Yoga Nidra: Opposites Attract

If you're not there already,

Please go ahead and Find a nice comfortable position preferably Or you can lie down on the back And just let your arms and legs rest it can feel nice to Place something under the knees To help release through the lower back a bit a Blanket over the body can also be helpful As the body temperature does tend to drop when we're still Allow yourself to settle into this space Let your body just soften Into the supports beneath you Let go of any resistance here Let yourself just feel heavy And feel like your muscles and bones are just melting into the ground I'm aware of the sounds that are all around you listen for the sounds That are outside your room Letting your attention and awareness Travel to each sound Spending a little time with each one And then bring your awareness of sounds a little bit closer Notice the sounds that are inside the room with you Again just letting your attention Go from sound to sound Exploring each one then notice if there are any sounds of the body Maybe the sound of the breath sounds of digestion The sound of the heartbeat and start to listen to the sound of your breath Notice the sound of the breath and see if within the breath You can hear the sound of so hum As you inhale the breath makes a sound of soul with the exhale hum inhaling so and exhaling hum this natural mantra That sings along with our breath the mantra so hum Hum Means I am that so using this mantra of the breath of I am that Think of what?

You would like to be Maybe I am peaceful.

I am happy.

I am loved whatever that is Mentally think I am on the inhale and whatever that is with the exhale Feel yourself filling up with that energy of the mantra Becoming that which you are And see if this is what you would like to be your sankalpa your affirmation and intention for the yoga nidra practice You could use this I am statement or perhaps there is another sankalpa you're working with That you would like to repeat now So find that sankalpa feel it in your heart space and Repeat it three times mentally With this full conviction that the seed you plant now Will come to fruit in your life and now say to yourself mentally.

I Am practicing yoga nidra Stay to yourself mentally.

I Will remain still for yoga nidra Say to yourself mentally I Will stay awake for yoga nidra And now we will move on to the rotation of consciousness in the body the body remains still and As each body part is named simply bring your awareness to it Perhaps mentally repeating the name of the body part or visualizing it Or even placing an object upon it mentally like a star or flower Welcome any and all sensations that may or may not occur And we begin as always with the right hand thumb So bring all your awareness to the right hand thumb second finger third finger fourth finger fifth finger palm of the hand back of the hand wrist lower arm elbow upper arm shoulder armpit right side of the ribcage waist I hamstring knee back of the knee shin half muscle heel sole of the foot arch of the foot top of the foot right big toe second toe third toe fourth toe fifth toe stay awake and aware and Bring awareness now to the left hand thumb second finger third finger fourth finger fifth finger palm of the hand back of the hand wrist lower arm elbow upper arm shoulder armpit left side of the ribcage waist by hamstring knee back of the knee shin calf muscle ankle heel sole of the foot arch of the foot top of the foot left big toe second toe third toe fourth toe fifth toe stay awake and aware and Bring awareness to both heels the backs of the legs the buttocks lower back middle back upper back the entire spinal column right shoulder blade left shoulder blade back of the neck back of the head top of the head the right temple the left temple forehead right eyebrow left eyebrow the eyebrow center right eyelid left eyelid right eyelashes left eyelashes whole right eye the whole left eye right cheek left cheek right ear left ear right earlobe left earlobe bridge of the nose tip of the nose the whole nose the nasal passages upper lip lower lip both lips together teeth tongue gums the whole mouth together chin jawbone right collarbone left collarbone hollow between the collarbones right chest left chest center of chest upper abdomen navel lower abdomen bring awareness to the whole right leg the whole left leg both legs together the whole right arm the whole left arm both arms together awareness of the whole head awareness of the whole right side of the body the whole left side of the body the whole back of the body the whole front of the body awareness of the whole body together the whole body together the whole body together Bring awareness back to your breath feel the natural inhales and exhales Check in to see if you are asleep or awake And try to stay awake And remain conscious of the inhales and the exhales Feel the rise and fall the breath the navel Feel the navel rise with inhale Feel it gently fall with the exhale and as you breathe in and out here at the navel Imagine a bright Sun Seated upon it Feel the light of the Sun Expanding and receding with each inhale and exhale as you inhale the light brightens As you exhale it dims slightly See this glowing Sun at the navel center As you inhale and exhale Now add one more aspect to this conscious breathing Start to count the breaths backwards While still focusing on the navel center and the Sun inhale 18 exhale 18 inhale 17 exhale 17 and so on counting backwards in this manner From 18 to 0 the awareness of breath and the Sun at the navel Lose the count simply start again with the number 18 The goal is not to make it to zero But to keep your concentration So simply start again at 18 any time you need to if the mind wanders complete focus on breathing and counting counting and breathing now let go of the count and The visualization and awareness of breath at the belly Let it all go and just breathe naturally and let the body feel heavy Feel a heaviness in the body Feel extremely heavy Like your bones are made of stone Let yourself sink into the floor beneath you feel heavy and Now let go of heavy and feel light Feel lightness within yourself.

It's as if your body is made of air and You're starting to float away from the ground Feel like you're light deep into the muscles the bones Everything in the body feels light and let yourself feel heavy again feel heaviness Very heavy The body is sinking Now come back to lightness Let yourself feel very very light So light like you are floating and then feel heavy again Let yourself feel heavy completely heavy and Back to lightness feel lightness in the body And now see if you can feel both simultaneously Can you feel these opposite sensations of heavy and lightness?

Perhaps Like you are floating on water The body is heavy,

But you feel light Lifted up by the water See if you can feel both heavy and light Now let go of heavy and light And let yourself feel sadness See if you can create a state of sadness within yourself Let the emotion come forth And see if you can observe it As you feel this emotion of sadness Noticing what types of sensations occur Where it is in the body?

Let yourself feel sad Now release sadness and come to happiness Let yourself feel very happy Perhaps there's something you recall that makes you very happy feel this now within yourself and Observe the sensation of happiness Let yourself be happy and now see if you can feel happy and sad at the same time Try to create these opposite sensations within yourself Notice if one is easier to manifest than the other If one wants to take control of the other See if you can feel both Equally within yourself now release happy and sad and come back to breathing Checking in with yourself to see if you're awake or asleep And just feeling the breath in the body Bring your awareness now to the mind space the space between your closed eyes Drawing your attention and focus here Notice if there are any thoughts ideas Images or patterns that occur and in this space imagine a well Imagine there is a well And you are looking into it.

The well is dark and deep a tunnel running deep into the depths of the earth The well has a bucket on a rope and you lower the bucket down into the well It moves into complete darkness You can feel it moving But you cannot see it Pull the bucket back up again Out of the dark and back into the light now this time You will lower the bucket again But you will also join it so get into the bucket and I will lower you down and pull you up again perfectly safely you're in the bucket and now it's descending down to the light and moving into the darkness complete and utter darkness You cannot see yourself or anything else But you can feel that you are You know you exist You hear the sound of your breath in your heartbeat And now I'm winding you up Back up from the darkness Into the light and you come out of the well Back to the solid ground now see yourself Just before sunrise The air is cool and the sky mostly gray You see the beams of color Emerging from the gray You hear the earth coming to life all around you as the animals around you awaken But humanity is still quiet There are only a few sounds outside To alert you to others presence Let yourself Take in the feelings of the sunrise Now ask yourself What am I thinking?

Do not think but become aware of the spontaneous thought process become a witness to your thoughts and Do not suppress any thought try to witness your thoughts and Ask yourself again and again What am I thinking?

Watch these thoughts Like you're watching a movie Maintaining an attitude of the witness in asking What am I thinking?

Now see yourself at Sunset is the end of the day and the sky is turning from its bright blue into more pastel tones Watch the colors begin to morph as the Sun sets beyond the horizon The Sun looks like it's getting bigger and bigger oranger and redder The sky around it mimicking those shades and you can feel the light of those colors upon you the Sun sinks further and purples and dark blues Indigo's begin to appear and you feel the colors upon you You can hear the activities Around you of people animals colors similar to sunrise But the energy is different Here at the end of the day Let yourself Take in the experience of sunset Now come back to your mind space and observe your thoughts let any thought that wants to appear appear and Now take one of those thoughts and develop it See if you can stick with one thought Develop this thought Whatever that means to you Maybe creating a story around it or solving an issue Take the one thought And keep your focus with it Develop the thought and now see if you can do the thoughts opposite Develop the opposite of that thought you had and now come back to the original thought the opposite of the current thought Back to the original thought and now completely let go of the thoughts Discard that thought and come back to spontaneous thoughts watch your mind space and See what appears there and now in the mind space See an inverted red triangle sunset over the ocean waves a bright yellow Sun a field of green grass with pink wildflowers a clear blue sky with a cool breeze an evening sky dark and purple stars emerging from it a crescent moon a thousand petaled lotus flower a lotus the seemingly infinite number of petals See the lotus spinning the petals opening And now let go of the imagery And feel your body Feel the weight of the body and the space of the body feel the connection The back of the body to the earth beneath you and Recall your sankalpa The intention you made at the beginning of the yoga nidra practice Repeat your sankalpa again three times mentally and Know that it will manifest in your life Start listening for sounds All the sounds that are inside the room Including the sounds of you and the sounds that are outside your space seeking out the furthest sounds that you can hear and Remember the room the colors of the wall the ceiling looks like the floor See yourself in the room perfectly relaxed and at ease And say to yourself mentally The practice of yoga nidra is now complete Again to make small movements in the body Rushing the thumb over each fingertip wiggling the fingers and the toes circling wrists and ankles in one direction and then the other way Gently rocking your head side to side And taking a big stretch Eventually making your way back to a seated position.

No rush to get there Still keeping the eyes closed When you're ready,

You can bring the palms together and give them a nice rub Signaling to the body to wake up once more and then bring the hands to prayer at the heart center Thanking yourself for your practice today.

I Thank you all so much as well namaste