Yoga Nidra Clouds For Relaxation And Reset

Up into the floor,

We give the subconscious mind a chance to design to express.

Find your breath in your body now and breathe slowly.

Breathe evenly,

Naturally,

With complete ease.

It's almost as if your bones settle down into the back of your body like you're lying in warm sand on the beach and the sand gives away,

Creating a mold for you,

For your body to rest in.

Find yourself releasing tensions in the very back joint of your jaw.

Release the teeth,

Soften the tongue.

Notice your belly lifting a little bit as you inhale and falling a little bit as you exhale.

There's no strain,

No forcing.

Let your concentration be soft,

Almost like you're not concentrating at all.

What's keeping you steady inside is actually your openness.

Send your listening and awareness as far away from you out of the room now,

Perhaps onto the street.

Listen for traffic,

People.

Bring your awareness just a little closer now.

Hear noises inside the room,

A clock ticking,

The music,

The air system,

Perhaps even the hum of electricity.

Bring your awareness to hearing,

Very close.

Hear your breath.

Feel the drumming of your heart in your upper chest,

Throat,

Perhaps fingertips and reverberations in your belly.

At the heart of this yoga nidra practice,

We're going to focus on developing using a sankalpa.

A sankalpa is a conscious intention,

A heartfelt desire that you hope to manifest in your life.

A short positive statement that starts with,

I am or I will.

For example,

I am peaceful or I am healthy.

Sometimes it's referred to as your heart's prayer.

It's also a strong will.

It's a determination of a kind to become,

To do,

To evolve.

It is one of the most powerful and transformative aspects of the nidra practice and of our lives.

When we plant that seed of change,

We are cultivating an attitude to which we will act and think and feel.

If you have a sankalpa that you are already working with,

You will repeat that shortly.

If you do not have a sankalpa,

At this time turn all your senses inward now and listen.

Ask yourself,

What do I need in order to grow?

Thoughtfully and with courage and determination,

Plant your sankalpa now by repeating it three times to yourself in the present tense.

Now let it go,

Give thanks and say to yourself,

I am practicing yoga nidra.

I am awake and relaxed.

As you are making any final adjustments,

I want you to recall in your mind a favorite place,

A personal safe haven where you feel secure,

Safe,

At ease and can experience a sense of overall well-being and peace.

For example,

This place could be simply lying on your couch near a fireplace or you could be lying in a hammock near a lake.

Any place that is inviting to you.

In yoga nidra we call this place your inner resource.

It can be real or imagined so feel free to use any images to help you develop your own inner resource.

Your inner resource is unique to you,

So add as many details as you can.

What does it look like?

What does it feel like?

Are there any sounds there?

Do you notice any tastes or smell there?

How your body feels and where you feel the sensing experiences while you are there.

You will use this inner resource to return to at any time during practice.

For example,

If you fall asleep and wake up feeling lost,

Simply return to your inner resource,

This place where you feel safe and secure.

As we begin the practice,

Feel free to keep your eyes open or closed.

I will be guiding you to notice the physical sensations,

The breath,

Emotions,

Thoughts and feelings of well-being or joy,

And to experience yourself as the witness of all of these comings and goings.

Whatever you experience is fine,

Just as it is,

There is no right or wrong.

Now simply rest at ease and listen to my voice,

Bringing your awareness to the body parts I mention without moving your eyes or body,

Just simply bring your attention in turn as I mention each part,

Following along with the sound of my voice.

Bring your awareness to your left heel,

Sole of the left foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And left pinky toe,

Top of the left foot,

The inner ankle bone,

And around the back of your ankle to the outer ankle bone,

And back to the front of the ankle.

The left shin,

Deep inside the left knee,

And back down the calf of the left leg to the ankle.

Feel your entire lower left leg and foot resting.

Notice your left knee joint,

Your entire left thigh,

The front of the thigh,

The back of the thigh,

Your femur bone in your thigh,

Left hip bone and around the outside of the hip to the back,

Left lower back,

Your right lower back,

The back of the right hip around to the front of the right hip,

The entire right thigh,

The front of the thigh,

The back of the thigh,

The right femur bone relaxing here,

Your right knee joint and around to the back of the knee,

The right calf,

Back of the right ankle,

Right heel,

Sole of the right foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Right pinky toe,

Top of the right foot.

Feel your entire lower right leg and foot resting.

Notice your front abdomen,

Your left front ribcage,

Around the side to the back left ribcage,

Across the spine to the right back ribcage,

Around the front to the front right ribcage,

Your entire spine from the tailbone up through the natural curve of your lumbar spine to the space between your shoulder blades,

The back of your neck,

Left shoulder blade,

Left upper arm,

Left elbow,

Left forearm,

Left wrist,

Back of the left hand,

Left hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Left pinky finger.

Bring your awareness to your right hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Right pinky finger,

Back of the right hand,

Right wrist,

Right forearm,

Right elbow,

Right upper arm,

Right shoulder,

Right shoulder blade,

The front of your chest,

Your right collarbone,

Your left collarbone,

Center of your throat,

Right ear,

Back of your neck,

Left ear,

The base of your skull,

Your right jaw,

Your lower lip,

Your upper lip,

Your left jaw,

Your tongue,

The bridge of your nose,

Space between the eyes,

The forehead,

The left eye,

The right eye,

The center of your forehead,

The top of your head,

Your whole body,

Your whole body,

Your whole body.

Imagine shaking a tissue in the sunlight.

You see all those little particles of dust floating in the air.

Begin to imagine gold particles flowing in and out of your body as you breathe.

The gold particles come up through your feet as you inhale and they touch every cell all the way up to your torso,

All the way up to the crown of your head.

And as you exhale,

You release that golden shimmery wave of particles down your entire body,

Down your legs,

On out through your feet.

Continue to breathe like this,

Touching and gracing your entire body as you breathe.

Wash your body with your breath.

Now release the gold particles of light and with your eyes closed,

Look between the center space between your eyebrows.

Can you expand the space between your eyebrows,

Remembering that this can't be done wrong and that you can return to your inner resource at any time.

Imagine that you've decided to take the garbage out on a very cold morning.

There's a frost on the ground and you don't have your shoes on.

You step outside into the cold.

Let your body experience cold shooting up through your feet,

The legs.

Notice the sensations of cold in the chest as you breathe in.

Let yourself experience cold.

Maybe you can see your breath as you exhale and even smell the crispness in the air.

Experience feeling cold.

Now release the cold and experience a sense of heat,

An intense enveloping kind of heat.

Imagine luring yourself into a sauna or a jacuzzi or a hot tub and waves of heat touch your legs,

Your back,

Your chest,

Arms,

Hands.

And you can taste the salt of perspiration.

Experience heat.

Now go back to the cold and then back to the heat,

Alternating back and forth between the two until maybe they blend and overlap.

Cold to hot.

Now imagine the whole body becoming light as though your body could flow away from the floor and toward the ceiling.

The head is light and weightless.

The limbs are light and weightless.

The torso is light and weightless.

The whole body light and weightless like a feather.

You are rising higher and higher away from the floor.

Imagine your body becoming heavy.

Feel the heaviness in all parts of the body.

Each body part is becoming heavier and heavier like a sandbag.

The head is heavy.

The limbs are heavy.

The torso is heavy.

The whole body is heavy.

So heavy that it is sinking down into the floor.

Now go back to the light feeling and then back to the heavy feeling.

Heavy and then light.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

Is there a point where the two meet and perhaps blend?

Recollect the experience of anxiety or worry.

Feel the stress in your mind and body but do not concentrate on its source.

Create the experience of anxiety as clearly as possible.

Now allow the feeling of complete calm to envelop you.

Manifest the experience of calm in your entire mind,

Body,

And emotions.

You are relaxed and aware.

You are completely calm.

Now go back to how your body feels when it's anxious and then go back to how it feels calm.

Can you alternate back and forth between the two feelings until perhaps they arrive at a middle point?

Finding equanimity.

Imagine that you're floating on a soft fluffy white cloud.

Feel the surface beneath you becoming softer,

More cloud-like.

Feel the cloud rising out of the surface you are on,

Surrounding you in its soft billowy protective cushioning.

Imagine yourself lighter and lighter as the cloud floats.

Let it rise up,

Taking you safely with it.

See the walls and ceiling around you disappearing as you float into the sunny blue warm sky.

Drifting on your cloud.

Feel the cloud beneath you.

It is soft but supportive of your whole body in all the right places.

Notice each place where your body is touching the cloud.

It is floating on air.

Notice how the cloud feels surrounding your body.

Very warm and heavy as it sinks into the cloud.

The sky above is bright blue,

Sunny and inviting.

You are warm and comfortable.

From this vantage point you can see 360 degrees.

The horizon stretches out in a complete circle around you.

The ground below looks like a patchwork quilt.

Green grass,

Golden fields,

Yellow,

Brown,

Blue patches of water,

Rivers,

Lakes.

Up here the air is so clean.

You are weightless and comfortable.

Still supported by the cloud smoothly and comfortably.

Allow yourself to float.

Now I want you to recall your sankalpa,

Your heartfelt desire.

And notice if you can feel your sankalpa resonating in your body in any way.

Take a few moments to see what this feels like.

In this space you have created for yourself,

Your sankalpa takes root and grows.

If you didn't have a sankalpa that's okay.

Your purpose for being here in the first place is enough.

It's possible at this point in your practice a sankalpa could arise.

How does that feel to you now?

Has anything changed or has your mind shifted?

Feel back into the part of you that is aware of all of this.

In other words,

Be aware of being aware.

Can you next feel the air and the clothing touching your skin?

Can you hear any sounds inside or outside the room?

Notice your breath.

Feel it moving in and out of your nose.

Notice if there are any tastes in your mouth.

Now bring your attention to your eyes.

And when you are ready,

You may slowly open them.

But before you do,

I encourage you to take your time,

Rub your palms gently together and place them lightly over your eyes before opening them.

There is no rush.

Take your time transitioning to your alert state of wakefulness.

Your yoga nidra is complete.

Can you experience the feeling of gratitude for taking the time to practice yoga nidra?

Welcome and offer love to yourself as a timeless,

Open and spacious well-being that is perfect just as you are.

And your whole self as whole,

Healthy and perfect just as you are.

And the understanding that you always know the perfect response to each moment as you take the time to welcome your deepest knowing.

Thank yourself one more time for taking the time to practice yoga nidra.

Sense everything around you.

And rise slowly when you are ready.

Perhaps rolling onto your favorite side for a moment.

Again,

There is no rush.

I will be here for any questions should they arise.

Thank you for practicing yoga nidra.

It has been my honor to be your guide.