Yoga Nidra Of The Vanishing Physical Body

Thank you for joining me today for the practice of Yoga Nidra.

This Yoga Nidra is concerned with the ephemeral nature of the physical body.

Yoga teaches us that while the physical body is part of who we are,

It is not all of who we are.

In today's practice we will cultivate deep and abiding awareness of that important teaching.

Begin by preparing a place to practice Yoga Nidra.

Find a room that's as free of distractions as possible.

Turn the lights down low or close the curtains of its daytime.

Place a blanket or yoga mat on the floor and lay down on the mat or the blanket.

Lay on your back.

Find a comfortable position for your whole body.

Find a comfortable spot for the arms and the legs,

The torso and the head.

My suggestion is to flip your palms so they face up so there isn't a lot of tactile sensation in the fingertips.

That tactile sensation can sometimes distract the mind in a way that isn't conducive to Yoga Nidra.

Once you're laying on your back,

Let your eyes close down and begin to draw your awareness to your breath.

Just begin to notice that you're breathing in and breathing out.

Follow the inhale and follow the exhale.

Take about five breaths with complete awareness of what it feels like to be a body breathing in and breathing out,

Resting on your back.

Now begin to become aware of your body as it rests on the mat.

See how the body feels.

You can take a quick scan from the top of the head to the tips of the toes and notice any areas where you may feel tension in the body.

The next time you exhale,

Do your best to release the tension.

Just let it go.

Allow your body to move towards a place of softness,

Towards a place of ease and peace.

Breathing in,

Breathing out and moving towards softness.

Begin now with what's called rotation of consciousness.

All named parts of the body.

You just bring your focus,

Your awareness to the part that's named.

Then when I name another part,

Let your awareness effortlessly move to that part.

Let's begin with the big toe on the right foot.

Bring your awareness to the big toe.

Let your awareness move to the first toe on the right foot,

Second toe,

Third toe on the right foot,

The pinky toe on the right foot.

Awareness to the bottom of the right foot.

It's the ball of the foot.

It's the instep.

Notice the heel and bring your awareness to the top of the right foot,

To the ankle,

Up the right leg to the knee,

Around the back of the right knee.

Now up the back of the right leg to the right hip.

Up the right side body,

Past the ribs to the shoulder.

The shoulder,

Let your awareness move down to the right elbow,

Wrist,

Back of the right hand.

The right palm,

Thumb on the right hand,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Finger on the right hand.

Big toe on the left foot.

First toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

The pinky toe on the left foot.

Bring your awareness to the bottom of the left foot.

Become aware of the ball of the foot,

The instep,

Heel,

Top of the left foot,

Palm,

The left knee,

The left hip,

Past the ribs on the left side,

Left shoulder,

Left elbow,

Left wrist,

Back of the left hand,

Of the left hand,

Left thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Left ring finger,

Little finger on the left hand.

Bring your awareness now to the very top of your head,

To the crown of the head.

Let your awareness dwell there for a moment.

Now let your awareness wash down to the back of the head,

Down to the forehead.

Keep your awareness on the whole forehead.

Focus the awareness at eyebrow center,

The space between the eyebrows.

Stay focused there for a moment.

Maybe lift your gaze a bit behind closed eyes towards eyebrow center.

Bring your awareness to your right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Tip of the nose,

Awareness of the tip of the nose,

Upper lip,

Inside the mouth,

The roof of the mouth,

Now the tongue,

The base of the tongue,

The tip of the tongue,

Now the whole tongue.

Bring your awareness out of the mouth to the lower lip,

Chin,

Throat,

Heart,

Solar plexus,

Just below the lowest ribs,

Pubic bone or root chakra.

Now around the back of the body to the tailbone,

The lowest part of the back,

The lumbar spine,

The mid-back,

The upper back,

Right in the middle,

Space between the shoulder blades on the back,

Rising up the back of the neck to the base of the skull.

Bring your awareness again to the top of the head,

Just let it rest there for a moment.

Now begin to notice the skin,

And become aware that your skin encases the whole body like a bag.

Within the vessel of the skin are the muscles,

The bones,

All the tissues.

Become aware of the organs,

The brain,

Heart,

Lungs,

Stomach,

And all the other organs.

Now visualize the whole body,

And feel yourself wearing the body like a glove.

Now become aware of the breath.

Breathe in and out softly through both nostrils.

Take three or four more soft and gentle breaths,

Inhaling through the nostrils and exhaling through the nostrils.

Now begin to deepen the breath,

And as you inhale,

Imagine the breath flowing in through the toes,

And rising all the way to the top of the head.

On the exhale,

Feel the breath flowing back down through the body,

And out the toes.

On an inhale,

The breath rises through the whole body,

And on the exhale,

The breath descends to the toes.

Breathe fully but softly in this way,

For five complete cycles of breath.

Just let your breath return to a normal rhythm.

Now we'll begin to practice mental alternate nostril breathing,

Mental Nadi Shodhana.

Inhale through the left nostril,

Exhale through the right.

Inhale through the right,

Exhale to the left.

Continue inhaling left,

Exhaling right,

Inhaling right,

Exhaling left.

Keep it going seven more cycles.

Stay with the flow of the breath from side to side.

Finish the last cycle of alternate nostril breathing.

When you finally breathe out to the left,

Inhale through both nostrils equally,

A beautiful cleansing breath,

And then exhale through the nose.

Bring your awareness now to the tips of the toes and the tips of the fingers.

See if you can begin to perceive,

To feel,

A very gentle buzzing at the tips of the fingers and the tips of the toes.

Just a very gentle vibration,

A subtle energy that you can feel on all the skin.

As you remain aware of this vibratory energy,

Notice that it now extends beyond the skin,

Maybe just a sixteenth of an inch or so,

Or perhaps a little bit more.

Stay with the feeling of the vibratory energy.

So this energy field,

Feel its power.

Now let all that go,

And begin to cultivate awareness of pain in the body.

See if you can recall a time when you felt pain in your body.

Remember a specific incident,

A specific time,

And remember what it was like to feel pain in the body.

Relive that pain.

Feel the pain in the body.

Notice how it felt.

Remember how it affected your breath.

Remember how you reacted to it mentally.

Relive the pain.

Now remember a time,

A specific incident,

When you felt intense pleasure.

Remember what the pleasure felt like in your body.

Let yourself relive that deep and overflowing pleasure.

Feel the pleasure in the body.

And now return to pain.

Remember what that felt like.

Feel it again.

And then return back to pleasure.

Feel the deep pleasure in the body.

And now come back to pain.

Back to pleasure.

Back to pain.

Back to pleasure.

Let both of those go.

Imagine now that you're laying on your back,

Out in nature.

Above you is a sky that seems completely dark except for a full moon high up in the sky.

You're completely comfortable,

Completely at ease.

It's a pleasant night,

Neither warm nor cold.

It just feels perfect.

Now stay focused on the full moon above you.

Focus your awareness on the image of the moon and let go of everything else.

Keep your awareness on that single image.

Now see a three-quarter moon.

Notice the part that's there.

Notice the one-quarter that appears to be missing.

Three-quarter moon.

Now begin to visualize a half moon above you.

Notice the half that's visible.

Notice the half that seems to be missing.

Now see a one-quarter moon above you.

Notice the one-quarter that's visible.

Notice the three-quarters that seems to be missing.

Notice the three-quarter that seems to be missing.

A quarter moon.

Now release your focus on the image of the moon.

As the image fades from view,

Become aware that the vast,

Dark,

Empty space the image existed in remains.

Notice that that limitless space was there all along.

Now come back to your physical body.

Imagine your body resting on your mat or your blanket on the floor.

See the whole body.

Perceive it all at once.

Stay with the image of the whole body.

Seeing your hands and your arms.

See your feet and your legs.

See your torso.

See your head.

Your whole body.

Now imagine that your right hand has disappeared.

It's no longer there.

Now let go of the right arm.

See the body without a right arm.

Imagine now that the left hand has disappeared.

Now let go of the whole left arm.

See your body without arms.

Now notice that the right foot has disappeared.

See as the left foot disappears.

Now notice the right leg is missing and the left leg.

See your body resting there without arms and without legs.

Notice that you are still present.

You are still observing.

Now let go of the image of the torso.

The arms have vanished.

The legs have vanished.

The head.

The torso is gone.

What remains is the head.

See just your head.

The rest of your body is gone.

See that you still remain.

All that's vanished from view is the body below the neck.

Focus again on your head.

And now release the head.

Let it go.

Now nothing remains of the physical body.

But you still remain.

You are still there.

Watching.

Observing.

Being.

Your essence.

Your spirit.

Your energy.

Remain.

Realize you are not your hands.

You are not your arms.

You are not your legs.

You are not your torso.

You are not your head.

You are so much more than your physical body.

You are pure energy.

Take a few moments to feel the presence of you as pure energy.

This is what you really are.

This is the essence of you.

Bring your awareness to the room that you are resting in.

Remember the room.

Remember the walls.

The ceiling.

The floor.

Remember your yoga mat or blanket.

And remember your physical body resting on the floor.

Bring awareness to the right hand only.

Very,

Very gently.

Start to bring movement into the fingers of the right hand.

Perhaps touch the pad of the thumb on the right hand to the pads of the fingers on the right hand.

Just to feel the gentle sensation.

And larger and larger movements with the fingers on the right hand.

Bring your awareness to your left hand.

Invite very gentle movement to the fingers on the left hand.

Begin to rotate the wrists.

And you can move your toes if you like.

Rotate the ankles.

If a stretch would feel good,

Reach up and overhead and stretch the fingers towards the back of the room.

Maybe point your toes and stretch the toes forward towards the front of the room.

Now take a deep breath in.

Fill the whole body with breath.

And then exhale and let it go.

Do that again.

A huge breath in.

Do that again.

A huge breath in.

Filling the whole body.

Exhale and let it go.

Begin now to bend your knees.

Once the knees are bent,

Roll to your side.

The left side is preferred after yoga nidra,

But it's not required.

So if you'd rather roll to the right,

Go ahead and roll to the right.

If you'd rather roll to the left,

Go ahead and roll to the right.

Take a couple of moments on your side.

Just noticing what it feels like to rest here.

Cradle your head and your arm if you like.

Let the eyes stay gently closed.

Feel your body breathing in.

Breathing out.

Very slowly and gently roll to a seat.

Once you're seated,

You can join me if you like by bringing your hands to heart center.

Press the palms together gently.

Just so you can feel the left palm touching the right palm.

Now take a deep breath in through your nose.

Then open your mouth and exhale.

Do that one more time.

A deep breath in through the nose.

Open mouth and exhale.

This concludes our practice of yoga nidra.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Take care.