Samhain Yoga Nidra

A yoga nidra practice in celebration of the Celtic festival of Samhain. Samhain, also known as the Celtic New Year, marks the end of the year when the days grow short as we move through the depths of Autumn towards winter. It is a time to acknowledge that all things come to an end, but that endings make space for new beginnings, and a time to recognize the past and the ancestors that went before us.

The practice includes a long body rotation, visualizing healing light and stars around the body, breath awareness, exploration of the opposites, loss/discovery, and visualization of a turning wheel spiraling back through your life, and back through previous generations, with the invitation to plant a seed of intention into the wheel as it spins forward into the future.

Where this practice was created for Samhain, it can be practiced at any time that you feel the need to acknowledge an ending and make space for a new beginning.

Image by Pablo Stanley

Transcript

Welcome to your practice. Make sure that you're warm, Comfortable and ready to begin. If you need to take any props to support yourself, Any cushions, Blankets or blocks, Use whatever you need and bring your body into a position that you'll be able to stay in for the practice without feeling distracted by any physical discomfort. You might like to lie in Shavasana, With your legs open to a little wider than hip distance apart and with your arms a little away from your sides, With the palms of your hands facing upwards. Or if that doesn't feel like the best position for you, Find another position that feels more comfortable. And if you do feel like you need to move at any time during the practice, That's okay. Gently move yourself into another position but be careful to move slowly and mindfully without disturbing the rest of your resting body too much. When you're feeling comfortable and ready to begin, Close your eyes and feel into the feeling of your body resting into the surface beneath you. Feel the gentle movements that are happening inside your body with every breath that you take, The chest softly expanding and contracting. And just watch as every exhalation gently guides the body into relaxation. With every exhalation, Tension eases out of the muscles. With every exhalation, The body softens. With every exhalation, Your mind becomes quiet and ready to enter into relaxation. Follow the flow of the breath as it flows in through your nostrils, Down your windpipe and into your lungs. And follow the breath back out again. Feel the feeling of the air moving into your nose. And can you feel the air as it flows down the back of your throat? Can you feel the air on the insides of your lungs? Now move your awareness to your ears and feel into your ears. Can you feel the gentle sensation of the air on the insides of your ears? And with the awareness inside your ears, Notice any sounds that are present in your environment right now. Just let the awareness jump from sound to sound without getting too involved in any one sound or worrying about what the sounds are or where they come from. Just acknowledge that those sounds are there and know that they're not going to disturb you but can only help to enhance your experience as you rest. The festival of Samhain marks the end of the cycle of the sun's journey through the year as the days become shorter and the nights longer until the sun returns once again at the winter solstice. Deep within the season of autumn, Nature prepares itself to sleep as the final leaves fall from the trees and animals enter into hibernation. But although the season reflects to us a time of endings and a time to turn inwards, Samhain is also acknowledged as the beginning of the Celtic year, Reminding us of the cyclical nature of life and that every ending also marks a new beginning. This is a powerful time to release things from your life that no longer serve you in order to make space for new things to come. So if you do have an intention for this practice, Something that you're ready to let go of or that you wish to acknowledge the ending of, Bring that into your awareness now and just take a moment to acknowledge it. And if you have a sankalpa, Now is the time to recall your sankalpa. Welcome your sankalpa, Your heart's deep prayer or vow, However it arises for you today. There's no need to force anything to happen, Just gently allow it to come however it comes. And if you don't have a sankalpa, Just rest your awareness at the heart and observe the heart centre. Now see yourself sitting at the base of a tall tree. The trunk of the tree rises high above you and you rest safely between its large roots. Feel the safe protection of the tree as you rest into it. Above you the first stars of the night begin to glisten in the evening sky. As you rest against the tree trunk, You welcome a gentle healing energy from the tree and you feel the strong healing magic of the tree gently flowing into your body. Like a soft golden light. The golden light flows into your right hand, Illuminating your right hand. Welcome the soft healing golden light into your right hand thumb, Right index finger, Right middle finger, Ring finger, Little finger, The palm of the right hand, The back of the right hand, The right wrist, The right forearm, The right elbow, The upper arm. The golden light flows into your right shoulder, Right armpit, Right side of the chest, Right side of the abdomen, Right waist, Right hip, Right thigh, Right knee, Lower leg, Ankle, Heel. The sole of the right foot, The top of the right foot, The right toes, One, Two, Three, Four, Five. Welcome the soft golden light into your left hand, Welcome the golden light into the left hand thumb, Index finger, Middle finger, Ring finger, Little finger, The palm of the left hand, The back of the hand, The right wrist, The left forearm, The left elbow, The upper arm, The left shoulder, The left armpit, The left side of the chest, The left side of the abdomen, The left waist, The left hip, The left thigh, The knee, The lower leg, The left ankle, The left heel, The sole of the left foot, The top of the left foot, The left toes, One, Two, Three, Four, Five. Welcome the healing golden light as it flows up the back of your body into your right heel and left heel, The back of the right knee, The back of the left knee, The right buttock, The left buttock. Welcome the soft golden light into your spine, Healing golden light flowing up every vertebrae of the spine, The right shoulder blade, The left shoulder blade, The back of the neck, The back of the head, The top of the head, Golden light flows down the front of your body to the forehead, The right temple, The left temple, The right eyebrow, The left eyebrow, The right eye, The right eye, The left eye, The right ear, The left ear, The right cheek, The left cheek, The right nostril, The left nostril, The tip of the nose, The upper lip, The lower lip, The chin, The jaw, The right collarbone, The left collarbone, The space between the collarbones, The right side of the chest, The left side of the chest, The centre of the chest, The navel, The lower abdomen, The right hip, The left hip, The right knee, The left knee, The right ankle, The left ankle, The right toes, The left toes, And the whole of the right foot, Golden light flows into the whole of the right foot, The whole of the right leg, The whole of the right arm, The whole of the right side of the body, The whole of the left foot, The whole of the left leg, The whole of the left arm, The whole of the left side of the body, The whole of the body, The whole of the body filled with healing golden light from the tree, The whole of the body illuminated with healing golden light, Resting into the safety of the tree trunk, Look up to the night sky and see the silver stars that are now glistening brightly in the dark night sky, See a silver star float down from the sky and land between your eyebrows, Illuminating the eyebrow center, A silver star floats down and lands at the throat, Illuminating the throat, Silver stars float down from the night sky to land at the right shoulder, Right elbow, Right wrist, At the tip of the right hand thumb, The tip of the right index finger, The tip of the middle finger, The tip of the ring finger, The tip of the little finger, The tip of the little finger, The right wrist, The right elbow, The right shoulder, The throat, Silver stars float down to the left shoulder, The tip of the left hand thumb, The tip of the left index finger, The tip of the 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 center of the chest, A silver star floats down to the center of the chest and the left side of the chest, The center of the chest, The right side of the chest, The center of the chest, The navel, The lower abdomen, The right hip, The right knee, The right ankle, The right big toe, Second toe, Third toe, Fourth toe, Fifth toe, The right ankle, The right 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 center of the chest, The throat, The eyebrow center, The top of the head, A silver star floats down from the night sky to illuminate the top of the head, See the whole of the body sparkling with silver stars, Silver stars illuminating the whole of the body, Silver stars illuminating the whole of the body, Bring the awareness to the breath, Follow the breath as it flows in and out, The chest gently rising and falling with each inhalation and exhalation, And now bring your awareness to the point at the end of the exhalation, The final movement when the last of the air is released from the lungs, Allow the rest of the breath to happen naturally as you rest at the end of the exhalation, And now move the awareness to the beginning of the inhalation, The first moment when the air begins to enter the body, Rest the awareness at the very beginning of the breath, The beginning of the inhalation, And now move the awareness to the space in between the exhalation and the inhalation, The next moment after the exhalation has finished but before the next inhalation has started, There is a short pause, Rest the awareness within this pause, Allowing the breathing to happen naturally as you rest in the pause between the breaths, Feel into your body and invite the feeling of loss to arise, The feeling of loss, If it helps to recall the feeling you could remember a time when something was lost, When you experienced that feeling or you can just allow the feeling to come by itself, Feel the sensations that arise inside your body with the feeling of loss, Welcome them, Feel them vividly, The feeling of loss, And now the feeling of discovery, Invite the feeling of discovery to arise, Perhaps by recalling a time when you discovered something new and fulfilling or by just allowing the feeling to come by itself, The feeling of discovery, Intensify the feeling, Welcome the sensations that arise with the feeling of discovery, The feeling of discovery, Discovery and loss together, Welcome the feelings as they arise together inside the body, Feel them simultaneously at the same time, Discovery and loss together, Discovery and loss together, Float the awareness to the eyebrow center, Rest at the eyebrow center, Observe the eyebrow center, Notice any shapes, Colors or patterns that are happening there or perhaps just darkness, Without getting too involved in anything that you see, Just observe, Keep the awareness at the eyebrow center, Now see a wheel turning at the eyebrow center, Around the wheel are all of the important events from the year gone by, The events that have shaped your life into what it is today, Just observe the wheel, Without getting drawn into any particular events, Just notice them and just behind that wheel are the impressions from the previous year, The important events from two years ago and behind that are the impressions from the year before, See each year spiraling backwards to the year before, Winding back through the important events that have shaped your life, Winding back through the previous generations, See the spiral continuing far back into the past and now come back to the present, Come back to the wheel of this year slowly turning, See the wheel turning up to this point right now and see the wheel gently pausing for a moment at this very point in time with the spiraling gears of the past behind you and the future before you that has not yet happened, Look into this moment upon the wheel, What do you see? Gaze into the wheel as it remains paused, Watch what is happening, Before the wheel begins to turn again, You have the opportunity to place a seed of intention into the wheel, Ready to spin and grow into the coming year, If you have a sankalpa, Recall your sankalpa now and if you don't have one, Welcome any intention for yourself and your future that comes to you, Allow it to arise gently without forcing it and place your intention into the wheel and now see the wheel slowly continuing to turn, Very slowly begin to turn your awareness back outwards, Notice the sounds that are present around you, Allow your awareness to 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 into the surface beneath you, The feeling of the air against your skin, The feeling of your clothing or blanket against your skin, The feeling of the air flowing in and out of your body, Watch your chest gently rising and falling with every breath, And now begin to make some small movements to reawaken your body, Start to move the fingers and the toes, The hands and the feet, And when you feel ready give yourself a stretch and slowly open your eyes, Your practice of yoga nidra is now complete, Thank you for listening.

Reviews

Wonderful nidra! Deep rotation, lots of healing light and stats. Exceptional practice. Many thanks. ☮️💖🙏🖖🕉🪷