Yoga Nidra: Exploring The Breath Of The Seven Billion

Let's begin our Yoganidra practice now.

Bring awareness to the parts of your back body that are resting on the mat or the blanket.

Notice the back of the heels,

The back of the legs,

The glutes,

Probably the shoulder blades,

The back of the shoulders,

The arms,

And the back of the head.

Draw a deep breath in,

And as you exhale,

Allow your body to surrender more deeply,

To flatten out a bit,

So that the body conforms to the mat or the blanket that you're resting on.

Do that again.

Take a deep breath in,

And on the exhale,

Just surrender.

Let go even more deeply.

And one more time.

Take a deep breath in,

And exhale,

And relax,

Soften,

And surrender.

Bring your awareness now to the nostrils,

And feel the breath flowing in and flowing out.

Try and keep your attention right at the base of the nose,

And notice how that feels right at the base of the nose as you breathe in and as you breathe out.

Keeping awareness,

Keeping attention,

Right at the base of the nose.

About three more breaths like that.

Deepening the attention with each cycle of breath.

Getting more and more aware of how it feels to breathe.

And one more breath.

Now we come to the part of Yoga Nidra where I invite you to adopt an intention for your practice.

In Sanskrit it's called a sankalpa.

And if you have an intention that you're working with,

Feel free to use it.

If you like,

You can perhaps use this intention for your practice today.

The intention is,

I share breath with all beings.

So perhaps repeat that or your own intention three times to yourself now.

The one I suggested,

I share breath with all beings.

And twice more.

Now we begin a rotation of consciousness.

I will name parts of the body and just let your awareness,

Your attention move from part to part.

You don't need to think about anything.

You don't need to picture the part that I name.

Just listen to my words.

Begin with the thumb on the right hand.

The first finger.

Third finger.

And the pinky finger on the right hand.

Palm of the hand.

And the back of the hand.

Let your awareness move to the right wrist.

Up the forearm to the right elbow.

Up the arm to the shoulder.

And around to the armpit.

Down the right side body to the right hip.

Down the leg to the knee.

Next to the kneecap.

Around to the back of the knee.

Down the leg to the ankle.

Top of the right foot.

The bottom of the foot.

The right heel.

In step.

All of the right foot.

The right big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

And the little toe on the right foot.

Thumb on the left hand.

First finger.

Second finger.

Third finger.

And pinky finger on the left hand.

Palm.

Back of the hand.

Let your awareness flow to the left wrist.

Up the arm to the elbow.

Up the arm to the shoulder.

Around to the left armpit.

Down the left side body to the left hip.

Down the left leg to the knee.

Knee cap.

And around to the back of the knee.

Down the leg to the left ankle.

The top of the left foot.

Thumb of the left foot.

Left heel.

In step.

Ball of the left foot.

Left big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

The little toe on the left foot.

Top of the head.

Forehead.

Eyebrow center.

Right eyebrow.

Left eyebrow.

Right eye.

Left eye.

Right cheek.

Left cheek.

Right ear.

Left ear.

Tip of the nose.

Right nostril.

Left nostril.

Upper lip.

Lower lip.

Inside the mouth.

Chin.

Throat.

Heart.

Solar plexus.

Able.

Pubic bone.

The whole right leg.

The whole left leg.

Right arm.

Left arm.

Right side of the body.

Left side of the body.

The whole head.

The neck.

Lower back,

The space between the shoulder blades.

Middle back.

Low back.

Tailbone.

Now the whole body all at once.

Bring your attention to the whole body.

Attention to the whole body.

Bring awareness now to your breath.

Feel the breath as it flows in and out of your body.

Become aware that you are breathing in and out.

Notice the physical sensation in your body of breathing in and breathing out.

Become more and more aware of the breath in the body.

Continue breathing in and breathing out.

Now let your awareness expand beyond your body breathing and become aware that others in your vicinity are breathing too.

Maybe family members,

Maybe neighbors,

Maybe people you don't know.

Just begin to visualize the fact that you are not alone in your breath.

Others are breathing in and out just as you are.

Feel their breath as it flows in and flows out.

Now notice that your breath is synchronizing with their breath.

You are all breathing in and breathing out at the same time.

Every few seconds breathing together.

Now let your awareness expand even further to your neighborhood.

Begin to imagine all of the people in your neighborhood breathing in and breathing out.

Imagine you are all breathing together with the breath flowing in and flowing out.

Picture everyone in the neighborhood breathing together.

Now expand your vision even farther.

Imagine everyone in your city,

Maybe thousands or tens of thousands or even more,

All breathing in and breathing out.

Some are resting,

Some are moving,

Some are awake,

Some are asleep.

All breathing in and breathing out.

Some are old,

Some are young.

Imagine everyone in various different time zones breathing in and breathing out.

For some it's light outside,

For some it's dark.

Breathing in and breathing out together.

United in breath.

Picture everyone in the country,

Millions and millions of people speaking all different languages,

All different ages,

Different cultures,

Different races,

All breathing in and breathing out together.

Expand your awareness now even more and imagine all the peoples of the earth,

Some seven billion or more spread all over the planet,

Breathing in and breathing out as one.

Breathing in and breathing out together.

Different yet the same.

Unique yet one.

Breathing in and breathing out all together.

Bring your awareness now back to your body and begin to cultivate the sensation of heaviness in your body.

Begin to feel your body getting heavier and heavier.

Feel the bones getting heavier and heavier.

The sensation of heaviness.

Feel weighed down.

Cultivate now the sensation of lightness in the body.

Start to feel lighter and lighter.

The bones feel light,

The head feels light,

The arms and the legs feeling lighter and lighter.

Almost like a feather.

It's almost as though your body could float off the mat,

The sensation of lightness.

Now return to the sensation of heaviness and feel heavy again in the body and then back to the sensation of lightness.

Sensation of heaviness and lightness and heaviness and light.

Now think back to a time in your life when you have felt threatened,

When you felt afraid.

Remember the feeling,

The emotion of feeling threatened.

Remember how it felt in your body.

Remember your thoughts.

The sensation,

The emotion of feeling threatened.

Now deepen that emotion.

Relive the experience.

Trust that you are safe at this moment on your mat.

Start replaying the emotion of feeling threatened.

Now let go of that emotion and begin to think of a time when you felt supremely safe,

Amazingly comfortable,

Fully safe in your body and your mind.

The emotion of safety,

The emotion of deep comfort.

Now return to the emotion of feeling threatened and then back to the emotion of safety.

Back to the emotion of threat and back to the feeling of safe.

Now release the emotions and the feelings.

I will now name different images.

Just see those images as I name them.

An ocean.

The land.

A jungle.

Desert.

Flowing river.

Stagnant pond.

A beautiful colorful flower.

A rock.

A roaring fire.

A smoldering ember.

A beautiful spring day.

A cool day in the fall.

The sun high overhead.

A full moon rising.

A newborn taking their first breath.

An old person exhaling their last breath.

A newborn taking their first breath.

An old person exhaling their last.

A newborn breathing in for the first time.

An old person exhaling for the last.

Waves breaking on a beach.

Waves flowing out to the sea.

See the waves breaking on a beach.

See the waves flowing out to the sea.

See the waves breaking on a beautiful beach.

See the waves flowing out to an endless sea.

Now begin to imagine that you are sitting in a clearing in a forest.

Notice you are breathing in and breathing out.

At first you are all alone,

Sitting in the clearing with your body breathing in and breathing out.

See yourself sitting there from the outside.

Now see your family join you in the clearing so that all the family is sitting together breathing in and breathing out.

Now see the group grow as your friends join you in the clearing in the forest.

As they sit you notice everyone is breathing in and breathing out together.

You your family and your friends all sitting there in the clearing.

Now see thousands of people in the clearing filling the whole space.

All breathing in and breathing out together.

Begin now to visualize all humankind sitting together at the same time.

All breathing in and breathing out.

Now see all creatures everywhere all sitting together in peace and harmony breathing in and breathing out.

Draw your awareness away from the clearing now and begin to see the earth as if you were watching from space.

Notice as you see the earth expanding and contracting as everything even the planet is breathing in and breathing out together.

Follow the breath of the whole planet flowing in and flowing out.

All breathing together.

Now release the visualization and return to your intention your sankalpa.

Bring the intention to mind if you use the one that I suggested it was I share breath with all beings.

If you use your own draw it to mind.

Now repeat your intention to yourself three times recognizing the truth of your intention it's already manifest.

Bring your awareness back to your body and notice your body resting on your mat.

Notice your breath flowing through the body.

Notice how soft the breath feels how gentle.

Bring your awareness to your right hand and notice as the fingers on the right hand begin to move almost without intention almost on their own.

Let your intention drift over to the left hand now.

Begin to notice as the fingers on the left hand start to move again almost on their own.

You can begin to wiggle your toes now and draw your awareness your consciousness back into your body from wherever you've been.

Begin to feel as though you're waking from a long and restful sleep.

And when you're ready bend your knees draw them into your chest and roll to your side.

Keep your eyes gently closed.

There's no need to rush.

And when you feel ready come to a seat.

Once you're seated let your hands come to heart center and press the palms together.

Join me now in wishing loving kindness to all beings.

May all beings be happy.

May all beings be well.

May all beings be safe.

May all beings be peaceful and at ease.

Namaste.