Winter Yoga Nidra For Deep Rest & Welcome

So just taking this time.

Taking and making some time for you.

And just whatever way feels comfortable and cosy and delicious and a welcoming way to settle yourself.

And then taking these few moments just now to do just that.

It's as if the weariness of our bones,

The very weariness of our very bones can soften and become heavy.

And know that just as you are is entirely welcome and for the next while there is absolutely nothing that you need to do.

There is nothing you need to do,

There is no one you need to be,

There is no where you need to be.

And know as well that this is a very safe space.

That the door outside is locked and as you go deeper and more relaxed I will be your ears and your eyes keeping watch over the space.

So you can simply let go.

And as the body starts to settle there may be a little adjustment or so or two that if you could make them,

Ooh you'd just be five or even ten percent more comfy,

More cosy,

More deliciously starting to sink down.

So I invite you to make those adjustments.

It's like ooh just that little bit could move or ah take my glasses off.

So inviting that sense of feeling invited into this very moment into this practice today.

And each and every one of you is very welcome.

So becoming aware of those different meeting points of the body and the floor,

That lovely delicious sense of contact and support as if the body is sinking down into the earth,

As if the earth of the body is sinking down into the lap of Mother Earth herself and the need for doing.

We can simply let go of that.

Bringing awareness to the different sounds that you can hear.

Those in the room.

Those outside this room.

Outside this building.

What can you hear?

Ranging as far out as you can and then bit by bit drawing the attention to the sounds closer and closer still.

Back into this room.

Perhaps those even closer.

Maybe the sound of your own body or your breath.

Becoming aware of the body from the back of the head to the tips of the toes and the lovely soft flow of the breath.

Soft and as fluent as water and yet lighter and more subtle.

The flow of the breath all the way down the body and out through the toes.

So with every exhale we can become more and more relaxed.

Following the breath all the way down the body and out through the feet through the toes.

As if with every exhale fluid flow that soft water like flow of the breath can wash as gently clean.

All of the burden,

All of the stress,

All of the to do list can simply flow cleanly and softly away.

And with every exhale the body is more and more relaxed.

Waves of relaxation flowing down the whole body.

And so in this season of winter surrounded by the bare trunks of the trees,

All the leaves,

All of the plants of spring and summer,

All of the celebration of harvest time has dried and fallen.

We're left with the bare bones of the trees.

All of the energy has gone deep away from the tips of the roots,

Down the branches,

Into the trunks,

All the way down into the earth,

Into the roots.

It's a reminder for our own energy,

Our own daily habits to honour that.

And so in this Nidra very much one of retreat and going inwards into our seed selves,

Into that deep awareness and intuition as if in our very bones we can access a state of relaxation and knowing which is truly nurturing and truly ourselves.

And so taking the awareness into the left hand thumb,

Becoming aware of the thumb,

All of the sensations in the thumb,

And then moving into the index finger,

Into the middle finger,

The ring finger,

The little finger,

Into the back of the hand and into the palm,

From the palm into the wrist,

Into the forearm,

The elbow,

The upper arm,

Into the left shoulder and into the armpit,

The left side of the ribs coming down to the waist,

Into the left hip,

Into the groin,

The top of the left thigh and the back of the thigh,

The back of the knee and the top of the knee,

The left shin,

The calf muscle,

The ankle,

The heel,

The top of the foot,

The sole of the foot.

Become aware of the left sole,

The left big toe,

The second toe,

The third,

The fourth and the fifth toes,

All of the toes on that left foot.

Becoming aware of the whole of the left side of your body,

The whole of the left side.

And bringing the awareness now to the right thumb,

All of the sensations in the thumb.

Moving to the index finger,

The middle finger,

The ring finger and the little finger.

The back of the hand,

Into the palm,

Becoming aware of the right palm,

The wrist,

The forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

The right side of the ribs,

The waist,

The right hip,

The top of the right thigh,

The back of the thigh,

The groin,

The top of the thigh,

The knee,

The back of the knee,

The calf muscle and the shin,

The ankle and the heel,

The top of the foot,

The sole of the right foot,

Becoming aware of the sole of the right foot and the right big toe and the second toe and the third toe and the fourth and the fifth toes.

All of the toes on the right foot,

Becoming aware of all of the toes.

And the whole of the right side of the body now,

Being aware of the whole of the right side of the body.

The whole of the left side.

Changing the awareness again to the right side and then back over to the left.

Taking awareness now down into the feet once again.

The sole of the left foot,

The sole of the right foot,

Becoming aware of the soles of both feet.

The heel of the left foot and the right heel,

The left calf muscle and the right calf muscle.

The back of the left thigh,

The back of the right thigh,

The left buttock and the right buttock.

Coming up into the lower back.

Bringing the awareness into the lower back.

And then up past the waist,

The mid back and in and around the shoulder blades.

Taking any tension,

Any holding in and around that left shoulder blade,

The muscles under,

Over.

And then taking the awareness over to that right shoulder blade,

Any holding there in the muscles under,

Around and over.

Taking the awareness up into the back of the neck,

Into the back of the head.

And just notice if you're still holding on in the back of the head.

Notice if you can release and let go of the back of the head,

Just that little bit more,

Ah,

The muscles in the back of the neck can just soften and release.

As if the chin might gently tuck or dip just a touch.

The back of the head,

The whole of the back of the body.

Becoming aware of all of those points of contact between the body and the floor.

And then becoming aware of the crown of the head and the forehead.

The right eyebrow and the left eyebrow,

Becoming aware of that space in between the eyebrows.

And notice if you're still looking behind those closed eyes.

You might like to imagine the eyebrow centres softly spreading or even gently opening.

Inviting a deep relaxation into the eyes.

So the left eye and the right eye almost sinking deep,

Melting deep into the head.

Taking the awareness into the left temple and the right temple.

The left ear,

All of the soft curves and curls,

This warm air of the left ear.

All the way down to the earlobe.

Soft tiny little hairs on the earlobe.

And then taking the awareness over to the right ear.

The soft curve,

The arc of the ear.

The undulations of skin down to the earlobe on the right side.

Those soft little hairs are almost like the soft little hairs on a leaf bud.

Becoming aware of the left cheek and the right cheek.

The bridge of the nose and the very tip of the nose.

The eyebrow centre,

The tip of the nose.

The upper lip,

The lower lip.

Where the eyelids meet.

The right side of the jaw,

The left side of the jaw,

The chin,

The throat,

The left collarbone,

The right collarbone,

The soft space in between the collarbones.

Coming down into the chest,

The left side of the chest and the right side of the chest and the centre of the chest.

The heart space.

Coming down the body again into the abdomen,

The upper abdomen,

The navel,

The belly.

The left side of the groin and the right side of the groin.

The top of the left thigh,

The top of the right thigh.

The left kneecap and the right kneecap.

The left shin and the right shin.

The left ankle,

The right ankle.

The top of the left foot,

The top of the right foot.

The toes on the left foot,

The toes on the right foot.

The whole of the front of the body.

Becoming aware of the whole of the front of the body and the whole of the back of the body.

The whole of the front of the body,

The whole of the back of the body.

The soft flow of the breath,

Just like water.

Slowly flowing,

Fluid and easy all the way in and all the way out.

Becoming aware of that sense of what's in between the front of the body and what's in between the back of the body.

Becoming aware of the sense of that subtle flow of energy.

As if just like the roots of a tree or like a sponge,

We can start to draw that energy in to our very bones.

The water element,

The element of winter.

The water element governs the brain,

The sea of marrow,

The sense of deep wisdom.

Letting all of the joy and the exuberance of summertime fall away so we can tap into our inner sense of what truly nourishes us.

Drawing our energy into our bones as if as we draw this nourishing energy into our bones we can start to deeply rest and restore.

Winter is a dream time,

A time of deep dreaming,

A time of going inwards,

A time of deep intuition.

When we draw our awareness in,

We can tap in to that wondrous ability to know exactly what to do in any given situation.

Winter is a time of deep knowing and trust.

Trusting oneself,

Feeling safe,

Feeling secure in this safe practice,

Safe space that is Yogananda.

It's almost as if as we flow with the energy in the body,

It's like the energy of flow of sap,

Slowly and quietly and hidden in the roots of the trees.

Becoming aware of the whole body feeling deep and inward.

You might experience this as a sense of heaviness or a sense of feeling grounded and supported.

Wherein the body feels supported and held,

Wherein the body feels heavy,

Wherein the body feels so deep.

And then wherein the body feels light,

Where feels open.

It could be the gentle touch of the cool air on the skin.

It could be that sense of the cosy soft light blanket over the body,

The upside of your body.

It could be a sense of the mind utterly and deeply relaxed.

Where feels light,

Where feels light in the body.

And then back to where feels deep,

That sense of inward,

That sense of heaviness and earth.

And then where feels light,

Where feels open.

And then bringing the two together,

The lightness and the depth,

The heaviness,

The openness.

Soft breeze on the bare bark of the silver birch trees.

The slow movement of the sap deep in the roots.

And then letting go of that,

Taking the awareness into the very core,

Into the chest,

Into the navel.

As if we can concentrate our energy in our trunk,

As if we are all each silver birches,

Aspens,

Laches.

And then becoming aware of the fine filigree of your peripheries,

The fingertips,

The tips of your toes,

The tip of your nose,

The ends of your eyelashes.

The fine filigree of the roots,

Of the twigs,

Of the little buds coming early.

And then back into your core,

The deep slow pulse of your very seed self deep within,

Strong and powerful.

And then the soft exuberance of your fingertips and your toes,

Of your extremities,

Your peripheries,

Your edges.

So taking the awareness between the two,

And you may prefer to twin this with the breath,

And as you breathe in,

You breathe right into your core,

Into your heart,

Into your trunk.

And as you exhale,

You're exhaling into the very edges that is your body,

And perhaps a bit beyond,

Almost as if it's not the body,

But just an energy mapped out in your body.

Or you may prefer to do exactly the opposite,

To breathe into the very edges,

Like an explorer finding the very edges of the known experience.

And then on the exhale,

Coming home.

Coming home.

Breathing between these two states.

And then,

Imagining both,

At the same time,

In the same space.

Being in the edges,

In the fine edges of the fingertips,

Of the toes,

The nose,

The eyelashes,

And at the same time,

Being right in the core.

How can that be,

And how does that feel?

And then letting go.

Just inviting a soft awareness of the breath,

Just like water,

But softer and lighter and more subtle.

To flow,

All the way down,

All the way down the body,

Into the toes.

And on the inhale from the toes,

Imagining the breath is flowing up the legs into the lower back,

Waiting there.

And then flowing all the way up the spine,

Back into the head,

On the next inhale.

Starting that cycle again,

All the way down,

Into the toes,

Into the soles of each foot,

On the exhale.

And coming all the way up the legs,

On the inhale,

Resting in the lower back,

In the sacrum.

And on the next inhale,

Flowing all the way up the back,

Into the head.

And in this space,

This in between,

This liminal space,

Almost as if we're just arriving at the shore of somewhere very dear and well known,

As if we're coming home from somewhere in this wonderful in between-ness of spaciousness.

It can be helpful to offer yourself something.

Sometimes it's enough to simply rest,

Given the demands on your energy,

Given the demands on your time and your roles and responsibilities that you carry around with you day in and day out.

It can be enough to offer yourself this space,

Just as you are.

And in this space,

You can tune in,

You can listen.

And in the awareness of the heart space,

Something may come up.

If not now,

Then later today or at some moment,

A moment of recognition,

Of intuition,

Of deep knowing.

Winter is the time of listening,

Of attention,

As we go deep.

It's a time of tapping into the deeper layers of the mind and the body,

So that we can truly nourish ourselves from the heart.

You may be the kind of person that likes to take a souvenir.

You might be one of these people that,

Actually,

I'd like to imagine something that I can bring back with me right now,

Arriving at the shoreline of coming home,

Something that could be easily held in the palm of my hand,

Perhaps the hand with which you write.

And if you'd like,

You can imagine that thing,

How does it feel,

What's its colour,

Its texture,

Is it cool,

Is it warm?

And you can have that in your palm right now,

If you wish.

Slip that into a pocket or a bag to be drawn out when you need your own amulet,

Your own talisman.

You might also prefer to offer yourself a message of support.

Any of these or none are welcome.

Any of these or none,

You might have your own idea,

Is exactly the right thing for you to do,

And know that there is absolutely nothing you need to do.

And then starting to deepen the breath,

To make the breath a little louder,

So that perhaps as you breathe in,

You can hear your breath.

Deepening the breath all the way in.

Deepening and lengthening the breath all the way out.

So starting to bring yourself back,

Back into a sense of arriving.

Breathing into the tips of the toes.

Starting to move the very edges of the body,

The feet,

The fingers,

The hands.

Imagining the palm of each of your hands.

If it feels a lovely and delicious way to arrive back,

You can move the body into a delicious hug or a mix of two,

Preferably one after the other and not at the same time.

Don't be in any rush.

There is simply nothing to do.

Arriving back into this very moment here together.

As if as we breathe in,

We breathe in the room and when we breathe out,

We breathe and share ourselves in this practice of yoga nidra.

So eventually arriving by lying on your side,

You can choose which side feels the comfiest,

The nicest and just staying there for a few moments.

Doing absolutely nothing or hee haw as can be said in the city.

So this practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Thank you very much for listening.

Don't be in any rush to do anything for the next wee while.

Once we come up,

We can decide what we're going to do but in the meantime,

Just taking a few nurturing breaths for yourself and then when you feel that you'd like to join in with being part of something,

You can come upright but don't be under any sense that you need to come upright.

Thank you.