Magnificat: A Yoga Nidra Of The Divine Mother

Although optimal for use during Advent, this yoga nidra can be used any time of the year to inspire creativity and maintain/sustain connection to the Divine Mother. Delve deep into your soul for new ways to proceed, all while engaging in full-bodied gratitude.

Transcript

My soul magnifies the Lord.

My spirit rejoices in God,

My Savior.

These words compose the Virgin Mary's song,

Arising from the overflow of her heart.

Her internal cup pouring forth.

During this meditation,

We'll explore the joy of knowingness,

The marvel of wonder,

And the fulfillment of hope based upon what is commonly referred to in the New Testament as the Magnificat,

Mary's eternal hymn to the world.

So welcome to the here,

H-E-A-R,

And now.

Leave the weary world behind and rejoice as you begin to settle yourself,

As if coming to a resting place after a long and arduous journey.

Feel the bliss as your bones are received by the surface below,

Muscles,

Tissues,

Length and breadth of spine,

Greeted and embraced by Mother Earth,

Grounded in love.

Do whatever you need to do to make yourself completely comfortable,

Inviting in perfect bliss,

Perhaps closing the door and snuggling into a warm,

Fuzzy blanket,

Cuddling with a favorite pet,

Trusting,

Relaxing,

And letting go.

No thinking,

Just being,

Right here,

Right now,

Creating space in your body,

Mind,

And spirit for amplification,

For a new thing to arise,

For the meaning of Magnificat is magnification.

Do you not perceive it?

Enjoy a thrill of hope as you're welcomed to this time and space,

Safe and secure.

Let's travel back in time and walk a few miles in Mary Sandal's.

Thirteen,

Mystically pregnant and unwed,

She travels by foot to visit her elderly relative who lives about 70 miles away.

Scripture tells us Mary hastens,

She's in a hurry.

The angel Gabriel has told her Elizabeth is also inexplicably with child.

A woman thought to be barren,

A social pariah for her inability to produce fruit,

To create.

At age 60,

Elizabeth is well past the age of all but miraculous childbearing.

Mary's long trek to Elizabeth would have given her plenty of time to meditate on her situation.

We know from scripture that Mary is a ponderer.

In the book of Luke,

We are told she ponders in her heart,

Not in her head.

This is an important distinction.

Did she tell her parents the marvelous story of the encounter with the angel or keep it to herself and decide to seek guidance from her wise old auntie?

Whatever the case,

Mary's filled with certitude and wonder,

Awe and amazement as she rushes off to help Elizabeth.

And when she arrives,

Dusty and tired,

Mary is not met with shame.

Instead,

Elizabeth greets Mary with a loud cry of joy,

A beautiful benediction,

Proclaiming the coming of the Lord.

After this,

Mary didn't even have time to tell her relative of her mysterious state,

Her cosmic yes,

Her willingness to be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit.

Was Elizabeth filled with knowingness,

Having experienced a miracle herself?

For Elizabeth is the second person in history to have direct knowledge of Jesus's imminent and eminent arrival.

From the first moment of conception,

Jesus is incubated in love,

Not fear,

Literally surrounded with joy,

An effect amplified by the souls of not one,

But two women,

Magnified.

Mary's response to Elizabeth is one of the New Testament's greatest odes.

Mirroring Hannah's song in the first book of Samuel,

Mary would have sung psalms of praise and thanksgiving during her annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Perhaps she sang it all the way to Elizabeth's house?

The word magnificat comes from the first line of the song's text in Latin,

Magnificat anima mea dominum.

It's no mere song of joy.

It's a prophetic exultation for the salvation of the world.

Sung from the mouth of a marginalized teenage,

Unwed mother-to-be.

And it is a song we are still hearing today,

2,

000 years later.

Full-throated,

Rippling out,

Vibrating,

And magnifying forever.

Can you hear what I hear?

So let's join Mary and get out of our heads and into our hearts.

Bearing this in mind,

Invite your attention to travel to your breath.

Feel it swell the belly on each inhalation,

Slowly rising,

Moving up into the fullness of the heart,

Filling it before gently sinking.

Breath naturally delivered to the bottom,

To the sacred pregnant pause.

Each inhalation,

Joyful expectation of hope.

Each exhalation,

A fulfillment,

A hallelujah.

Take a few rounds of breath at your own pace.

Each breath in,

Active,

And each breath out,

Passive.

Hope arriving and hallelujah returning home.

Breath is the first and the last.

The alpha and the omega.

The beginning and the end.

Take comfort in the rhythmicity of the cycle of life.

Feel as the breath expands the abdomen,

Front to back,

And side to side,

Filling in the spaces between the ribs to create more room for the breath to occupy,

To stretch and grow,

To develop.

Moving top to bottom,

Expanding from the dome of the lungs all the way down to the cellar,

The storehouse.

Now release your observation of the breath and just feel as it nestles in your heart,

Swaddling it.

Then bring into your spirit a heartfelt desire.

You can state this in words such as,

My soul magnifies the Lord.

I am joyful.

Or it can be something simpler,

Such as a feeling of certitude,

Knowingness,

Or fruition.

Perhaps even a color or a sound,

Taste,

Or fragrance.

You decide.

This is your offering.

Listen carefully with the ears of your heart for anything that arises.

And if nothing springs forth,

Let spirit be your guide.

There is no way to do this practice of co-creation wrong.

You can do it over and over again and have different experiences or none at all.

And even that is as it should be.

So bless whatever arises and then let it go.

Giving thanks for this opportunity to commune with yourself and drop deeper into relaxation.

And then bring your attention back to your heart.

Start at the left side of your heart.

Imagine a warm light of any color filling the upper room of your heart and then the lower.

Follow the light over to the right side,

Upper and lower rooms of the heart.

Notice how the glow from the heart emanates outward.

And circling and bathing the space around it.

Hold the light up to the pit of the throat and then the left clavicle and left shoulder,

The upper arm,

Elbow,

Forearm,

And wrist.

Left palm of the hand,

Back of the hand.

All the fingers,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

And all the spaces in between.

Filled with a rich glow.

Glowing back to the left armpit,

Side of the ribs,

And down to the waist and hips.

Down to the left thigh,

Front and back,

And left knee,

Calf and chin.

To the left ankle and all the bones and tissues supporting the body.

A delicate yet sturdy balance.

The myriad of bones in the left foot from the heel pointing forward to the tips of each toe,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Pause to feel the healing glowing and flowing on the left side of the body.

Now follow the light back to the right clavicle and right shoulder,

Upper arm,

Elbow,

Forearm,

And wrist.

Right palm of the hand and back of the hand.

All the fingers,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

And the spaces in between.

United in peace and harmony.

Drawing attention to the right armpit,

Side of the ribs,

Down to the waist and hips.

Down to the right thigh,

Front and back,

Right knee,

Calf and shin.

Right ankle,

All the bones in the right foot from the heel moving forward to all the toes as if they were singing.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

The spaces in between thrumming with energy.

Notice the healing on the entire right side of the body.

Warm light filling the right side of the body.

Now imagine you have a pair of wings and can float to the top of the room.

Look down at the halo of light,

Your aura surrounding and filling your entire body.

Every corner of your soul incandescent,

Replete.

Feel the light back to the crown of the head,

Returning to source.

Feel the space which was open at birth,

Widen,

Broaden as if to create a mystical rebirthing,

An ease of passage.

Feel as goodness and light descend into the head,

Throughout the front of the face and back of the skull,

To the inner workings of both ears,

Right and left.

The eyes,

Left and right,

Filled with inner vision.

Moving down to the mouth and the throat,

Softening to reveal the magnification of the heart.

Feeling shoulders and torso,

The length and breadth of the spine,

Fanning out in all directions.

Hips and pelvic bowl,

Scooping,

Filling the legs all the way down to the soles of the feet.

Whole body,

Pondering the soles of the feet and the light radiating from within.

Once again,

Experience your halo,

Even brighter now.

Observe the range of irradiance.

See as it grows and expands,

Magnifies.

For this is how you are loved.

This is the firmament of your being.

This is who you are.

Just here,

Held in this divine,

Ineffable halo of love.

And then repeat your heartfelt desire three times.

Magnifying that longing or request.

Now sense as all your angels,

Guides,

Saints,

Friends and family members join you in your halo of love,

Magnifying the circle.

Perhaps they whisper encouragement in your soul,

Send you an image or symbol or even touch you.

Receive their love and support,

Knowing they're always with you and you are never alone.

They're on divine standby for assistance,

Guidance,

Comfort and support.

And if there's no message,

Relax and rest back with the awareness.

There's nothing you need to know right now.

Before we return to the earth body,

Spend a moment more basking in the sensation of the soul,

Feeling its worth.

There will be words at the end of this meditation to signal a return to the waking state.

But if you choose,

You can ignore them right now and continue resting,

Surrendering to deep sleep.

Otherwise,

Feel yourself bubble up into consciousness.

Perhaps noticing sounds in the distance and then ones nearby.

Sounds arising from the right side of your body and then the left.

Noticing the presence of your body's connection to the surface below,

Safe and secure wherever you are.

Feel all the parts where your body is connected.

And perhaps there's an animal friend who has joined you and you become aware of their shape next to you.

Maybe you can hear them shift or breathe in response to the body's returning to the waking state.

And then take a moment to recall your heartfelt desire and repeat it once more to yourself.

Feel into the fullness of it in your heart.

And as you continue to rise into waking consciousness,

You might feel the need to move your body,

Stretching and shifting in any way the body initiates.

Moving without thought,

Effortlessly.

Body,

Mind and spirit restored and revitalized.

Now it is time for you to sing your own Magnificat,

Confident and unafraid.

What new thing will you create today?

What will your soul magnify in the here and now?

Om Niyabhene.

All is well.

Thank you for joining me in this gift of Yoga Nidra,

A gift of the present moment,

One that keeps on giving long after the meditation has ended.