Winter Solstice Yoga Nidra

Welcome to this practice of yoga nidra.

Welcome home to your body.

Take a moment to arrive.

There is nothing to do,

Nowhere else to be.

This is a practice of rest and allowing.

Settle yourself into your nidra nest.

Let the body be fully supported by the earth beneath you.

Take time to make any final adjustments so that you can remain still and comfortable,

Knowing that you will be held safely here.

When you are ready,

Allow your eyes to close gently.

Bring your awareness to the breath.

There is no need to change the breath in any kind of way.

Just simply notice the inhale as it arrives and the exhale as it softens away.

Feel the breath move through the body like a slow tide.

With each exhale,

Allow yourself to sink a little deeper into rest.

Now that we are comfortable,

We will begin the rotation of consciousness,

Gently moving awareness throughout the body.

There is nothing to imagine,

Nothing to force.

Just simply notice.

We will begin by bringing awareness to the right side of the body,

In particular the right thumb.

Bring in your entire awareness to your right thumb,

Your right second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth and the fifth finger.

Bring your awareness to the palm of the right hand,

The back of the right hand,

All the way up towards the right wrist,

Right forearm,

The right elbow.

Traveling up towards the right upper arm,

All the way towards the right shoulder.

Bring your awareness now to the entire right hand and right arm.

We continue towards the right side of the chest,

Down through the right side of the waist,

Towards the right hip,

The right thigh,

Right knee.

Traveling all the way down towards the right lower leg,

The right ankle,

The right foot.

We wrap around the right heel,

Towards the sole of the right foot,

The top of the right foot,

Big toe,

Second,

Third,

Fourth and the fifth toe.

Noticing if you can sense a difference between the right side of your body and the left.

We continue now to the left side of the body,

Starting again with the left thumb.

Your entire attention,

Your awareness to your left thumb,

Your left second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth and the fifth finger.

Your awareness expands now to the palm of the left hand and the back of the left hand.

That awareness moves towards the left wrist,

The left forearm,

Left elbow,

As it continues up towards your left upper arm and your left shoulder.

Your awareness to the entire left hand and arm.

From the left shoulder,

We travel along towards the left side of the chest,

Continuing down through the left side of the waist,

Towards the left hip,

Left thigh,

Left knee,

All the way down to the left lower leg.

Left ankle,

Left foot,

Continuing to wrap around towards the left heel,

The sole of the left foot,

Top of the left foot,

Big toe,

Second,

Third,

Fourth and the fifth toe.

Bringing your awareness now to the back of the body,

The backs of the heels,

Calves and the thighs.

As we move up towards the back of the pelvis,

The lower back,

The mid back,

Upper back.

Awareness to the shoulder blades,

The space between,

The back of the neck,

Towards the back of the head and allowing the head to rest heavy and supported.

Your awareness wrapping now towards the front of the body,

Beginning with the forehead,

Allowing all of the muscles in the forehead to soften and relax.

Your eyelids are gently closed,

Your cheeks soften,

Just noticing if you can relax your jaw a little bit more.

We continue that awareness now towards the throat,

Down into the chest and collar bone area,

The upper abdomen,

The lower abdomen,

The front of the pelvis.

Down through the front of the legs,

Knees,

Shins,

All the way back towards the tops of the feet.

From the feet,

Slowly drawing that awareness back up through the body towards the crown of the head.

Can you bring that awareness to the entire body now and allow the entire body to rest as one piece.

As your body rests here,

Allow an image to form as we move through our winter solstice visualisation.

Imagine yourself standing at the edge of a quiet forest beneath a pale winter sky.

Snow lies softly on the ground,

Right against the dark soil and stone.

The trees stand bare and still,

Their branches traced with frost.

You step into the forest,

Snow softens each footstep and the world grows hushed.

Cold clean air fills your lungs,

With every exhale you release what the year has made heavy.

This forest is not asleep,

It is simply resting.

Beneath the frozen surface,

Roots thread deep into the earth,

Holding fast,

Sharing nourishment in the dark.

Within the tree,

Sap has slowed and gathered close to the heartwood,

Conserving life.

Everything here knows when to turn inward.

As you continue to walk,

You become aware of the quiet lives around you.

A robin moves between branches,

Its red breast glowing like a small ember against the snow.

Wrens shelter low and hidden,

And beneath leaf litter and bracken,

Small creatures rest.

Breath,

Slow and steady.

Somewhere unseen,

A fox curls into sleep,

Conserving its warmth.

And a young deer stands motionless among the trees,

Breath rising in soft clouds,

Listening intently.

All life here knows how to endure the dark without struggle.

You continue to walk,

And soon arrive at a small clearing,

Open to the winter sky.

This is the still point of the year,

The solstice,

The longest night,

The pause before the turning of the wheel.

Here you gently lay something down,

A burden,

A worry,

An old pattern ready to rest.

You place it on the snow,

And feel the earth receive it.

From the deep quiet,

A subtle shift begins,

A light appears,

Not yet bright but certain,

The returning sun.

Feel its warmth touch your skin,

Soft and real,

A promise rather than a blaze.

Allow this warmth to spread through your chest,

A steady ember carried within.

It grows slowly,

As all true things do.

The wheel has slowly turned.

And as you continue to rest here now,

Allow these words from The Wintering by Catherine May to echo softly.

The plants and animals don't fight the winter.

They don't pretend it's not happening and attempt to carry on living the same lives that they lived in the summer.

They prepare,

They adapt,

They perform extraordinary acts of metamorphosis to get them through.

Winter is a time of withdrawing from the world,

Maximising scant resources,

Carrying out acts of brutal efficiency and vanishing from sight.

But that is where the transformation occurs.

Winter is not the death of the life cycle,

But its crucible.

Beginning to slowly draw awareness back to the breath,

Notice its gentle rhythm once more.

Feel the weight of your body as it meets the ground,

The support beneath you.

And become aware of the space around you,

The sounds,

The temperature,

Your breath.

Slowly begin to invite gentle movements back into the body,

Perhaps a little wiggle of fingers and toes.

Rocking the head gently side to side,

Or if it feels good,

Take a full body stretch.

Reach the arms up and overhead,

Stretching through the fingers and the toes.

And only when you're ready can you slowly start to blink your eyes open,

Carrying the quiet with you.

This practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

The wheel has turned,

The light returns.