Navratri Yoga Nidra Meditation Honoring The Female Energy The Divine Mother Within Each Of Us

A Yoga Nidra meditation held on the 5th day of Navratri, the 9-day festival honoring Shakti, the female energy, the divine mother in each one of us. In this meditation, I take you on a journey inward towards your own divinity. There, you find peace, balance and contentment. This recording was made of a Yoga Nidra practice with real students in a yoga studio.

Transcript

Namaste. Today's yoga nidra honors the feminine divine, The divine mother, The giver, The lover, Steadfast, The fierce. So as we begin our practice I want you to go inward, Withdraw, Turn your awareness inward and connect with that source that's inside of you. And it's important to explain here that it doesn't matter which female you came from. This is not about your actual mother. This is about the divine inside of you, The feminine energy that is so powerful and that resides inside of you. It is focused, It is fierce, It is fearless, It is at the same time gentle and loving, It cradles. So this is what we're going to be journeying towards today. Yoga nidra is yogic sleep, It's conscious sleep. So you will be journeying to that depth within yourself, That layer, The innermost layer within you. At that level it's very much like when you are in deep sleep. There is no noise, There's no chatter, There are no dreams, No thoughts, No worries. Almost as if you are in a different world. So you might as well be in a different world. And what we do in yoga nidra is basically journey, Consciously travel from one layer of our existence to the other until we reach that awareness, Until we reach that state of awareness, State of consciousness. And then we dwell, We allow ourselves to stay there a while. This is a guided meditation so I will make sure that you're safe throughout the journey. I'll keep talking to you throughout the journey and I will wake you up at the end. So it's important to set up for your yoga nidra right now. I'd like to think of the set up for yoga nidra as a nest, As a place that is safe, A place that I consciously prepared for my deep relaxation, For my journey to that innermost self, To that divinity within me. So make sure that it's comfortable, It's cozy, It's warm. If you need socks or a sweater or a shawl, Like I am wearing a shawl because I know that with stillness I'm going to be cold. Also place something under your knees, So if you're lying down on your back, Which is the ultimate posture for yoga nidra, Place a bolster or a pillow under your knees and make sure that the knees are comfortable, The heels are touching the floor or the surface that you're sleeping on. Make sure that you feel your back resting on that surface, The back of your head as well. And take your time moving in any direction that seems appropriate. Maybe you feel like you need to stretch a little bit, If you need to release any tension, You can shake your hands, You can rotate your wrists, Shake your feet, Rotate the ankles, Maybe hug the knees to the chest and draw circles with the knees on the ceiling in one direction, In the opposite direction, Maybe stretch your legs up to the ceiling, Maybe take a shoulder stand. Any position, Anything that helps you release any of the tension, Any of the knots that are in your body. Because in yoga nidra we need you to be totally still. Since we are working with awareness, We're working with consciousness, It's important to be totally still and not move. Because then you lose that point of contact with the awareness. So any movement you need to do, This is a good time to do it. And if you can, Close your eyes and if you'd like to place a scarf on your eyes or an eye pillow or a blanket. Arms by your side, Palms facing up. Any final moves. And then come to stillness. Sometimes as you are in yoga nidra or on the way to yoga nidra, The mind plays tricks on you, It makes you want to scratch maybe your toes or something really far away. So when the mind plays those tricks on you, Try to stay focused on your yoga nidra journey. And you will notice that if there was an itch, It will go away. It's just your mind's way of distracting you. Just because that's what the mind does. It's like a monkey that requires your attention all the time. And that monkey needs to be awake and aware at all times to keep us safe. So as you lie down, We will start with full body awareness. So be aware of the right thumb and the right index finger and the right middle finger and the right ring finger and the right pinky finger and the right wrist and the right elbow, The right shoulder, The throat, The right armpit, The right elbow, The right wrist, The right hip, The tailbone and the right groin, The right thigh, The right knee, The right kneecap and the space behind your right knee, Your right shin, Your right calf muscles, Right ankle, Top of the right foot, Sole of your right foot, The right heel, The right arch, Balls of the right foot, The right big toe, The right second toe, The right third toe, The right fourth toe and the right pinky toe. Be aware of the tips of the right toes and be aware of the outside of your right leg. Be aware of the outer right hip and the right side of your torso and your throat. And now be aware of your left thumb, Your left index finger, Left middle finger, Left ring finger and left pinky finger. Be aware of your left wrist, Left elbow, Left shoulder, The throat. Be aware of your left armpit, Your left elbow, Your left wrist, Your left hip, The tailbone, The left groin, The left thigh, The left knee, The left kneecap and the space behind your left knee. Be aware of your left chin and your left calf muscles, Your left ankle, The top of the left foot, The sole of your left foot. Be aware of your left heel, Left arch, The balls of your left foot, The big left toe, The second left toe, The third left toe, The fourth left toe and the left pinky toe. Be aware of the tips of your left toes and be aware of the outer edge of your left leg and the outer left hip and the left side of your torso and your left armpit and your throat. Be aware of your tailbone. Be aware of your sacrum at the base of your spine. Be aware of your lower back, The lower abdomen, The upper abdomen, The navel, The belly, The solar plexus. Be aware of the diaphragm. Be aware of the ribcage. Be aware of your thoracic spine. Be aware of your right breast and your left breast. Be aware of the center of your chest. Look inside the center of your chest, Right behind your sternum, The size of your fist, As a cave, The cave of your heart. In this cave resides your guru, Your highest teacher, Your capital S, Self, Your divinity. Look around the cave of your heart. Explore it. See if you can find any windows, Any doors, Any entrances, Any gates. Hover around the cave of your heart. Allow yourself to get used to the darkness inside. And if you wait long enough, You'll notice that it's not dark at all. You'll see a light inviting you in. You can start following that light inward. And as you enter the cave of your own heart, Look around, Explore your own depth. Allow yourself to see what you cannot see with your physical eyes. As you explore the depth of your own heart, The depth of your own self, Take that light with you and come out of the cave of your heart. From the cave of the heart, Journey up to your throat. And explore this cave, This space, Home of your voice, Home of your truth. And use that light to look around and see your own truth. Check to see if what you find in your throat matches how you live your life. Notice if your truth on the inside is equivalent to the truth on the outside. As we explore today the feminine divine, The feminine divinity, The feminine love, We explore as well our throat chakra. The color of this chakra is blue and this color is the theme of our journey today. So take your light from your throat and travel inside of your own skull and look at your face from behind the masks. Look at your face from behind all the masks that you wear to live your life. And look at your chin and your jaw from inside. Look at your lower lip and your upper lip. Look at your tongue. Look at your cheeks and your cheekbones. Look at your nose. Look at your temples, Your ears. Look at your nose, Nostrils and your nasal cavity. Look at your eyes and the eyelids and the eyelashes and the eyebrows. Look at the space between the eyebrows. This is the seat of your consciousness, Of your awareness. Explore that space from within. And again use the light that you brought from your heart center to look around your own awareness, Your own awareness space. And explore the top of the head. See the crown of the head from inside your skull, From the center of your skull, From right behind your eyes. And see the back of your head as it rests on your mat, On your mattress, On your blanket. And see the back side of your body as it touches Mother Earth, As it rests in the lap of Mother Earth. And imagine the divine Earth as a female figure holding you inside its arms, Cradling you, Rocking you gently, Loving you, Supporting you. Release the weight of your body into Mother Earth. Trust that Mother Earth will keep you safe. Allow yourself to sink a little bit deeper into the arms of the sacred Mother. Feel its forearms holding you, Keeping you warm. And as you rest in the lap of the Divine Mother, Without moving, Without changing anything about your posture, Your position, Picture yourself getting up and moving in your space. Kitten toe as you move around so you don't disturb anyone, Almost as if you're floating in space. And walk to the door. Open the door and leave the room you're in. And leave the space you're in. And go outside in nature and find the entrance to a forest. And enter this forest. The light within you will show you the way. Walk through the forest. Look around you, You'll see tall trees. And through the trees, You'll see the sun shining above you. You feel the warmth of the sun. You see the beautiful light shining from the sun. You feel the rays of the sun caressing your cheeks, Your face, Your body. Gently, Lovingly. And you keep walking among the trees. You're not sure where you're going. But you feel pulled in a certain direction. You feel that you're being called to follow that path in the middle of the forest. And along the way, You see butterflies and birds and flowers. And you notice that the butterflies and the flowers and the birds are showing you the way. And you start seeing more light at the end of the forest. And you notice, You realize that this is the end of that forest. And when you come out, You see a big field, Green grass all around you. Start running, Floating above the grass. Again, You're being pulled in a direction. You're being called to the space. But you're not sure where you're going or why. But you trust the divinity of the calm. You trust the universe to show you the way. And you start hearing the sound of running water. And you're not sure where that sound is coming from. And you notice that as you keep walking, As you keep floating around, The sound is becoming louder and louder. You're getting closer to your destination. You're getting closer to finding the source of that sound. And now you find a well. But the well seems empty. It's too dark inside. You try to look inside to see how deep this well is or where the water is coming from. It's pitch dark inside. You find a pail next to the well. And you drop the pail in the well. And you hear the sound of water when the pail touches the water inside. And as you look inside, The pitch darkness turns into a little bit of light showing you steps inside the well. So you start climbing those steps down following the sound of the water. And the deeper you get in the well, The clearer the sound is. And the clearer the picture is. Now your eyes adjusted to the darkness inside. And you can see the walls of the well. You can see the water beneath you. As you get really, Really close to the water, You see a door. As you reach with your hand to touch the door, The door opens by itself. And the door opens to a room. Large, High ceilings, Empty except for a meditation cushion. So you go inside and you sit on the meditation cushion. You adjust your seat. You lengthen your spine. You place your hands in your lap. One hand inside the other with the thumb touching. You close your eyes. Everything around you is still. Everything around you is quiet. There are no thoughts bubbling in your mind anymore. You can't hear anything. You can't see anything. You can't feel anything. And yet you are fully present. You feel that you are one with everything around you. The space around you, The water outside in the well, The sunshine you encountered on your journey, The grass, The birds, The butterflies, The trees, The leaves, The flowers. Then you feel as though there is someone else sitting across from you meditating as well. Without opening your eyes you connect to that person. And you feel the energy emanating from this person is the same that you felt when you were in the lap of the Divine Mother Earth. So you feel empowered. You feel connected. You feel held, Supported. You feel safe. And the longer you stay connected to this person the safer you feel and the deeper you get in your meditation. The deeper you get in your meditation the farther away you are from the surface, From the noise, From the troubles, From the worries, From the deadlines. You feel that you are detached. You feel as though you are in a different world. You feel the energy emanating from the well, The flowers, The flowers, The flowers, The flowers, The flowers. As you dwell deeper and deeper into your own divinity picture yourself surrounded by the color blue. Whatever shade that color shows up for you just soak it all in like a sponge and let it spread throughout your body. And remind yourself that you are practicing Yoga Nidra. Remind yourself you are in the Yoga Nidra state of mind. Invoke your intention. Feel that your intention is floating around in the midst of that color blue. When you are soaking in the color you are also soaking in your intention. Repeat the intention to yourself several times. Then wait and let the intention repeat itself back to you. And feel your intention. Allow yourself to feel what it is like. Let it go. Let it go. To be complete. What if all your intentions were manifested? What if no intentions were manifested? Can you find stillness, Acceptance and contentment in this state that you are in right now? Can you invite all the feels? Invite all the emotions? Invite all the thoughts? You will notice that when you are in the Yoga Nidra state of awareness there is no room for any of that. Repeat to yourself I am the Divine. I am Divine. I am Loved. I am the Divine. I am Living my Truth. I am Speaking my Truth. I know my Truth. My Truth is that I am Divine. My Truth is that I am not my body. I am not my thoughts. I am not my emotions. I am not my senses. I am not my limbs. I am pure consciousness. I am pure awareness. I am pure awareness. I am pure awareness. I am pure awareness. I am pure awareness. Now feel the connection between you and the person sitting in front of you. Without opening your eyes feel that this person is moving closer to you. That person will place her thumb between your eyebrows and draw a line upward from the space between the eyebrows up towards your hair. When you open your eyes that person will not be there anymore. You even question if she was ever there. You are so complete. You are so whole that it does not matter if that person was there or not. You head towards the door. It opens by itself. You go outside your back in the well. You hear the water running beneath you and you look up and you see a golden light right at the top of the well. The golden light is shining and reflecting the sun's rays and inviting you to go up. So you start climbing the stairs up. And the closer you get to that shining golden light the more light you get. You find that you need to allow your eyes time to adjust to the light. At first you can't even open your eyes. It is so bright. Then slowly you adjust. Get out of the well and back into the field. You are back to floating above the grass and running around towards the forest. You feel free. You feel light. You feel happy. You feel content. And then you find the entrance to the forest. You start walking among the tall trees. And you find your birds and your butterflies and your flowers along the way. And it seems that all of them are as joyous as you are. As if you are reflecting how they feel. As if they are reflecting how you feel. As if you and them are one. You look up and through the leaves of the tall trees you see the sun shining. You feel it's warm. You feel it's light. You give yourself a few seconds here to enjoy the sensation of the rays of the sun on your skin, On your body, On your body. And then out of the forest back into your space you return to your home. You re-enter your room. You find yourself again in the lap of the Divine Mother Earth. You feel her hands. You make a very nice comfortable safe nest. You feel how much you are depending on this support. You feel how much you need this support in your life. And you realize that this divinity is there all the time. All you need to do is just tap into it. All you need to do is simply journey inward towards it. All you need to do is simply suspend the distractions. Suspend the noise. Help yourself move away from all that which is unreal. The thoughts, The emotions, The body. And journey inward towards your truth. Your capital T truth that you are pure consciousness. That you are pure awareness. That you are divine. And the more you understand this truth the more modest you get. The more you understand this truth the less you try so hard to be something that you are not. So you dwell in your own goodness. You dwell in your own truth. Take a deep inhale through the nostrils and exhale all of it out. And one more deep inhale through the nostrils and exhale all of it out. And one more deep inhale through the nostrils and exhale all of it out. And take your time reintroducing movement to your body. Reintroducing the senses to the body. So swallow, Squeeze your facial muscles, Squeeze your hands, Your feet. Rotate your wrists, Your ankles. Move your head side to side. Lift your chin up to the ceiling. Tuck your chin into your chest. Drop your right ear to the right shoulder and then drop the left ear to the left shoulder. Gently compassionately returning to the physical state of being. And take a few seconds, Maybe even a couple of minutes in Shavasana simply lying down on your back, On your belly or on your side. Maybe a fetal pose here. Just to give yourself time to transition back to the physical state of being. Namaste.

Reviews

This was such a deeply beautiful and relaxing experience. I felt safe and loving held by the divine feminine - which allowed me to let go and receive simultaneously. Thank you for your protective but gentle presence and energy during this yoga nidra. I will be revisiting often. Namaste

Lovely♾️⚛️⚘️☄️🕯🕊
Thank you kindly✨️
Namaste✨️🙏🏼🖤🪔

Thank you for this journey🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Such a deep residing journey within to the Divine Mother. It was a tender cradling and it is so appreciated to feel so held. Thank you.🙏✨