The practice of Yoganidra is a practice of yogic sleep that will guide you through a state of consciousness between being awake and being asleep.
There is no right or wrong way to do this meditation.
There is no need to deliberately relax anything or to analyze.
Simply follow my voice and my instructions as best you can.
And if you lose me,
That's okay.
There is nothing to remember or catch up.
Just follow my voice,
Taking in what you need in the moment and letting go of the rest.
Come into a position that is comfortable,
Maybe laying down or reclining in a chair,
Bringing in blankets.
The body may cool as it moves into that state of relaxation,
Bringing your awareness to your breath.
Just notice your body breathing without trying to alter it or change it in any way.
Just become aware of your breath.
Notice the stillness of your body,
Perhaps noticing a feeling of relaxation coming into the whole body,
Meaning awake and aware,
Yet relaxed,
Becoming aware of sounds,
Sounds that you can hear in this moment without strain.
Begin by focusing on distant sounds,
Letting your hearing radiate outward,
Searching out the most distant sound and following it one by one for just a few moments,
Moving your attention from sound to sound without labeling the source,
Preferring one sound over another.
Gradually bring your attention to closer sounds,
To sounds within sight of your space,
To sounds within sight of the room,
Opening the eyes,
Visualizing the walls,
The ceiling,
The floor of your room,
Your body within the space,
Becoming aware of the natural breath,
The sound of your breath,
Feeling the breath moving in and out of your body without any effort,
The natural breath flows in through the nostrils,
Notice the feeling of the breath coming in and out,
Perhaps a sense of coolness as you inhale the breath,
The breath going down the back of your throat,
Into your lungs,
Feeling a sense of warmth as the breath exits the body,
Following the natural flow of breath,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Allowing the breath to become longer and slower,
Taking a long,
Slow inhalation,
Followed by a longer,
Slower exhalation,
Long,
Slow inhale,
A longer,
Slower exhale.
As you breathe into the body,
Inviting the breath to rise to the chest,
To the heart,
Feel the heart space open and expand with that inhalation,
Taking a moment to find within yourself a heartfelt prayer,
Sankopa intention.
This statement comes to you,
Repeat it to yourself three times,
And it come naturally,
Could even be a simple word that you find and feel within your heart.
As you exhale,
Releasing that intention,
Sankopa,
Seeing that seed has been planted to grow and to flourish,
Divine timing,
Turning your awareness just back to your breath,
A natural,
Easy flow of breath,
Coming and going.
Going to begin a journey through the body,
And as we do,
I invite you to move your awareness to the different parts of the body as you hear them named.
There is no need to move that body part,
Just become aware of it as you hear it,
And any sensation that you may notice in that part of your body.
Beginning on the right side,
Become aware of your right hand,
Right hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
The palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Knee,
Heel,
Sole of the right foot,
Top of the right foot,
The right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Moving now to the left side,
Becoming aware of the left hand,
Left hand thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
The palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Waist,
Hip,
Knee,
Top of the left foot,
The left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
Moving to the back of the body,
Becoming aware of the right heel,
Left heel,
The right calf,
Left calf,
The right hamstring,
Left hamstring,
Right buttock,
Left buttock,
Upper back,
The entire spine,
Right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
The back of the neck,
The back of the head.
Moving to the top of the head,
Becoming aware of the forehead,
The right temple,
The left temple,
The right ear,
The left ear,
The right eyebrow,
The left eyebrow,
The middle of the eyebrow,
The right eye,
Left eye,
The right nostril,
The left nostril,
The right cheek,
The left cheek,
The upper lip,
Lower lip,
Both lips together,
The chin,
Jaw,
Left collarbone,
Right side of the chest,
Left side of the chest,
The upper abdomen,
The right hip,
The left hip,
The pelvic floor,
The whole right leg,
The whole body,
The whole body.
Breathing,
Letting the whole body breathe,
Aware of the body breathing,
The coming and going of breath without any intention to manipulate it or change it in any way.
Just conscious of your breathing and nothing else.
Continuing your awareness of breath,
Gradually bringing your attention and your breath to the eyebrow center.
Imagine that you are breathing through that space in between your eyebrows.
The breath moves in and out of the forehead.
The breath moves in and out through the eyebrow center to a point in the center of the back of the head.
Maintaining your awareness of breath through the eyebrow center to a point in the center back of the head.
Maintaining your awareness of breath through the eyebrow center.
Begin counting your breaths backwards from 27.
Inhale,
27.
Exhale,
27.
Inhale,
26.
Exhale,
26.
Breathing and counting from 27 to 1.
If you make a mistake and lose place,
That's okay.
Simply go back to 27 and start again.
If you reach 1,
Go back to 27 and start again.
Breathing through the eyebrow center,
Awareness of the counting and the breath from 27 to 1.
Releasing the counting.
Awake and aware that you are breathing,
You are practicing Yoga Nidra.
Feeling the entire body breathing itself,
All very natural,
Easy,
Effortless.
Noting the very natural movement of the breath and the flow of energy in your body.
Feeling and connecting to the body breathing itself.
Feeling a sense of opening and welcoming as you inhale.
A sense of calm and ease as you exhale.
Feeling a sense of softness,
Relaxation in the belly,
In the whole body.
Just remembering a time when your body felt soft and relaxed.
Not lying in a hammock or on a beach.
Feel the sensation of being at ease,
Relaxed,
Soft.
The feeling of lightness coming over the whole body.
Your body could float and drift away effortlessly.
Like a feather floating light and weightless.
The limbs,
Light,
Weightless.
The torso,
Light,
Weightless.
The whole body,
Light,
Weightless.
Floating,
Drifting,
Effortlessly.
Light,
Weightless.
Ease,
Calm,
Soft,
Relaxed.
Imagine the body becoming heavy.
Feeling a sense of heaviness in all the parts of the body.
The head is heavy.
The limbs are heavy.
The torso is heavy.
The whole body is heavy.
So,
So heavy.
Sinking down into the floor.
Heavy.
Heaviness in all the parts of the body.
A sense of complete calm come over your entire mind,
Body.
Writing your awareness back to your breath.
Feeling your body breathing.
Using the effortless,
Easy flow of breath.
In and out.
Bringing the awareness and the breath back to the space in between the eyes.
Back to the middle of the forehead.
Visioning yourself breathing through the eyebrow center.
Imagine before you there,
A large transparent screen.
As high and as wide as the mind's eye can see.
Just one that you might find in a movie theater.
Bring the awareness on this mind screen.
Allow yourself to see whatever colors,
Patterns,
Light manifest within it.
Without trying to analyze or prefer one image over another.
Just simply notice each image as it appears.
Allowing it to shine on its own.
Going to name a number of different things.
And as I do,
I invite you to envision them from any level of memory,
Imagination,
As best you can.
Simply jump from image to image as you hear it.
If an image doesn't come to you,
That's okay.
Simply let it go.
Taking in what you see and releasing the rest.
Imagine before you now,
Darkness.
A red desert.
A pink rose.
A peacock feather.
Waves on the ocean.
A Buddha meditating.
A blue sky in the evening.
A full moon.
A dark night with tiny shining stars studded in the heaven.
A foggy morning.
A high mountain range with snow-capped peaks.
The sun shining overhead.
A ship sailing on the high seas.
A large bouquet of colorful flowers.
A white sandy beach.
A tall tree.
A gray dove.
A black galloping horse.
A tiny hut in the woods.
A relaxing afternoon.
A full moon.
A cool mountain stream.
Laughing with friends.
A lonely rock in the mountains.
A warm embrace.
A large garden of blooming flowers.
A burning candle.
The sun rising red like a tomato.
A temple on a mountain.
A large lake with pink lotus flowers.
A path in the woods.
A high mountain range with snow-capped peaks.
A quiet evening.
A vibrant sunset.
Taking a deep breath.
Chirping birds.
A beautiful garden path.
A tiger.
An elephant.
A cobra.
Your favorite song.
Waves on the ocean.
The full moon.
Clouds gathering in the sky.
Drizzling rain.
A pink rose.
A yellow sunflower.
A red apple.
A tall evergreen pine tree.
A cluster of purple grapes.
A high mountain range with snow-capped peaks.
A large lake with white lotus flowers.
It's now time to remember your intention.
Repeating it to yourself three times.
It is a fact right now.
Already happening and shining bright in your life.
Bringing your attention to your natural breath.
The natural flow of breath and energy in through the body.
Gently bringing breath and movement back into your body.
Wiggling fingers,
Toes.
Circling ankles and wrists.
Visualizing your body within your space.
Visualizing the surrounding room.
Keeping the eyes closed.
Visualizing the ceiling,
The floor.
Your body lying quietly within this space.
I honor the place in you in which the entire universe dwells.
I honor the place in you which is of love,
Of truth,
Of light,
And of peace.
When you are in that place in you,
And I am in that place in me,
We are one.
We are the same.
Namaste.
