Welcome to this practice of Yoga Nidra.
Start to find a position where you can relax deeply,
Perhaps laying in your bed,
On a yoga mat on the floor.
Perhaps you are sitting in a chair.
Have some cozy blankets nearby,
Perhaps a bolster for under your knees.
And an eye covering is always a good idea to really allow the senses to settle.
That pool of external stimulus to quiet,
To go deep into yourself and this ancient and beautiful practice,
Designed to foster deep rest,
Well-being,
Self-compassion,
Connection and healing.
Stretch your body a few times,
Stretching arms overhead,
And even tensing all the muscles in the body and then letting them go.
Tensing all the muscles in the body,
The face,
The fists,
The leg muscles,
And let it go.
And one last time,
Tense all the muscles in the body,
Holding the breath,
Squeezing and letting go.
As you settle in,
If there's any tiny adjustments you can make to be even more comfortable,
Allow yourself to do that now.
So often we withhold from ourselves.
Really ask yourself what you need in this moment and be willing to give it.
Let's use the breath to come a little more fully into the body and into the present moment.
Take two short breaths through the nose and a long exhale through the mouth.
Two short inhalations through the nose,
A long exhalation through the mouth.
And continue this breathing pattern.
With each exhale,
Melting a little more fully into the present moment.
And now let go of that breathing pattern and let your breath fall back into its natural rhythm.
This is the moment to bring to mind your sankalpa,
Your resolution.
If you have a sankalpa you already work with,
Please bring it to mind now.
If you don't,
Gently start to create a forward-directed resolution for this practice period and beyond.
Naming what you would like to invite or increase in your life,
Perhaps love,
Peace,
Well-being,
Connection,
Goodwill.
And take a moment here to formulate that sankalpa.
And then repeat it silently three times,
Planting that seed into the conscious and subconscious mind,
Trusting that bringing forth the sankalpa creates a whole cascade of support that will naturally arise in your life.
And now yoga nidra begins.
Begin by shining the light of awareness in your heart center,
Imagining your beautiful beating heart flooded with light,
Letting the light of awareness rest in the heart center for these next few breaths and allowing a sense of love and compassion to expand and grow as the light of awareness rests in the heart center.
Bringing awareness now into the tongue,
Feeling the firmness of the teeth in the mouth,
The softness of the cheek,
And the tongue,
The teeth,
The lips,
The tongue,
The cheek,
Sensing into the plane of contact between the upper and lower lip,
A subtle plane of contact between the upper and lower lip,
Allowing awareness to rest there with the mouth,
The tongue,
The teeth,
The lips.
And now bringing awareness into the right nostril,
Imagining that as you're inhaling and exhaling,
You are breathing through the right nostril only,
Drawing the air deep into the right nostril,
And exhaling from the right nostril.
Nostril.
Now bringing awareness into the left nostril,
Breathing deeply into the left nostril,
And exhaling fully from the left nostril.
And now allow the breath to return to both nostrils equally,
Breathing in and out of the left and right nostrils together,
Gently riding the breath in and out.
Allow the awareness to now move to the right eyebrow,
The right eye resting in its socket,
The small muscles around the right eye,
Everything softening and relaxing,
Becoming aware of the plane of contact between the upper and lower eyelid of the right eye.
The plane of contact between the eyelids of the right eye.
And now bring awareness to the left eyebrow,
The left eye,
The eye socket,
The intricate muscles around the eye,
And the plane of contact between the upper and lower eyelid of the left eye.
And now bring awareness to the third eye point between the two eyebrows,
And at that third eye point,
Hearing the sound Aum,
Aum,
Aum.
And now bring awareness to the forehand,
Allowing the forehand to soften,
Bringing awareness to the right temple,
The left temple,
The right ear,
The right ear,
The left ear,
The right cheek,
The left cheek,
And softening into the jaw.
And now bring awareness to the scalp,
Allowing the scalp to relax,
The back of the head.
And now shining the light of awareness on the right hemisphere of the brain,
The right hemisphere of the brain.
And bring awareness now to the left hemisphere of the brain,
The left hemisphere of the brain.
And now imagining the pathway between the two hemispheres of the brain,
The corpus callosum.
And now shining the light of awareness through the entire gray matter of the brain,
The entire brain.
Imagine the entire brain flooded with light,
Love,
Compassion,
And a deep sense of well-being.
Now imagine the left shoulder,
The left elbow,
The left wrist,
And now bring the awareness to the right shoulder,
The right elbow,
The right wrist,
The right hand,
Fingers,
And fingertips,
Experiencing your entire right arm.
And now shine the light of awareness into the torso,
Allowing the torso to feel heavy and sink more fully into the floor,
Letting the upper back,
Mid-back,
Lower back soften and open,
Sinking,
Supported by the earth.
And now experiencing the right hip,
The right thigh,
The right knee,
The right calf muscle,
And the right ankle and foot,
Heel of the foot,
Arch,
Ball,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe,
Letting the entire leg soften,
Relax,
Be filled with light.
Now bring awareness to the left hip,
The left thigh,
The left knee,
Left calf.
Left ankle,
Left foot,
Left foot,
Allowing the awareness to have the flavor of gratitude,
Kindness,
And love.
The left heel,
The left arch,
The left ball of the foot,
The first toe,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe.
And now experiencing the entire left leg,
Relaxing,
Filled with light,
Gratitude,
Love.
And now sensing the entire body from the very top of the head through the heart,
The belly,
The hips,
The legs,
The toes,
Your body,
Filled with gratitude,
Light,
And love.
And now becoming aware of heaviness in the body.
The body has been lying still.
A blanket of heaviness washes over the body.
And now become aware of heaviness in the body.
The body has been lying still.
A blanket of heaviness washes over the body.
The body sinks more and more fully into the floor,
The cushion,
The bed.
And now the hands are heavy.
The left thigh is heavy.
All the muscles around the eyes.
The hair on the hand is heavy.
The entire torso is heavy.
The feeling of heaviness washes through the entire body,
The whole body,
The whole body.
The whole body is experiencing heaviness.
Heavy eyebrows,
Heavy jaw,
And the whole body is alive and full of energy.
And now bring a sense of awareness to the lightness in the body.
Light body,
Light as air,
Lighter than air,
Able to almost float up off the floor,
Floating higher and higher,
Lighter than air.
Your body.
The hands are light.
The legs are light.
The heart is light,
Floating higher and higher.
Light as air,
Lighter than air.
Experiencing lightness throughout the entire body.
Experiencing lightness.
Light as air,
Lighter than air.
And as you experience the feeling of lightness and even floating,
There is a golden thread that connects you to the body as it lies on the floor.
You may even be able to see your body lying in the floor,
Practicing yoga nidra.
And now in your mind's eye,
See a single candle burning in a dark room.
The flame of the single candle is dancing against the darkness.
And you take a moment to just stare at the beautiful light.
And now imagine yourself walking along a beach at noon.
The ocean is dancing and you can feel the sand beneath your feet,
Between your toes.
You delight in the sun refracting off the water.
In the distance,
You see children playing,
Building sandcastles,
Laughing as the waves roll in and knock it down.
You can feel the warmth of the sun on your back and the coolness of the ocean breeze on your cheek.
You feel a sense of deep relaxation,
Ease and joy walking on the beach,
Delighting in each footfall in the sand.
And now imagine that it is dusk and you are walking toward a great forest.
In the distance,
You see a large mountain snow-capped even in summer.
The setting sun dancing across the glistening snow.
You walk slowly into the forest,
Admiring the canopy of trees overhead.
Delighting in birdsong and the sound of the waves.
And now imagine that you are walking along a beach at night.
Delighting in birdsong,
Stillness and the gentle sound of the leaves as the wind blows.
In the distance,
You see a doe with a fawn quietly eating.
You stand quietly and watch them.
Suddenly,
The doe turns to look at you and you make eye contact.
The doe holds your gaze for a moment and then returns to eating,
Feeling safe in your presence.
As you continue to walk deeper and deeper into the forest,
You notice overhead a great burn soaring in the sky.
You stop to watch the bird soaring higher and higher.
And suddenly you are the burned looking down on the forest,
Able to see the tops of the trees.
You are soaring,
Playing in the air currents.
You are feeling the warmth of the setting sun on your wings.
And you perch to rest in a great tree,
Surveying the distance.
And now imagine you're sitting at a campfire at night.
The campfire is sparking and burning.
Overhead you can see thousands of twinkling stars,
The Milky Way.
And you delight in the spaciousness of the night sky,
The beauty,
The play of light.
And you sense a deep vastness that is both in the night sky and also a part of you.
Vastness outside and vastness inside.
And you feel a connection to all that is.
A oneness.
A kinship.
And now in your mind's eye you're able to see the four walls of the room that you're in.
The floor and the ceiling.
You're able to see yourself lying still experiencing Yoga Nidra.
You can feel the soft boundaries of your body as you lie on the floor or cushion.
Feeling the gentle rise and fall of the breath.
And as you sink more fully into your body,
You bring to mind the sankalpa that you had stated in the beginning of Yoga Nidra.
Bring it to mind here,
Repeating it quietly three times.
Trusting that it's already unfolding.
You bask in the goodness of this experience of Yoga Nidra.
Delighting in the calm,
The peace,
The sense of well-being.
And you know that you can carry that well-being with you.
And you know that you can carry that with you as you continue with the day or the week.
And if you'd like,
You're welcome to continue resting,
Falling into a deep,
Deep sleep.
Or if you're continuing on with your day,
Know that you'll be able to do so with energy,
Clarity,
Kindness,
And ease.
And now Yoga Nidra has ended.
Hari Om Tetsit.
Hari Om Tetsit.
Hari Om Tetsit.
Hari Om Tetsit.
Yoga Nidra has ended.
