Yoga Nidra Preparation

The preparation is the same for all the visualisations.

You can also use it to prepare for your own personal visualizations (feel free to
devise your own - there’s no such thing as a ‘sacred’ script. The more personal the
symbolism, the better).

Lay back in your bed and close your eyes.

It is possible to do yoga nidra on your side, but not recommended - your back is
the best position.

Relax your body and mind as much as you can.

Your goal is to remain still for the next 20 minutes or so. If you feel an itch or
compulsion to move, try to re-focus on your practice - each time you move will set
you back a little.

The first goal of the preparation is to re-unite with your

body.
During our hectic modern lives we enjoy very cerebral pursuits…

It’s all too common for us to get “up in our heads”.

Swirling thoughts, anxiety and stress. This can be controlled and soothed by re-
connecting with our bodies. Direct your awareness to your body. Part by part.

Start with your neck and shoulders. How do they feel? Sense the tension in your
muscles and allow it to dissipate. You may be surprised at how much tension you are
holding, without being aware!

Then move to your back and do the same thing. Next your face, your arms and your
legs.

If you find this enjoyable, you may wish to extend it even further with the 61 Point
Relaxation Technique.

When you have finished scanning your body and are fully aware of it, it’s time to
shine the light of our awareness inwards - to our emotions and thoughts.

The second goal of the preparation is to re-unite with

your mind.
Allow yourself to recognise any major emotional or life events that are occurring at
the moment.

There’s bound to be something, right… even if it’s just feeling wound up at your boss
after a long day at work.

We’re often taught that meditation is about ‘emptying your mind’.

Not so.

Don’t feel guilty for having thoughts!

Mindfulness is more about how you react to your thoughts.

We are not trying to drain our thoughts away, like water out of a bath tub. We are
merely allowing ourselves to recognise our thoughts and emotions without becoming
attached to them. We are accepting them, casually observing them - and allowing
them to pass, without focusing on them.

Imagine yourself sitting on a rock by the side of a flowing stream, looking down into
the waters. You are the observer.

The water is your thoughts and emotions.

Allow it to flow past you. Remain present and aware of – but not attached to –
thoughts that pass through your mind.

OK. So we’ve mindfully re-connected with our body, our thoughts and emotions.

Now it’s time to bring ourselves fully into the present by re-focusing awareness on
our breath.

The third goal of the preparation is to be mindful of the

present moment.
Breathe naturally. Calmly.

Allow each breath to slowly take its course.

Focus your awareness on these breaths, feel every detail of them. One by one.

Where is it in your body? How does it feel? Is it a long breath or a short breath? You
may never have considered any of these questions before. But every single breath is
as intricately and subtly different as the grains of sand on a beach.

Each grain of sand comes from a different rock or perhaps a shell that was once a
living creature swimming in the ocean. These details are often overlooked. Just as
every breath is different!
Our breath changes according to our emotional state, heart rate, excitement and
stress levels. Feel it flowing over every single millimetre of your wind pipe.

Truly appreciate each one.

Count the breaths. From 1 to 10.

Focus only on the breath. Allow any thoughts that intrude to flow away like water in
the flowing stream.

You may be surprised how hard it is to simply count from 1 to 10 without an external
thought intruding! Do not feel bad, this is quite normal.

Do this 3 times, for a total of 30 breaths.

You should now be in a calm, relaxed and ‘half-asleep’ state. Your mind is alert, but
your body is deeply relaxed and preparing for sleep.

You are now ready to commence your yoga nidra visualizations.

Just be careful not to actually fall asleep (unless of course, you are doing yoga nidra
for sleep and that is your goal. Doh!)

Script 1 – For Sleep or Insomnia

You are laid on your back on a water lily, floating on top of a vast motionless ocean in
a faraway land. The water is completely still and you feel completely safe and at
peace. The air is warm as you feel the steady heat of an unknown sun beat down
upon your face and body – cleansing you.

You are happy and comfortable, drifting on your back - with your eyes closed, safe,
cased all around by your strong, thick water lily and miles from anything but calm
open water.

The strength of the water lily makes you feel protected and safe. It is thick and the
water cannot even think about seeping in.

Rest here, drifting happily – without a care in the world.

As you drift, content, warm, safe and protected – your awareness begins to fade
away and you drift off to sleep.

Script 2 – Deep Relaxation

Your mind feels like the sky.

Each cloud is one of your thoughts or emotions. Take a moment to look up at your
sky and see which of the themes in your life are up there. Which are looming dark
rain clouds and which are little white puffs skiting briskly across the sky.
Most beautiful of all is the bright, brilliant, beaming patches of clear blue. You focus
on these and feel the weight lift from your shoulders. You breathe deeply and feel
yourself relax.

Slowly, all the clouds in the sky are one by one blown away by a brisk wind imbued
with an enchanting energy.

You watch the clouds disappear over the horizon and as you do your mind clears.
You feel a great sense of relief and deep relaxation.

Only blissful, clear, open blue is in your mind now.

Your mind seems now blank as a white piece of paper.

Script 3 - Self Love, Self Respect and Self

Confidence
You see a great, wide, tall sunflower in front of you. Behind it, is a golden glowing
field of wheat. The sunflower rises up, gloriously, full of light and energy. In the
middle of the sunflower is a baby. Young, pure and innocent. Just days old, wrapped,
tightly.

You feel a strong, intense, giving love towards the baby. It is all that is good about
humanity.

You feel how much the baby is worth.

You feel, deeply in your heart, how much the baby deserves love.

The baby is you.

You feel your feet connected to the Earth, wholesome energy flowing through you.
You raise up your arms to the sky. The energy and life-force of the baby joins with
yours and flows up through you and into the sky.

Script 4 – Emotional Release and Healing

You are on a high cliff top, sparse vegetation and dry dirt around you, surrounded by
a vast expansive open sky.

You have a small iron cauldron in front of you.

As you stand, you are filling the cauldron with pieces of you. From inside your heart.

The pain, the fear, the hate, the tears, the anger, the sorrow. Whatever your troubles
are.

All of it is taken from your body and you feel it leaving you as it enters the cauldron.
You pick up the cauldron by its handle, with both hands, and swing it around your
body. You feel the muscles of your back arch and the toes of your feet dig into the
ground as you fling the cauldron over the side of the cliff with all of your might.

You let out an almighty yell as the liquid that was in the cauldron disperses and
separates into ten million tiny droplets that spread far far out into the sky slowly until
they are completely gone.

You feel a sensation of weight lifted from your heart. You feel light and happy.

You smile as suddenly you are under a waterfall and the water hammers down upon
you, cleaning you inside and filling up your heart with joy.

Script 5 – Gratitude
Imagine yourself sat high above the world on a silver platform, looking down upon the
Earth.

You feel your heart grow with thankfulness for everything you have.

You imagine the food you have and think carefully about where it came from and the
energy of the people who had to work to produce it.

You imagine the comforts you have – running water, heat, shelter, electricity. Friends,
family. Your health. The Internet. Your heart grows bigger.

You say slowly thank you for everything you have. Think of every little thing.

A network of silver lines connects you from your platform to every other living person
on the planet. It is infinitely complex. You feel your heart grow larger still. Love and
karma spread from you along these silver links and you feel it flow across your body
and into the collective heart of humanity.

Script 6 – Success and Achievement

You are a wanderer, alone, trekking across a vast continent. Grass grows to either
side.

You feel the heavy backpack upon your shoulders.

The weight feels difficult on your hips and your legs as you trudge onwards.

You continue endlessly. Your heart beating steadily. It dips not once.

As you continue walking, days and nights pass, seasons come and go. Winter
passes. Summer comes. Through light, through dark, you march.

Rains come and go. The sun scorches you. Insects bite you.
Still you march. Still you continue. You age. Years. You have been walking for ten
years.

Eventually the walk ends and you feel a deep, deep joy slowly surge throughout your
whole being and settle in your heart.

Finally you have done it and you feel faith, contentment and satisfaction in your
heart.