Let Nature Be Your Guru Yoga Nidra

So as you get comfortable for your session of yoga nidra,

Take the first few moments just to allow yourself to arrive in this moment.

Just beginning with a body scan just to,

Just a brief body scan to allow your whole back body to melt onto the support beneath you,

Feeling the backs of the heels,

Calves,

Thighs,

Calves,

Thighs,

Calves,

Thighs,

Calves,

Softening as if they're melting into the support under them and moving up your lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

Shoulders,

Yielding into the support.

Allow your whole head to rest on the pillow or whatever is under it.

And as you're settling and arriving,

You might bring some of the mountain energy into your practice today.

So perhaps visualize a beautiful majestic mountain.

Maybe it's a mountain you feel drawn to or close to,

Or maybe it's a mountain in your imagination.

Now imagine yourself as that mountain.

Perhaps the top of the head is the peak of the mountain.

And then your shoulders and arms and sides are the sloping sides of the mountain,

All the way down to the feet,

Which are the bedrock of the mountain,

Part of the earth.

Remembering that you too are part of the earth.

You are not of nature,

You are nature.

And coming back to the image of yourself as that mountain,

The mountain has the ability to go through seasons,

Weather systems,

All sorts of changes.

Yet the mountain stays solid,

Grounded,

Unchanging.

Others might come to the mountain and some of them might exclaim over its beauty and majesty.

And perhaps others might complain that they can't see the peak of the mountain because of the clouds or the weather.

Through all of that,

The mountain remains unchanged.

Perhaps bringing some of those qualities of the solidity,

The majesty,

The peace of the mountain into your mind and into your life.

And now as we enter the practice of Yoga Nidra,

If there's a sankalpa,

An intention you've been working with,

Bring that to mind now.

And if no words are arising,

Then let that be perfect.

The mind actually doesn't need to know your sankalpa.

Your spirit,

Your soul,

Your heart knows your intention.

So beginning now with a full body scan,

Allow your awareness to float to the right thumb.

And if it feels appropriate for you,

You might place a star or a point of light into the right thumb.

Right index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger.

The skin on the palm of the right hand and the skin on the back of the right hand,

The space between.

Perhaps the whole space is studded with stars.

Bring your awareness to the right wrist and perhaps there is a circle of stars around the right wrist or just one star in the center.

Moving up to the right forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Right shoulder.

Pause and take in your whole right arm,

Perhaps illuminated by stars,

Enlivened by stardust.

Allow your awareness to float to the left thumb,

Left index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger.

Perhaps there's a star or even multiple stars in each of the fingers.

The skin on the palm of the left hand and the skin on the back of the left hand and all the space between.

Become aware of the left wrist.

Again,

Perhaps a circle of stars.

Left forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Left shoulder.

Pause and be with the sensation of both arms.

Bring your awareness into the hollow at the base of the throat by seeing a star there,

If you like.

The center of the chest,

The space behind the right nipple,

The space behind the left nipple.

Moving into the rib cage and then down into the abdomen.

Perhaps imagining each of the organs in your abdomen,

Sprouting a star.

Feel the whole abdominal area is illuminated,

Blessed with the star quality.

Moving on to the pelvis,

The right buttock,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Ankle.

Perhaps again,

There's a circle of stars around the ankle or one single star in the center.

The top of the right foot and the sole of the right foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third,

Fourth,

Fifth.

Return your awareness to the pelvis,

Perhaps placing another star in this space.

Moving on to the left buttock,

Left thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Ankle.

Top of the left foot and the sole of the left foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth,

Fifth.

Now moving up the back body,

Beginning with the soles of both feet,

Both heels,

Both calves,

The space behind both knees,

The backs of both thighs,

The tailbone,

Both buttocks,

Right and left.

And then beginning once again at the base of your spine,

Imagine placing a star in each vertebrae,

Moving slowly up from the sacrum to the lumbar,

The thoracic spine,

The cervical spine,

Studded with shining stars,

The right shoulder blade,

The left shoulder blade,

The backs of the arms,

Hands,

And fingers.

Bring your awareness to the neck.

Sense the front of the neck,

The sides of the neck,

The back of the neck,

And decide where you'd like to place one or more stars.

Moving up to the back of the head and the crown of the head,

You might imagine a gentle opening at the crown chakra where light can enter to fuel the stars,

The forehead,

The bridge of the nose.

Imagine a few inches above the bridge of the nose,

The space between the eyebrows,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

The upper lip,

The roof of the mouth,

The lower lip,

And the bottom of the mouth.

Become aware of the tongue from the tip of the tongue to the root of the tongue at the base of the throat.

Perhaps there's just one star in the center,

Or perhaps the whole tongue is studded with stars.

Moving down to the chin,

The collarbones,

The chest,

The belly,

Down the arms and legs to the fingers and toes.

And now imagine your whole body illuminated with these twinkling stars.

And now imagine spontaneously the stars begin to line up,

Stretch out.

The stars that were in your body are now forming a straight line.

So long you can't see the beginning or the end.

And then once again,

Spontaneously,

The stars come back into the body.

Imagine,

Feel,

See,

Or sense the entire body.

And moving past the layer of the body into the layer of the breath,

The sheath of the breath.

Begin to notice your effortless breath and begin to count the breath backward,

Assigning the same count to the inhale and the exhale.

Beginning at 17,

Breathing in 17,

Breathing out 17.

Beginning in 16,

Breathing out 16.

Continue at your own pace and release the breath.

Moving past the sheath of the breath,

Here's a poem by Dana Folds,

Go In and In.

Be the space between two cells,

The vast resounding space in which spirit dwells.

Be sugar dissolving on the tongue of life.

Dive in and in as deep as you can dive.

Be infinite ecstatic truth.

Be love conceived and born in union.

Be exactly what you seek,

The beloved.

Singing yes.

Tasting yes.

Embracing yes.

Until there is only essence,

The all of everything expressing through you as you.

Go in and in and turn away from nothing that you find.

Imagine now spontaneously the body getting heavy.

Your whole body heavy.

Legs,

Feet and toes heavy.

Ears still.

Arms,

Hands and fingers heavy.

The whole torso heavy,

Dense,

Earthbound,

Seemingly filled with lead.

The head heavy.

Maybe even imagine the head rooted.

Imagine the whole body now so heavy that you couldn't lift a finger if you wanted to.

As if your whole body is melting into the earth,

Becoming one with the earth.

And now on each inhale,

Imagine the body getting lighter.

Breathing in,

The legs start to get lighter.

The next inhale,

The arms get lighter.

On the next inhale,

The whole torso.

Light like a feather.

The head.

Begin to develop a floating sensation in the entire body as if your whole body has now been filled with helium.

Floating,

Weightless.

Lighter still.

Now can you imagine feeling heavy and light at the same time?

You won't be able to do this with the mind.

See if you can do this with the body.

A melding of opposite sensation.

Or finding the space between the heavy body and the light body.

Could you rest in that in between space?

And moving past that exploration of opposites.

Follow me on this visual journey.

It's your turn.

It's your time to be like the lotus and blossom.

The lotus flower.

The lotus flower grows in mud.

Imagine a beautiful lotus blossom.

Floating effortlessly on the surface of a serene pond.

The lotus is a symbol of purity and patience.

A symbol of perseverance and beauty.

We only see the beautiful petals glistening in the sun.

Floating on the surface of the water.

We don't see the strong rooted stem deep in the mud.

The roots deep down in the mud.

The stem that had to push through and persevere to see the light.

The lotus can teach many lessons about the process of change and achievement.

Perhaps allow to let nature be your guru.

Like the lotus,

You too must sometimes push through the dark,

Murky,

Unknown times of life.

And find your way towards the light.

The light you always believe is there.

The light your innate being craves.

The light that is your birthright.

This journey is easier when you're connected to your body and your breath.

There's a fact scientifically proven that your breath makes everything easier.

Let's go on this journey together.

Finding our inner light.

Allowing ourselves to blossom.

Take a deep breath in,

Rooting deep down into the mud,

The darkness,

The depth.

Exhale out anything you don't need.

Take a deep breath in,

Stretching up towards the light that you know is there.

Exhale out,

Release.

Deep breath in,

Rooting deep,

Deep down.

Exhale out,

Release.

As above,

So below.

As below,

So above.

Take a deep breath in,

Stretching up.

Exhale out,

Releasing.

Breathing in to root your stem down into the mud.

Exhale out to blossom your flower into the world.

Allow your breath to uncover and discover layers upon layers of who you are.

Breathe in what you want and breathe out what you don't.

It's time to blossom.

You can blossom by going in,

In,

In and growing out,

Out,

Out.

Are you ready?

Remember,

It doesn't have to be hard,

But it does take some effort.

You must show up and trust the process,

Even when you can't see the road ahead.

The flower lives inside the seed,

Knowing its destiny.

I trust myself and the process.

Don't disturb yourself with worries about what is to come.

When has that ever helped in the past?

I trust myself and the process.

You may be going through a personal transformation and feel that you're not getting anywhere.

And that's because we're moving beyond the limitations of our ego and our fears that they've created for us.

You may be trying to work out whom to trust.

First,

Trust yourself.

Trust your gut.

I trust myself and the process.

Stay grounded.

Breathe.

And trust you're exactly where you're meant to be.

Trust your truth.

Trust your process.

You might ask the question,

What do I need to feel more supported?

And do your best not to answer with the mind.

Allow the body,

The soul,

Your spirit to answer.

Here's another question for your spirit in the middle of a busy day or an ungrounding moment.

What can I do to help myself feel more rooted and centered,

More supported?

I trust myself and my process.

So if it's available to you,

Stay a little longer.

And whenever you're ready to return to your day,

Bring the lesson of the lotus with you.

Knowing that the lotus originates deep down in the mud and starts to grow towards the light that it can't see.

And it keeps on growing and growing and growing until at last it breaks through into the light.

And then it allows itself to express this beautiful lotus blossom.

I trust myself and the process.

Thank you for sharing your practice with me.

Namaste.

Be well.