Welcome to the practice of Yoga Nidra.
To begin,
Make sure you are completely comfortable so that you do not need to fidget during the practice.
You can do this practice either seated or lying down.
You may want to support your head with a folded blanket or a pillow.
You may wish to place a rolled blanket or bolster under your knees to support your lower back.
Allow your arms to rest at your sides and your feet to fall away from each other.
Make sure you are warm as your body temperature will drop as you lie still.
Become as comfortable as possible preparing your body and your mind for deep rest but remain alert and awake.
The idea is not to fall asleep but to remain awake and aware during the practice of Yoga Nidra.
It is normal to fall in and out of conscious hearing and you may not hear every word I say but as you notice yourself begin to drift into sleep or distracting thoughts begin to arise,
Simply bring your awareness back to the sound of my voice.
Allow my voice to be an anchor to guide you through this practice of Yoga Nidra.
As you make yourself comfortable allow your shoulders to soften and allow your jaws to release.
Become aware of your breath.
Notice the sensation of air as it flows in and out through your nose.
And as you inhale sense the expansion of your back body on the surface beneath it.
As you exhale allow the body to soften deeper into the support.
Allow the body to be held.
With each inhale imagine taking up more space body expanding.
And with each exhale imagine letting go a little bit more.
Imagine now that you are in a safe space,
Perhaps a place in nature or with a loved one,
Perhaps a memory of a place from your past where you feel completely at ease or space from your imagination.
See this place clearly now in your mind's eye.
Take a few breaths lingering in the space knowing you can return to the space at any time throughout the practice of Yoga Nidra.
Begin to feel your breath now in your chest.
Feeling the chest expand with the breath and soften with the exhale.
See if you can feel or hear your heartbeat.
Go deep inside now and listen to your heart's deepest longing.
What is your heart's desire?
This is your sankalpa,
Your intention.
Take a moment to form this intention into a positive statement in the present tense as if it is already happening and state it three times silently to yourself.
It could be something as simple as,
I rest now.
I feel completely at ease.
I am at peace.
Breathe this intention through your entire body now.
Begin to journey inward now through the body.
As I name each part of the body,
Allow your awareness to travel from part to part.
Simply feeling that part of the body in the mind's eye.
Begin with the mouth.
With your tongue inside the mouth,
Feeling any sense of wetness,
Saliva.
Notice the teeth,
The gums,
Upper palate,
And the space beneath the tongue.
Notice the jaws,
The nose,
Sensing the right nostril and the left nostril,
Both nostrils.
Notice the air flowing in and out through the nostrils.
Follow the bridge of the nose up to the center of the forehead.
Feel the skin of the forehead.
Notice eyes,
Feeling the right eye and the left eye,
Both eyes together.
Eyeballs,
And the space behind the eyeballs.
Eyelids,
Eye sockets.
Softening all the muscles around the eyes.
Feel the temples.
Ears noticing the right ear and the left ear,
Both ears together.
Feel the air canals,
Sense the ears receiving sound.
Bring awareness now to the right hand.
Feel the palm of the hand,
Any sense of warmth or vibration in the palm of the hand.
The fingertips,
The back of the hand,
The whole right hand,
The right wrist,
Forearm elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder.
Sense the whole right arm.
And move awareness to the left hand,
Sensing the palm of the left hand,
Any sense of warmth or vibration or tingling.
Fingling,
Fingertips,
The back of the left hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Left shoulder,
And the whole left arm.
Sense both arms together.
The neck,
Throat,
Chest and ribs,
Navel center.
Feel the belly,
Sensing the rise and fall of the belly with the breath.
Lower abdomen,
Pelvis.
Sense the right hip,
Right thigh,
Knee,
Back of the knee,
Lower leg,
And foot.
Big,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe,
The sole of the foot,
The top of the foot,
And the whole right foot,
Whole right leg.
Seeing awareness back to the pelvis and sense the left hip,
Left thigh,
Knee,
And the back of the knee,
Lower leg,
Foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Pinky toe,
The sole of the foot,
The top of the foot,
The whole left foot,
The whole left leg.
Feel both legs together.
Notice your root,
Your tailbone.
Feel the lower back,
The sacrum,
Mid-back,
Upper back,
And neck.
Feel the whole spine,
From the tail all the way up to the skull.
Sense the crown of the head,
And breathe in through the crown of the head now.
Imagine breathing in through the crown of your head.
Feel the breath as you exhale down the length of the spine to the root,
Tailbone.
Breathe into the root,
And exhale back to the crown of the head.
Breathe in through the crown of the head,
And exhale down to the belly.
Breathe into the lower belly,
And exhale back to the crown of the head.
Breathe into the crown of the head,
And exhale down to the navel center.
Breathe into the navel center,
And exhale to the crown of the head.
Breathe into the crown of the head,
And exhale down to the heart.
Breathe into the heart,
And exhale to the crown of the head.
Breathe into the crown of the head,
And exhale to the throat.
Breathe into the throat,
And exhale to the crown of the head.
Breathe into the crown of the head,
And exhale to the third eye,
The center of the forehead.
Breathe into the center of the forehead,
And exhale to the crown of the head.
Stay here for a few more breaths,
And imagine breathing in and out through the crown of the head,
Following the breath from the crown of the head to the third eye,
Breathing into the third eye,
And exhaling to the crown of the head,
And so on.
Breathe into the throat,
And exhale to the throat.
Now bring awareness back to the third eye,
The center of the forehead,
And imagine breathing into the third eye,
And exhaling through the third eye.
Create awareness of the third eye,
Breathing in,
And breathing out.
Imagine the breath as water flowing in and out,
Cleansing the space and the pineal gland just behind the forehead.
Breathing in,
And breathing out.
Breathing out.
Now imagine a blank screen here at the third eye behind closed eyes.
I will name a series of images,
Allow them to appear and disappear on the screen.
No attachment to any image,
Simply allowing the images to come and go.
A red ball.
A red ball.
A red ball.
A waterfall.
A waterfall.
A waterfall.
A yellow sunflower.
A yellow sunflower.
A yellow sunflower.
A cool green lake.
A cool green lake.
A cool green lake.
A blue butterfly.
A blue butterfly.
A blue butterfly.
A silvery moon.
A silvery moon.
A silvery moon.
The dark blue night.
The dark blue night.
The dark blue night.
The north star.
The north star.
The north star.
Your body lying on the surface beneath it.
Your body lying on the surface beneath it.
Your body lying on the surface beneath it.
See the whole body lying in the room on the surface supporting it.
Begin to move into a greater awareness of the space around the body.
Envision the space around the body without opening the eyes.
Imagining the room.
The street you live on.
The town.
The state.
Country.
The entire continent.
Moving into greater expanded awareness of this hemisphere.
The planet Earth.
Awareness spiraling out through the layers of atmosphere into space and the universe.
Now feel the solid support of Earth beneath you.
Rooting you here in the space.
Imagine the smell of the Earth.
The scent of minerals and dirt and the roots of plants.
The musty smell of Earth after spring rain or cut grass.
Wet Earth.
Warm mud.
Imagine lying in the mud.
Healing mud.
Reddish brown mud all around.
The smell of warm Earth.
Feel the soft warm mud on your skin.
Your arms.
Legs.
Face and neck.
Feel the warm sun baking the mud onto your skin like clay.
Your skin absorbing all the healing nutrients of the Earth into your body.
Imagine now a fresh water spring beside you.
After the spring water and begin to rinse the healing red clay mud from the body with this pure flowing water.
The cool water feels refreshing.
Allow the whole body to float in the spring water.
Whole body floating in the spring water.
You begin to feel sleepy.
So you pull yourself out of the water and lie on a rock facing the sun.
Feel the skin absorbing the warm rays of the sun.
Feel the sunlight drink up all the droplets of water on the skin.
Sunlight drying and warming the body.
Feel its heat strongest solar plexus.
And the navel center.
Spreading out from the center of the body.
And down to the fingers and toes.
Whole body soaking in the warm rays of the sun.
After some time,
Feeling refreshed,
Decide to take a walk.
See path before you leading straight into the woods and decide to journey for.
As you walk,
You hear birds singing.
And smell all the plant essences around you.
The smell of leaves and florals.
Feel the breeze blowing through the trees.
And breathe in the freshest air you have ever tasted.
The wind enlivens the body and clears the mind.
A gentle breeze.
Finally you come to a clearing that opens up into blue,
Blue sky.
As you gaze up at the beautiful turquoise sky,
You hear someone singing.
Aum Namo Guru Dev Namo.
Aum Namo Guru Dev Namo.
You go to investigate where the voice is coming from.
Aum Namo Guru Dev Namo.
As you walk towards the voice,
You notice a gurgling stream flowing beside you.
Looking down into the water,
You see a reflection.
You realize it's been a long time since you have thought about who you truly are.
At first you wonder who is this person looking back at you.
This person who seems whole and healthy and blissful.
You decide to lie down again beside the water on a bed of soft green moss.
And as you get comfortable,
You feel someone place a crystal upon the third eye,
The center of the forehead.
You have no fear now.
You can feel the light of the crystal bathing the third eye.
You breathe in through the third eye.
And exhale through the third eye.
Breathing in through the third eye.
And exhaling through the third eye.
Breathing in through the third eye.
Bring full awareness to the breath.
Without opening your eyes,
You begin to slowly awaken and find yourself back on the earth.
Back in the hemisphere,
On the continent,
In this country,
State,
Town,
Street,
In your room,
In your home.
You hear the sounds around you.
The sound of my voice.
You become aware of the smells and the sounds in the room.
Feel the air against your skin.
The rise and fall of the belly as you breathe.
You feel all the points of contact between your back body and the earth.
You feel held by this same earth where you began your journey.
You feel whole.
You feel bliss.
You feel healed.
You recall your intention.
State it again three times silently to yourself,
Knowing the seed of this intention has already been planted.
Come back to the present moment.
Back to the here and now.
Feel the edges of your body.
And where the space around it begins.
Breathe down into your fingers.
Breathe down into your toes.
Begin to bring gentle movements back into the fingers and the toes.
When you feel ready,
Take a final stretch here and reach the body long.
Slowly begin to roll over to your side.
Take a few breaths here.
And when you feel grounded and ready,
With eyes still closed,
You can slowly come back up to a seated position.
Taking a few moments here to reflect on your journey or journal if you choose to about your experience.
The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
Hariyam Tat Sat.
