And so welcome,
Welcome to this practice of yoga nidra inspired by the water element as we navigate our way to the calmer waters of a sunny day.
So just inviting the whole of you,
Just as you are,
Perfect just as you are,
To soften and settle down into comfort,
Into cosiness.
And this moment of deep and nourishing rest is at the heart of the water element.
Work with the energy of water,
The requirement to experience deep nourishing rest.
And so inviting yourself in as you are,
And any that want to join in are welcome to.
And just experiencing the weight of your body,
Becoming a little softer,
A little heavier.
All the way in,
All the way out,
Just inviting that sense of relaxation,
That sense of letting go.
And tuning in where can easily relax.
And are pockets of tension still holding on,
Perhaps in need of a warm,
A warmer invitation.
You need to extend that welcome again and further for them.
Tuning in to the soft sound of your own breath.
And noticing any other sounds.
We may be in a busy home,
Lots of different activities around us.
We may be in a home that's calm and quiet,
Next door to a busy home.
So just extending with a light curiosity,
No judgement.
Just extending your listening outwards.
Just as when a drop falls into still water,
The ripples extend in radiating circles outwards.
Just being curious and noticing the sounds further and further away.
Almost trying to find the very edges of your soundscape.
And then bringing the awareness steadily and slowly closer and nearer.
Inside the building,
Inside the very room that you are in.
Maybe now noticing the tiny sounds,
The small sounds,
Maybe the sound of your own breath.
Tuning in to the ebb and flow of the breath.
Feeling that in the body.
And you may like to imagine the ebb and flow of the breath is like the ebb and flow of water.
The shoreline,
The steady flow of a stream or river.
As if in breathing in we are irrigating the dry land of the body.
And so becoming aware of the back of the body,
The spine,
The neck.
Becoming aware if you are lying on your back of those parts of the back of the body in contact with the mat.
If you are lying on your side,
Those parts of the side of the body in contact with the earth on that.
And then inviting the awareness to flow down the spine.
Starting with the head,
Through the neck.
Almost each breath flowing one or two vertebra further down with each and every exhale.
Steady and slow,
Curious and soothing.
Noticing if tension in the ropes of muscles either side of the spine can begin to soften and ease a little more.
As if the spine were like a ladder and we are slowly and steadily climbing down.
Down in between the shoulder blades.
Coming down to the base of the ribs.
To the back of the waist and to the lower back.
And into the sacrum and the tailbone.
And then inviting the awareness to flow all the way down the spine a little bit.
And then inviting the awareness to flow all the way down the spine a little bit faster or just in rhythm with the breath all the way down on the exhale.
And all the way back up on the inhale.
So that with every breath we can soothe the bones,
The muscles,
Feeling the connection from the head all the way down to the tailbone.
And the water element focuses on the bones.
Making sure that the water that we drink is rich in minerals so that our bones are strong.
There is a deep wisdom associated with our bones.
I can feel it in my bones.
Just know intuitively,
Deeply something to be the case.
There's an ancient wisdom that we are,
Whether we realise it or not,
We are 70% water.
And the water and the elements of which we are made have been here since the very beginning.
Water that we breathe,
That we drink,
That we are is the same water that the dinosaurs drank or made of.
And the water that they drank and were made of was millions of years old before then.
And so tuning in to that deep knowing,
Inviting ourselves to trust in our very capacity to thrive.
To trust that deep knowing in our bones,
What is truly good for us.
To be able to go with the flow and immerse ourselves in this creative element.
To know when it's time to let things go and when it's time to truly nurture and nourish new starts,
New beginnings.
Becoming aware of the ebb and flow of the breath up and down the spine.
Inviting that to broaden and lengthen.
So as we breathe,
We breathe all the way down the body and out through the toes,
Down through the arms and out through the fingers and thumbs.
And as we breathe in,
We're breathing in through the toes,
In through the fingers,
All the way up the arms,
The legs,
The spine,
Up into the crown of the head.
As if the breath is filling us fully up.
And on the exhale,
We can let go of everything that no longer serves us.
And then without probing ourselves too much,
Becoming awake and aware of the fact that we are very soon going to be finishing this practice.
But in this in between space,
This literal space on the shoreline of rest and alertness.
If there's anything that we can offer our future selves to help shore us up,
To help us stay afloat on the choppy waters of life,
Then there is space for that just now.
Becoming aware of where in the body feels cool or chilly,
Maybe light.
And now becoming aware of where in the body feels dark and heavy and warm.
And now bringing both into your awareness,
The chilly,
Cool,
Light parts of the body and those deep,
Heavy,
Dark,
Warm parts.
So that we are aware fully of the whole body,
The edges of the body,
The joints of the body,
All of the creases and the corners.
All of the dark recesses are full of warmth.
And with that awareness,
Starting to move fingers and toes and stretch through the whole body.
Then hug the knees and rock from side to side.
Eventually just arriving onto a comfy side and resting there and knowing that you don't need to do anything for the next wee while,
You can simply invite yourself to be.
This practice of yoga nidra inspired by the water element in this beautifully sunny morning here in Glasgow in Scotland,
In the northwest of a wee island in the north of the globe.
This practice is now over.
This practice is done and dusted.
You are cooked.
Thank you very much for listening.
