Yoga Nidrā For The Highest Self

Welcome to your practice of yoga nidra.

As your body takes the shape of shavasana corpse pose,

Adjust your physical form.

Maybe moving your tailbone away from your face or shoulder blades under the body.

Make sure your body feels supported.

So if you like any props under the body or on top of the body,

Take your time to get supremely comfortable.

Bring your arms alongside body,

Widening the limbs,

Palms up,

Toes fall open and please close your eyes.

Let your body become still.

Begin to deepen your breath by drawing the inhale from toe tips rising up,

Fill the lower belly,

Fingertips to crown.

Exhale out of the mouth and trace the same pathway down.

Allow tension to exit out of the fingers,

Toes downward to the earth.

Then inhale,

Slow the breath,

Scanning awareness breath through the body.

When you exhale,

Feel the outward movement of tension,

Holding in all thoughts out of fingers and toes.

A few more on your own please.

When you exhale out of the mouth,

Let the bones drop and settle.

One more breath.

And at the bottom of your next exhale,

Give your body to the floor completely.

Body settling into the floor.

As your breath begins to soften,

Allow your mind to relax into what is.

Welcoming this moment,

Welcoming this experience.

Witness the natural rise and fall of the breath.

Watch the coming and goings of the thoughts.

Now begin to bring your attention to the space in between the breaths.

You don't have to change the breath.

Just watch the natural pause from the top of the inhale to the exhale.

Watch the natural pause at the bottom of the exhale before it turns into the inhale.

Becoming aware of that space in between the breaths begins to soften your whole body You may find yourself completely awake.

You may fall asleep or transverse into a space in between awake and asleep.

However,

Your practice unfolds is perfect.

Now dissolve all resistance,

Expectations and assumptions.

Let any tension,

Stress or holding release to the earth completely.

Feel your heartbeat.

You may feel a welcome feeling.

Notice the space in between the hearts pulses.

With your mind in your heart,

Imagine your heart is a vision for your highest self and your life.

With no limitation,

What does your heart desire?

See yourself in the scene.

What sparks the flame of your heart or your soul?

See yourself living your best self in life.

Create an intention phrased in the present tense.

Simple,

Concise,

Positive statement.

If you have any self-defeating patterns or habits that are holding you back that you want to be free from,

You can make that your intention.

Repeat your intention,

Your Samkalpa,

Silently to yourself three times.

Seeing yourself have it now.

And if you are unclear on your intention,

Enjoy the silence if nothing arises.

Allow your intention to go to the deepest levels of recognition with no hesitation.

Follow my guidance and receive my words energetically and non-mentally.

Release the trapped energy as your awareness moves from part to part through the body.

Eyebrow center,

See a point of light there like starlight.

Tip of tongue.

Hollow throat.

Point of light.

Right shoulder.

Elbow.

Wrist.

Tip of right thumb.

Tip of index finger,

Starlight.

Tip of middle finger.

Tip of ring finger.

Tip of pinky finger.

Release all doing.

Right wrist.

Elbow.

Shoulder.

Hollow throat,

Point of light.

Left shoulder.

Elbow.

Wrist.

Tip of left thumb.

Tip of index finger.

Tip of middle finger,

Starlight.

Tip of ring finger.

Tip of pinky finger.

Left wrist.

Elbow.

Shoulder.

Hollow throat.

Center of chest.

Right side chest.

Center of chest.

Left side chest.

Center of chest,

Starlight.

Navel point,

Release all doing.

Right hip.

Knee.

Ankle.

Tip of right big toe.

Tip of second toe.

Tip of third toe.

Tip of fourth toe.

Tip of pinky toe,

Point of light.

Right ankle,

Be effortless.

Knee.

Hip.

Pelvic floor.

Left hip,

Starlight.

Knee.

Tip of left big toe.

Tip of second toe.

Tip of third toe.

Tip of fourth toe.

Tip of pinky toe.

Left ankle.

Knee.

Hip.

Pelvic floor.

Space between the ribs.

Center of chest.

Eyebrow center.

Top of hat.

Whole body filled with starlight.

Whole body at ease.

Release all effort.

Infinite awareness.

Moving through.

The whole body.

The whole body.

Bring your attention to the eyebrow center.

And without changing the breath,

We'll practice mental nadi shodhana,

Alternate nostril breathing.

Inhale,

Move through the left nostril to the eyebrow center.

Exhale,

Eyebrow center through right nostril.

Inhale,

Right nostril to eyebrow center.

Exhale,

Eyebrow center through left.

Every time the breath moves in and out of the nostrils,

It touches the light at the eyebrow center.

Inhale,

Left to eyebrow center.

Exhale,

Third eye out of right.

Inhale,

Right to third eye.

Exhale,

Third eye out of left.

Continue.

Now release the breath.

Bring your attention to the eyebrow center.

Recognize your deep connection to the original source of life force.

The life energy that sustains your life and is an extension of your soul.

Remain effortless and quietly watch the space at the eyebrow center,

Just behind the forehead.

Like watching a screen.

Witness the darkness without trying.

See yourself standing in a dense forest full of trees.

All you can see is tiny spaces of light in between the trunks of the trees shining on the earth.

As you walk forward,

You are swerving in between tree trunks ducking under branches and leaves.

Being pulled by something at the center of the forest like a magnet.

Inside is an opening,

A circle of rocks enclosed within the dense trees.

You begin to smell smoke and see a bellow of smoke.

A huge forest fire before your eyes.

You feel the fire inside the barren circle of rocks and drop to your knees.

And as you watch the flames engulfing the trees,

You put your head in your hands.

As you hear the fire,

You feel the fire,

The air,

The fire.

You feel the fire as it consumes the trees around you.

You feel as if your system is part of the root system of trees.

You feel the forest fire continue to grow until they are around you.

You close your eyes and all of a sudden you are enclosed in this bellowing red mist like a thick red fog.

And in this mist,

You're searching for wisdom from your highest self.

In this mist,

You will receive guidance or discover the answer to an important question,

Any question.

The red mist symbolizes the entry into the cave of the heart.

In the cave of the heart,

The mist begins to clear,

Revealing an illuminated image,

Symbol,

Person or thing.

Feel its significance and power.

What is this illuminated image or symbol?

What does it mean?

What is it for?

Trust and listen.

As you witness the symbol at the cave of the heart,

Ask what is your passion?

What is your heart's purpose?

The answer has come from your highest self.

Receive whatever you need while you rest in the cave of the heart.

Let your mind merge and melt into the presence and enter the sanctuary of silence.

Return to the heart's expansive sweet space and bring your intention,

Your sankalpa,

Back into your awareness again.

Change nothing.

Repeat the same intention,

Same words,

Same feeling as you did at the beginning of practice three times.

Every time you find yourself in reaction,

You are empowered to replace it with your intention.

Have faith and trust that the intention is heard and acted upon by the higher power of the source within you.

And feeling your body lying on the floor.

Allow your awareness to begin to rise to the surface.

Senses slowly externalize and receiving this blessing and offering it,

May all beings everywhere in all realms and dimensions be happy and free.

Senses slowly externalize and receiving this blessing and offering it,

May all beings everywhere in all realms and dimensions be happy and free.

Peace,

Peace,

Peace.

Allow your breath to slowly begin to deepen.

There's no rush.

As your breath deepens,

You begin to awaken the body flow,

So it might be with the wiggle of a finger or toe.

It might be with a stretch,

Reaching the arms overhead or hugging the knees into the chest.

And when you're ready,

We'll meet in a fetal position to the right.

And then you can slowly make your way up to seated.

We'll practice palming.

So take your time.

You'll start to rub your hands together when you sit up,

Creating warmth and energy in your hands and just feeling the nourishment of your touch.

Breathing in.

And then you can cup the eyes as you exhale,

Welcoming the world into your eyes and then breathing in,

Feeling the nourishment of your touch.

Exhale.

And let's palm again,

So rub the hands again and you can either cup the eyes again or bring the palms to the soles of the feet and ground your energy.

Take a full breath in.

Feel the warmth of your touch.

Exhale.

And then right hand to heart,

Eagle mudra,

Left hand on top,

Cross the right thumb over and spread the fingers as the heart wings.

As we'll chant along om and then chan,

Si,

Chan,

Si,

Chan,

Si,

Hi,

Peace,

Peace,

Peace.

Exhale.

Breathe in.

Chant,

Si,

Hi,

Chan,

Si,

Hi,

Chan,

Si,

Hi.

Now we'll do the Arabic equivalent of om,

It's hu,

Hu.

Breathe in.

And now your next exhale,

Do an audible whisper of hu and drop into the heart.

We close by celebrating the flow that guides you,

Your heart,

Your life,

Your spirit,

Your practice,

May you allow it to guide you and may you follow it.

And we say,

Jayo flow,

Jayo flow and honoring these Eastern traditions,

The sacred space shared in the collective consciousness,

We say namaste.

Thank you.