Welcome I'm Jocelyn this is a yoga nidra for those of you who are moving through or moving into grief.
This is a gentle guided effortless meditation and it's to give back,
To heal,
To allow for you to have presence in your body while you are allowing yourself to feel grief.
So take a moment to relax back wherever you are.
You might be laying down or sitting back in a comfortable chair but take a moment to take care of yourself.
Listen to where your body wants to be supported and find simple ways to support your body.
That might mean that you turn the lights down or put pillows under your knees or ankles,
Under your head.
It might mean that you have a blanket that gives you a sense of safety or security.
You might have an eye pillow to block out the light.
This time is for you and when you find yourself in a place of effortlessness,
Of being held,
Of being supported by the ground you're on or the chair you're in,
Allow your eyes to gently close and just bring your awareness to your eyes,
The globes of your eyes,
The eyelids,
The muscles and tissues behind the eyes.
Just inviting those parts of the eyes to let go and bring your awareness to the centre of your forehead.
A gentle awareness,
A gentle invitation to release and let go.
And bring your awareness to your nose too,
Each nostril as the air flows in and out,
Bringing your awareness to that air flow,
To the natural cadence of your breath as you inhale and exhale.
Just witnessing and being present with each inhalation and exhalation.
And bring your awareness gently to your ears and your inner ears.
Inviting your inner ears to open to the vibrations on this recording,
My voice or the music to the vibrations of sound in your room,
The whispers of your heart,
Your heartbeat.
And bring your awareness now to your belly.
Just noticing the rise and fall of your belly as you breathe your natural breath.
Just being aware of how the belly dances with each inhale and exhale.
Taking a moment to just be grateful for your body.
Whispering a thank you to the dance that your body does with each inhale and exhale.
And just for a moment let's do a few physiological sighs to balance the nervous system and arrive presently in our body in a safe way.
A physiological sigh is two gentle sips in through the nose,
Holding it for a second and then opening your mouth and sighing out.
So two gentle sips in through the nose,
Hold and open your mouth and sighing it out.
You can do this at your own pace or along with me.
Two gentle sips in through the nose,
Hold and sighing it out.
Two gentle sips in through the nose,
Hold,
Opening the mouth and sighing out.
Two gentle sips in through the nose,
Hold and sighing it out.
Two more.
Two gentle sips in through the nose,
Hold,
Opening your mouth and sighing it out.
And one last time.
Two gentle sips in through the nose,
Hold,
Opening the mouth and sighing it out.
And letting that go.
In a yoga nidra we use a sankalpa.
A sankalpa is a heart's true north or heart's intention.
And for this yoga nidra,
For those who are grieving,
You might already have a sankalpa you're working with,
But you might also use,
And might I suggest,
I am safe to explore my grief.
Or I am safely opening my heart to all of grief's gifts.
Or even,
I am safe and open to my grief journey.
We work with the sankalpa using the breath.
So you inhale through your nose,
And then on the exhale you repeat your sankalpa silently to yourself.
And we do that three times in total.
So inhaling,
And on the exhale repeating your sankalpa silently to yourself.
And two more times.
With my voice,
I'm going to walk you through a rotation of consciousness.
I will gently invite your awareness to different body parts.
And might you imagine that at each body part your awareness settles on,
You are gently sending a love note of gratitude.
You might imagine it like a whisper or a gentle touch.
Or you might even imagine the words thank you gently landing on that body part.
The top of the head.
Center of the forehead.
The space between the eyebrows.
Upper lip.
Lower lip.
Tip of the tongue.
The roof of the mouth.
The teeth and gums.
The inside of the right cheek.
Inside of the left cheek.
The back of the tongue.
A gentle love note of gratitude to the back of the tongue.
The right side of the jaw.
The right cheekbone.
The folds of the right ear.
Earlobe.
The right inner ear.
Sending a gentle love note of gratitude.
The right eye.
Globe of the eye.
Eyebrow.
The space between the eyebrows.
Left eyebrow.
The whisperings of a love note of gratitude to the left eye.
Globe of the eye.
Eyelid.
The left cheekbone.
The left folds of the ear.
Left inner ear.
Thank you.
The space between the ears.
The muscle of the mind.
A gentle love note of gratitude to the muscle of the mind.
Thank you.
The back of the head.
The back of the neck.
Center of the throat.
The sternum.
The center of the heart.
A gentle love note of gratitude to the center of the heart.
Thank you.
The right shoulder.
Upper arm.
Elbow.
Lower arm.
Wrist.
Palm of the hand.
Right thumb.
First finger.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
All five fingers of the right hand.
Gentle love notes of gratitude.
Thank you.
Center of the heart.
The left shoulder.
Upper arm.
Elbow.
Lower arm.
Wrist.
The center of the left palm.
A gentle love note of gratitude.
The left thumb.
First finger.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
All five fingers of the left hand.
The center of the heart.
A gentle love note of gratitude to the center of the heart.
Thank you.
The ribs.
The lower ribs.
Solar plexus.
Sacral center.
Lower belly.
The pelvic fold.
Thank you.
Sending a love note of gratitude to the pelvic fold.
Thank you.
Right hip.
Thigh.
Knee.
Calf.
Ankle.
Bottom of the right foot.
Tip of the big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Fifth toe.
All five toes of the right foot.
Thank you.
The root center.
The pelvic fold.
Left hip.
Thigh.
Knee.
Calf.
Ankle.
Bottom of the left foot.
The left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Fifth toe.
All five toes of the left foot.
A gentle love note of gratitude.
The lower back.
Mid back.
Upper back.
Thank you.
The back of the heart center.
The heart center.
A love note of gratitude.
Thank you.
The whole right side of the body.
The whole left side of the body.
The whole back side of the body.
Gentle love note of gratitude.
Thank you.
The whole front of the body.
The whole body.
The whole body.
That gentle love note of gratitude across the whole body.
Thank you.
And releasing that and simply allow your awareness to settle on your breath.
Just as it is.
Noticing your inhale and your exhale whenever they appear.
Noticing that your body knows how to breathe you.
Just inviting your awareness to your inhalation and your exhalation.
Noticing the temperature of air as it enters the body and as it exits the body.
Noticing where in your body your breath is able to move without effort.
Just settling your awareness gently down over the breath and your body as they breathe you.
And might you imagine on your next inhale that you are inhaling into the heart space and exhaling from the heart space.
Just imagining that each inhale is birthed in the heart space and each exhale moves back to the center of the heart.
Imagining that with each breath you take into your heart space there is a gentle healing and it is effortless.
Just inhaling into the heart and exhaling from the heart.
Just imagining that each breath into the heart and out of the heart center is making room for even more healing.
There is a softening,
A gentle opening with each inhale and exhale into the heart space and out of the heart space.
And might you imagine as you inhale and exhale from the heart space that on each inhale the breath moves spherically outward from your heart space as far as you can imagine.
And on the exhale that breath comes right back into the most tiniest center of the heart space.
On the inhale you are expanding your breath out past the limits of the heart space as far as you can imagine.
And on the exhale that breath is coming back almost to a pinpoint right at the center of the heart space.
And you're not trying to manipulate your breath,
You're just imagining the movement of breath as each inhale births itself within you,
Imagining the air and the breath being born from that pinpoint and expanding out in all directions.
And on the exhale when it comes,
The breath is coming back to the heart space to that very fine tiny point in the center.
Just imagining inviting your awareness to stay here at the heart space,
Expanding out as far as you can imagine,
And then coming back to that very small tiny center in the heart space.
And releasing that.
And releasing that.
Grief is a very lonely experience.
It is so alone and so singular for each and every one of us.
But it is also universal.
Every one of us will experience grief in our lifetime.
Might you invite your awareness to the parts of your body where you feel the depth of loneliness?
Where do you feel so alone in your body?
Where does a grief live that no one can touch?
And might you imagine and invite your awareness now to the places in your body that feel connected to others,
To those you've lost,
To spirit,
To the oneness.
Where in your body are the places where you feel connected?
And might you invite your awareness back to those places in your body that you feel alone?
Maybe you feel misunderstood or not seen.
Or maybe the word is simply alone.
Where in your body do you feel alone?
Alone.
And might you invite your awareness back into the parts of the body where you feel connected?
You might feel connected to spirit,
To those you've lost,
To a universal energy.
You might feel connected to loved ones,
Community.
Where in your body do you feel that pull of connection,
That oneness?
And might you invite your awareness to both the places that you feel alone,
Where you feel the emotion and sensation of aloneness,
And the parts of your body where you feel the sensations of oneness,
Of connectedness.
Might you invite your awareness to both of these places in your body?
Grief is so very lonely.
And yet it is universal.
It is,
In a sense,
Oneness.
Might you feel these two places together within your body at the same time,
Simultaneously?
And you can release that.
A single point.
The first star in a night sky.
A rolling cloud.
The sound of crickets.
A circle.
A box.
A single flower in a vase.
A beam of sunlight.
A light through a window.
Birds flying in formation.
Two open palms.
A garden.
In early spring.
A harvest of fall.
A gathering of friends.
Two hands in prayer.
I'm going to remain silent for a few minutes.
I'm going to bring your awareness back to the Sankalpa we used earlier.
It might have been,
I am safe.
I am safe to explore my grief.
Or,
I am safely opening my heart to all of grief's gifts.
Or even,
I am safe and open to my grief journey.
We will take a deep breath through the nose.
And on the exhale,
Repeat silently to yourself this Sankalpa.
And we'll do this three times,
Beginning now.
And simply taking a few deep breaths into the belly,
Inhaling through the nose.
Opening your mouth and sighing it out.
You might even give your body a little gratitude on that exhale.
Inhaling through your nose.
Exhaling through your mouth.
Thank you.
One more time,
Inhaling through the nose.
Exhaling through your mouth.
Just giving yourself that gentle love note of gratitude one more time.
Thank you.
And you might find yourself wanting to wiggle your fingers or your toes.
You might just want to put a hand or two on your heart.
And be present with your heart right now.
And that's okay.
You might want to give yourself a hug or squeeze your own hands.
You might want to gently sit up or take a full body stretch.
You might feel called to write a memory.
Or write about something that came up in this yoga nidra.
You might also feel called to cry.
That's perfectly wonderful too.
I hope that you give yourself the gratitude that you deserve for showing up here today.
I have my own stories of grief.
I have my own stories of grief.
And there are many.
So I fully understand and show up with empathy for anyone traveling through grief.
Just know that it is safe to be in the present moment.
And to allow your feelings to come through and get curious with them.
Thank you so much for coming along with me on this journey.
This is being recorded at the three-year anniversary of my parents' deaths,
Which were seven days apart in 2021.
And I've committed to recording yoga nidras throughout this time at this three-year interval.
And each yoga nidra I record,
I take alongside you,
My friends.
I am so honored that you walked this path with me today.
Namaste.
Namaste.
