Healing Water Element Yoga Nidra For Sleep

In the Creative Cycle, the Water Element is the source of life-force and will. When in balance, it manifests in the form of strong willpower and endurance. When imbalanced it manifests as fear, such as fear of making decisions, moving forward. In this Water-themed Yoga Nidra to embody and harness the energy of Water. Transform Fear to Trust and connect with your intuition, and receive insight from the collective subconscious in this calming practice. This is a preview of an upcoming course, Journey through the Creative Cycle.

Transcript

Welcome back. In our last exploration, We began our journey through the creative cycle, The five elements. Starting with the element of water, We continue our journey through water via an ocean-themed yoga nidra, Yogic sleep, Which is a lying down form of meditation, So that you can embody and harness the energy of water and receive insight and inspiration from the collective subconscious, The source, By building trust and cultivating patience in all that you do. The water element is the source of life force and will. When imbalanced, It manifests in the form of strong willpower and endurance. When imbalanced, It manifests as fear, Which may inhibit growth. For example, Fear of making decisions, Fear of moving forward. This fear can then surface in the form of procrastination or avoidance. Are there things you've been holding yourself back from doing, Despite knowing that they are good for you? Notice if the root of this procrastination or avoidance is fear. Fear of failure, Fear of not being able to live up to your own expectations or the expectations of others, Fear of not being able to fulfill the true potential of what you would like to achieve. Notice if this fear is holding you back. The antidote to fear is to create a holding, A vessel, A safe space that will carry and support you so you can cultivate an unshakable trust in something much greater than yourself. And in this vessel, This safe space, You can practice relaxing into yourself like a wave relaxing into the ocean. And through this essential practice, You can remember and return to your vast, Limitless ocean nature, Which is the true nature of your being. Cultivate trust and dissolve fear. We engage in the revolutionary act of rest. Most of us have been thought and told that we rest to work. We rest to produce. We rest so that we can show up better. But what would it be if we could let go of this programming? What if we were resting for no particular outcome? Resting simply to rest. What if we could leave behind the grind culture and these capitalist influences that tell us we must rest to work, Rest to do more, So that we become worthy? Leave this behind and give yourself the permission just for a moment, Right now, To settle. Instead, Let's reimagine as a collective. We rest in order to commune. We rest in order to connect. We rest in order to dream. We rest in order to liberate ourselves. We rest in order to be free. Take the next couple of moments to get really comfortable. Feel free to use any props such as blankets, Pillows, Bolsters, Anything you might need. Feel support. Adjust your clothing. Remove any distractions from the space that you're in. Once you've cultivated and created a safe space, Let yourself settle into stillness. As you settle into stillness, Close your eyes to your breath. Notice the rise and fall of your breath. Notice the sacred, Natural, Effortless rhythm. Restrict it. Stay with this rise and fall. Notice its ebb and flow. As your inhale releases into your exhale, Your exhale surrenders into your inhale. Isankalpa is a positive I am statement that is true at the core of who you are. It is your essence simplified into a short, Positive I am statement. This might be I, But your I am statement is. The next couple of breaths, Allow this statement to surface from within the center of your being. Once this statement has formed, Repeat it quietly internally to yourself three times. The final sankalpa comes to surface as to whatever guidance your inner teacher has to offer to you. Throughout the remainder of the practice, The practice of yoga nidra begins now. Draw your awareness to your breath. Follow its natural tide and experience the tide of your breath as if your whole body is breathing. Crystal clear water flow in and out of your body. Feel and see waves of sparkling washing over you with each inhale and falling away with each exhale. Each inhale peaking like a wave of energy cresting and each exhale gently descending. Experience the peaks and valleys of your breath like the waves of an ocean. For the next nine breaths, Count each of your exhalations from nine to zero. If you lose track of the counting, It doesn't matter. What matters is that you let your mind rest with each exhale. Let's begin. We now begin to guide the light of mental awareness around your physical body as if your physical body is the vast fertile soil of the earth. Conscious awareness is like little drops of rain descending upon the earth, Moistening, Nourishing and watering the earth. We start at the root of your tongue. Let little drops of rain descend there. The tip of your tongue, The inside of your left cheek, The inside of your right cheek, The roof of your mouth, The bottom of your mouth, Your left ear, The lobe of the ear, The shell of the ear, All around inside and outside of your ear. Let little droplets of rain descend there. Your right ear, The inside of the ear, The outside, The shell, The lobe of the ear and all around your right ear. Let little drops of rain descend there. The back of your head, The crown of your head, Your forehead, Your right eyebrow, Left eyebrow, The space between your eyebrows, Your right eye, Your left eye, The bridge of your nose, The tip of your nose. Let a little droplet of rain fall there. Your right nostril, Your left nostril, Your right cheek, Your left cheek, The space between your nose and your upper lip, Your upper lip, Your lower lip, The space between your lower lip and your chin and all across your jawline. Let little droplets of rain descend there. The center of your throat, Your right collarbone, Left collarbone, Your right shoulder blade, Left shoulder blade, Your right arm, Elbow, Forearm, Wrist, Center of your palm and all five of the fingers of your right hand, Your thumb, Index finger, Middle finger, Ring finger and your little finger, Your left arm, Elbow, Forearm, Wrist, Center of the palm and all five of the fingers of your left hand, Your thumb, Index finger, Middle finger, Ring finger and your little finger. The center of your heart, Let a droplet of rain descend there. Your right lung, Your left lung, Your navel, Three fingers below your navel, Your right hip, Your left hip, Your inner groin, Your right thigh, Knee, Calf, Shin, Ankle, Heel, The rainbow arch of your right foot, The ball of your right foot and all five of the toes of your right foot, Your big toe, Second toe, Third toe, Fourth toe and your little toe, Your left thigh, Calf, Shin, Ankle, Heel, Rainbow arch of the left foot, The ball of your left foot and all five of the toes of your left foot, Your big toe, Your second toe, Your third toe, Fourth toe and your little toe. From head to toe, From toes to head, The vast earth that is your body is now covered with little droplets of rain descending. Now draw your awareness to your breath. As you exhale, Feel heavy like the rainwater pouring down to the earth. As you inhale, Feel light as if you are evaporating like these little molecules of water vapor weightlessly up towards the heavens, Towards the sky. Exhaling, Feeling heavy like rain pouring down. Inhaling, Feeling light like vapor evaporating and floating up. Continue to alternate between these extremes, Heaviness and lightness with your breath. For the next five breaths, Wherever you are, Invite both extremes, A feeling that you are both as heavy as water pouring down onto the earth and as light as water vapor and floating up to the heavens, To the sky. Feel both of these experiences simultaneously. Consciousness, Gently let go of this practice. What is the natural weight, Shape, And form of your physical body held by the earth herself? As to the center of your heart, Feel and see a shimmering moon in the center of your heart. As you inhale, Allow this light to gather inwards in this well. As you exhale, Let this light to flow and radiate outwards into the world. Inhale, Gasp. Exhale, Letting this light flow and shine. Continue to alternate between both of these experiences as you inhale and letting it flow and radiate out with your exhale. For the next five breaths, Both extremes, A feeling that you are both gathering into the well at the same time, Letting this light flow and radiate outwards at the same time. Both of these experiences simultaneously. Consciousness, Gently let go of this practice and notice the natural texture. I'll describe images to you. Experience them without attachment. These images to wash. You see a meandering path, Shimmering stars above, Someone's footsteps, Footsteps towards the sound of the ocean. You see the ocean's glimmering waves emerge beyond the horizon. The surface of the ocean is calm. You see a stretch of sand, Faint starlight dances off the crest of each wave. Breath in sync with the rhythmic pulse of the ocean. Reach the edge of the water. Each gentle, Patient step, The hermit crabs scurry away, Giving you space. You stop and take off your shoes. Ocean water flows over all your toes. A sense of ease washes over you. A shell the size of your palm washes up to your feet. Reach down and pick it up. It's beauty. Your fingers trace the sharp edges and the smooth contours of the conch shell. You gently place it against your ear and you close your eyes. From the shell you hear the echoes of some words. These words are your sankalpa. Repeat your sankalpa internally to yourself. Speak it to the deepest layers of your being. Embody the experience of your heartfelt intention, Your sankalpa as your lived seed as you are here. Allow your breath to gently become more. If you wish to linger long, Listening to your heartfelt intention, Receiving this heartfelt intention to stay. If however you feel you are ready to awaken, Start to notice the edges of your body, Points of contact of your body with the earth holding you, Fingers, Your toes, Edges of you. Let the sound of my voice awaken you. Everyday state, Consciousness. This Vyuganidra is now complete. You may gently rise and stretch. For the rest of today, Here are three prompts you may wish to journal on or to muse over as your day unfolds. First, I afraid of. I afraid of. The second, I feel safe. Makes me feel safe. Feel safe. Feel safe. Makes me feel safe. Feel safe. The last prompt, So that I can feel safe here, Needs to be in my life so that I can begin to trust myself. My circumstances, So that I can feel safe here, Needs to be in my life so that I can begin to trust myself. My circumstances, In the darkest of night, Peak of Yin, Of being. A shifting of energies occurs. Just as after the hibernation and cold of winter, Spring emerges. When a seed is watered, It begins to germinate, To sprout and emerge. This is the mother of Wix conversation. We'll explore the word element, How to move from stress to play, And exploration and creativity. I'll see you there.