Yoga Nidra - Inner Healer

Tonight as we gather for our weekly practice of Yoga Nidra,

I'm going to ask you to settle into the shape that you know so well,

The shape of Shavasana,

But to make this shape uniquely different,

Different from the ways that you've previously taken it.

And that could even look like maybe you turn your palms up or you turn your palms down.

You take more support behind your head,

Behind your thighs,

Behind the knees,

Or you could even elevate the ankles just slightly.

But there's something different about this shape of Shavasana that's been different about any shape you've taken inside the practice before.

And this could even go as deeply into the subtle layers as your energetic layer.

Maybe you're coming with a different energy to open with.

And this could be lighter or denser.

Maybe you feel scattered.

Could you call yourself in,

Call yourself home?

Bring your energy back to this moment.

Pull the mind into your breath and where your mind gathers within your breath,

This becomes a place of solitude,

Of harmony,

Of equanimity,

Because it's as though time and space stand still.

When we're in total presence,

There is no future,

No past.

There is only here,

Now,

This breath,

This exhale,

The feeling of my body as it moves and flows,

Bringing breath in and out.

And each in and out breath is like a visit with spirit,

Breathing life in and clearing out space with the exhale of what needs to go.

And some of this will be conscious and some of this will be unconscious.

And we'll open our practice with breath work,

Safely closing your eyes and dropping back entirely into your body,

Feeling the last bit of your exhale be released as you squeeze down through the belly button towards the spine.

And then a big,

Full,

Brilliant inhale comes into the body,

Lighting up the body,

Creating an airy feeling across the chest,

The heart,

The sternum,

And holding.

And this tension is purposeful,

Intentional release.

Your next in-breath comes in slower,

More intentional,

Landing deeper,

Wider,

And fuller across the whole torso until you can't take in any more breath and you hold it,

Capture it,

Contain it,

And then let it go.

Slow sip of breath in,

Seeing if you could seep your breath into the peripheral edges of where it wants to touch,

Going beyond the limits of self into the pubic bone,

The coccyx,

All the way up to the back of the throat,

Closed off at the throat,

Holding,

And acknowledging any thoughts that are coming as this tension swirls inside your body,

But staying so soft physically as you let go.

Very few moments of our day do we spend intentionally breathing,

But you can see how your anxiety can calm so quickly the moment that you bridge tension with release,

Tension,

Release.

It's like an energetic massage for the body,

Going deeper and deeper and deeper,

More subtler,

Less tangible awareness going into the center of your heart.

And have you ever heard of heart transplant patients having the memory of who they belonged to previously?

Your heart has a knowing,

And it has a memory all of its own,

Separate from the mind.

It comes in the form of intuition,

Knowing,

Without justification,

Without logic,

Without reasoning.

Your heart is its own internal compass.

With your eyes closed,

Be aware of the space that your heart takes up in your chest.

Now be more aware of the rhythm,

The thump,

The thump,

The echo across your rib cage,

The cage that contains the knowing,

Expandable,

Contractible,

Noticing all the symbolism that your body gives you.

If you could bend your inner senses into your heart with temperature as your heart,

And now emit that temperature from your heart space to your limbs,

Arms,

And legs,

Back of the head,

Front of the skull,

Jaw,

Whole body,

The temperature of your heart,

And now feel the temperature turn warmer and warmer until your whole body feels like it's been fed warm milk and rocked gently to sleep,

The witness in the foreground,

Aware,

Alert,

Your body in the background,

Completely asleep,

Incredibly tired,

Safe to fall asleep,

Witness,

Aware,

Calling in your sankalpa,

Bringing it towards your heart,

Like a river flowing downstream,

Your sankalpa washes over your heart,

I am,

I am,

I am.

And from that river,

We move to the right palm,

Bring the water flowing into your palm of your right hand,

Into your pinky finger,

Over your ring finger,

Your middle finger,

Your index finger,

And finally your thumb,

Body soft,

Awareness present,

Bring the river up your wrist,

Over your lower arm bone,

Into the intelligence of your elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Soft water flowing from your shoulder,

Over your clavicle bone,

Down the center of your chest,

Flowing over your right rib cage,

Into your right side waist,

Filling into your right hip socket,

Overflowing right hip point,

Down your right leg,

Each muscle melting,

Softening,

River flowing over your kneecap,

Lower leg,

And all the way down into the back of your heel,

The tip of your toes,

Water flowing over the sole of your foot,

Warm water flowing over the sole of your foot,

Each toe,

1,

2,

3,

4,

5,

Whole right side of your body,

Flowing in the energy of water,

The intuitive aspect of water awakened through the whole right side body,

Awake,

Aware,

Yet asleep,

Bring the river to your left palm,

Allow it to fill the palm,

Baby finger flowing in and out of your ring finger,

Middle finger,

Index finger,

Whole thumb,

Entire hand flowing,

Moving energy into your wrist,

Across your left lower arm,

Over and through the intelligence of your elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Water flowing from the shoulder over your clavicle,

To the center of your chest,

Down your sternum,

And pooling to the left side of your body,

Water going over each rib,

Left rib cage,

Left side waist,

Left hip,

And your hip point,

Water running down your left leg,

Upper knee,

Lower leg,

Back of your left heel,

Tip of your toes,

Sole of your foot,

All toes,

1,

2,

3,

4,

5,

Whole left side body,

Moving,

Rhythmic,

Water,

Bring the watery flow to the center of your body,

Merging both sides,

Like two rivers joining,

Each side an individual distinct flow,

Moving in the same body,

At the same time,

Bringing awareness from the backside of the body,

Heels,

Calves,

Hamstrings,

Glutes,

Low back,

Mid back,

Upper back,

Back of your throat,

Back of your head,

And down the front side of your body,

Crown of your head,

Forehead,

Soft eyelids,

Tip of your nose,

Interior of your mouth,

Strength of your jaw,

Front of your throat,

Chest,

Arms,

Belly,

Hips,

Legs,

Toes,

10,

9,

8,

7,

6,

5,

4,

3,

2,

1,

Whole body,

Whole body,

A brain has mapped your whole body,

Settle down and back into the earth of where you are,

Completely held,

Completely supported,

Aware of awareness,

Aware of awareness,

The breath layer is such a beautiful layer inside the practice,

Taking you into your energy body,

Through each breath,

We will make our way through the main chakras,

The 7 major chakras that most people are aware of or have heard of,

And if you've not heard of them,

Just simply lay back and receive the intelligence that you already know,

Bring breath into the very,

Very base of the spine,

To the interior of the pelvic bowl,

And breathe in the color red,

Two breath,

Awareness moves from low spine to low belly,

Drop it just below the belly button,

Breathe in the color orange,

Three breath,

In and out,

No rush,

No pressure,

Aware of the color orange,

And three breath,

Above the belly button,

Below the rib cage,

The sternum,

Bring awareness to the color yellow,

Breathing two times,

In and out,

No rush,

Soft body,

In and out,

Breath travels to the center of your chest,

The spiritual heart,

The heart chakra,

The color green,

Breathed in and out six times,

In and out,

Don't try,

Just be breathing in and out,

Relax any counting,

Bring awareness to the center of your throat,

The color blue,

Breathing three times,

In and out,

Awareness of your breath to the center of your forehead,

Breath is going to be directed from the center of your forehead in and out,

Breathing three times,

In and out,

Color indigo,

In and out,

Maybe you could bring awareness to the hair follicles,

Imagining as though they go lighter and lighter,

As your energy becomes subtler and subtler,

Moving towards the crown,

The color purple,

Some of you may see it as white or gold,

Breathing 10 times,

In and out,

Through the channel of energy that is breathed through your crown,

And down through your feet,

10 breath,

In and out.

And if you haven't reached 10 breath,

There's no need to stay here,

You can completely let it go,

Let awareness drift off into the mindscape,

Settling your inner vision to the center of your brow,

And what we know yogics called chidakash,

This vast expanse of knowledge,

Moving beyond what we have learned,

What we have studied and told,

And opening ourselves to this innate knowing and intelligence that exists outside of the mind,

Well beyond the cage.

Rapid visualization can cause the body to bring tension,

With awareness of the witness in the foreground,

Always watching,

Continue to soften your body,

Try not to force any visualization,

But to simply perceive what comes,

Trusting that everything that needs to be seen will be seen,

Everything that needs to be processed,

Released will be let go.

10 elephants circling a stage,

A gold crown,

Belly dancers,

Dancing at the center of the stage,

In the middle of the elephants,

Belly dancers spinning the elephants on one finger,

Gold and jewels being thrown into the crowd,

The crowd's faces,

Your face,

Your reaction,

See yourself in the middle of the desert,

The crack of thunder,

Crack of thunder,

The crack of thunder,

In a sleeping bag inside a tent,

Warm soup,

And someone taking care of you.

Let yourself zoom in on the face of who's taking care of you.

Notice everything about the inside of the tent,

How they're sitting,

How you're laying,

What kind of soup you're eating,

If their hands are clean or dirty,

Everything.

Notice,

Become aware of how you're breathing,

How they're breathing,

How the earth is breathing,

Crack of thunder.

Outside the tent,

There's a dog running around.

Notice what kind of dog it is,

Whose dog it is,

And what it's alert to.

Inside the tent,

There's a fire,

The fire that is cooking the soup.

You are a mystic,

Able to read the dancing flames.

The flames are telling you a story that only you can read in your relationship with the magic of the flame.

The woman who is taking care of you can also read the flame.

You are both reading the flame together.

You have a message.

There has never been another time where you needed to be more present than you are now with your soft body,

Soft body,

Soft body.

The message is trust.

Read the flame.

Inside the tent,

You are repairing and restoring parts of your body,

Energetically low.

Lay back.

Let this energy mystic work her hands all over your body,

Settling in the one spot that is in disrepair.

Let her do her magic.

Lay back.

Close your eyes.

Receive.

Trust.

Let yourself be open to breathing the energy of the earth,

While feeling the energy of the sky.

Whole body heavy yet soft and light.

All at the same time.

Body both hot and cold.

Hot and cold.

As her hands work and move and rest and stay.

Visions.

Visions in your cheetah cache.

Let her settle her hands down into your belly.

Her hands light as a feather yet heavy as a bowling ball.

Resting onto your belly.

All blockages release and as each blockage releases,

Her hands become lighter,

Lighter,

Lighter,

Lighter,

Lighter.

She places her hands on your heart,

Her heart,

And your heart.

Her heart and your heart beating the same beat.

Her hand on your heart becoming heavier and lighter.

The weight starts to lift from your heart space.

The coldness begins to shift into warmth.

Denseness into lightness.

And her hand moves away from her heart at equal speed.

Both hands rising up towards the sky.

Feeling your upper back lift,

Lift,

Lift.

The buoyancy of your ribcage connecting more and more with the energy of the sky and the anchor of the earth pulling down your skull,

Your low back,

Legs.

You are of both.

Earth and sky pulled in two directions at once.

Next exhale,

Whole body lands gently into the earth.

The lady opens the door,

Gives you one last opportunity for any question.

A shower of energy poured over your whole body.

She leads you in an energetic shower.

You feel completely held and taken care of.

Her exit in perfect timing for you to drop back all the way into your heart,

Your home,

Your knowing.

Your sankalpa resonating inside the walls of your heart,

The interior of your body,

The blueprint of your energy.

And all across the sky,

Into the soil,

The seeds.

There is some of you everywhere.

All of that far and wide beyond the walls of the room where you are.

All of that is you.

The beliefs that are holding back the river,

Your flow,

Or what is holding in your energy,

Creating a magnetic field,

Pulling in everything that validates the belief.

Clearing your eyes to see beyond your belief,

To see the truth of what is.

Wash your eyes free of this past belief and bring into the third eye,

Your sankalpa.

I am,

I am,

I am.

A sweet stirring inside your body,

Waking up.

Energy locks of the ankles and wrists.

Using your inner eye to clear any blockages as you begin to bring more consciousness into your body.

You're calling your whole energy home.

Back to this individualized experience of a soul.

The soul that chose this body.

You.

The soul that chooses you every day.

Let your soul begin to wake your body in the way that it only knows how.

What you need,

What has to move to free yourself,

To evolve,

To change,

To shift,

To grow.

All of that is present when you are soft.

All of this anxiousness is tied to the need to control.

I'm so worried that if I lose sight,

Something's going to come in and get me.

And you are so safe.

Your inner knowing has got you at all times.

It is wise,

Well beyond the life that you have lived.

And you know that.

Breathe in with it.

Let this soul creep into every cell,

Welcoming it back home,

And then letting it go without fear that it's gone.

Big exhale.

More and more,

Your body becomes awake and aware.

With the opportunity to move to your side body,

Take the shape of nurture,

Where you cradle yourself in the endless knowing that you are loved because you breathe.

You are whole because you're here.

And eventually coming all the way up to seated in your own time.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Herium tatsat.

Herium tatsat.

Herium tatsat.