Yoga Nidra, Return To Wholeness

And settle down into your nest for yoga nidra.

Perhaps you drape your thighs or your knees over a pillow or a bolster.

Head relaxed into some kind of support.

If you want to drape a scarf over your eyes or a blanket over your body for some warmth,

Feel free to do that.

We'll be here practicing yoga nidra for about an hour,

So give yourself all the support that you need to settle in and to relax,

To allow your body and your mind to fall asleep,

But to keep just a thread of your awareness awake.

Allow any last little bits of movement here as you soften and snuggle into the support within,

Beneath,

And all around you.

And then allow a wave of deep inner stillness to rise from within and to spread throughout your whole body so that your whole body becomes soft and still,

Knowing that at any time,

If you feel like you do need to adjust your position,

Remaining as relaxed as possible,

You can always make the shift and then settle back in once again.

But for now,

Soften into stillness and allow yourself this time just for you to rest,

To rest,

To restore your vital systems,

And to return to the wholeness that you are.

And as you soften and settle here,

Just allow a wave of ease and softness to wash over your feet your feet,

Your heels,

Tops of the feet,

Toes,

Soles of the feet,

Soft and relaxed.

Allow a wave of ease and softness to wash over your ankles,

Your calves,

And your shins,

Your calves,

Your shins,

And your ankles,

Soft and relaxed.

Allow a wave of ease and softness to wash through both of your knees,

Both of your knees,

Soft and relaxed.

Allow a wave of ease and softness to wash through your thighs,

Your thighs,

Soft and relaxed.

Allow a wave of ease and softness to wash through your hips and your pelvis,

Your hips and your pelvis,

Soft and relaxed.

Allow a wave of ease and softness to wash through your belly and your lower back,

Your belly and your lower back,

So soft and relaxed.

Allow a wave of ease and softness to wash through your chest,

Your sides,

Your upper back,

Your chest,

Your sides,

Your upper back,

Soft and relaxed.

Allow a wave of ease and softness to wash across both of your shoulders,

Both of your shoulders,

Soft and relaxed.

Allow a wave of ease and softness to wash down both of your arms from shoulders to fingertips,

Both of your arms,

Wrists and hands,

Soft and relaxed.

Allow a wave of ease and softness to rinse through the throat and through the neck,

The throat and the neck,

Soft and relaxed.

The throat and the neck,

Soft and relaxed.

Allow a wave of ease and softness to wash through your head and through your face,

Your head and your face,

Soft and relaxed.

Allow a wave of ease and softness to wash over your whole body,

Your whole body,

Soft and relaxed.

Your whole body,

Soft and relaxed.

And allow yourself to experience any waves of sound that are moving through the ocean of your awareness right now.

Any waves of sound whatsoever,

From the most obvious to the most subtle.

Just experience all of the waves of sound within the outer environment right now.

Notice how they rise and fall,

How they come and go.

The waves of sound and their interplay with silence,

Creating the soundscape of life all around you.

Just know that the soundscape of life will continue to flow all around you.

Sounds will come and go.

Silence will ebb and flow,

And you can just let that be what that is.

Sounds on the surface as you step your awareness inside.

The soundscape of life,

Even my voice,

You can listen to,

Like the soft wind that blows outside of your house,

Or the pitter-patter of raindrops on rooftops.

As you turn your awareness inside and listen to the sound of your inner landscape,

Your inner environment.

There might be the chatter of thoughts.

Let that be what that is.

The gurgle in the belly.

The beat of your heart.

Let that be what that is.

Allow your awareness to land and to steep within the sound of your breath.

Soft and subtle,

Each wave of breath,

Listen as it moves through your body.

Listen and allow each wave of breath to flow through your body,

To wash over your body.

Now begin to trace the breath as it flows in and as it flows out.

Just start at the very tip of your nose and follow the breath in through the nostrils as you breathe in and out through the nostrils as you breathe out.

Feel that threshold where the waves of breath flow in and where the waves of breath flow out.

Follow the path of the breath a little further now.

Feel the wave of the inhale pour through the nostrils and then flow down through the belly of the throat as you breathe in.

And then as you breathe out,

Up through the throat and back out through the nostrils.

Follow the breath in a little further,

In through the nostrils,

Down through the throat.

Follow it into the chest,

Into the heart space and feel the pooling of breath there.

And as you breathe out,

Feel the breath flow from the heart through the throat,

Back out through the nostrils.

And follow the breath as it pours in through the nose,

Down through the throat,

Flooding through the chest and then all the way down through the belly,

Down to the base as you breathe in.

And as you breathe out,

Feel it pour out from the base,

From the belly,

Through the chest,

Through the throat,

Back out through the nostrils.

And as you breathe out,

Feel it pour out from the base,

From the belly,

Through the chest,

Through the throat,

Back out through the nostrils.

Follow the breath as it pours in and down as you breathe in.

And as it flows up and out as you breathe out.

And just feel into that natural rhythm of breath washing through you,

In and down as you breathe in,

Up and out as you breathe out.

Allow each wave of breath to wash over you.

Now allow that process to begin to resolve.

And just rest with the natural breath without having to necessarily follow it anywhere.

Just steep in the experience of breath.

Feel into its natural rhythm and flow.

Now call forward your imagination and imagine the image of the full moon in the night sky.

Just call upon the image of a full moon in the night sky.

Luminous,

Soft,

Bright.

Now imagine a drop of moonlight falls into the very center of your head,

The center of your head,

Luminous and bright.

A drop of moonlight in the very center of your throat,

The nectar of the moon,

Luminous in the center of your throat.

A drop of moonlight in the center of your right shoulder,

Soft,

Light.

A drop of moonlight in the center of your right elbow.

A drop of moonlight in the center of your right wrist,

The glow of the nectar of the moon,

The tip of your right hand thumb.

Moonlight in the tip of your right index finger.

The tip of your right middle finger.

The tip of your right ring finger.

The tip of your right pinky finger.

A drop of moonlight in the center of your right wrist,

Luminous and soft.

A drop of moonlight in the center of your right elbow.

A drop of moonlight in the center of your right shoulder.

The nectar of moonlight in the center of your throat,

Luminous and soft.

A drop of moonlight in the center of your left shoulder.

A drop of moonlight in the center of your left elbow.

A drop of moonlight in the center of your left wrist,

Luminous and soft.

The nectar of the moon,

The tip of your left hand thumb,

Soft and relaxed.

Tip of your left index finger.

Drop of moonlight.

Tip of your left middle finger.

Tip of your left ring finger.

Tip of your left pinky finger.

Drop of moonlight in the center of your left wrist.

Drop of moonlight in the center of your left elbow.

Drop of moonlight in the center of your left shoulder.

The nectar of moonlight in the center of your throat,

Luminous and soft.

The nectar of moonlight in the center of your chest.

The very center of your heart center,

Luminous and bright.

Drop of moonlight in the center of your right lung.

Drop of moonlight in the center of your chest.

The very center of your heart center,

Soft and bright.

Drop of moonlight in the center of your left lung.

The nectar of moonlight,

Radiant in the very center of your chest.

Your heart center,

Luminous and soft.

Your heart center,

Luminous and soft.

Allow your awareness to bask in the radiance of moonlight here in the center of your heart.

And here,

At rest,

In the wisdom of your heart,

Notice what quality of heart.

Let us hear that you're being called to fortify.

What quality of heart are you being compelled to amplify?

Notice before thought what quality of heart is coming forward for you to fortify right now.

And feel that quality of heart rise from within and spread throughout your whole body.

This quality of heart rises like the tide from within and spreads throughout your whole body.

Your whole body bathed in this quality of heart.

Just feel what that's like.

Begin to feel how it's carried on each wave of breath.

Begin to attune to the waves of breath as they wash over your whole body.

Feel the waves of breath wash over you as you breathe in a wave of breath washes from the crown of your head down through your body to the soles of your feet and as you breathe out from the soles of your feet to the crown of the head.

As you inhale,

The breath washes over you from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet.

As you exhale from the soles of the feet to the crown of the head.

Just keep going in this fashion,

Allowing each wave of breath to wash over your whole body from the crown to the feet,

From the feet to the crown.

Now changing just slightly,

Now as you inhale from the crown of the head to the ankles and as you exhale from the ankles to the crown of the head.

Each wave of breath pouring through,

Washing over you as you inhale from the crown of the head to the ankles and as you exhale from the ankles back up and out through the crown of the head.

Continuing a few more as you inhale from the crown of the head to the ankles as you exhale from the ankles to the crown of the head.

Now changing just slightly as you inhale from the crown of the head to the knees and as you exhale from the knees to the crown of the head.

Feel these waves of breath wash through you from the crown to the knees as you breathe in from the knees to the crown as you breathe out.

Again changing just slightly,

This time as you inhale from the crown of the head to the base of the spine and as you exhale from the base of the spine to the crown of the head.

Waves of breath wash over you from the crown to the base as you breathe in from the base to the crown as you breathe out.

Changing just slightly as you inhale from the crown to the belly as you breathe in from the belly to the crown as you breathe out.

Changing just slightly as you inhale from the crown of the head to the heart center as you exhale from the heart center to the crown of the head.

Waves of breath wash over you from the crown of the head to the heart as you breathe in from the heart to the crown as you breathe out.

Changing just slightly as you inhale from the crown to the belly of the throat as you exhale from the belly of the throat to the crown of the head.

Switching once again as you inhale a wave of breath from the crown of the head flooding through the midbrain as you exhale from the midbrain back to the crown of the head.

Waves of breath rinsing from the crown of the head to the midbrain as you breathe in from the midbrain to the crown as you breathe out.

We'll switch it once again so please draw your awareness to the very tips of your nostrils and see if you can feel as you breathe in the breath coming from just beyond the tips of the nostrils in through the nostrils and up just above the crown of the head as you breathe in and as you breathe out from just above the crown of the head back out through the nostrils.

As you inhale from just beyond the nostrils in and up beyond the crown of your head and as you exhale a wave of breath and awareness from the crown back out through the nostrils.

Continue to find your own rhythm with this from just beyond the nostrils up and out the crown of the head on the inhale and on the exhale from just above the crown back out through the nostrils.

Just a few more cycles here in through the nostrils up beyond the crown of the head as you exhale from beyond the crown of the head back out through the nostrils.

And you can allow that process to begin to resolve.

Allow the breath to just return to its natural rhythm.

As you allow yourself to become the sky of awareness itself.

Rest back as the sky of awareness itself through which the breath comes and goes.

As you rest back as the sky of awareness notice how the breath comes and goes.

Just notice if anything else crosses the sky of your awareness,

Crosses through like clouds moving through the vast sky.

If nothing arises in the sky of your awareness,

No problem.

Nothing to create but if anything arises in the sky of your awareness just let it pass through.

Be it a sensation,

A thought,

An image,

A sound,

A story or nothing at all.

Just rest back as the sky of awareness itself.

Whatever moves through the sky of your awareness you remain as the sky of awareness and allow whatever rises to rise and pass through like a cloud moves through the vast sky.

Whatever rises to rise and pass through like a cloud moves through the vast and open sky.

Just a few more moments here resting as the sky of awareness itself.

Allowing all that moves through the sky of awareness to simply pass through.

And please allow that process to begin to resolve.

And once again imagine the full moon in the night sky.

Here within the sky of awareness that you are the full moon in the night sky,

Luminous,

Radiant,

Soft and reflective.

One as if the moon was beginning to set just over the horizon.

Allow the moon to slip down and down until it settles into the very center of your heart center.

Full moon in the very center of your heart center.

Your heart center full moon in the very center of your heart center.

Your heart center radiant with the nectar of the full moon.

And allow yourself to come to rest.

In the radiance of your heart for the next five minutes in silence.

You take refuge here in your own luminous nature and rest.

Steeped in the full luminosity of your boundless heart.

Take a moment to remember the quality of heart that you are called to be.

The quality of heart that you are called to embody more completely.

That you're being called to fortify,

To amplify,

To express.

And feel that quality of heart rise from within and once again spread through your whole body.

Like the waves of the rising tide.

And feel the wisdom of this heart quality being carried on the waves of your breath.

Within and throughout your whole body.

You begin to breathe your body slowly back to the surface,

Back to a waking state.

Feel the breath in the chest.

Feel the weight of your body on the floor.

Begin to very slowly experience the waves of sound within and all around you.

Starting to attune to the waves of sound not just in your inner environment but in the outer environment as well.

Begin to invite a little movement back into your body.

Perhaps you roll your tongue in your mouth or lick your lips or wave your thumbs over the tips of your other fingers.

Allow that movement to begin to grow a little.

Maybe you stretch out into fingers and toes.

Just allow your body and your breath to pour back over into movement once again.

Maybe you want to tip your head from side to side.

Maybe you want to stretch arms and legs out or hug the knees into your chest.

Begin to wake up in a way that feels really genuine to you.

Take your time to stretch out,

To hug in,

To wake up.

But eventually you'll roll over onto your side and just curl right around yourself.

And as you roll to your side and curl yourself into your own lap like a cat in front of the fireplace,

Just acknowledge to yourself that this practice of Yoga Nidra is complete.

This practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.