Yoga Nidra: Healing Light

Welcome to Yoga Nidra.

Please make yourself as comfortable as possible.

Lie down,

Place a pillow underneath your knees and cover yourself with a blanket.

Allow your body to find a position of ease.

Yoga Nidra is an effortless practice.

There is no way to do this wrong,

And it's okay if you drift off.

As your body begins to settle,

Become aware of your natural breath,

The one that happens with no conscious thought or direction.

Allow its rhythmic sway to lull you into a sense of stillness and peace.

Notice how easy it is to take air in,

And how good it feels to release it back out.

With every breath in,

Feel how your body expands.

With every breath out,

Your body relaxes.

Let your breath continue to flow however feels natural and easy.

Feel the solid earth beneath you receive and support your body.

Soften any places of resistance or holding in your body.

Allow yourself to release and relax so that you can receive all the benefits of your practice.

To begin the practice of Yoga Nidra,

We turn our attention to Sankalpa.

Your Sankalpa is your heart's truest longing or deepest desire.

You may have a Sankalpa that you regularly use in your Yoga Nidra practice,

And if so,

Use that one today.

If you've never created a Sankalpa before,

You can do so now.

Bring your awareness to your heart space,

And ask yourself the question,

What is my heart's deepest desire?

Another way to phrase this is,

What do I most need to hear?

There is no right or wrong answer here.

Just consider what feels most natural or obvious to you right now.

From this longing or desire,

Create a positive affirmation.

Something like,

I am fully at peace,

Or I am loved completely and I love completely.

Repeat your Sankalpa to yourself three times,

Imagining that it is already true.

Now,

Tuck your Sankalpa away in your heart.

You'll come back to it at the end of your practice.

For now,

Bring your awareness into your physical body.

I'll begin to direct your attention around your body to various parts.

Simply feel or sense,

Visualize this part of your body.

And if that doesn't come naturally to you,

You might just repeat the name of the body part in your mind.

There's no right or wrong way to experience this.

We'll begin with the parts of the body that are touching the earth beneath you.

Feel the back of your head on the earth,

Cradled and secure.

Feel the back of your right shoulder.

Right upper arm.

Right lower arm.

Back of the right hand.

The whole backside of the right arm resting on the earth.

The back of the left shoulder resting on the earth.

Back of the left upper arm.

Left lower arm.

Back of the left hand.

The whole backside of the left arm resting on the earth.

Feel your right shoulder blade.

Left shoulder blade.

Your whole back on the earth.

Your right buttock.

Left buttock.

Back of the right thigh.

Back of the left thigh.

Back of the right lower leg.

Back of the left lower leg.

Right heel on the earth.

Left heel on the earth.

The whole backside of the body on the earth.

Sense the whole backside of the body cradled and resting on the earth.

Notice the front parts of the body that are facing the heavens.

Sense your whole front side bathing in the light of the heavens.

The top of your right foot.

Top of your left foot.

Front of the right lower leg.

Front of the left lower leg.

Front of the right thigh.

Front of the left thigh.

Front of the right hip.

Front of the left hip.

The lower abdomen.

Upper abdomen.

The chest.

Your heart.

Right collarbone.

Left collarbone.

Right upper arm.

Left upper arm.

Right forearm facing up toward the heavens.

Left forearm facing up toward the heavens.

The palm of the right hand.

The palm of the left hand.

The front side of both arms.

Your throat.

Chin.

Nose.

Right cheek.

Left cheek.

Forehead.

Forehead.

Center of the forehead.

See the whole front side of your body bathing in light from the heavens.

Sense the whole back side of your body cradled by the earth.

Feel the whole body now.

The whole body in the place where heaven and earth meet.

Your whole body.

All at once.

Earth and heaven.

Gently place your attention on your natural breath.

Notice it coming and going easily through your nose.

Now imagine or feel that you can breathe up to the third eye center.

The space between your eyes.

As you inhale through your nose,

Feel as though you're drawing the breath up to touch the third eye.

And as you exhale,

Follow the breath from the third eye back out through the nose.

Again,

Inhale through the nose.

Feel as though you're touching the back of the third eye.

Pause a moment.

And follow the breath out from the third eye through the nose.

Again,

Inhale effortlessly up through the nose to the third eye.

Pause a moment.

Exhale down from the third eye back out through the nose.

Continue in this way.

Drawing your breath up and in.

Pausing at the top.

And releasing.

Now begin to visualize a triangle with the breath.

Breathe in the same way but with all three parts of the breath equal in length like this.

Inhale through the nose up to the third eye for 3,

2,

1.

Pause and hold for 3,

2,

1.

Release the breath out through the nose for 3,

2,

1.

Continue on your own.

Release the triangle breathing and allow your breath to fall back into its natural rhythm.

Begin to rest your attention on the space in front of your closed eyelids.

As if you have your own personal movie screen in front of your face.

This is the place where your imagination and your dreams can come to life before your eyes.

In this space,

You have creative control over just what you imagine.

I'll begin to describe a feeling and as you hear it,

Try to imagine it vividly.

Bring it to life with color and texture and sound and feeling.

Allow yourself to welcome a complete experience.

In this space in front of your closed eyes,

Visualize complete darkness.

The total absence of light.

See,

Feel,

And fully experience total darkness.

Dark like a moonless night.

Dark like black ink in an inkwell.

Dark like a black raven flying.

The experience of absolute darkness.

Let that go and imagine a very bright light.

No shadow anywhere,

Only bright light.

Feel and experience bright light.

Bright like the sun high in the sky.

Bright like the flames of a blazing fire.

The experience of bright light.

Let complete brightness go and imagine both very deep darkness and very bright light together.

Darkness where you meet inner illumination and light where you find divine inspiration.

See and feel a very bright light and a deep darkness simultaneously.

Try to sense darkness and lightness together.

Let the feeling of darkness and lightness fade away.

And as I name the following images,

Experience them as vividly and fully as you can.

And then move on to the next.

Let your imagination be effortless.

Imagine the sun shining through a cloud.

Warm water flowing through your hands.

Dust blowing in the air around you.

A large triangle.

A candle flame.

A water wheel turning.

A kite lifting into the sky.

A wooden ladder.

A great ship sailing on the sea.

A white crystal glowing.

Imagine each of these again.

The sun shining through a cloud.

Warm water flowing through your hands.

Dust blowing.

A large triangle.

A candle flame.

A water wheel turning.

A kite in the air.

A wooden ladder.

A great ship sailing.

A white crystal glowing.

Let these objects go and watch the blank screen behind your closed eyes.

Imagine now being surrounded by the sweltering sands of the Sahara Desert as the evening sun shines.

You are sitting atop a camel,

Plodding slowly through the dunes.

You feel the hot wind blow across your face and neck.

All around you,

Miles of sand in many shades of tan stretch out as if into infinity.

Your eyes squint to trace the horizon line wavering in the heat.

In the distance,

You see three magnificent stone pyramid peaks,

Standing against the orange and purple sunset sky.

One of the greatest sums of the human spirit,

These grand pyramid shapes shimmer in the distance,

Begging you to look up close.

You are filled with awe by the mystery and magnificence of ages past.

A sense of timelessness fills the air,

Past,

Future,

And present,

All one without distinction as you travel toward one of the grand pyramids.

Before long,

You reach the pyramid's entrance and climb down from the camel.

Light puffs of dust rise as you plant your feet into the hot sand.

The sun is dipping low against the horizon now.

It is time to step inside.

You step through the door into a shadowy triangular passageway stretching far ahead.

Tiny golden lights dance at the tip of beeswax candles that are set within the walls.

You inhale their sweet honey scent as you continue inward down the narrow hallway.

You arrive at the center of the pyramid,

Where you encounter a room glowing brightly from within.

In the middle of the room is a square cushion surrounded by hundreds of translucent crystal pyramids.

You enter amazed at the sight of all four walls so luminescent.

High above you see a small opening into the night sky at the apex of the pyramid.

You have traveled many days to arrive for just this moment.

You take your seat on the square cushion and enjoy a long breath in and release a slow breath out.

The small translucent crystal pyramids around you shine brightly and you take one into your hand to look at it more closely.

You lift it above your head and align its peak with the peak of the pyramid.

You look deeply into the crystal and see the stars and moon shine through it.

Now let the crystal pyramid rest solidly in your palm with your hands in your lap,

Settled in and ready to receive.

You see a pure white light beginning to stream down from the heavens from the opening at the apex of the pyramid.

As if divine energy fills the walls around you,

They become the purest white.

Pure white light is all around you.

Divine light surrounding you.

Feel this sacred white light holding you safe in an embrace of divine love.

See the surface of your skin glowing with its light.

Feel how it pools at the crown of your head.

Invite it to stream inward,

Cascading beneath your skull,

Into your brain and down your spine.

Sense your entire spine as a stream of loving divine light.

White light flowing into your right arm and left arm.

Pure white light moving down through your right leg and left leg.

Feel the energy flow everywhere through you.

Pure white divine light.

Guide this light to wherever you might need it.

You might ask it to drain any remaining tension held somewhere in your body.

Allow it to cleanse and clear even the most subtle parts of you.

Washing away anxieties and fear.

See this divine light filling your mind.

Let it brighten your mind from the inside out.

Watch as it cleans the mirror of the mind.

Clearing away any memories you would like to let go of.

Feel this light enter and surround your heart space.

Giving your heart a warm embrace.

Freeing up any sorrows that are stuck here.

Recognize the feeling of divine light healing you from above.

And the sacred earth holding you from below.

Feel how the healing divine energy flows through every part of you.

Refreshing and rejuvenating your entire body,

Mind and spirit.

Rest here a moment and allow yourself to experience this fully.

Feeling how deeply you are made of divine light and love.

Become aware again of the divine and loving light.

Surrounding your body from the outside in and the inside out.

Draw this light back up to the crown of your head.

Visualize this pure bright white light at the crown of your head.

Focus entirely on this light at the crown of your head.

Remember your Sankalpa,

Your heart's truest desire,

And repeat it three times to yourself.

Notice the gentle rise and fall of your breath.

Sense how natural and effortless it is to allow your body to rest in this state.

If you would like to remain in this state longer or to drift off into sleep,

You will continue to follow the natural rise and fall of your breath.

Only if you are ready to awaken and move on,

You will begin to sense the ground underneath you.

Sense your body's contact with the surface that you are resting on.

Become aware of your fingers and your toes.

Invite some small movement into your body by wiggling your toes and touching each fingertip to your thumb.

Slowly and gently creating ever so slightly larger movements to naturally and easily awaken your body.

Take a deep breath in and an easy sigh out.

Thank you for joining me today for the practice of Yoga Nidra.

Each time you complete this practice,

You'll find that it becomes even more effortless and you're able to drop more quickly into this state of peace and relaxation.

Please join me again soon.