Yoga Nidra Practice- First Quarter Moon & Solar Plexus

Hello and welcome to this first quarter moon yoga nidra for sleep.

You can begin by becoming as aligned and symmetrical as possible,

Feeling all the points of contact between your body and the floor or the bed or wherever you're laying on.

If you're sitting,

You can feel the weight of your body on a chair or on your feet on the floor.

And if you're lying down for traditional yoga nidra,

Be sure to bring your legs apart,

Arms by your side,

With a little bit of room away from the body.

You can place your palms up for receiving or your palms down for grounding.

Notice if there's anything you can do to make yourself a little bit more comfortable.

Maybe that's putting a pillow underneath your knees or your head,

Or maybe draping a blanket over your body.

Body temperature does tend to drop during yoga nidra,

So go ahead and make sure that you're perfectly comfortable.

Take a deep breath in,

Take a deep breath in,

And on the exhale,

Think of letting go.

You can do this several times,

Pausing in between,

Taking deep breaths in and long exhales to let go.

Take this time to let go of any disappointments,

Doubts,

Obstacles.

Let them blow away like leaves in the autumn wind,

With each exhale.

And say to yourself in your mind,

I am practicing yoga nidra.

And say to yourself,

I will stay awake for yoga nidra.

You're welcome to fall asleep at the end of this practice,

But it's wonderful to get to a state where you can be awake during the practice and then allow yourself to fall asleep after.

So begin to connect with the weight of your body,

Feeling the heaviness of your body.

Your head is heavy,

Your shoulders are heavy,

Your back is heavy,

Your arms are heavy,

Your whole body is heavy.

Let the heaviness of your body allow you to relax a bit more deeply.

Begin to take slow,

Deep breaths.

On the inhale,

The belly rises,

And on the exhale,

The belly falls.

Inhale,

Body up,

Belly rises.

Exhale,

Exhale,

Body,

Belly falls.

Now find the place between your belly,

Between the navel and the heart.

We call this your solar plexus chakra.

Maybe you put your hand there and start to notice your breath.

This is the area of confidence,

Of willpower,

Of courage,

And self-esteem.

Begin to feel your connection to this chakra,

Feeling the breath,

The energy body,

And the prana activating in this solar plexus.

This is the chakra connected to the first quarter moon.

Take a deep breath in,

And on your exhale,

Think of the first quarter moon.

Deep inhale,

And exhale,

Thinking of this solar plexus chakra and the first quarter moon.

Doing this several times,

Begin to listen in all directions for sounds.

Listen for sounds outside the room where you're situated.

Listen for sounds inside the room,

For any sounds of the body,

Any sounds in your breath.

Maybe you can even hear the sound of your heartbeat,

Or feel your heartbeat beating within your body.

In this heartbeat,

Hear your heart's heartbeat,

Hear your heart's desired.

In Yoga Nidra,

We call this a sankalpa.

A sankalpa is a short positive statement in the present or the future tense.

It's an affirmation or a resolve.

If you don't have a sankalpa you're working with for today,

You can try the statement,

I take responsibility for my actions.

That's the affirmation of the first quarter moon.

Using the statement,

I take my responsibility for my actions,

Or your own personal statement.

Repeat this three times mentally,

Until it comes into your full awareness,

And the confidence that it will come true.

Moving on to the rotation of consciousness through the body,

We're going to do a body scan.

A part of the body will be named,

And either repeat the name of the body part mentally,

Bringing awareness to that body part,

Or visualize the body being touched by moonlight.

It's important to choose one of these strategies.

Each of these strategies will help you to be more aware of the body.

The body will remain still while we do this,

And you'll notice the instructions I give will be with the moonlight.

But know that there are other possibilities there.

Take a deep breath,

And feel or see the moonlight touching your right hand thumb,

Your right index finger,

Your right middle finger,

Your ring finger,

Your pinky finger.

Feel or see the moonlight on the palm of the hand,

The back of the hand,

The wrist,

The forearm,

The elbow,

The upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit.

Feel or see the healing moonlight in the armpit,

The right ribcage,

Touching the right waist,

Hip,

Upper leg,

Kneecap,

Lower leg.

The light is now at your ankle,

Your heel,

The ball of your foot,

The top of your foot.

Seeing the silver moonlight touching your big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Now see the right side of your body illuminated with silver moonlight,

And bring the moonlight to your left hand thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger.

See or feel the silver light on the palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit.

And see or feel the moonlight brushing against the side of your left ribcage,

Left waist,

Left hip,

Silver light at the upper leg,

Kneecap,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Heel,

Heel,

Instep,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

And moonlight lighting the big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Staying awake and aware,

Bring the moonlight to the top of the head,

The forehead,

The right temple,

The left temple,

The right eyebrow,

The left eyebrow,

Moonlight shining on the eyebrow centers,

The right eyelid,

The left eyelid,

The right eyelashes,

The left eyelashes,

The bridge of the nose,

The tip of the nose,

Moonlight in the right nostril,

The left nostril,

The upper lip,

The lower lip,

Chin,

And throat,

Moonlight touching the right collarbone,

The left collarbone,

The hollow between your collarbones,

The right chest,

The left chest,

And the heart center.

Staying awake and aware,

Feel the moonlight on the upper abdomen,

The navel,

The lower abdomen,

The pelvis,

The buttocks,

The lower back,

Feeling moonlight in the middle back,

The upper back,

Feeling healing light on the right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

The back of the neck,

The back of the head,

The top of the head,

See a silver shimmering light up and down your whole right arm,

Feel or see the silver lining up and down the whole left arm,

Feel or see the moonlight up and down the whole right leg,

Feel or see the moonlight up and down the whole left leg,

Feel the moonlight on the arms and the legs together,

Feel moonlight illuminating the whole front of the body,

Feel or see the moonlight lighting the whole back of the body,

Feel or see the whole body together being lit by the light of the moon,

The whole body together lit by the light of tonight's first quarter moon.

Letting go of the body scan,

Body rotation,

And come to natural breathing,

And then natural breath,

Find the place between the navel and the heart,

That area of the solar plexus,

And on the inhale feel the solar plexus rise and expand,

And on the exhale feel the solar plexus deflate and contract,

Bring breath awareness to the solar plexus and begin counting backwards from 18 to 0 with awareness of the breath in the solar plexus,

Solar plexus,

Inhaling 18,

Exhaling 18,

Inhaling 17,

Exhaling 17,

Continue counting backwards all the way to 0 with awareness of this breath at the solar plexus,

If the count is lost start again at 18,

And if the count reaches 0 begin again at 18,

Start with the counting and stay with the awareness of breath at the solar plexus.

Now let go of counting,

Let go of awareness of breath,

And come back to your natural breathing,

Notice the natural breath,

The coolness of the breath as it goes in through the nose or mouth,

Noticing anywhere else the body feels cool,

Perhaps on any exposed skin,

And spread that coolness across the body,

Let the body be cool and experience the body as coolness.

Now letting go of the experience of coolness and coming to the opposite experience of warmth,

Notice a place in the body where the body is warm,

Perhaps under a blanket or clothing,

Or even at the core of the body,

Find a place where the body is warm and look for warmth in the body,

Find that place of warmth and spread the warmth across the entire body,

Let the body be warm,

Experience the body as warmth.

The body is warmth.

Now let go of warmth and come back to coolness,

Notice where the body is cool,

Connect to wherever the body is cool,

And spread it across the entire body.

Now let go of coolness and come to the opposite experience of warmth,

Feel the warmth under the blankets and clothing and connect to the warmth across the entire body.

Let the body be warm,

Know that the body is warm.

Now let go of coolness and let go of warmth and remember an experience of being busy,

Of doing too much,

Of being exhausted from so much action.

Remember the experience of being busy as if it were happening right now.

See yourself busy,

See yourself doing,

See yourself doing too much,

The experience of the whole body is busy.

Now let go of the experience of doing or busyness and let's come to the opposite experience of just being,

Of slowing down.

See yourself relax and slowing down.

Spread this idea and this experience of being across the entire body,

Let the whole body slow down.

Remember an experience of slowing down,

Of being,

And connect to it as if it's happening right now.

Now let go of doing and being busy and let's bring awareness to the mind space in front of the closed eyes,

Bringing awareness to our mind,

This mind space in front of our closed eyes,

And we're going to visualize these simple images that are suggested.

A half circle,

A half circle,

A white lotus,

A white lotus,

A yin yang symbol,

A yin yang symbol,

A yin yang symbol,

An arrow being pulled back into a bow,

An arrow being pulled back into a bow,

Spring transitioning to summer,

Spring transitioning to summer,

Moving forward in life after you've become clear about where you're going,

Moving forward in life after you've become clear about where you're going.

Bring awareness to the mind space in front of the closed eyes,

Notice if there are any patterns or colors,

And in the mind screen in front of the closed eyes,

Begin to visualize a small seed and plant that seed in fertile earth,

Plant the seed in fertile black rich soil,

Cover the seed and water the seed in the soil,

Place your hands on the earth and smooth down the place where the seed lies,

Paying very close attention and see the seedling start to emerge from the dark soil,

A little green sapling seedling pushing through the earth,

It struggles as it pushes through the obstacle of dirt,

But it makes it,

It stretches through reaching for sunlight,

Now see it grow,

Noticing the seedling transitioning into a beautiful white flower with lawn stems and elegant petals,

See this white flower that has emerged from your seed that you planted,

And watch it there by the light of the first quarter moon,

Bringing your awareness back to the mind space in front of the closed eyes,

Let go of this visualization practice and bring your attention back to your breath,

And in the whisper of the gentle breath,

Hear the sankalpa,

The statement that was made at the beginning of this yoga nidra practice,

Perhaps it was your own statement or the statement that I suggested,

I take responsibility for my actions,

Using your own personal statement affirmation or my suggested statement,

Once again,

Repeat three times mentally with full awareness and confidence that it will come true,

Notice the heart beating inside the body,

Notice the breath coming in and out of the nose or mouth,

Connect with any sounds of the body,

Listen for sounds inside the room,

Listen for sounds outside the room,

And find the furthest sound you can hear outside the room,

Now become aware of your room,

Remember the walls,

The ceiling,

The color of the ceiling,

The floor,

Even remember what you're wearing,

Back to your breath,

Make each inhale deeper and deeper,

Make each exhale fuller and fuller,

Inhaling and exhaling deeply and fully,

Inhaling and exhaling deeply and fully,

And now say to yourself mentally,

The practice of yoga nidra in this first quarter moon is now complete,

Keep your eyes closed,

But begin to wiggle your fingers and your toes,

Roll the wrists and ankles like tiny orbits,

And once that's complete,

Move them in the opposite direction,

Take any kind of intuitive moment and movement that the body's asking for,

Being in awareness of your environment,

Maybe you're stretching or still wiggling,

When you're ready,

There's no need to rush or hurry,

Roll over onto your right side into the fetal position,

This is the position of rebirth and renewal,

The first quarter moon is a time of commitment,

Of confidence,

Of willpower,

Activity,

Expression,

Movement,

Challenges,

New solutions,

New experiences,

New experiences,

New experiences,

New experiences,

New experiences,

New experiences,

New experiences,

New experiences,

New experiences,

New experiences,

New experiences,

New experiences,

Reflect on what these things mean for you in this moment in time,

And when you're ready,

Push yourself up to a seated position,

And now perhaps you'll want to bring your hands to prayer,

To acknowledge this time that you've taken to relax,

To meditate,

To practice,

And if this feels right,

Bring your hands to your heart center to honor yourself,

And bow in a sign of reverence to yourself and this practice of yoga nidra.

Thank you for joining me,

And I'll see you in the next phase of the moon.