Welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra.
Today's session is dedicated to the theme of spring awakening and preparing the body and energy for this season of growth.
Rooting ourselves before we rise and expand like a tree.
And there's nothing that you need to do in this practice.
Nothing you need to control or create.
You just need to listen to my guidance.
And if your awareness falls away,
Simply come back to my words.
And do your best not to fall asleep,
But know that it's okay if you happen to.
It just means there's a lot of fatigue in the system.
And whenever you come back online,
Just come back to the words that I'm sharing.
So find a really comfortable laying down position.
Ideally laying on your back with your legs splayed out in front of you.
And your arms unravelled on either side of you,
With some space between your hands and your hips.
And roll your shoulder blades out to the sides of your body.
And bring your hands a little bit closer together to open up your chest and release the muscles around your shoulders and neck.
And feel how your neck relaxes,
And your spine elongates.
And the back of your head can feel a bit more rooted into the ground.
And if you feel like you need to exercise and take any final movements you need to,
To get really comfortable.
If you have low back issues,
Be sure to place a pillow or bolster under your knees.
Or you can even have your knees bent with the soles of your feet on the ground beneath you.
Find a position that you'll be able to maintain for the duration of today's practice.
And feel the heaviness of your body in space.
Without moving anything,
Can you feel the backs of your shoulder blades,
The backs of your hands,
The back of your head?
Can you feel your heels,
Your calves,
All of the weight of your body sinking down,
Heavy towards the earth?
And at the same time as you inhale,
You feel your chest and belly rise and expand.
From this grounded,
Steady place,
This foundation created by the back plane of your body,
Space rises and expands on the front plane of your body.
And you breathe in through your nose and land the breath at the bottom of your belly.
And after you're all the way full,
You begin to empty the breath out through your mouth.
You empty until there's no breath left.
And like you're filling up a jug of water,
You inhale and allow the breath to fall all the way down into your belly to swirl through and then clear away and empty.
And as you exhale,
You begin to breathe in through your nose and out through your belly.
The breath gently picking up and carrying away any debris that it finds in its path.
And as you exhale,
You begin to feel the breath washing through you from your throat to the base of your belly.
Again and again.
And when you feel like the debris has been cleared,
Then you can gently seal your lips,
The back of your front two teeth.
And allow the breath to naturally flow in and out through your nose.
Once again,
Feel the back plane of your body in space without moving anything physically.
And feel the point between your shoulder blades.
And allow your awareness to float from that point straight up into the center of your chest cavity.
And you feel both of your lungs as they effortlessly expand and contract.
And you allow an elevated emotion to enter this space in the center of your chest.
An emotion like gratitude and appreciation,
Joyfulness,
Or emotion that you associate with the color of yellow.
A sunny yellow hue now filling your entire chest cavity.
And here's where the practice of yoga nidra begins.
So maintaining your awareness in the center of your chest cavity.
And as you breathe in,
In the center of your chest,
Begin to silently speak to yourself your sankalpa,
Your I am positive present tense statement of intent.
And if you need a new sankalpa or brand new to the practice,
Then this is your moment to craft an I am statement of positive intent that articulates what your heart desires most right now.
Think of it like sowing a seed of what you wish to grow.
And it's best if rather than being a material outcome,
You focus on internal qualities and feeling tones that you wish to create more of in yourself and in your life.
It can be as simple as something like,
I am rooted.
I am clear.
I am grounded.
Whatever resonates at the highest frequency for you means it's the right one for you.
And it will change over time.
But just find the right words to match what you need today.
And begin to speak this statement to yourself,
At least three times.
Truly believing and feeling these words as your present experience.
Don't just say them to yourself,
Really embody them and feel them.
Feel the energy of these words and their sentiment when strung together,
Emanating beyond your skin,
Beyond yourselves into the space around you,
Creating this field of energy filling the room.
And we'll now move through a body scan.
Feel the palm of your right hand and whatever body part I name,
Land your awareness there.
Feel the thumb of your right hand,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger.
Feel all four fingers and thumb of your right hand.
And then feel the palm of your right hand.
Back of the right hand.
Feel your whole right hand.
Feel the right wrist.
Right hand.
Right forearm.
Right elbow.
Right upper arm.
Right shoulder.
Feel the right underarm.
Side of the ribcage.
Waist.
And right hip.
Feel the right thigh.
Knee.
Right shin.
And ankle.
Feel the sole of the right foot.
The top of the right foot.
And then feel your big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
And fifth toe.
Feel your whole right foot.
And then bring in to your bubble of awareness the whole right side of your body now.
Feel the whole right side of your body.
Floating in space.
Whole right side of your body.
Now we'll move to the left side.
So land your awareness in the thumb of your left hand.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
And pinky finger.
Feel all four fingers and thumb of your left hand.
Feel your left palm and back of hand.
And you feel your whole left hand now.
Feel your left wrist.
Left forearm.
Elbow.
Upper arm.
Left shoulder.
Underarm.
Side of the left ribs.
Waist.
Down to your left hip.
Feel your left thigh.
Knee.
And shin.
Feel your left ankle.
Heel.
Along the sole of your left foot.
Top of your left foot.
Feel your big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
And fifth toe.
Feel all five toes of your left foot.
Feel your whole left foot now.
And now expand the bubble of your awareness to encompass the whole left side of your body.
Feel the whole left side of your body now.
Floating in space.
The whole left side of your body.
Now we'll move along the back plane of the body.
So feel your right heel and your left heel.
And both heels together.
Feel the right calf.
Left calf.
Both calves together.
Back of the right knee.
Back of the left knee.
Back of both knees together.
Feel the right hamstring.
Left hamstring.
Both hamstrings together.
Feel your right glute.
Left glute.
Both glutes together.
Feel the back of each of your legs all at once.
From heels to hips.
And then feel the back of your pelvis.
And your low back.
Your mid back.
Your upper back.
Feel your right shoulder blade.
Left shoulder blade.
Both shoulder blades together.
Feel the vertebrae of your neck.
And where it connects to your scalp.
Feel the back of your head.
And the top of your head.
And now feel your entire back plane of your body.
Whole back plane of your body now.
Held in your awareness.
Heavy as it sinks towards the earth.
Now feel the top of your head.
And sweep over your forehead.
And feel your right eyebrow.
Your left eyebrow.
Both eyebrows together.
Feel your right eye.
Your left eye.
Both eyes together.
Feel your right cheek.
Your left cheek.
Both cheeks together.
Now feel your right ear.
Your whole right ear.
Both the outer and the inner parts.
Then feel your left ear.
Feel all parts of your left ear now.
Feel both ears together.
Then feel the bridge of your nose.
The tip of your nose.
Feel the right nostril.
The left nostril.
Feel both nostrils together.
Feel your whole nose now.
Your whole nose in space.
And feel the inside of your nose.
And trace the channels of your nose.
Until you land at the back of your throat.
And feel the roof of your mouth.
From back to front.
Feel your tongue.
And feel your lower teeth and gums.
And your upper teeth and gums.
And feel the roof of your mouth now.
So you feel your whole mouth now.
Your teeth,
Your gums,
Your tongue.
Roof of the mouth.
And you feel your upper lip.
And your lower lip.
And both lips together now.
And feel the inside of your jaw.
And the left side of your jaw.
And your whole jaw together.
Now feel your chin.
And feel your whole face.
All the layers of your face now.
And feel the fullness back inside your throat.
And descends down through your throat.
And you feel the right side and the left side.
Feel your whole throat together now.
Your whole throat.
And then feel your right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Both collarbones together.
Feel your right lung,
Left lung,
Both lungs together.
Feel your diaphragm.
And then feel the organs of your upper abdomen.
And the organs of your lower abdomen.
And then feel your pelvic bowl.
And the insides of your right hip.
And your left hip.
And now feel your entire torso.
Allow your bubble of awareness to expand and encompass your whole torso,
Your right leg,
Your left leg,
Along with your right arm,
Your left arm.
Your neck,
And your head.
Your awareness encompassing your entire body now.
Feel the form of your entire physical body now.
Below,
To the right and to the left of your physical form.
Feel the space beyond and within all parts of your body.
How far beyond your skin can your awareness feel out to.
Can you feel the soils beneath you?
And the sky above you?
And then draw your awareness fully inside yourself and land it back inside your chest,
Collapsing your awareness inside.
And feel the space in the center of your chest now.
And then once again,
Stretch your awareness out beyond your skin in all directions,
As far as it can go.
And feel this expansion,
This unlimited expansion in your awareness,
Through space.
And then draw it back in.
Allow your awareness to collapse and contract and land in the center of your chest.
And from here,
We'll move through a pair of emotions.
So I'll name contrasting states.
So you're in a state of full awareness.
And you simply experience whatever sensations rise up.
So allow yourself to be full of the experience of being untethered.
Like a balloon that's been let go of that floats off into the sky.
Completely untethered.
Nothing holding it down.
No gravity giving it weight.
Experience any sorts of emotions,
Sensations,
Colors,
Images that come up for you when you call up being untethered.
And now let that experience go.
And shift to the experience of being deeply rooted,
Firmly rooted into the earth.
Like a strong,
Steady tree.
What does it feel like to be rooted into the ground?
And now staying with this sense of rootedness.
Can you begin to imagine a root system extending from the soles of your feet and your heels into the earth beneath you?
Maybe even the roots extend from other parts of your body.
The backs of your legs,
Or the back of your head,
Or your shoulders.
Any part of you that has been holding on and working against gravity.
Allow that part to fully surrender into gravity,
Grow really heavy and be tethered down by these roots that emerge from you and secure you to the earth beneath.
Grounding you and holding you in a supportive way.
As they extend through layers of soil capable of drawing up the nutrients needed to nourish you,
Resource you.
So feel this sense of being a tree through your body now as you grow even heavier.
And these nutrients begin to be drawn up through the roots from the soil and into your form.
Bringing you uplifted energy,
Restoring your battery,
Bringing you qualities of personal desire,
Any sorts of capabilities and resources that you need most right now.
In order to rise and grow up and also outwards and expanding.
And as this happens,
Imagining your body almost dissipates into the soil,
Completely merging your body as the substrate for a forest to grow.
And a collection of diverse trees begin to appear growing out from these roots,
Expanding and rising.
Not too fast and not too slow,
Just steadily emerging into you.
And you feel the warmth of the sun growing,
Being fed by the soils below,
By the sun above.
And you feel the warmth of the sun as it begins to heat up the earth,
Waking everything up into its biological form.
Awareness as the trees themselves.
Awareness filling this space of upward and outward movement of expansion as the trees branches unfurl and their leaves begin to shoot out and their leaves begin to fall as well.
And maybe some trees have flowers that may one day turn into fruit.
And with your awareness,
Completely saturated in this space of the trees,
You begin to have a clear statement of what fruits you're tending,
Of the direction that you're heading,
And where all of these nutrients and resources are meant to flow to.
Where do you focus your energy?
Where do you focus your energy for the season to come?
As the fruits ripen and mature,
Clear direction as you grow up and outward and steady like the tree deeply rooted into the earth as the winds of life come and the storms roll past and landing your awareness back into the roots,
Into the earth beneath you.
Feeling the cool soils that hold you.
Rising your awareness back into your body.
Coming back into your physical form.
Coming back within the boundary of your skin.
Feeling your bones,
Your muscles,
Your tendons,
Your tissues.
Feeling your breath as it enters you.
Feeling your breath fall out of you as you exhale.
Bring your awareness fully back into your body.
At the same time,
That sense of rootedness is always there for you.
So begin to take some slightly deeper breaths.
And notice waking yourself up if your consciousness has drifted off.
And this is where we close the practice of yoga nidra.
So keep your eyes closed and take your time and use your breath to reawaken yourself bit by bit.
Perhaps beginning to bring some gentle movements into your physical form.
Maybe rolling onto one side,
Taking what you need.
And if you're with me,
Eventually rolling onto one side and pressing through your palms into the earth to roll yourself up,
Head coming up last.
Finding a seat for a moment.
Feeling your sit bones heavy against the earth.
That rootedness once more.
Placing both hands on your low belly.
Sending one more breath down to your low belly.
Allowing it to gently swirl up and out of you.
And reminding yourself of your sankalpa.
Silently speaking these words of positive intent.
The fruits to come.
To be nourished across the season.
Letting that saturate all of your cells.
Giving yourself thanks.
Especially to your body for holding you.
To the space for giving you a place to rest and receive.
And to yourself for showing up.
Thank you for allowing me to guide you through today's practice.
I hope it brought you whatever you needed today.
And you can always come back to it again and again.
Hari Om.
That's all.
