Hello and welcome to Nala Yoga,
The podcast with Yoga Ninja journeys for deep rest and more.
I'm Ruthie Eisenberg,
And I'm honored and grateful to be here with you today.
You have come here after the aliveness of the day and now it is time for a wholesome rest.
As you prepare for a nourishing night,
Take the time to consciously slow down and set up your space with everything you might need,
Like a warm blanket,
Pillows,
Fuzzy socks perhaps,
To keep your feet warm.
Perhaps dimming the light.
Turning off any distractions in your environment.
And truly creating an island of time for your body and mind to deeply rest and restore.
Rav Zalman Shakhtar Shalomi once said,
Sleep is one of the soul's oldest forms of prayer.
Let this practice guide you into your deepest.
Now.
Let us prepare for Yoga Nidra.
Lay down your body with all the exhaustion of the day that it has accumulated.
And let it mold into the surface that holds you Ground yourself safely in stability and symmetry with your body in a shape that feels most natural and comfortable to you.
Whether that's a traditional resting shape with the spine straight from head to toe and your feet slightly apart with the toes turned outward and your arms a bit away from the body with the palms facing skyward.
Or placing the hands in your heart or belly.
Or choosing another shade.
Take a moment to shift around.
And make any adjustments to your posture or your clothes or blanket so that you are most at ease.
Now,
If you feel safe doing so,
You may slowly close your eyes.
And let the external world softly recede into the blur beyond the peripheries It takes trust and courage to let go of the attachments in the waking world and to enter the realm of sleep beyond conscious thought.
May this practice be a peaceful pause to close your eyes and trust that you will be protected while you rest.
Let's begin with a physiological sigh to relax the whole body.
Inhale deeply.
Take another quick sharp inhale at the top.
Hold for a second there.
And slowly exhale,
Letting all the burdens of the day cascade down into the earth.
Let's do that again.
Inhale deeply.
Quick sharp inhale.
Hold for a second.
And slowly exhale,
Letting all the stress melt away into the ground.
And one more time.
Inhale deeply.
Quick staccato inhale.
Home?
And slowly,
Effortlessly exhale,
Letting go of all the tensions of the day.
And surrendering them into the earth.
Now.
Soften your shoulders,
Knees and elbows.
Allowing yourself to melt into stillness.
You are contained by the space that you've created around you.
And protected by Hashem the Creator above you who never slumbers nor sleeps.
You can give yourself permission to rest here.
Remember that sleep is not something that you can force,
But rather it is a state that you naturally fall into.
Through letting go,
Through trusting,
Through your curiosity to meet the teachings beyond your conscious thought.
And give yourself permission to fall into a deep,
Restorative sleep,
If you so choose.
Do you give yourself permission?
Remember that whether you fall asleep during this practice or not,
You are ushering your body and mind.
Into a state of deep replenishing rest.
In this practice,
You're going to generate a sense of deep relaxation in the body through conscious sleeping.
The body is invited to rest in a state of deep sleep.
But your mind may remain aware if you choose or it may fall asleep if you allow.
Do you allow?
If you allow yourself to fall asleep,
You will rest well and the material will permeate on a subconscious level.
If you choose for your mind to remain awake you will get to consciously witness how your mind and body interact on a very subtle level.
And hopefully your sleep will be better after this practice.
The choice is entirely yours.
And whichever option you choose,
You're giving yourself the gift of deep rest in both cases.
I invite you to follow whatever shows up with curiosity and welcoming.
As we travel through the layers of consciousness between the body,
The breath,
The mind,
And your soul.
There's nothing you need to do here.
Just simply stay connected to my voice if your thoughts drift from time to time like leaves in a river.
Know that you can always come back to the center line and let my words and the music carry you along.
You are exactly where you need to be in this moment.
Now let's bring attention to your senses.
And notice the closest sound.
The closest sounds that you can hear.
And now perceive the most distant sound in the most distant sounds.
Now the closest and the most distant sounds.
At the same time.
Now let's bring about a feeling of inner relaxation for the whole body.
Scanning the body from the top of the head.
Allowing the forehead to smooth out and the brows to slide to the sides.
Allowing the ears to relax as well as the sides of the face and the jaw to loosen.
Allowing the shoulders to soften as the arms sink into the surface beneath you Allowing your back to yield to gravity your legs to feel happy.
Surrendering to the Earth beneath you.
Softening and relaxing the whole body.
Bringing awareness right now to where you're feeling the most warmth,
Calmness and ease.
As well as noticing any areas of stress,
Tension or tiredness.
As you scan your whole body.
We want to simply pay attention to how you're feeling arriving at your baseline.
And now once again bring awareness to the areas of calmness,
Comfort,
And ease.
Visualize yourself under a blanket of the velvet night sky.
A blanket in the velvet night sky.
Concentrating on the whole body.
The whole body.
The whole body.
On your next inhale,
Direct your awareness to the heart space.
And simply perceive the rhythm of your living beating heart.
Allowing the heartbeat to consciously slow down I'm your next in here.
Bridge the heart to the mind by bringing your awareness to the clearing behind your brows and the space of the third eye.
And from here you can bring to mind your intention for today's practice.
And this is your kavana or sankalpa.
What do you need to feel,
Learn,
Experience or understand from this practice?
What is your guiding compass for yourself?
Within the world around you.
Your intention can be a short,
Positive,
Simple statement starting with I am.
It can be whatever you wish.
No one can tell you what intention to set.
But if you're unsure of your intention in this moment,
Consider trying out some of these phrases to give you some ideas and trust that your naturalmost intention will emerge and arrive to you at the right time.
I am immersed in the present moment.
I am safe in my body and mind.
I am worthy of rest.
I am calm and relaxed.
I am at peace and I bring peace.
More simply.
I am here.
He named me.
Say your intention to yourself three times in the present tense with feeling.
I am.
Your intention has been planted into the fertile soil of your mind.
Now let it go.
And trust that it will return to you at the end of this practice.
The intention you make during yoga nidra,
It's like planting a seed in the ground.
With patience and time,
It will grow and come to fruition.
Now bring awareness to your inner resource,
Something that you'd like to bring with you into the night.
It can be an image.
And objects.
A memory,
A person,
Or a place where you feel safe.
Just let it arrive to your mind.
Imagine your resource as vividly as possible.
Size and shape.
Colors and textures.
Visualize it vividly.
And observe how bringing your resource to mind affects your body.
Take this resource with you on your journey.
This resource is available to your mind anytime,
Whether it's during this yoga nidra practice or in your daily life.
Whenever you need some strength or hope or encouragement.
Know that this resource is already within you.
And you can choose to connect to it at any time We now begin a detailed body scan to rotate the consciousness towards further relaxation.
We do this by going on a journey through the different parts of your body.
As we shift awareness from one part to the next,
Repeat each part in your mind and,
At the same time,
Become aware of it in your body.
There's no need to concentrate too intensely here You may maintain a loose concentration here as you give some attention with gratitude.
To every part of your body.
And bringing awareness first to the right hand thumb.
And the right hand thumbs.
Second finger.
Sorry.
Four.
Fist.
The palm of the hand.
Becoming aware of the palms.
Now rest.
And lower arm.
The right side out.
Ascending up to the upper arms.
And continuing to the shoulder.
Wrapping around to the underarm.
And descending down to the right side body.
On the right hip That's fine.
Minicab.
The right kneecap.
And the lower leg.
The ankle.
The heel of the right foot.
The sole of the foot.
Wrapping to the top of the foot.
And bringing awareness to the big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Forth.
And fifth toe.
Now crossing over to the left side.
Bringing awareness to the left hand thumb.
The left hand thumb.
Second finger.
Third.
Four.
Fear.
And a palm of the hand.
The back of the hand.
Don't risk.
Melora.
The elbow.
Ascending to the upper arm.
And parking on the shoulder.
Wrapping down to the underarm and continuing your descent down the left side body.
To the left hip.
The time.
The left kneecap.
Minicab.
The Lower Life.
The Encore.
With you.
The soul of the left foot.
The top of the foot in the big toe.
Second toe.
Sorry.
For worse.
And fifth toe.
Now.
Bringing awareness to the top of your head.
Gently laying your awareness at the top of your head.
Perceiving the warmth at the top of your head.
Narrowing down to the forehead.
And the right eyebrow.
The left eyebrow.
The space between the brows.
The right eyelid.
Left eyelid.
The right eye.
Left eye the right ear.
The left ear.
The right cheese.
The left cheek.
The nose.
The bridge of the nose.
And the tip of the nose.
Upper lip.
The lower lip.
The walls of your mouth.
In the chin.
On the right side of the jaw.
The left side of the jaw.
The right side of the face.
Left side of the face.
Now the whole face all together.
Continuing bridging your awareness down to the neck.
And the throat.
They're a color bond.
And left collarbone.
The right side of the chest.
The left side of the chest.
In the center of the chest,
At the heart space.
Awareness shifts to the abdomen.
The navel.
And the pelvic region.
And now continuing to the back of the body.
Becoming aware of the back of your head.
And tracing the curve from the back of your head down to the back of your neck.
And branching your awareness to the shoulders.
Becoming aware of the right shoulder blade.
The left shoulder blade.
The upper back containing both shoulder blades.
We're made back.
The lower back.
And the glutes.
I need awareness too.
Your spine now.
And perceiving the curve of your spine.
With its staircase of vertebrae.
Just perceiving your spine now in isolation.
Perceiving it as a fluid column of strength,
Flexibility,
That supports you throughout your life.
And now perceiving the whole back all together.
Awareness of the entirety of your back.
Now perceiving just the right leg.
Now just the left leg.
And now both legs together.
Now just the right arm.
Just the left arm.
Now both arms together.
And now perceiving the entire back of the body as it is connected to the surface beneath you.
And now perceiving only the front of the body.
The entire front of the body.
And now shifting your awareness to only the right side of the whole body.
Just the right side of the body.
And now just the left side of the body.
Only the left side.
And now just your head.
And now bringing awareness to the whole body all together.
Whole body all together.
Laying here,
Resting.
With calmness.
And tranquility The whole body all together.
Are you still awake?
Just become aware of your whole body lying here,
Supported,
Still.
In this room.
Visualize the image of yourself resting here.
And visualize it in your mind.
And now,
Let's become aware of your breathing.
The ebb and flow of your breath.
The navel rising with every inhale.
And falling with every exhale.
Just breathe here at your own natural pace and rhythm.
With the in-breath,
Navel rising.
And on the out breath,
The navel falling.
Your breath exactly as it is,
Without changing anything.
And now begin counting every breath silently backwards.
From 72 to 1 in the following manner.
Inhale navel rising 72 Exhale,
Navel falling,
72.
Inhale and exhale.
Naval Rising 71.
Exhale,
Navel falling.
71.
Inhale,
Navel rising 70.
Exhale,
Navel falling,
70.
Inhale,
Navel rising,
69.
Exhale,
Level falling,
69.
Continue counting and breathing at your own pace.
If you lose count,
You may start over at 72.
Just breathe and count here.
Now.
Let go of your counting even if you didn't reach one yet.
Simply let the numbers float away as you shift your awareness to the multitude of sensations throughout your body.
The diverse terrain of the inner landscape of sensations.
Now going to explore opposite sensations.
And how you experience them in your body.
So simply bring awareness to the sensations and feelings that I will offer to you and Notice how you experience them without changing anything.
Simply noticing with curiosity.
And observing like a compassionate witness.
And letting these sensations play out.
Let's connect to the feelings of heaviness feeling of happiness.
Bring awareness to where you experience heaviness in your body.
Allow yourself to feel pulled down with gravity.
Sinking down with heaviness.
Awareness of heaviness.
Awareness of happiness.
Now let it go.
And now connect to a feeling of lightness.
That feeling of lightness.
Where in your body do you experience lightness?
Allow yourself to magnify this feeling of lightness,
Weightlessness allowing yourself to feel Light as a feather.
In the sense of.
.
.
Floating up in the air.
Awareness of lightness.
Allow yourself to.
Experience lightness.
Bringing out the lightness within you.
Following it,
Letting it carry you along.
Letting it carry you upward.
Awareness of lightness.
Now let it go.
And now bring awareness to both the heaviness and the lightness at the same time.
Together.
Experiencing.
The downward pull of heaviness.
With the upward lift of lightness.
Both at the same time.
Now let it go.
And connect to the experience of cold.
Imagine that.
You are.
On top of an icy glacier in winter.
That your feet are connected to the ice.
Allow yourself to experience cold.
Bring awareness to the areas in your body.
Where you feel more coldness.
Allow yourself to be immersed in the coldness.
And with curiosity,
Invite yourself.
To explore.
What this feeling of coldness?
Feels like for you.
Notice how it feels to be cold.
Awareness of coldness.
Experience the coldness.
Now let it go.
In and out.
Shift over to a sensation of heat.
Bring awareness to areas in your body where you feel hot.
Ignite the sensation of heat.
Imagining that you are standing next to of fire.
A warm fire.
And it's warming up your whole body.
Allowing yourself to feel the heat all over your body.
And playfully exploring.
What this sensation of heat and warmth feels like.
This is what a hot temperature feels like.
Now see if you can dial up the temperature too just a few degrees hotter.
Experience the heat.
Awareness of heat.
And now let it go.
And.
.
.
Invite the experience of being cold and hot at the same time.
Witnessing how it feels.
Holding the coldness and the heat both at the same time.
Allowing them to merge into one unified felt experience.
Now let it go.
And now shift your focus to concentrate on the space behind your closed eyes.
Concentrating on the dark space.
And witnessing what shows up for you.
Whatever you see is a reflection of the state of your mind.
Simply observe this space like you're looking down into a well of water.
Where you are on the outside.
Looking in.
Without getting too involved in the content.
But rather.
.
.
Simply observing.
The content.
From the vantage point.
Of a compassionate witness.
A compassionate witness.
Allow yourself to observe this content.
Within your mind's eye.
Trusting that whatever is showing up is exactly what you need to see.
All of it is welcome.
All of it serves a purpose.
And see if you can shift yourself to a stance of a little more neutrality.
As you continue observing perhaps from a slightly higher altitude perspective.
A slightly more removed perspective.
Observing compassionately.
With your new trolley.
This is something you're observing.
But it's not you.
Your identity.
You are not your thoughts.
Just continue witnessing your mind.
Without getting too attached.
I'm now going to say a series of images.
And you're invited to repeat.
Every image in your mind.
And visualize it in as much detail as you can.
Be aware of how you experience every image on all levels,
Sensation,
Feelings,
Words,
And memory associations.
And the soothing hum of trees at night.
The soothing hum of trees at night.
The feathers of a bird.
Fluffy pillow.
A single white feather.
A single white feather.
Letters dancing on a parchment.
The flames of a campfire dancing in the darkness.
The gracious moon suspended in the sky.
A friendly green cactus growing along an empty road.
A starry sky in the desert.
One twinkly star.
The wink of one special star.
A shooting star.
A wish on a shooting star.
The lull of complete darkness.
The Great Unknowing.
And the fall into the gentle softness of the night The Circle of Guardians.
Watching over you as you sleep.
A hammock made of colorful thread.
A long thread.
Unraveling into eternity.
You Follow the thread.
And let it take you where you need to go.
Just follow the thread.
And let it take you where your soul feels called to go.
Just follow the thread.
Into the silence of the night.
And let it take you to where your soul feels called to go.
You are free here.
You you and now softly lending Returning back to your breath.
And recall your inner resource.
Slowly returning back.
To your inner resource,
Bringing it to mind.
What gives you strength,
Hope and encouragement?
The resource already within you.
Take a deep breath in and breathe out effortlessly,
Noticing how your body is feeling.
And on your next inhale.
.
.
Bring your awareness once again to the clearing space behind your brows.
In this space where you planted your intention,
Your kavana.
Or Sankalpa.
And.
.
.
Repeat this intention to yourself three times with feeling.
Like it already came to be.
I am.
And experience the reverberations of its echoes throughout your body and the resources of your mind.
You may be sleeping by now or at the edge of falling asleep.
You may choose to drift off into slumber at this point and if you're still awake Meet yourself exactly where you are.
And allow yourself to be carried forward.
By the wings of the music.
Let serenity find a home upon your face and peace around your eyes,
Warmth in your heart.
And balance in your mind.
Rest well,
My friend.
And dream well.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
And the music continues into the night.
You you you you you you you you you you you you
