Hello and welcome.
My name is Emma Chow and it is an honor to guide you through this yoga nidra,
An ancient practice that brings you into deep rest and then takes you beyond.
Beneath any detachment or disdain runs an ever flowing current of love within you.
Love is our inherent nature.
It is the frequency we are programmed to.
Yet at times we can identify with the thinking mind of ourselves or the collective and detach from the current of love.
Layers of cement in the form of stress and conditioning accumulate over the years and hide what's underneath.
But no matter how many layers of cement are there,
The current is always flowing below.
Here we will tap into this current.
We will forgive ourselves,
Our life situations and others and re-remember the love that is already within.
So find a quiet place where you can lie down on your back comfortably.
Get as many pillows and blankets as you need to make yourself a luxurious nidra nest.
Take care of making your nest the same way that you would for a child that you're caring for.
Place a pillow for your head to rest on,
A bolster for under your knees or maybe a second pillow under your knees,
A blanket for warmth and perhaps an eye mask to block out light.
You might even want to press pause and gather any sacred objects or essential oils,
Anything that will allow you to fully indulge in this experience.
When you're ready,
Take a moment before you lie down and cast your gaze around the entire room,
Noticing all corners of the room,
Allowing your gaze to take in the texture of the floor and the ceiling.
Here,
You're safe.
And when you feel ready,
Go ahead and gently lay yourself all the way down and allow your eyes to close.
Allow your toes to flop out to the side about hips width distance,
Your arms to be by your side and palms to face up,
Welcoming in what you're meant to receive today.
Whatever you're ready for is what you will receive from this practice.
Make a commitment to remain aware and awake.
When you drift off,
Just come back to my voice.
And even if you fall asleep,
Don't worry.
Your subconscious is always online and still listening.
The practice will always have an effect on you.
As you further settle in,
Begin to notice the temperature of the air in the room you're in.
Notice the touch of fabric against your skin.
Notice the fabric of the clothing,
Of blankets,
Pillows.
Notice the temperature of your body,
Beginning with your skin,
Our outermost layer.
Draw your awareness further inward to notice the temperature of your internal body.
Bring your awareness within.
Give yourself permission to release control.
Let this be the one time in your day where you need to do absolutely nothing.
Nothing but listen.
And with that permission,
Take in a big breath and just exhale,
Sigh it out.
Let the exhale release any control,
Any clinging,
Any expectation.
And let's do that once more.
Big breath in,
Bring in openness and possibility,
And a long sighing exhale out.
Release.
Release down and out like a big puddle.
Feel the weight of your head against the ground beneath you,
Holding you gently.
Let yourself be held.
Let your eyeballs relax and sink into their sockets.
And as you sink and expand and release,
Allow a pale hue of soft pink wash over you.
Feel the sensation,
The softness of this hue,
The color of a pale pink rose petal,
As it spreads through your entire body,
Beyond your skin and stretches into the space around you.
Feel the sensation of,
Or perhaps even see,
A pale pink aura radiating in all directions around your entire body,
Filling the room that you're in,
Reaching all corners,
Spreading across the floor and ceiling.
You can feel a sense of lightness as this translucent pink sheath wraps you in a soothing embrace.
And now see or feel a dot of bright white light glowing in the space right between your eyebrows,
Your brow point.
And land your awareness here.
The practice of yoga nidra begins now.
We'll now trace this bright white light through different parts of our body.
And we'll start here at the brow point,
Where the white light extends in a line down your face,
Down your throat,
To the center of your sternum,
Right in your heart center.
And your awareness follows this light and lands in your heart center.
And you invite a statement of pure intent to emerge directly from your being.
This is a present tense,
Positive statement that serves your most urgent need to support your higher self's realization.
It's a statement that begins with I am and can be something like I am strong or I am loved.
Whatever is the antidote to your greatest limiting belief of this moment or response to your heart's strongest desire,
We call this statement a sankalpa.
And once your sankalpa has crystallized,
Repeat it silently in your mind with strong conviction three times.
Feel your nervous system calibrate to its frequency as you etch it into your entire being.
You will become this intent for where our intention goes,
Our energy flows,
And we become.
We will now send the white light that carries the energy of our sankalpa through the rest of our body.
And we'll do this by sending our awareness to the part of the body named and the light will draw a line to that spot.
The white light pulses in your heart and it draws a line back to the brow center.
Then to the right temple,
The right cheek,
Right shoulder,
Right side of the chest,
Right upper thigh,
Right ankle.
Feel the whole right side with this white light tracing through.
Then continue to the left ankle,
Left upper thigh,
Left side of the chest,
Left shoulder,
Left cheek,
Left temple,
Into the midbrain space between the ears.
Feel the whole left side with the white light tracing through.
And now feel the whole body,
Whole body awareness,
White light webbing through all heart points of your body.
And the white light in your midbrain continues and connects right back to your brow point.
And this white light as a dot shines more brightly and you land your awareness there as we prepare to explore emotional states.
As I describe each emotion,
Let your nervous system tune to its frequency.
The emotion will naturally be processed all on its own and then allowed to be released.
If you catch any stories or memories,
Do your best to experience the named emotion in its purest form.
What does disdain feel like?
What does it feel like to be apathetic towards another being,
To be indifferent,
To not care?
Now let this clear away.
What does it feel like to wholeheartedly love another being,
Human or creature?
What does it feel like to love something with your whole heart without restraint?
Now let this clear away.
What does blame feel like?
What does it feel like to attribute your pain or an undesirable outcome to another person,
Situation or yourself?
Let this too clear away.
What does forgiveness feel like?
To lift resentment,
Dissolve it,
To forgive.
Now let this clear.
Bring your awareness back to that bright light at your brow point and draw in a consciously deeper breath.
And let the exhalation be long and smooth,
Cleansing away this entire emotional experience.
And then allow your breath to be effortless once again.
And notice the expansion and contraction.
You expand as fresh air softly glides into your inner world.
And contract as stale air and remnants of past experiences are freed into your outer world.
You experience this sensation of expansion and contraction in all directions to the left,
To the right,
Above you and below you.
Notice this sensation of expansion and contraction.
Once again,
You land your awareness back at your brow point where the dot of white light glows brightly.
And a line of white light sinks from your brow point into the center of your brain right between your ears.
And here your pineal gland lives.
Very powerful point in our body.
And you ask your pineal gland to open as you venture deeper into the realm of your being.
When you feel that shift in sensation as you ask permission for it to open.
The white light beams from the center of your brain through your brow point past your skin onto the ceiling above you,
Just like a projector.
Creating a large rectangle of light on the ceiling above you.
You begin to hear some instrumental music in the background.
As pixelated images begin to flash across the ceiling.
It's an old home video playing.
You see a baby being held in the arms of a parent wrapped in arms.
So lovingly.
And you can feel the warmth and energy of the scene.
As you watch it.
And you instantly recognize this little being that rests in deep slumber.
It's you.
You watch and wonder,
And in awe,
As you reflect on how this tiny bundle of flesh will blossom into a vibrant child.
And later an adolescent.
And then an adult.
And then later,
An elder.
Like a tiny seedling,
This baby will grow and grow into a sturdy tree.
And family members and guides and angels and sentient beings of all forms near and far wholeheartedly offer their love to nurture this baby through its early life into an adult.
Watering this seedling with love and stocking its soil with nutrients until it becomes a tree with the power to create its sap.
For self nourishment all on its own.
You sink into the scene as the screen flickers and a new film starts playing.
Scenes of a child at their fifth birthday,
Giggling and smiling.
You witness the innocent joy of your five year old self as they unashamedly welcome in the love offered by everyone around them.
They don't question anything.
Pure and present,
Your five year old self looks you in the eyes.
And waves.
Looking deeply into you.
They ask if you promise to love them.
Forever and always.
You pause.
You take in their question.
And in that instant,
You are flooded with forgiveness for every moment in your life so far that you have forgotten to hold this promise.
And you've forgotten to love them.
And through the unspoken words exchanged through your gaze.
You know that in that moment you are wholly forgiven.
And you nod.
And you hold your hand out to theirs.
And palms touching you tell them that you promise to love them.
Forever and always.
No matter what.
You will love them.
Through all the ages.
Through all the phases.
Because you are them.
And they are you.
Transcending across time and space.
The images fade and the screen turns dark as the beam of light retracts into the center of your brain.
A new source of sap has been shared with you from your younger self and all those who nurtured you.
This sweet sap rushes through the channels of white light branching through your body.
And a warm current of love gently flows through you.
You can feel it.
And with it you imagine yourself as a mature tree whose bright green leaves instantly unfurl.
And beneath the bark runs the sweet sap that carries the currency of life.
Love.
A sense of deep peace washes through you as you realize that no matter what this current flows through you.
No matter what is happening around you.
And you remember your five year old self and the promise that you made.
You take a big breath in and you let your entire body expand once again.
And like the leaves your hands are allowed to unfurl.
Shining up to the sun above.
Taking in all of its nourishment that it offers.
And you exhale and allow everything to release and contract.
And you take a couple breaths just like that.
Allowing yourself to remember this body that you're in.
This physical body.
This version of yourself in this current moment.
Here now.
In this room.
And keeping your eyes closed still you feel your hands in space.
And you place one hand on your heart.
And the other hand on top of that.
And you press them firmly into the center of your chest.
As you repeat your vow to yourself.
Silently.
Your sankalpa.
Your I am statement.
And with your palms firmly pressed into the center of your chest you can feel the pulsing of your heart beating.
As you seal in your promise to yourself.
And the practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
You can invite tiny movements into your body beginning with your eyeballs.
Gently moving them from left to right behind your eyelids.
You can begin to stretch out your fingers and your toes.
Just allow your entire body to move in whatever way it's asking you to as it awakens out of the nidra.
And taking whatever time you need you can go as slow as you need you bring yourself up to a seat.
Keeping your eyes closed.
Just noticing how it feels to be in this different position.
Alert yet rested.
And you can place both palms once again on top of one another in the center of your chest.
And set an intention.
For one thing that you will say to yourself.
Or do for yourself.
To be a little kinder.
Little softer.
A little more forgiving and loving to yourself,
Starting today.
And with that intention set.
When you're ready you can flicker your eyes open slowly.
And bring your gaze back into the room that you're in.
Casting your gaze,
A few feet in front of you on the ground.
And repeat these two statements of truth silently to yourself.
I am safe.
I am loved.
Thank you for sharing this practice.
