Yoga Nidra: Rebirth Of The Year (Imbolc)

Get cozy,

Soften your eyes,

Wiggle your jaw perhaps.

What movements does the body want to make before you become still?

Maybe a yawn or a sigh.

So welcome to this circle of belonging and the intention is to nourish the body,

Support it to be able to become still and rejuvenate.

Getting so cozy and warm and nourished that there is space for your dreams,

Space for your desires and intentions for the coming months as the year opens up.

Begin by inviting your weight to rest down,

So allowing the earth to come up to meet you and relaxing down into that touch,

Maybe allowing the out-breath to release you down,

Settling into the earth as foundation,

Becoming aware of the touch with the ground or with your supports and noticing the feeling of connection and there's an invitation to rest into that connection more,

Just as much as the body is ready for right now,

A sense of heaviness perhaps and during the practice you may find you become very still and that can be very nourishing and sometimes we get the urge to move and we can observe that urge and if it doesn't go away just move and adjust your position.

Your needs are welcome,

All parts of you are welcome,

How you are today is welcome,

You can listen closely to my voice or you can let my voice drift away,

You may fall asleep,

You may stay awake,

There's no way you could do this wrong,

It's time for you,

Time for you to be exactly how you are,

So moving to become aware of your ears,

Your inner ear,

Your sense of hearing,

Just noticing the ears right and left and noticing the sounds that reach you now,

Closer sounds and further away sounds,

A gentle awareness of sound and then move to your eyes and there's an invitation to the eyes to soften,

Resting the inner corners and the outer corners,

Resting behind the eyes,

Resting the eyelids,

Noticing any sense of vision right now,

Your eyes are most likely closed,

That you may sense some color or light and then moving to your nose,

Your nostrils,

Any sensations within the nostrils as you breathe,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

See if you can find the sensation of breath in the very tip of the nostrils,

The rim,

Being soft with your focus and then I invite you to move to the mouth,

The tongue,

Noticing the tongue in the mouth right now,

What you sense in the mouth,

The roof of the mouth,

The floor of the mouth,

The inside of the cheeks and then beginning to move to the sense of touch,

Perhaps you can feel your clothes touching your body or perhaps a blanket,

Are there places where you can feel that,

Perhaps a cuff or a seam or a button,

Softly being with the sense of touch on your skin and then let go of your focus,

Just being,

Being in this practice together,

Being in this circle of belonging,

Being in your body,

Settling down onto the earth with this practice of rest,

Restoration,

This nourishment that's just for you,

Beginning the year with care,

Space,

Time and if you like you can take your attention softly to your breath now,

Be with the flow of the breath,

Giving the breath freedom to be how it is,

Noticing the rhythm,

Imagining space,

The breath expands and then returns,

The in-breath expands,

The out-breath returns,

Noticing the flow,

In-breath,

Out-breath,

In-breath,

Out-breath,

Giving your breath the freedom to breathe itself and as we are here in winter,

As the light begins to expand,

It's like the beginning of the inhale of the year,

The turning point where the expansion begins and the light starts to come back,

So take your focus to the very beginning of your inhale,

Notice this place,

Just as you start to take in breath,

Bring your curiosity and your care to this moment in the breath,

This part of the cycle,

The moment of expansion and perhaps you could invite more gentleness to this moment,

As if the very beginning of the inhale is like the beginning of a smile,

So this new beginning is happening outside in nature,

Things are stirring just a little,

Right now in winter,

As the light begins to expand in the days,

There's no need to take action,

Down on the shore,

There's still mist and a soft winter light,

Slightly yellow,

The water's very very cold,

It almost looks oily,

There's stripes along the shore where the storms have left piles of seaweed and debris,

Higher and higher up,

There's evidence of turmoil,

Of the journey to get to where we are now,

The birds are still huddled together and as we move up from the shore into the woods,

Things are changing,

The snowdrops are emerging,

Under the ground,

The bluebells are stirring,

The trees have the most beautiful buds,

Delicate teardrops in greys,

Purples and pinks,

These buds ready to expand,

Within the trees the sap is rising,

But there's no rush,

We're still in the turning point,

The birds are singing differently,

It's like they're greeting the longer days,

And if you travel high up from the woods into the hills,

There's snow on the ground,

The wind becomes incredibly cold,

An arctic wind,

On the summits the grass is dried up,

It looks burnt,

And the ground is completely locked up in ice,

The ravens are still there,

And if you travel upwards,

Above the hills into the sky,

You can look down if you like,

Back down all the way to sea level,

And perhaps imagining yourself lying on the earth,

Getting a raven's view of you,

Noticing how small you seem,

Looking down,

And then we begin to journey back,

Down from the sky,

Back to the summit of the mountains,

Down the hillside,

All the way back through the woods,

Arriving back into your life again,

Your body again,

But as you return,

Perhaps something from that vantage point in the raven's eye has changed,

Changed what you know about yourself,

Changed your view of where you are,

And then just letting that go,

We're going to come deeply into the body now,

Imagine that you have a soft blanket made of your favourite material,

And you're going to sweep that blanket over the front of your body and let it rest,

And as it does,

It brings a darkness,

A cosiness,

A peacefulness,

So sweeping your attention down the front of the face,

The neck,

The collarbones,

The chest,

The abdomen,

The pelvis,

The legs,

The blanket settling and bringing this soft darkness,

Like a night sky,

A blanket of peace,

A blanket of rest,

Nourishing you,

And then imagine the blanket can sweep down the back of the body,

Resting the whole of the back,

With this peace,

This darkness,

This quietness,

Back of the head,

Back of the shoulders,

Back of the chest,

Back of the waist,

Bringing your attention down to the back of the pelvis,

Back of the legs,

Underneath of the feet,

Peace sweeping,

Arriving down the whole of the back of the body,

Inviting this blanket to cosy up around the right side of the body now,

The peace arriving with the cosiness,

Down the outside of the head,

The neck,

The arm,

The leg,

The foot,

Wrapping you up,

And then the left side,

Wrapped up,

In this blanket of peace,

Down the left side of the head,

Neck,

Shoulder,

Arm,

Leg,

Foot,

Cosied in,

Peace and dark,

Notice the breath within this blanket,

Within your body,

You may be very still,

But the breath still moves you,

And within this darkness,

I'm going to invite you to imagine a small candle flame,

It begins to glow,

The light of awareness,

Awakening,

And I'll guide you to take this flame,

These small points of light around the body,

Place by place,

And you are following with your attention,

Just gently,

So let this flame alight,

In the centre of the forehead,

Then the light of awareness coming to the tip of your nose,

And then the centre of your chin,

Like a star arriving,

Bringing this light to the tip of your tongue,

Sides of the tongue,

Gentle glow,

The back of the tongue,

Inside of the cheeks,

Up into the sinuses,

The nostrils,

Behind the eyes,

The light of awareness arriving in each eye,

Each eyebrow,

Across the forehead,

The top of the head,

The sides of the head,

Arriving around the ears,

Inside the ears,

The back of the head,

The jaw,

Gentle starlight,

Along the sides of the jaw,

The soft light throughout the whole head,

Illuminated,

Softly,

Bringing the light of awareness down now into the base of the throat,

The right collarbone,

The right shoulder,

Down the arm to the elbow,

The wrist,

The right palm,

The back of the hand,

Gentle soft light coming into your right thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

All the fingers,

The light of awareness filling the fingers up,

And the hand,

And the wrist,

Coming back up the right arm to the collarbone,

And the base of the throat,

The space between the collarbones,

Bringing your light gently through the left collarbone,

Left shoulder,

Left elbow,

Left wrist,

Left palm,

Back of the hand,

And the left thumb filling up with this soft light of awareness,

Into the index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Little finger,

Light throughout the fingers on the left hand,

Light in the hand and the wrist,

Bringing your attention back up the arm,

Left collarbone,

Space between the collarbones,

This soft illumination coming down into the chest space,

Gently filling the chest,

Your candle light,

Your star light,

Your awareness,

Down into the solar plexus,

The upper abdomen,

The belly button,

A little star in the belly button,

Down into the belly,

Light of awareness in the belly,

And then the right hip,

Bringing your noticing down to the right knee,

Right ankle,

Right heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

The big toe,

Filling up,

Gentle flame inside the second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

All the toes,

The right foot,

The right leg,

Traveling back to the belly,

And then bringing your awareness softly to the left hip,

Down the left thigh,

Left knee,

Lower leg,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Filling up the big toe on the left side,

Gentle soft light,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

The toes and the foot,

And the whole left leg,

Coming back up the left leg,

Being with the pelvis,

Gently letting your awareness fill the pelvis,

All the way to the back of the sacrum,

The tip of the tailbone,

The pelvic floor,

The front of the belly,

Filling up with the light of your gentle awareness,

Then coming to the tailbone,

The very lowest tip of the spine,

A single point of light on the tip of the tailbone,

Let your light travel up the spine now,

Weaving its way through and around the spine,

Traveling up,

Noticing the curves and the shape of the spine as you go,

Between the shoulder blades,

Up into the neck,

All the way to the head,

The whole spine filled with your gentle light,

With your awareness,

The soft illumination,

The whole spine,

The breathing spine,

Bringing your light to the back of the pelvis,

The back of the waist,

The back of the shoulder blades,

The back of the neck,

The back of the head,

And arriving back in the centre of the forehead,

The centre of the forehead,

Between the eyebrows,

Resting now with the whole body softly illuminated,

This gentle awakening,

Supported by the earth underneath,

The whole body,

The whole body lighting up,

And then I invite you to let that go,

Making some space,

And now,

Bringing your awareness to your heart,

Softly arriving with the heart,

The heart as it is right now,

And I invite you to drop into the centre of the heart,

Deep into the centre,

And if you wish,

You could imagine the further into the centre you go,

The darker it gets,

Into the darkness of the heart,

And perhaps as you keep your attention soft,

You notice in the far distance,

A single point of light,

Letting your attention rest on this point,

Bring your kindness to this point of light,

Your love,

And as you give it your care,

It gets bigger,

It grows and becomes a rosy glow,

Your kindness turns this rosy glow into a soft,

Closed bud of a flower,

A flower in your heart,

Bringing the light of awareness to this flower bud,

Letting it fall on the flower,

Your care,

Your curiosity,

Your kindness,

And perhaps the petals begin to open up,

Slowly,

They open and they reveal the inside of the flower,

And inside are your dreams and desires,

Noticing what's there,

There,

Trusting that what is there or not there is exactly as it should be,

You can't do this wrong,

Just giving space for what you want,

What you need,

Noticing where this journey takes you,

Inviting these dreams and this new beginning to expand,

To grow like an energy,

To expand and fill you up,

All the way to the edges of your body,

And then invite them back into the centre of the heart,

A single point,

Perhaps with the breath now,

Inhale,

Invite an expansion,

All the way to the edges,

The fingers,

The toes,

And then with the out breath,

Return to the centre of the heart,

In breath,

Expansion,

Out breath,

Returning,

And you can do this in any way that suits you,

Letting your dreams grow,

And then containing them within your heart,

One more breath,

And then release your focus,

Trust,

Surrender your dreams,

Let them go into the pulse of the body,

The pulse of the earth,

Set them free,

Trusting,

And in this space,

In this surrender,

What wisdom is here now,

Listening to the body,

Listening to your heart,

And then gently returning to the rhythm of your breath,

Noticing the breath,

Moving the belly,

Moving the chest,

Moving the collarbones,

Moving your spine,

Moving your pelvic floor,

Your intention to make space,

Your intention to care and listen to your dreams,

Is enough,

And whatever arose for you,

Or within you,

Could never be wrong,

It's all held in the light of your awareness,

And in the container of this practice,

Beginning to sense your weight again,

The touch with your supports and the ground,

Noticing how that feels,

As you lie on the earth,

And the earth rises up to support you,

And then becoming aware again,

Of your mouth,

Your tongue,

Any feelings,

Any moistness within the mouth,

Perhaps some taste,

Moving to the nose,

Noticing the sense of the breath,

Moving through the nose,

Can you find the breath,

In the very rim of each nostril,

And then coming to your eyes,

Through your eyelids,

You may be aware of some light,

Some colour,

And how do the eyes feel,

And then noticing your ears again,

And what noises are there in your space right now,

So we're slowly becoming more aware of our surroundings,

Imagining your room,

The shape and the objects,

The colours within your room,

Imagining yourself,

Your position within your space,

And you may find that you're ready now to move in some way,

Ask the body if it would like to wriggle or stretch somewhere,

Might be fingers or toes,

Arms,

The spine might want to arch a little,

You might be ready to stroke or touch or tap any part of the body that would like that,

It can be really nice to rub your earlobes,

And in fact the whole of the ear,

Notice how that feels and how it sounds,

It can be nice to tap your fingertips on your chest,

Or rub your belly,

So beginning to acknowledge the end of this practice,

And celebrate the space you made,

The care you took,

This nourishment that's just for you,

Beginning the year with care,

Space,

Time,

So your yoga nidra is now complete.