Yoga Nidra Autumn Attunement

This Yoga Nidra was designed to attune practitioners to the themes and energies of Autumn. In Autumn we begin slowing down, seeking balance, and coming home to our inner selves. We begin to shed the energies and beliefs that no longer serve us and consciously decide what to carry with us into Winter. This season symbolizes the merging of past and future selves.

This practice includes all of the main components of a traditional Yoga Nidra practice.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this yoga nidra practice.

My name is Angela and I'll be guiding you on this inner journey today.

So before we begin make sure you have a blanket if you tend to get chilly and a cover to place over your eyes.

Once you have everything you need to make this a cozy experience,

Please lie down flat on your back either on the ground or maybe even in bed.

Legs extend all the way out.

Your feet relax as they fall outward.

Arms are by your sides,

Palms facing up or slightly in.

Allow your eyes to close and place your cover on top of them.

Please adjust yourself as needed to find optimal comfort so that you can remain in stillness for the entirety of the practice as the idea is to allow our physical bodies to fall asleep.

To do this practice all you need to do is simply follow the instruction of my voice.

If you find yourself drifting away at any time,

Simply guide your attention back to my voice.

Do not worry about analyzing my words or instructions.

Just take them as you interpret them and trust you are receiving exactly as you are meant to.

Begin feeling the weight of your body on the surface you lie on.

Feel yourself completely supported and held and allow your body to completely relax.

Scanning from head to toe,

Finding any areas of tension and mindfully releasing it as you melt even deeper into the surface below you.

Notice that no effort is required to lie here.

Now bring your awareness to the music in the background and let the music completely fill your consciousness and now draw your awareness into the closest sound you can perceive.

Perhaps the sound of your breath or your heartbeat and notice that no effort is required to listen.

Now see if you can become aware of awareness itself and consider that this awareness is the only part of you that has never changed while everything else has come and gone or altered with time.

Aware of awareness and notice that no effort is required to be aware and now draw your awareness into the breath and just gently observe,

Not changing the breath,

Just watching as the body breathes itself.

Watch each inhale turn into an exhale and watch where each exhale turns into an inhale and notice that no effort is required to breathe and as you gently observe the breath begin to watch for that subtle space in between inhales and exhales.

Just watch and notice this transitional space between breaths where inhale merges to exhale and exhale to inhale is akin to the transitional seasons spring and autumn.

In tonight's practice we attune ourselves to the energies and themes of autumn.

In this transitional space we begin to slow down and seek balance.

Autumn holds the extroverted light nature of summer with equal regard to the introverted dark nature of winter.

In this season we begin coming home to our inner selves in anticipation of the transformation winter will bring while showing gratitude for the harvest summer has brought in the form of experiences joy and intentions realized.

In this in-between space we integrate with past versions of ourselves and begin cultivating a nourishing space for our future self.

It's an opportunity for an intentional pause to do inner inventory of our year thus far,

Where we have grown,

What we are leaving behind,

What we will carry with us,

And what we will seek.

Please draw awareness down into your heart.

All awareness resting in the space of your heart and now see this space illuminated by a golden radiant Sun.

See its rays begin to extend out over the whole chest and down towards the belly and see the rays continue extending to now cover your throat and your hips and then the rays stretch to cover your entire body.

Finally they extend out beyond your body and you see and feel your whole being enveloped in the nourishing warm light of the Sun.

Draw your attention back to the center of the Sun residing in the space of your heart.

It's here where the practice of yoga nidra begins.

With your heart illuminated by the Sun,

Let a sankalpa or intention rise from within.

This should be an I am statement that reflects your heart's deepest desire or is an antidote to your greatest limiting belief.

For example,

If you carry the limiting belief that you are not worthy of abundance,

Perhaps your sankalpa is I am worthy of abundance.

Once you find the sankalpa that resonates through your whole being,

Say it to yourself three times allowing it to completely fill and absorb into your consciousness.

Now please guide your awareness up to the space between your eyebrows,

Your third eyes.

Here we prepare to rotate consciousness throughout the body.

We'll use red light for the right side of the body,

Our solar energy,

And blue light on the left side of the body for our lunar energy.

Beginning on the right side,

As I name a body part,

Bring all of your awareness and attention to it and visualize a small orb of red light illuminating it.

Red orb of light at your right thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger,

Red light in the palm of your hand,

Back of your hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Underarm,

Right side of the ribcage,

Waistline,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin,

Ankle,

The top of your right foot,

The sole of your right foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And baby toe.

Now hold the entire right side of your body in your awareness.

Feel the whole right side of the body and see it lit up with red orbs of light,

Bringing awareness to the left side.

Blue orb of light at your left thumb,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

Pinky finger.

Blue orb of light at the palm of your hand,

Back of your hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Underarm,

Left side of the ribcage,

Waistline,

Left thigh,

Kneecap,

Shin,

Ankle,

Top of your left foot,

Sole of your left foot,

Big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

And baby toe.

Now feel the entire left side of your body,

The whole left side lit up with blue orbs of light.

We'll now trace the back side of the body with purple orbs of light.

Orb of purple light in the sole of your right foot,

Sole of your left foot,

And now feel both soles of your feet together.

Purple light at the back of your right heel,

The back of your left heel,

And now both heels together.

Right calf,

Left calf,

And both calves together.

The back of your right knee,

Back of your left knee,

And the backs of both knees together.

Purple light in the right hamstrings,

Left hamstrings,

Both hamstrings together.

Right buttocks,

Left buttocks,

Both buttocks together.

Purple orb of light at the back of your pelvis,

Lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Both shoulder blades together.

Feel your right arm,

Your left arm,

And both arms together.

Purple orb of light at the back of your neck,

The back of your head,

The crown of your head,

And now feel your entire back body at once and see the whole back body illuminated in purple light.

Purple orb of light at the crown of your head,

Your forehead,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Both brows together.

Orb of light at brow center,

Right eyelid,

Left eyelid,

Both eyelids together.

Right eyeball,

Left eyeball,

Both eyes together.

Feel your right nostril,

Left nostril,

Both nostrils together.

The bridge of your nose,

Tip of your nose,

And now your whole entire nose.

Feel your upper lip,

Lower lip,

Both lips together.

Feel your chin,

The right side of your jaw,

The left side of your jaw,

And now both sides of your jaw together.

Now feel your whole face at once and see the whole face lit up in purple light.

Feel the right side of your head,

The left side of your head.

Now feel both sides of your head together.

Right side of your throat,

Left side of your throat,

And now your whole throat together.

Purple light at the right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

And both collarbones together.

Awareness in the right side of your chest,

The left side of your chest,

Both sides of your chest together.

The whole chest illuminated in purple light.

Awareness in the abdomen from ribs to your belly button,

Low belly,

Pelvis,

Both thighs,

Both kneecaps,

Shins,

Ankles,

Tops of both of your feet.

Now feel your right leg from your toes to your hip and your left leg from your toes to your hip and now feel the entirety of both of your legs together.

Feel your right arm from fingertips to shoulder and your left arm from fingertips to shoulder and now feel both arms together.

Hold your arms and your legs in your awareness together and now add your entire torso and now feel your head as well and now feel and sense your entire body,

Whole body awareness.

See your whole illuminated by purple light.

Now shift your awareness to the space outside your body.

Feel all the space surrounding your body.

Now feel the space within your body and now feel the space inside and outside of you at once.

Notice that the space within you is the same space outside of you and rest here in this spacious awareness.

Now gently guide your awareness to the breath.

Let the breath be gentle and effortless.

We'll begin counting the breaths backwards from 30.

Counting on your own you'll inhale 30,

Exhale 30,

Inhale 29 and exhale 29.

Continue at your own pace and count.

If you lose track just start back from 30.

Now drop the count and bring your awareness to the space between your eyebrows.

All attention on the space between your eyebrows as we prepare to move through opposite pairs of emotions.

I'll name a feeling and as I do I invite you to let that feeling briefly become your experience.

Try not to attach any memory to the feeling but instead experience it in its pure form.

Let's begin.

What does it feel like to be heavy?

To feel yourself weighed down?

Let the feeling of heaviness wash over and fill you.

Now let that go.

What does it feel like to be light?

To feel so light you could float or levitate?

Let the feeling of lightness wash over and fill you.

Now let that go.

Bring your awareness back to your brow center.

What does it feel like to be in a state of sadness?

Let the feeling of sadness wash over and fill you.

Now let that go.

What does it feel like to be in a state of joy?

Let the feeling of joy wash over and fill you.

Now let that go and bring attention back to your brow center and now feel yourself completely whole.

Feel the resonance of wholeness completely fill your consciousness.

All parts of your being harmonized and integrated.

Wholeness.

Again draw your awareness back to the space between your eyebrows preparing yourself for a visual journey.

As I begin to describe a scene to you allow yourself to see it and experience it with your mind's eye.

See yourself standing in your bedroom at home.

Take in the sights,

Textures,

And sounds of the space.

Notice if the room is messy or if it's clean.

Notice what you're wearing as you look down to see your own hands and your feet.

Feel the surface of the ground beneath your feet.

If there's a window in your room notice the light coming in and filling the space and as you continue to look around the room eventually you come to notice a glowing opening in the ground that you've never seen before.

It's mystery and intrigue begins to draw you closer to it and as you approach you realize that this opening is a time portal.

It's unlike any material object in the room appearing to be made out of colorful swirls of light and energy.

The portal seems to be personally inviting you to it and so with a leap of faith you hop into the portal.

Beams of light and kaleidoscopic patterns surround you completely as you're effortlessly pulled through this portal.

It will take you anywhere you wish to go and so you ask for it to take you back in time to a point earlier this year where you were experiencing a significant challenge or struggle.

As you speak this wish almost instantaneously you find yourself back in that particular circumstance.

There now you observe yourself from the outside.

Begin to notice where you are,

The expression on your face,

And the state of your being.

Take in all of the details of this scene.

Eventually your former self comes to notice that you're standing here watching them.

They're surprised but delighted to see you and ask what are you doing here?

You approach your past self and as you do you feel called to share with them wisdom and what they need to know to get through the situation they're currently experiencing.

From the space you are in now you give them loving guidance to get the situation.

They listen attentively and lovingly to all you say and you share anything and everything you feel called to tell them.

You ask them if they have any questions for you and then you listen.

Once you've received their questions you begin answering them as much as you can and when you and your former self feel complete with all that's been shared and communicated you embrace each other in a hug.

You let them know how much you love them,

Support them,

And believe in them.

As this meeting of selves comes to a completion you again see the time portal appear on the ground.

Again you're drawn in by its luminescent prismatic pole and effortlessly you travel through it.

As you travel this time you ask the portal to take you to a scene of your future self at the beginning of next year and once again almost instantaneously you find yourself there.

See this future version of you now.

See the space they occupy,

What they're doing,

And what seems to be their state of being and feeling.

As you observe them from the outside eventually they come to notice you and are fascinated and excited by your presence.

As they approach you you realize this version of yourself has some wisdom for you and so you give them the space to share all they have to say and ask any questions you may have for them and listen.

And when you reach a sense of completion with this communication you embrace this future you in a hug.

As you hug this future version of yourself tells you how much they love you,

Support you,

And believe in you.

And then again you see the time portal appear and greeting it like an old friend you say goodbye to your future self and make your way into it.

This time the portal seems to guide you somewhere without any direction from you.

Suddenly you find yourself standing on a wooden bridge in a forest.

The colors of autumn surround you and you feel the autumn breeze on your skin.

You hear the sounds of leaves rustling and you hear the sound of water flowing.

You look over the edge of the bridge and see a river flowing beneath you.

The river is glimmering reflected radiant light from the Sun.

You look out and see the river outlined with beautiful lush trees covered in vibrant orange,

Yellow,

And red leaves.

You notice as the leaves effortlessly fall from branches dancing through the wind as they make their way to the ground.

You look down towards your feet and notice the bridge is covered in fall foliage.

You look over to your left side and notice that at the left end of the bridge the former version of you that you met with earlier is standing there watching you.

They smile and begin walking towards you.

As they walk you can hear the sounds of the leaves crunching and crackling beneath their feet and as they approach you and get so close they can almost touch you,

Your beings begin to effortlessly merge into one.

In this moment your past self becomes your present self.

You then look over to your right and see at this end of the bridge the future version of yourself and you lock eyes and exchange a loving gaze and then you begin to walk towards them again hearing the sounds of the leaves crunching and breaking beneath your feet.

As you approach you and your future self begin to merge into one.

The present you becomes the future you.

As this synthesis completes you notice a pile of autumn leaves on the ground and here the time portal appears again and you're pulled into its vortex of energy.

The portal leads you back to this moment in time.

Its colors fade away and you find yourself here once again lying in darkness,

In stillness.

In this stillness begin to perceive your own sense of existence.

Feel your own sense of aliveness from within and now look for the part of you that is watching this experience.

The awareness that is prior to all things experienced.

Rest here as pure consciousness itself.

Rest here as formless awareness.

Gently guide your awareness back to your physical body.

Allow all of your attention to rest at heart center and see here a glowing full moon radiating cool white light.

Allow this soft light to spread out and envelop your entire body.

The moonlight extending from the heart all the way over the chest,

Hips,

Up to the head and down to your feet.

See the whole body glowing in cool white lunar light.

Guide attention back to your glowing heart and from here your sankalpa emerges once again.

Speak this intention to yourself three times now with complete conviction sealing it with yourself and with consciousness.

The practice of yoga nidra is now complete.

Start drawing your awareness back to your breath breathing energy back into your body as it slowly awakens.

Begin to feel your body once again supported by the ground beneath you and then using your mind's eye begin to visualize the room that surrounds you bringing yourself back to this present space and time.

Wiggle your toes and your fingertips and then slowly guide the arms up overhead for a deep stretch.

Take a deep belly inhale and then a big vocal exhale.

When you're ready roll onto one side into the fetal position.

This pose symbolizing a rebirth and the completion of this inner journey you just took for yourself.

Gently guide yourself back to a seat keeping eyes closed bring your hands to heart center in prayer and show yourself some gratitude for taking the time for this practice of self-love and self-nourishment.

Thank you so much for letting me guide you today.

I hope the rest of your day brings you much joy and much peace.

Hari Om Tat Sat