Yoga Nidra To Nurture Your Spirit

Okay,

So welcome.

Settling into your space,

Feeling all of the layers of stress that you've been carrying begin to lift off your body as you allow yourself to slowly and gently and simply relax.

Yoga nidra means yogic sleep and our goal is not to fall asleep when we practice yoga nidra but instead to allow the mind and the body to come into a place of deep relaxation somewhere in between wake and sleep.

So it's totally normal to find yourself drifting off and then catching yourself with the sound of my voice and wondering what you missed or whether you fell asleep.

That's wonderful because it means you're truly relaxed and that's really the goal of this practice is to bring our mind and body into a place of deep relaxation so that the parasympathetic nervous system,

Our heal,

Rest and digest mode is activated,

Getting us out of fight or flight and really into the state where the body begins to repair itself.

So go ahead and make any final adjustments to your body that you'd like.

Letting your spine be long,

Maybe letting your hands rest a little bit far away from your body,

Palms facing up and perhaps your legs are a little bit wide and your toes point to the sides.

You can also practice this meditation seated instead of lying in savasana,

But lying down tends to be best.

Do a quick body scan and notice any area where you may be holding tension.

Feel your shoulders sink down away from your ears as the shoulder blades melt down the spine.

Feel your glutes release and relax,

Shifting away any tension out of the lower back,

Out of the hips.

Feel the muscles in your face relax and to help your body release even deeper,

Begin to clench your hands into fists and squeeze your toes together,

Beginning to tighten the muscles in your abdomen and squeezing yourself tight.

With an exhale,

Sigh out,

Release,

Relax and let go.

We'll do this two more times,

Tightening,

Clenching,

Making fists,

Balling your feet,

Balling your hands,

Pulling your belly button into your spine.

On your exhale,

Sigh out,

Release,

Relax and let go.

Do this one more time,

Clenching in,

Squeezing,

Squeezing and holding,

Releasing,

Relaxing,

Letting go.

Sometimes giving the body tension helps us to actively release it.

That's similar to what meditation does for our mind.

We give the mind small tasks with guided meditation in order to show it where we want it to relax.

Begin bringing your awareness into your breath.

Without trying to change your breath or manipulate it in any way,

Simply observing the gentle inhales and exhales,

The air coming into your nostrils and exiting the nostrils.

Starting to notice the sensation of air and its temperature as it comes in,

Following the path that it takes all the way into your chest and into your belly and noticing it as it empties from your body,

Feeling the temperature of it as it exits the nostrils.

Notice if your breath has any sound.

If you notice any smells in the room around you or any sounds,

Notice and release.

And then begin allowing the breath to expand even deeper,

Filling your whole ribcage and then drawing the breath even lower into the belly,

Seeing if you can press out even below the belly button with your inhale.

And as you exhale,

Drawing the belly gently in,

Allowing the lungs to close and flatten,

Drawing in nourishing,

Full exhales,

Filling yourself all the way up with oxygen,

Expanding all the way deep into the belly,

And allowing your exhales to be cleansing and complete,

Taking with them anything that does not serve you.

Maybe as you inhale,

You silently count to four,

Filling all the way up,

And then holding the breath at the top for another count of four,

And as you exhale,

Internally counting four.

Going down and deepening the breath slows down the brainwaves and our thoughts.

It begins to allow the mind to calm down.

Throughout practice,

If you find yourself caught in your thoughts,

Simply allow yourself to come back to the breath to acknowledge your thoughts and allow them to pass as if they were clouds in a bright,

Clear blue sky.

Keeping your breath steady,

Bring your awareness now into your heart center.

See if you can locate the sensation of your heart beating within your chest.

Notice if you can feel it,

If you can almost hear it,

And with the sensation of your breath and the pulsation of your heart,

Coming in to the place where you meet with the Divine,

The seat of your consciousness and the Anahata chakra.

Search here for the intention for your practice this evening.

Your intention can be one word,

Something that reminds you of your essence or something that brings you joy,

That fills you with love and with peace.

It may even be accompanied by a vision of you as your highest self in your truest nature,

Thriving.

See if you can yoke your one word affirmation with the vision of yourself in this light.

And as you do,

Repeat the intention to yourself in a positive I am form.

For example,

I am well.

Repeating this intention to yourself three times.

Please also repeat to yourself,

I am not falling asleep.

Allow the sound of my voice along with your intention to be your anchors throughout this practice.

Keeping your breath steady,

We'll now practice rotation of consciousness.

I'll name each part of the body and you'll simply acknowledge it and release it as we move on to the next without forming any attachments along the way.

Draw your awareness to the toes of the right foot.

Feel the toes of your right foot release beneath you as you relax.

Feel the sole of your right foot release as you relax.

Feel your right ankle release and relax.

Feel your right shin release and relax.

Allow the right knee to be heavy and relaxed and the right thigh to release as you relax.

Feel your right hip release any tension and relax.

Feel the right side of your torso release as you relax.

Feel the right shoulder become heavy and relaxed.

The right upper arm release as you relax.

Feel your right elbow relax.

Your right forearm relax.

Allow the right wrist to release as you relax and the right palm to release and to relax.

Feel each of your right fingers release into the surface beneath you as you relax.

Right side is relaxed.

Now draw your awareness into the toes of the left foot.

Feel the toes of the left foot release beneath you as you relax.

Feel the sole of your left foot release as you relax.

Feel the heel of the left foot become heavy and relaxed.

Feel your left ankle release and relax.

Feel your left shin become heavy and relaxed.

Allow the left knee to release as you relax.

Feel your left thigh release and relax.

Feel your left hip become heavy and relaxed.

Feel the left side of your torso release and relax.

Feel your left shoulder become heavy and relaxed.

Feel your left upper arm release and relax.

Allow your left elbow to relax.

Feel the left forearm release and relax.

Feel your left wrist relax.

Allow the left palm to relax and allow each of your left fingers to release into the surface beneath you as you relax.

Left side is relaxed and right side is relaxed.

Draw your awareness now into your navel and relax.

Feel the center of your chest release any tension and relax.

Feel the center of your throat relax.

Release any tension from your jaws and relax.

Feel the inner corners of your eyes relax and the outer corners of your eyes relax.

Feel any tension melt away from the center of your forehead as you relax and allow your whole body to melt as you relax.

Whole body is relaxed.

Everything is relaxed.

Repeat your intention to yourself and please repeat to yourself,

I am not falling asleep.

We'll now complete rapid image visualization.

As I name each thing,

Allow yourself to visualize it and then move on to the next without forming any attachments along the way.

Red desert,

Peacock feather,

The Buddha meditating,

A good night's rest,

The full moon,

Your reflection in a mirror,

A foggy morning waiting for results,

The sun shining overhead,

A bouquet of flowers,

A tall tree,

Cool clear water,

A relaxing afternoon,

A cat stretching,

Laughing with friends,

A warm embrace,

A candle burning,

A temple on a mountain,

A path in the woods,

A vibrant sunset,

A beautiful garden,

Your favorite song,

The sound of my voice,

Your body lying where it rests.

As any thoughts come into your mind,

Continue allowing them to pass as if they were clouds in a bright blue sky,

Keeping your body relaxed and your mind relaxed,

Bringing your awareness once again into your heart center.

Imagine the color emerald green beginning to emanate and radiate outward from the center of your chest and see if that beautiful emerald green color that is shining and reflecting like light,

Watch as it begins to spread from your chest up toward your head and down toward your toes,

Covering your entire body in emerald green shining sparkling light.

This is the light of love.

This is the light of healing.

Picturing your body surrounded in crystal green light,

Allowing the light to come into any area of your body that needs extra healing,

Allowing the light to correct balance,

To correct any imbalance and bring balance and restoration where you need it.

Anywhere from your mind to a physical part of your body and into the cellular level,

Restoring balance,

Creating healing.

Picture your body resting surrounded in this beautiful emerald green light as if you were hovering above yourself.

Notice the expression on your face and silently thank your body for the healing work that it is doing.

Allow the part of you that is floating above the observer,

The spirit part,

To make your way into your secret garden.

There is a garden that only you have the key to.

Find yourself on the path that leads you to it,

Making your way there,

Finding the gate covered in ivy,

Unlocking the gate and allowing yourself to enter,

Closing the gate behind you,

Finding yourself in a magnificent beautiful garden that is only yours,

Allowing your senses to be delighted and your eyes to feast on the glorious colors,

The amazing beautiful flowers,

Noticing the fragrance in the air,

Any sounds in this place like birds overhead or water trickling nearby,

Making your way deeper into your garden,

Feeling the sensation of the cool earth beneath your feet,

Feeling the warmth of the sunshine on your skin,

The brightness in the air,

Walking a little bit deeper,

Taking in the beauty of all of your favorite plants,

Noticing the colors and the textures that you're surrounded with as you walk in this place,

Notice the clothes that you're wearing here,

How you're dressed and adorned,

Notice the expression on your face,

The lightness in your step and how relaxed your shoulders look,

This garden exists as a place for your spirit to rest and to recharge itself,

To come back into oneness with the divinity that you already know,

Allow yourself to feel the peace more and more deeply and to allow any stress or heaviness to continue to lift from your shoulders,

Evaporating from you,

Walking along the path even deeper into your garden,

Finding a beautiful spot to rest,

A place where your spirit gets to sit in meditation,

Sorting out everything that's been weighing you down,

Hindering your progress,

Burdening your heart,

Sifting out the true and the real from the stuff that doesn't really matter,

Sitting in stillness and coming back to truth in the beauty of this garden,

Coming back to the truth that you are divinely supported,

That you are loved beyond measure,

That you are not only seen but that you are heard,

You are understood and you are intimately known,

That there is more before you than you can see and that your future promises to be beautiful and bright,

Sitting and bathing in this truth that you are created on purpose,

For a purpose and with purpose.

Sitting and bathing in this truth,

Remembering your intention and repeating it back to yourself.

Sitting in your garden,

Taking in its beauty and the peace that finds you here.

Please repeat to yourself,

I'm sorry.

Please repeat to yourself,

Please forgive me.

Repeat to yourself,

Thank you.

And repeat to yourself,

I love you.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

Repeating your intention to yourself once more and seeing if there is anything you can take with you from your garden this evening,

Perhaps there's a flower ready for you to pluck that reminds you of beauty or of the truth that you are so,

So,

So incredibly loved.

This garden place exists for you to come back whenever you'd like.

It is only yours and only you hold the key to it.

Feeling like you're ready to come back into the physical reality of your body.

Begin making your way back toward the gate of your garden,

Opening it,

Allowing yourself to exit and locking it behind you.

Really making your way back down the path that leads into your physical body once again.

Remembering your physical body covered in emerald healing light,

Radiating from head to toe in healing,

Loving light.

Breathe yourself back in.

Feeling the subtle expansion of your lungs and your belly with each inhale and the gentle emptiness with each exhale.

You're welcome to stay here and to make your way from this relaxing meditation into sleep for the evening.

And if that was not your intention,

Then you can gently start waking yourself back up,

Keeping your eyes closed,

Simply making a tiny movement of your head back and forth,

Maybe slowly drawing one ear to the floor and then the other giving the back of your head a massage or squeezing your toes and clenching your fists.

Maybe drawing the arms all the way across your chest to give yourself a gentle hug.

Getting back into a comfortable seated position if you'd like.

And before you open your eyes,

Take a moment to rub the palms together until you begin to feel yourself generating heat within the palms and then cover each eye with your hands.

Slowly blinking the eyes open and then only removing the palms once you're ready.

Thank you for allowing me to guide you in yoga nidra this evening.

You are so loved and I love you.

May God bless you.

Namaste.