Prepare for the practice of Yoga Nidra by lying on your back in Shavasana.
If Shavasana doesn't feel appropriate,
You can sit in a chair or sit on the floor,
Perhaps with your back against the wall.
It's possible to practice with the eyes open,
With a soft gaze,
Or closed.
Take a deep breath in,
And on the exhale,
Think,
WONDER.
And do this several times.
Just taking a deep breath in,
And on the exhale,
Thinking,
WONDER.
And say to yourself mentally,
I am practicing Yoga Nidra.
And begin to notice the weight of the body.
Connect to this miraculous body that's yours as heavy.
The head is heavy.
The shoulders are heavy.
The back is heavy.
Legs are heavy.
The whole body is heavy.
And the weight of the body allows you to relax more deeply.
And then begin listening in all directions for sounds.
Listen for sounds outside the room.
Maybe they're exterior sounds.
And then listen for sounds inside the room.
Maybe there's a clock ticking.
Humming of electronics.
Listen for those types of sounds.
And then move deeper in to sounds of the body.
Maybe there's a gurgling in the stomach.
The sound of the breath moving in and out of the nose or mouth.
And listen for the sound of the heartbeat,
Or feel the heartbeat.
And in the heartbeat,
Hear the heart's desire.
In Yoga Nidra,
We call it the Sankalpa.
It's a resolve,
An inner longing,
A short positive statement in the present or future tense.
And if you don't have that resolve or Sankalpa that you're working with already,
For tonight,
You might try a statement like,
I am open to awe and wonder.
Or I'm open to the mystery of life.
Or I am in awe every day.
Using one of my statements or your own,
Repeat it three times mentally with full awareness and the confidence that it will come true.
Moving on to the rotation of consciousness through the body,
The body scan.
A body part will be named,
And either repeat the name of the body part mentally,
Bring awareness to the body part,
Or visualize the body part.
I'll give some instructions,
And you know that all these other possibilities are there.
Repeating the name,
Bringing awareness to or visualizing the body part.
And we'll start as always on the right side of the body,
Beginning with the right hand thumb.
Bring awareness to the right hand thumb,
The right hand thumb that makes so many things possible,
Creating art,
Writing,
Holding things in the hand.
Bring awareness to the miraculousness,
The beauty,
The possibility of the right hand thumb.
And then shift the awareness,
The reverence,
To the index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And pinky finger.
Begin to notice the palm of the hand,
Back of the hand,
Forearm,
Forearm,
Upper arm,
Shoulder.
Become curious about the side of the right rib cage,
Right waist,
Hip.
Connect to the possibilities of the upper leg,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel,
Instep,
And be fascinated by the right big toe,
Second toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe.
And move the awareness to the left side of the body and connect to that mystery and possibility and sense of humanness that is found in the left hand thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And pinky finger.
Be fascinated with the palm of the hand,
Forearm,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Shoulder,
And armpits.
And respect the side of the left rib cage,
Left waist,
And left hip.
And then begin to think about the possibilities that are encompassed in the upper leg,
Instep,
And become curious about the sole of the foot,
The top of the foot,
And the left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe.
Bring that awareness,
The awareness of the mystery and the magic found in the top of the head,
Forehead,
The right temple,
The left temple.
Connect to the beauty of the right eyebrow,
The left eyebrow,
And the eyebrow center.
Be astonished by the ability of the right eye,
The left eye,
Bridge of the nose,
Tip of the nose,
The right nostril,
The right nostril,
The left nostril,
The mystery of the upper lip,
Lower lip,
Chin.
Feel esteem for the right collarbone,
The left collarbone,
The hollow between the collarbones,
Venerate the right chest,
The left chest,
And the heart center.
Feel the mystery of the upper abdomen,
Navel,
Lower abdomen,
Pelvis.
Be fascinated by the lower back,
Buttocks,
Middle back,
Upper back.
Respect the right shoulder blade,
The left shoulder blade,
The back of the neck,
The back of the head,
And the top of the head.
Bring the awareness to the whole right arm,
Including the hands.
And notice that whole right arm and the dexterity and possibilities that exist within it.
And then the whole left arm,
Including the hand.
Reverence and esteem and regard for everything that this arm can do.
And become aware of the whole right leg and the feet,
The ability and mobility that it affords,
And the whole left leg and the foot,
The mystery that it allows.
And then bring awareness to the hands and arms and legs and feet together.
How wonderful to have these limbs.
And then regard the whole front of the body and connect to the whole back of the body and bring awareness to the mystery,
The marvelousness of the whole body together,
The whole body together,
The whole body together.
And then let go of the tour of the miraculous body that is yours and come back to the breath.
Notice the rise and fall of the breath.
With each inhale,
The belly rises.
And with each exhale,
The belly falls.
And begin to work with what in yoga we call kumbhaka or breath retention.
Many yogis say that in the moments that we hold the breath is when we connect to the divine,
The wonder of source energy or spirit.
Perhaps you inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Retain the breath,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four.
If that seems like a good count,
Work with that.
Inhaling,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Retain the breath,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
If that doesn't seem right,
Find the count that's right for you.
Some kind of inhale,
A moment of breath retention to connect to source energy and divinity,
And then an exhale.
And begin to practice that in your own way,
Either four,
Four,
Four,
Or another number.
And if holding the breath is not in your practice,
Then just work with slow,
Deep inhales and exhales.
Don't feel forced to do anything.
And continue to practice breath retention with slow,
Deep inhales and exhales,
Or practice whatever breathing technique you're using right now.
And if the technique has gotten lost,
Come back to the technique that you're using for breath awareness.
Keep working with the technique,
Either the Kumbhaka,
Retention of breath,
Or your chosen practice.
Stay with it.
And now let go of the technique.
No technique is necessary anymore.
And come back to natural breathing.
There's a mantra in yoga,
Soham.
Soham,
Meaning I am that,
Or the universe outside of me is the same as the universe inside of me.
Soham.
Begin working with Soham by inhaling thinking so,
And exhale thinking hum.
If those words don't resonate with you,
You can use your own mantra,
Or maybe inhale I am,
And exhale all that is,
Or inhale I am,
And exhale that I am.
Choose a technique,
Choose the words,
And begin to practice the repetition of mantra or words in English.
It could be inhaling thinking so,
And exhale thinking hum,
Or one of the other possibilities.
And if the mantra has gotten lost,
Come back to the mantra.
Stay with the practice.
Stay with the practice.
Inhaling so,
Exhaling hum,
Or inhaling some form of I am,
All that is.
And now let go of that practice of repetition of words or mantra,
And come back to the breath.
And notice when the breath is cool,
Is there cool air coming in the nose or mouth with the breath?
And connect to any other part of the body that's cool.
Maybe the fingertips or the toes.
Perhaps there's places on the exposed skin that are cool.
Become aware of them.
And then spread the coolness across the entire body.
Let the body be cool.
Experience the body as coolness.
The body is cool.
And let go of coolness and come to that opposite experience of warmth.
The warmth of wonder.
The warmth of the pitta dosha.
The rajasic nature.
And find some places in the body that are warm.
Maybe it's under the blankets or clothing.
Maybe the warmth is found at the core of the body.
Find an area or areas that are warm,
And spread the warmth across the entire body.
Let the body be warm.
Know the body is warm.
The body is warm.
Let go of warmth and come back to that opposite experience of coolness.
And once again,
Seek out those places that are cool.
The tip of the nose.
Fingertips or the toes.
Surprise yourself where you can find coolness on the body.
And then find that coolness and once again spread it across the entire body.
And let the body be cool.
The body is cool.
And let go of the coolness.
And once again,
Move to that opposite experience of warmth.
Looking for the possibilities of warmth in the body.
Where could the body possibly be warm?
At the core.
Under the blankets or clothing.
And expand and extend that warmth across the entire body.
Let the body be warm.
The body is warm.
Let go of that warmth and come back to coolness and add in warmth.
Let the body be both warm and cool at the exact same time.
Be both warm and cool simultaneously.
Now let go of the warm and let go of the cool.
And come back to natural breathing.
And while breathing,
Connect once again to the weight of the body.
Feel the head heavy.
The shoulders heavy.
Back and buttocks and legs heavy.
Feel the body so heavy,
It seems as if it's made of lead.
Notice the heaviness of the body and experience it as if the body is made of stone.
Let the body be heavy.
The body is heavy.
Let go of the heaviness and come to the opposite experience of lightness.
Wonder is experienced in a lightness of the body.
A lightness in knowing that the world is miraculous.
And connect to places in the body that are light.
Maybe it's the hair on the head or the eyelashes.
Maybe it's the fingertips or the tips of the toes.
Discover a place in the body that feels light and spread that lightness across the entire body.
Let the body be light.
The body is light.
And let go of the lightness and once again experience the heaviness.
The solidity,
The weight of the body.
And let go of that heaviness and come back to the lightness.
Feel the transcendence.
Feel the body so light that it could rise above the floor like a feather.
Feel the body so light that it could blow in the wind like a leaf.
And then let go of that lightness and come back to heaviness and add in lightness.
Attempt to be both heavy and light at the exact same time.
Although it's difficult to do,
Be both heavy and light simultaneously.
And then let go of heaviness and let go of lightness and come back to natural breathing.
Bring awareness to the Chittikash,
The mind space in front of the closed eyes.
Bring awareness to the Chittikash,
The mind movie.
Bring awareness to that miraculous place,
The Chittikash,
The mind space in front of the closed eyes.
And notice if there are any colors or patterns there.
And in the Chittikash,
The mind space in front of the closed eyes,
Remember an experience of wonder.
See the self completely in awe.
Come to an experience of wonder,
Maybe being at the Grand Canyon or watching a seed become a tree or the birth of a child.
Connect to an experience of wonder.
Make it your own.
Could be listening to a piece of music or noticing the generosity of a friend.
And in this experience of wonder,
Notice what the temperature is.
Is there a color,
Colors?
Do you hear sounds?
Has your heart rate changed?
Do you have goosebumps or feel chills?
Has the self diminished and become small?
Do you feel connected or positive?
In this moment of wonder,
Is there a feeling of delight or spiritual truth?
Remember this moment of wonder.
Connect to the experience as if it's happening right now.
See the wonder.
Connect to any message that the memory of the experience of wonder might be giving you.
Be astonished.
Feel amazed.
And then let go of that experience of wonder and visualize these simple images that will be suggested.
A majestic tree with deep roots.
A majestic tree with deep roots.
A meteor shower.
A meteor shower.
A waterfall.
A waterfall.
A baby's laugh.
A baby's laugh.
Ocean waves at sunset.
Ocean waves at sunset.
Sunrise over snow-capped mountains.
Sunrise over snow-capped mountains.
A meadow full of wildflowers.
A meadow full of wildflowers.
A rainbow.
Bring awareness back to the Chittikash,
The mind space in front of the closed eyes and let go of the visualization practice.
And once again,
Connect to the breath.
And in the gentle breath,
Hear the whisper of the Sankalpa,
The short positive statement,
The resolve that was made at the beginning of the Yoga Nidra practice.
And repeat it again three times with full awareness and the confidence that it will come true.
Feel the miracle of the heartbeats.
Be astonished by the breath moving in and out of the nose or mouth.
And begin listening to nearby sounds,
Listening for nearby sounds.
Sounds of the body.
Sounds of the room.
Listen for the sounds inside the room.
And then be curious.
And notice the sounds outside the room.
Identify them.
Car,
Car,
Car.
Neighbor,
Neighbor,
Neighbor.
And find the furthest sound that you can hear outside the room.
Listen for that,
The furthest sound that you can hear.
And then remember the room,
Remember the room.
Remember the ceiling.
Remember the floor.
Remember where you set up in the room.
What position and what place did you decide to practice Yoga Nidra in the room?
See yourself there,
Bird's eye view.
Even remember what you're wearing.
And then come back to the breath.
As always,
We come back to the breath.
And extend the breath from the head to the fingertips.
And the fingertips back to the head.
And extend the breath from the head to the toes.
And then the toes back to the head.
And say to yourself mentally,
The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.
And then keep the eyes closed.
And if you're going to bed,
You just stay here and you don't pay any more attention to my words.
But if you're going to come out of the practice,
Begin to wiggle the fingers and the toes.
And roll the wrists one way.
And then the opposite direction.
And then take any kind of intuitive movement the body is asking for.
It might be a great stretch,
The arms over the head.
It could be a twist.
It could be a combination of things.
Just take any kind of intuitive movement the body is asking for.
When you're ready,
You can roll over onto your right side in a fetal position if you were lying down.
And if you're planning to get up.
And then in this position of rebirth and renewal,
The fetal position,
I'm just going to say a couple more things about wonder.
We can practice a wonder sadhana.
We can make a practice of wonder.
And the way the yogis say to do that is just to refrain from the idea of understanding anything.
And just be always conscious that we're ignorant.
That we don't know the answers.
And in that wonder sadhana,
We accept that whatever happens is a miracle.
And nothing can be really understood.
And always being astonished is completely suitable and a great way to live.
Whatever happens,
Happens.
And never deny the miracle of this world.
So that's the wonder sadhana.
The idea to live in wonder for a while,
A day,
A week,
A lifetime.
And then if you wish,
You can push yourself up to a comfortable seated position.
Maybe you bring your hands in the heart center.
And I'll end with the sound of om.
Take a deep inhale.
The part of me that wonders and is in awe bows down to,
Admires,
And acknowledges the part of you that wonders and is in awe.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
Ashe.
