Golden Lotus Yoga Nidra

Hello and welcome.

My name is Tatyana Regina and this is your yoga nidra practice.

Thanks for being here.

To prepare,

Ensure you have a cozy nest for yourself,

Lying on your back with a pillow,

A blanket,

And something to cover your eyes and block out the light.

You can place a pillow underneath the knees to support the relaxation of your lower back,

Perhaps pulling a blanket nice and snuggled up underneath your chin,

Feeling its weight as it lays across your body.

And as you arrive here,

In this time and space for practice,

Invite any last movements or fidgets in,

Anything that might make you just a little more comfortable,

Before resting your body into stillness.

Feel as all the ripples and folds of your brain deepen and soften.

Allow your eyes to soften into the back of your skull and feel the weight of your front body melt into your back body,

Gently guided by the nurturing force of gravity like a stream down a mountainside.

And invite your breath in through your nose.

Feel the way it moves down your throat and into the very bottom of your lungs.

And then open your mouth and let it go with a sigh.

Once again,

Breathing in deep,

Fully expanding the lungs,

Then letting it all go with a sigh.

One more time,

Deep in through the nose and sigh.

And it is here that we begin the practice of yoga nidra.

Feel as the inhale and exhale move through your nose.

And imagine that you were drawing the breath up now from the soles of your feet.

Drawing the breath from the soles of your feet up to the knees on the inhale.

On the exhale,

From the knees back down to the soles of your feet.

From the soles of your feet to your hips.

Hips back down to the soles.

Soles to the heart center.

Heart center down to the soles.

Soles to shoulders.

And from shoulders down the arms and into the fingertips.

From the fingertips up to the shoulders.

Shoulders down to the soles.

Soles to the crown of the head.

Crown of the head down to the soles.

And feel as your breath oscillates between the soles of your feet and the crown of your head.

As your whole body breathes.

And this breath creates a spaciousness within the body.

A receptivity.

And if you are working with a sankalpa,

Invite it into your heart space as you repeat it three times.

Feeling as it sinks deep into your spacious body.

Rooting itself in your heart.

And now we will begin to map out your body using your internal sense of touch to light up the parts that I name.

Beginning with the right hand thumb.

All of your awareness lighting up the space of your right hand thumb.

And moving over to the pointer finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Pinky finger.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Wrist.

Forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Right collarbone.

Right side of the chest.

Waist.

Hip.

Thigh and hamstrings.

Knee.

Shin and calf.

Ankle.

Top of the right foot.

Bottom of the foot.

Heel.

Tip of your big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

And fourth toe.

Feeling your whole right side of your body.

Then bringing your awareness over into the tip of your left thumb.

Pointer finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Pinky finger.

Palm.

Back of the hand.

Wrist.

Forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Left collarbone.

Left side of the chest.

Waist.

Hip.

Thigh and hamstrings.

Knee.

Shin and calf.

Ankle.

Top of the foot.

Bottom of the foot.

Heel.

Tip of the big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Feeling the whole left side of your body together.

And then we'll zigzag and connect each side of your body together.

Beginning with the right heel.

Then the left heel.

Right knee.

Left knee.

Right hip.

Left hip.

Both hips together.

Lower back.

Mid-back.

Upper back.

Neck.

Back of your head.

Top of your head.

Your mouth.

Tongue.

Upper row of teeth.

Lower row of teeth.

Upper lip.

Lower lip.

The space between both lips.

Tip of your chin.

Forehead.

Right eye.

Left eye.

Right nostril.

Left nostril.

Both nostrils.

Right ear.

Left ear.

The space between both ears.

Third eye center.

Back to the space between the ears.

And here at the center of your mind rests a golden lotus bud.

All of its petals tightly folded in,

Holding one another.

And as your attention rests upon this golden bud,

You witness the emergence of roots,

As they begin to move down through your spine.

Through the back of your legs.

Out the soles of your feet.

Finding their way into the earth and moving through all the deep layers of soil,

Rock,

Water,

And ash.

Moving deep,

Deep,

Into the center of the earth.

Anchoring into earth wisdom.

The center of the earth lights up like a crystal core.

Sending golden rays back up the roots,

Into the bud of the lotus flower.

The earth energy encourages these golden petals to unfold.

And each velvety petal begins to open,

One after another,

After another.

Until a radiant golden lotus illuminates the space between your ears.

A thin gold cord emerges from the very center of this lotus.

And it begins to move upwards through the crown of your head.

Past the clouds.

The atmosphere.

Far out past the planets and the Milky Way.

Returning to the original source of light.

And anchoring itself in connection to the wisdom of the universe.

And here you are,

Anchored in the center of the soft,

Subtle currents of both heaven and earth.

Witnessing as they converge and swirl,

Dancing with one another in their exchange.

Giving to you,

And receiving from you,

Anything that wishes to move,

To change,

To transform.

And from this golden lotus,

The lotus pours golden liquid.

Oozing from its petals.

Filling you from your feet up,

Slowly,

All the way to the crown of your head.

Until the entirety of your body emits radiance.

Vitality.

Truth.

And once all is complete,

The golden cord from the center of the lotus begins to return from the light.

Reeling itself in and moving back past the planets.

Into the atmosphere.

Past the clouds.

Through the top of your head.

Until it disappears back in the glimmering center of the lotus.

The roots unwrap from the core of the earth.

Core of the earth.

Moving through all the layers of the soil.

Returning back up your legs,

Spine,

And neck.

Until they are coiled perfectly at the base of this radiant golden lotus.

And the petals begin to fold back in and close.

Each one hugging another.

And once it has swaddled itself,

The bulb begins to move downwards.

Into the space of your heart.

Acting as a seed as you hear the words of your sankalpa.

And the space between your cells hug together.

Moving inwards and folding around the seed of your sankalpa.

Coming closer and closer.

Closer and closer.

Becoming denser and denser.

As you begin to feel the formation of your physical body.

Feeling the way the outline of your body holds your cells.

Similar to the way the outline of the walls hold the space that you are in.

And the way that gravity holds us on this planet.

And it is here that we complete the practice of yoga nidra.

You can allow your breath to deepen.

Feeling the way your lungs fill your ribcage.

And allowing this movement to ripple outwards to your fingers and toes as you begin to wiggle them.

Allowing small movements to become big ones.

As you feel into the full length of your body and stretch.

Reawakening and reorienting to this time.

Here and now.

And we'll close today's practice by simply saying thank you.

Thank you for showing up for yourself and taking the time to practice today.

Thank you to the earth for always being here to hold us in all our experiences.

Thank you.

And have a beautiful rest of your day or night.