Christmas Yoga Nidra
A Christmas-themed Yoga Nidra for the festive season to connect to the energy of this time of year. This practice includes exploration of giving and receiving, visualizations of Christmas imagery, and the invitation to make a Christmas wish. Photo by Christina & Peter.
Transcript
Welcome to your practice.
This is a Christmas themed yoga nidra to welcome and enjoy the energy of the festive season.
So make sure that you're comfortable to begin the practice.
You might like to come into shavasana lying on your back with your legs open so that the feet come to a little wider than hip distance apart and with your arms a little away from your body with the palms of your hands facing upwards.
Or if shavasana doesn't feel like the most comfortable position for you to rest in today find a position that feels good for you.
Take any support that you need for your body,
Any blocks,
Cushions or blankets and take your time to make sure that you are as warm and comfortable as you can possibly be so that you can enjoy your relaxation without feeling any physical discomfort from your body.
And as you begin to settle,
Feel your body becoming more relaxed with every breath.
Feel the support of the surface beneath you holding your body as you gently ease into deeper levels of relaxation.
Feel into your feet and feel all of the muscles in your feet relaxing.
Feel your ankles relaxing.
And your lower legs.
Your knees.
Your hips.
Your thighs and hips.
Feel the legs completely relax.
Relaxing more deeply with every breath.
Feel your arms relaxing.
The hands.
The elbows.
The lower arms.
The wrists.
The hands and the fingers.
All completely relax.
Watch the breath flowing into your chest.
Watch the gentle rising and falling of the chest with each inhalation and exhalation.
And feel the breath deepening and slowing down as the body continues to relax.
Feel the weight of your head against the surface beneath you.
Your brain becoming heavier inside your skull.
Feel your jaw relaxing.
Your face relaxing.
Your forehead relaxing.
And with every breath feel the whole of your body becoming more deeply relaxed.
Every breath encourages your body towards deep breath.
Now send the awareness outwards to the sounds that you can hear in your environment.
And just let the awareness move from sound to sound.
Acknowledging that they are there.
There's no need to get too involved in the sounds or to analyse where they're coming from.
Just observe the sounds.
And know that no sound is going to disturb you as you rest today.
But that all of the sounds can only help you to relax even more deeply.
And just take a moment now to acknowledge that this is your time for your rest.
And that you deserve this time for yourself.
For your rest,
Rejuvenation and healing at this busy time of the year.
For the duration of this practice nothing is required of you except to simply be.
There is no right or wrong way to do the practice.
It is your time to receive what you need.
You can follow my voice for as long as it serves you.
Or you're free to drift away and ignore me at any time.
And if you fall asleep it just means that your body needs to sleep.
There is no way that you can get this practice wrong.
And there are no obligations to fulfil as you rest here.
Just your time for your deep rest.
And if you have an intention for your practice today,
Just take a moment to bring that intention into your mind now.
Whatever your reason for showing up to practice today.
For deep rest,
Healing,
Meditation,
To connect with the energy of the season.
Whatever your reason for practicing today,
Bring that intention into your mind now.
And just take a moment to acknowledge it.
And now let's begin the rotation of consciousness around the body.
As each point is named,
Picture a sparkling golden star floating down from the sky and resting upon that point.
Beginning with the eyebrow centre.
See a golden star floating down from the sky to rest upon the eyebrow centre.
And the space between the collarbones.
A sparkling golden star floating down to the space between the collarbones.
And the right shoulder.
The right elbow.
The right wrist.
The tip of the right thumb.
The tip of the right index finger.
The tip of the right middle finger.
The tip of the right ring finger.
The tip of the right little finger.
The right wrist.
The right elbow.
The right shoulder.
The space between the collarbones.
And the left shoulder.
The left elbow.
The left wrist.
The tip of the left thumb.
The tip of the left index finger.
The tip of the left middle finger.
The tip of the left ring finger.
The tip of the left little finger.
The left wrist.
The left elbow.
The left shoulder.
The space between the collarbones.
The centre of the chest.
A golden sparkling star floating down to rest at the centre of the chest.
The left side of the chest.
The right side of the chest.
The centre of the chest.
The navel.
The lower abdomen.
The right hip.
The right knee.
The right ankle.
The tip of the right big toe.
The tip of the right second toe.
The tip of the right third toe.
The tip of the fourth toe.
The tip of the little toe.
The right ankle.
The right knee.
The right hip.
The lower abdomen.
The left hip.
The left knee.
The left ankle.
The tip of the left big toe.
The tip of the left second toe.
The tip of the left middle toe.
The tip of the fourth toe.
The tip of the little toe.
The left ankle.
The left knee.
The left hip.
The lower abdomen.
The navel.
The navel.
The centre of the chest.
The space between the collarbone.
The eyebrow centre.
The top of the head.
Now see the whole of the body illuminated with sparkling golden stars.
Sparkling stars shining all over the whole of the body.
Now bring the awareness to the breath.
Follow the breath as it flows in and out.
In and out of the body.
Watch the lungs receiving the new air.
And watch the lungs giving out the old air.
With each breath in the lungs receive the oxygen to nourish the whole of the body.
With each breath out carbon dioxide is given back out to the world.
Keep the awareness on this process of giving and receiving as the breath flows in and out.
And now bring the awareness to the feeling of giving.
And invite the feeling of giving to arise inside the whole of the body.
To help bring the feeling you might like to remember an occasion where you gave something to somebody from your heart.
A gift or your time.
And feel that feeling of giving intensifying within the body.
Feel it vividly.
The feeling of giving.
Welcome it.
Feel it growing inside every cell.
The feeling of giving.
And now the feeling of receiving.
Invite the feeling of receiving to arise.
Perhaps by remembering an occasion when you gratefully received something from somebody.
And welcome that feeling into the body.
The feeling of receiving.
Feel it vividly.
Feel the feeling intensifying as it grows in every cell.
The feeling of receiving.
The feeling of receiving.
And are you able to feel both of those together?
Can you feel what it feels like to give and what it feels like to receive at the same time?
Can you feel them both in the body together?
The feelings of giving and receiving together.
Giving and receiving together.
Now move the awareness to the eyebrow center.
Observe the eyebrow center.
Just witness what's happening there.
Observe any shape,
Color,
Images or just darkness.
Without getting involved in any of it,
Just watch.
Keep the awareness at the eyebrow center.
I'm going to name some different things.
Allow an impression of each one to arise.
There's no need to force anything.
Allow each one to come however it comes.
Perhaps as an image or perhaps as a feeling or a subtle sense.
We'll begin with a snowman.
Church bells ringing on Christmas morning.
A string of tinsel.
A bauble.
A fairy on top of a Christmas tree.
Writing a card to a loved one.
A choir singing Christmas carol.
A reindeer.
A fir tree in the snow.
A newborn baby.
Holly.
A nativity scene.
A robin.
Hanging a stocking by a fireplace.
Peace on earth.
See yourself walking through the winter snow in the early morning.
Daylight is arriving but the sun has not yet risen and stars still sparkle in the sky above you.
One star in particular sparkles brightly above the horizon.
Look up at the shining star.
Welcome its light.
And keeping your awareness on the star,
As the first rays of morning sunlight begin to appear,
Make a Christmas wish.
And now,
Very slowly,
Begin to turn your awareness back outwards.
Become aware of the sounds that you can hear around you and just let the awareness jump from sound to sound without getting too involved in any one sound.
Just notice that they are there.
Become aware of the feeling of your body resting into the surface beneath you.
The feeling of your clothing against your skin.
The feeling of your blanket against your skin.
And start to deepen the breathing as you begin to end the practice.
Watch the breath flowing in and out of your body.
And now slowly begin to make some movements with the hands and the feet.
And stretch in any way that you need to.
Taking your time,
There isn't any rush to get up.
And when you are ready,
Gently open your eyes.
Your practice of yoga nidra is now complete.
Thank you for listening.
