Yoga Nidra for joy.
So welcoming yourself into your rest space,
Making yourself as comfortable as you can in a lying down position or sitting and allowing the eyes to close,
Being aware of the contact between the body and the surface that you are on,
Sensing each point that connects to the earth,
Taking a long slow deep breath in and a relaxing breath out,
Feel the body slowing down,
Settling,
Softening,
Stilling.
And now listen to these words from the poet Rumi,
Everything you see has roots in the unseen world,
The forms may change yet the essence remains the same.
Every wonderful sight will vanish,
Every sweet word will fade,
But do not be disheartened,
The source they come from is eternal,
Growing,
Branching out,
Giving new life and new joy.
The source is within you and this whole world is springing up from it.
It's time to awaken to yourself,
To go inside.
Yoga Nidra begins now.
Giving yourself complete permission to rest,
There's nothing you need to do,
Nowhere to be,
Just allowing yourself to follow my voice,
Following the instructions only if it's right for you and following your breath if you prefer not to take in these instructions.
Trusting the meditation to go deeper within without having to force a thing,
Just allowing.
And now it's time to state your intention and to listen to what your heart is longing for,
Feeling into the heart and sensing that sacred space,
Listening to the yearning of the heart.
Let it express itself and allow an intention to emerge that is positive and in the present tense,
Imagining it's happening right now in this moment.
If you can't find an intention,
You can just notice that trusting it will emerge.
Repeat the intention three times to yourself now.
I will now rotate awareness through the body to different points of the body.
As I name a body part,
You can repeat the body part to yourself,
Bringing a gentle,
Kind awareness to that place,
Bringing your attention now to your right hand,
Right thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the right hand,
Wrist,
Elbow,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Right hip,
Buttock,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Top of the right foot,
Right heel,
Sole,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe.
Aware now of the left hand,
Left thumb,
Left thumb,
Second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
Fifth finger,
Palm of the left hand,
Left wrist,
Elbow,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left hip,
Buttock,
Thigh,
Knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Top of the left foot,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe.
Relax and go deeper.
Bring your attention now to both heels,
Calves,
Buttocks,
Lower back,
Center of the back,
Upper back,
Backs of the hands,
Elbows,
Upper arms,
Both shoulders,
Back of the neck,
Back of the head,
Top of the head,
Staying with the top of the head,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Forehead,
Right eyebrow,
Left eyebrow,
Space between the eyebrows,
Right eye,
Left eye,
Both eyes,
Nose,
Right nostril,
Left nostril,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Chin,
Jaw,
Throat,
Chest,
Abdomen,
Pelvic basin,
And now the entire right leg,
Entire left leg,
Both legs,
The whole right arm,
Whole left arm,
Both arms,
The entire torso,
Lower body,
Upper body,
Head,
Whole body.
Go deeper,
Relax completely,
Sense the whole body.
Become aware now of your breath.
Begin breathing now on the right side of the body and breathing now on the left side of the body,
The whole body,
Breathing the whole body,
And now return to breathing on the right side.
Slowly begin to see healing white light filling the right side of the body as you breathe,
And now on your next inhalation,
Move to the left side of the body.
See the left side of the body now filling with light as you breathe in and out in your own rhythm.
On your next in-breath,
See your whole body filled with light,
The whole body filled with healing light.
Breathe the whole body,
Moving into stillness,
Letting go even more.
Feel the whole body breathing,
Feeling the healing light moving from the base of the spine to the top of the head on the in-breath,
And from the head to the base of the spine on the out-breath,
And now let the breath move in its own way and rhythm as you do so,
Feeling loving energy now through the whole body,
Allowing healing and love into every cell of the body,
Feeling all the sensations of love and healing in the body,
And now feeling into joy and light in the body,
Focusing on an experience of joy in the body,
And now feeling the opposite in the body,
Whatever that means to you,
A heaviness,
A dullness,
Allowing it,
Feeling it in your body,
Giving space,
And now opening and allowing both the joy and the opposite,
The heaviness,
Allowing the space of awareness to hold it all gently,
Space for it all,
And now remember a time of bravery and courage,
Feeling this in the body,
Not getting caught up in the memory,
But rather the experience of courage,
Strength,
Bravery,
And now give space for the feeling of the opposite,
Whatever that is for you,
Opposite,
Whatever that is for you,
Perhaps a fear,
Perhaps a stuckness,
Whatever it is,
Giving space,
And now just allowing space for both courage and strength,
And not courage,
Holding it all with gentle care,
Witnessing yourself now walking in nature along a lake,
You follow the edges of the lake,
Noticing the sky above you,
Feeling the earth beneath you,
See yourself walking to a spot where you can sit in contemplation,
And now seeing yourself looking into the water,
Crystal clear,
Seeing your reflection shining back at you on the surface of the water,
As you see yourself,
You smile,
And you see that smile reflecting back to you,
Feeling the smile on your face,
You begin to feel the whole body smiling,
Releasing more and more until you laugh out loud and hear the sound of your own pure laughter,
Now letting yourself rest by the side of the lake,
Under the shade of a great tree,
Whose roots go right down into the earth,
You look up at the branches and notice so many new buds beginning to emerge from every single branch,
You marvel at each new leaf,
Feeling the peace of this place,
The deep rest of being here,
Feeling the source of life,
The source within you,
The source within you,
Your essence ever present,
You feel yourself surrounded now by your guides,
Teachers,
Wise beings,
Feeling their presence,
Their support,
Their energy,
Their care,
And now coming back to your intention,
Repeating it to yourself three times gently in mind and heart,
Welcoming that intention into your life,
And now listening to the heart,
Giving space to the heart to speak to you in whichever way it needs,
Through feeling,
Image,
Words,
And if there's no message,
Just resting with the space of the heart,
When you're ready to beginning to move out of yoga nidra in your own way and time,
You can stretch or move the body in whichever way you need to,
Feeling the space between deep relaxation and being awake,
Trusting your body to move how it needs to,
Perhaps rubbing the hands together,
Massaging the neck,
The face,
Any parts of the body that need attention,
And thanking yourself for taking this time.
Yoga Nidra is now complete.
