Yoga Nidra- Letting Go And Inviting Gratitude

Hi,

Thank you so much for joining me for this Yoga Nidra journey,

Letting go of the year,

Finding closure and gratitude.

My name is Crystal and I am an EFT tapping coach and guided meditation teacher here on Insight Timer.

I'm so grateful that you found my track.

I invite you now to find a cozy spot where you will be uninterrupted for the next 45 minutes or so.

Settling into your space,

Wrapping yourself in blankets and supporting yourself with pillows,

Taking a moment to close your eyes down and get settled.

Allow yourself to feel fully supported by the earth and safe here.

If it is comfortable for you,

I invite you to close your eyes down,

Taking a few deep breaths in and out,

Inhaling deeply through your nose and exhaling fully through your mouth.

Taking a few rounds of breathing on your own,

Feeling the rise and the fall of your chest and belly as you begin to settle into stillness.

I invite you now to set an intention for the practice tonight.

It can be a word or a phrase that encapsulates your desire to reflect,

Release,

And invite gratitude.

Take a moment here to allow the intention to come to you.

No pressure.

If nothing shows up right away,

That's okay.

Allow your breathing to flow naturally in through your nose if that is comfortable and out through your mouth if that is comfortable or out through your nose.

Noticing any tension or any tightness in your body,

Any thoughts that come up,

I invite you to sit with them,

Any visualizations.

If you can sit with them,

Feel free to do so.

And begin by bringing awareness to the very crown of your head.

As I move through the different parts of the body,

Just bring your awareness to that part and invite in deeper relaxation if you can.

Notice any sensations that arise and just working through them.

Feeling the gentle touch of relaxation as it begins to flow down from the top of your head,

Softening your scalp and your forehead.

Noticing if there is any tension or tightness in the muscles around your eyebrows or your eyes.

Bringing awareness to your right temple,

Awareness to your left temple.

Awareness now to your right eyelid,

Awareness to your left eyelid.

Feeling your eyelids becoming heavier,

More relaxed,

Closing them down if they haven't been closed yet.

Bringing awareness down to the very tip of your nose.

Noticing the breath flowing in,

Feeling cool,

And flowing out,

Feeling warm.

Bringing your awareness to your right cheekbone,

Awareness to your left cheekbone.

Bringing awareness to the very center of your bottom lip,

Awareness to the tip of your tongue.

Allowing your tongue to rest and relax gently in your mouth.

Bringing awareness to your jaw,

Allowing your jaw to relax if there is any tension in the muscles around your jaw,

Any tightness.

Bringing your awareness now to your neck,

To the sides of your neck.

Allowing the muscles in your neck to soften and release.

Moving awareness to the back of your neck and the back of your head.

If these parts of you are touching the surface beneath you,

Noticing yourself feeling heavier on the ground beneath you.

Allowing yourself to relax further here.

Moving your awareness down to your right shoulder,

Noticing if the muscles around your shoulder are activating to hold you in place and allow them to melt into the floor and to the surface you are on.

Bringing awareness and relaxation down to your upper arm,

The muscles of your right upper arm relaxing and softening.

Awareness down to your right elbow,

Awareness and relaxation down to your right lower arm.

Noticing any muscle activation here holding you in place and allow those muscles to relax.

Bringing your awareness now to your right wrist,

Awareness moving down to your right hand,

Awareness to your right thumb,

Awareness to your right index finger,

Awareness to your right middle finger,

Awareness to your right ring finger.

Awareness now to your right pinky finger,

Allowing deeper relaxation to flow in through the tips of your right fingers,

Flowing up over your right hand,

Flowing up over your right wrist.

Flowing up over your right forearm,

Awareness and relaxation flowing up over your right elbow,

Trickling up over your right upper arm,

Over your right shoulder,

And moving your awareness over to your left shoulder.

Noticing if the muscles of your left shoulder are activated holding you in place at all and allowing them to melt into the surface you are on,

Relaxing and letting go.

Moving awareness down to your left upper arm,

Allowing the tension to melt away,

Awareness and relaxation down to your left elbow,

Moving down to your left lower arm,

Allowing any muscle tension to release.

Awareness down to your left wrist,

Awareness down to your left hand,

Awareness down to the very tip of your left thumb,

Awareness to the very tip of your left index finger,

Awareness to the very tip of your left middle finger,

Awareness to the tip of your left ring finger,

Awareness to the very tip of your left pinky finger,

Allowing further relaxation to trickle up over your left fingertips,

Spreading up over your left hand,

Feeling heavier on the surface you are on,

Deeper relaxation flowing up over your left wrist,

Up over your left forearm,

Flowing up over your left elbow,

Deeper relaxation flowing up over your left upper arm,

And flowing all the way up over your left shoulder.

Noticing that both of your arms might feel heavier on the surface you are on,

More relaxed.

Any of the weight that you've been carrying from this year,

Allow yourself to put it down here.

Bringing awareness to the very center of your chest,

Your heart center,

Breathing deeply into the heart center,

Noticing the rise and fall as your breath flows naturally,

Inviting more calm and peace into your heart,

Letting this relaxation and awareness flow down to your abdomen,

Down to the very base of your spine,

And down to the very tip of your index finger.

Noticing if any of the muscles in your back feel tight or tense,

Holding you in place,

And allow them to just relax and melt into the surface you are on,

Moving your awareness down to your right hip,

Down to your right thigh,

And down to your right knee.

Noticing any muscle tension here and allowing your muscles to soften,

Bringing awareness down to your right knee,

Awareness down to your right shin,

Awareness to your right calf,

Allowing the muscles to relax even deeper,

Awareness down to your right heel,

Down to the ball of your right foot,

Moving to your right big toe.

Now,

To the very tip of your right second toe,

To your right third toe,

To your right fourth toe,

And to the very tip of your right pinky toe.

Now,

I invite you to allow in deeper relaxation,

Flowing up from the very tips of your right toes,

Up over your right foot,

Over your right heel,

Flowing up over your right ankle,

Trickling up over your calf and shin,

Over your right knee,

Flowing up over your right thigh,

And reaching your right hip,

Moving your awareness now to your left hip,

Down to your left thigh,

Relaxing any activated muscles here,

Inviting in deeper relaxation,

Awareness now moving to your left knee,

Moving now to your left shin,

Down to your left calf,

Moving your awareness now to your left ankle,

To your left heel,

To the ball of your left foot,

To the very tip of your left big toe,

To the very tip of your left second toe,

The very tip of your left third toe,

Awareness to the very tip of your left fourth toe,

And finally,

To the left pinky toe,

Inviting deeper relaxation,

Trickling up over the tips of your left toes,

Flowing and trickling up over your left foot,

Deeper relaxation over your left heel,

Over your left ankle,

Trickling up over your left calf and shin,

Deeper relaxation over your left knee,

Up over your left thigh,

And back up to your left hip,

Bringing your awareness to your body as a whole,

Feeling yourself completely at ease and embraced by stillness.

Take a few moments here to allow your body to feel heavier on the surface you are on,

More relaxed,

Know that you are safe here and this is your journey.

With each inhale that you take,

I invite you to feel gratitude for this past year,

Filling your body.

And with each exhale,

Imagine letting go of anything that's holding you back.

Any residual tension,

Worries,

Or heaviness.

If it's comfortable for you,

Visualize your breath as a wave rising gently on the inhale and falling softly on the exhale,

Allowing the wave to gently wash over you,

Cleansing and refreshing you with every cycle.

We will begin our journey of letting go and gratitude.

I invite you to imagine yourself standing at the edge of a serene forest.

The air is crisp and cool,

But it is comfortable.

It carries the scent of pine and earth.

This is your sanctuary,

This forest,

Where you are safe and you are held by the earth.

You see a path ahead dappled with golden sunlight filtering through the trees.

You are welcome to begin walking slowly along this path,

Feeling the soft earth beneath your feet,

Noticing if you are barefoot or wearing shoes.

Even though you're barefoot,

If you choose to be,

The earth is so soft and comfortable under your feet.

Allow yourself to look around.

Notice what you're wearing,

If you're carrying anything,

The colors of the forest around you.

As you walk down the path,

Notice the year that you have experienced this year.

Moments of joy,

Challenges,

Lessons,

And growth.

Each step you take allows you to gently acknowledge all of these experiences without any judgment.

These experiences are like the leaves on the trees around you.

Some are vibrant and others are ready to fall.

Notice what the leaves look like,

Their shape,

Their texture,

And know that just like a tree that releases its leaves and it's time to let go,

It is okay to let go of that which no longer serves you.

As you walk down the path,

You come to a clearing where a small bench sits beneath a large ancient tree.

The tree's branches are heavy with many leaves and as you sit down by this tree and this bench,

Whatever this bench looks like to you,

Maybe it has a cushion,

Maybe it's made out of wood or stone.

Sitting down,

You feel the presence of this ancient tree,

Strong,

Wise,

And grounding.

Take a moment to settle into this bench.

You look down and in your lap you find a golden bowl.

This bowl is empty and it represents your ability to hold gratitude for the moments and lessons of the past year.

Take a moment here to connect with your breathing and connect with the bowl,

Noticing how big it is,

How heavy or light it is,

If it's a shiny gold or more of a brassy gold,

If there are any markings on it or if it is smooth.

I invite you now to recall memories of this past year.

One by one,

Recall the ones that come back to you easily.

You notice that next to you there is a pile of symbolic tokens.

Notice if they are large or small,

Heavy or light,

Shiny or dull.

And with each memory from the past year,

I invite you to place a symbolic token into the bowl,

A golden light representing a joyful moment,

A silver light for a lesson learned,

A soft white light for a moment of peace.

These colors may look different to you,

But each color represents a different aspect of your year.

As you place each token into the bowl for every memory from the past year,

I invite you to allow your heart to fill with gratitude for all of these experiences.

Take a few moments here and take your time placing tokens into the bowl and recalling memories.

You will hear my voice again shortly.

When the bowl is full,

Sit with it,

With the bowl in your hands,

Feeling its warmth radiating back to you.

This is the essence of your year,

A beautiful,

Unique collection of moments that have shaped you.

I invite you to express gratitude here for all the ways that this past year has shaped you.

You now notice that there is a stream flowing nearby where you are seated.

I invite you to stand and move toward the water carrying the bowl with you.

The stream is close by and it represents the flow of time constantly moving forward.

I invite you to kneel down or sit next to the stream on a comfortable patch of land.

Maybe it's grassy,

Maybe it's just a patch of dirt.

Maybe there is a place to sit made of stone.

One by one,

I invite you to pour the contents of the bowl into the stream.

As you do,

Thank each moment for what it brought you and release it to the flow of life,

Allowing all of this to be transmuted by the earth to beautiful blessings for the year ahead to flow back to you.

When the bowl is empty,

Notice how you feel.

Is there a lightness within you?

Has a space opened,

Ready to welcome brand new experiences?

Linger by the stream for a few moments here,

Reconnecting with your breath and watching the water carry away the moments from the past year,

Blending your experiences into the greater whole.

Knowing that you always have these memories if you wish to carry the memory with you.

But if there is anything that has burdened you,

Allow it to wash away completely.

If it is out of your control,

Allow it to be out of your mind as well.

If you'd like to dip your hands or your feet in the stream,

You are welcome to do that.

Or just reconnect with your breathing sitting here next to the stream before we make our way back out of the journey.

You will hear my voice again shortly.

Take one more deep breath in as you are by the stream.

And if you were seated or laying down,

Pat your hands or feet in the stream.

I invite you to begin to stand up,

Taking your time getting up in this visualization.

Take a moment here to express your gratitude to the stream that carried away anything that no longer serves you.

Turning around and making your way back to the ancient tree.

If you'd like to reconnect and put your hands on the tree,

Lean against the tree or even give the tree a big hug.

Gratitude for this tree holding space for you.

If you'd like to sit back down on the bench for a moment and just revel in the beauty of the nature around you.

If you still have the golden bowl in your hands,

Noticing if it changed color at all,

If it changed weight.

And if you'd like,

You can leave the bowl sitting on the bench.

Know that at any time,

You are welcome to come back to this space.

If there are any burdens that are super heavy that you would like to set free,

You can come back and deposit them into the bowl.

Allow them to flow into the water and be transmuted by the earth.

If you'd like,

Begin to make your way back up the path.

Noticing if the air temperature has changed,

If the time of day on your journey has changed,

If any of the colors of the trees or plants around you has changed,

If anything bloomed.

Walking back across the path,

Back to where our journey started at the beginning of the forest.

Before we return to our reality,

Take a moment just to thank this beautiful place for being here for you.

Reconnecting one more time with the ground beneath you.

Taking one big deep breath in through your nose here.

And as you breathe out,

Sigh it out through your mouth and begin to return back to the room you are in,

To your current reality.

Noticing the way that it feels to have your head connecting to the surface you are on,

Your shoulders connecting to the surface you are on.

Coming back into your body,

Reconnecting with your middle and lower back to the surface you are on.

Noticing the connection from the backs of your thighs,

Your bottom,

Your calves and heels,

The connection with the backs of your arms,

Your hands.

Slowly wiggling your fingers and toes,

Bringing small delicate movements back to the body.

Rocking your head gently and slowly from side to side.

Opening your eyes when you are ready.

And taking your time slowly coming back to the room you are in.

I hope that this yoga nidra meditation brought you some closure,

Helped to feel some gratitude.

I invite you to take one more deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.

Letting go of any residual tension.

Preparing to go to sleep or move throughout your day.

Thank you so much for joining me.