Yoga Nidra: Awakening The Chakras

And now prepare for yoga nidra.

Lie on your back in a comfortable position so that your arms and legs are spread out to the sides with your palms facing up and your fingers relaxed.

You may choose to place the pillow under your head or underneath your knees to make sure that your body feels completely comfortable throughout the practice.

Make sure that the head,

Neck,

And shoulders are in line with your spine and your body is completely free of all tensions.

Make any last adjustments so that the body can remain completely still throughout the practice.

However,

If any discomfort prevents you from following the practice,

Then there is no harm in adjusting the body.

During yoga nidra,

We focus on the act of hearing and feeling,

Heightening our awareness.

And the only thing to remember is to follow the voice of the instructor with your complete attention while completely letting go.

And now close your eyes,

Allowing them to soften and sink towards the back of the head.

Bring your awareness to the breath in the body.

Take a big inhale and in the next exhale,

Let your body fall completely heavy.

And again,

Big inhale and exhale,

Completely letting go.

Let your body fall heavy.

Just let go.

Letting your body melt to the floor.

And now become aware of the sounds that you hear outside the room one by one.

And now bring your awareness to the sounds that you hear inside the room one by one.

And now bring your awareness to your whole body lying on the floor in complete stillness.

And say silently within,

I am practicing yoga nidra.

I am awake and alert.

And now it is time to make your intention or sankalpa.

This is a clear positive statement in the present tense of something that you'd like to encourage more of in your life or something that you'd like to let go of.

For example,

Thank you for this life filled with abundance.

You can take your time to develop an intention and if you do not create one now,

You can do so at another time.

Now begin and state your intention silently,

Saying it three times over with feeling and your complete commitment while believing,

Feeling and experiencing your intention as manifesting at this present moment.

And now we will begin to rotate the consciousness through different parts of the body.

We will move quickly from one part to another and all you have to do is bring your awareness to each part of the body by either imagining or simply bringing your awareness there.

Or you may choose to repeat the name of the part of the body after the voice.

Now we begin.

Bring awareness to the fingers on the right hand.

The palm of the right hand.

Back of the hand.

The right wrist.

Right elbow.

Right shoulder and right armpit.

Bring awareness to the right waist.

Right hip.

Right knee.

Right ankle.

Sole of the right foot.

Bring awareness to the toes of the right foot.

Remaining awake and alert.

Now bring awareness to the fingers on the left hand.

The palm of the left hand.

Back of the hand.

The left wrist.

Left elbow.

Shoulder and the left armpit.

Bring awareness to the left waist.

Left hip.

Left knee.

Left ankle.

Sole of the left foot.

Bring awareness to the toes of the left foot.

Remaining awake and alert.

And now bring awareness to the back of the body.

Bring awareness to both heels touching the floor.

Both hips touching the floor.

And bring awareness to the pelvis touching the floor.

Awareness to the spine from the bottom to the top.

Bring awareness to both shoulder blades touching the floor.

And now bring awareness to the back of the head touching the floor.

Remaining awake and alert.

Bring awareness to the top of the head,

The forehead,

Both eyebrows,

The space between the eyebrows,

The third eye,

The space between the eyebrows.

Bring awareness to the right eye,

The left eye,

The right cheekbone,

The left cheekbone,

And now bring awareness to the nose.

The tip of the nose,

The right nostril,

Left nostril,

And now both nostrils.

Bring awareness to the upper lip,

The bottom lip,

The mouth,

The teeth,

The space between the teeth.

Bring awareness to the tongue,

The roof of the mouth,

And now the throat.

Remaining awake and alert.

And now bring awareness to the chest,

The right side of the chest,

The left side of the chest,

And now the sacred space of the heart center.

Bring awareness now to the belly.

Bring awareness to both legs at the same time,

Both arms at the same time.

And now bring awareness to the head.

Bring awareness to the back of the body,

The front of the body,

The right side of the body,

Left side of the body,

And now the whole body.

Bring awareness to the whole body at the same time.

Remaining awake and alert.

Now bring awareness to the meeting points between the body and the floor.

Bring awareness to the soles of the feet.

Feel the skin on the soles of the feet.

And now bring awareness to the palms of the hands.

Feel the skin and sense the lines on the palms of the hands.

And now maintaining the awareness of the breath rising and falling from the belly,

Begin counting the breath from 16 to 1.

The breath rises,

16.

It falls,

16.

It rises,

15.

It falls,

15.

It rises,

14.

It falls,

14.

It rises,

13.

It falls,

13.

It rises,

12.

It falls,

12.

It rises,

11.

It falls,

11.

And now continue from 10 until 1,

Remaining awake and alert.

And now stop counting.

Now bring awareness to the rise and fall of the breath in the body and focus the awareness at the first chakta,

Muladhara chakta,

Located at the base of the spine,

The pelvic floor.

Focusing the awareness here,

Imagine the landscape of red,

Solid earth and smell the scent of the red,

Solid earth.

Red solid earth.

Smell the red,

Solid earth.

And now bring awareness higher,

A few finger widths above the pelvic floor or below the navel center.

At this point is located the second chakta,

Swadhisthana chakta.

Imagine here a saffron orange lit ocean,

A saffron orange lit ocean,

And taste the waters of this ocean.

A saffron orange lit ocean,

Taste its water.

And now bring the awareness even higher between the ribs and the belly,

The navel,

To the location of the solar plexus or the third chakta,

Manipura chakta.

Imagine here golden sun rays glowing.

Golden sun rays glowing.

See these rays of light fill the whole body.

Golden sun rays glowing.

See these rays of light.

And now focusing the awareness higher to the center of the chest,

The heart center,

The location of the fourth chakta,

Anahata chakta.

Imagine here a lush green forest.

Feel the wind blowing through the trees of this lush green forest.

A lush green forest.

Feel the breeze through the trees.

And now focus the awareness higher to the center of the throat,

The location of the fifth chakta,

Vishuddhi chakta.

And imagine here a blue-tinged full moon in the night sky.

A blue-tinged full moon.

Looking at this blue-tinged full moon,

Feel the expansion of the night sky.

Notice the expansion of the night sky and listen to the sounds of the still night.

And now focus on the space between the eyebrows.

The eyebrow center or the third eye where the sixth chakra,

Ajna chakra,

Is located.

Imagine here a lavender golden point of light.

A lavender golden point of light.

Focus your awareness on the lavender golden point of light.

One pointed awareness.

And now bring the awareness to the crown of the head.

The top of the head where the seventh chakra,

The asraddha chakra,

Is located.

Imagine here an infinite bright white light.

An infinite bright white light.

And dissolve into it.

An infinite bright white light.

And dissolve into it.

And now bring awareness to the space between the eyebrows.

The third eye.

The space between the eyebrows.

Focus the awareness on the point of light at this eyebrow center or third eye.

Allowing all thoughts,

Emotions,

Sensations,

And memories to come and go.

One pointed awareness.

Focusing on the eyebrow center.

The third eye remaining unattached and unidentified with all thoughts,

Emotions,

And experiences.

Allowing them to come and go.

One pointed awareness focusing on the stillness.

Remaining awake and alert.

And now bring awareness back to the breath in the body.

And now it is time to state the same intention where sankalpa made at the beginning of the yoga nidra session.

Silently repeat the same intention three times over believing,

Feeling,

And experiencing the intention as manifesting now at the present moment.

And now bring your awareness back to the breath as it rises and falls in the body.

Feel the weight of the body on the floor.

See yourself lying in yoga nidra and begin to slowly awaken.

And bring your attention to the sounds inside the room one by one.

And now the sounds outside the room one by one.

Lie quietly keeping your eyes closed.

Reflecting on your experience in yoga nidra.

Now gently begin to wake in the body with small gestures.

And eventually bring yourself up to a seated position.

Remaining in this seated position with eyes closed.

Being aware of the breath with each moment.

Feeling a commitment to bring awareness to each moment throughout the day.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.