Yoga Nidra For Postpartum And Beyond

This Yoga Nidra practice is designed for Mothers at various stages.

We begin the practice with a visualization in which we cultivate a circle of support. As we settle in, there is a brief teaching around the important concept of "matrescence". We set a heartfelt intention for the practice before moving on to a body scan in which we offer healing to the womb space (or energetic womb space). We use some mindfulness to explore the breath, emotions, and sensations while cultivating self-compassion. We end the practice with a quote from the writer Beth Berry.

My hope is that you will leave feeling rested, rejuvenated and supported.

Background music by Chris Collins.

Transcript

Welcome.

Today's practice is for supporting the immense transition that is stepping into motherhood.

Whether you are a new mother,

A seasoned mother,

An adoptive mother,

Mother who's struggled with infertility and loss,

A surrogate,

A birthing parent,

Whatever your journey has been,

No matter how complicated or unexpected,

You are welcome here.

I'm honored to hold space for you in this practice and I acknowledge how difficult it can be to show up for yourself when you are caring for others.

I want you to know that you deserve support,

You deserve care,

And you deserve to have your needs met.

I invite you to take some time to set up your space in a way that feels supportive and nurturing to you.

Finding a comfortable position.

Really allow yourself time to get as comfortable as possible.

Using any props you have that might be helpful,

Like pillows,

Blankets,

An eye pillow perhaps.

Just notice what might feel best for you right now and also notice how it feels to honor what is best for you.

And please know that the choices you make with your body are absolutely honored in this space.

Noticing if there's anywhere in your body that could use a little more support.

Maybe a rolled up blanket or towel under your knees,

A pillow under your head.

And as you are getting comfortable,

I'm going to invite you to consider those who you feel have a warm,

Nurturing,

Maternal energy.

Perhaps it is the mothers,

Grandmothers,

Women or people in your own lineage.

Perhaps it is wise and nurturing ancestors you have never met.

We won't allow the energy of someone into this practice if it does not feel wholly supportive for you.

You may also choose a friend,

A role model,

Spiritual figure,

Even an animal as long as you feel completely supported by their presence.

You feel that they have a calming effect on your body and you can feel held by their energy.

If it feels right for you,

In your mind's eye,

You may envision yourself bringing in these maternal figures,

Imagining them creating and holding a circle of support around you.

Noticing what they look like,

How they show up for you,

What it feels like to be in their presence.

If it doesn't feel right for you,

You can also create and envision a circle of support out of anything your heart desires.

Flowers,

Candles,

Trees,

Whatever feels right.

Just choose what feels the most supportive for you at this time.

I want you to continue envisioning this circle of support around you.

If it feels okay for you,

This is optional,

Notice how it feels in your body to receive this care.

I invite you to bring in some butterfly taps with this.

Just crossing your wrists over the heart space and gently using one hand at a time to tap near your collarbones,

Alternating one tap on one side and then another tap on the other side.

Finding a nice slow rhythm,

One hand and then the other.

Like a nice calm heartbeat rhythm.

So there's a dual awareness,

Noticing the butterfly taps and noticing the circle of support all around you.

As if we're using the tapping to strengthen our capacity to accept and receive support from others.

And then pausing to notice how you feel.

Notice if this feels supportive or calming.

If not,

You can always forego the taps.

If you can find how this feels supportive for you and your body,

See if you can imagine expanding this throughout the whole body.

So on each inhale,

Expanding the support you're receiving.

And on each exhale,

Releasing anything in the way of receiving.

Inhale,

Receiving.

Exhale,

Releasing.

Inhale,

Receiving.

Exhale,

Releasing.

And just in your own time,

Allowing your hands and arms to find stillness and to feel supported in whatever position they find.

As you settle into this moment of presence,

Let the exploration of an important concept guide our practice today.

The profound essence of matrescence.

Understanding matrescence proves especially valuable for new mothers,

Offering a compass for navigating the emotional landscape of the postpartum period.

It illuminates the journey into motherhood.

It's not just the arrival of a new baby,

But a sacred metamorphosis of the mother herself.

Coined by anthropologist Dana Raphael in the 70s,

Matrescence,

As expanded by the psychologist Oralee Athen,

Unfolds as a developmental passage,

Spanning preconception,

Pregnancy,

Birth,

Surrogacy,

Adoption,

Into the postnatal period,

And perhaps beyond.

It's length,

Individual,

And recurring with each child.

This transition touches us biologically,

Psychologically,

Socially,

Culturally,

And spiritually.

A transformative process reshaping our identities and every facet of our lives.

Athen's theory of matrescence extends a de-stigmatizing and agentic lens,

Allowing mothers to identify,

Explore,

Cope with,

And shape their destinies uniquely.

This perspective embraces the challenges and complexities of the transition,

Normalizing the spectrum of emotions,

Joy,

Excitement,

Ambivalence,

Distress,

Empowering and reducing isolation.

Matrescence reminds mothers that their experiences are shared,

Fostering a supportive community.

If you find yourself struggling,

Remember it's okay to seek support on this beautiful journey.

Now,

Making any final adjustments,

Even if it's to be 2% more comfortable,

Notice the points of contact your body makes with the earth.

Feel into each part of your body and notice that it's being supported by the earth.

See if you can allow yourself to soften into this support.

Let yourself be held.

Allow the weight of your head to drop.

Allow your forehead to soften.

Release the jaw,

The tongue.

Soften the shoulders,

The belly.

Let your breath flow as it wants to.

Allow your hands to be placed wherever you would like them for the remainder of the practice.

With each exhale,

See if you can soften into the floor and let your body be held by the earth.

Now,

I invite you to bring awareness to your heart space,

To connect with our sankalpa or our heartfelt intention for the practice today.

Take some time to connect with and listen to your heart.

What is your heart yearning for?

What does it have to say?

This intention is waiting to be seen,

Heard and felt.

Be open to what arises,

Be it an image,

A sound,

A word.

You may phrase your sankalpa as a simple present tense statement,

Such as,

I love and accept myself.

I give myself grace.

Or,

I honor my own needs.

You may use one of these sankalpas if you wish or create your own.

Just finding something that feels in alignment with your heart.

When you are ready,

State your sankalpa three times to yourself.

This intention is the seed you are planting in the rich soil of your subconscious.

Its growth is already nurtured.

I invite you to bring awareness to the body.

Feeling the weight of the body on the floor.

Softening.

And just following my voice,

Bringing awareness now to the right hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Right big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

Left hand thumb,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger,

Fifth finger,

Palm of the hand,

Back of the hand,

Wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Shoulder,

Armpit,

Waist,

Hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Ankle,

Heel,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

Left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe.

Moving awareness now to the back of the body,

Right heel,

Left heel,

Right calf,

Left calf,

Right thigh,

Left thigh,

Right buttock,

Left buttock,

Lower back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

The entire spine,

Right shoulder blade,

Left shoulder blade,

Back of the neck,

Back of the head,

Top of the head,

Forehead,

Right temple,

Left temple,

Right ear,

Left ear,

Right eyebrow,

Left eyebrow,

Middle of the eyebrows,

Right eye,

Left eye,

Right nostril,

Left nostril,

Right cheek,

Left cheek,

Upper lip,

Lower lip,

Both lips together,

Chin,

Jaw,

Throat,

Right collarbone,

Left collarbone,

Right side of the chest,

Left side of the chest,

Upper abdomen,

Navel,

Lower abdomen,

Right groin,

Left groin,

The pelvic floor,

The womb,

The space within the womb,

The space within the womb.

Now I invite you to bring some healing energy to the womb space.

You may imagine this as a color that feels healing or perhaps an element like water or sunlight.

Whatever you feel you may need and resonate with.

You may now imagine this healing energy moving to your womb space.

Notice how it is to receive this healing.

Now imagine this healing energy is expanding to other areas that may need support.

Perhaps the entire reproductive system,

The surrounding tissues,

Any scarring,

The entire endocrine system responsible for hormones,

Sending healing into the whole endocrine system,

The ovaries,

Adrenal glands,

Pancreas,

Thymus,

Thyroid,

The penile gland in the middle of the brain,

The pituitary gland in the brain,

The hypothalamus in the brain,

The whole brain,

The whole right leg,

The whole right arm,

The whole left arm,

The whole face,

The whole head,

The whole torso,

The whole body,

The whole body,

The whole body.

Without changing anything,

Becoming aware of your breath.

Natural,

Easy breath.

Following your inhalation from the beginning and all the way through.

Noticing the pause between inhalation and exhalation.

Following the exhalation from the beginning and all the way through.

Inhalation entering the nostrils,

Following it all the way to the chest.

Expanding the lungs.

Feeling the rise of the belly,

Softening of the pelvic floor.

Noticing how the breath leaves.

Expansion and contraction.

Imagine each time you inhale you are calling in nurturing and compassion into your body.

Perhaps this compassion follows the breath into the lungs and expands into the belly and organs.

Filling the body with its warmth.

Noticing any sensations that arise with a sense of curiosity.

Perhaps you are more visual and you can see the nurturing as a color,

A shape or energy.

Perhaps you are more auditory and this nurturing is experienced as a humming or a pulsation.

Notice how you experience this compassion in your body.

Is there a certain location,

A size,

A shape?

Breathing in kindness and compassion.

Breathing out awareness of body.

Breathing in kindness.

Breathing out awareness.

I invite you to bring to mind an emotion you are currently working with in your life.

What emotion seems to be the most present for you?

Notice this emotion without any judgment.

Notice the emotion with a sense of curiosity and compassion.

Do you feel this emotion in a particular place in the body?

See if you can feel and sense into this.

Is there a size or a shape?

Perhaps a color or a texture?

Now cultivate the opposite feeling of this emotion.

What would the opposite of this emotion be for you?

Is there a location in the body for this emotion?

What qualities or sensations arise?

Now moving back into the first emotion and noticing any sensations that are present and moving into the opposite,

Noticing the sensations here.

Now allow yourself to hold awareness of both of these emotions at the same time.

Holding awareness of all the sensation,

Emotion that arises with compassion,

Feeling them both together.

Now feel and sense into the following.

A deep green forest.

Community supporting a new mother.

Rose quartz.

Soft summer breeze.

Farm fresh egg.

A mother's love.

A mother gently rocking her baby.

A thunderstorm.

Smell of roses.

Unconditional love.

Tree roots descending into the earth.

Green leaves budding in the spring.

A warm embrace.

A mother bear and her cubs.

Mother earth.

Noticing mother earth from afar,

She becomes more and more distant until a vast space of empty darkness arises.

This is the inner space of your consciousness.

Or Chidakasha.

It's as vast and infinite as the cosmos.

In this space we are not in the mode of doing,

Rather we're in the mode of simply being.

We are witness to this vast space that is at once both our own unique space and that which connects us to the larger collective unconscious.

Our shared humanity.

There is nothing to do here.

Simply observe.

Letting yourself be.

You may notice certain colors,

Patterns,

Or hear certain words or sounds,

Or perhaps nothing at all.

Do not seek anything.

Just allow yourself to be open to witnessing.

And I'll now give you a few minutes of unguided time here.

There's nothing to do here.

Allow yourself to be as you are.

Simply be.

From this depth of stillness and compassion,

Please recall once again your Sankalpa,

Your heartfelt desire.

The practice of Yoga Nidra is like preparing the garden of your consciousness for the rich yield of promise.

State your Sankalpa once again.

And please know that the seeds of your heartfelt desire have been planted,

Recognized,

And nurtured.

Now bringing awareness back to your body.

Noticing where the body makes contact with the earth.

And noticing how the earth continues to support your body.

Observing your breath.

Allowing the breath to become deeper.

And allowing the breath to become deeper.

And allowing the breath to become deeper.

Bringing awareness to the inside of the mouth.

Starting to draw in taste.

Bringing awareness to the nostrils.

Starting to draw in smell.

Bringing awareness to the ears.

Starting to draw in sound.

Bringing awareness to the skin.

Starting to draw in touch.

Allowing the fingers and toes to start moving.

And bringing awareness to the closed eyes.

Starting to imagine what the room around you looks like.

Drawing in sight.

Allowing your body to start to move.

Allowing your body to start to move gently and stretch in whatever way feels good for you.

Continuing to deepen the breath and reawaken all the senses.

Taking a moment to offer yourself some gratitude for tending to yourself.

You may stay here as long as you'd like or you may roll to your right side and give yourself a long pause before coming to a seated position.

We'll close today's practice with a reading from the author Beth Barry.

We are meant to be deeply affected by the world around us.

We are meant to be deeply affected and changed by motherhood.

We are meant to be softened,

Humbled,

Reshaped,

Repurposed,

And made wiser.

We are meant to grow,

Heal,

And transform for the good of us all.

The fact that motherhood overwhelms us is not a sign of weakness but an indicator of importance.

It distinguishes mothering as one of the few endeavors in our lifetime worthy of such an enormous and all-encompassing investment.

We are similarly overwhelmed by such things as love,

Beauty,

Justice,

And the pursuit of a meaningful existence.

When we honor the immensity of motherhood as we do other powerful gifts,

Instead of resisting or trying to tame it,

It changes us.

Like native trees on a tropical coastline,

We have the potential to grow stronger with every storm,

Thrive when we grow in groups,

Dance with the wind and waves,

And draw our strength from a well deep within.