Lay down the weight of the world.
For now,
There is no one to tend to,
No one to fix,
And no one to carry but yourself.
You have been the lighthouse,
Standing firm against the crashing waves for everyone else,
But now it is time for the light to turn inward.
Allow the floor to rise up and meet you,
Accepting the full offering of your gravity.
You have spent your precious life tending to the gardens of others,
Often leaving your own soil dry.
This is the path of the nurturer,
A holy but heavy walk.
In this space of yoga nidra,
We are not asking you to do anything.
We are simply inviting you to drift into the liminal space between waking and dreaming,
Where the nervous system can finally unbind itself from the needs of the many.
There is a well of infinite replenishment deep within you that never runs dry.
We are simply walking back to its edge to drink.
We begin the journey of the senses.
Bring your awareness to your breath,
But do not try to change it.
Simply witness it as a loyal friend who has been with you through every trial.
As you inhale,
Feel the air as a cool blue silk entering the nostrils.
As you exhale,
Feel it as a warm golden vapor leaving the body.
We will now rotate the consciousness through the body.
As I name a part,
Simply place a seed of golden light there.
No movement is needed.
Bring your awareness to the palm of the right hand,
The right thumb,
Second finger,
The elbow,
The right shoulder,
The entire right side of the body bathed in gold now.
The palm of the left hand,
The elbow,
The entire left side of the body resting in gold.
Move your awareness to the crown of the head,
The space between the eyebrows,
The center of the chest,
The heart that gives so much,
The solar plexus,
The base of the spine.
Feel the whole body now,
A constellation of golden seeds.
You are a vast,
Shimmering field of awareness.
Imagine you are floating on a raft in a sea of liquid moonlight.
The water is the exact temperature of your skin.
Each ripple that passes beneath you carries away a layer of fatigue.
The exhaustion of the mind,
The tiredness of the bones,
The weary echoes of the heart,
All of it is being washed clean by the silver light.
You are being fed by the silence.
You are being nourished by the stillness.
I invite you to repeat this truth to yourself,
Silently,
In the cathedral of your mind.
I am allowed to rest.
My worth is not measured by my service.
I am a vessel that deserves to be full.
Begin to feel the points of contact where your body meets the earth.
Feel the air on your skin.
Listen to the sounds in the room.
You are returning,
But you are bringing the water back with you.
Take a long,
Luxurious breath,
Filling every corner of your being with a sense of renewed vitality.
And as you open your eyes,
May you move back into your life with a heart that is shielded in light and a soul that remembers its own necessity.
You cannot pour from an empty cup,
Beloved.
Thank you for filling yours today.
