Yoga Nidra For Courageous Creativity

Welcome to today's practice of yoga nidra.

In this practice of relaxation,

It is important that the body is as comfortable as possible.

Take some time if you wish to place a pillow under the knees,

To layer a blanket over the body,

Or to place a covering over the eyes.

When you're ready,

Come into lying flat on the back,

Arms relaxed just slightly away from the body,

Palms of the hands facing the sky.

Allow the feet to naturally fall open,

Feeling the spine to the head in one straight line,

Elongating the neck,

And evening the weight across both sides of the body.

Please take these next few moments to notice if the body could be even 5% more comfortable.

Make any other final adjustments in these next few moments to ensure that you have fully arrived.

The body will not move for the duration of the practice.

Make sure the eyes and mouth are gently closed,

Settling in.

Begin to feel the contact between the back body and the ground below.

Heels,

Calf muscles,

Shoulder blades,

Buttocks,

Back of the head,

Back of the arms.

Then feeling into all of the contact points at the front of the body that are touching clothing or blankets.

The toes,

Knees,

Chest,

Front of the legs.

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Toward the end of the practice,

I will ask you to bring to mind a personal resolve that you have made for yourself.

In yoga,

We call this a sankalpa.

The sankalpa is formatted as a precise,

Positive,

And clear phrase about something you wish to have,

Change,

Or achieve.

There should be a feeling associated with your sankalpa.

Create your sankalpa in the present tense and repeat it to yourself to recall later in the practice.

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Begin to move your awareness to sounds outside of the room.

Place your awareness further and further away,

Finding and noticing all sounds outside of the room.

Loud sounds,

Soft sounds.

Closer sounds and sounds in the distance.

Move your awareness from sound to sound,

Always listening for a new one.

We are not analyzing sounds,

We're just hearing them.

Keep moving from sound to sound.

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Now drawing your awareness to sounds just outside of the room.

Finding and noticing sounds just outside of the room.

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Now bringing your awareness to sounds within the room.

Finding and noticing any subtle sounds within the room.

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Now letting go of this,

Letting go now of the sound awareness,

Letting it go.

Now move your awareness to the body,

The whole body lying across your space.

I'll now ask you to rotate your awareness around parts of the body.

As I name a part,

Try and picture it in the mind.

And then listen to the next part that is named.

Keep following my voice with full awareness.

Beginning with the right hand thumb.

The right index finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Little finger.

Right palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Wrist.

Lower arm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Armpit.

Shoulder.

Collar bone.

Right side of the chest.

Right upper abdomen.

Naval center.

Right lower abdomen.

Hip bone.

Right front of the thigh.

Knee cap.

Chin.

Ankle.

Heel.

Sole of the foot.

Top of the foot.

Right big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Little toe.

Making sure to follow my voice with full awareness.

Moving to the left hand thumb.

The left index finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Little finger.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Wrist.

Lower arm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Armpit.

Shoulder.

Collar bone.

Left side of the chest.

Left upper abdomen.

The naval center.

The left lower abdomen.

The left hip bone.

Front of the thigh.

Knee cap.

Chin.

Ankle.

Heel.

Sole of the foot.

Top of the foot.

Left big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Little toe.

Feel into both heels as they press into the floor.

Feeling both calf muscles.

Both backs of the knees.

The backs of the thighs.

The buttocks.

The lower back.

Middle of the back.

Upper back.

The entire spine from the tailbone to the top of the head between the ears.

The right shoulder blade.

Left shoulder blade.

The space between shoulder blades.

The back of the neck.

The back of the head.

The crown of the head.

Forehead.

Right temple.

Left temple.

Right ear.

Left ear.

Right eyebrow.

Left eyebrow.

Middle of the eyebrows.

Right eye.

Left eye.

Bridge of the nose.

Tip of the nose.

Right nostril.

Left nostril.

Right cheek.

Left cheek.

Upper lip.

Lower lip.

Chin.

Jaw.

The whole head.

The whole torso.

The whole body.

The whole body.

The whole body.

Take your awareness to the natural flow of your breath entering and leaving through your nostrils.

Imagining the arms and legs as tree roots.

Breathing in through the hands and the feet.

All the way to a point at the top of the spine.

And back out through the tree roots.

Breathing in through the hands and the feet to the point at the top of the spine and back out.

Keep on breathing in through the hands and the feet to the point at the top of the spine and back out.

Breathing in through the hands and the feet to the point at the top of the spine and back out.

Breathing in through the hands and the feet to the point at the top of the spine and back out.

Take your next out breath,

Let go of this,

And return your breath to its natural rhythm.

I will now go on and name some feelings and sensations.

These are all things you have felt before.

They can be felt and then let go of.

As I name each one,

Try and feel it throughout the whole body.

Bring about the sensation of coldness throughout the body,

Feeling coldness throughout the whole body.

Now bringing about the sensation of warmth throughout the whole body,

Feeling warmth throughout the whole body.

Warmth.

Now bringing about the sensation of heaviness throughout the whole body,

Feeling heaviness throughout the whole body.

Heaviness.

Now bring about the sensation of lightness throughout the whole body,

Feeling lightness throughout the whole body.

Lightness.

Now bringing about the sensation of ugliness throughout the whole body,

Feeling ugliness throughout the whole body.

Ugliness.

Now bringing about the sensation of beauty throughout the whole body,

Feeling beauty throughout the whole body.

Beauty.

Now bringing about the sensation of boredom throughout the whole body,

Feeling boredom throughout the whole body.

Boredom.

Now bringing about the sensation of excitement throughout the whole body,

Feeling excitement throughout the whole body.

Excitement.

Now feeling the sensation of lack throughout the whole body,

Feeling lack throughout the whole body.

Lack.

Now start to feel the sensation of abundance throughout the whole body.

Feeling abundance throughout the whole body.

Abundance.

I will now go on and name some symbols.

As I name each one,

Try to picture it in the mind.

Sunlight streaming through a window.

Sunlight streaming through a window.

Sunlight streaming through a window.

Dogs barking.

Dogs barking.

Dogs barking.

A blank wall.

A blank wall.

A blank wall.

A jacket hanging on a chair.

A jacket hanging on a chair.

A jacket hanging on a chair.

An unlit candle.

An unlit candle.

An unlit candle.

A bowl of fruit.

A bowl of fruit.

A bowl of fruit.

Begin to picture yourself at the gate of an expansive green orchard.

You step through the gate and begin to walk down a soft path.

As you continue forward between the lines of trees,

You notice the path becoming steeper.

As you walk up,

You see that the orchard bears fruits of all kinds.

Golden pears on one side,

Apples on another.

Lemons and olives as you walk further up the hill.

You reach the top of the hill and stop beneath a thick,

Healthy olive tree that towers over the rest of the orchard.

It has gnarled branches that provide shade over a small patch of dirt that sits between the tree's exposed roots.

Your hand reaches forward,

Running your hands over the tree's weathered knots for a moment,

Before taking a seat comfortably on the patch of dirt to lay back and observe the orchard before you.

As you remain seated here,

You feel the strength and support of this old olive tree,

The fruitful orchard blooming around you with color and light.

Then you close your eyes,

Gentle sunlight flowing through the olive branches,

Warming your face.

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Sitting there at the base of the old olive tree,

You become aware of the gentle sound of bees buzzing in distant trees.

You notice the sun begin to set at the opposite end of the orchard in front of you.

You stand up from where you are sitting amongst the roots and make your way back through the orchard towards the gate,

Noticing a change of light warming the colorful fruit trees.

As you walk out through the gate,

You see an expansive green field of soft grass underneath an orange painted sky.

Now,

Let go of this visualization,

Letting it go.

Bringing your awareness up to the mind space,

The deep,

Dark,

Infinite space of the mind behind the forehead.

In yoga,

This is known as Chitakas,

The deep infinite space of the mind.

Look deeply into the space now,

Observing any thoughts,

Feelings,

Colors,

Patterns,

Or pictures.

Remaining as a witness without becoming involved,

View as if you were viewing a movie.

Seeing things in the mind space is good.

Seeing nothing in the mind space is also good.

Now,

Withdrawing your awareness from the mind space,

Withdraw from the mind space.

Keep on withdrawing your awareness from the mind space and bring your awareness back to the breath.

Feel the breath on the nostrils,

Deepen the breath a little.

And bring to mind your sankalpa.

Repeat it to yourself three times in your mind.

And now,

Bring your awareness back to your body,

Your whole body,

The whole physical body.

Be sure you are aware of your whole physical body and your surroundings as you bring movement back into the body.

Moving the fingers,

The toes,

Stretching your arms above your head.

Yoga nidra is now complete.

When you're ready,

Come back up to a seated position.