Welcome to this yoga nidra designed to deeply cocoon in winter.
This nidra can be helpful if you notice restlessness in the season of winter and when you feel like you have to be productive all the time and it feels unnatural to rest.
In western society we see January as a new start of the year while naturally the new year only starts in the end of March during the spring equinox.
Biologically our bodies are in deep rest mode in winter but our minds don't feel comfortable there as this society shaped us to make new year's resolutions and be a better version of ourselves.
This nidra will help you to let go of the idea of having to be productive and better in winter and embrace the idea that you are deserving of deep rest in this season and that there is actually nothing you have to do now but just be.
So let's take a moment to find your most comfortable position here.
Maybe you like to lie down on your back with a bolster cushion under your knees,
A blanket on top of you and maybe a soft pillow underneath your head.
You can also choose to sit up if that feels more comfortable for you.
Now when you have found your most comfortable position let's take a moment to start grounding ourselves here.
Take a moment to feel the ground underneath the back of your body.
Noticing how the ground is holding you here and see if you are holding any tension anywhere in your body.
Very often we don't even notice we are maybe holding ourselves up while we lay down.
So see if you can mindfully relax all the muscles in your body.
Starting with the face as often we can hold a lot of tension in our face especially around the eyes and in the jaw.
Take a moment to relax all the muscles around your eyes so your eyes can soften deeply into your eye sockets.
Allowing your mind to slow down and really start focusing on your physical body.
Allow the jaw to drop a little open so the mouth is slightly open and the jaw is released of any tension here.
Then check in with the rest of your body.
Can you allow any tension in your shoulders to release?
Relaxing your arms,
Your belly,
Your hips,
Your legs and your feet.
Allowing your whole body to become heavier and heavier.
You can give yourself permission here that now is your time to rest and to relax.
Letting go of your day.
Letting go of anything in the past or in the future.
This is your moment to relax.
Now let's start taking a moment to focus on your breath.
Feel how the breath is actually breathing you here.
Notice how there's nothing you have to do to breathe.
Sometimes when we start to focus on the breath we tend to control the breath and see if you can release any of that control and just surrender into the natural phase of your breath.
Notice how the belly is slowly flowing up and down as it is.
See if you can follow your breath.
In and out.
And maybe you notice you get distracted by the mind.
Whenever you notice a distraction,
See if you can approach this distraction with this loving awareness.
It's completely fine to get distracted.
Just bring yourself back to my voice and to the breaths that are flowing in and out through your body.
Now let's take a few deep breaths together.
Wherever you are,
Start to breathe everything out through your mouth like a sigh.
Then breathe in through the nose.
And sigh it out through the mouth.
Let's do this a few more times.
Breathe into the nose.
And out through your mouth with a sigh.
Now allow the breath to return to its natural pace.
And as you notice the flow of breath here,
We're going to make a little journey through our bodies.
As you lay here,
Visualize a warm golden light resting in your heart space.
Feel how this light is warming up your heart.
And maybe it opens up a little bit.
And this warm golden light that's resting in your heart starts to slowly flow from the heart towards the right shoulder.
Right upper arm.
Right elbow.
Right lower arm.
Right wrist.
Palm of the right hand.
And back of the right hand.
Warm golden light resting in the right thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
And pinky.
Feel this warm golden light resting in your whole right arm.
And allow that arm to soften a little more into the ground.
Now bring your awareness back to your heart.
As this golden light starts to flow down to the right waist.
The right hip.
Right upper leg.
The right knee.
Lower leg.
Sole of the right foot.
And top of the right foot.
Feel this golden light flowing to all of your toes on the right side.
Until you can feel the whole right side of your body resting in this warm golden light.
Now bring your awareness back to the heart.
And from here we flow the golden light towards the left shoulder.
Left upper arm.
Elbow.
Lower arm.
Back of the hand.
Left thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
And pinky.
Feel how this golden light is resting in your whole left arm.
And move back again to your heart.
As the light is flowing down again,
This time to the left waist.
Left hip.
Upper leg.
Heel.
Sole of the left foot.
Top of the left foot.
Warm golden light resting in all the toes on the left side of your body.
And now feel the whole left side of your body resting in this warm golden light.
Now move your awareness back up to the heart again.
Allow this golden light to flow up through the throat.
To the chin.
The tip of your nose.
That space in between the eyebrows.
The forehead.
The crown of the head.
And then from the crown of the head,
This warm golden light is flowing all the way down,
All the way towards your toes,
Until your whole body is covered in this warm golden light.
You are resting in a cocoon of golden light.
So soft and warm.
Safe and comfortable.
And while you are resting in this cocoon,
Visualize that the cocoon slowly start to lift up.
Up.
From the floor into the sky.
And feel how this cocoon starts to transform into a very fluffy,
Warm cloud that is surrounding you.
Gently flowing higher and higher up towards the sky.
And as you gently rise up to the sky,
You start to see beautiful,
Warm and loving stars around you.
These stars are all around you,
Like a protective field of warm energy.
And then you start to see the biggest star in front of you.
The sun.
Feel how its sun rays are slowly flowing towards you,
Like each sun ray is a loving hug that tells you it's okay to rest now.
You don't have to earn a rest.
Winter is a time of hibernation and deep resting.
There is nothing you have to do right now.
There is no place you need to be.
Now allow yourself fully to embrace these loving sun rays of the sun and rest into an abundant warm light of deep rest.
Now is your own space of rest.
You made this space of rest for yourself,
As it's always within you.
You can always return to your space of rest.
How does it feel to rest in this cocoon of warm light?
Can you fully allow yourself to just be?
Now as you're resting on this fluffy warm cloud,
Surrounded by these warm little hugs of the stars and the sun,
Slowly this cloud starts to move down again towards the earth.
Very slowly.
As you move down onto the ground again,
This cloud transforms into this warm cocoon of golden light.
Feeling this golden light around you again.
This protection.
And as this cocoon will always be here for you,
You can start to feel the back of your body resting onto the ground again.
Very slowly.
Become aware of your natural breath as it is right now.
Become aware of the flow of breath in your body.
And whenever you feel ready,
You can start to make some gentle movements with your fingers,
Your toes.
Maybe circling the wrists and the ankles.
Very gently,
Making more and more movement with your physical body to awaken again in this moment.
Maybe you'd like to stretch yourself all the way out and give yourself a big yawn here.
And whenever you're ready,
You can slowly roll towards your favorite side,
Keeping the eyes closed,
Just stay inward a little longer.
Take a few slow breaths here on your side.
Whenever you feel ready,
You can start to push yourself up again.
Maybe placing your hands on your heart.
Feeling this warm golden light resting here.
Visualizing this cocoon of protective warm energy around you.
Taking a moment to thank yourself for taking the time and space to practice on slowing down.
And I thank you for your energy and time.
