Yoga Relaxation
Within yoga, our body is a microcosm of the universe, a reflection of nature.
The yogic arts of relaxation are associated with the moon—our receptive, rhythmic, cooling, and rejuvenative capacity. Under the night moon, we restore through sleep, turning our senses deeply inward, awakening refreshed and renewed.
For many of us, the stresses of the twenty-first century have slowly depleted our lunar nature. Stress causes more than a hundred physiological shifts in the body, from a shortening of breath to the release of cortisol in the bloodstream. With our nervous system charged and over stimulated, an ongoing connection to a relaxed and open state is disturbed. Symbolically, most of us have no idea what phase the moon is in on a daily basis. We are losing touch with the ebb and flow of the moon.
Connecting to our lunar nature is one of the greatest pleasures in yoga—typified in shavasana, or corpse pose, a deep relaxation at the end of a hatha yoga—based practice where you spread out on your mat, palms facing up in complete release. As a yoga teacher, I know from observing more than 10,000 shavasanas that relaxation does not come easily for most people, making shavasana one of the more difficult poses for contemporary yoga practitioners.
Of all the yoga practices, the relaxation arts are the most accessible for there is no physical requirement to enjoy the practice. You can share this with friends, parents, grandparents, and teenagers. They may not be able to grasp all of the yogic terms but the benefits will be just the same.
Yoga Nidra: The Art of Relaxation
The relaxation exercise that we will learn today is perfect to use at the end of any yoga practice—or as an anytime, anywhere ten-minute meditation, or before bed as a deep-sleep tonic. Regular practice, even just ten to twenty minutes a day, can have deep, lasting benefits.
Yoga nidra (literally “yogic sleep”) is a profound practice developed by Paramahamsa Swami Satyananda Saraswati as a way to completely relax the body while awakening deeper layers of consciousness. After sounding “om,” you are guided to cultivate a sankalpa, a spiritual resolve, an inner intention that connects to your highest aspirations or commitment to spiritual change.
Then you are guided through a rotation of consciousness through the body, chakra visualization, and the recall of symbolic images. The intent here is to be keenly aware while the body rests. Follow the guidance in a relaxed focus. Falling asleep or drifting off is natural in the beginning. Gradually you will develop your capacity to stay conscious during yoga nidra. This particular form was graciously transmitted to me by Dharmanidhi Saraswati.
Healing Shavasana Practice
We will now open to a healing shavasana. Come onto your back. Allow yourself to become comfortable, palms facing up, away from your hips; feet hip-distance apart, relaxed and open.
Wiggle around; make sure you're comfortable so you can feel your weight sinking down into the earth.
And then prepare by coming into stillness.
In this healing shavasana, you want to allow your body to move toward deep relaxation—a kind of “yogic sleep.” Keep your mind alert as we rotate our consciousness around the mandala of the body.
We'll begin by opening to the sea of “Om's.” Hearing the Om three times just rolling through your body. Become one with the vibration of the sound.
Allow your body to sink deeper and deeper into the earth, feeling the earth embracing you—whole body relaxing—where your mind stays alert, awake, conscious.
As you relax deeper, your body moving into stillness, visualize yourself rising above you looking back at your body. See yourself clearly. If this is difficult, imagine that you are looking down at a mirror reflection of yourself. Visualize what you're wearing, the shape of your body, the position you're in, the clothes you're wearing, the blanket that's covering you.
Allow your body to become more and more relaxed as your mind becomes very clear.
From here we're going to repeat a sankalpa three times. This is a positive phrase, invocation connected to your life, your purpose. Allow this to arise, and repeat it three times to yourself.
Now we will rotate our consciousness around the mandala of the body, to different points. This will move rather quickly. Try to keep the flow of your awareness as your body relaxes deeper. As I bring you into a place of your body, you can repeat the body part to yourself.
Bring your awareness to your right thumb, second finger, third finger, fourth finger, fifth finger, palm of the hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder, armpit, right hip, buttock, thigh, knee, shin, ankle, top of the foot, heel, sole of the foot, right big toe, second toe, third toe, fourth toe, fifth toe, left thumb, second finger, third finger, fourth finger, fifth finger, palm, wrist, elbow, shoulder, armpit, left hip, buttock, thigh, knee shin, ankle, top of the foot, heel, sole of the foot, left big toe, second toe, third toe, fourth toe, fifth toe.
Now relax and go deeper. Remain awake and alert.
And bring your awareness to your heels against the floor, calves, buttocks, center of the back, back of the hands, elbows and upper arms, upper back, back of the neck, back of the head, top of the head, right temple, left temple, forehead, right eyebrow, left eyebrow, space between the eyebrows, right eye sinking and relaxing into the socket, left eye.
Sinking and relaxing into the socket, bridge of the nose, right nostril, left nostril, right cheek, left cheek, right ear, left ear, upper lip, lower lip, chin, jaw, throat, upper chest, lower chest, abdomen, pelvis, groin, entire right leg from hip to toes, entire left leg from hip to toes. Right arm, shoulder to fingers. Left arm, shoulders to fingers. Entire chest, abdomen, pelvis, lower body, upper body, head.
Now relax your breath, let it be natural. Experience a flow of cosmic energy coming in through the top of the head like gold particles of light streaming in at a rapid pace, filling the top of the body, running through the shoulders and down the hands, down through the core, through the legs, and the feet.
And now reverse the flow. Come up through the feet, through the legs, through the pelvis and the torso. Up the fingers and arms. Up the core through the head.
Once again the directions reverse. Again a luminous gold stream of light flows down through the crown, filling the entire body.
Relax and go deeper and deeper while remaining awake and alert.
Now experience the inside of your body, as if your body was a balloon. And inside was dark infinite space. Your body feels very light; your skin is like the skin of a balloon. Feel yourself rise. Have the sensation of your body as rising off the ground. Now invoke some sensation of cold from your body memory. Now you are feeling warm. Remember a time when you were very hot. Recall the sensation. Do not sleep. Remain awake and alert. Relax and go deeper.
Become aware of the inside of your body. See seven points of light suspended in infinite space. Small condensed points of light; the chakras. From the base of the spine, in that infinite space, up to the crown of the head, shining, glistening white beautiful pearls strung along a strand of silver. From the base of the spine to the crown.
Now count these seven points of light, these chakras, from the bottom to the top. Starting at the base-- first chakra. Second chakra. Third chakra. Fourth chakra. Fifth chakra. Sixth chakra. Seventh chakra.
As I count each chakra—from the crown to the base now, in reverse—visualize that the chakra brightly flares. Seventh chakra. Sixth chakra. Fifth chakra. Fourth chakra. Third chakra. Second chakra. First chakra.
Now in this infinite space of the body, at the fourth chakra, the heart chakra, visualize an electric-blue drop of essence, a bindu, suspended in space at the fourth chakra. This bindu blue essence spreads throughout the entire universe, filling your space, spreading out from your skin, pervading out through the entire universe.
This blue bindu is connected to the blue bindu in the heart of all sentient beings.
Now pull your awareness up out of your limited body and see a massive mandala, infinite in all directions. As you are laying there with all of the seven chakras, connect out through the blue bindu in the heart to all other sentient beings in the mandala. Visualize this beautiful, infinite mandala of blue bindu essence connected to all beings.
You can see in all directions blue bindus into infinity.
Now bring your awareness back to the floor, back to your body touching the earth.
Visualize the infinite black space inside, the seven chakras of light, the blue bindu at the heart connected to all of the bindus.
Now form a few quick images of the symbols that I will mention. Bright yellow square of light, silvery-white crescent moon, fiery-red inverted pyramid, smoky-blue sphere, sphere of absolute lucidity, blackness of empty space, no limitations. Experience the black empty space. Let your mind expand to the ends of the space, which it can never reach.
Now bring your awareness back to your body.
In this short practice of yogic sleep, you've rejuvenated yourself. You'll arise refreshed, awake, renewed, and transformed.
Now repeat your sankalpa, your positive mental phrase, three times to yourself. And know that this sankalpa will surely come to pass.
You will hear three “om”s. Arise slowly when you're ready.
Now begin to externalize your awareness. Become aware of the sounds around you, and the sensation of your body touching the floor.
Now as we begin to move, try not to touch anyone if you are doing this practice in a group. Allow yourself to move slowly, gently, moving your fingers and your toes. Keep your eyes closed and soft. Gently stretching. Take time. Do not rush to open your eyes. Take time to bring yourself back. Small movements at first.
If you are reintegrating back into your life, then slowly roll off to the side. And come up to sitting. Feeling a sensation of loving compassion and connectedness to all beings.
Go in peace and beauty. Know yourself. Embody calm and peace, of yoga.
The practice of shavasana is now over.
Within yoga, our body is a microcosm of the universe, a reflection of nature.
The yogic arts of relaxation are associated with the moon—our receptive, rhythmic, cooling, and rejuvenative capacity. Under the night moon, we restore through sleep, turning our senses deeply inward, awakening refreshed and renewed.
For many of us, the stresses of the twenty-first century have slowly depleted our lunar nature. Stress causes more than a hundred physiological shifts in the body, from a shortening of breath to the release of cortisol in the bloodstream. With our nervous system charged and over stimulated, an ongoing connection to a relaxed and open state is disturbed. Symbolically, most of us have no idea what phase the moon is in on a daily basis. We are losing touch with the ebb and flow of the moon.
Connecting to our lunar nature is one of the greatest pleasures in yoga—typified in shavasana, or corpse pose, a deep relaxation at the end of a hatha yoga—based practice where you spread out on your mat, palms facing up in complete release. As a yoga teacher, I know from observing more than 10,000 shavasanas that relaxation does not come easily for most people, making shavasana one of the more difficult poses for contemporary yoga practitioners.
Of all the yoga practices, the relaxation arts are the most accessible for there is no physical requirement to enjoy the practice. You can share this with friends, parents, grandparents, and teenagers. They may not be able to grasp all of the yogic terms but the benefits will be just the same.
Yoga Nidra: The Art of Relaxation
The relaxation exercise that we will learn today is perfect to use at the end of any yoga practice—or as an anytime, anywhere ten-minute meditation, or before bed as a deep-sleep tonic. Regular practice, even just ten to twenty minutes a day, can have deep, lasting benefits.
Yoga nidra (literally “yogic sleep”) is a profound practice developed by Paramahamsa Swami Satyananda Saraswati as a way to completely relax the body while awakening deeper layers of consciousness. After sounding “om,” you are guided to cultivate a sankalpa, a spiritual resolve, an inner intention that connects to your highest aspirations or commitment to spiritual change.
Then you are guided through a rotation of consciousness through the body, chakra visualization, and the recall of symbolic images. The intent here is to be keenly aware while the body rests. Follow the guidance in a relaxed focus. Falling asleep or drifting off is natural in the beginning. Gradually you will develop your capacity to stay conscious during yoga nidra. This particular form was graciously transmitted to me by Dharmanidhi Saraswati.
Healing Shavasana Practice
We will now open to a healing shavasana. Come onto your back. Allow yourself to become comfortable, palms facing up, away from your hips; feet hip-distance apart, relaxed and open.
Wiggle around; make sure you're comfortable so you can feel your weight sinking down into the earth.
And then prepare by coming into stillness.
In this healing shavasana, you want to allow your body to move toward deep relaxation—a kind of “yogic sleep.” Keep your mind alert as we rotate our consciousness around the mandala of the body.
We'll begin by opening to the sea of “Om's.” Hearing the Om three times just rolling through your body. Become one with the vibration of the sound.
Allow your body to sink deeper and deeper into the earth, feeling the earth embracing you—whole body relaxing—where your mind stays alert, awake, conscious.
As you relax deeper, your body moving into stillness, visualize yourself rising above you looking back at your body. See yourself clearly. If this is difficult, imagine that you are looking down at a mirror reflection of yourself. Visualize what you're wearing, the shape of your body, the position you're in, the clothes you're wearing, the blanket that's covering you.
Allow your body to become more and more relaxed as your mind becomes very clear.
From here we're going to repeat a sankalpa three times. This is a positive phrase, invocation connected to your life, your purpose. Allow this to arise, and repeat it three times to yourself.
Now we will rotate our consciousness around the mandala of the body, to different points. This will move rather quickly. Try to keep the flow of your awareness as your body relaxes deeper. As I bring you into a place of your body, you can repeat the body part to yourself.
Bring your awareness to your right thumb, second finger, third finger, fourth finger, fifth finger, palm of the hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder, armpit, right hip, buttock, thigh, knee, shin, ankle, top of the foot, heel, sole of the foot, right big toe, second toe, third toe, fourth toe, fifth toe, left thumb, second finger, third finger, fourth finger, fifth finger, palm, wrist, elbow, shoulder, armpit, left hip, buttock, thigh, knee shin, ankle, top of the foot, heel, sole of the foot, left big toe, second toe, third toe, fourth toe, fifth toe.
Now relax and go deeper. Remain awake and alert.
And bring your awareness to your heels against the floor, calves, buttocks, center of the back, back of the hands, elbows and upper arms, upper back, back of the neck, back of the head, top of the head, right temple, left temple, forehead, right eyebrow, left eyebrow, space between the eyebrows, right eye sinking and relaxing into the socket, left eye.
Sinking and relaxing into the socket, bridge of the nose, right nostril, left nostril, right cheek, left cheek, right ear, left ear, upper lip, lower lip, chin, jaw, throat, upper chest, lower chest, abdomen, pelvis, groin, entire right leg from hip to toes, entire left leg from hip to toes. Right arm, shoulder to fingers. Left arm, shoulders to fingers. Entire chest, abdomen, pelvis, lower body, upper body, head.
Now relax your breath, let it be natural. Experience a flow of cosmic energy coming in through the top of the head like gold particles of light streaming in at a rapid pace, filling the top of the body, running through the shoulders and down the hands, down through the core, through the legs, and the feet.
And now reverse the flow. Come up through the feet, through the legs, through the pelvis and the torso. Up the fingers and arms. Up the core through the head.
Once again the directions reverse. Again a luminous gold stream of light flows down through the crown, filling the entire body.
Relax and go deeper and deeper while remaining awake and alert.
Now experience the inside of your body, as if your body was a balloon. And inside was dark infinite space. Your body feels very light; your skin is like the skin of a balloon. Feel yourself rise. Have the sensation of your body as rising off the ground. Now invoke some sensation of cold from your body memory. Now you are feeling warm. Remember a time when you were very hot. Recall the sensation. Do not sleep. Remain awake and alert. Relax and go deeper.
Become aware of the inside of your body. See seven points of light suspended in infinite space. Small condensed points of light; the chakras. From the base of the spine, in that infinite space, up to the crown of the head, shining, glistening white beautiful pearls strung along a strand of silver. From the base of the spine to the crown.
Now count these seven points of light, these chakras, from the bottom to the top. Starting at the base-- first chakra. Second chakra. Third chakra. Fourth chakra. Fifth chakra. Sixth chakra. Seventh chakra.
As I count each chakra—from the crown to the base now, in reverse—visualize that the chakra brightly flares. Seventh chakra. Sixth chakra. Fifth chakra. Fourth chakra. Third chakra. Second chakra. First chakra.
Now in this infinite space of the body, at the fourth chakra, the heart chakra, visualize an electric-blue drop of essence, a bindu, suspended in space at the fourth chakra. This bindu blue essence spreads throughout the entire universe, filling your space, spreading out from your skin, pervading out through the entire universe.
This blue bindu is connected to the blue bindu in the heart of all sentient beings.
Now pull your awareness up out of your limited body and see a massive mandala, infinite in all directions. As you are laying there with all of the seven chakras, connect out through the blue bindu in the heart to all other sentient beings in the mandala. Visualize this beautiful, infinite mandala of blue bindu essence connected to all beings.
You can see in all directions blue bindus into infinity.
Now bring your awareness back to the floor, back to your body touching the earth.
Visualize the infinite black space inside, the seven chakras of light, the blue bindu at the heart connected to all of the bindus.
Now form a few quick images of the symbols that I will mention. Bright yellow square of light, silvery-white crescent moon, fiery-red inverted pyramid, smoky-blue sphere, sphere of absolute lucidity, blackness of empty space, no limitations. Experience the black empty space. Let your mind expand to the ends of the space, which it can never reach.
Now bring your awareness back to your body.
In this short practice of yogic sleep, you've rejuvenated yourself. You'll arise refreshed, awake, renewed, and transformed.
Now repeat your sankalpa, your positive mental phrase, three times to yourself. And know that this sankalpa will surely come to pass.
You will hear three “om”s. Arise slowly when you're ready.
Now begin to externalize your awareness. Become aware of the sounds around you, and the sensation of your body touching the floor.
Now as we begin to move, try not to touch anyone if you are doing this practice in a group. Allow yourself to move slowly, gently, moving your fingers and your toes. Keep your eyes closed and soft. Gently stretching. Take time. Do not rush to open your eyes. Take time to bring yourself back. Small movements at first.
If you are reintegrating back into your life, then slowly roll off to the side. And come up to sitting. Feeling a sensation of loving compassion and connectedness to all beings.
Go in peace and beauty. Know yourself. Embody calm and peace, of yoga.
The practice of shavasana is now over.
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