50-Minute Winter Solstice Yoga Nidra For Deep Rest

Namaste and welcome.

My name is Kristen Rose and thank you so much for choosing to be here.

I feel deeply honored to guide you through this very restorative and regenerative practice to celebrate the December Winter Solstice.

In the Northern Hemisphere,

This is a time to really honor a deep and sacred pause in the stillness of the season,

Represented by the longest,

Darkest night,

The healing darkness followed by the return of the light.

This is a beginner-friendly,

Effortless,

Guided experience.

So allow yourself to arrive here and now,

Taking some time to find a comfortable place to rest,

Down and onto the earth.

Yoga Nidra is traditionally practiced in a supine position on the back of the body.

So,

As you come down onto the earth,

Settling into your most comfortable position,

Notice what you might do to support the body,

To ensure that the body feels completely held,

Relaxed,

And at ease.

You might bring a pillow in behind the knees.

You might bring a thin pillow or a folded blanket in behind the back of the head,

Finding a slight tuck of the chin to stay nice and long through the neck and the spine,

Coming into alignment to encourage the free flow of vital energy through the spinal channel.

Bringing the arms down to rest by your sides,

Palms coming to face the sky,

Relax the fingers,

Inviting a little bit of space in between the legs,

The heels,

Becoming heavy,

Softening the toes.

You may bring in a blanket for warmth or an eye pillow to help block out any light.

Relax into the knowing that there is nothing left for you to do here.

There is nowhere that you need to go.

Yoga Nidra is a practice of resting deeply,

Listening,

Sensing and feeling,

Returning home to your true nature.

What might you do to become even just 2% more comfortable here?

Give yourself that time.

Give yourself permission to tend to your needs,

For physical relaxation truly is the foundation for your practice here today.

Let's begin together by taking a couple of deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth,

Releasing any lingering tension from the face,

The jaw,

Inhaling deeply,

Holding,

Exhaling,

Allowing the arms,

The shoulders,

The torso to become heavy,

Breathing in,

Holding momentarily,

Exhaling,

Letting go,

All the breath released as the legs become heavy,

Grounding through the heels,

Completely surrendering now to the gravity,

To the gentle magnetic pull of the Earth's core.

Notice how you are delicately held in between these two natural forces,

Drawing you downward and inward,

As you soften and relax into your little Yoga Nidra nest.

You are safe here.

You are held.

You are in complete control of your experience.

Simply follow the guidance of my voice,

And know that if at any time you feel like you need to move or adjust the body,

Its physical position,

You are so invited to listen to that inner wisdom.

This is your practice.

The dark night invites us to turn inward,

To trust,

To come into that deep inner knowing with oneself,

To reconnect with who you really are.

As the longest night of the year envelops us in this quiet embrace,

We are invited to turn inward,

To honor the healing power of the darkness,

And the promise of the returning light.

This is a powerful time to release what no longer serves you,

To root deeply into the fertile ground of rest,

And to plant seeds of intention for the year to come.

Here,

You are held in a space of warmth,

Stillness and deep renewal.

Together,

Let us honor the cycles of nature,

Connecting to your inner light,

And remember the quiet strength that dwells within you.

This practice is a refuge.

Resting so deeply now,

Feel the density of the earth beneath the body,

A sense of her immensity,

Stretching out in all directions.

Welcome a sense of being held here,

Held by the earth,

All around you as the night sky prevails,

As day turns to night,

A quiet hush ripples across the landscape,

The forests become still,

Quiet,

Animals coming to rest,

Stars emerging from a backdrop of dark canvas,

The whole world coming to rest on this longest,

Darkest night.

Welcome this deep quiet within.

Relax the muscles,

The tissues,

Fibers,

Molecules,

Cells,

Deeply resting.

Sensing and feeling the gentle touch of air on the skin of your face.

Notice the darkness behind closed eyes,

The soft flow of breath in the nostrils,

Any moisture or tastes within the mouth,

Noticing sounds,

The silence between and behind the sounds arising and dissolving back and away,

Listening intimately to the sound of your breath,

This deep soft internal rhythm,

All of your awareness coming to rest on the breath and begin to count down from 27 to 1,

At your own pace,

Breath by breath,

Counting down mentally from 27 to 1,

Inhaling,

Exhaling,

27,

Breathing in,

Breathing out,

27,

Breathing in,

26,

All the way down to 1,

Each exhale,

Letting go,

Into deeper and deeper rest,

And mind awake and aware of the count,

Counting down,

As you bring your awareness to rest in the space of the heart,

Calling forth a heartfelt intention,

A sankalpa,

You may resonate with the following phrase,

I release what no longer serves me,

And create space for new beginnings.

Mentally repeat this now,

3 times,

As if you were whispering it into the heart,

I release what no longer serves me,

And create space for new beginnings.

As the body rests in deep stillness,

The mind awake and aware,

We bring awareness now to flow throughout the body,

Moving from point to point as it is called.

Bring your awareness to rest in each region of the body,

And welcome in the medicine of deep deep rest.

You may imagine a little ember,

A soft warm glow that shines from within,

Ignited at each point of the body,

Instilling a sense of rest,

Warmth,

Light and renewal.

Bringing all of your awareness now to rest on the tip of the right hand thumb,

Sensing and feeling the tip of the thumb,

The tip of the little finger,

The palm of the right hand.

A soft warm glow rests in the palm of the hand,

Centre of the wrist,

Tip of the elbow,

Shoulder,

Shoulder blade,

Right side of the chest,

Heart centre,

Right side of the waist,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the right foot,

Tip of the big toe,

Tip of the second toe,

Third,

Fourth,

Tip of the baby toe.

Awareness resting in all five toes,

The whole right foot,

Leg,

Right side of the torso and arm,

The whole right hemisphere of the body.

Resting deeply under the light of your awareness.

Sensing and feeling the warmth,

The radiance of the whole right side of the body.

Turning awareness now to rest at the tip of the left hand thumb,

A soft warm glow resting at the tip of the thumb,

Tip of the second finger,

Third,

Fourth,

Little finger,

Palm of the left hand,

Centre of the wrist,

Tip of the elbow,

Shoulder,

Shoulder blade,

Left side of the chest,

Heart centre,

Left side of the waist,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the left foot,

Tip of the big toe,

Tip of the second toe,

Fourth,

Tip of the baby toe.

Sensing all five toes,

The whole left foot,

Left side of the torso and arm.

Sensing and feeling the whole left hemisphere of the body.

Vital,

Alive with sensations in the whole left side body.

And now bringing your awareness to rest in the centre of the soles of the feet,

The warm glow of an ember rests in the centre of the soles of the feet,

Heels,

Ankles,

Knees,

Hips,

Base of the spine,

Tip of the tailbone,

To the low back,

Mid back,

Upper back,

The whole spine resting on the earth,

Back of the head,

Centre of the forehead,

Eyebrows,

Temples,

Cheekbones,

The soft warm orbs of the eyes,

Eyelids,

Bridge of the nose,

Tip of the nose,

The space between the lips,

Feel the teeth and gums,

The muscle of the tongue,

Tip of the chin,

Tip of the tongue,

Tip of the tongue,

Down to the pit of the throat,

Heart centre,

A soft awareness rests in the space of the heart,

The mind awake and aware,

Sensing and feeling the whole body now,

The whole body from the inside out,

And now bringing awareness to rest on the natural,

Already present rhythm of the breath in the body,

The inhale into the exhale,

The exhale creating space for the rebirth of the next in-breath,

Completely effortless in the natural rhythm of the breath,

Simply observing waves of the breath rolling in,

Waves of the breath rolling back out,

As the body breathes,

Might you imagine now as if the boundary of the body could become porous,

As if the body could breathe through the surface of the skin,

As if the whole body were breathing in,

Trillions of cells simultaneously,

Feeling the experience of the in-breath into trillions of cells in the body,

And trillions of cells breathing out,

Simultaneously,

Just imagine the whole body breathing,

Allowing the soft,

Soothing waves of the breath to touch every fibre of your being,

The whole body breathing,

The breath breathing the body,

And the mind remains awake and aware,

The body resting deeply,

The breath calm and at ease,

And might you now welcome in a full body experience of heaviness,

Mindfully inviting in the felt sense of heaviness throughout the whole body,

And now the gentle,

Spacious experience of lightness,

The whole body so light,

And could you now welcome in both heaviness and lightness at the same time,

Feeling so so heavy,

And so so light at the same time,

And resting back into a peaceful place of ease and equanimity,

As you experience both opposing sensations at the same time,

And now I invite you to bring awareness to rest at the point between the brows,

And now I invite you to bring awareness to rest at the point between the brows,

From the centre of the forehead to the darkness behind closed eyes,

From the centre of the forehead to the darkness behind closed eyes,

As we welcome in a rotation of imagery,

And now I invite you to begin to imagine or visualize gazing upon a flickering candle flame amidst a vast quiet darkness,

And now a snow-covered forest just imagine this candle burning a single point of light amidst a vast quiet darkness,

And now a snow-covered forest at midnight under a sky full of glowing stars,

A seed resting deep within the soil,

Completely hidden but full of quiet potential,

The gentle glow of the rising sun slowly illuminating a frost-kissed horizon,

A calm mirror-like lake reflecting the waning moon overhead,

And now,

In the quiet of the night,

The longest darkest night,

As if the earth has settled into a deep slumber,

A quiet hibernation,

Healing rest abides here now,

And yet full of infinite potential,

Resting now as pure spacious awareness,

Awareness as vast as the night sky,

Awareness as vast as the sky,

You are the sky,

As your true nature,

It is now time to bring forth your sankalpa,

I release what no longer serves me,

And create space for new beginnings,

Repeat this three times mentally,

Planting it like a seed in the garden of the subconscious mind,

Or like a star emerging from the dark night sky,

The brightest star,

Begin to settle your awareness back down to the earth,

To the body resting on the earth,

To the breath in the body,

Notice that you have a physical body,

And you may start to deepen the breath now,

Welcoming the breath and your awareness to expand,

Reaching all the way down to the tips of the fingers,

The tips of the toes,

Tip of the toes,

Tip of the tail to the crown of the head,

To the space around you,

The walls of the room around you,

Where you are in the room,

And just take a moment to savor how you feel,

What is alive within you now,

The experience of deep relaxation,

Clarity,

Or peace of mind,

The wisdom of your sankalpa,

Just noticing,

For now you have created the space for the return of the light,

The light of the season,

And the light that shines within you,

Now,

Begin to gently deepen the breath a little more,

As you start to wiggle the fingers and the toes,

Nodding the head from side to side,

It is important to take it slow at this time,

Like a moth emerging from its cocoon,

Full of potential,

Time to spread its wings,

You may find a gentle stretch,

Roll over onto one side of the body,

Resting for as long as you need,

Together,

Let's take a deep and generous breath in through the nose,

Sigh it out through the mouth,

And notice any organic feelings of gratitude,

Expressing gratitude for yourself,

For taking this time for you,

To the earth that holds us,

The sky that breathes us,

Sun,

Moon,

And the cycles that guide us,

And to the ancient traditions we have borrowed these practices from,

Thank you,

Thank you,

Again,

My name is Kristen Rose,

And thank you for being here with me today,

For trusting me to be your guide,

If you would like to comment below,

Let me know how you feel,

What you are calling in,

What you are releasing at this time,

If you feel called to deepen your practice,

I have shared some links below,

To support you on your journey,

Towards healing and transformation,

May you all be happy,

Healthy,

Peaceful,

And free,

Happy solstice,

Namaste.