Healing Eco-Grief With The Wholeness Of Nature

Welcome.

I'm Jenny Miller and this guided yoga nidra is for those of us feeling strong emotions like grief or anxiety over the state of our planet's environment.

Through connecting to nature through our senses,

We can heighten awareness of our own aliveness in this present moment and cultivate not just our connection to nature,

But also our underlying essence as nature,

As nature manifesting itself through us.

In this meditation,

I will refer to examples from nature as focal points.

This is an optional invitation,

And you're welcome to evoke other visualizations that support your own unique journey.

My words are a guide,

But at any time,

Feel free to follow what is most calling you and rejoin me when it feels right.

In yoga nidra,

There's no need to hide,

Reject,

Fix or change.

Whatever experience is arising is authentically you.

And the purpose of our meditation is really to practice meeting our true selves,

No matter how they express themselves.

So settle into the body,

Bringing attention to your senses,

Which are our first layer of experiencing nature.

Bring attention to the sounds in the room,

Opening your ears.

And rather than listening for sounds,

Let sounds come,

Gently receiving them.

Notice any smells in the room.

Bring attention to sight,

The manifestation of light and shape before your eyes,

Whether they're open or closed.

Notice the sense of touch,

Air on your skin,

Becoming aware of the contact between surfaces with the earth.

Consider inviting in an intention for this practice.

Like a quiet breeze gently stirring the sand,

Is there a purpose that is calling for your intention?

Affirm this in the present tense.

Maybe I am deeply alive in this present moment,

Or I am examining an ache in my heart for the planet,

Or whatever intention arises for you.

Now,

Welcome into your mind what we'll call your inner oasis,

A visualization of a place where you felt joy,

Where you've been safe,

Secure,

Truly yourself.

It could be a place or a moment in nature,

Maybe a favorite vista point,

Place on the beach,

A sunset,

Or it could be a creature that you love,

Plant,

Animal,

Pet,

Or other person.

To evoke the senses of that experience,

What were the sounds?

How did it look?

Were there any tastes or smells?

Now release the image and remain with the senses,

The sensations in the body,

Gently receiving the feel of that joyful experience in which you feel safe,

Secure,

Truly free to be yourself.

Your inner oasis is available as a touchstone at any time in or out of this practice.

Continuing to focus on sensation,

Now bring attention to the mouth,

Noticing any feeling in the inner cheeks,

The tongue,

The teeth.

Bringing attention to the forehead,

Noticing any sensations of coolness,

Sensation on the back of the neck and the shoulders,

Sensation lighting up these body parts like dancing rays of sunlight.

With breath moving like a quiet wind drifting between tree branches,

Attention in the upper chest as the breath moves in and out,

Chest expanding and contracting.

Noticing the belly,

Attention in the upper left arm,

Sunlight drifting down the arm to the elbow and the forearm.

To the left palm dappled with light,

The fingers.

Attention in the right upper arm,

Sunlight dancing,

Flowing through the elbow and the forearm.

To the right palm,

Moving down the fingers.

Noticing the natural heaviness of gravity in the arms,

Both the right and left.

Noticing each separate and then together the heaviness of the right and left arm simultaneously.

Noticing the breath and the turn of the breath as the inhale flows in through the nose,

Down through the body,

Through the abdomen and the arms.

And the turn of the breath as the exhale flows the air gently up and out of the body.

To the turn of breath,

Back in through the body,

Noticing that quiet pause at the turn of the breath.

Bringing attention to the hips and the pelvis.

That sunlight shifting into the left leg,

The upper thigh,

Into the lower calf and the foot.

Attention,

Sunlight shifting to the right leg,

To the thigh,

To the calf,

To the foot and through the toes.

As thoughts enter the mind,

Simply acknowledging them and setting them aside to visit with later.

The breath continuing to flow,

The movement of the inhale,

The stillness of the pause as the breath turns,

The movement of the breath on the exhale.

Observing that constant change of breath,

The breeze always shifting of creation and conclusion.

A rhythm of the breath's life cycle reoccurring in steady,

Predictable momentum.

Noticing sensation within the body throughout from toes to abdomen,

To tip of the head.

And noticing sensation on the surfaces of the body,

The front,

Back and sides.

And feeling that sunlight casting everywhere,

Outside and beyond the body,

Into the space,

The vastness around the body.

Letting go of the mind and staying with the feeling,

The sensation of this experience.

Rest back into nature,

As nature,

Feeling expansive,

Whole,

Complete.

Nature,

Which is always changing,

Evolving,

Recreating,

Yet simultaneously is a constant unchanging presence.

And staying with the sensation,

Notice if there are any feelings or emotions which are arising.

Release the mind's grasp and give yourself permission to meet what is organically arising from your heart.

As if it's a stream bubbling up through the soil,

Meeting it with curiosity,

As if for the first time.

Where in the body do you feel this emotion?

Can you greet it without judgment,

Simply allowing it to be here,

Hiking on the trail alongside it,

Even welcoming it?

Inviting in that feeling or emotion,

Allowing it to be as it is.

If helpful,

Reconnecting to the inner oasis,

That feeling of safety and security.

Now,

Consider the opposite of this feeling or emotion.

What would the reverse expression of that sensation look like?

What does it feel like in the body?

No need to overthink it.

Feeling what calls attention,

Receiving whatever arises organically,

And welcoming the sensation in the body,

That opposite.

Now shifting back to the first feeling or emotion,

Almost like a hummingbird zipping gracefully between flowers,

Tasting the nectar of one,

And then shifting to the opposite feeling or emotion,

To that other flower.

Inviting the sensation in the body of one and then the other,

Remaining with the feeling rather than the thought.

Now,

Feel both states simultaneously,

Holding both feelings in the body at the same time,

Letting go of thoughts,

Staying with the sensation.

And recall that feeling of expansiveness beyond the body,

Beyond the body surfaces,

That spaciousness,

Nature feeling whole and complete,

Resting in the knowing that the mind and the environment,

The universe is always changing,

Evolving,

Always creating and concluding,

Always cycling.

And yet there is simultaneously a constant,

Unchanging presence,

A nature,

An energy that is supporting and comprising it all,

Our true nature,

Resting back in the feeling of your true nature,

Welcoming that spaciousness,

Timelessness,

Perfection.

Now imagine for a moment going about your everyday and when challenges arise,

Maybe a emotion or reaction,

Welcoming in that expansive sense of nature,

Of true nature,

And using that inner oasis,

That sense of security and safety as a tool for welcoming that challenge,

Bringing in the deep sense of being whole,

Healthy,

Perfect.

This true essential nature is always with you and your inner oasis is available as a tool to reconnect with at any time.

As we move towards the end of our practice,

Take a moment to reflect if there's anything you want to note for yourself from your journey.

Is there something here that you'd like to keep with you?

Maybe visualized as a rock or a flower that you'd like to bring along to help remind you to take something into your everyday.

Maybe a reminder of this deep connection to nature,

To yourself as nature.

Become aware of your body breathing itself,

The breeze moving through your nostrils,

Your chest and belly rising and falling,

Sensation in the palms,

In the mouth.

Maybe fluttering your eyes open and closed several times as you slowly reorient to the room around you.

And continuing to rest back in the changing and yet unchanging wholeness of nature.

Thank you.