Lammas Yoga Nidra

A Yoga Nidra practice in celebration of the festival of Lammas. In the Celtic calendar, Lammas is the celebration of the first harvest, when we begin to reap the fruits of the seeds we have sown.

This practice includes acknowledgement of whatever is coming into fruition in your life; visualisation of the late afternoon sunlight beaming onto the major energy points of the body; breath awareness, welcoming life giving oxgyen on the inhalation and letting go of what's no longer need on the exhalation; exploration of opposites abundance/lack; visualisation of floating back in time, placing stars of gratitude upon the important events when seeds for the future were sown; and a visualisation of collecting fruit to place on an altar of gratitude and abundance.

Where this practice is inspired by the season, it can also be used at any time that you feel the need to welcome fruition and abundance into your life.

Photo by Todd Trapani

Transcript

Welcome to your practice.

Make sure that you're in a comfortable position to begin.

If it's comfortable and accessible for you to lie in Shavasana,

With your legs open to a little wider than hip distance apart and with your arms a little away from the sides of your body,

With the palms of your hands facing upwards,

Then make your way into Shavasana,

Taking any support that will help you to feel even more comfortable.

Perhaps a block or a cushion under your head,

Or a rolled up blanket under your knees or your ankles.

And if Shavasana isn't a comfortable position for you to stay in for the duration of the practice,

Choose another position that feels better for you.

Perhaps bringing your feet to the mat at hip distance apart with the knees resting together,

Or bringing the soles of your feet together and opening the knees to the sides.

Use as much support as you need so that you can comfortably rest into your practice without feeling distracted by any physical discomfort.

And once you've made yourself comfortable,

Feel into your body and become aware of the support of the earth beneath you,

Holding your body for the practice.

Become aware of the surface that you're resting on,

Of the feeling of your body connecting into that surface,

And send your awareness down into the earth beneath that surface,

Right down into the earth,

Into the soil.

And from the soil send your awareness out into the wider world,

Into the earth surrounding you in every direction.

And take a moment to acknowledge the abundant earth that's thriving with life right now,

Thriving with warmth.

And know that the earth is supporting you as you practice,

That you are free to surrender and enjoy your meditation as the abundant earth so gently holds you.

Now move your awareness to your breath.

Follow the natural flow of the air as it moves in and out of your body.

Watch the breath flowing into your chest,

Into your abdomen.

Notice all of the small movements that happen in your body as you breathe in and out.

Feel the air brushing against the insides of your nostrils as it flows in and out of your body.

And can you feel the feeling of the air on the insides of your ears?

With the awareness inside your ears,

Take a moment to acknowledge any sounds that you can hear in your environment.

Just observe the sounds that are there.

There's no need to get too involved in the sounds or to worry about what they are or where they're coming from.

Simply acknowledge their presence.

And know that they're not going to disturb your practice today.

In the Celtic calendar,

Lammas is the time of the first harvest.

It's a time to celebrate abundance and to begin to reap the benefits of the seeds that we've sown.

Move your awareness to the eyebrow centre and as you rest at the eyebrow centre,

Invite an impression to arise of the well-deserved harvest that you are reaping in your life right now.

It doesn't have to be anything big.

Perhaps you're enjoying a significant time of fruition or it may be something more subtle but no less important.

Without thinking about it too much,

Allow the harvest that you're reaping in your life to arise in your awareness and take a moment to thank yourself for your hard work and dedication that's now yielding its results.

Give thanks to yourself,

For you deserve it.

Now let the awareness float down to the heart centre and if you have a sankalpa,

Invite your sankalpa to arise now.

Allow it to come naturally however it comes for you today.

There's no need to force it.

Welcome your sankalpa and take some time to acknowledge it.

And if you don't have one,

Simply rest your awareness at the heart.

Feel into the heart centre and observe what's happening there.

See yourself resting in a beautiful place in nature on a warm summer's day.

It is the late afternoon and the warmth of the summer sun beams down onto your body,

Warming your skin and relaxing your mind.

You are surrounded by the abundance of nature,

By plants,

Trees,

Birds and animals.

And here you are completely safe.

You are free to rest in absolute tranquility,

Safely held by the earth.

If there's anything that you need to make you feel even more safe,

Even more secure,

Even more at peace,

Invite those things into your environment.

And as we continue with the practice,

Know that you're free to come back here at any time if you need to,

To this space of absolute safety,

Security,

Peace and well-being.

Welcome the warmth of the late afternoon sun onto your skin.

And as we take our journey around the body,

See the warm sunlight illuminating each point,

Blessing each point with radiance.

Beginning at the eyebrow centre,

Welcome the sunlight onto the eyebrow centre and the throat.

Warm afternoon sunlight illuminates the throat.

Move to the right shoulder,

The right elbow,

The right wrist,

The tip of the right hand 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 throat,

The left shoulder,

The left elbow,

The left wrist,

The tip of the left hand thumb,

The tip of the left index finger,

The tip of the left middle finger,

The tip of the ring finger,

The tip of the little finger,

The left wrist,

The left elbow,

The left shoulder,

The throat,

The centre of the chest,

Warm sunlight illuminates the centre of the chest,

The left side of the chest,

The centre 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 right big toe,

The second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

The right ankle,

The right knee,

The right hip,

The lower abdomen,

The left hip,

The left knee,

The left ankle,

The left big toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe,

Fifth toe,

The left ankle,

The left knee,

The left hip,

The lower abdomen,

The navel,

The centre of the chest,

The throat,

The eyebrow centre,

The top of the head,

Warm sunlight illuminates the top of the head,

Let the awareness float back down to the heart centre,

Watch the chest gently rising and falling as the breath flows in and out,

Follow the breath as it flows into your body,

Watch the breath flowing into your nostrils,

Down the windpipe into your lungs,

And follow the breath as it flows back out again,

As the breath flows in,

It carries fresh oxygen into your body,

Send your awareness into your lungs,

See the oxygen passing through the lungs into the bloodstream,

Welcome the oxygen into the whole of your body,

Become aware of the oxygen flowing around the whole of your body,

Delivering radiant life force and vitality to the whole of your body,

With each exhalation carbon dioxide is carried out of the lungs,

Out of the body,

Follow the breath as it flows out of the lungs,

Up the windpipe and back out of the nostrils,

Each exhalation carries away with it all that you no longer need,

Each exhalation carries away what doesn't serve you,

Each exhalation sets you free,

Now invite the feeling of abundance to arise inside your body,

The feeling of abundance,

If it helps you to cultivate the feeling you might like to recall a time that you felt very abundant,

Very fulfilled,

Or you can just allow the feeling to come by itself,

Feel the sensations that arise inside your body with the feeling of abundance,

Welcome the feeling of abundance throughout the whole of your body,

Feel it as vividly as you can,

The feeling of abundance,

Welcome the feeling of abundance,

And now the feeling of lack,

Invite the feeling of lack to arise inside your body,

Perhaps recalling a time when you felt that you were lacking something,

Or simply allow the feeling to come by itself,

Welcome the feeling of lack,

Feel it vividly throughout the whole of the body,

The feeling of lack,

And are you able to feel both of those at the same time,

Welcome the feelings of abundance and lack as they arise inside your body together,

Feel both of them vividly and simultaneously,

Abundance and lack together,

Abundance and lack together,

Now let your awareness very gently drift backwards in time,

Drift back to the events that were happening right before you began this practice,

Drift back to earlier in the day,

Without thinking too much or forcing anything,

Just let your awareness gently drift backwards,

Back to last night,

Back to yesterday evening,

Back to yesterday afternoon,

As you float back some times will arise that were particularly important in your life,

When the seeds were planted for something significant,

Where you initiated an action for your abundant and fulfilling future,

As you drift back through your days,

Through your weeks,

Through your months,

Welcome a silver star of gratitude onto each of those points,

Each of those important times,

They may not be big events,

You may not have even realized them to be important at the time,

As they arise,

Welcome a silver star onto each one of those important times,

Continue to float backwards,

Back through the years,

Welcoming a silver star of gratitude onto all of those significant moments,

That contributed to your abundant fulfilling life,

There's no need to force anything,

No need to think too much,

Simply let your awareness float back in time,

And welcome the silver stars onto each of those important events,

Now see yourself walking through an orchard in the late summertime,

You carry with you a basket of grains,

And as you walk through the trees,

You acknowledge the variety of ripe fruits that have reached their season,

Moving between the trees,

You place any fruits that you feel especially drawn to into your basket,

Thanking the fruit trees for their gifts,

With your basket filled with fruit and grains,

You step out of the orchard,

And you step onto a vast moorland,

You walk over the grass,

Welcoming the warm summer sun,

You hear the trickling of water,

And you find yourself approaching a spring,

You kneel beside the spring,

Take some fresh water into your cupped hands,

And welcome the refreshing water into your body,

A smooth slab of stone sits beside the spring,

And you carefully place your fruit and grains onto the stone,

In gratitude for the abundance that is present in your life,

As you sit beside the spring and the altar of abundance,

Bring back into your awareness whatever it is that you're enjoying the fruition of in your life right now,

Take a moment to acknowledge it,

And surrounded by the abundance of the air,

The abundance of life,

You close your eyes and enter into stillness,

If you have a sankalpa,

Now is the time to recall your sankalpa,

Your heart's deepest prayer or vow,

Welcome your sankalpa as it arises very naturally,

There is no need to force it,

And if you don't have one just rest your awareness at the heart center,

And take some time to rest in the peace of the heart,

Very slowly begin to turn your awareness back outwards,

Notice any sounds that are present in your environment,

And just let the awareness jump from sound to sound,

Without getting too involved in any one sound,

Just acknowledge that the sounds are there,

Feel into the feeling of your body resting on the surface beneath you,

The feeling of your clothing or blanket against your skin,

And watch your breath naturally deepening as you prepare yourself to end the practice,

Very slowly begin to make some movements with your fingers and your toes,

Begin to circle your wrists and your ankles,

And when you feel ready give yourself a stretch in any way that feels good for you,

Take your time,

There's no rush,

When you're sure that you're feeling wide awake again,

Slowly blink your eyes back open,

Your practice of yoga nidra is now complete,

Thank you for listening.

Reviews

Lovely! It is harvest time and I am blessed with abundance in fruits, in money and especially family. Thank you.