Welcome to this Yoga Nidra practice for creative renewal.
As we begin,
Take a few moments to settle in.
Lie down comfortably on your back.
Let your legs extend and your feet fall open.
Arms rest slightly away from the sides of the body,
Palms facing up.
Adjust anything that will help you feel fully supported,
Beneath the head,
Under the knees,
Or along the spine.
Take your time to get totally comfortable.
Once you are settled,
Close your eyes and allow the body to grow still.
In the practice that follows,
You will be guided through layers of rest and awareness,
Beginning with the body,
Then moving into breath,
Imagination,
Insight,
And stillness.
Along the way,
You may sense color,
Texture,
Or subtle imagery.
These are living expressions of your own creative field,
Moving through you in their natural language.
Take a slow,
Steady breath in through the nose.
Exhale softly through the mouth.
Again,
Inhale deeply,
Feeling the chest,
The ribs,
The belly.
Exhale and feel the weight of the body releasing downward.
One more time,
Breathe in gently.
And with the exhale,
Let go of all effort.
Feel the ground beneath you,
The stability beneath the back of the body.
Begin to let awareness draw inward.
The eyes soften behind closed lids.
The tongue releases from the roof of the mouth.
The ears turn away from the outer world and begin to listen within.
Scent,
Taste,
Sound,
Each one retreating towards stillness.
Now,
As you rest in this inward turning,
Bring to mind an intention,
A seed of renewal you wish to plant in this practice.
Let it take the simple form of an I am statement,
As though it were already true.
Perhaps I am connected to the natural flow of creativity,
Or I am restored through rest.
I am grounded in the quiet source within me.
Let your own Sankalpa form in the same way,
Short,
Clear,
And in the present tense.
Feel it settling into the heart,
Not as a goal to reach,
But as a quiet truth already unfolding from within.
Please silently repeat your Sankalpa three times now.
Let go of your Sankalpa and stay with the breath for a few moments.
Feel the subtle balance between stillness and life moving through you.
You are crossing a threshold now,
From outer activity to inner sensing,
From doing to being,
From striving to remembering.
Bring your attention now to the weight of the body resting on the ground.
Let awareness spread through that contact,
Like water slowly soaking into soil.
Begin to sense the body not as shape,
But as sensation,
A field of subtle vibration and presence.
Let awareness sink into that field,
As though you're feeling the body from the inside out.
Sense the heaviness of the heels,
The quiet hum in the soles of the feet,
The gentle pulse within the ankles,
The knees.
Awareness flows upward through the legs,
Noticing texture,
Temperature,
Inner space.
Bring attention to the hips and pelvis,
The basin of support holding you steady.
The lower body grows heavy,
Warm,
And rooted,
As though sinking into the earth itself.
Sense into the deep muscles,
The bones,
And the soft interior stillness beneath them.
Now awareness rises through the belly and lower back.
Feel the slow rhythm of breath moving through this space.
The abdomen softens.
The spine rests in quiet length.
Let attention spread through the chest,
The lungs expanding,
The heart quietly pulsing.
Sense the movement inside the movement,
The subtle wave of breath that touches everything within.
Awareness flows down the arms now,
Shoulders releasing,
Elbows softening,
Wrists and palms open to the air.
Feel the inner aliveness of the hands,
A gentle tingling,
A current of warmth.
Now sense the throat and neck,
The quiet interior space behind the voice.
The back of the head,
The face,
The jaw unclenching,
The eyes soft,
The whole head resting.
Not as an object,
But as an inner space of stillness.
From the crown of the head to the soles of the feet,
Feel the entire body from within.
From the stillness of the body,
Begin to sense a subtle movement,
The quiet pulse of life continuing beneath rest.
Breath flows like a slow tide through the body's landscape.
With each inhale,
A faint shimmer of vitality rising.
With each exhale,
A gentle settling back into stillness.
Notice where the breath touches you,
The lift at the ribs,
The soft movement in the belly,
The expansion behind the heart.
Let awareness follow that natural current without trying to shape or control it.
You may sense warmth,
Vibration,
Or a subtle wave of energy spreading outward.
Each inhale opens a little more space within.
Each exhale releases what is no longer needed.
From this steady current,
A gentle warmth begins to gather at the center of the chest,
As though the breath itself is kindling a soft inner fire.
This warmth grows naturally,
Without control or intention,
A radiance rising from the still ground of being.
With each inhale,
That inner light brightens.
With each exhale,
It expands.
Now,
As you rest in this warmth,
Images may begin to flicker across the mind's inner screen,
Brief,
Luminous impressions rising and dissolving.
Let them come in their own rhythm,
A candle flame,
The morning sun,
A flower blossoming,
A flower blossoming,
A flower blossoming,
An open field after the rain,
The face of someone you love,
An empty canvas alive with possibility,
The glow of coals in darkness,
A shooting star,
A shooting star,
A shooting star,
Moonlight reflecting on still water,
A hallway with a door at the end.
Bring the door more clearly into focus.
Notice its shape,
Its color,
And what it's made of.
When you're ready,
Reach out and take hold of the handle.
Feel its texture,
Its temperature.
Now,
Slowly open the door and step through.
You are now in the space of your imagination where images may begin to form on their own.
Let the air shift,
Let your senses open.
Perhaps a landscape,
A figure,
Or a color take shape.
Don't try to produce it.
Simply allow it to appear.
Observe whatever comes as though you're watching a dream unfold while awake.
Stay with it quietly.
Sense how it feels rather than what it means.
And if nothing appears,
That too is perfect.
Simply rest in the luminous space itself.
Now bring a gentle close to the scene that you're in,
Dissolving back into the warmth.
Feel the radiance returning through the body,
Heart,
Spine,
Hands,
And feet.
Now allow the light to grow softer,
Wider.
Let it expand beyond the boundaries of the body until there is no clear edge where you end and space begins.
Let the layers of the self begin to dissolve,
The body's shape,
The voice that names you,
The story you've been carrying.
Let go of your personality,
Your history.
Your armor of doing and defending falls away.
You are no longer separate from the light you've been seeking.
Rest here a little longer in the radiance of your own being.
Let the light that fills you begin to settle now,
Resting everywhere inside and around you.
Return to the intention you placed at the beginning of the practice,
Your Sankalpa,
The quiet truth of renewal that lives in your heart.
Let it echo through you silently three times and then release it into trust.
Take a slow breath in through the nose,
Exhale softly through the mouth.
Bring a little movement to the fingers and toes,
A gentle rolling of the wrists and ankles.
There's no rush to move.
You're not leaving this experience,
You're bringing it with you.
It lives in you now,
Woven into your breath,
Your perception,
And your touch.
When you feel ready,
Gently open your eyes.
Let light enter slowly.
See the shapes and colors of the room as though the world itself is shining from the same source that shines within you.
This is the light of awareness alive in everything you touch.
Carry it with you.
Let it guide what you create next.
