Shedding Expectations Yoga Nidra (Audio Only)

Hello and welcome.

My name is Kayla Raku.

Welcome to this yoga nidra to return you back to the pure essence of who you are.

Allow yourself to begin to settle into a reclined position.

Lying down on your back with the support of blankets,

Pillows,

And anything that will allow you to find a state of deep rest.

Once you've found your position,

Allow your eyes to softly close down.

Invite your body to begin to gently release into the surface beneath you as your feet fall away from each other.

Your arms rest beside the body and you find a deep breath that releases any remaining holding.

Imagine you find yourself lying on the bare earth.

Notice what is beneath you.

Have you laid yourself on a grassy bed?

Or perhaps it is a surface of sun-warmed rocks that forms beneath you.

Or maybe it's a dusty,

Welcoming bed of dry earth that has become your resting spot.

Surrender into this surface.

Feeling yourself connected into the earth as she holds you here.

Softly sinking deeper into her warm and welcoming embrace.

Inside you,

You begin to hear the faint bubbling of a stream flowing past.

Connecting to the elements as they support and surround you.

Earth as your bed.

The sweet sound of water as it flows.

And the soft touch of the fresh air as it caresses your skin.

You are safe.

You are held.

You are supported.

Feel the back of your heart as it rests on the soil,

Being held by Mother Earth herself.

Allow your awareness to begin to seep into the back of your heart as the flowing stream begins to make its way into the very depths of your heart.

Through the earth,

Through each layer of your skin,

Through your bones,

Until it begins to stream into your heart space.

Surrounding this space.

This space where the truest version of you resides.

Where all of you is welcome.

Where all of you is accepted.

Where all of you is enough.

This is where the practice of yoga nidra begins.

From this space,

Listen out for your sankalpa.

Your sankalpa represents your heart's deepest desire and comes in the form of a personal statement in present tense.

It could be,

I am calm.

I am peaceful.

Or,

I am rested.

If you are not working with sankalpa,

Allow yourself to listen out for an intention from your heart.

Now repeat your sankalpa or intention three times.

Allow it to fill up your heart,

Gently folding itself within its depths.

Notice as the stream that is still surrounding and flowing through your heart space begins to make its way up towards your brow center.

Allow it to pool into this space.

As we begin to travel through the body,

Feel as this stream of smooth,

Flowing water makes its way from one point to the next.

Feel the water pooling in the brow center.

And feel as the stream begins to travel to the hollow of the throat.

The right shoulder joint,

Right elbow joint,

Right wrist joint,

Tip of the right thumb,

Tip of the right index finger,

Tip of the middle finger,

And tip of the ring finger,

Tip of the pinky finger.

Back through the center of the wrist,

The right elbow,

Right shoulder,

And back into the hollow of the throat.

The stream travels to the left shoulder joint,

Left elbow joint,

Left wrist joint,

To the tip of the left thumb,

Tip of the left index finger,

Tip of the middle finger,

Tip of the ring finger,

And tip of the left pinky finger.

Center of the left wrist,

Center of the left elbow,

The left shoulder,

And back to the hollow of the throat.

The stream moves down into the center of the chest,

To the right side of the chest,

And back to center,

To the left side of the chest,

And into the center of the heart space.

The stream flows into the solar plexus just below the bottom ribs,

Into the navel center just below the belly button,

Over into the right hip joint,

Right knee joint,

Right ankle joint,

Right big toe,

Tip of the second toe,

Tip of the third toe,

Tip of the fourth toe,

And tip of the fifth toe,

To the center of the right ankle,

Center of the right knee,

To the right hip,

Back into the navel center below the belly button.

It flows over to the left hip,

Left knee joint,

Left ankle joint,

Into the left big toe,

Tip of the second toe,

Tip of the third toe,

Tip of the fourth toe,

And tip of the fifth toe,

The left ankle,

Left knee,

Left hip,

The navel center just below the belly button,

Up into the solar plexus,

The heart space,

The hollow of the throat,

And back into the brow center.

Now feel this stream flowing through your whole body,

Your whole body as one,

Your whole body.

Notice as this stream within begins to make its way to the base of your spine.

Imagine your spine beginning to form a hollow tube,

Allowing the flowing water to start to flow,

Traveling from the base of the spine all the way up to the crown of the head.

And once it reaches the crown of the head,

It begins to flow back down to the base of the spine.

Follow this journey of water up and back down your spine.

As the stream continues to journey up and down the length of your spine,

From base to crown and crown to base,

You may begin to become aware of each wheel of energy,

Each chakra that it passes through,

Traveling from the root chakra at the base of the spine through the sacral,

The solar plexus,

The heart,

Throat,

Third eye,

And crown,

And back down again,

Cleansing,

Flowing,

Igniting.

The next time the stream flows into the heart space,

Allow it to pause there,

Creating a pool of crystal clear cleansing water.

What does this pool feel like?

How does it feel to rest with the water in your heart?

Be present with your heart,

Holding space for your own heart as it holds you here.

It is here we will play with pairs of opposites.

What does it feel like to be weighted down?

Allow this feeling to permeate your body,

Connecting to the sense of being weighted down.

And then release that feeling.

And as you release the weight,

Allow the feeling of complete lightness to begin to enter your body.

How does this feel?

And then let it go.

As you release that feeling,

Begin to return your awareness back into your heart space.

Now tap into the awareness of how it feels to be lost.

And let that go.

Now,

How does it feel to be found?

And let that go as you come back to the heart.

Feel into what it's like to be broken into a hundred different pieces.

And then notice as those pieces begin to find each other.

One piece at a time,

They begin to connect back together.

You begin to connect back together until all the pieces have found their place and you become whole.

Feel this wholeness.

Feel whole.

And now begin to notice that you are standing in a forest.

Feel the earth beneath your feet.

What is its texture?

You look down at your body and notice that you are covered in mud.

Your hands,

Arms,

Feet,

Legs,

Torso,

Face,

All covered in layers upon layers of thick,

Baked soil,

Dry,

Cracking,

Heavy.

Your ears begin to pick up the sound of the stream bubbling and flowing beside you.

You feel called to follow this stream.

As you walk along,

What can you see?

What can you hear close by,

Farther away in the distance?

Are there any smells that begin to enter your awareness?

The smells of the forest.

As you continue walking,

You notice the stream has begun to widen and the water has formed a stronger current.

And then just in front of you,

You see the most beautiful waterfall appear as if out of nowhere.

Make your way towards the waterfall.

Then you step beneath its flow,

Allowing the water to cascade down across your body.

Feel it as it beats down upon your skin.

As you pass through to the other side,

You look down to see one layer of mud has been washed off of your body.

You look up and allow your eyes to adjust and notice you're standing at the entrance of a cave.

You feel a pull from deep inside the cave,

Welcoming,

Inviting you to journey inside.

As your eyes adjust further to the dim hue,

You start to make your way into the cave.

The sound of the waterfall behind you begins to fade with each step forward.

And then you notice another sound of rushing water coming from up ahead.

As you continue on,

You become aware that there is an illuminated wall of water blocking your path.

Rather than turn back,

You choose to step beneath its flow and through to the other side.

Feel the cleansing water pass across your skin.

And once on the other side,

You look down to see that another few layers of mud have washed away from your body.

So you travel on further into the cave as it calls you forward.

And then again,

You come upon another wall of water blocking your path.

As you pass beneath it,

You notice that this last wall of water has washed all of the mud away and you are left with just your bare skin,

Smooth,

Clean,

Luminescent.

As your gaze lifts,

You become aware that you are standing just outside of a large column of light that streams through an opening in the roof of the cave.

Step into the light.

As you cross the threshold into the light,

You begin to feel its warmth touch your skin,

Breathing you in its healing,

Warm,

Loving embrace.

Feel as the light begins to fill your body,

Seeping in through your pores,

Permeating each layer of your skin,

Filling your whole body until it reaches and settles within your heart.

This space where your truest self resides.

This space where you allow all layers of expectation to melt away until you find nothing but you,

The wholehearted version of you.

Allow yourself to rest here,

Bathed in the healing,

Warm,

Welcoming light of your own heart.

Let's do this.

.

.

.

In the space of love and pure acceptance,

Allow your sankalpa or intention to resurface.

Hear it repeat itself within your heart three times.

Feel it.

Feel your awareness begin to expand out into your torso.

Feel it move down each leg to the tips of the toes.

Down each arm to the tips of the fingers.

Feel it flood up through the neck into the face to the top of the head.

And now bring your awareness to your next breath,

Allowing your breath to gently start to deepen.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Start to feel movement begin to re-enter the body.

Begin slowly at first as you move into the fingers and toes.

Feeling the movement grow and expand into a big stretch before you roll gently onto your side into the fetal position.

And pause here,

Held by Mother Earth beneath you.

As the invitation arises to set an intention for the rest of your day and week ahead,

Listen out for it now.

Gently begin to press yourself up into a seated position and allow your eyes to remain closed.

Draw your hands together at the heart space as you bow in,

Bowing down to your heart,

To your true essence.

Hariyam Tatsat,

Thank you.