Reiki-Infused Yoga Nidra Sound Journey — Vol. 1: Water

This is a space for you to pause,

To look inward,

To reconnect,

And to give yourself likely a much needed break from the demands and pressures of the external world and of the mind.

So,

Invitation to make yourself comfortable,

It might feel nice to lay down,

Maybe bring a pillow under the head,

A blanket over the body,

You can also be seated or even standing for this,

Just get yourself as comfortable as possible and take time to really set up your space so that you can rest.

Yoga nidra is also known as yogic sleep,

And it can be described as the conscious state between wakefulness and sleep.

There are so many things that I could share about this beautiful practice,

But all you need to know is that this is a time and space for you to receive.

You get to lay back,

Listen,

And rest.

As you are guided,

I invite you to stay awake and aware,

Listening to my voice and the sounds to keep you in the present moment,

But know that if you happen to fall asleep or drift off,

That is perfectly okay.

Know that you're getting exactly what you need from this practice.

So settle in,

Making any adjustments to your body,

And we'll go ahead and take a deep breath in,

Deep breath out,

Deep breath in,

Deep breath out,

Full breath in all the way to the top,

Pause and hold your breath at the top.

Feel that sense of fullness,

Relax your face,

Relax your shoulders,

Take another little sip of air in and sigh it out.

Allow your breathing to become natural and effortless,

And as you settle into your body and space,

Make sure you will be comfortable.

As best you can,

Welcome everything in just as it is,

Whether it be sensations,

Thoughts,

Feelings,

Or something external like sounds happening around you.

If sound is happening in your space,

Let it be a pointer back into your deep stillness and concentration.

Let it be a pointer back to this moment.

Get as comfortable as you can,

So you can remain present during this practice.

Allow your breath to soften,

Allow your breath to hold you.

At this time,

Nothing else matters.

Right now,

Nothing else exists but your body and your breath,

Nowhere to go.

Nothing you need to do,

This time is for you.

Let your body grow heavier and sink into the floor or the space beneath you,

And become aware of how the earth is holding you.

Allow your breath to soften,

Soft,

Natural breathing.

Now,

Begin to bring your awareness to your heart.

Feel into your heart space.

Tune into its rhythms and language.

Turning inward,

And ask yourself,

What is my heart's deepest longing?

Let the answer come from within,

From your heart.

And as you listen,

Create a sankalpa.

A sankalpa is like an intention,

It's the commitment we make to support the highest truth of our heart.

A sankalpa is a present tense statement,

As though it is already happening.

So whatever is feeling most alive for you right now,

The intention that you hold for yourself,

For your life,

What are you calling in?

What commitment can you make to yourself,

Here and now?

Allow that intention,

That sankalpa to bubble to the surface,

Even if it's just one guiding word for your practice.

Repeat it to yourself three times,

Planting the seed of your own sankalpa into your heart.

And then simply let it go,

Trusting that it's there,

Trusting that it's already happening.

Let's go ahead and take a deep breath in.

Now allow your awareness to settle in your body.

Stay alert and awake as you follow my voice.

And without moving,

Feel each body part as it is named.

Embrace all sensation and bring a gentle curiosity to this body scan.

Begin to bring all of your awareness,

All of your attention up to the top of your head,

Feeling into the crown of your head,

Melting your awareness down into the forehead,

Softening the muscles of the forehead,

The eyebrows,

The corners of the eyes,

The eye sockets,

Feeling your cheeks,

The tip of the nose.

Notice sensation at the mouth.

Feel into your jaw.

Let your jaw unhinge,

Unclench.

Awareness at the center of your throat and the tops of your shoulders.

Awareness at both elbows,

Both wrists,

The backs of your hands,

The palms of your hands.

Feeling into all of your fingertips.

Notice sensation at the fingertips and float your awareness to the center of your heart.

Notice your rib cage,

Your upper abdomen,

Lower belly,

Outer hips.

Awareness at the groin.

Notice both of your knees,

Both ankles.

Notice the tops of your feet,

The soles of your feet.

Notice all sensation in your toes.

From the toes,

Bring your attention to the backs of your heels,

Backs of the knees.

Awareness at the glutes.

Start to sense your tailbone,

The base of the spine.

Feel into the area of your lower back,

Your sacrum.

Notice the middle of your back and the space between your shoulder blades.

Notice both of your shoulder blades.

Feeling the back of your neck,

The base of your skull.

And the back of the head.

Awareness back to the top of your head,

The crown of the head.

Holding your whole body in awareness from the top of the head down to the toes.

Hold your whole body in awareness from head to toe.

Notice all sensation.

And bring awareness back to your breath.

Notice your natural breath in the body.

Feel your in-breath and feel your out-breath.

Allow your mind to rest in these natural rhythms of breath.

Notice your breath breathing you.

You don't have to control anything.

Feel your natural breath in your body.

From this gentle awareness of your breath,

Allow that to expand back into your whole body.

As your awareness settles in the body,

Become fully aware of the whole front of your body.

Feeling the front of your body.

Feeling energy and sensation at the front of your body.

Now bringing awareness to the back of your body.

Feeling the back of the body alive with energy and sensation.

Awareness at the front of the body.

Holding the front and the back of your body in your awareness at the same time.

Now feeling only into the left side of your body.

The whole left side of your body.

Feeling energy and sensation in the left side of your body.

Now feeling the whole right side of your body.

And sensation the whole right side.

Feel the left side of your body.

Feel the right side of your body.

Feel both the left and right side of your body at once.

Taking your awareness out just an inch above and around your body.

An inch above your skin.

Just sensing into the space,

The air around you.

Taking your awareness two inches above the body.

Two inches above your skin.

Allowing your awareness to expand three inches.

Four inches.

Starting to fill up awareness in the space around your body.

Bring your awareness now to the center of your heart.

Your heart of hearts.

As you breathe with ease,

Feel your heart space opening.

Opening.

Opening through the portal of your heart.

Begin to enter now into your secret garden.

This sacred place where only you know.

Take a look around.

Breathe in the scents and smells.

Listen to what you hear.

What do you notice in this secret garden?

Take in all of your surroundings.

What is the quality of light?

The time of day?

What is the temperature on your skin?

Notice any plants,

Trees,

Flowers around you.

Take in all of the magic and wonder that is in this space.

As you feel completely at peace.

Completely grounded and completely whole.

This is your space to be and receive the wisdom of your soul.

You have been here many times before to this secret garden.

Remember.

You start to make your way over to a beautiful iridescent waterfall.

Shimmering in the light.

As you approach the water,

You see a basket of flowers on the grass.

You bend down.

Pick up a handful and thank these life-giving cleansing waters.

Placing the flowers in the waterfall.

As you express this gratitude to the element of water.

A beam of light streams down from the sky.

Completely enveloping your whole body.

Your skin becomes iridescent just like the waterfall.

Your whole body starts to tingle with excitement.

Feeling so vibrant.

Feeling so alive.

You step towards the waterfall and merge with the flowing streams of water.

As you and the waterfall merge into one.

You notice your body is no longer there.

Just pure awareness as you become one with the water.

The waterfall rushes onward and begins to travel into an underground tunnel.

It becomes dark as the tunnel made of earth gets tighter and tighter.

For a moment you worry about your body not knowing how you will make it back.

But the pure bliss of being the rushing water.

Flowing with power and grace brings you back to the moment.

You fully surrender to the flow of water.

Trusting it will take you where you need to go.

Finally you arrive gushing out of the tunnel into a massive underground cave.

As the water begins to slow down and merge with a glistening turquoise lake.

You feel yourself starting to recrystallize into your physical body.

You stand up and look around.

Looking on in awe at this inner earth cave.

Huge crystal formations lining the walls of the cave.

Beautiful colors everywhere.

You hear soft echoes of a melody reverberating off the walls.

You begin to sense that you are not alone.

You turn around and see a group of three mermaids swimming in a circle as they sing their etheric song.

They look to you with warm eyes and invite you into the water.

They say do not be afraid dear one.

We are here as inner earth guardians.

Keepers of the water.

We are here to activate your heart's true desires.

You slip into the water with full trust in your heart.

And wade into the center of the circle.

They instruct you to focus on your heart as they continue to swim in circles around you.

Singing louder and louder activating all of your cells.

Awakening your heart,

Your energy body.

You close your eyes as you tune into the message of your heart.

The message of the water.

Listen.

Feel and trust.

The ethereal mermaids eventually stop their singing and swimming.

Each one looks to you and holds up their right hand towards you.

The mudra of sending blessings and protection.

Large bubbles start to form all around you in this lake and start rising to the ceiling.

One of the bubbles scoops you up and begins to rise towards the very top of the cave.

Up and up and up this bubble takes you right back to your secret garden.

Right back to the shimmering waterfall where your journey began.

You pick up a few more flowers from the basket.

Blessing and thanking the waters once again before turning to leave.

Something within you has shifted.

You feel a newfound sense of peace.

Of connection and a deeper truer knowing of your heart.

Know that you can return to this secret garden at any time.

This is your sacred space to come and receive clarity.

To commune with the elements and to rest and renew your energy.

Slowly begin to draw your awareness back into your body.

Back to your heart space.

Begin to recall your sankalpa,

Your deep resolve,

Your heart-based intention.

This is the perfect time to plant those seeds deep in the ripe soil of rest,

Of relaxation,

Of gratitude.

Deep in the ripe soil of the void.

This void consciousness we get to visit and experience through our yoga nidra practice.

Feel your sankalpa.

See it and breathe it into every cell in your body.

Taking some deeper breaths.

As we gently prepare ourselves to transition out of this dreamy space.

Take your time.

If you have the time to stay here longer,

Please do.

Otherwise,

Starting to bring some movement back into the fingers and the toes.

Moving slow.

Starting to roll the wrists and ankles.

Taking a deeper breath.

Take any stretches and movements that feel nourishing for your body.

Feel the earth beneath you,

Holding you,

Grounding you.

Feel the room around you.

Feel your breath.

Take all the time you need to transition back into your day or evening.

Take all the time you need to come back and come out of this practice.

Come out of this yogic sleep.

As you take your time,

Just know that this helps to keep the nervous system calm and relaxed.

It helps to bring some of this dreamlike state back into the world.

Thank you so much for practicing with me and letting me guide you.

Until next time.