30 Minute Nidra: Body Scan, Breath Awareness, Water Visuals

Welcome to your Nidra practice.

Yoga Nidra is a deep and relaxing meditation experience that will allow you to let go of distractions and worries and connect with your deeper self.

Please lay down on your back and relax in a comfortable position on the floor or maybe even in bed.

Lay with your palms facing up and your feet falling gently out to the side.

Try to relax all the tension in the body.

Position your head comfortably with your neck and head in a neutral position with your forehead level or slightly higher than your chin.

Feel free to place a blanket under your head or a bolster under your knees.

Whatever you need to feel very comfortable and at ease in this relaxed posture.

Now please soften and close your eyes and allow your body to relax and settle into this posture.

Come to a place of stillness and try to remain still throughout the practice.

If you notice discomfort anywhere in the body at any time,

First observe.

If it continues to bother you,

Make any necessary adjustment and then come back to a place of stillness as soon as possible.

Take a deep breath in and as you exhale let go of all worries and distracting thoughts.

Allow your mind to relax completely.

Follow the sound of my voice throughout the practice,

Remaining awake and aware.

Now allow the sound and the easy rhythm of your breath to further relax your body.

Allow each breath to flow through you like a rolling sea wave.

Observe sounds outside and inside of this room.

Noticing them without finding any of them disturbing.

Feel awareness of your body from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes.

Mentally repeat the mantra,

Hooooooome.

Noticing stillness in your body and awareness in your mind and your whole body.

Again say to yourself,

Hooooooome.

Keeping your awareness on your whole body,

Your whole body on the floor,

Relaxing.

Become aware that you are going to practice Yoga Nidra.

Say to yourself,

I am aware and I am going to practice Yoga Nidra.

Repeat this to yourself again.

The practice of Yoga Nidra begins now.

At the beginning of each class,

It's good to state your Senkalpa.

A Senkalpa is a concise vow or affirmation stated to yourself in the present tense.

Repeat your Senkalpa in your mind three times with full awareness,

Sincerity and faith.

If you do not yet have an affirmation that you are working with,

Simply say to yourself,

I am opening myself up to learning more about my deepest self.

We will now begin a rotation of consciousness.

You will transfer awareness swiftly to different parts of your physical body while remaining still.

Allow your mind to quickly transition from body part to part.

Please stay alert but do not strain to follow my voice.

This should be a relaxing journey through the different parts of your body.

Think of the body or see it in your mind's eye,

Whichever you find easier.

But make sure not to actually move the part of the body that is being mentioned.

Become aware of your right hand.

Now draw your awareness to your right hand thumb.

Second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

Fifth finger.

Palm.

Back of the hand.

Wrist.

Forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Armpit.

Right side of the body.

Waist.

Hip.

Right thigh.

Knee.

Lower leg.

Ankle.

Heel.

Sole of the right foot.

Top of the right foot.

Big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Fifth toe.

� Become aware of your left hand.

Left hand thumb.

Second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

Fifth finger.

Palm.

Back of the hand.

Left wrist.

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Left side of the body,

Waist,

Hip,

Left thigh,

Knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the left foot,

Top of the left foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Moving on to the back of your body,

Become aware of the right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Right glutes,

Left glutes,

The whole spine together,

The backs of the legs,

The backs of the arms,

Hands,

And feet.

Move to the front of your body,

Draw your awareness to the top of your head,

Then move to your right temple,

Left temple,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Eyebrow center point,

Right eye and eyelid,

Left eye and eyelid,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Chin,

Throat,

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

Midpoint of the chest,

Navel,

Abdomen,

Pelvis,

Pelvic floor.

Become aware of the whole right leg,

The whole left leg,

Both legs together,

The whole right arm,

The whole left arm,

Both arms together,

The whole back body,

The whole of the front body,

Feel the whole body together on the floor,

Feel your whole body together on the floor,

Remaining awake and aware,

Feel your whole physical body resting,

Completely still and relaxed,

Softening and sinking,

Visualize your whole body relaxed and resting on the earth.

Bring your awareness to your breath,

Feel the gentle rise and fall of your chest,

Ribcage and abdomen with each slow breath,

Feel the nourishing energy of the breath flowing through you,

Visualize the front of your body and the space between your navel and your throat,

Begin to visualize your breath rising from your navel to your throat with each inhale and slowly descending with each exhale.

Rising up from navel to throat,

Inhale,

Descending down,

Exhale.

Now listen to the soft sound of your breath and how it sounds like a wave,

You can hear the washing sound when you inhale and the swishing sound when you release your exhale.

Hear your wave-like breath and feel it moving through you easily without any effort.

Continue to visualize your breathing rising from your navel to your throat,

Begin to count your breath descending from 10 to 1,

Inhale,

Breath rising 10,

Exhale,

Breath descending 10,

Inhale,

Breath rising 9,

Exhale,

Breath descending 9.

Continue on with your breathing maintaining awareness,

If you lose track of your counting begin again at 10,

If you finish counting to 1 before I give any further instructions,

Simply go back to 10 and begin counting down a second time.

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Now seize the practice of counting,

Let go of the counting.

Awaken the sensation of heat in your body.

You are outside on a scorching hot sunny day,

Feel the sweat running down your body,

Feel the intense heat on your skin,

Even your clothes are blazing hot from the sun,

They seem to scorch your skin.

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Now allow the sensation of heat to fade away,

Experience the sensation of intense cold,

Imagine you are standing in the snow in your swimsuit with no shoes on your feet,

Visualize the goosebumps rising on your skin,

Your whole body shivering.

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Now allow the sensation of cold to fade away,

Awaken the sensation of being wet,

You are walking outside in a jungle during a torrential rain,

Water is dripping from your hair,

Your drenched clothes are sticking to your skin.

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Now allow the sensation of dryness to leave you,

Concentrate on the space in front of your closed eyelids,

In this space,

Begin to notice the screen of the mind.

This space extends as high and as wide and as distant as the eye can see.

Concentrate on this mind screen and become aware of any colors,

Patterns,

Or light you may see.

Whatever you see manifested by your mind,

Continue to be aware of this space.

Practice not becoming too involved.

Practice detached awareness.

Remain interested and present to the sound of my voice as I call off numerous images,

Merely seeing the image on the screen of the mind.

Burning candle,

Burning candle,

Burning candle,

Endless desert,

Endless desert,

Endless desert.

Torrential rain,

Torrential rain,

Torrential rain.

Birds flying across the sunset,

Birds flying across the sunset,

Birds flying across the sunset.

Red clouds drifting,

Red clouds drifting,

Red clouds drifting.

Stars at night,

Stars at night,

Stars at night.

Wind from the sea,

Wind from the sea,

Wind from the sea.

Waves breaking on a deserted beach,

Waves breaking on a deserted beach,

Waves breaking on a deserted beach.

Eternal restless sea,

Eternal restless sea,

Eternal restless sea.

Waves breaking on a deserted beach,

A rainbow,

A crystal skull,

Summer rain on your skin,

Your childhood bedroom,

Orange,

A tree,

The shape of two interlaced circles,

The sky at nighttime,

A waterfall,

Red,

Your childhood face,

A garden,

A pyramid,

Yellow,

A key,

Gazing into the flames of a warming fire,

Green,

A pulsating heart,

Planet earth from above,

Footprints in desert sand,

Blue,

Shades of pink in the sunset,

Wild eagles,

A spiral,

Purple,

A spaceship,

Standing on a mountain peak,

Freedom,

Floating,

Freedom,

Floating,

Freedom.

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Remain in the state of freedom as you connect with the gentle rhythm of your breathing.

The mind screen slowly appears in front of your mind's eye.

A collage of the story of your life begins to appear on the screen.

Every experience,

Emotion,

Relationship,

Every lesson,

Growth,

They have all been captured in pictures,

Feelings,

Symbols,

And memories.

Take a moment to scan your screen.

Every footstep you have taken up until this point.

Now see your collage slowly being erased,

Every piece of the past dissolving in front of your eyes.

Your entire life story has been erased.

Your screen is clear.

At this very moment,

You can create the experiences you wish to have in your future.

Watch now as images,

Qualities,

Attitudes,

And relationships,

As well as your wildest dreams and fantasies,

Effortlessly appear on your screen,

Awaiting manifestation.

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Once again,

The newly created tapestry on your screen erases itself.

All that is left is a vibrating field of pure potential.

Into this very powerful space,

Drop in your sankalpa three times and let your life respond,

Feeling trust and excitement.

Now intensify your imagination and allow yourself to take this journey with me.

Imagine you are at your favorite beach walking along the shoreline.

The sun is rising,

Illuminating brilliant colors in the clouds.

You can feel the breath of the sea breeze tickling your skin.

Smell the salt in the air.

You can feel the squeeze of sand between your toes.

You can hear the sound of gentle waves rolling onto the sand.

You look out over the endless expanse of blue-green water and notice a pod of dolphins swimming close to the shore where you are walking.

You stop to watch them.

You see one arc up out of the water and then dive down so gracefully,

Its two-pronged tail the last thing to disappear beneath the surface of the water.

Another dolphin jumps up even higher,

Doing a flip in the air before entering the water nose-first without making a splash.

You see two dolphins chasing each other.

They zoom through the water so fast they produce wakes on the nearly flat water.

You smile as you observe the dolphins playing.

You flash back to when you were a child.

Back in those youthful days you would skip or run or dance to a favorite song or turn a cartwheel in the grass.

But you don't do those things anymore because there are too many serious things to do and you are expected to act like an adult.

But you glance around and notice that the beach is deserted.

A laugh escapes your lips.

You find yourself skipping through the sand and the shallows along the shore,

Watching the seawater splash all around you.

You allow this playful feeling to wash over you like another rolling wave.

You break into a run,

Watching for a flat spot in the sand.

Then you rotate downwards,

Placing your hands onto the sand and feeling your legs fly up over your head as you execute a cartwheel.

The years seem to drop away.

You feel happy and full of joy,

Like an innocent child.

You feel so free.

You raise your arms in the air and twirl around,

Inhaling a breath of life that has never felt so renewing.

Now all of these images slowly fade away.

And come back to your resolve,

To your sankalpa,

And repeat it three times with full awareness,

Sincerity,

And faith.

Now return your attention to the rhythm and soft sound of your natural breath,

Feeling its flow in and out of your nostrils.

As you maintain your awareness of your slow,

Easy breath,

Develop your awareness of your state of physical relaxation.

Notice your whole body resting on the floor.

Notice the parts of your body that are touching the floor,

Your head and upper back,

Your elbows and hands,

Your buttocks,

Your calves,

And heels.

Begin to notice the sounds outside this room.

Notice the sounds inside this room.

Visualize the floor around you.

Visualize the windows and the walls and the ceiling in the room in which you are lying.

Slowly start to do some slow movements.

Maybe wiggling your fingers and your toes.

Invite in some larger movements.

Perhaps some stretches,

Reaching the arms up above you,

Or drawing the knees into your chest.

Slowly open your eyes,

Roll over onto your right side,

And take at least five deep breaths before slowly making your way up into a seated position.

Thank you for practicing yoga nidra with me.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.