Yoga Nidra: Flow Freely With My Life

Welcome,

Welcome to this practice of yoga nidra.

Practice will last around 15 minutes or so and you may fall asleep during the practice and that's absolutely fine if you do but the intention is really to stay awake and we find ourselves in this space between sleeping and between wakefulness.

The state of awareness that is yoga nidra.

So making sure you're in a comfortable position now,

Either sitting in a chair or lying on the floor,

Maybe with supports underneath the head and a blanket over you to make sure you're going to stay nice and warm for the practice.

And welcome home to yourself.

Welcome home.

All of you is welcome.

Every part of you is welcome.

And as we settle back into the warm embrace of the earth,

We allow ourselves to rest more comfortably and more deeply with each exhalation.

Feeling the position of the body and letting the mind just scan through the physical form.

Becoming aware now of the head and the weight of the head.

And as we exhale just giving away the weight of the head.

Becoming aware now of the weight of the shoulders,

The arms,

The hands and the fingers.

And as we exhale giving away the weight of the shoulders,

Arms,

Hands and fingers.

Awareness now the left and right side of the back and the full length of the spine.

And as we exhale giving away the weight of the back and the spine.

Awareness now of the pelvis,

The breadth of the pelvis.

And as we exhale giving away the weight of the pelvis.

Awareness now of the legs,

The feet,

The toes.

And as we exhale giving away the weight of the legs,

The feet and the toes.

And feeling now that with each exhalation the body settles more and more comfortably into the warm arms of the earth beneath it.

As each exhale beckons we slide down the length of that breath settling,

Nestling down,

Meeting the ground as if it was an old friend.

And then allowing your internal gaze,

Your inner awareness to come and rest in the vastness that is the heart,

Centre of the upper chest,

The home of the energetic heart space.

And for a moment just sense the limitless space here.

We plant a seed of intention for our nidra this morning.

And in this space we ask that we flow freely with our lives and the challenges of our lives and the joy of our lives that we flow freely with them in equal measure.

See that intention maybe as a thing in the mind's eye or feel it in the heart to flow freely with your life,

The challenges and the joys of your life.

And imagine in the body how it would be now to be completely free with all of your life,

Whatever it is,

However it is.

How would that feel in the body to be that free?

And then imagining now as we take our awareness through the body out through the crown of the head,

Imagining now in this space either a droplet of water falling or a warm drop of nectar or a mist or a colour,

Whatever you imagine that gives you a sense of fluidity,

Of freedom.

We're going to take this thing on a journey around the body,

Seeing it in the places we bring our attention to.

Seeing that thing now in the crown of the head and in the space between the eyebrows and in the space between the collarbones and in the right shoulder,

The right elbow,

The right wrist,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Right thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Little finger,

Right hand thumb and all of the fingers,

Free and fluid and at ease.

Awareness in the right wrist,

Right elbow,

Right shoulder,

Space between the collarbones and over to the left side,

Left shoulder,

Left elbow,

Left wrist,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Left thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Little finger,

Until the left hand thumb and all of the fingers are fluid and at ease.

Awareness in the left wrist,

Left elbow,

Left shoulder and the space between the collarbones.

Down now across the contours of the body to the centre of the rib cage and imagining here and letting the attention rest here for a moment.

Imagine the fluidness of this space,

The freedom of this space and then take that awareness inside the left rib cage,

Inside the right rib cage,

Back to the centre of the ribs,

Along the contours of the body down to the space between the pubic bones and over to the right hip,

Right knee,

Right ankle,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Right big toe,

First toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Little toe.

Right big toe and all of the toes together flowing freely and at ease in the body.

Awareness to the right ankle,

Right knee,

Right hip and the space between the pubic bones.

To the left side now,

The left hip,

Left knee,

Left ankle,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Left big toe,

First toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Little toe.

Left big toe and all of the toes together fluid and at ease in the body.

Awareness back up to the left ankle,

Left knee,

Left hip and over to the tiny space between the pubic bones.

Back over the contours of the body,

Up to the heart space,

Centre of the upper chest,

To the space between the collar bones,

Space between the eyebrows,

Space above the crown of the head.

And imagine now gazing upon your form,

Upon your physical body as you feel the breath move fluidly and freely like a river flowing around the body.

And the breath moves freely to all of the points that we've mentioned.

And imagining those points almost like pebbles or boulders or rocks in a stream,

The breath flows through them and around them effortlessly.

Whole body fluid and at ease.

And then come now into the mind's eye,

Bring your internal gaze to this space as I invite you to imagine the following images and at the same time how it might feel in the body as you see these images.

A deep ocean,

A shallow rock pool,

A wide sea,

A deep ocean,

A deep sea,

A narrow stream,

The power and force of an enormous waterfall,

The gentle trickle of a stream over a brook,

A still lake,

A fast flowing river,

A murky pond,

A deep sea,

A clear stream,

Lashing cold rain,

A warm tropical shower,

A deep ocean,

A deep sea,

A deep river.

And now imagine yourself sitting comfortably next to a body of water of your choice,

Somewhere you feel safe and happy to gaze upon,

A beach,

A lake,

A river.

And you are sitting comfortably and at ease,

Gazing upon the water.

And as you sit,

You see movement on the surface of the water,

Ripples or waves rolling in across the top of the water toward you.

The ripples and waves make a noise that you can quietly hear.

They are energetic,

They are active.

And you sense that energy as they roll in towards you.

But beyond the ripples or the waves,

You see a stillness,

A quiet and a calm on the water.

And you sit and watch the active ripple or wave arise from the stillness move in towards you.

And you notice that with every ripple or wave that moves towards you,

The distant water remains still and calm.

And you keep this image as you allow your awareness to invite the sensation of your breath into being.

And you come to imagine your breath and the water in front of you to be one in the same.

As you breathe in,

You see the ripples or the waves roll in toward you for the comfortable length of your in-breath.

And you sense the energy and the activity of that wave or ripple as you breathe in.

Feeling that energy move through your entire body with your breath.

Then as you exhale,

You see the wave or ripple retire back into the stillness of the water beyond.

The exhalation moves with ease as it travels back into the quietness of the still water.

Inhaling to draw the breath in,

Exhaling to release the breath out.

Breathing in energy.

Breathing out to move into stillness.

One effortlessly moving into the other.

Waves returning to stillness.

Waves returning to energy.

Fluid,

Free.

And you feel happy and comfortable to move in both directions.

And you welcome both with open arms.

And the next time you breathe in and feel the breath moving through the body,

Right at the top of the inhalation,

Feeling the upper chest expand.

As you exhale,

Settle your awareness into the heart,

Center of the upper chest.

And we come back to the vastness of this space.

And come back to our intention that we flow freely with our lives through all of the things that it offers,

That it brings.

All of the challenges and the joy,

All of the activity and the stillness.

We are fluid,

We are free.

See it,

Name it,

Feel it in the heart and know it to be true.

And then let all of your awareness move onto the in-breath now and feel that the next in-breath is so full of energy,

So deeply nourishing and active that you feel more ready to bring a little movement with that activity into the fingers and the toes.

Each passing in-breath now,

Filling the body with more alertness,

Bringing you back into a wakeful state so that you feel ready to move at will.

Taking deeper,

Fuller breaths,

Knowing now that the practice of Yoga Nidra has come to an end and that you can move on with the rest of your day feeling free and comfortable.

Om Namo Nara'a Ma'aya.

Hari Om Tat Sat.