Health & Healing Yoga Nidra

So you allow your eyes to close and get comfortable,

Make any last minute movements you might need to make.

Now this is called the practice of yoga nidra,

But yoga nidra is actually a state.

The state of being.

It's this place of deep calm,

Of deep relaxation.

And you know when you're in that place of deep calm and deep relaxation,

That's when you're able to create what you want to create in your life.

Whatever that may be.

So just know that there's no way to do this wrong.

All you need to do is listen to my voice.

That's it.

Thoughts will come and go,

And that's okay.

You might find yourself that you've fallen asleep,

And that's okay too.

If you notice you've fallen asleep or your mind has wandered off other places,

You just bring your attention back to my voice.

And know that at any time if you want to become more calm and more relaxed,

If you decide to do it,

You will do it.

You're in charge,

You're in control.

You'll only go as deep as you want to go.

So your intentions are to listen to my voice and to trust your experience that the experience you have is the correct one for you today.

So to begin your practice,

Your Yoginidra practice,

You're going to be able to do this.

So to begin your practice,

Your Yoginidra practice,

You'll be rotating your awareness around your body.

So I'll say a part of your body,

And you just become aware of that part of your body.

There's nothing you have to do.

Nothing you have to do.

You might notice that you become more calm and more relaxed as you rotate your consciousness around your body.

But just observe,

See what happens.

So first you start out by being aware of your right thumb.

Be aware of your right thumb.

And then your right index finger.

Your right middle finger.

Your right ring finger.

Your right pinky finger.

Be aware of your right palm and wrist.

Be aware of your right forearm and elbow.

Be aware of your right upper arm and your right shoulder.

Notice your right chest and your right shoulder blade.

Be aware of the right side of your torso and your right hip and glute.

Your right thigh and your knee.

Your right calf and ankle.

Your right foot.

Your right big toe.

Your right second toe.

Your right third toe.

Your right fourth toe.

The right pinky toe.

And then you're aware of the entire right side of your body.

Be aware of the right side of your body.

Just ask yourself,

What's it like to be aware of just the right side of the body?

Then you're aware of your left thumb.

Your left index finger.

Your left middle finger.

Left ring finger.

Left pinky finger.

Aware of the left palm and wrist.

Left forearm and elbow.

Left upper arm.

Aware of the left shoulder.

Left chest and left shoulder blade.

The left side of the torso.

Left hip and glute.

The left thigh and left knee.

Left calf and ankle.

Awareness in the left foot and the left big toe.

The left second toe.

The left third toe.

The left fourth toe.

The left pinky toe.

You're aware of the left side of your body.

Just observe,

What's it like to be aware of the left side of your body?

The left side of your body.

You bring your awareness down to the bottom of your feet.

The bottom of your feet.

Both feet.

Both feet at the same time.

At the bottom of your feet,

A state of calm.

A state of relaxation begins to form.

Just observe how you experience that calm or that relaxation.

Is it a feeling?

Or is it something you see?

Or do you just know that you're calm or relaxed at the bottom of your feet?

And on purpose,

With intention,

You begin to bring that calm up the back of your body.

First into your heels.

You bring that calm relaxation into your heels.

And then up into your calves.

The backs of your knees.

The backs of your thighs.

And up into your glutes.

Your glutes release and relax and let go.

Up through your low back.

And up your spine.

And into the shoulder blades.

And then down the backs of the arms to the hands.

You bring calm relaxation up the back of your neck.

Up into the back of your head.

All the way up to the top of your head.

Then you bring it down into your forehead and your eyebrows.

Down through your eyelids and your temples.

And out into your ears.

Your cheeks become very calm.

Down through your lips,

Your jaw,

And your chin.

Bring it down the front of your neck.

Down into the front of your shoulders.

Down the front of your arms.

Down into your hands.

Very calm and relaxed.

That calm fills your chest.

Down through your abdominal muscles.

And into your hips,

Your hip flexors.

Release and relax and let go.

You bring it down through your quads or the front of your thighs.

Down into your kneecaps.

Down through your shin bones.

Down through the tops of your feet.

And into your toes.

Observe what it's like to be so calm and relaxed from the top of your head down to your toes.

Then again,

What would it be like to be calm throughout the right side of your body?

Be calm through the right side of your body.

And then you're calm through the left side of your body.

Focus on that calm in the left side of your body.

You experience that calm relaxation in the back of your body.

What's it like to be calm and relaxed in just the back part of your body?

Calm through the front of the body.

You're calm through the front of your body,

Just the front.

And then you put it all together.

You're calm and relaxed through the right side of your body,

The left side,

The back of the body,

And the front of the body,

All at the same time.

Calm throughout your entire body.

Relaxed throughout your entire body.

You are in control of your relaxation and only relax as deeply as is comfortable for you.

So if you'd like to go deeper into that relaxation,

Do so with your next exhale.

Be aware of your breathing.

Notice the air as it comes in.

Notice the air as it goes out.

And as you're noticing your breathing,

You're awake and you're listening to my voice.

And with every breath in,

Notice that you bring in fresh air,

Fresh oxygen,

Fresh energy that fuels the body.

With every breath out,

Imagine that you release a little bit more tension.

You release a little bit of discomfort,

A bit of worry.

And each breath just takes you deeper and deeper into the state of calm,

The state of relaxation.

If you want to go deeper into that state of calm,

You can,

And you do so with your next exhale.

Now you find yourself walking on a path out in nature.

You might have been here before or maybe you haven't,

But you're walking on this path out in nature and you just observe what's around you.

What you see on this path.

What you hear.

What you smell.

The warm sun on your skin or maybe a cool breeze.

But you find that as you walk on this path with each step you take,

You find yourself going deeper into the state of calm and it feels so good to go deeper.

You know,

It's a very healthy place to be.

As you continue to walk in just a moment,

You'll take 10 very intentional steps.

And I'll walk with you by counting from 10 down to zero.

And with each step,

You'll find this calm growing more and more.

You'll go deeper and deeper.

You'll know exactly what to do.

And you begin going deeper into that state of calm now as you take those intentional steps at 10.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

And zero.

And in front of you on that path is a door.

You know this door is meant for you.

You know this door is meant for you and you know you're meant to go through it.

And on the other side of this door is a very special place,

A very calm,

Beautiful,

Healing place that's just meant for you.

So you reach out and you put your hand on the handle,

The door knob.

You turn it,

Open the door,

And you step through now.

Imagine that you find yourself in that special place.

It's a place where you feel very comfortable and very relaxed.

You're very aware as you're in this space.

And again,

It might be a place you've actually been before in your life or not.

None of that matters as long as it's a very beautiful place,

A place that feels inviting and it feels good to be in.

A place that feels very safe and very healing.

And you can explore this place.

Notice what you see around you in this healing place.

All the things you see.

And how you see them.

Notice if there's any sounds in your healing place.

Or simply if it's very quiet.

Notice if there's a fragrance or an aroma,

Some type of smell that you imagine that's in the air around you.

You might experience one or all of these things.

It's perfectly alright however you imagine this place of healing.

It may change over time as you explore it,

Or it might stay the same.

It doesn't matter.

Just let yourself explore a little more.

And take some time to find a place where you feel safe and let yourself get comfortable there.

A place where you sit or lie down.

Or maybe stand,

But it's very comfortable.

And just notice how it feels to imagine yourself there.

And again if your mind ever wanders away,

You just take a deep breath and return your attention to this beautiful healing place.

Without feeling the need to go anywhere else right now or do anything else just for now.

And as you relax in this special place of healing,

Let an image come to mind that can now symbolize the healing that is already going on within you.

And the strength and the abilities of the healing systems built into your body.

Let an image come up that represents this to you.

It might come in any form.

It may be an image that you've had before.

Or it may be a brand new image.

Notice what comes to mind as you invite an image for healing.

How would you imagine yourself full of healing energy and activity and feeling whole,

Healthy and strong?

Let yourself begin to imagine yourself that way now.

And don't worry at all about whether the image you have now is the best image or the strongest image.

There's no right or wrong or good or bad.

Just simply bring up that image now.

For now,

Let this image you have stand for the healing your body,

Mind and spirit can do.

And imagine it happening now in you.

Imagine it being as strong and powerful and effective as it possibly can.

If you need more power,

Imagine you can connect to people and things you love.

And to whatever source of life and energy you imagine put you here in the first place.

Imagine that those provide powerful sources of healing energy that you can direct throughout your body,

Mind and spirit to heal what needs to be healed.

To eliminate what needs to be eliminated.

To repair what needs to be repaired.

Take a few moments now to imagine this happening in your own way.

And let whatever way you imagine this happening to be just fine for now.

Your unconscious mind understands what your conscious mind is telling it.

It understands that your intention is to activate and stimulate all the healing capabilities it has.

And it knows just how to respond however you imagine this healing.

You're continuing to experience that healing imagery in your healing space.

You continue to let yourself sit with this image of healing.

Notice how it feels to imagine that happening in you now.

You're continuing to experience that healing.

You are experiencing that healing imagery now.

Now.

Now.

Now.

Now.

Now.

Now.

Now.

Know that any time you'd like to tap into this healing imagery,

You can.

To activate the body's natural abilities to heal whatever needs to be healed.

You can return to your healing space at any time.

Knowing that allowing yourself to come to this place of calm,

This place of relaxation.

Experiencing this healing space is a very healthy thing to do for yourself.

Now you allow that healing imagery to release knowing that it is still there for you.

To bring your awareness to your chest,

Your heart.

And at your heart,

There is a glowing ball of light.

Notice what color that ball of light is.

You might see it,

But you might just know what color it is.

And as you inhale that light at your heart grows strong,

Bright.

And as you exhale,

You share that light throughout the rest of your body.

Then as you inhale that light at your heart grows stronger and brighter.

And as you exhale,

You send it out throughout the rest of your body,

Slowly filling yourself up.

Through your toes,

Through your fingers,

Through the top of your head.

Each time you inhale that light at your heart grows strong and bright.

And as you exhale,

You fill yourself up a little bit more,

Share that light throughout more of your body.

And finally,

One more inhale,

That light growing stronger and brighter.

And this time as you exhale,

You fill yourself up completely with this light.

And you remain filled with this light from the top of your head down to your toes.

Notice what it's like to be filled with this light throughout your entire body.

And then you know that this light is the light of gratitude.

This is the light of gratitude,

It's completely filling you.

It's completely filling you throughout your entire body,

Throughout your entire mind.

Gratitude for anything you call to mind right now.

Gratitude for anything you call to mind right now.

And simply gratitude for this moment.

And then you start to lengthen your breath,

Start to deepen your inhales and your exhales.

And these deep breaths start to bring you closer to the surface.

Simply by taking these deep breaths,

You start to come closer to the surface.

You feel this awakening start to happen throughout your body and your mind.

And then some movement goes into your toes and into your fingers.

And this very gentle,

Gradual movement through your toes and your fingers brings you a little closer to the surface.

You feel a little more awake but still very calm.

You might even begin rocking your head side to side.

Very gently,

One way and then the other way.

And then you make your way onto your side.

Make your way onto your side,

Whichever side you'd like.

Maybe moving with your eyes closed.

And then you slowly make your way up to a seat.

Make your way up to a seat,

Take your time.

And then you make your way down to your side.

Make your way up to your seat,

Take your time.

And then you make your way up to your seat.

And then you make your way up to your seat.