Owl Anon

This bedtime nidra story is crafted with the intent of supporting deep sleep and tapping into the intuitive wisdom bestowed when our soul is at rest. Perhaps you are struggling with an issue or need some guidance? This nidra story will help you access your own inner guru to provide Enlightenment and Wisdom using the Symbology of the power animal Owl. The nidra portion of the meditation begins at the time stamp 23:50.
Music and sound effects by Mark Ignoffo.

Transcript

Welcome.

My name is Mary Catherine and I will be your guide for today's practice called Owl-Anon.

It is conceived with the intention of connecting to the intuitive wisdom that resides within.

An innate knowing,

Accessible when our bodies and brains are at complete rest.

Perhaps you are wrestling with a question that requires some wisdom and discernment.

Or maybe,

Like the owl,

You've been awake all night and just need some sleep.

You can use this meditation anytime you are searching for guidance,

Hunting for a tidbit of inspiration or a morsel of wisdom.

Primarily though,

This is a type of bedtime story,

Nourishing deep sleep and restoring the soul.

As such,

There will be no words to help you resurface,

Nor an ending chime.

Consider setting a soft alarm if you need to wake up.

And if you feel like it,

Experiment and keep your eyes open until they choose to close with their own volition.

Do whatever feels right to you,

Right now.

A few final thoughts before we begin.

You can forward ahead on the recording if you want to skip the story and go straight to the Nidra.

The timestamp will be in the audio's description.

There is no way to do this practice of self-inquiry wrong.

There might be words you don't understand or have never heard before.

They are there for a purpose and their vibratory resonance.

Let them flow over you.

Detach with love from meaning.

You might even laugh if something seems weird or cry with the beauty of wisdom.

And if you don't like what I'm saying,

Take only what you like and leave the rest.

Now settle in and allow yourself to receive the gift of soul restoration,

Yoga Nidra.

It is the gift of the present,

One that keeps on giving,

Long after the meditation has ended.

First things first.

While I'm talking,

Go ahead and get your rest nest,

Supremely comfortable.

Perhaps feathering it with pillows and props,

An eye mask,

A blanket.

Owls do not make their own nests,

But use abandoned nests to raise their brood.

Returning to the same nest year after year.

Stop cycling with little expenditure of energy.

Continue to adjust yourself until free from any bodily distraction.

Let your hair down if constricted by anything pulling on the scalp.

Free your face from eyewear.

No matter how small the adjustment,

If it moves you towards complete comfort,

Do that.

And then let go of what is going and let come that which is coming.

Accepting.

Acceptable.

Accepted.

Whole and complete.

Right here,

Right now.

Exactly as you are.

There are many sorts of owls,

But almost all of them are nocturnal.

All of them are birds of prey,

Raptors.

You could also call them birds of prey,

P-R-A-Y.

Let us call on the practical nature of owl by saying the words of the serenity prayer as an homage to her ability to separate the important from the relevant.

And grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.

Courage to change the things I can.

And wisdom to know the difference.

You can call your higher power anything you like,

But in this NIDR story,

I'm going to use the name trusted friend.

This prayer is an earnest request for serenity,

A plea,

A sankalpa or intention,

Heartfelt.

Serenity however is granted simply by asking your trusted friend.

What's bestowed?

There are no conditions attached,

No achieving,

Behaving or performing.

Arising out of this unearned serenity comes acceptance,

Courage and wisdom.

It's the gift beneath the garbage.

Priceless.

In history and literature,

Owls enjoy a mysterious presence as either founts of wisdom,

According to the Greeks,

Or harbingers of doom,

According to the Romans.

For purposes of this yoga nidra,

We'll be using the Greek interpretation of owl as symbol of wisdom.

Athena Noctua is the genus and species name for the type of owl associated with the Greek goddess Athena.

In plain English,

This owl is called little owl.

Small,

With a seemingly furrowed brow,

This owl was commonplace throughout Europe back in the day.

Athena's owl was her constant companion and so associated with the goddess that owl's image was stamped on the coinage used by the Greeks of Athens.

Owls however do not actually make good pets,

Not even a snowy owl like Hedwig,

Harry Potter's companion.

So which came first?

Owl or goddess?

Daughter of Zeus,

Athena emerged from her father's forehead,

His third eye,

Fully grown.

Protector of the city,

She was also the goddess of war and handicrafts.

Legend has it she invented the ship,

The chariot,

The plow,

And rake.

She personified wisdom and righteousness.

Athena was an agent of change.

But in this meditation,

We'll focus on the owl's divine abilities to see in the dark,

To hear beneath the surface of things,

And to fly silently.

An owl's night vision is perhaps the primary hallmark of an owl.

Unusually large,

The eyes face forwards and are rigid in their skull,

Encapsulated by sclerotic rings holding them in place.

Immovable eyes,

Fixed and focused.

Both eyes work together,

Creating binocular vision.

Their vision itself is not broad,

But their body compensates by having an amazingly flexible neck,

One that swivels rapidly in almost all directions.

Tubular in shape,

Owls' eyes are composed of rod-shaped cells that process light efficiently,

Allowing whatever light is there to penetrate.

Owls possess few cone-shaped cells to differentiate color,

So they are mostly colorblind,

Seeing in black and white and all the shades of gray in between.

Three eyelids protect the eyes,

A top one to blink,

A bottom one which closes upwards to sleep,

And then a third veil which sweeps across the surface of the eye diagonally,

From the inside corner to the upper outside,

Fanning itself to clean and clear.

In the landscape of the night,

Owl is adept at navigating shadows and depth,

Light and dark,

Foreground and background.

Known for their hearing,

Some owls have asymmetrical ears,

With the right ear being slightly higher than the left.

These small slit-like openings are covered with feathers.

Used in conjunction with tiny facial muscles,

The feathers of the parabolic facial disc and their swively neck,

Owl hearing is acute at certain frequencies.

This allows them to ascertain all that is going on below with confidence,

Even movement and breath beneath the visible.

Owls literally keep their nose out of things.

Their short bell is curved downwards so as not to interfere with the ability to receive sound.

It's unobtrusive.

This extraordinary sense of hearing is one reason owls are formidable hunters.

Another reason is their feathers,

Which are key to their nearly silent flight.

There are five major types of feathers cloaking owls' large wingspan.

Contour,

Down,

Semi-plumes,

Bristles and fila-plumes.

The great horned owl also has corna-plume feathers,

Feathers which rest atop the head,

Looking like ears but are not.

From soft to stiff,

Short to long,

Inner to outer,

The feather's location on the wings guides the owl's elegant flight.

Each feather has its own anatomy.

The rachis is the spine of the feather,

The quill,

Stiff and hollow,

Provides support and structure for the filaments emerging from it.

Barbe ewls secure the feather to the body,

Much like follicles do to human hair.

Each type of filament arising from the central pillar of a feather is created for a specific purpose.

One theory supposes that the flutings on the leading edge of the wing feathers streamlines the air flowing over it to reduce turbulence.

An alternative theory is that the sound vibrations are shifted by the flutings to such a high frequency that prey and humans cannot hear them.

One thing is clear.

Little feathers are rarely ruffled.

Now it is time to let go of the story portion of the owl nidra.

Let's continue to pay attention with ears wide open and eyes closed.

Maybe you are already fast asleep.

Then bring your attention to your own beak,

Your nose.

Notice where you sense the breath.

Is it in your nostrils or further up into the sinus cavities?

Maybe you even feel it behind your eyes or the inner cheek bones or the rims of the nostrils.

Take a few rounds of breath slowly from the depths of your belly and feel it rise into your face.

Release the breath through the nose and breathe like this for a bit.

No controlling,

No shaping.

Just breathing in and out of the nose.

Keep it simple.

And then continuing to inhale through the nose,

Exhale through your mouth.

Your lips forming the word who.

The sides of the lips slightly pulled in.

Almost like you are blowing through a straw but the lips are slightly different.

Only push the air out as a soft sigh.

You can say this in your mind or audibly if you feel comfortable doing so.

Breathe like this for a few rounds of breath.

Feel as your belly deflates as you hoot.

Vocal cords stimulated and enlivened.

Trace the vibration.

Then notice the whisper of the breath as you inhale.

Lungs expanding,

Chest rising.

Then the whoosh as you exhale.

Notice where you hear the hooting more.

In your left ear or your right.

Slow and steady.

Rhythmic.

Keep breathing just like this.

But now release the auditory element of the breath if you haven't already.

Then notice the sacred pause at the top of the breath.

Then again at the bottom.

In the breath,

Momentarily still.

Just a few more rounds until the breath becomes seamless.

Maybe even drifts apart as you relax.

No commentary or judgement.

Just you and your breath.

Flowing together.

Relaxed and effortless.

Liberated from all doing.

Free from responsibility.

You are the owl.

Then bring your attention to your third eye.

The point between your eyebrows.

Let it rest there.

Soaking in awareness.

And then quietly bring a grievance,

Situation or problem into your awareness.

Big or little,

Just whatever first comes to mind.

Something that's weighing on your heart.

And then ask yourself,

How important is it?

Where in my life can I expand wisdom around this issue?

How can I relax my heart?

Ask yourself these questions a few times.

Releasing the need for or expectation of an immediate answer.

An expectation,

After all,

Was a premeditated resentment.

And then bless the question and turn it over to your trusted friend to figure it all out for you.

There's nothing else to do but settle further into comfort.

Imagine you are an owl.

Any kind of owl perched in a tree.

Any kind of tree.

Give yourself a name.

A serious one like Hildegard.

Or a fanciful one like Ferla.

An anonymous owl with a name known only to its creator.

Take a moment to see the totality of your owl self.

Upright in a tree.

Look down at your feet.

Your talons.

Sense as the skin of the feet meets the skin of the tree.

The bark.

Connecting energetically.

Feel what it's like to be rooted to a branch in a tree.

The tree rises up through the soles of your feet into the ankles and legs.

Notice where it goes without directing or regulating it.

Then release and splay your toes.

First on the right.

Big toe.

Index toe.

Middle.

Little and ring.

Linked together by ligament,

Muscle and bone.

Feeling the space in between.

Little.

Ring.

Middle.

Index and big.

Then over to the left foot.

Big toe.

Index toe.

Middle.

Little and ring.

Linked together by ligament,

Muscle and bone.

Feeling the space in between.

Little.

Ring.

Middle.

Index and big.

Root of the toes and tips of the toes.

Right and left.

Left and right.

Feet to ankle.

Shin to knee.

Linked together by ligament,

Muscle and bone.

Right foot.

Left foot.

Left ankle.

Right ankle.

Right shin.

Left shin.

Left knee.

Right knee.

All the spaces in between.

Right and left.

Left and right.

Foot.

Ankle.

Shin.

And knee.

Upper leg.

Lower leg.

Patella in between.

Right and left.

Left and right.

Yoked by ligament,

Muscle and bone.

Right hip.

Left hip.

Pelvis in between.

Thighs to hips.

Ribs to chest.

And all the organs in between.

Linked by ligament,

Muscle and bone.

Right ribs.

Left ribs.

Sternum in between.

Left of the heart.

Right of the heart.

Crown of the heart.

And foot of the heart.

Right and left.

Right and left.

Crown of the heart and foot of the heart.

Front and back of the heart.

Light and shadow of the heart.

Left and right.

Right and left.

Wisdom in all parts of the heart.

And the septa in between.

Right shoulder.

Left shoulder.

Collar bones in between.

Right wing.

Left wing.

Torso in between.

Upper arm.

Lower arm.

Elbow.

In between.

Right and left.

Left and right.

Joined by ligament,

Muscle and bone.

Top wing.

Under wing.

Feathers on each finger.

Right thumb.

Index.

Middle.

Little.

And ring.

Left thumb.

Index.

Middle.

Little.

And ring.

The space is in between.

Linked by ligament.

Muscle.

And bone.

Leading edge of the wings.

Straight and short.

And then the back of the wings.

Long and curved.

Awareness.

Up into the air.

Up into the syrinx.

Hollow.

Yet full throated.

Linked by ligament.

Muscle.

And bone.

And all the wind pipes in between.

Up into the face.

Eyes.

Right and left.

Left and right.

The nostrils in between.

Left ear.

Right ear.

Wise ears.

To hold the spaces in between.

Beak sharp.

Tongue soft.

Nothing in between.

Linked by ligament.

Muscle.

And bone.

Swoop attention up to the space in between.

The eyebrows.

Right eyebrow.

And left.

Third eye.

Third eye in between.

Rest in the illumination of wisdom.

Retrieved from the roots of the earth.

All the way up the tree.

To owls third eye.

Channels of divine love.

Flowing up.

And landing at the crown of your head.

Where trusted friend nests.

Feel the roots of your hair feathers.

Energized with close connection to source.

From this vantage point.

The birds eye view.

Scan your body slowly.

Down from crown.

To feet.

And then back up.

From feet to crown.

Survey the scenery.

Feel attention flow.

From left wing.

To right wing.

Right wing.

To left.

Feel the spine where all energy is connected.

Balancing both sides of the body.

Centered.

Now lift off.

Wings spreading.

Both wings needed to fly.

Left and right.

Right and left.

Wisdom on one side.

And compassion on the other.

Working in perfect harmony and synchronicity.

To produce guided flight.

Internal wisdom.

And external compassion.

Wisdom learned by listening.

To experience.

Strength.

And hope.

Soar here.

At the edge of enlightenment.

Relaxed and effortless.

Liberated from all doing.

Free from responsibility.

You are the owl.

And then bring your attention back to the middle of your forehead.

And let it rest there.

Drawing in awareness.

From this relaxed state.

Recall the issue about which you would like some insight and wisdom.

See if anything arises.

Yes.

No.

Maybe later.

If nothing comes up,

Just know that trusted friend will supply the information when the moment is right.

As you slip into the blissful anonymity of sleep.

A state where all creatures are equal.

And at one.

Call in your own parliament of owls.

As C.

S.

Lewis would say.

A group of friends,

Family members,

Mentors,

Guides,

Angels or saints.

Anyone who cheers you on from this realm or the next.

Allow them to bless you with their presence.

For participation is the key to harmony.

Invite them to impart any heartfelt wisdom they might have about your situation.

And then let go and let God.

Thank you.

Reviews

Thank you. This was lovely tonight.

Fascinating and calming✨ I wore owl socks the next day🙏🏻

Love this!!!

What a wonderful, peaceful, freeing, inspiring meditation, I enjoyed it very much . Thank you 🙏🏻
Love, light & hoots 🦉

Wow! I slept so well! Nameste 💜🙏🏽🧘🏽‍♀️

Lovely peaceful guidance with the night sounds in the background to soothe

Grateful for your guidance.

Wow! Thank you🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻I have been using this for several nights now, picking up content here and there, knowing there was a nidra, never heard any of it. This morning, I woke up at 5:30 am, did some automatic writing, then afterwards decided to run the Owl Anon one more time. Now I heard the full content and absolutely LOVED it. Thank you, thank you, thank you🙏🏻🦉🙏🏻

Fantastic! Provided just the rest I needed. Well listen again and again! ❤️