go.
Allow your attention to travel to the breath.
Feel and observe the movements of
the breath in the body without feeling the need to control or manipulate.
Relax
into the simplicity of the breath ebbing and flowing in the body.
Notice how your
body moves like water.
Feel the belly,
The chest inflate and deflate following the
movement of this flow.
Feel like within your body there is the rhythm of a tide,
Waves of breath flowing in and flowing out.
Relax into this.
Begin to count back on each exhalation from 10 until you reach
zero.
Place your awareness at your belly and each time you exhale count back.
Inhaling,
Exhaling for 10.
Inhaling,
Exhaling for 9.
And when you reach
zero just start back again from 10.
Now bring your awareness to the space around your navel.
Travel down to the
pelvis,
Feeling its weight resting heavily on the floor.
Move down along the
thighs,
On the knees,
Along the shin bones.
Let the attention glide on to the top of
your feet and reach all 10 toes,
The soles of the feet and the heel.
Move back
up along the calf muscles,
The backs of your knees,
Backs of your thighs and
buttocks.
Feel the natural curve in your low back and as the awareness moves up
along your spine feel each vertebra pressing down onto the floor in your
middle back and your upper back.
Feel the weight of your scapulas and shoulders
dropping down.
Move down to the arms,
Creases of the elbows,
The forearms,
The
palms of the hands and all 10 fingers.
Move back up along the backs of your hands to the wrists,
Elbows,
Back of the
shoulders.
Bring your awareness to the hollow space at the base of your throat.
Move up to the chin,
To the jaws,
To the tongue.
Let the tongue press the roof of your mouth.
Feel the inside of
your cheeks,
The outside of your cheeks,
The nostrils,
All the nose,
The eyes in
their sockets,
The space between your eyebrows.
Let your awareness slide up
your forehead and to the hairline until it reaches the crown of your head.
Now
feel the back of your head heavy on the ground,
The curve of the back of the neck,
The space between your shoulder blades.
Feel all your spine.
Feel the left side
of the waist meeting the right side of the waist right at the navel.
I am now
going to pronounce words.
Let the images of these words come to your mind but try
and let go of their meaning.
The smell of a good coffee,
Fresh bedsheets,
The first
birds of spring in the trees,
The bitterness of dark chocolate,
The sound of a slow train
on the tracks,
A mint candy,
The smell of grass after the rain,
The soft sound of a
pen on paper,
A droplet of rain falling on your neck,
The first glimpse of the morning sun.
Now slowly start to become aware of the space in which you are again.
Notice the surface on
which your body lies again and let your breath deepen by taking a long breath in and a long
breath out.
Bring some movement back in your body.
Move the fingertips,
The toes,
Maybe
rolling your head side to side if that feels nice.
Take any gentle movement that your body
needs to slowly resurface.
If the body needs to stretch or to yawn,
Let it stretch,
Let it yawn
and when you are ready bring your knees into the chest and let yourself roll onto the right side.
Take a short pause here and slowly come back into a seated posture to end the practice.
Join the palms of the hand at the heart space and take a moment here to feel grateful for
this opportunity to nourish your mind and your body.
Then slowly open your eyes.
Thank
you so much for practicing yoga nidra with me.
I wish to see you again soon.
