30 Minute Nidra: Releasing Baggage, Letting Go, Body Scan

So welcome to your 30 minute yoga nidra class.

For this class it is of your greatest benefit to find a still and comfortable place for you to lay down.

Perhaps this is on your yoga mat,

But you can also choose to do this practice on your couch,

Maybe laying in bed,

Or before going to sleep at night time if you wish.

It's also beneficial to have something soft like a blanket,

A pillow under your head,

Something soft underneath of each of your knees also goes quite a long way.

So do what you need to do to get set up for success here so that you're ready to be really relaxed for the next 30 minutes of yoga nidra.

We will begin with tension and relaxation in the physical body.

So now tighten your whole body,

Make the hands into fists,

Squeeze your hands,

Your bum,

Your face,

Tight tight tight,

Make all of these areas quite tight.

Take a deep breath in,

Hold your breath now,

Hold the tightness in the body and then release it all.

Take a deep breath out,

Release all the tension and all the air.

Let a natural breath come in the nose and out through the mouth.

We'll practice this one more time.

So begin to tighten your hands into fists,

Squeeze your bum,

Your thighs,

Your feet,

Your face.

Take a deep breath in the nose and hold the breath in.

Squeeze the tightness in the body,

Keep holding,

And then let it all go.

All the tension,

All the air,

And let your whole body melt into this releasing sensation.

Try to relax now into the space that is behind your closed eyes.

As you enter deeper and deeper into this stillness,

Rising out of nowhere,

A golden majestic gate appears in front of your inward gaze.

The soft breeze of your breath causes the gate to slowly swing open as you approach it.

As you pass through,

You find yourself in a serene place of nature created into being by your own imagination.

You are flooded with feelings of calmness and peace,

Surrounded by the love and safety from the ground and the air that is all around your body.

Find a nice spot within this nature to lay your body down on the ground.

Take a soft breath in through the nose and then breathe it out through the mouth or the nose.

In the practice of yoga nidra,

We often work with an intention,

Also known as a sankalpa.

We will now plant our intention or our sankalpa into this quiet place that we have created.

Repeat your own intention now three times in your mind as though it had already manifested.

We will now move through our first rotation of consciousness,

Placing an awareness on each part of the body as it is named.

Become aware of your right hand,

Right hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

The palm of your hand.

Become aware of your palm,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

The shoulder,

Armpit,

The right side of your waist,

The right hip,

Right thigh,

Kneecap,

Calf muscle,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the right foot,

Top of the foot,

The big toe,

Second toe,

Middle toe,

Fourth toe,

And pinky toe.

Now become aware of the left hand,

Left hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Lower arm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

The left shoulder,

Armpit,

The left side of your waist,

The left hip,

Left thigh,

Kneecap,

Calf muscle,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the left foot,

Top of the foot,

The big toe,

Second toe,

Middle toe,

Fourth toe,

And pinky toe.

Now go to the top of your head,

The forehead,

Both sides of your head,

The temples,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

The space between the eyebrows,

Right eyelid,

Left eyelid,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right inner ear,

Left inner ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Nose,

Tip of the nose,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Tongue,

The inside of the mouth,

Chin,

Throat,

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

The middle of your chest,

The navel,

The abdomen,

The upper thighs,

Shins,

The tops of the feet.

See your whole body lying on the floor.

Imagine a mirror above you reflecting your whole body lying on the floor as an object.

You see your head,

Arms,

Chest,

Legs,

And your clothing.

You see yourself completely here lying on the ground.

Bring your attention to the following sensations.

Imagine the feeling of heaviness in the whole body.

The whole body is suddenly dense and heavy,

Very heavy.

Your legs and your arms are heavy.

Your upper body and your head are heavy.

The whole body is sinking down through the ground,

Heavy.

Imagine the feeling of lightness in your body.

Suddenly your whole body is light,

Light.

From the top of your head,

Down your spine and legs,

To your feet,

You feel lightness spread in your whole body.

See your body floating up from the floor like a feather,

Drifting back and forth,

Light.

Your entire body is suddenly surrounded by feelings of warmth.

Your hands and your feet are so warm.

Your stomach and your back feel warm.

Your face and your mouth feel warm.

Your whole body is so warm.

Your entire body is suddenly very cold.

Your hands and your feet are cold.

Your stomach and your back feel cold.

Your face and your mouth feel cold.

Your whole body is cold.

Notice the parts of your body that feel tense,

Scan the muscles,

The skin,

Scan your body from head to foot.

Notice the areas that feel tightness and tension.

Bring awareness to the parts of the body that feel loose.

Feel the muscles and the skin.

Scan your whole body,

Head to foot,

And notice the areas that feel loose and easeful.

Bring awareness now to the areas of the body that are in contact with the ground.

Feeling the back of your head,

Your shoulders and upper body,

Back and hips,

Your arms and your legs all in contact with the ground.

Concentrate awareness on the areas of your body that are away from the ground,

In the air,

Feeling your face,

Your chest,

Stomach,

Tops of the legs and toes floating above the floor.

See the following images on your mind's eye.

The shape of two interlaced circles,

The sky at nighttime,

A waterfall,

The color red,

Your childhood face,

A garden,

A pyramid,

The color yellow,

A key,

Gazing into the flames of a warming fire,

A green pulsating heart,

Planet earth from above,

Footprints in the sand,

Shades of pink in the clouds at sunset,

Wild eagles,

A spiral,

A spaceship,

Standing on a mountain peak,

Freedom,

Floating,

Freedom,

Floating,

Freedom.

You suddenly find yourself at the base of a giant mountain.

You see it towering above you,

Calm and powerful.

Strapped onto your back,

You carry three bags.

The bags are labeled physical baggage,

Mental baggage,

And emotional baggage.

You start your journey up the side of the mountain on the path before you.

You can hear the leaves crunching beneath your feet.

You can feel the stones and the sticks with each step that you take.

You are surrounded by a warmly lit forest.

The sunshine filters through the leaves above your head.

The three bags you carry seem manageable,

Perhaps even normal,

As you climb higher and higher on the mountain path.

You soon start to tire,

And before long,

You feel that you must rid yourself of one of your bags in order to continue your journey up the mountain path.

You stop at the side of the path next to a large cedar tree.

As you remove the bag marked physical baggage,

You instantly feel lighter and more relaxed.

As you place it on the ground next to the tree,

You notice all the things you've been carrying with you your entire life.

The soreness,

The fatigue,

The tension,

The pain,

And the misuse.

But you also notice the feelings of release,

Of energy,

Feelings of pleasure and joy that you have felt in your physical body.

You close the bag up and leave it under the tree.

Knowing that you can return to it and any of its contents on your way back down the mountain path.

You continue walking down the path.

The air smells lighter as you ascend the mountain.

You have found a new energy and lightness since ridding yourself of your physical baggage,

But remain nevertheless quite aware of the remaining two bags.

You can hear the leaves crunching beneath your feet.

You can feel the stones and the sticks with each step that you take.

Beginning to gain more elevation,

You start to become fatigued once more.

The forest begins to thin as you continue onwards,

And soon you emerge from the forest to see a small village in a clearing.

The village is full of children.

So many happily living in harmony with one another.

The children playfully run up to you,

Greeting you with hugs and laughter.

You take their hands and follow them through the village to its center.

In the center of the city is a large dirt ring.

Gathered here in a circle are the children.

You feel completely accepted and supported,

And know in your heart that this is the place to drop your second bag.

The children help you remove the bag from your back labeled as mental baggage.

Together you place it down in the village center and you take a moment to examine its contents.

You notice all the judgment you have placed upon yourself and on others.

You see all of the busy thoughts inside the bag spinning around with energy.

You also notice the brilliant ideas you have,

The love and acceptance that you foster for yourself and for others.

You close the bag up carefully and leave it in the center of the village with the children,

Knowing that you can return to it and any of its contents on your way back down the mountain path.

The children bid you farewell as you leave and walk away from their small village.

Across the clearing you see a path up the mountainside once more and walk towards it.

Once again on the path you can hear the leaves crunching beneath your feet.

You can feel the stones and the sticks with each step that you take.

The trees grow smaller and smaller as you climb higher and higher.

And soon you climb so high up the mountain that trees can no longer grow here.

You are surrounded by a desert-like expanse of stones and dusty dirt.

The air is getting thinner as you climb up the mountain path and you again begin to feel fatigued.

You spot a particularly large boulder in the distance and walk towards it,

Resting your body as you lean up against its hard and supportive surface.

You feel that to go further you must rid yourself of that last bag,

The bag labeled as emotional baggage.

As you remove it from your back you feel a lifetime of burdens removed,

Like a ball and chain shackle had just been taken from your ankles and your neck.

You place the bag down beside the large boulder and peer inside to notice its contents.

You see all the moments of sadness you have not let go of,

The moments of fear and of anger.

You see your jealousy and greed,

Your boredom and your lust.

But you also notice the sincerest moments of happiness,

Joy and pleasure that you hold close to your heart.

You see your drive and enthusiasm,

Your excitement and deeply loving internal nature.

You have been carrying these things with you for so long and you know now that is a time that you can let them go,

Knowing full and well that you can return to them on your way back down the mountainside.

You continue up the mountain path,

Feeling totally and completely free of all baggage.

You have more than enough energy to climb up the last leg of the climb,

To the mountains peak.

The view here is beyond description.

You bask in the glorious sunlight at the peak of the mountain,

Looking out to the grand expanse before you.

It is here on this very mountain peak that you will plant your sankalpa,

Your personal intention.

Repeat your intention now three times.

Feel it resonate physically,

Mentally and emotionally through the layers of your being.

You begin your journey back down the mountain path.

The journey down seems to go much quicker than the journey up and before long you are already approaching the large boulder.

Beside it is a bag labeled emotional baggage.

You stop to assess its contents.

Perhaps removing a few things from the bag that no longer serve you in your life.

You remove them and leave them here on the mountainside next to the boulder.

You strap the bag on your shoulders and notice how much lighter it feels.

You continue your walk down the mountains path.

You start to notice those small trees as you approach the more forested area of the mountain.

You can hear the leaves again crunching beneath your feet and you can feel the stones and the sticks with each footstep.

Before long the forest opens up into a clearing with the small village of children.

The children are calm and relaxed resting in the dirt ring in a group near the center of the town.

You quietly approach the bag labeled as mental baggage.

Kneel down to pick it up.

Perhaps leaving a few things here on the mountainside.

You strap the bag onto your shoulders and notice how much lighter it feels.

You walk softly from the village center back down towards the mountain path leaving the children behind you.

The trees are getting larger and larger as you descend downwards.

You can hear the leaves crunching beneath your feet.

You can feel the stones and the sticks with each footstep.

You soon approach the large cedar tree on the side of the path and next to it lies your last bag labeled as physical baggage.

You peer inside and perhaps decide to leave a few things from within the bag next to the tree on the mountainside before strapping it on to your back.

You notice how much lighter this bag feels as you put it on.

You continue down the mountain path once again carrying your three bags with you.

You feel much lighter than when you began this journey.

You can hear the leaves crunching beneath your feet.

You can feel the stones and the sticks with each footstep that you take.

Take a soft breath in through the nose.

Feel up your whole body with air and relax the breath out.

Feel free to stay laying here right on your back if you want to stay in this relaxed place for longer.

If you wish to wake up the body now slowly moving the fingers and the toes and turning to one side or the other and feeling your body rest on its side in fetal position.

Thank you so much.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.