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This full Yoga Nidra practice guides you into deep relaxation and inner renewal. After moving through body awareness and breath, you’re led on a healing visualization "Climbing the Sacred Mountain" to release burdens and connect with clarity and peace. A nourishing practice for profound rest, balance, and transformation.

Yoga Nidra For Deep Rest And Healing: The Sacred Mountain

Start by settling into your practice space. Lie down in Shavasana and make sure that your body is even, comfortable and warm. Take the next few moments to settle in and make any adjustments that you need so that your body is comfortable for Yoganandra. As soon as your body begins to settle in, start by noticing sound. Notice the sounds that you hear, very effortlessly. Just let your mind go from one sound to the next. Now become aware of your own sounds. Sounds happening inside of your body. The subtle sounds of your inhales and exhales. The subtle sounds of your heart beating. Sounds in your mouth. Sound of your thoughts. Be aware of your own sound. Now be aware of your body. Notice your body on the floor. Notice the feeling of your body on the floor. Notice all of the meeting points between your body and the floor. The back of your head on the floor. The back of the arms on the floor. The back of your hands on the floor. Upper back on the floor. Middle back on the floor. Lower back on the floor. Notice your whole body on the floor. And now set an intention for your practice. An intention is a clear, positive statement that you make in the present moment. For example, I am calm and grounded. I am healthy and whole. Once you have your intention, repeat it to yourself three times. We'll come back to it at the end of the practice. And now we are going to practice rotation of awareness. A body skinning practice. For this, you just bring your attention mentally to the area of the body that I mentioned. The body will stay still and the mind will go from one part to the next. Start by bringing your awareness to the right hand. Right thumb. Index finger. Middle finger. Ring finger. Pinky finger. Palm of the right hand. Back of your right hand. Right wrist. Right lower arm. Right elbow. Right upper arm. Right shoulder. Right armpit. Right waist. Right hip. Right thigh. Right knee. Right shin. Right ankle. Top of your right foot. Sole of the right foot. Heel of the right foot. Right big toe. Second toe. Third toe. Fourth toe. Fifth toe. Move the awareness to your left hand. Left thumb. Index finger. Middle finger. Ring finger. Pinky finger. Palm of your left hand. Back of your left hand. Left wrist. Left lower arm. Left elbow. Left upper arm. Left shoulder. Left armpit. Left waist. Left hip. Left thigh. Left knee. Left shin. Left ankle. Top of your left foot. Sole of your left foot. Heel of your left foot. Your left big toe. Second toe. Third toe. Fourth toe. And fifth toe. Move the awareness to the back of your head. The back of your neck. Back of your right shoulder. And back of your left shoulder. Feel your spine. Feel your upper back. Middle back. Lower back. Feel your entire back. The right butt cheek. Left butt cheek. Back of the right leg. And back of your left leg. And move the awareness to the top of your head. Skull. Forehead. Right eye. Left eye. Right ear. Left ear. Now feel the inside of your ears. Feel the outer rims of your ears. The right cheekbone. Left cheekbone. Right nostril. Left nostril. Tip of your nose. Upper lip. Bottom lip. Now feel the inside of your mouth. Notice sensations inside of your mouth. Feel your tongue. Upper teeth. Bottom teeth. Roof of your mouth. Feel your entire mouth. Now feel your throat. Right side of your chest. Left side of your chest. Center of your chest. Your navel. Lower abdomen. Feel the right leg. Feel your left leg. Feel both legs together. Feel the right arm. Feel your left arm. Feel both arms together. Feel the right hand. Feel your left hand. Feel both hands together. Now feel the right side of your body. Feel the left side of your body. Feel the front of your body. Feel the back of your body. Feel the outside of your body. And feel the inside of your body. Now feel your entire body. Be aware of your body on the floor. Become aware of all of those parts at the same time. Feel your entire body. And now notice your body breathing. Very effortlessly notice your inhales and exhales. Notice the subtle movements, subtle sounds of your body as you breathe in and out. Notice how your front body expands when you breathe in. Notice your chest, ribs, belly. And how the front body contracts as you breathe out. Notice your body breathing. Now keeping your awareness on the natural flow of your breath. Count your breaths back, 27 to 1, so you're counting effortlessly on each exhale. Every time that you exhale, feel your body and mind soften into deeper and deeper relaxation. If you lose the count or finish, go back to 27, so there's no rush, no effort to finish the count. Count backwards, 27 to 1. And now let go of your count. And recreate feelings of heaviness. Imagine that your body is so heavy that you're sinking down into the ground. Your body is heavy as if your bones were made of steel and you couldn't lift a finger. The whole body is heavy. The bones are heavy, muscles are heavy, organs are heavy, the skin is heavy. Your whole body is so heavy, sinking down into the ground. Now recreate feelings of lightness. Your body is so light that you're floating from the ground. Body is light as if your bones were made of feathers and you were floating. Body is light, the bones are light, muscles are light, organs are light, the skin is light, the whole body is light. Now go back to the feeling of heaviness. You're sinking down into the ground. Go back to the feeling of lightness. You're floating like a feather. Now feel both at the same time. Welcome both feelings at the same time. Heavy and light. Allow both into your presence. Now remember a time when you felt sleepy. So sleepy, unable to keep your eyes open. So sleepy, losing focus, winding down. Body is sleepy. And now remember a time when you felt wide awake, energized, focused, unable to close your eyes, so awake. Now go back to feeling sleepy, unable to keep your eyes open, so, so sleepy. Now go back to feeling awake, unable to close your eyes. Now welcome both feelings at the same time. Sleepy and awake. Allow both into your presence. Feel both at the same time. Sleepy and awake. And now move your awareness to that space between the eyebrows. Imagine that you're staring at a dark screen right behind your forehead. Imagine that you're waiting for a movie to come on and the screen is dark, empty and you're sitting right behind that screen. Now just start to notice the thoughts passing through the screen of your mind. Notice them one by one. Notice how they come and go. Come and go. Just noticing the thoughts passing through one by one without resistance or without judgment. Just be the observant here. Now come back to that blink screen. Visualize yourself lying down in Shavasana. Visualize yourself lying down in Shavasana. Now visualize yourself standing up. In front of you see a deep green forest with tall dance trees spreading throughout. Very old, heavy trees that have been there for many, many years. As you walk along the forest you see the sun peeking through the trees. Listen to the sound of the birds as they fly from one tree to the next. Notice the feeling of your feet as you walk along the path passing through dirt and rocks, puddles and storms along the way. On the right side of the path you see a heavy rock. There's a drawing of a heart on the heavy rock. Inside of the heart it says you are here. On the left side of the path you see a tall waterfall. There are people swimming at the bottom of the waterfall. Notice the sound of the waterfall. Notice the sound of the people laughing as they swim across the water. A little far ahead you see an empty road. A long, wide paved road right in the middle of the forest. You begin to walk along the road and as you look up you see trees covering the sky. A little far ahead you see an elephant standing still on the side of the road. As you walk past the elephant you see that the elephant is looking down on the ground. You come to the end of the road and you see a big golden door. You open the golden door and you step inside. On the other side you see a path leading to a tall green mountain. A long, narrow path nestled between lush green fields. You begin to walk along the path and you'll make your way up the tall green mountain. On the right side of the path you see a calm lake. There's a pink lotus flower floating on the lake. Inside of the lotus flower you see a small white duck sleeping peacefully and quietly. You keep walking along the path. On the left side you see pine trees covered in snow. You're getting closer to the foot of the mountain and you notice that it's getting colder and colder the further and further you walk into the path. You now come to the foot of the mountain and you see an old rusty sign that says you are here. You begin to make your way up the mountain, climbing through steep, rocky paths on your way up. In front of you, you see an old wooden bridge over a river in the mountain. You cross the bridge and on the other side you see a cozy cabin. You go inside of the cozy cabin just to get some rest. There's a fireplace in the cabin. Notice the sound of the fire crackling. Notice the warm golden light from the fireplace lighting up the cabin. You sit next to the fireplace and in front of you you see a book. Open the book. There's a page on the book that says you are here. You step out of the cozy cabin and you keep climbing the tall green mountain. A little far ahead you see an apple tree. You go to the apple tree and you grab the greenest apple on the tree. You now come to the top of the mountain. There's a little field of grass. You sit on the field of grass and in front of you you see a beautiful sunset over the mountains. As you look to your right you see a long lake spreading at the foot of the mountain, so big that it looks like an ocean. As you look to your left you see a small village lighting up for the night, so bright that it looks like a Christmas tree. You now close your eyes and you observe the feeling of gratitude from all the beauty that surrounds you. You notice the feeling of gratitude from having just climbed a very tall mountain. You notice the feeling of gratitude from all the peace and calm that is covering your body, mind and spirit. Notice how everything becomes quiet and still as you know that you are here. You are here. Notice that feeling of quiet and stillness as you close the eyes and you become one with everything that surrounds you. And now at some point come back to the intention that you set at the beginning of the practice. Once you have your intention, repeat it to yourself three more times. Repeat it to yourself three more times. And now begin to bring your awareness back. Start to wiggle the fingers and wiggle your toes. Bend the knees one at a time and when you're ready roll to the right side into fetal position. Feel free to stay in fetal position longer if you wish. Whenever you're ready to close out your practice, come up to a seated position. Take your hands together at your heart and lower the chin to your chest. Take a long deep breath in through your nose and sigh it out through the mouth. The practice is now complete.