Welcome to this yoga nidra.
My name is Lucy McCarthy and I'm here to guide you on a journey of self exploration.
Make any adjustments to your environment so you can relax and drop in deep.
To prepare for the practice go ahead and lie down on your back.
Make yourself cozy and comfy.
A thin pillow for your head,
A light covering for your eyes and a blanket draped over your whole body can all enhance your experience.
Place your legs hips distance apart and allow the feet to fall gently out to the sides.
Have your arms slightly away from your body,
Palms facing up.
Feel that your chin is ever so slightly lower than your forehead.
Ensure that your body is symmetrical and at ease so you can maintain stillness throughout the practice.
Allow any final fidgets you may need so that your whole body can feel easeful.
Then release your body into stillness.
Make an inner pledge now that you will stay awake and aware throughout the practice.
My voice will guide you.
Allow the sound of my voice to meet your ears effortlessly.
Receive.
Become aware of your back body and pour the weight of your bones into the loving support of the earth beneath you.
Feel it receiving you and holding you with a tenderness.
Now soften the sheath of your whole skin.
Feel your breath in your belly and for a few rounds consciously let your belly rise and fall with the inhale and exhale.
Inhale belly rises.
Exhale belly softens back towards the earth naturally.
Slow belly breathing signaling to your whole system that you have arrived into presence and into the practice and are here to rest deeply and can relax fully.
Now release your breath into its natural effortless state.
Feel the touch of your clothes in contact with your skin,
The placement of your body in the space you are lying within.
Aware of the space above your body,
The earth beneath you and the space out to the sides.
Then become aware of the space between your body parts.
Your arms by the side of your torso.
Legs gently apart from one another.
Your spine from tailbone up to the back of your skull at the center of it all.
Now become aware of the farthest away sounds meeting your ears.
Then the sounds in your close environment.
Then the soft inner sound of your breath,
Its ebb and flow.
Now travel all the way inwards to hear the drumbeat of your own heart deep inside.
In the tiny space of your energetic heart at the center of your chest,
Pause,
Listen,
Feel.
Here and now,
What do you feel?
What's arising in you?
What's real and true for you in this moment?
What's the feeling?
Now notice what's beneath that feeling.
Feel the tender embrace of gravity grounding your bones into the arms of Mother Earth beneath you.
Feel yourself and all that you're feeling being received,
Welcomed and blessed.
Spire your awareness back into the center of your energetic heart,
In the center of your chest.
The sacred throne of your highest emotions,
Love,
Gratitude,
Forgiveness and compassion.
Call into your heart someone in your life,
Living or past,
Who taught you the meaning of love.
Feel their presence.
Allow a sensation of immense gratitude for them to wash over you.
Invite this to swell and fill your whole inner body.
Cleanse your entire field with appreciation.
Now the practice of yoga nidra begins.
From deep within you,
Allow an inner resolve to unearth and reveal itself to you.
We call this sankalpa.
It's a deep ancient longing of your soul,
Your heart's innermost intention.
We state it in the present tense,
In positive language.
It's a statement of our becoming.
We state,
I am.
It could be anything.
It expresses that which you have always been,
But perhaps have not yet allowed yourself to be.
Examples could be,
I am whole.
I belong.
I am valuable.
Feel it arising from deep within you,
From a place beyond the mind.
Then state it three times with feeling.
Wholeheartedly with commitment,
Passion and a trust that it already is.
Now flow your awareness onto the physical body.
Follow my voice as I guide you through various points throughout the body.
Each body part mentioned,
See what felt sense of awareness arises.
Then move on.
Bring the light of your awareness to the brow center,
The space between the two eyebrows and see what you can feel there.
Glide the awareness into the center of the throat.
Feel.
Right shoulder joint.
Right elbow joint.
Right wrist joint.
Right thumb.
Tip of the right index finger.
Tip of the right middle finger.
Tip of the right ring finger.
Tip of the right baby finger.
Center of the right wrist.
Center of the right elbow.
Center of the right shoulder joint.
Back into the center of the throat.
Left shoulder joint.
Left elbow joint.
Left wrist joint.
Left thumb.
Tip of the left index finger.
Tip of the left middle finger.
Tip of the left ring finger.
Tip of the left baby finger.
Take your awareness into the center of the left wrist.
Left elbow joint.
Left shoulder joint.
Center of the throat.
Center of the chest.
Right nipple.
Center of the chest.
Left nipple.
Heart center.
Solar plexus.
Navel two inches below the belly button.
Right hip joint.
Right knee joint.
Right ankle joint.
Tip of the right big toe.
Tip of the second toe.
Tip of the third toe.
Tip of the fourth toe.
Tip of the fifth right toe.
Center of the right ankle.
Center of the right knee.
Center of the right hip.
Navel center two inches below the belly button.
Left hip joint.
Left knee joint.
Left ankle joint.
Left big toe.
Tip of the second toe.
Tip of the third toe.
Tip of the fourth toe.
Tip of the fifth toe.
Center of the left ankle.
Center of the left knee.
Center of the left hip.
Navel center two inches below the belly button.
Solar plexus.
Heart center.
Then all the way back to the center of the throat.
Right up into now the brow center.
Now bring awareness to your whole body.
Feel your whole body.
Whole body.
Whole body felt now.
Slide your awareness onto your natural breath.
Feel it arising and falling.
Without any interference observe yourself being breathed.
The breath effortlessly animating you from within.
Feel the breath in the center of your heart.
Spiraling and expanding energetically outwards as you inhale.
Spiraling and drawing back to center as you exhale.
Be with your breath.
The spiraling out and spiraling in.
This soft pulsation emanating from the depths of your heart.
Feel every inhalation spiraling you energetically further and further out into the depths of the cosmos.
Every exhalation drawing and spiraling you back into the sacred cave of your heart.
Each inhale takes you out to explore the outer universe.
Each exhale draws you back deep into the inner universe of your heart.
Stay and play here for a while.
Dividing the spirallic pulsation of your breath.
Feel your whole body effortlessly being breathed.
Now reach your awareness to the space between your eyebrows known as Chidakas.
This is a neutral space.
The home of infinite possibilities and potential.
A place of simultaneous emptiness and fullness.
A home base to return to.
Let my voice be your guide.
Stay with me as we travel through pairs of opposites.
You will hear a feeling or experience named.
As you do so allow yourself to feel what is asked with as pure of an experience as possible.
Invite yourself to inhabit each emotional experience fully.
Allow it to unfold.
What does it feel like when you are fragmented?
Where you feel parts of yourself scattered and dispersed.
A diffusion.
A dilution.
Without getting drawn into any narrative or past story.
Notice any associated felt sensations that arise.
Textures.
Thought forms.
Now let this go.
And what does it feel like to be utterly focused?
To have all parts of you aimed at the same target.
A rich sense of integration.
Now let this go too.
And hone your awareness back to the brow center.
What does it feel like to be lost?
A sensation of having lost your way.
A disorientation.
Notice any associated feelings.
Felt sensations.
Any visions that arise within.
Now release this.
And what does it feel like to be found?
To feel orientated.
A sense of knowing exactly where and what you are.
An innate sense of belonging.
Now feel this dissolving and falling away.
And reach your awareness back into the neutral space at the brow center.
What is it like to feel broken?
What does feeling broken feel like?
Resist being lured into any story.
Instead see how fully you can embody the feeling state.
As you tune into this state of feeling broken,
Are there associated feelings,
Textures or thought forms that arise?
Can you notice if it resides anywhere in particular in the body?
Now let this go fully.
And now bring forth a state of wholeness.
What does wholeness feel like?
A feeling of perfect completeness.
A state of fullness that lacks nothing.
Feel yourself whole.
Your whole self here and now.
Now let this go to.
And return your awareness to the neutral space of limitless potentiality at the brow center.
Chirikash.
Your home base.
Bring your whole awareness here to the brow center.
Now we will play in the field of visualization and imagination.
See yourself at the entrance of a forest.
A forest of your most cherished favorite trees.
This forest you see before you,
Serene,
Peaceful and softly humming with vitality.
You feel a gentle breeze cross your skin.
Dappled soft sunlight flickering between the branches of the trees.
A feeling of being welcomed and appreciated by this community of trees.
You sense they wish you to walk amongst them.
To delight in their beauty and ancient wisdom.
You notice a clearing just ahead.
A sunlit path leading into this forest.
If you feel drawn to,
You make the choice to accept the invitation from the trees to enter their hearth.
As you start to walk this path,
The sense of being welcomed by this benevolent community of trees fills your whole body.
You feel a pulsation of reverence and awe emanating from the trees towards you.
You continue to follow this path deeper and deeper into the forest.
The further you go,
The more beautiful,
Quiet and peaceful the forest becomes.
Ahead you start to see a clearing within the forest.
A sacred circle amidst the trees.
As you get closer,
You see within the clearing a labyrinth.
A labyrinth.
A sacred,
Ancient spiraling path that leads to a sunlit spot at its epicentre.
You feel compelled to walk this labyrinth.
As you take your first step into the outer spiral of the labyrinth,
You feel a part of yourself that you have cast out and rejected come back into you.
Each step that you take,
You feel all the disowned and fragmented parts of you mystically being reunited deep inside of you.
As you spiral closer and closer into the inner circle of the labyrinth,
You feel your child self with you.
Each step a reclamation.
Each step alchemising you back to wholeness.
Finally you find yourself standing in the sunlit centre of the labyrinth.
As you stand bathed in the soft light of the sun,
Your whole life flashes before you.
All the joys,
The sorrows,
The laughter and the tears.
An immense wave of gratitude pulses through your whole being.
A flash of insight that every moment was necessary for your soul's evolution.
You feel yourself whole,
Healed and healthy.
Alive,
Awake,
Transformed and in a knowing that all parts of you are reunited and reclaimed here and now.
You look up at the vast,
Vast sky above.
Feel the soft moss of the steadying earth beneath you and yourself cradled amidst the two.
The community of trees surrounding you,
Blessing this rite of passage,
This threshold you have crossed.
You lay down in the centre of the labyrinth and dissolve into the vastness of loving,
Spacious awareness.
Eton you you you It's time to return to the known world You rise yourself up in the center of the labyrinth With each step that you take spiraling back out of the labyrinth you feel yourself integrating and embracing a deep feeling of wholeness a fullness that is totally complete needing nothing lacking nothing You are home You are home Welcome home Your soul has been longing for you to return home and reside in the heart Now allow the mirage of the forest and labyrinth in your inner mind to dissolve back into nothingness Once again allow your inner resolve to surface Your sun calper to rise up from deep within Feel it with every fiber of your being Feel it as though it already is That it's already true already manifested manifested State it three times Now allow that to integrate Let it become part of who you are Allow all your other bodies to adjust to this new reality that has been born from within Now the practice of yoga nidra is complete Feel your body laying upon the earth Orient your body to the space you are within Glide your awareness back into your heart Feel the ebb and flow of the breath animating you from within Sweetly take the breath by the hand and deepen it Now awaken your awareness to the outer edges of your body Tenderly,
Slowly begin to bring soft movements into your fingers and toes And if you feel called to,
Allow your body to unfurl into a long sweet stretch Then when you're ready,
Roll onto one side,
Curling your knees into your chest as you soften your heart towards the earth Pause Feel Listen Sense the rebirth Keeping your eyes closed,
Make your way up to a tall seat If you are willing to embrace the fullness of all that you are,
Wholeheartedly reach the crown of your head skywards Bring your hands together in front of your heart Let your hands coming together be a symbol and celebration of your wholeness,
Your homecoming And if you wish,
Set an intention for the rest of your day Hari Om Tat Sat As Above,
So Below
