Winter Yoga Nidra Guided Relaxation

Yoga Nidra helps to elicit your body’s relaxation response. It’s designed to take you into a state in between waking and sleeping where you can lie back and slip into deep rest. This particular Yoga Nidra is themed on Winter, a season that beckons us closer to rest, hibernation, and restorative pause.

Transcript

Welcome to today's yoga nidra practice.

So get yourself set up somewhere that you feel supported,

Perhaps lying on your back with cushions beneath the knees,

Maybe a little folded blanket under the head,

And a duvet on top.

If for any reason lying on your back doesn't feel accessible or comfortable,

Then you could also lie on one side with a cushion between the knees.

Or in any other way that makes sense to you.

So as you're taking the time to get set up,

I'll introduce the practice a little bit.

So yoga nidra,

Also known as deep yogic sleep,

Helps to elicit your body's relaxation response.

It's designed to take you into a state in between waking and sleeping,

Where you can lie back and slip into deep rest.

This particular yoga nidra is themed on winter,

A season that beckons us closer to rest,

Hibernation,

And pause.

If you drift asleep at any point then,

Take it as a sign that you need the rest and don't worry about missing anything I say.

You may find that you slip in and out of awareness throughout the practice.

So if there's anything you can do to be even 5% more comfortable,

Make sure you take that adjustment so you can absolutely prioritise your comfort during this practice.

With this guided relaxation,

You get to rest mentally,

Physically and emotionally,

Which is important at any time of year.

But perhaps especially in winter,

When we can have a natural urge to hibernate and draw inwards,

Like nature all around us.

So as you lie down,

Supported by the ground,

Bed or sofa beneath you,

Let the winter stillness and darkness wrap itself around you like a warm,

Cosy blanket.

Rest back and follow the sound of my voice that is guiding you.

We'll start with a guided relaxation process.

So I'll invite you to begin by bringing awareness to the mind,

To begin by bringing awareness to the mouth,

Maybe even taking a deliberate yawn if that's available to you.

Perhaps you let the teeth part,

The lips be soft.

Then guide your awareness to the point between your eyebrows,

So you can really notice that point where you might sometimes frown or furrow the brow.

And deliberately soften,

Relax across the whole forehead.

Imagine that tension could drop away from the face,

Falling down towards the ground.

Then gently bring your awareness to where the back of the head makes contact with its support,

So you can feel the whole weight of the head resting back,

Fully supported.

Next,

Bring your awareness to where the back of the right shoulder makes contact with the ground,

Or the surface that you're resting on.

Perhaps feeling a sense of heaviness in the right shoulder blade.

Awareness to the right elbow.

And then awareness to the right wrist.

Feel the right arm heavy.

Then guide your awareness to the tip of the right little finger,

Tip of the right ring finger,

Tip of the right middle finger,

And tip of the right forefinger.

Awareness to the tip of the right thumb.

Feel for a sense of softening in the palm of the right hand.

Now guide your awareness to where the back of the left shoulder meets its support,

And feel a sense of heaviness in the left shoulder blade.

Awareness to the left elbow.

To the left wrist.

Awareness to the tip of the left little finger,

Tip of the left ring finger,

Tip of the left middle finger,

Tip of the left forefinger,

And tip of the left thumb.

Feel for a sense of softening in the palm of the left hand,

And a sense of heaviness in the left arm.

Next,

Guide your awareness to the right side of the waist,

And to the right glute in contact with its support,

The back of the right thigh,

The back of the right knee,

The back of the right lower leg,

The right heel,

And all the toes on the right foot.

Feel for a sense of softening in the right arch of the foot.

Let the bones of the right leg be heavy.

Next,

Guide your awareness to the left side of the waist,

To where the left glute makes contact with its support,

The back of the left thigh,

The back of the left knee,

The back of the left lower leg,

The left heel,

And all the toes on the left foot.

Soften the arch of the left foot,

And feel for a sense of the bones in the left leg heavy,

Resting down towards the support beneath you.

Bring your whole body into awareness now.

A sense of relaxation spreading through the body,

From the very top of the head,

All the way down to the tips of the toes.

And now is the time to create your sankalpa.

So this is known as an intention or inner resolve.

And this intention is something we want to invite into an area of our life,

Or a quality we want to embody,

To cultivate.

We make the sankalpa with a simple I am sentence in the present tense.

So it could be something like,

I am clear with my boundaries,

Or I am confident,

Or I am present here and now.

Today I'm going to offer a set statement as your sankalpa,

But you can also choose your own.

You can allow your own version to bubble up.

The words that I'll offer are,

I am making space for rest and relaxation this winter.

So,

Either pick your own I am statement,

Or repeat after me internally,

I am making space for rest and relaxation this winter.

I'll invite you to repeat the words inside your mind again two more times.

Now at this point,

Begin to picture,

If you see visual representations in your mind's eye,

Or otherwise think of a place,

Maybe the name of the place,

Or the feeling that the place evokes.

Or the feeling that the place evokes.

So you're bringing to mind somewhere that you feel at ease,

Somewhere that elicits feelings of calm and safety.

It might actually be where you are right now,

Or maybe it's a setting outdoors that makes you feel particularly supported and safe in nature.

So I'll give you a moment to picture that place that feels like it,

Brings safety to you,

A sense of calm,

A sense of being at ease.

If a place isn't coming easily to mind,

You could think of a loved animal or person that makes you feel safe.

And if at any point during the guided relaxation,

You get a little bit lost,

Or things feel a little bit challenging even,

Then you can come back to this as a resource.

You can come back in your mind's eye to this feeling of safety and calm connected to a place,

Maybe a person or an animal,

Whatever works for you.

Now I'm going to invite you to cultivate some breath awareness,

So that you can withdraw from what's going on outside and continue the momentum of your inward journey.

So begin to watch the rise and fall of the navel with your awareness as you inhale and exhale.

Each time you inhale,

The navel rises,

And each time you exhale,

The navel falls.

Now start to count down from 42.

So 42,

Inhale,

Navel rises.

42,

Exhale,

Navel falls.

41,

Inhale,

Navel rises.

41,

Exhale,

Navel falls.

40,

Inhale,

Navel rises.

40,

Exhale,

Navel falls.

Continue to count down.

If you lose track of the counting or forget,

Then you can start again at 42.

If you haven't done so already,

I'll now invite you to release the counting from your focus.

So now you've felt the body,

You've felt the breath.

Begin to notice if there's anything else you can sense beneath that.

So perhaps you notice some emotions present,

Swirling beneath the surface,

Or any kind of sensations that might be shifting and moving within you.

You might even have quite a visual imagination and can see different images in your mind's eye.

So there's some space here to notice whatever might be present for you.

And if you're not sure what you notice,

You might even notice a lack of sensation,

A numbness,

An emptiness.

That's still noticing.

You're still increasing your internal awareness,

Whatever it is that you notice.

I'll invite you now to imagine that you're very warm.

So perhaps you conjure up an image or a sensation of being next to the warm,

Glowing embers of a fire.

Or maybe for you,

You prefer imagery or feelings around a warm summer's day with the sun down on your skin.

Either way,

Imagine you can feel the warmth spreading across your whole body,

A comforting warmth.

Next,

Conjure up feelings or images of being freezing cold,

Like you're out in the snow or have splashed cool water on your face,

On your skin.

It's a refreshing cold,

Invigorating.

Shift your awareness back to a feeling of warmth,

Letting that warmth spread through the whole body.

How does it feel to be warm and cozy?

And then once again,

Shift your awareness to being really cold.

How does it feel to have a sense of refreshing coolness spread through the body?

And alternate awareness between these two.

Warm,

Back to cold,

Back to warm,

And to cold.

Until the two eventually dissolve.

So these two opposites dissolve into one,

Like two waves coming towards each other from opposite directions.

When they meet,

They merge into one.

And perhaps here,

You can notice within the body how two seemingly opposite experiences can actually exist at the same time.

That could be emotionally.

Maybe seemingly opposite emotions come in pairs like grief and joy.

It could be physically.

Maybe one part of the body feels very relaxed and able to soften,

Whilst another part of the body may feel more tense or gripping.

And perhaps these two opposites can eventually merge into one as well.

So now,

You lie resting in a state somewhere between waking and sleeping.

A deeply restorative space.

And in today's practice,

I'll invite you to join me in imagining winter scenes.

So I'm going to list different images associated with winter.

And you'll either repeat the words internally after me,

Or if you can see visual representations in your mind's eye,

Visualize the words as an image as I say them.

Let's begin.

Glistening frost on the ground.

A woolly winter hat.

A footprint in the white snow.

Trees with bare branches.

The low,

Orange sun.

Trees with bare branches.

The low,

Orange sun.

Green holly leaves with red berries.

Bright,

Full moon in the dark night sky.

A cosy,

Warm blanket.

A steaming cup of tea.

A puddle iced over.

An endless,

Blue sky.

An endless,

Blue sky.

Here,

I'll invite you to bring your focus back to your sankalpa.

So the present tense sentence that you said at the start of your yoga nidra practice.

It was either a sentence that came up more personal for you,

Or it was the word that I offered.

I am making space for rest and relaxation this winter.

I am making space for rest and relaxation this winter.

Repeat the words once more internally now.

Then allow yourself to rest back here.

Soaking up your relaxation.

And getting a real felt sense of how important it is to rest and restore during this winter phase.

As you do take these final moments of rest,

I'm also going to sprinkle some final words in from a poet called Andrea Gibson.

And they write,

Winter is the slow burn of knowing the sun will come back and the quiet invitation to find its warmth in yourself while you wait.

So you're very welcome to stay resting here.

But if you are ready to close the practice,

Then I will invite you to slowly become aware of the points of contact between your body and the surface you're resting on.

So back of the head,

Backs of the shoulders,

Back of the pelvis,

The legs,

The feet.

You might shift and stir very slowly and very gently,

Maybe wiggling the fingers and the toes,

Maybe bringing a little bit of movement to the head,

Rocking it side to side.

And find a way to shift and stir awake that makes sense to you.

Perhaps even grab yourself some warm water after this practice before heading into whatever else it is that you might be doing today.

Thank you so much for joining me for this winter themed yoga nidra.

I'm wishing you a restful winter with care.