A Yoga Nidra For PMS

We are not mental we are elemental and we have been blessed with a highly sensitive system that gives us incredibly accurate information about the state of things inside and out. Every thought, feeling, emotion, and experience arises not to disrupt but rather to deliver vital information and insights about our cyclical inner worlds.

PMS symptoms are asking for our attention. We need to remember and relearn the language of our bodies so that we might enter into conversation with them once more and find our way home.

Transcript

Take all the time that you need to create your cozy nidra nest and to get as warm and as comfortable as you would like to be.

There is no rush or hurry.

Let the process of settling take as long as it takes.

I know for me I sometimes take a little more time to get comfortable during this particular phase of my cycle.

So please honour that and continue adjusting and stretching and moving until you feel really ready to move in the direction of stillness.

The earth and her elements are not fixed.

The earth has the capacity to offer soft soil that grows delicate spring flowers.

She also has the capacity to rage,

Erupt,

Shake,

Crack and split solid rock in two.

Water can express as both a gentle stream and a raging tsunami without losing touch with her essential nature.

Fire offers warmth and sustenance yet also has the power to burn and destroy.

And air can transform from a gentle breeze into a raging tornado.

We too are made of the elements of earth and are not fixed.

So it is entirely normal that we should be soft and gentle in one moment and cracking the earth in two the next.

But we are not mental,

We are elemental and we have been blessed with a highly sensitive system that gives us incredibly accurate information about the state of things inside and out.

Every thought,

Feeling,

Emotion and experience arises not to disrupt but rather to deliver us vital information and insights about our cyclical inner worlds.

PMS symptoms are calling out for our attention.

Nothing is wrong and we need not shoot the messenger.

All that is required is that we remember and relearn the language of our bodies so that we might enter into conversation with them once more and find our way home.

In the words of Alexandra Pope,

The cycle is not a problem,

It's revealing a problem.

And coming to understand,

Accept and cooperate with our bodies at this often challenging time is to lessen the blow of the challenges and reacquaint ourselves with the immense power that can be found in this wild and untamed part of our cycles.

A power that for so long we have been kept away from because our culture has told us that we must not reveal these parts of ourselves.

So this Yoga Nidra is an invitation to explore your wild and untamed elemental premenstrual nature and to soothe,

Calm and unravel any tangled,

Ragged nerves.

As you arrive into this practice,

Your practice,

Let it be whatever you need it to be.

Take what works,

Leave anything that doesn't.

Becoming aware of your body and the body of earth beneath you.

Feeling into your earthy,

Rooted nature.

Feeling how your wildness becomes more tangible at this time.

Opening out your senses.

Senses that at this time in your cycle are likely to be more highly attuned.

Soaking in your environment in high definition.

Sounds.

Sensations.

Smells.

Residual tastes.

Inner visions.

And then we'll take a moment to explore inner resource.

With an invitation today to explore the most perfect,

Cosy,

Soothing,

Autumnal nest.

Your premenstrual inner resource.

If you could be in the most perfect place for where you are in your cycle right now,

What would it be?

Perhaps it's right where you are in this moment.

Maybe you would be in a room where no one could disturb you.

A place for a moment where there are no expectations placed upon you.

Nothing for you to do.

No one for you to be.

You might be tucked up in bed.

Or sat on a soft rug surrounded by candles.

Perhaps you have a favourite drink or snack.

Beautiful smells and sounds filling the air.

Perhaps it's a place in nature,

Just you,

A thermos,

A tent to nap in.

A beautiful natural scene to gaze upon.

A wide open sky above.

Trust your intuition to guide you to the place that suits you most right now.

And in a moment we'll descend a soft carpeted staircase,

Counting back from ten all the way to zero.

And then we'll open the door to this place.

Each step,

Each number representing another layer of tension melting away.

Another expectation being released.

Another duty being dropped.

The whole body growing heavier and heavier.

And more and more at ease.

Beginning to count down from ten.

Stepping down to nine.

Growing heavier still.

Stepping down to eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

The whole body becoming more quiet and more still.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Arriving all the way down to zero.

The whole body heavy.

The whole body releasing.

Opening the door in front of you and arriving into your most perfect premenstrual nest.

Sensing,

Seeing or imagining this most soothing and calming place in your mind's eye.

Letting yourself get comfortable and settled.

And melting into that comfort.

Into the quiet spaciousness.

Into simply being.

And then taking a moment to move awareness around your body.

Inviting sensation and a release to each and every part you encounter.

As though you were anointing each place with a special oil or fragrance.

Intended to invite a sense of soothing release.

Beginning by sensing and feeling.

Into the right hand thumb.

And the index finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Little finger.

Thumb.

Fingers together.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Wrist.

Forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Armpit.

Side.

Waist.

And hip.

Front of the right thigh.

And the back of the thigh.

Knee in the space at the back of the knee.

Shins.

Calf.

And ankle.

Heel.

Sole.

And ball of the right foot.

And the big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

And fifth.

And all of the toes together.

The whole right side of the body.

All the way through.

Invited to feel a sense of soothing release.

Coming to sense and feel into the left hand thumb.

And the index finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Little finger.

Thumb.

Fingers together.

Palm of the hand.

Back of the hand.

Wrist.

Forearm.

Elbow.

Upper arm.

Shoulder.

Armpit.

Side.

Waist.

And hip.

Front of the left thigh.

And the back of the thigh.

Knee in the space at the back of the knee.

Shins.

Calf.

And ankle.

Heel.

Sole.

And ball of the left foot.

And the big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

And fifth.

And all of the toes together.

And the whole left side of the body.

All the way through.

Invited to feel a sense of soothing release.

Sensing the whole of the right arm.

From shoulder.

Elbow.

Wrist.

Fingertips.

And the whole of the left arm.

From shoulder.

To elbow.

Wrist.

To fingertips.

The palms of both hands at the same time.

The palms of the hands and the tips of the fingers at the same time.

The sensation of both arms resting towards the ground effortlessly at the same time.

And the sensation of the right leg.

From hip.

Through knee.

To ankle.

Tips of the toes and sole of the foot.

And the whole of the left leg.

From hip.

From knee.

To ankle.

Tips of the toes.

Sole of the foot.

The sensation of both feet at the same time.

Soles of the feet and tips of the toes at the same time.

Feeling both legs releasing weightlessly with ease to the ground at the same time.

The whole right side.

The whole left side.

Both sides of the body at the same time.

The whole back of the body.

The whole front of the body.

The whole body at the same time.

A radiant field of sensation.

The back of the body.

Soft.

Melting.

Releasing.

Backs of heels.

Backs of knees.

Backs of thighs.

And the back of the pelvis.

Sacrum.

Lower back.

Mid back.

Upper back.

Back of the neck.

Back of the head.

Crown of the head.

Forehead.

Softening and broadening.

And the space in between the eyebrows.

Open and soft.

Right eye.

Left eye.

Both eyes at the same time.

Releasing and softening to the spaces at the backs of the eyes.

Bathed in a soothing darkness.

Right nostril.

Left nostril.

Both nostrils at the same time.

And the air flowing in.

And flowing out.

Right cheek.

Left cheek.

Right earlobe.

Left earlobe.

Upper jaw.

Lower jaw.

Hinge of the jaws.

The tongue soft and broad in the mouth.

The whole of the face soft and expressionless.

And the softness releasing down through the neck.

Throat.

Valley between the collarbones and shoulders.

The chest.

Right side of the chest.

Left side of the chest.

The heart space between.

Solar plexus.

Navel.

Lower belly.

Hip points.

Knee joints.

Ankles.

And feet.

The whole of the body invited to feel a sense of soothing release.

The whole of the body releasing softly to the ground.

And then becoming aware of any sensations of heaviness in the body.

In the mind.

In the heart.

In the belly.

The womb.

And releasing into the heaviness.

Letting the bones drop.

Letting yourself sink and be held.

Feeling the body sinking heavier and heavier.

Dropping ever more deeply into rest.

And with that surrendering to heaviness,

Maybe you find a lightness reveals itself.

The release into heaviness giving way to lightness.

Becoming aware of any sensations of lightness in the body.

In the mind.

In the heart.

In the belly.

The womb.

Slowly floating and becoming lighter and lighter.

Uplifted.

Expanding into spacious effortless awareness.

And then without thinking,

Inviting the two sensations to be present at the same time.

Holding the tension of opposites without need for resolution.

Welcoming the possibility of something new.

A new response.

A new neural connection.

A new sensation.

And releasing and feeling the earth beneath you and the breath breathing you.

And the sky above.

Perhaps the light of the sun,

The moon or the stars shining down on you as you rest.

The whole body bathed in a radiant glowing light.

And taking awareness to the base of your spine,

To your sacrum,

The back of the pelvis.

And feeling as though that light might fill your sacrum,

Inviting a decompression.

A releasing of the whole pelvis,

Pelvic floor,

Womb space or belly.

And as you explore the releasing of tension,

Perhaps you start to feel the light travel through your spine,

Clearing,

Enlivening,

Soothing.

The light travelling through the inward curve of the lower back.

The outward curve of the upper back.

The inward curve of the neck.

Arriving to the head and filling the head with a soft shimmering radiance.

Shining brightly from the crown of your head.

Feeling the whole spine as a clear and radiant channel.

Breath,

Awareness and the light that is shining down on you,

Moving intuitively to where it's needed in ripples and flows.

And releasing awareness to flow in all directions at once.

As though awareness could be everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

In your belly,

Your womb,

Down in the earth resting amongst the roots.

In your heart,

Chest,

Breasts.

And out in the trees floating on the breeze.

In your intuitive inner eye.

And up in the sky,

Swirling with the stars,

Circling the moon.

Expanding into infinite space.

And what is your experience of the body and the mind in this moment?

Beyond space and time?

Beyond any concept of I or me?

What is it that remains?

Can you sense the energy that underpins your experience?

Encircling,

Permeating,

Holding,

Expanding.

Everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

And then letting your awareness intuitively travel to the home of naturally arising inner guidance for you.

And offering a moment of quiet presence to this space.

Opening to what is unfolding within you.

Listening not in the language of the mind and words and logic,

But rather in the mercurial,

Ethereal,

Liquid language of intuition.

Opening to guidance and support.

If there is a question,

Affirmation or intention,

Sankalpa,

That you would like to drop into this space,

And feel free to do that here.

And then becoming aware of the body in contact with the ground once more.

Your body and the body of earth beneath.

The space in which you find yourself.

The breath,

Your heart,

Your constant companions.

Taking all the time that you would like to linger here in this liminal space.

To drift,

To sleep,

Or to bring yourself gently back to waking awareness.

Ready to be with whatever is arising with you on this day.

With understanding,

Patience and softness.