Jewish Yoga Nidra For Compassion: Through Five Gates

Welcome to Nale Yoga the podcast with yoga nidra journeys for deep rest and more.

I'm Ruthie Eisenberg and I'm honored to be here with you today.

Now let us begin our yoga nidra practice to activate compassion.

I invite you to lie down on your back in a safe space with all the supports that you need to feel comfortable.

Place the axis of your spine along its natural alignment.

Place your feet comfortably apart and your arms loosely by your sides with the palms turned skyward.

Tilt your forehead slightly forward to elongate the back of the neck.

You are encouraged to remain still for the duration of this practice and you may close your eyes at this time if you feel safe doing so.

Make any adjustments you need to create comfort and safety for yourself as you rest into the surface supporting you.

By practicing yoga nidra you're already showing care and compassion for yourself today.

Let's begin with tensing your hands and feet.

Tense your hands and feet as tight as you can.

Hold and let them go.

Now on your next inhale tense your hands as you breathe in.

Hold,

Hold,

Hold.

Tense your feet and exhale let it all go.

Just relax.

And let's do that one more time.

Tense your hands and feet as tight as you can.

Inhale tense tense tense and let it go.

Exhale relax.

You can relax here now and make an intention to remain as still as you can for a while.

Follow your breath along its natural cycle of inhales and exhales.

Relaxing into stillness.

Still body,

Still breath,

Still mind.

As we approach the head of the year Rosh Hashanah on the Jewish calendar this is an auspicious time for evoking compassion.

Compassion from ourselves and for ourselves.

Divine compassion for the universe and everything in it.

Whatever mistakes you may have made in the past year,

Whatever grievances you may have had,

At this time the field of compassion is open for you to walk into if you so choose.

While compassion does not absolve us of accountability it does acknowledge our shared humanity.

The fact that we are all trying our best with the capacity and resources we have and that your choices make sense if we look at the sequence of your life that brought you to this point.

Rabbi Avraham Joshua Heschel says the greatest act of compassion is to see the humanity in others especially in moments of their vulnerability.

And that includes humanity within yourself.

By practicing yoga nidra you're invited to go beyond the cognitive brain and open the gates to your innately compassionate heart.

By letting go of the analytical mind for a while you can be not the judge but rather the curious witness to your own nonverbal experience.

Oscillating between the alpha and theta brainwave states on the bridge between sleep and wakefulness there are no judgments,

There's no barriers,

Just authentic being.

From this open-hearted space the compassion within you can be called in to unite with the universal compassion.

Try to stay awake as much as you can for the duration of this practice and if your thoughts drift from time to time that's okay.

Try to stay connected to my voice and know that it's always here for you to come back to.

The practice of yoga nidra begins now.

Soften the edges around your eyes and loosen up any gripping in your jaw.

Soften your shoulders,

Your elbows and knees.

And inhale deeply drawing the air from your toes all the way to the crown of your head.

And now exhale completely back down to the ground.

Bring awareness to your heart,

Feeling the rhythm of your heartbeats and consciously breathe from your heart space.

Slowing down.

Slowing down.

Slowing down the entire system.

Listen to the sounds around your vicinity.

The closest sound.

And now the furthest away sound.

And now all the sounds that surround you.

Feel the temperature of the air over your face.

And in your mind's eye visualize a field of sunflowers.

A field of sunflowers.

On your next inhale,

Direct your awareness to the interior field behind your brows.

The third eye center at the epicenter of your head.

It is here that you are beckoned to plant your kavana or sankalpa,

Your intention.

Your intention is like planting a seed in the ground of the universe.

With nurturance and patience it will grow to fruition.

Your intention can be a short,

Positive,

Simple statement starting with I am.

That calls in your most heartfelt resolve,

Quest,

Affirmation or prayer.

If you already know your intention,

Go ahead and bring it to mind now.

If you don't know yet what your intention is,

Here's some examples for you to try and see if any of these resonate for you.

I am home within myself.

I am worthy of acceptance.

I am compassion.

I am living my truth.

I am grateful for the gift of life.

I am loved just as I am.

Or simply I am here,

Hineni.

Concentrating on the space of the third eye,

Say your intention to yourself three times in the present tense with feeling.

I am.

Your intention has been planted.

See how it will return to you later in this practice and in your life.

For now you can let it go and just rest within the edges of your body as we embark on a journey through the five gateways of consciousness to the field of complete compassion.

Sensing the edges of your body,

Let's now begin rotating your consciousness through the first gateway,

That of the physical body.

I will name different body parts in succession and I invite you to repeat each part I say in your mind and simultaneously feel that part in your body.

Try to stay aware but there's no need to concentrate too intensely here.

Direct your focus to the toes on both feet,

All ten toes.

The soles of the feet.

And the heels.

Feel the energy drawing through the base of your feet.

The tops of your feet.

And follow awareness along the length of both legs.

Now just feel the right leg.

Now just the left leg.

And now both legs together.

Notice the sensations letting your legs relax.

Shift awareness to your glutes,

Letting them rest in the surface beneath you.

Draw attention to your tailbone and let your awareness uncurl along the curvature of your spine,

Flexible and strong,

All the way to the back of your neck.

The curvature of your spine supporting the integrity of your entire frame.

Perceive the upper back,

The mid-back,

And the lower back,

Feeling how the entire back surrenders its weight to the ground beneath you.

Now redirecting awareness to the pelvic region and rising through the navel center,

Along the abdomen and up to the chest,

Letting go of all the tensions along the upward path from the lower abdomen to the upper chest.

Sensing how the flow of your breath expands and contracts the ribs and sensing the rising and falling of the belly and chest.

Letting go of all the heaviness.

Bring attention to the collarbones,

Stemming out to the shoulders and unload any stress or weight from the shoulders.

Just breathe it out,

Letting them feel light and free.

Proceed your awareness down the branches of both arms,

Letting go of any tightness or pressure along the way.

As you arrive at your hands,

Feel the natural curves of all the fingers,

Soft and relaxed.

Sense the subtle energy in the palms of your hands,

Hovering over the palms of your hands.

Now sending the energy back up the pathway of the arms,

Around the shoulders,

Slowly at your own pace.

Turn awareness to your neck,

Releasing any knots or tension from your throat.

Just let it go.

Perceive the jaw,

Letting go of any gripping.

Trace the sides of the face to the ears and relax the ears,

Relax the mouth,

The lips,

The tongue,

The gums.

Relax the nose.

And feel your eyes resting under the frames of the brows.

Soften your eyes.

Relax the forehead,

Letting it melt to the side.

And bring awareness to the top of your head,

Sensing a warm light emanating from the top of your head.

Cascade the light down your body all the way to the toes and feel your body bathed in a warm,

Soft light.

Completely relaxed.

Resting in complete wholesomeness and stillness.

Complete stillness.

Complete stillness.

We now cross into the second gateway,

The energetic body of the breath.

Follow your natural breathing pattern,

Like the flow of the ocean waves.

Inhaling,

Letting the chest rise.

And on your exhales,

Letting it fall.

Just breathing naturally and organically here.

Observe how the air flows through you.

Giving gratitude to how this vital breath of life continuously works for you throughout your lifetime,

Tirelessly supplying you with the oxygen that you need to stay alive.

Just rest here,

Breathing,

As you observe the cycles of the inhales and exhales,

Ebbing and flowing like the waves of the ocean.

Breathing in compassion and breathing out compassion.

Breathing in acceptance and breathing out acceptance.

Breathing in peace and breathing out peace.

Now,

Let go of your breathing as we continue to the third gateway,

The gateway of mental and emotional intelligence.

In this space,

You are invited to experience the oscillations between opposite feelings and experiences.

Notice what each polarity brings up for you.

Here,

You have a chance to learn how your brain and body work together in synchrony as you practice converting reflexive reactions into conscious experiencing of the dualities.

Sense where you're feeling heaviness in your body.

Bring awareness to any areas of heaviness,

Where you're feeling most heavy,

Sinking into the earth,

Imagine that you are sinking into the earth,

And that you are made of rocks,

And you're just sinking into the ground beneath you.

Experience heaviness.

Experience heaviness.

Now,

Let it go.

And sense where in your body and mind you're feeling lightness,

Where you're feeling weightlessness.

Imagine that you are floating up to the sky,

That you are light as a cloud.

Experiment with allowing yourself to feel lightness in your body,

Awareness of lightness,

Awareness of lightness.

And now,

Let it go.

And experience the heaviness and the lightness both at the same time.

Now,

Let it all go.

And see where in your body or mind you're experiencing judgment.

Let yourself explore where does judgment reside in your body and mind.

Imagine that you are being judged.

You may think of a memory or a situation from the past when you felt judged by someone.

And let your body and mind recall the sensations and those feelings when you're being judged.

See how this experience of judgment affects your body and your mind.

Now,

Let it go.

And bring to mind the experience of compassion.

Sense where in your body and mind compassion inhabits.

You may think of a time or a memory when someone,

Whether it was yourself or someone else,

Was compassionate with you.

And let your body and mind recall that experience of compassion.

How it affects your body,

How it affects your thoughts,

The sensations within you.

Now,

Let yourself experience compassion.

Compassion towards yourself or someone else.

And now,

Let it go.

And experience the judgment and the compassion both at the same time.

Let yourself oscillate between these two dualities and see how they interact.

And as the pendulum swings between judgment and compassion,

Let them naturally integrate and somehow resolve.

Let them integrate and see how you observe the judgment and compassion from the eye of the witness,

Rising above these dualities without getting too attached.

Just observe the workings of your mind like you're watching a screen without getting too involved in the contents.

Separating your observer's eye from the content of your mind so that you are witnessing with more of a neutrality.

Allow yourself to merge with your deeper consciousness,

Entering the fourth gate,

The gate of the psyche,

Your deep unconscious wisdom.

I'm now going to say a series of images and you may repeat each one in your mind and visualize it as vividly as possible.

Experience each image on all levels of awareness,

Sensations,

Feelings,

Thoughts,

And memory associations.

Let's begin.

The sun setting over a cinnamon beach.

A waterfall dripping golden honey.

A basket of red pomegranate seeds.

A book with no pages.

A book with no pages.

A book with no pages.

The opening of majestic gates.

The closing of a chapter.

The eternal thread of time.

Sheep walking up a narrow mountain ridge one by one.

The piercing sound of a ram's horn.

A sharp alarm clock in the early morning.

Tranquil water on the lake.

A coin making ripples on the water.

The shoulders of a scale suspended in a moment of perfect balance.

A parade of faded memories.

A parade of faded memories.

A parade of faded memories.

A treasure chest of tears.

A knock on the door.

A lost child returning home.

A mirror to the past.

The field of compassion.

The field of compassion.

The field of compassion.

Visualize as vividly as you can the field of compassion before you.

Let yourself step through the fifth gate of transcendent unity into the field of compassion.

As you enter the field of compassion see the colors the shapes sense the textures the sounds the smells feel the energy and how you are received in the field of compassion.

Here you are accepted and loved just as you are.

Let this field reflect the compassion you already have within you.

Allow yourself to blend with the field of compassion merging the external and internal experience becoming one and the same.

Just be here and feel the sensations in your body as you relax into a deeper consciousness letting go of any residual thoughts letting them dissolve into the ether sense where you feel the aliveness in your soul.

Who is the compassionate witness here?

In the state of yoga nidra the fifth gate of transcendent soul consciousness Zocher Yitzorav V'chayim Berachamim You remember your creations with compassion.

I will remain silent for the next few minutes to give your soul time to be completely free from all verbal input.

On your next inhale draw your gaze inward and upward back towards your third eye space.

And from here it is time to call in your intention your kavana or sankalpa that you planted in the beginning.

Your I am statement.

This is a time when it can resonate deeply.

Repeat it three times with strength in the present tense.

I am.

This is your truth.

Let it integrate into all the spaces of your body and mind.

All creation starts with inception in the mind.

You have created your intention with your mind.

And with nurturance and patience it will blossom into physical reality in due time.

And now reconnect back with your breathing just following the ebbs and flows of your breath effortlessly and naturally.

Notice the sound around you and your environment Skin your body from the top of your head down to the tips of your toes and see how you're feeling at this time compared to the beginning of the practice.

Perceive the sounds around you the close and distant sounds.

As you reorient your way back to a waking state take a moment to integrate this practice.

Sensing the compassion in your heart and feeling the glow and warmth in your eyes.

And taking the field of compassion with you knowing that your body is the field of compassion.

You are the field of compassion.

Your consciousness is the field of compassion.

And you can return to this field of compassion at any time and use it as a resource at any time when compassion might be something of a struggle.

And you can use it as a resource any time that you would like to feel more compassionate.

And now start bringing back some small movements to your fingers and toes perhaps turning your wrists and ankles a little bit starting to wake up a little more and dial yourself back into the normal waking state as you reorient yourself back.

Take all the time that you need here slowly returning to your whole body and when you're sure that you're awake you can sit up slowly at your own pace and rhythm and open your eyes.

Ein Od Milvedo,

Ein Od Milvedo,

Ein Od Milvedo The practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.