Cultivate Light Yoga Nidra

Welcome to this practice of Yoga Nidra where we loosen the grip on all we are holding and in the space of softening we open to receive.

Lay yourself down for your practice with the utmost tenderness and care.

Honor your body's needs for comfort and safety with blankets and pillows,

Maybe something to cover the eyes.

You can diffuse essential oils,

Bring in crystals or any other items that feel special to you,

Creating a resonant space for your practice.

But all that really matters is that you arrive fully in this moment.

Take a deep breath and drop in.

It can feel good to receive this practice from the yogic pose of Shavasana.

Lying on your back on a firm but comfortable surface,

Arms and legs away from the midline,

Palms facing the sky.

But if for any reason that doesn't feel good for your body,

Listen to your own wisdom.

Just make sure that whatever position you choose allows your body the full letting go this practice offers.

Spine straight and heart open.

In this Yoga Nidra practice we'll welcome light into our experience and play in the fertile space of receiving that light can bring.

When we cultivate our light and we willingly allow the flow of our darkness,

We transcend all that has gone before and we move into new fields of possibility.

Bring your hands to your heart and acknowledge yourself for this time you are taking to honor your own light and open to new beginnings.

Let breath flow through the heart as if it is your heart that's breathing.

As you bring your hands back to their resting place,

Give your body any last minute wiggles to get truly comfortable so you can allow yourself to rest in stillness for the remainder of the practice.

Notice the ground holding you,

The feel of your clothes and the air on your skin,

Your breath moving in and out of the body.

Take a deep sighing exhale.

Know that this practice is one of effortless receiving.

There is nothing for you to do but fall back and follow my words.

Allow awareness to rest in the center of the chest,

The heart center.

Imagine a clear golden light forming in this space,

A radiant sphere of light growing around the heart,

Glowing brighter and brighter with every breath you take.

Light wells in the heart and expands and in this radiant space we invite in Sankalpa.

Sankalpa is the space of potential we enter into in every Yoga Nidra practice,

Where we acknowledge the longing of our hearts and allow our deepest desire for our life to be born into reality.

To form your Sankalpa,

Feel gently into the space of the heart.

Ask yourself here,

What am I most longing to feel in my life?

Perhaps I am loved,

I am worthy,

I am whole.

Listen for anything that arises,

Feeling into the energy of that desire.

How would you feel if you knew this statement to be true?

Let energy form into words,

A short statement of intention in the present tense as if it is already complete.

Sankalpa remembers who we already are at our deepest core and in the liminal space of Yoga Nidra we birth it into being and if nothing arises naturally for you in this moment,

You are welcome to use the Sankalpa.

I am open to receive.

Bring awareness back to the glowing light in the heart.

Golden light surrounds the heart,

Pulsing with every heartbeat and here speak the words of your Sankalpa with love and conviction three times.

It is already true.

And now the practice of Yoga Nidra begins with a journey through the physical body.

Keep the body still,

Moving just your awareness and feeling and sensing into each body part.

Let it be easy and effortless,

Fluidly flowing with the sound of my voice.

Begin in the center of the chest,

Your loving radiant heart.

See the golden light pooling and puddling in this space.

As you focus your awareness,

The light expands.

Liquid light welling up and pouring down the right arm into the right hand.

Liquid light fills the thumb,

Received into the bones,

The muscle,

Flesh,

Skin.

Feel the thumb full of light,

The second finger,

The third finger,

The fourth finger,

The fifth finger.

Light spills into the palm and rises through the wrist,

Through the forearm to the elbow,

Through the upper arm to the shoulder.

Light filling the shoulder and pouring the light through the ribs,

Collecting in the right side of the pelvis.

Liquid light spilling through the hip,

Through the thigh to the knee,

Through the lower leg to the ankle,

Filling the right foot,

Received into every toe.

Light filling the right big toe,

The second toe,

The third toe,

The fourth toe and the fifth toe.

The whole foot full of light,

The whole right side of the body full of liquid light.

Come back to the light at the center of the heart and watch it welling up again here,

Spilling down the left shoulder through the left arm and into the left hand.

Light filling the left thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

And fifth finger.

Light rising up the palm through the wrist,

Through the forearm to the elbow,

Through the upper arm to the shoulder.

Light filling the shoulder and spilling through the ribs,

Collecting in the left side of the pelvis.

Light spilling through the left hip,

Through the left thigh to the knee,

Through the lower leg to the ankle,

Filling into the left foot and all the toes.

Light received into the big toe,

The second toe,

The third toe,

The fourth toe and the fifth toe.

The whole left foot full of light,

The whole left side of the body is full of light.

Light travels up the backs of the legs,

Fills into the chalice of the pelvis,

Rises through the spine,

Growing and glowing through every vertebrae,

Rising through the neck and filling into the back of the brain.

Light in the whole back body.

Light spills now over the forehead,

Pouring in through the third eye,

Washing your cheeks in light,

Filling the whole back of the body.

Light filling the your cheeks in light,

Smoothing over the nose,

Collecting in the cups of the eye sockets.

Light received in through the ears,

Pouring into the mouth,

Filling the teeth,

The tongue,

The whole jaw,

The whole head is full of light.

It spills through the throat,

Received into the chest,

Filling through the heart and the lungs.

It falls through the upper belly and the lower belly,

Collecting again in the chalice of the pelvis,

The pelvis full of light.

It spills down the front of the legs and collects again in the toes,

The whole front of the body full of light.

Both legs full of light,

Both arms full of light,

Your torso,

Neck and head full of light.

The whole body,

The whole body.

Soak in the awareness of your whole body full of light.

Feel the natural breath flowing in and out of the body,

Your whole body breathing.

Breath received,

Breath released,

Effortless,

Energy flows,

Effortless.

See the breath entering the body,

Rippling through the liquid light.

Watch breath rippling through the body,

Breath and rippling light.

The breath is light.

With every breath your light grows brighter,

Expanding beyond the body into the space around you.

Breath expanding,

Light expanding.

See yourself in a cocoon full of light.

Light grows brighter,

Light expands.

Feel yourself as light.

And now awareness of the light releases and darkness arises like a wave.

The dark of a pitch black night,

The body in the experience of darkness.

Darkness all around,

Darkness within.

Darkness arises to be experienced now.

And now darkness falls and releases completely and the light rises like a wave to take its place.

Feel your body washed in light,

Light all around you,

Light within you.

Body,

Mind,

Heart and soul full of light.

Allow light to be experienced now.

And as the light too releases with the wave of your breath,

Begin to notice your body closing.

What does it feel like in the body to close,

To be completely shut down?

Feel sensations in your body completely closed.

And as the wave and as the wave of your breath releases you from this closed space,

You feel yourself spontaneously open.

Openness experienced through the whole body.

How does it feel to be fully open?

Your body,

Mind and heart all open.

Feel yourself open now.

From this expanse of openness,

Let awareness come to the centre of the forehead,

To the dark space behind the eyes.

See this space transform into a movie screen on which images will appear and pass by.

Let the images rise and fall naturally along with my words,

Allowing them to be experienced in any way they come.

Sunlight falling through green trees,

A cat purring,

Swimming naked in a mountain river,

The spray from a waterfall misting your skin,

Broken glass,

The night sky full of stars,

Your bare feet on a stone floor,

A dead bird,

A clay jar full of oil,

A wooden cross,

Deep darkness,

A golden egg in the palm of your hand,

A deep exhale,

The smell after rain,

The shining sun,

Peace,

Perfect peace,

Peace,

Perfect peace,

In a vast meadow.

The summer air is filled with the smell of grass and clover,

Fresh from recently fallen rain,

A gentle breeze plays upon your skin,

The hum of bumblebees fills the sky,

Lay yourself lovingly amongst the grass,

The earth warm at your back,

A clear blue sky arcs high overhead,

You sink deeper,

You let go,

Grass tingles gently against your bare arms and legs,

Grass and soil teeming with life,

All around you in every direction,

Spread your body here,

Under the open sky,

Your heart opens,

Golden rays of light are slanting across the luminous blue sky,

Filling your vision,

Peace,

Perfect peace,

Your body warmed,

Your bones in the earth,

Your eyes full of light,

Your eyes full of light,

Your whole body full of light,

Whole,

Full,

Whole body full of light,

Whole,

Feel yourself whole,

In this wholeness of being,

Let the words of your sankalpa return to you,

Feel the energy of your deepest desire,

As it pours through every cell of your body,

Let it hum and sing with the light in you,

And echo through your whole being,

And with this affirmation of who you are,

The practice of yoga nidra is coming to an end,

Receive your body resting on the ground beneath you,

Let yourself sense and feel your body,

In this time,

This place,

Let hands and feet squeeze and release,

Inviting sensation back into the body,

Calling yourself back to presence in this moment,

Receive the air as it flows in and out of your lungs,

Allow breath to come deeper in the body,

Feeling it enlivening you,

As you sweep breath through the whole body,

Oxygen received in every cell,

Receive the sounds around you as they fall into your ears,

Calling you back to this time in this place,

The scents in your nostrils,

The tastes on your tongue,

Call your awareness back here into this moment of awakening,

You are here,

You are whole,

You are home,

You are whole,

You are home,

The practice of yoga nidra is complete,

Allow yourself to move out of this practice in any way that feels good to you,

Moving and stretching,

Maybe shaking and releasing,

Honor yourself in every moment,

The light in me honors the light in you,

Sat nam.