Yoga Nidra: Healing Timelines Of Past, Present, And Future

Welcome to your yoga nidra practice.

Healing all timelines,

Past,

Present and future.

My name is Lara and I'll be your guide today.

Start your practice by allowing yourself to settle into your most comfortable reclined shavasana shape.

Laying onto your back,

Gather any props that you might need for support.

It might feel nice to have a bolster or a pillow underneath the knees or underneath the head or the spine.

Allow your arms and your legs to rest out to the sides gently into their own weight.

Let your eyes relax closed,

Perhaps covering the eyes with an eye mask to block out the light and go a little bit more into your inward space.

As we go through this guided practice,

I'll lead you to deep relaxation.

You can imagine the practice as your body falling asleep while your mind remains awake and aware.

The brainwaves will alter during this practice,

Getting you to a place between sleep and wakefulness.

If you happen to drift off to sleep,

It's okay.

Remember that there is no wrong way to do this practice and there is a part of your subconscious awareness that is always listening.

In this practice,

We'll explore the mystical experience of time.

Some say that time is a human construct,

Something that doesn't actually exist.

It may be hard to wrap your mind around that since we live in a human world and we live by alarm clocks and schedules and keeping things on track.

Some mystics and intuitives describe that all things are happening at once.

Time is layered past,

Present,

And future,

All stacked on top of each other with everything happening at the same time.

It's all interwoven and interconnected.

It's been shown in studies that prayer in the present moment over past events seems to have an influence on positive outcomes,

Even though they've already happened.

Let yourself call in presence to all timelines of your existence.

Be aware of your past,

This current present moment,

And the seemingly unwritten future.

Try to imagine,

If you can,

All of it happening at the same time.

Breathe into this space and vision that is expansive and infinite in this lifetime,

Past lifetimes,

And future ones.

Take a deep breath in and let it all go.

Take a few more breaths like that on your own.

Let every exhale help you to let go a little bit more.

Every exhale allows you to release effort.

And as you release effort,

Give yourself permission to also release roles and titles and responsibilities that you hold.

Kindly ask your mind if it can soften its efforts to be analytical and intelligent.

Ask the part of your mind that thinks and worries if it instead can invite in spaciousness to receive.

As the mind starts to slow down,

Tune in to the beat of your heart.

Your heartbeat animated the start of your life many years ago.

A small bolt of electricity,

The current of a heartbeat,

Signaled that your soul would be coming into the world as we know it.

The heart has been with you through so many seasons.

It is said that the average person has approximately 100,

000 heartbeats in a day.

In a year,

The heart beats approximately 35 million times.

In 10 years,

The heart beats more than 360 million times.

Over a lifetime,

Your heart will likely beat for you more than 2.

5 billion times.

The muscle of the heart has a persistent will to keep you alive.

And the energetic capacity of the heart allows us the opportunity to face all situations with understanding,

Kindness,

Compassion,

Empathy,

Forgiveness,

And the highest vibration of love.

With reverence for this sacred space,

We now begin the practice of yoga nidra.

From this space of your heart,

Awaken your sankalpa.

A sankalpa is a succinct,

Positive statement in the present tense which helps us to call back our truth and remember who we really are.

Your sankalpa can be used to empower you and transform a limiting belief that you hold to one that liberates you.

For example,

If you are challenged by feelings of being overwhelmed and alone,

Your sankalpa may be something like,

I am supported.

Other examples might be,

I am loved,

I am healing,

I am free.

Allow it to come to you easily.

If you've already been working with a sankalpa,

You can continue to use the same one.

Repeat your sankalpa to yourself three times.

As you repeat it to yourself,

Feel it into your bones,

Feel it into the depth of your being.

Allow yourself to feel it and know it as if it's already true.

Remember that at your highest level,

This is your truth.

We'll start the practice of the rotation of consciousness.

As I call out different parts of your body,

Bring your full conscious awareness to that part.

Starting by bringing your conscious awareness to your right thumb.

Let it travel to the index finger,

The middle finger,

The ring finger,

The pinky finger,

The palm of the right hand,

The back of the right hand,

The right wrist,

The right forearm,

The right elbow,

The right upper arm,

The shoulder,

The underarm,

The right side of the ribs,

The right side of the waist,

Down to the right thigh,

The right knee,

The right shin,

The right ankle,

The top of the right foot,

The sole of the right foot,

The right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Pinky toe.

Feel into the whole right side of the body.

Full awareness to the whole right side.

Feel into the whole right side of the body now.

Allow your awareness to travel over to the left thumb,

To the left index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

The palm of the left hand,

The back of the left hand,

The left wrist,

The left forearm,

The left elbow,

The left upper arm,

The left shoulder,

The underarm,

The left side of the ribs,

The left side of the waist,

Down to the left thigh,

The left knee,

The left shin,

The left ankle,

The top of the left foot,

The sole of the left foot,

The left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Pinky toe.

Feel into the whole left side of the body.

Full awareness to the whole left side.

Feel into the whole left side of the body now.

Feel the sole of the right foot,

The sole of the left foot,

Both soles of the feet together.

The back of the right heel,

The back of the left heel,

Both heels together.

The right calf,

The left calf,

Both calves together.

The back of your right knee,

The back of your left knee,

The backs of both knees together.

The right hamstrings,

The left hamstrings,

Both sets of hamstrings together.

The right side of your bottom,

The left side of your bottom,

Both sides together.

Feel into the back of your pelvis,

The lower back,

The mid back,

The upper back.

Feel your right shoulder blade,

Your left shoulder blade,

Both shoulder blades together.

The right arm,

The left arm,

Both arms together.

The back of the neck,

The back of the head,

The crown of the head.

Feel the entire back side of your body.

Feel into the crown of the head,

Your forehead,

The right eyebrow,

The left eyebrow,

Both eyebrows together.

The brow center,

The right eyelid,

The left eyelid,

Both eyelids together.

The right eye,

The left eye,

Both eyes together.

Feel your right nostril,

The left nostril,

Both nostrils together.

The bridge of your nose,

The tip of the nose,

Your whole entire nose.

Feel your upper lip,

Lower lip,

Both lips together.

Feel your chin,

Feel the right side of your jaw,

The left side of your jaw.

Feel both sides of your jaw together.

Feel your whole face.

Feel the right side of your head,

The left side of your head,

Both sides of your head together.

Feel the right side of your throat,

The left side of your throat.

Feel your whole neck and throat together.

Feel your right collarbone,

Your left collarbone,

And both collarbones together.

The right side of your chest,

The left side of your chest,

Both sides of your chest together.

Feel the area of your abdomen,

From your ribs to your belly button.

Feel into the low belly,

The pelvis,

The root of the pelvic floor.

Both thighs,

Both kneecaps,

Both shins,

Both ankles,

The tops of both feet.

Feel your right leg from your toes to your hip.

Feel your left leg from your toes to your hip.

Feel the entirety of both legs together.

Feel your right arm from fingertips to shoulder.

Feel your left arm from fingertips to shoulder.

Feel both arms together.

Keep your arms and legs in awareness and add your entire torso and your head to your feeling experience now.

Feel and sense your entire body.

Feel your whole body.

Full body awareness now.

Traveling beyond the physical limits of your body,

Start to envision yourself as energy and vibration.

As you slow yourself to lose sense of physical form,

Imagine that the outermost layer of your physical body and skin dissolve and merge with the space and everything around you.

The core of your being and the house of your spirit still exist,

But without any physical limitations.

Imagine your energy field and your aura expanding in all directions.

Filling up this space,

Merging with other energies around you and continuing to expand outwards to infinity.

Allow yourself to travel to a form of existence that goes beyond space and time and simply exists as eternal energy.

Imagine your energetic body expanding past the city limits and growing to encompass the state,

The entire continent,

Oceans,

And the entire world.

Continue to grow and expand your energy more and more into the atmosphere and space.

Floating,

Expanding through our solar system and beyond into outer space,

Beyond what we can even comprehend exists.

Your energetic form is timeless and limitless.

Your soul expands infinitely.

You allow yourself to be the origin and destiny of completion.

Hold on to this feeling of infinite expansion while also connecting back to the space of the heart.

Remember the way your heart beats just for you.

As we move to the practice of the cultivation of opposites,

Allow yourself to be open to experiencing the full scope between one feeling or sensation and its opposite.

Allow yourself to travel through this range as it will help you to build resiliency.

You'll train your mind to remember that with any challenging emotion or sensation that arises,

There also and always exists its opposite,

Its remedy or solution.

Recall the energy of darkness.

What does it feel like to be in the dark?

Remember what darkness feels like.

Allow yourself to call in the feeling and experience of light.

What does the energy of light feel like?

What does light feel like in your energy and in your space?

Release the feelings of darkness and light.

Come back to the center of your heart.

Recall a time that felt chaotic.

What does chaotic energy feel like?

What is chaos?

Feel that sensation of busyness and things coming at all directions with no form,

No pattern.

Remember what chaos feels like.

Remember what it feels like to be at peace.

What does peace feel like in your body,

In your energy and in your space?

Release the feelings of chaos and peace.

Connect back to the space of your heart.

Think of what it feels like to be in a very limited reality,

Where you can only see a limited vision,

Perhaps pigeonholed or directed in only a certain way.

What does it feel like to only know a very limited reality?

Call in a feeling of infinite expansion,

To have vision beyond and into eternity.

What does it feel like to hold infinite expansion in your energy and in the capacity of your mind?

After traveling through these spectrums of emotions and sensations,

Come back to a place of wholeness.

Reconnect at the center of your heart.

I'll call forth different visualizations and sensations to bring up in your mind.

Street art painted on the side of a building.

Potted plants growing towards the light.

A picture of yourself at the age of five.

The sound of an acoustic guitar.

A pink blanket.

A picture of yourself as a child.

The smell of freshly baked cookies.

The taste of mint.

The feeling of grass between your toes.

A picture of yourself as a child.

Remember what it feels like when time seems to slow down.

When I was a child,

Recess and lunch breaks spent playing outside felt like hours,

When in reality the breaks were only 15 or 30 minutes.

Some people have noted that right before a significant or traumatic singular event,

Time seems to move slower,

Almost in slow motion,

And the mind witnesses so many things happening clearly in what may be only a matter of seconds.

Allow yourself to revisit a time of your life when it seemed like time stood still.

Or go back to a time and place where you wish you could make time stop.

What was it about these moments that made them seem eternal?

What was it about these moments that made you want to be there forever?

Remember what it feels like when time moves fast.

Usually when we are in an energetic flow or doing something we truly enjoy,

The time passes by so fast.

It's almost fleeting.

There's not enough time in the day.

Our perception of time changes depending on the setting and what we are experiencing in the moment.

If our perception is our reality,

Then we can see how time bends.

It's not always linear.

It's not a simple thing to measure.

Travel back to a time that was challenging.

Perhaps a time where you experienced grief or loss or significant change.

As you witness this part of your experience,

Give yourself all the time you need to heal.

Allow yourself to stop time.

Stop the busyness of life around you.

Give yourself some peace and quiet.

Choose who you allow to be with you,

To comfort you and support you.

To be with you in this bubble of time standing still.

Take your time here so you can step back into the real world when you're ready.

Take as much time here as you need.

Let your imagination unfold a future version of you.

Call in a vision of yourself that is currently a work in progress.

Give yourself some time to watch the ways that you evolve and grow and change.

See yourself blooming into fruition.

The future will arrive with its roadway through ups and downs,

Victories and struggles.

Say a prayer for this future version of you to be guided and strong along the path that is being discovered.

Come back gently into the present moment.

Let your timelines of past and present stack on top of each other,

Interwoven.

Envision all of it happening at once.

Past,

Present,

Future,

Somehow all connected at all times.

Remember through it all,

The way your heart was quietly beating for you the entire time.

Tune into the heartbeat.

The pulse of your life and your heart reawakens your sankalpa.

You remember who you are and the vow you made to yourself.

Repeat your sankalpa to yourself now at least three times.

State it and feel it as absolute truth.

Feel it into every part of yourself.

Feel it and know it as if it's already true.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Start to bring awareness back into the physical existence of your body.

Invite gentle movements back into your fingers and toes.

Maybe grow that movement into your wrists and ankles.

The next time that you take an inhale,

Stretch your arms all the way back.

Find the fullness of your body from end to end.

Gently start to bend your knees up and roll softly to one side into a fetal position.

Grounded here,

Feel the support of earth beneath you.

See if you can still keep the eyes closed as you gently use your hands and arms to press yourself up to your most comfortable meditation seat.

Place your hands together in front of the heart,

Anjali mudra,

Prayer position.

Or you can lay one hand on top of the other at the space of the heart.

On your next inhale,

Sit up a bit taller.

As you exhale,

Gently bow your head in towards your hands as a gesture of gratitude.

Thank yourself for showing up for this nourishing practice.

And perhaps set one more intention for how you'd like to feel for the rest of your day.

Hari Om Tat Sat.

Thank you so much for sharing this practice with me.