Yoga Nidra Practice 5

For today's practice of Yoga Nidra,

You'll only need your body and either a yoga mat or the floor,

So go ahead and either pause or find your way to lying flat on your back.

And today,

Your focus is just to develop a deep state of relaxation simply by lying and listening to my voice.

Yoga Nidra is a practice of awareness and a practice of listening and being only.

Making any final adjustments now to clothing or your body position,

So you can maintain stillness throughout the practice.

I'm taking a breath in,

Feeling calmness and coolness spreading throughout the body.

Breathing out,

Releasing cares,

Releasing worries.

And in the following practice,

You're going to develop the feeling of relaxation throughout the body.

It's not necessary to make any movements or even try to relax,

Just develop the feeling of relaxation through the body,

Similar to how it feels right before you fall asleep.

In this practice,

You might fall asleep,

But try not to.

Make a resolution to yourself now,

Telling yourself,

I will not fall asleep,

I will remain awake throughout the practice.

You're functioning on a level of hearing and level of awareness.

The only thing you need to do is follow my voice.

Try not to analyze any instructions.

Simply follow my voice with attention and feeling.

If thoughts arrive,

Don't worry about it.

Just continue with the practice.

Allow yourself to be calm and steady.

Concentrate on the body and become aware of the importance of stillness.

Develop your awareness of your body from the top of your head to the tip of your toes.

Complete stillness and complete awareness of the whole body.

Continue your awareness of the whole body,

The whole body,

The whole body.

Become aware of the fact that you're going to practice Yoga Nidra mentally.

Tell yourself,

I am aware.

I'm going to practice Yoga Nidra.

And the practice begins now.

Now is the time for you to make your resolve.

You might use the statement from earlier.

It's a simple,

Short,

Positive statement in simple language.

As you state it three times to yourself now with feeling and conviction,

You'll manifest this throughout your practice.

Have you ever felt this throughout your practice?

Having gratitude for that as you repeat it to yourself now.

And we'll begin with the rotation of consciousness.

I'll name different parts of the body and you'll repeat the name to yourself.

At the same time,

Bring awareness to that body part.

Bring attention to the right hand and mentally repeat after me,

Right hand,

Thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

The wrist,

The lower arm,

The elbow,

The upper arm,

Shoulder,

The armpit,

The right waist,

The right hip,

The right thigh,

The kneecap,

The calf muscle,

The ankle,

The heel,

The sole of the right foot,

The top of the foot,

The big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Become aware of the left hand,

Thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

The wrist,

The lower arm,

The elbow,

The upper arm,

The shoulder,

The armpit,

The left waist,

The left hip,

The left thigh,

The kneecap,

The calf muscle,

The ankle,

The heel,

The sole of the left foot,

The top of the left foot,

The big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Now go to the back.

Become aware of the right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

The right buttocks,

The left buttocks,

The spine,

The whole back together.

Now go to the top of the head,

The forehead,

The right eyebrow,

The left eyebrow,

The space between the eyebrows,

The right eyelid,

The left eyelid,

The right eye,

The left eye,

The right ear,

The left ear,

The right cheek,

The left cheek,

The nose,

The tip of the nose,

The upper lip,

The lower lip,

The chin,

Throat,

Right chest,

The left chest,

The middle of the chest,

The navel,

The abdomen,

The whole of the right leg,

The whole of the left leg,

Both legs together,

The whole of the right arm,

The whole of the left arm,

Both arms together,

The whole of the back,

Buttocks,

Spine,

Shoulder blades,

The whole of the front,

Abdomen,

Chest,

The whole of the back and front together,

The whole of the head,

The whole body together,

The whole body together,

The whole body together,

Awareness of the body on the floor,

Seeing your body lying on the floor,

Visualizing the image of your body in this room,

Lying in stillness,

Feel the flow in and out of your lungs,

The breath going in,

The breath going out,

Not changing the rhythm,

The breathing is natural and automatic,

There's no effort,

You're not doing it,

Maintaining awareness of your breath,

Complete awareness of breathing,

With each and every breath,

You expand and contract,

Concentrate on this movement,

Awareness of breathing,

Breathing and awareness,

We'll start counting your breaths backwards like this,

27 breathing in,

27 breathing out,

26 breathing in,

26 breathing out,

25 breathing in,

25 breathing out,

Continuing to count and breathe,

If you mess up,

Start back over at 27,

If you reach one,

Start back over,

Counting and breathing,

Breathing and counting,

No movement,

No sleeping,

Continuing the practice,

Counting and breathing,

Breathing and counting,

And then leaving the breath,

Bringing your attention back to the body lying on the floor,

Imagining the body is very heavy,

Awakening the feeling of heaviness,

Awareness of heaviness in all parts of the body,

Heavy feet,

Heavy legs,

Heavy hips,

Heavy belly,

Heavy chest,

Heavy arms,

Heavy head,

You feel so heavy,

You're sinking into the floor,

Awareness of heaviness,

Bringing the feeling of lightness into the body,

Lightness all through the body,

Lightness through the feet and the legs,

Lightness through the waist,

Waist,

Belly,

Chest,

Arms,

Lightness through the head,

You feel so light,

You might be floating,

Awareness of lightness,

And then bringing in the sensation of being cold,

Cold all through the body,

Cold all around the body,

Imagining you're walking on a cold floor,

Your feet are cold,

You feel cold all over,

Awareness of cold,

And then the sensation of heat,

The experience of being hot,

The whole body is hot,

You feel hot all over,

Heat all through the body,

Heat all over the body,

Awareness of heat,

And checking that you're awake,

Say to yourself,

I am awake,

And bring your attention to the space right in front of your eyes,

Right between your eyebrows and your mind center,

Imagining this is a big screen,

Concentrating on this dark space,

Paying attention to anything that's moving or manifesting here,

Not becoming attached or involved,

But just noticing,

And then imagine that it's very early in the morning,

It's still dark out,

You're walking through some hills,

Climbing upwards towards mountains,

You're alone,

You're walking east,

If you look back,

You can see the moon low in the sky,

It's full,

Soon the sun will rise over the mountains ahead of you,

As you continue to walk,

You see below,

Far away,

Lights of a small town,

And the path you're on twists back and forth,

Going up the side of a steep slope,

It winds between boulders,

There's a bridge in the distance,

You continue climbing,

And you come to a gap between,

And you can see a huge snow-covered mountain far ahead,

You continue to climb,

There's snow as you walk up,

It makes a crunching sound as you break through the surface and sink in,

You walk across some ice,

It cracks and groans,

You continue to climb,

And as you get towards the top,

It becomes very cold,

Wind is howling around you,

Pulling at your clothes,

Snow and ice are on your shoes,

As you reach the top,

You see to the east,

A range of snow-covered mountains and valleys,

To the west,

Hills that lead to plains in the ocean,

Intensify your imagination,

Visualizing this scene,

The sun rising in the east,

Scattering sun rays across the snow caps,

Look around the sky,

To the west,

It's still gray,

Above you,

Blue,

In the east,

A pink as it nears,

You observe the dawn of a new day,

Let yourself experience this,

Let your mind flow freely with this experience,

And then gently bringing your awareness back to that dark space in your mind's eye,

Between your eyebrows,

Just watching this darkness again,

Carefully,

Without becoming involved,

Noticing colors patterns,

Now remember that resolve,

That statement that you made at the start of practice,

Repeat that to yourself,

Same word,

Same feeling,

Three times now,

And then bringing your attention back to the awareness of your body lying in stillness on the floor,

Noticing your breath,

Noticing your breath,

Hearing sounds in the room,

Maybe hearing sounds outside of the room,

Bringing awareness to the knowledge that you'll be moving body parts in a few breaths,

And then gently wiggling small things,

Fingers,

Toes,

Maybe yawning or wiggling your jaw,

And circle wrists and ankles,

And you can stay or roll to one side when you're ready,

And before we come up to a seat,

Come back to ceiling in,

Part of our practice that's more than the shapes that we make,

And this first sutra around readiness and commitment,

Atha,

Right,

And beginnings like endings can be difficult or exciting,

I'm going to share a poem with you,

In out of the way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge,

For a long time it has watched your desire,

Feeling the emptiness growing inside of you,

Noticing how you willed yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you have outgrown,

It watched you play with the seduction of safety and the gray promises that sameness whispered,

Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,

Wondered would you always live like this,

Then the delight when your courage kindled,

And you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young with energy and dream,

A path of plentitude opening before you,

Though your destination is not yet clear,

You can trust the promise of this opening,

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning,

That is your life's desire,

Awaken your spirits,

Hold nothing back,

Learn to find ease and risk,

Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

But know that our practice together has ended,

And it was so lovely to spend this time with you.

Thank you again.

Namaste.