Love: Yoga Nidra For Balancing The Anahata Chakra

Let's start by getting comfortable.

Lay yourself down on your mat or bed.

Cover your body with a blanket and support your head with a pillow.

Sometimes it's nice to use an eye pillow to cover your eyes or socks to keep your feet warm.

Take some time to make yourself cozy.

Allow your body to get the wiggles out.

Once you feel comfortable,

Let your palms face upwards and lay on the sides of your body.

Or you can place one hand on your heart and the other on your belly.

Make sure you are not touching anything or anyone else.

Let your eyes close or relax and begin to soften the muscles around your eyes.

Allow the softness to transfer to the space in between your eyebrows.

Release the personality from your face.

Release it again.

Clench your jaw,

Maybe allowing your lips to separate naturally.

Let your breath continue to move naturally.

Observe the sounds around you,

Specifically outside of the space you're in.

Allow your mind to travel from one sound to the other without any form of attachment.

Just witnessing what you hear.

Then hone your attention to the sounds you hear within the space you're in.

Continue to float from sound to sound as the observer.

Now refine your awareness to the sounds within yourself.

Listen to the sound of your heart beating.

The sound of your breath entering and exiting your lungs.

Allow your awareness to move even further inward to the less obvious sounds of your body.

From the center of your being,

Allow your sankalpa or intention to come forward.

Repeat to yourself.

Love is within and all around me.

Let your consciousness sit with this and continue to repeat it with your mind.

Feel the vibration of every word.

Allow it to illuminate your entire being,

Growing in intensity with each repetition.

Allow every cell to feel your sankalpa glow within you.

Feel the aliveness of your entire body.

Imagine your body as a warm white light.

Glowing and luminous.

And then bring all the energy of the warm white light into the awareness of your right hand.

You might continue to feel warmth.

You might feel pulsing.

Or tingling.

Magnetism.

Or radiance.

You may not feel anything at all.

And that's okay too.

Without altering the shape of your right hand,

Just notice what you feel there.

Allow the warm white light to focus on your right thumb.

Notice the sensations you feel.

Let it travel to your second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

And fifth finger.

Feel all five fingers glow on your right hand.

Feel the spark of all five fingertips.

And from your fingertips,

Allow the white light to drop into the palm of your right hand.

Moving to the back of your hand.

Drifting to your wrist.

Forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Right shoulder.

Armpit.

Wandering to your right side ribcage.

Right side waist.

Feel the white light in your right hip.

Thigh.

Knee.

Shin.

Ankle.

Allow the white light to carry through the heel of your right foot.

Sole of your right foot.

Top of your right foot.

Lighting up your big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

And fifth toe.

Feel the illumination of all five toes on your right foot.

And from the tips of your toes,

Allow the white light to travel all the way up the right side body.

Feel the warmth of the white light on your entire right side.

Now transfer this radiance of warm white light to the left side of your body.

Allowing the light to hone in on your left hand.

Notice what sensations you feel here.

Do you feel physical sensations of pulsing?

Or heat?

Do you feel a spark?

Brilliance?

What sensations,

If any,

Are you aware of in your left hand?

Allow the white light to concentrate on your left thumb.

Moving to your second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

Fifth finger.

Feel the white light glimmer on all five fingers on your left hand.

Allow the white light to ignite your fingertips.

And from your fingertips,

Descend the warm white light into the palm of your left hand.

Flowing to the back of your left hand.

Moving to your wrist.

Forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Left shoulder.

Armpit.

Wandering to your left ribcage.

Left side waist.

Allow the warm white light to descend through your left tip.

Thigh.

Knee.

Shin.

Ankle.

Traveling to the heel of your left foot.

Sole of your left foot.

Top of your left foot.

Lighting up your big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

And fifth toe.

Feel the illumination of all five toes on your left foot.

And from the tips of your toes,

Allow the warm white light to radiate all the way up the left side body.

Feel the entire left side of your body glow.

Now,

Let the white light shine into the back body.

Feel your back body grounded.

And allow the warm white light to descend to your feet.

Specifically the soles of both feet.

Rising to both heels.

Calves.

The back of both knees.

Brightening the back of your thighs.

The back of your pelvis.

Shining on your tailbone.

And sacrum.

Allow the white light to move gently up your spine.

Illuminating your lower back.

Middle back.

Upper back.

Traveling to both shoulder blades.

And let the warm white light glow in the back of your heart.

And then wander up the back of your neck.

The back of your head.

And let the warm white light glow through the crown of your head.

And melt down to your forehead.

Moving to the right eyebrow.

Left eyebrow.

Allow both eyebrows to light up.

And then let the white light descend to your right eyelid.

Left eyelid.

Right cheek.

Left cheek.

Right ear.

Left ear.

Right side of your nose.

And right nostril.

Left side of your nose.

And left nostril.

Softening to your upper lip.

Lower lip.

Chin.

Jaw.

Tongue.

The roof of your mouth.

Swallow and feel the warm white light on the inside of your throat.

Drifting to the right side of your neck.

Left side of your neck.

Right collarbone.

Left collarbone.

Right side of your chest.

Left side of your chest.

Allow the warm white light to shine through your heart center.

Continuing to ignite your right side ribcage and left side ribcage.

Feel the glimmer of warm white light in your belly.

Become aware of the rise and fall of breath in your belly.

Your life force.

We'll begin to count the breath backwards starting at the number 7.

Each inhale.

And exhale.

We'll constitute one cycle of breath.

And you'll count 7 cycles backwards.

From 7.

Down to 1.

Inhale.

Exhale.

7.

Inhale.

Exhale.

6.

And if you lose count or finish early,

Just go back and start over at 7.

And let go of count wherever you are.

And find a state of neutral.

Remember a time when you felt judgment or that you were being judgmental.

Allow this memory to transform into a physical sensation in your body.

What do you notice?

How does your body respond to a feeling of being perceived in a certain way?

Or perceiving something or someone else a certain way?

Where does this sensation form in your body?

How is your breath influenced by having a perception about someone,

Something,

Yourself?

Witness.

And then let go.

Call on a feeling of compassion.

Remember a time when you felt empathy.

Or a time when you yourself received tenderness.

Where do you feel this in your body?

What sensations form through this feeling of gentleness?

Do you feel held?

Do you feel warmth?

How does your body respond to this sensitivity?

What is your heart telling you?

Allow your awareness to travel back to your third eye center and find neutrality.

Let the influence of both judgment and compassion dissolve.

Reset yourself so that you do not feel a pull in either direction.

And from this place,

Imagine the smell of roses spreading mashed avocado onto a piece of toast.

A hug at the airport.

Rolling hills of grass swaying in the breeze.

A hexagram.

Reading a handwritten note.

Your mother's hands.

An iridescent stethoscope.

A four-season tea room looking out to a garden.

A four-season tea room looking out to a garden.

A four-season tea room looking out to a garden.

Imagine yourself in a four-season tea room looking out to a garden.

You're cozied up on the couch,

Filled with throw pillows of all different sizes,

Shapes,

And textures.

You feel a breeze of air from the giant gold palm-leaf shaped ceiling fan above.

You look around and notice a few other funky gold accents amidst a room full of whimsical greens and pinks.

As the window doors open up to an expansive garden,

You reach towards the table in front of you and fix a glass of tea.

And then draw it towards your face to breathe in the steam.

You take a sip of tea and then reach forward to grab a pastry from the fancy golden balance scale dish on the table in front of you.

You eat the pastry and then come to stand.

As you slide your feet into fluffy sage-green slippers and make your way towards the garden,

Taking your teacup with you.

As you reach the open doors,

You see the spacious garden alive in front of you.

The vegetables growing towards the light.

The flowers swaying in the breeze.

Buzzy bees flying around.

It is peaceful.

And in this moment,

The garden sprinklers turn on the calm hissing sound,

Releasing a flock of white doves above the garden to fly towards the sun.

The sprinklers start to create a water vapor mist within the garden,

Making a dewy fog in the air above.

Within the fog,

You see words start to take shape,

Reading your sankalpa.

Love is within and all around me.

As the mist expands,

The words start to dissolve and the vapor envelops around you like a hug.

You take a deep breath in to feel the moisture and sigh out and exhale,

Seeing the fog of your own breath.

You place one hand on your heart and take a sip of your warm tea and the other.

You turn around and start to head back inside to the whimsical glass room.

You feel a breeze from the palm fan above.

You take a seat on the couch and cozy up to the surrounding throw pillows and continue to sip your tea.

As you sip your tea,

Start to invite a more spacious breath into your lungs.

Find more length with each inhale and exhale.

Start to awaken your body by wiggling your fingers and toes.

Coming back into the space slowly and carefully.

Roll yourself over to one side.

Let your body melt for one more breath.

Use your arms to guide yourself back to a seated position,

Keeping your eyelids closed.

Draw your palms together to meet at your heart center.

Take one deep inhale and exhale.

Release your chin down.

Thank you for practicing with me.

Go in peace.