Yoga Nidra For Overcoming Fears And Finding Courage

Hi,

Thanks for joining me for this Yoga Nidra and today I'm going to be offering you a Yoga Nidra to encourage the qualities of Darga,

The protectors goddess,

To be present with you and bring you into a space of overcoming fears and setting new boundaries and feeling really strong in who you are.

So when you're ready,

Get comfortable,

Settle down.

Maybe today you are lying down with a blanket so you stay nice and warm.

Maybe you have lit a candle,

Maybe some sandalwood and you are nice and cosy,

Ready for us to begin.

Let's take a deep breath in together,

Breathing in through your nose,

Out through your mouth and let's check and see if you could be a little bit more comfortable.

Do you need to wiggle or just tuck in that blanket around your shoulders or are you ready to become completely still in the space that you're in?

As we relax,

Closing down your eyes,

Noticing your breath,

Breathing deeply,

Maybe you breathe just through your nose,

Maybe it's in through your nose,

Out through your mouth.

And as you breathe,

Focus all of your attention and awareness on this breath,

Feeling it move in and out of your body,

Feeling your senses withdraw from the outside world,

Bringing them inside.

With your eyes being given the freedom and rest from gazing outside,

Allow them to turn inwards and look inside.

Your ears noticing the sounds that were outside,

Picking up the noise of anything that is passing outside your home and just bringing that awareness back to the sound of your breath.

Maybe you bring it all the way in to the sound of your heart.

For our intention,

We're going to create a sankalpa.

In Yoga Nidra,

An intention is called a sankalpa.

And I offer you this moment to choose three words that sum up your intention for this practice.

What fears would you like to overcome?

How would you like to call upon the energy of this goddess to help you remove obstacles in your life?

What difficulties would you like her to help you move through?

Maybe it's as simple as,

I am free from fear.

I am strong in my boundaries.

And allow those three words to come to you.

Maybe four is okay.

I am strong in my boundaries.

I am strong in my boundaries.

And for a moment,

Imagine how your life will be if you are living that in this present moment.

If you have moved through these fears,

Removed your blocks,

And for a moment,

See how you would be,

How you would walk,

How you would talk.

How do you feel it in your body?

How do you feel this sensation of self-assuredness?

Is there anywhere in your body that you detect that is not fully into this feeling,

That is not fully enhanced and cannot let go in this moment?

And if you find yourself drawn to a space,

Maybe behind your ear or your lower left hip,

Allow your mind's eye to rest there and offer your breath to that space in your body,

Bringing your attention and awareness back into your third eye space as we prepare to go on a short,

Rhythmic rotation of consciousness in our Yoga Nidra-inspired practice to bring us into a newfound freedom from fear,

Safe in our boundaries,

Resting your mind's eye in that third eye space,

Just gazing.

And if any time you feel that you can't concentrate on my voice,

Invite yourself back to your breath and just notice how you're breathing.

Maybe you count your breath and bring yourself to being lost in your breath.

Let's begin our rotation of consciousness,

Taking your awareness to the crown of head,

To your scalp it flows,

From your forehead to these brows.

The settling body now receives the nourishment of rest.

Find yourself between your brows,

Into your resting eyes,

The eyelids,

Your right eyelid,

Your left eyelid,

Between the eyes.

The rest is here and all they see is welcomed in.

Take your awareness within the ears,

Behind the ears.

These places now can rest.

The nostrils,

Which welcome every breath,

And both the lips,

The tongue,

Feel how it's nourished by this restfulness,

How nurtured it is now by rest.

The teeth,

Your throat,

The arched roof of the mouth,

Feel it resting,

Feel it settling into quiet.

Your chin is still,

As now there is nothing to be said.

The back of your neck,

The whole of your spine,

And both sides of the neck.

Your throat pipe is soft within and all resting here and settling into yoga nidra,

Across the shoulders,

Down both arms and into hands this flows,

Feeling this state of nourishment and restoration,

Feeling it move into the palms of your hands and fingertips,

The spaces in between,

The thumbs and the index fingers of both hands,

Which are resting now on the left and the right.

Moving your awareness from hand to hand,

The middle fingers and the fourth,

Both little fingers are fully resting too,

And all the webbing in between,

The fingertips and cuticles,

The nails of both these hands.

On the right and the left,

On the left and the right,

The whole of both hands can rest.

Every place is nurtured now by this.

Both palms and the belly,

Allowing yourself to rest in the belly space.

Your resting time is now.

Feel the breath that moves into your belly,

Up to your chest and your breasts.

There is a flow of restfulness throughout the trunk of your body,

Within this heart,

A space to be attentive to the pulse.

Allows the heart and the mind to be,

Whilst your stomach gently receives rest,

Allowing yourself to centre in the navel and feel how nourished the rest is there.

Both your hips and genitals can be at rest,

Your anus and pelvis too.

Whilst all throughout the pelvic floor,

This rest is nurturing.

These hips and knees,

These shins and calves,

The ankles and both feet are welcomed in the resting place of this yoga nidra practice.

The tops of your feet,

The soles of your feet,

All of your toes,

The right foot and the left,

The spaces in between the toes are settled and resting because they know there is no need to take another step.

The place to be is here.

Breathing in,

Breathing out,

Resting your awareness.

Breathing in,

Breathing out,

Feeling your whole body fill and breathing out.

Seven,

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

Six,

And counting down in your head.

Five,

Four,

Three,

Notice how you feel.

Notice how you would feel if Madagascar had removed all of your fears.

You were fearless,

Courageous with strong boundaries.

How does it feel in your body?

How does life look?

Gazing into the space in front of your closed eyes.

As you breathe out,

Focus your attention down into your womb space.

Breathe that inner gaze down inside the womb and find yourself at the heart of a warm red space.

See yourself lying there inside your own womb,

So comfortable and perfectly at home.

As you lay there in your womb,

Feel this space to be an entire world in herself.

This is the beginning of our journey.

This is the opening to the warm world.

As we travel onward,

We are about to take a sacred pilgrimage into the realm of Madagascar.

The remover of fears,

Who tears apart demonic thoughts and the reliever of difficulties.

We take this sacred journey to honour the form of Ma.

Go into a place where we can truly connect to her all-inspiring power.

A place for us to delight in her teachings.

As you prepare to travel to this special place,

Before you go,

If it feels right for you,

I invite you to choose an offering to bring with you.

Something special that you would like to take on this pilgrimage.

Something that you can offer to the Divine Mother.

Could be a favourite item,

Favourite food or beverage,

Favourite flower or maybe just a prayer.

Take a moment now and choose a heartfelt offering in your mind's eye that will come with you on this sacred pilgrimage.

You have a beautiful small basket with you that holds your offering.

See yourself travelling to the sacred site,

Through your womb centre,

Journeying through time,

Through space,

To the realm of the Divine Warrior.

And as we travel,

See yourself travelling in any way that you would like.

Flying,

Swimming,

Running,

Floating and as you move,

Notice the things that you see along the way.

Notice your journey,

Feel your womb sense,

And notice the energy within you and how your energy starts to change and vibrate as we move closer and deeper into the womb journey on our pilgrimage to the sacred realm of Durga Within.

This portal has led us to a space where there is a gentle breeze blowing across your skin.

As you gaze upwards to look at the branches,

You can see there's a beautiful tree above you and you are laying beneath the great womb tree and her roots reach deep,

Deep into the earth.

And she is growing in the very centre of the womb world.

It's autumn,

The fruits on the tree are so ripe and ready to be harvested in this magical womb world.

The fruits are just harvesting themselves and rolling to the ground.

The leaves on the trees change colour and they are curling into fiery twists of orange and red.

The wind is cooling and the leaves begin to fall to the ground and as they fall,

You witness them so silently,

But you can sense their gentle caress as they land on the tip of your nose,

Your head,

Your ears.

The space that you're in is covered in leaves and there's an urge within you that wants to tidy and sweep away.

As you gaze around,

You realise that you have arrived in a space where there once has been a battle and in the distance you can see smoke in the air and the scent of that smoke is carried and the scent of that smoke is carried on the breeze.

And you sense that here has been a battle of demons,

Demons and warriors and you realise it is so quiet that you could hear a pin drop,

The sound of the breeze,

An occasional bird and in this silence you gaze into the distance and you can see moving towards you from beyond the smoke is a figure of a divine warrior riding.

At first you think she's riding a horse but you realise as she comes closer that it's a lion,

A great white lion and you can see the divinity of Durga.

She is sat side saddle upon her lion and you are in awe and struck at the radiance of energy that is emanating from this divine figure.

Sat in the victory posture,

Her right ankle crossed over her left knee,

She is wearing a bright red sari,

A golden crown and her head is encircled with a bright golden halo.

Her jewellery is golden and embedded with jewels,

She wears fresh flowers,

Her right hand holds a club for dispelling ignorance,

A sword for cutting ego attachments and there is a spinning discus like a chakra of time and she shows you the mudra of dispelling fear.

Her palm is facing you,

Fingers pointing upwards,

Her left hand holds a pink lotus of wisdom and there is a trident of will and knowledge and a bow and arrow of concentration and courage,

The conch shell for happiness and purification and her black hair is unbound,

Spiralling all the way down her shoulders,

The back of her body and she is emanating this creative Shakti energy,

Her face is calm and peaceful.

As you feel yourself basking in the radiance of this divine mother warrior,

Notice any feelings or thoughts that come up for you,

Anything that brings up an emotion in her presence.

As you gaze towards her face,

You can see that she calls out to you and gestures for you to come,

So you walk towards her,

Open to receive her wisdom and blessings.

In this moment is the time when you offer her your gift that you have bought in your basket and in offering to her you feel the joy of giving and the joy of knowing that she has received.

Notice anything in your awareness that has manifested in you as you make your offering and be open to messages,

Thoughts or feelings.

She beckons to you to come even closer so that she can place her fear dispelling hand on your heart centre.

With her hand upon your heart,

Hand upon your heart,

You can feel your fears drifting away from you,

Your body being absorbed.

Notice how you feel as the fear is removed and anything associated with the removal of that fear.

Take a moment to offer your gratitude for this amazing opportunity and just enjoy the peace and comfort in this sacred place.

As you take a very deep breath,

You realise that you have become Durga.

You're seated,

Side saddle upon a lion,

In the victory posture with your right ankle over your left knee.

You wear a bright red sari,

A golden crown and your head is encircled with a bright golden halo.

Your jewellery is golden and you wear fresh flowers.

You have eight arms,

Holding a club,

A sword,

The spinning discus.

You display the mudra for dispelling fear,

With your palm facing toward,

Fingers pointing upwards.

You hold the pink lotus,

A trident,

And a bow and arrow,

And the conch shell.

You have black hair unbound,

Spiralling down your shoulders,

Across your breasts,

Down your back.

Allow yourself to become aware of the full experience of being Durga,

The fear-removing divine mother,

And notice any physical sensations that come with this transformation.

Any messages you feel.

Now take a deep and cleansing breath.

And as you breathe out,

You feel yourself transform back into you.

You see Madhuga's face,

Smiling with approval,

And she gestures for you to choose one of the objects that you feel drawn towards.

Maybe it's the club,

The sword,

The chakra,

The flower,

The lotus flower,

The trident,

The bow and arrow,

Or the conch shell.

Take a moment and point to the object that speaks to you.

She offers you that object and places it into your heart center,

So that it now occupies this space where you once held fear.

You feel it warm and comforting in this space,

And you realize that her presence is within you.

Noticing your feelings or insights that you have in this moment,

And know that you are being guided to your full potential.

Give gratitude to Madhuga from deep within your heart,

And return back to your Sankalpa.

Those three words that you chose in the beginning,

Bring your awareness back to your third eye space.

I have strong boundaries.

I have strong boundaries.

I have strong boundaries.

And as you say these words,

Feel yourself travel back,

Back from your heart,

Down into the depths back from your heart,

Down into the depths of your sacred womb,

Into that space.

Travel from the space of your womb.

Feel the full awareness of breathing into your womb,

And breathing into the blood that fills your whole body.

The blood that you offer to the earth,

And just feel yourself becoming into your whole body once again.

Breathing from your womb,

Into the blood that goes through your whole system of your body.

Sense yourself coming home to yourself.

Coming home to your deep wisdom within you.

Feeling your connection to the deep wisdom of your woman.

Feeling fully aware of the breath in your body.

The blood in your body.

The breath that is carried on the blood in your body.

And maybe you choose to just stay here and enjoy this space.

Maybe you choose to stay in this reclined Shavasana position.

Or maybe you start to wiggle your fingers and your toes,

And slowly bring yourself back,

Back,

Back into the world.

As you stretch,

Maybe you also want to rub your palms so that you generate heat.

It's such a lovely way to come back into the world,

To heat those hands.

Place your palms gently over your eyelids,

And then blink yourself awake into your palms and through your fingers.

Thank you from the depths of my heart for joining me for this meditation to overcome fear,

Re-establish your boundaries,

And find courage from the Great Mother.

Thank you.