The River Nidra

Take a moment to choose a position that feels comfortable in your body.

I always like starting on my back,

Feet slightly wider than the hips,

And the palms of the hands turn to the sky or shavasana.

But if this position doesn't feel good in your body,

Feel free to find something that feels restful.

Make sure that you're very comfortable,

Supported and warm.

Allow all physical effort to be released.

The practice of yoga nidra requires no physical effort.

In fact it requires no mental or emotional effort.

So you can drop all of that now.

You can surrender it to the practice.

You can always pick it up after the practice,

But just for a few precious minutes allow yourself to stop.

This yoga nidra is called the river.

And just like the river,

Its nature is flowing,

Nourishing and refreshing.

Allow your eyes to close.

Let them bathe in the darkness of your eyelids.

Let them sink towards the back of your head.

Let your physical vision go.

Become aware of your mouth and your sense of taste.

Release any tastes in your mouth or the absence of tastes.

Become aware of the watery quality of your mouth,

The juiciness of your mouth.

Become aware of the base of the tongue bathed in soothing liquid.

Become aware of the tongue reaching the roof of the mouth.

The tongue maybe reaching the teeth.

Unless you become aware of this contact,

Make it very soft,

No pressure.

Become aware of your jaw and notice any tension you might be holding in the jaw.

If you do notice that,

Know that it's normal and allow yourself to release it.

Let the teeth part ways.

Let the whole of your mouth relax.

Our mouth and our sense of taste are intimately related to the element of water.

Water or jala in Sanskrit is this energy in us which allows us to feel,

Create,

Connect to the rest of the world and allow life circumstances to flow through us without holding on to them in any way.

It is that in us which allows us to experience pleasure and is related to our sensuality.

It is that in us which gives rise to our preferences,

Likes and dislikes.

Take a moment to welcome your sense of taste and the element of water.

And as you do so,

Allow your awareness to flow to your hips and your groin.

Your hips and your groin are also related to this element of water.

Your hips and your groin are related to emotional release,

Emotional tension and also pleasure.

So take a moment to notice any sensations in your hips.

Let your hips soften down into the earth.

Let every small and big bone in your hips really crush down,

Surrender to gravity.

Let your awareness become even more fine tuned and start noticing the very subtle sensations in your hips.

Perhaps a feeling of warmth,

Any tingling sensations or just the gentle touch of your clothes on your skin.

Not trying to change them in any way,

Just observing them here.

Even if you let your awareness become even more fine tuned,

You might notice the watery or juicy quality of your hips and your groin.

You might feel a wave-like quality of sensations.

These waves may be very obvious to you or very subtle.

However you're experiencing them,

Allow them to spill over from your hips to your whole body.

Let every cell of your physical body be nourished by this inner nectar,

Your element of water.

And as this nectar spills out of your hips,

Allow it to pour out of your body beyond the physical limits of your body.

The more it's pouring out,

The more it is available,

It's like an endless resource.

You might imagine it filling up the space around you,

Gently lifting the body off the floor and allowing it to float in it.

Your whole room is now filled with this beautiful nectar and your body is fully rested in it.

This nectar is the perfect temperature,

The same temperature as your body,

So that you can spend some time in it.

The nectar is supporting the back of your ankles and reminds your feet to really rest down,

Let any pressure go.

It's supporting your calves,

The back of your knees and your thighs.

Your legs can rest fully into gravity,

Nothing to do,

Fully supported by the nectar.

The nectar wraps around your groin,

Supports your hips,

Your lower back,

Your middle back,

Your upper back and your shoulders.

Your whole torso can relax into the nectar.

Your arms are fully rested in the nectar and it's wrapping around your hands and your fingers.

As it wraps around every finger,

It's a signal for your hands to relax and release any tension they might be holding right now.

This beautiful nectar is forming a gentle pillow for your neck and your head.

It's so nice and soothing that any tension can be released from the neck and the head.

Your ears are now covered up in the nectar,

Everything becomes quieter.

And this nectar,

Your water element,

Doesn't really understand this whole idea of isolation.

Its nature is to flow,

Connect and explore.

And so it goes through the door of your room and down the stairs if you have any stairs and all the way out into the street.

It forms a river of swords and starts finding its way to the ocean.

It doesn't really know where the ocean is,

But just like every river out in nature,

It trusts gravity completely.

Sometimes it meets obstacles and again just like every natural river,

It finds its way through.

It changes trajectory,

It goes around.

Sometimes it jumps and it forms a waterfall.

But whatever happens on its way to the ocean,

It keeps going,

It keeps flowing.

And now the river is still young.

Young rivers are quite agitated,

They are more like mountain springs.

They jump from one rock to another,

Just like our thoughts sometimes.

And if there are any thoughts that are arising in you right now,

See if you can welcome them.

Sometimes in final relaxation or in the practice of yoga nidra,

It appears that the volume of our mind is turned up,

Not down.

Know that that's completely normal,

It is just that you become more aware of its workings.

So for this yoga nidra in particular,

See if you can welcome the activity of your mind completely.

Let it think whatever it wants to think.

Let it be as vocal as it likes to be.

Become acutely interested in how you think.

Notice the thoughts arising from nothing,

Maintaining their momentum and gently subsiding back into nothing.

Notice that you are aware of the thoughts and also the gaps between thoughts.

You might become aware that by simply turning your attention towards the way the mind works,

Its activity starts fading,

It becomes quieter all by itself.

No effort.

All that is required is the light of your attention.

And so as the mind becomes quieter and quieter,

The river is halfway between the top of the mountain and the ocean.

The pace becomes steadier and there are fewer waves.

As the mind calms down,

You might become more aware of the inner currents of your world,

Your emotional waves.

So if there are any emotions arising in you right now,

Just like we did with thoughts,

Let them fully be here,

Nothing to do.

Shine your attention on your emotions.

Once more,

Become curious about how you experience them.

How do they arise?

What is their momentum?

How do they subside?

Become aware of any texture,

Any energy,

Any sound or physical sensation that accompany emotions.

Notice that as we turn our attention towards our emotions,

We have already allowed them.

They are already here without effort,

Without trying,

Without resisting.

So just like the river has the capacity to keep flowing towards the ocean,

Notice that with every emotional turmoil present itself,

You have the capacity to continue steadily towards home.

So as emotions start subsiding too,

Everything becomes quieter and the river starts nearing the ocean,

Merging with her beloved.

It is the ocean of your own awareness,

The silent background of all thoughts and emotions.

So you let yourself float there without any particular sense of direction and all of your physical body,

Your mental body and your emotional body can truly be nourished and nurtured by this experience.

Sometimes little thoughts appear like waves on the surface,

But they are no problem for the ocean.

Sometimes currents of emotions appear further underneath the surface and they are not a problem for the ocean either.

Notice how the ocean isn't affected by these events appearing and disappearing in it.

It's neither diminished or augmented in any way.

Notice how all of this is already allowed in the ocean of your awareness.

In fact,

Your nature is allowing.

Knowing is who you are,

Not what you do.