Creative Yoga Nidra: Life Of Tree

There is a place between awake and asleep that you pass through each night.

This place is like a doorway into the deeper aspects of you.

To enter holds the possibility of uncovering your gifts and truths,

Your memories and beliefs,

And to stretch the edges of human potential.

Your attention as the director of awareness extends deeper and deeper inside,

Resulting in healing,

Awakening and inner well-being.

There is only one key choice to make,

And that choice is to be willing to release what you know about relaxation,

Sleep,

Meditation,

And to hold the possibility that there is always something more.

Prepare for the practice of Yoga Nidra.

Lay on your back in a quiet and comfortable space where you'll be able to practice undisturbed for the next 40 minutes.

Stillness in your body is essential to accessing the deeper spaces inside.

So give yourself a moment to make sure your body is warmed by blankets or clothing.

The back of your head and backs of your knees could be supported by pillows,

And you could place an eye pillow over top of your eyes.

As you commit to total stillness,

Breathe in through your nose and silently,

Slowly out through your mouth.

Again,

In through your nose,

Slowly and silently out through your mouth.

One more breath like that.

The practice of Yoga Nidra begins now.

The movement of time that often seems so concrete stretches and becomes more fluid as you turn inward.

Release any strong focus and let your attention expand to sense the rich totality of this very moment.

Hear every sound,

Loud and quiet,

And stretch your hearing as far away as you can.

Listen to sounds outside of the room you're in.

Then draw your hearing close and listen to sounds so close to you,

Even the sounds of your breath.

Feel the outer layers of your skin,

Your body,

And notice any parts of your body where air is touching,

Where you feel a slight breeze.

Become sensitive to the different temperatures throughout your body.

And see the dark release of your eyelids over your eyes,

Your closed eyes widening in the sockets to take a relaxed and expanded shape.

Gently pause your attention on the center of your forehead until the muscles of the forehead un-grip and the space of your forehead widens to open the inner eye.

Now remember a moment in time where you felt so comfortable,

So deeply relaxed.

Maybe you were laying on a beach or relaxing on a couch or in a hammock,

Where the relaxation of your body was so comfortable and at ease,

Mind was gentle and present.

You have this memory in your cells that's already there.

Recall the moment of total relaxation completely.

Let the memory bring your body back to that moment in time.

And trust that you know how to relax.

Re-awaken the experience of that moment.

And sense all the details of that moment,

The sounds,

Feeling,

Even the smells and taste.

To this cellular memory introduce a subtle and new idea.

The idea,

The potential,

That there is more to know,

More relaxation and deeper states to experience.

As you remain gently awake and stay connected to the instructions,

Remain open to what is newly arising.

Land in the back of your skull.

Release the weight of your head down.

Let your skull lead your whole spine into surrender.

Begin to travel down your spine,

Feeling each vertebrae unplugging from the memory of the muscles.

The spine like a great central trunk of you.

Feel where the ribs plug in to your spine.

And travel along your ribs out to the sides,

Wrapping around your front like great expanding branches.

And come to watch the inner breeze of the breath and the alive pulsing of the inner breeze reaching to flow between the branches of the ribs and to touch the whole trunk with vitality.

Move to the bowl of your pelvis,

Filling the pelvis with vitality in each pulsing breath.

Anchor into the steadiness of your tailbone on the ground.

And open the whole back of your energetic body as you imagine a great root system planting from your tailbone down deep into the earth while rooting down simultaneously through and beyond the entirety of your life.

Flood the entire tree of your central spine with presence and illuminate your brain by letting it rest and expand in your skull.

As the brain releases,

There's a quiet blossoming of leaves growing in the space around your head and neck,

Blossoming as a result of being nourished by the great endless light of the sun.

Sen Kelpa,

A seed of higher truth that is released through the heart.

It's time to connect to your Sen Kelpa.

What is most true and arising within you?

A quiet knowing of your true nature,

A wave of feeling,

And even an I am statement such as I am whole or I am love.

Really connect to your Sen Kelpa now and repeat it mentally three times as you feel it rising to the surface.

Anamayakosha,

An inner radiance follows what awareness touches.

Map out each connecting point like a web of light.

Feel and connect each body part and location that I mention,

Moving at the same speed as I move my voice.

Begin by feeling the center of the forehead.

Light up the center of the forehead with feeling.

Travel down to the right eyebrow.

Back to the center of the forehead.

Center of the forehead.

Travel down to the left eyebrow.

Center of the forehead.

Whole right eye.

Center of the forehead.

Whole left eye.

Center of the forehead.

Right ear.

Center of the forehead.

Left ear.

Center of the forehead.

Tip of the nose.

Right nostril.

Left nostril.

Upper lip.

Lower lip.

Jaw.

Connect to each point on the face.

Front of the throat.

Front of the throat.

Center of the chest.

Light up the center of the chest remaining awake.

Center of the chest down to the palm of the right hand.

Right hand thumb.

Pointer finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Small finger.

Back of the right hand.

Right wrist.

Forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Center of the chest.

Remaining awake.

Down to the palm of the left hand.

Left hand thumb.

Pointer finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Small finger.

Back of the left hand.

Left wrist.

Forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Left shoulder.

Center of the chest.

Now light up the whole right side of the rib cage.

Center of the chest.

Left side of the rib cage.

Center of the chest.

Both arms.

Whole rib cage together.

Abdomen.

Center of the pelvic floor in awareness and feeling.

Center of the pelvis to the right hip bone.

Travel down right thigh.

Knee.

Shin.

Top of the right foot.

Soul of the foot.

All five toes.

Center of the pelvis.

Now left hip bone.

Left thigh.

Knee.

Shin.

Ankle.

Top of the foot.

Soul of the foot.

All five toes.

Center of the pelvis.

Now whole pelvis.

Whole right leg.

Whole left leg together.

Pelvis and both legs together.

Pelvis and both legs together.

Land back into the soles of both feet.

Set a web of light up the back of the body.

Right heel.

Left heel.

Back of the right leg.

Back of the left leg.

Right buttock.

Left buttock.

Whole spine.

Right shoulder blade.

Left shoulder blade.

Back of the right arm.

Back of the left arm.

Back of the neck.

Crown of the head.

Touch every point on the body as you sense the whole body at once.

The entire body sense at once.

Whole body in awareness.

Land back in the center of your forehead.

And drop straight back into the center of your brain.

The pineal gland.

Third eye chakra.

We now explore the realm of breath and energy.

Pranamayakosha.

Remain rested in the center of your brain.

As you notice the natural movement of your breath.

Just a subtle awareness of breath.

The body sensing the subtlety of what is happening.

As you are aware of the center of your brain.

Notice any change in the energy there as you breathe.

Any quiet fluctuation or movement of energy in the center of the brain as you breathe in.

And as you breathe out.

Bring your attention to the right hemisphere of the brain.

And notice any change in energy as you breathe in.

And notice any shift in the energy as you breathe out.

And then flow to the left hemisphere of the brain.

Notice any shift in the energy as you breathe in.

And breathe out.

Watch the whole brain respond to the breath now.

The places it touches inside your body close to the brain.

The upper nostril cavities.

Back of the throat.

And follow the waves of energy riding on the breath into the brain and skull.

Then up into the space around the head.

Flow down through the brain stem into the center of the throat.

Breath sweeping over the throat.

Outer neck.

As if to let a breeze of air inside.

I'm just going to re-say that.

Outer neck soft and open.

As if to let a breeze of air inside.

Touch the center of your chest with the moving breath.

And then flow down to the navel center.

Visualize and feel a sphere of light behind your navel center.

The sphere pulsing more and more alive with each inhale.

Until it begins to expand.

The light touching every part of your physical body as it expands.

Your lungs,

Belly,

Ribs,

Shoulders,

Hips.

Expanding on the wave of breath to extend to the energy body.

The flow of energy stretching out to the space all around you as you become aware of it.

The light touches everything you notice.

The pulse of energy coming from the outside in and the inside out.

Follow the energy to its edge.

The edge of energy where you can touch.

And expand more and more beyond that.

Expand consciousness into space.

The space inside of this room.

And then further out beyond this room.

Expanding more and more.

Beyond all shape.

To the edges of space.

Awareness dropping back and wide to sense all of space.

Contract your attention back to the space all around your body.

Now pull your attention in smaller and smaller.

Back inside your body smaller.

As you draw light back to the sphere behind your navel.

Condensing the light with every exhale.

The sphere growing smaller and smaller.

Until it can fit only into a single cell.

And then a single particle.

A tiny speck of light.

In this doorway all exists at the same time.

Hold your attention to the tiniest particle of light inside.

While you expand back out to sense all of space.

Both contracted.

Awareness of the smallest speck of light.

And totally expanded reaching out to the edges all at once.

Smallest and biggest together.

And then enter the point of neutrality between the eyebrows.

Pause as you come back into a state of neutral deep rest.

Prepare to continue exploring the realm of mind and duality.

Mano Mayakosha.

Allow each experience to rise up and enhance its intensity by focusing on it.

While fully allowing it to move.

Awaken pain.

Pain.

It's now safe to notice and allow pain to arise.

Release any resistance as pain is allowed to move uninterrupted.

Any physical,

Emotional imprints that arise are safe to see and be known by you.

Pain wanting to be witnessed,

Noticed,

Felt and allowed.

Pain.

Pain.

Pain.

Release back to neutrality.

Touch the soothing space of relaxation.

And now fully surrender and allow pleasure,

Pleasure,

Pleasure to arise.

Gently focus upon any pleasure that is rising.

Move directly towards pleasure.

As it is both allowed and fully free to move uninhibited.

Pleasure without any restriction.

Like tasting something delicious or getting a massage.

Pleasure.

Pleasure.

Pleasure.

Stay connected to pleasure as you reawaken the opposite.

Pain and pleasure are all in the same moment.

The most pain you can connect to while experiencing the most pleasure you can connect to.

Pain and pleasure.

As you connect to both there is a balancing of pain and pleasure in the layer of mind.

Rest back into the light of the inner mind,

The pineal gland.

As we prepare to move to the layer of wisdom,

Creativity and seeing.

Visualize each image that I mention.

Moving from one image to the next.

As the higher mind opens in three.

Holding the possibility of more in two.

Seeing clearly in one.

A glass elevator.

Stars in the night sky.

Jupiter.

Standing in a river.

A field of yellow flowers.

A star dust.

A hidden library.

Shattered blue glass.

A black jaguar.

Your grandfather's watch.

Standing in the rain.

The sun.

The sun.

A juicy ripe orange.

Bottom of the ocean.

A tribe standing around a fire.

Dead deer.

A pod of orcas swimming.

Laying on the grass beside a thousand year old tree.

Stay with the tree and look up its tall trunk.

Through winding leaves and branches.

Its roots buried deep into the earth.

In your breath and the breath of the tree there is an exchange.

See the pulsing exchange of breath communicating between you and tree.

And then there is a fly.

Flying around your face.

Around your ears.

And finally it comes to land on the tip of your nose.

Its deep and dark black eyes looking directly at you so intensely.

First you see your reflection.

Then you realize you are now inside the fly.

Able to move around.

Explore the tree as you travel its trunk.

Weaving up and flying around in its leaves and its branches.

Up and up.

There is a tiny doorway into the center of the tree that is made just for you.

It is the entry to the true existence of you and tree alike.

To enter the darkness is to know what tree is before and after its life.

Fly into the space inside.

This little opening to the eternal and everlasting.

As you move inside there is only formlessness.

Release into the formlessness.

More.

Merging back into the dark space fully.

The deepest part of you.

If there is any impulse to rise up just go deeper.

And deeper.

Deeper.

Deeper.

Deeper.

Deeper.

Deeper.

Deeper.

Deeper.

Deeper.

Deeper.

Deeper.

And the smallest speck of light comes into the heart.

San kalpa,

San kalpa,

The seed of higher truth reawakening,

Coming into form.

Surrender directly into your san kalpa in feeling,

Word,

Knowing.

Let it move into every part of you.

The energy all around you and through to the edges of space.

Let it move three times by feeling or mentally repeating it inward.

And come back to the experience of time.

Notice where your body is in time.

Sense any newness in your body.

New embodiment.

What was only a possibility now realized new feeling.

The flow of blood,

Like the flow of sap,

Pumping newness into form.

Walk back into you as your breath deepens.

Feed it right into your heart.

Let the heart warm you,

Warm the journey of life.

Nothing you see inside of you is good or bad.

Everything that you see is awake and everything you haven't is yet to be discovered.

Each piece noticed began in the eternal,

Birthed,

Grown,

Expanded and released back again.

And the practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Hari om tat sat.

Hari om tat sat.

Okay.

Good?

Argh,

What is that?

!

I got it.

This isSurkey.

Okay.

I found it.

Yep.

You You You You You You You You You You