Autumn Yoga Nidra Guided Relaxation

Take time out to rest and restore as the leaves fall and the seasons change! Yoga Nidra can be a wonderful opportunity to pause, take stock, and ground the sometimes restless qualities of this seasonal change from Summer to Autumn. Embracing these natural transitional points in the year can deepen our sense of belonging and presence, as well as give purpose to our Yoga practice.

Review of the Yoga Nidra: “I felt my stress melt away as I was blissfully guided into a deep relaxation that rejuvenated my body and mind, within such a short amount of time! Way more efficient than a nap, I felt at one, and really peaceful.” - Hannah

Transcript

Welcome to your yoga nidra practice today.

So get yourself set up by lying down on your back and settling in where you won't be disturbed.

Of course if any other position is more comfortable perhaps over on the left side then feel free to do that.

Ensure that your setup is as comfortable as possible so if you are lying on your back you might like a cushion underneath the knees,

Maybe a blanket on top for warmth.

Do what you need to do to feel supported,

You might even have some comfort items around you,

Maybe a particularly nice fluffy blanket.

And as you're getting yourself set up to lie down and relax back I'll introduce our yoga nidra.

So this practice helps to elicit your body's relaxation response.

It's designed to guide you into a state in between waking and sleeping where you can lie back and slip into deep rest.

It works with liminal space which is a space in between changing states.

In this case referring to that state in between waking and sleeping.

So as you rest back all you have to do is follow my voice that is guiding you and don't worry if you sort of drift in and out of awareness of paying attention.

I'll still be here guiding whenever it is that you drift back.

So I'll begin with an introduction to our theme.

Today's yoga nidra is themed on the season of autumn.

A season that arrives on the whispering wind to blow away the warmth of summer and beckon us into a slower pace before that descent into winter.

Autumn is a time for gathering energy for the upcoming winter as well as for taking stock after the summer just passed.

Nature slows down the pace after the productive summer where flowers were bursting into bloom and there was an abundance of fruit and vegetables.

In autumn we harvest nature's bounty and the leaves on the trees begin to change colour before falling from their branches to create a colourful autumnal carpet on the ground.

In harmony with nature's process we can use autumn as an opportunity to reflect,

Take stock and let go whatever that might mean to you.

I will invite you to begin by drawing awareness to your lips.

Feel a sense of softness across your lips,

Maybe even take a deliberate yawn or swallow if that feels available to you.

You could perhaps part the teeth a little bit and get a sense of softening across the sides of the jaw.

Next guide your awareness to the point between your eyebrows,

So that point where you might sometimes frown or furrow the brow and see if you can deliberately relax across your forehead from this midpoint between the eyebrows.

Soften the brow.

Imagine that tension could physically drip away from your forehead to compost down onto the ground.

Next guide your awareness to where the back of the right shoulder meets what it's resting on.

So whether you're in bed or on the ground on the yoga mat,

Feel that point of contact between the back of the right shoulder and its support.

Gently guide your awareness to the tip of the right elbow,

The tip of the right thumb,

Right second finger,

Right third finger,

Right fourth finger and right little finger.

Feel a sense of softening wash all the way down the right arm so that the right arm rests heavy.

Next guide your awareness to where the back of the left shoulder meets its support.

Awareness to the tip of the left elbow.

Awareness to the tip of the left thumb,

Tip of the left second finger,

Tip of the left third finger,

Tip of the left fourth finger and tip of the left little finger.

Feel a sense of softening down the left arm so that your left arm rests heavy.

Guide your awareness to the right side of the waist and to the left side of the waist.

Awareness to where the right glute makes contact with its support,

The back of the right thigh,

The right calf and the right heel.

Feel a sense of softening all the way down your right leg.

Awareness to where the left glute makes contact with its support,

Back of the left thigh,

Left calf,

Left heel and left foot.

Feel a sense of softening all down the left leg.

Then guide your awareness to bring the whole body into awareness,

The whole body.

With every exhale feel the support beneath you and invite the body deeper into a sense of softening,

A sense of relaxation.

Now is the time to create your sankalpa.

So this is like an intention or inner resolve and this intention is something that you might wish to invite into any area of your life,

Maybe even a quality you want to cultivate and it's said in the present tense.

So for example if you're especially tired you might say your sankalpa as I am sinking into deep rest.

If you want to slow down the pace and do less rushing around you might say I am slowing down this autumn.

So I'm going to leave you some space now either for your own words to bubble up or you can use either of the examples that I said so I am sinking into deep rest or I am slowing down this autumn.

Once you've chosen your sankalpa say it internally,

Repeat it internally three times.

As you rest here begin to notice your breath so no need to change it in any way.

Notice the breath coming in,

Notice where it goes and notice it leave again.

So you're observing the breath without control.

What can you feel?

Where does the inhale go?

What spaces does it fill in the body?

Feel the breath come in and as you exhale towards the end of the exhale can you feel the weightedness of your back body?

So with every exhale comes a sense of softening and release and with every inhale there's a sense of expansion in the body of space filling up with the breath and through breath awareness we can practice withdrawing from what's going on outside to continue the momentum of this inward journey.

Begin to count down from 56 with the breath so inhale 56,

Exhale 56,

Inhale 55,

Exhale 55,

Inhale 54,

Exhale 54 and keep counting down.

Release the counting from your focus if you haven't done so already.

So now you've felt the body,

You felt the breath,

What can you feel underneath that?

Sense how it feels for energy or emotions or any kind of sensations to be shifting and moving beneath the surface.

So you're noticing whatever is present for you and even if you notice numbness or maybe a lack of sensation,

You're not sure what you feel,

That's still noticeable.

So whatever it is that you notice,

You're increasing your internal awareness.

What can you notice here?

Now imagine that you're very warm,

Perhaps by the glowing embers of a fire.

So you're conjuring up feelings of warmth on your skin and in your body.

Imagine being very warm.

What does it feel like to be warm?

Comforting perhaps.

Next begin to conjure up feelings or maybe imagery of being really cold,

Perhaps imagining snow and a feeling of that freshness of the cold.

Come back to imagining the warmth,

Imagine your whole body warm and cozy.

Next,

Imagine feeling super cold again,

Really cold.

How does it feel to be cold?

Warmth,

Cold.

Alternate awareness between the two,

Really warm and really cold.

And then the two dissolve,

Two equal opposites dissolve.

Like when two equal waves come towards each other and upon making contact with each other they wash into water,

All flowing together,

Washing into the same.

So now you lie resting in a state somewhere between waking and sleeping.

In today's practice,

I'll invite you to join me in a rotation of consciousness.

So I'm going to list different images associated with autumn and you'll either repeat the words internally or if you're able to see visual representations in your imagination,

Then visualise the picture that comes with the words.

So let's begin.

An orange pumpkin.

A red apple.

Orange,

Red and yellow autumn leaves falling to the ground.

A crackling campfire with glowing orange embers.

A small muddy puddle.

An endless blue sky.

An endless blue sky.

An endless blue sky.

Gently bring your focus back to your sankalpa,

The present tense sentence,

And repeat it once more now.

Before allowing yourself to rest back here,

Soaking up your relaxation.

And if you have the time and space,

I really encourage you to stay here.

If you're ready to close the practice and move on to whatever is happening next,

Then slowly become aware of the points of contact between your back body and its support.

So you're grounding your awareness down to the support beneath your body.

Notice how you feel.

Perhaps you can notice the rise and fall of the breath.

You might wiggle the fingers,

Wiggle the toes,

Maybe rock the head ever so gently side to side.

And eventually roll on over to one side before very slowly blinking the eyes open and orientating your awareness back to the room that you're in.

And see if you can slow down the pace as you transition from this yoga nidra into whatever's next.

Thank you for practicing with me and wishing you all the best for the season of autumn.