Before we begin,
I'd like to invite you to take a slow gentle breath.
And simply arrive.
Today's Yoga Nidra is inspired by Avidya,
The first of the five glaciers described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
Avidya is often translated as ignorance,
But it is more accurately understood as misperception.
The tendency to see life through the filters of our conditioning,
Our assumptions,
And our fears,
Rather than as it truly is.
This practice is not about learning something new or becoming something different.
It is an invitation to gently set aside,
For the little while,
The stories,
Judgments,
And expectations that so often shape the way we experience ourselves and the world.
As the body relaxes and the mind becomes quiet.
You may begin to notice a deeper clarity emerging.
Not because anything has changed,
But because you are seeing with greater openness,
With greater awareness.
For the next little while,
There is nowhere to go,
Nothing to achieve and nothing to fix.
Simply allow yourself to rest,
To observe,
And to be present with each unfolding moment.
So let's get ready for Yoga Nidra.
Preferably lie down in Shavasana,
Which is the dead man's pose,
Also known as the corpse pose.
And allow your body to settle.
Gently adjusting until you feel supported.
Get yourself comfortable.
Get yourself to be at ease.
Allow the legs to fall open.
Your arms slightly away from the body with your palms facing upward.
And if you wish you could also do this practice sitting down.
Keeping your spine upright.
Your hands on your thighs or your knees with your palms facing upward.
Just make sure you're comfortable.
And now gently allow the eyes to close.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in.
And exhale softly.
One more time.
Inhale.
And exhale.
And one more time,
Inhale deeply.
And the leaves.
Now allow the bread to return to its natural rhythm.
Effortless.
Uncontrolled.
Feel the body being held by the surface beneath you.
There is nothing to hold up.
Nothing to carry.
And in this moment you begin to arrive.
Bring your awareness to your natural breath.
Not changing it.
Just observing.
Notice the gentle rise.
And fall.
The Inhale and exhale.
And Notice.
The breath is happening.
And you are aware of it.
There is breathing and there is awareness of breathing.
Now gently introduce a quiet intention.
A Sankalpa,
A dissolve.
Not something you need to force,
But something that feels true.
Or something that you are willing to grow into.
You may choose.
I am willing to see clearly.
Or I rest as awareness.
Whatever is your Sankalpa,
Repeat it softly,
Mentally.
Three times.
Let it land.
Now we begin the rotation of awareness,
Moving attention through the body.
Not thinking.
Just feeling.
We start with the right side.
The right hand thumb.
Index Fingal Middle finger Ring finger.
Littlefinger Palm of the hand.
Back of the hand.
List.
For the arm Elbow Apple arm.
Shoulder.
I'm bit.
Right Waste.
Right hip.
Tie.
Me.
Gov.
Ankle.
Heal Soul of the foot.
Top of the foot.
Big Dough?
Second tool.
Third,
Forward.
FIFTH Now the left side.
Left Hand Thumb Index Fingal Middle finger.
Ringfingal Littlefinger bomb Back of the hand.
Rest.
For the arm.
Elbow Apple arm.
Shoulder.
I'm bit.
Left waist.
Left Hip.
Hi.
Knee Gov.
Ankle.
Heal Soul.
Top of the foot.
Big Doe.
Second,
THIRD forward.
Fifth.
Now the backside of the body.
Right shoulder blade.
Left Shoulder Blade Appleback.
Middle back.
Lower back.
Buttocks,
Now the front side of the body.
The abdomen.
Navel Chess.
Right side of the chest.
Left side of the chest.
Collarbone Drought.
The chin.
Lower lip.
Upper lip.
Right cheek.
Left cheek.
Nose,
Tip of the nose.
Right Eye Left eye.
The eyebrows,
The space between the eyebrows.
The forehead.
The Temples The top of the head.
The back of the head.
Now feel the whole body as one field.
The entire body.
Lying here.
And notice.
The body is being felt.
And you are aware of it.
Bring awareness back to the breath.
Feel the breath moving.
Thumbnail!
To that road.
And from the throat back to the navel.
Like a gentle wave.
A and down.
Now imagine the breath flowing.
From the eyebrow center to the back of the head.
And back again.
From the eyebrow center to the back of the head.
And back again.
A soft cotton.
Effortless.
And notice even this movement is being observed.
Now bring awareness to clarity.
A moment in your life when things felt clear.
Bring Awareness to Clarity.
Now shift to confusion.
A moment of not knowing.
A moment when things felt unclear or confusing.
Move between the two.
Cladity.
Confusion.
Now bring awareness to certainty.
A moment in your life where you felt certain,
Where you felt sure.
And now shift to down.
A moment in your life when you doubted or you were doubtful.
Now bring your awareness to ease.
A moment in your life when you had an experience of ease.
And now switch to discomfort.
A moment in your life where you experienced discomfort.
Notice.
Both experiences arise.
And boss.
And you are the one who is aware of both.
Now bring your awareness to the inner space behind the forehead.
The inner space behind the forehead,
The Chid Akasha.
Avast!
Open.
Inner Sky.
Now imagine you are standing at the edge of a quiet landscape.
Just before dawn.
Everything is still.
But Coward!
In a soft,
Dense mist.
You can see shapes.
You can sense shapes.
Forms.
But nothing is clear.
There is a tree perhaps or is it something else?
A bog?
But you cannot quite see where it leads.
And notice.
How the mind begins to fill in the gaps.
Creating meaning.
Projecting story.
This is avidya.
Not darkness but miss seeing.
Now begin to walk slowly.
Into this mesh.
Step by step.
No rush.
As you move forward.
Notice how uncertainty feels in the body.
Perhaps a subtle tension.
A-holding A need?
To know.
And the air.
You continue.
Now in the distance,
A shape appears.
Low to the ground.
Go.
Still.
And the mind whispers.
Be careful.
It could be dangerous.
Notice what arises.
A tightening.
A hesitation.
A story forming.
You stop.
Watching.
.
.
From a distance.
And now from behind you.
A soft light begins to emerge.
Not sudden.
Not harsh.
Just a quiet,
Steady glow.
This light is awareness.
As it gently expands,
It does not push away the mish.
It simply reveals.
And slowly.
The shape in front of you becomes clearer.
Edges softened.
Details appear.
And what you thought was something threatening.
Is simply a rope.
Resting quietly on the ground.
Feel that.
The Shift.
Nothing changed except the seeing.
Now look around.
As the light continues to expand,
The mist begins to dissolve.
Not by force but by presence.
The tree becomes clear.
The bot.
Reveals itself.
The Space.
Opens.
And notice there is a quiet ease here.
Now turn your awareness inward.
And see if there is anything in your life that has felt like the snake.
A belief.
Of feel.
Ashdodhi anything in your life that has felt like the snake.
And without needing to change it.
Simply allow the light of awareness to rest on it.
No pushing.
No fixing.
Just seeing.
And in this gentle seeing.
Notice what begins to soften.
What begins to shift?
Because avidya does not need to be removed,
It dissolves when seen clearly.
Now let the entire inner space be filled with this soft light.
Clio.
Open.
Avid.
And rest here.
As the one who sees.
Not the mist,
Not the shapes,
But the awareness itself.
And gently let the image fade.
Returning to the Bread.
Returning to the body.
Now let go of all images.
Become aware of thoughts.
As they arise and pass.
Sensations coming and going.
Emotions Shifting.
And even the sense of I.
Up your league.
And dissolving.
And gently rest as the one who is aware.
The Drashta.
The seal.
The witness.
You are not the changing.
You are the knowing.
Like the rope.
You were never the snake.
Rest here.
Now return to your Sankalpa,
Your resolve,
Your intention,
The same one that you made at the beginning of the practice.
Repeat it softly three times with complete feeling and awareness.
Let it settle.
Now bring your awareness to your breath.
The natural breath.
Start to deepen the breath.
Gently.
Start to make small movements with your fingers.
With your toes.
Maybe stretch the body.
And when you're ready,
When you're sure that you are wide awake.
Slowly.
Gently allow the eyes to open.
And carry this with you.
Not everything you see is as it appears.
And you?
Are not what you have been conditioned to believe.
You are the one.
Cool C.
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
Hadiyom Tatzat.
