introduction

please get comfortable for yoga nidra. make sure you have a blanket or socks, as you may get cold. you may also want a pillow for under your knees or behind your head. lie down on your back in savasana, palms facing upwards, feet slightly apart. (pause) really let yourself get comfortable here—during yoga nidra there should be no movement, so take what you need now. (pause) close your eyes. take a slow deep breath in, and a slow deep breath out. take your awareness inside and tap in to the whole physical body. every joint, every muscle should be completely relaxed. relax the palms, fingers, feet, toes, ankles, calves, knees, thighs, hamstrings, glutes, back, shoulders, chest, arms, elbows, hands, head, and neck. relax the whole body.

during the following practice you will continue to organically feel relaxed in the body. when the deep relaxation does come, you will be tempted to fall asleep, but try to keep yourself awake. make a soft intention to yourself right now--“i will not sleep, i will stay awake.” during yoga nidra the only thing you have to do is follow the sound of my voice. try not to analyze or intellectualize the instructions, but simply follow the voice with total attention and feeling.

pratyahara

pratyahara:

bring your attention to the sounds that you hear.

• in immediate space : my voice, music, air flowing, appliances, body shifting, breath

• in entire building : water in pipes, humming of appliances

• outside building : crackling fire, wind on windows, conversation

• within : heartbeat, digestion, organs

let yourself continue to observe the sounds you hear, not focusing on one directly, but allowing yourself to flit from sound to sound.

rotation of consciousness

now we move into the rotation of consciousness; the awareness of different parts of the body.

take your attention to your feet. see a golden light shining on your toes. allow the light to shine onto the soles of your feet, down to your heels, and swirl up over the top of the feet. move the light up your shins and around the calves, softly circling the knees, and slowly up the fronts and backs of the thighs. allow the light to hover at the base of your spine, and then gently engulf the pelvis and hips. move the light up the spine, circling around the belly and the back. allow the golden light to flood over your chest, up around the shoulders, neck and throat, and then cascade down the arms. see the light shining in the palm of your hand and out through each finger (can list individually). hold the light here for a moment, feeling the sacred light of potential right at your fingertips. then, move the light up to your third eye. allow it to shine over the forehead and temples, down the cheeks, and over your nose…your lips…your chin, around the jaw and all the way down to the base of the skull, up the back of the head to resonate at the crown. 

awareness of breath

draw your attention to the natural ingoing and outgoing of the breath. feel the breath moving along the passage between the naval and the throat—on inhalation the breath rises from the belly to the throat, on exhalation it descends from the throat to the naval. be completely aware of the breath, without force, without change, just awareness. just a witness to the rise and fall. begin counting your breaths backwards from 27. twenty-seven inhales, and twenty-seven exhales. if you get lost or lose focus, simply start over from 27. (long pause)

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for shorter nidra, 11 counts backwards**

opposites

awaken the feeling of heaviness in the body. feel the heaviness of the legs, the torso, the arms and the head. so heavy that you are melting deep into the floor beneath you. awareness of heaviness. awaken the feeling of lightness in the body. a sensation of lightness and weightlessness in all parts of the body. so light that your body might float away from the floor. bring back the heaviness. so heavy, your body is gently forced to melt back down to the earth. heavy, heavy body. call back the feeling of lightness, floating away from the ground. lightness, weightlessness in the body. become aware of the parts of the body that connect to the earth. allow them to slowly draw you back down to the earth, back into the heavy, grounded body. feel yourself weighted, gently softening into the earth beneath you.

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could also do cold + hot**

image visualization

we now come to visualization – open the screen of your mind, and give yourself permission to react in any way. simply acknowledge each visual and then let it go.

short visuals:

• a double rainbow

• the smell of coffee

• the taste of chocolate

• a hammock

• copper parrot fish

• snuggles from a puppy

• deep canyons

• a bubble bath

• a snow covered mountain

• the taste of an apple

• the sun on your skin 

• a vase full of roses

• fluffy clouds

• a handful of seashells

• purple butterflies

• a glass of red wine

• the silence of snowfall

• an empty dock

• a cat sleeping

• the smell of lavender 

• a mega yacht

• an airplane in the sky

• soft grass beneath your feet

• a plate of spaghetti

• a yellow balloon

• the empire state building

• a pile of leaves

• linen sheets

• a burning candle

• the sound of rain

• a green bicycle

• riding a golden dragon

• flags blowing in the wind

• the taste of a pear

• an orange sky

• your first swim

• the taj mahal

• a full moon

• your favorite sweater

• a cup of tea

• your best friend’s laugh

• glittering stars

**these can be anything, so claim your own! short + simple though, easily described

long visual

imagine that it is very early in the morning, still dark, and you are walking through the hills climbing up towards some mountains. you are alone. (pause) you are walking east, and as you look up into the sky you can see a crescent shaped moon low in the sky. soon the sun will rise up over the mountains ahead of you. far below in a valley, the lights of a small town twinkle through an early morning mist. the path you are on twists back and forth on the side of a steep slope…it winds between huge boulders and over bridges suspended across deep chasms. a gap between two hills gives a glimpse of a huge snow covered mountain ahead…the pale sky behind it heralds the dawn. (pause) you climb up through snow, and it makes a crunching sound as you break the surface and sink in…a glacier lies across your path. there are creaks and groans of moving ice as you quickly move across. (pause) near the top of the mountain it becomes very cold, winds howl around your body and snatch at your clothes. snow and ice cling to your shoes, but through all of this you do not feel cold. (pause) you reach the top, and a magnificent scene reveals itself before your eyes. to the east, a vast range of snow covered peaks and dark valleys. to the west, hills leading to rolling planes, and to the sea. (pause) intensify your imagination and visualize this scene. see the sun rise like a golden ball in the east, scattering rays of golden light off snow that dazzles your eyes. (pause) sweep your eyes around the sky. to the west it is still grey, but above you, blue. in the east, a delicate pink, as it nears the sun. watch the sunlight strike the tops of mountains and move down their sides…deep valleys emerge as the shadows retreat. (pause) you sit with legs crossed and contemplate this grand scene…the dawn of a new day. let yourself sit here for some time…let your mind flow freely with this experience. (long pause)

sankalpa

bring your awareness back to the space in front of your closed eyes. watch the screen of your mind gently, being a witness to what plays out before you.

acknowledge right here, the deepest desire of your heart in this moment. the deepest desire you have for yourself. hold this desire in your heart space, hold this desire in your mind, hold this desire in the depths of your soul.

begin to bring yourself gently back to the physical realm. start by seeing the body in your mind’s eye…and slowly descending to it. become aware of the points of the body that connect to the earth. when you feel ready to move, allow yourself to…but if you need a few more moments to be still, listen to the body. begin to make your way to your side body, pausing here. rising gently up to seated, gather your hands in your lap, placing one palm in the other. see a crystal ball in your hands, and in the crystal ball your vision for your heart’s deepest desire. see it in as much or as little detail as comes. gather that desire in your palms as you gently press the hands together, anjali mudra. thumbs to your third eye to acknowledge that you see your desire.