Spring Equinox Yoga Nidra

A Yoga Nidra practice in celebration of the Spring Equinox. Spring is a time of cleansing, renewal and planting seeds for the future, and this practice includes a body scan with visualisations of raindrops cleansing the energy centres of the body, alternate nostril breathing to balance the left and right hemispheres of the brain, and a 'spring cleaning' visualisation where you are guided to spring clean and decorate a forest cottage and garden, which can help with clearing the mind and finding mental clarity.

Where this practice is inspired by the season, it also be used at any time that you feel the need for cleansing, rejuvenation and clarity of vision for the future.

Photo by Pixabay

Transcript

Welcome to this yoga nidra practice in celebration of the spring equinox.

To begin with,

Make sure that you are comfortable to begin the practice.

You can do this practice lying in shavasana with your legs slightly apart and your arms a little away from your sides,

With the palms of the hands facing upwards,

Taking any support that you need for your legs or your head.

Or if you know that you won't be able to lie comfortably in shavasana for the whole of the practice,

Choose another position that feels better for you.

You could bring your feet to the mat at hip distance apart and let the knees drop in together to better support your lower back.

Or come into any other position where you feel comfortable and supported,

Using any props,

Cushions or blankets to make yourself as comfortable as you can possibly be.

Ideally,

Make yourself so comfortable that you might even be able to forget that your body's there at all as you practice.

And as you feel yourself becoming more settled and comfortable,

Notice how your body naturally begins to relax.

Feel the support of the earth beneath your body.

The earth holding your body as you relax completely.

And as you begin to surrender into your relaxation,

Just take a moment to become aware of the natural world around you.

Send your awareness into the earth beneath you.

And out into the environment outside of the room that you're in.

Become aware of the sky.

Of the clouds or any weather that's happening right now.

Become aware of any trees or plants in the environment outside.

And let your awareness expand outwards and become aware of the natural world that exists outside of the area that you're in.

Become aware of the sky expanding out into the distance.

Become aware of the different plants,

Trees and animals that inhabit the different places that your mind floats out into.

Become aware of the different expressions of the earth in all of the different places.

Let your awareness expand outwards and outwards and outwards.

Noticing the different aspects of the air,

The environment,

The natural world.

And now bring your awareness to the insides of your nostrils.

And feel the gentle touch of the air on the insides of your nostrils as you breathe in and out.

Observe the feeling of the air brushing against the insides of the nostrils as the air flows in and out of your body.

And now move to the ears.

Feel the sensation of the air on the insides of the ears.

And keeping the awareness inside the ears,

Notice any sounds that are present in your environment right now.

Let the awareness jump from sound to sound without getting too involved in any one sound.

Just observe that those sounds are there.

Acknowledge them.

And know that none of the sounds are going to disturb you as you rest,

But that they can only help to guide you into deeper levels of relaxation.

And just take a moment to acknowledge that this is your time for you.

For your rest.

For your self-exploration.

For your healing.

For your meditation.

And there is no way that you can get this practice wrong.

You can continue to listen to my voice for as long as that's useful for you,

But you are also free to drift away and ignore me.

And if you fall asleep,

It just means that your body needs to sleep and is taking advantage of this time of deep rest to get the restoration and rejuvenation that it needs.

So knowing that you can't get this practice wrong,

Give yourself permission to relax completely.

Knowing that the practice is bringing you exactly what you need today.

As we move into springtime and the earth begins to blossom with life around us,

The natural energy of growth that is happening everywhere makes it a wonderful and supportive time to plant seeds in our lives and to make positive intentions for the months to come.

So now just bring your awareness to your heart and rest the awareness at the heart centre.

Keeping the awareness at the heart,

Invite an impression to arise of whatever it is that you wish to bring into your life.

It may be a practical or material thing,

Something you wish to do or create.

Or it may be a more emotional thing,

Harmonious relationships.

Or it may be an internal thing,

A way that you want to feel,

Something you wish to experience inside yourself.

There's no need to think about it too much.

Just allow that impression for the coming months to arise from your heart,

However it comes for you.

And take a moment to feel and acknowledge it.

And now we're going to take a journey around the important energy centres of the body.

Move your awareness to rest at each point as it's named.

And as you rest at each point,

Picture a tiny raindrop floating down from the sky onto that place.

Bathing and cleansing each point.

We'll begin at the eyebrow centre.

Bring the awareness to the eyebrow centre and see a raindrop floating down to the eyebrow centre.

Cleansing and refreshing the eyebrow centre.

And the space between the collarbones.

A raindrop floats down to the space between the collarbones.

Cleansing the space between the collarbones.

And the right shoulder.

A raindrop floats down 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 space between the collarbone.

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 left ring finger.

The tip of the left little finger.

The left wrist.

The left elbow.

The left shoulder.

The space between the collarbone.

The centre of the chest.

A raindrop floats down to cleanse and refresh 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.

The third toe.

The fourth toe.

The fifth toe.

The right ankle.

The left ankle.

The right knee.

The right hip.

The lower abdomen.

The left hip.

The left knee.

The left ankle.

The left big toe.

The second toe.

The third toe.

The fourth toe.

The fifth toe.

The left ankle.

The left knee.

The left hip.

The lower abdomen.

The navel.

The centre of the chest.

The space between the collarbone.

The eyebrow centre.

The top of the head.

A raindrop floats down to the top of the head.

Cleansing and refreshing the top of the head.

Bring the awareness to the breath.

Observe the breath entering and leaving the body through the nostrils.

And notice how the breath makes a triangle shape as you breathe in and out.

It comes from outside the body.

And as you breathe in,

It moves up through each separate nostril and meets at the eyebrow centre,

Making a triangle.

And then as you breathe out,

It moves out through the separate nostrils again.

Keep watching this triangular shape made by the breath.

And now visualise the breath moving through alternate nostrils.

As you breathe in,

See the breath moving in through the left nostril and coming up to the eyebrow centre.

And as you breathe out,

See the breath moving out through the right nostril.

Breathe in through the right nostril,

Up to the eyebrow centre.

And breathe out through the left nostril.

Breathe in through the left.

Breathe out through the right.

Breathe in through the right.

Breathe out through the left.

Continue breathing through alternate nostrils.

Now extend the breath into the hands and the arms.

Breathe in from the left hand,

Up the left arm,

Through the left nostril to the eyebrow centre.

And breathe out through the right nostril,

Down the right arm to the right hand.

Breathe in from the right hand,

Up the right arm,

Through the right nostril to the eyebrow centre.

Breathe out through the left nostril,

Down the left arm to the left hand.

Continue breathing through the alternate arms and hands.

And now extend the breath into the legs and the feet.

Breathe in from the left foot,

Up the left leg,

Up the left side of the body,

Through the left nostril to the eyebrow centre.

And breathe out through the right nostril,

Through the right side of the body,

Down the right leg to the right foot.

Breathe in from the right foot,

Up the right leg,

Up the right side of the body,

Through the right nostril to the eyebrow centre.

Breathe out through the left nostril,

Down the left side of the body,

Down the left leg to the left foot.

Continue breathing through alternate sides of the body.

And now breathe through both sides of the body together.

Breathe in from the feet,

Up the legs,

Up the front of the body,

Through the nostrils to the eyebrow centre.

Breathe out from the eyebrow centre,

Down the front of the body,

Down the legs to the feet.

Continue breathing this triangle from the feet to the eyebrow centre.

And now breathe through the arms and the hands together.

Breathe in from the hands,

Up the arms,

Through the nostrils to the eyebrow centre.

Breathe out from the eyebrow centre,

Through the nostrils,

Down the arms to the hands.

Continue with this triangular breathing from the hands to the eyebrow centre.

And now breathe through the nose.

Watch the triangular shape of the breath moving in through the nostrils to the eyebrow centre and back out again.

See yourself walking through a forest on an early spring morning.

The sun has not yet risen but daylight is beginning to appear.

It's no longer the night time but not yet the day time.

And as you walk through the trees you notice all the signs of spring in the forest around you.

The blossoming flowers,

The greenness of the plants coming to life.

Ahead of you,

You see a small cottage surrounded by a wooden fence with a wooden gateway at the entrance.

You open the gate and step into the garden and walk to the door of the cottage.

You open the door and step inside.

And you observe the room that you enter into.

You notice what a beautiful space it is but you also see that it needs a little cleaning and housework.

In the corner of the room are all of the things that you need to give the room a good spring clean.

So you take whatever you need and you go around the room dusting,

Polishing,

Cleaning up the space.

And as you finish cleaning the room you take a look around,

Satisfied with the work that you've done.

And you move into the next room and give that room a clean.

Dusting away any cobweb.

Clearing away anything that's accumulated that doesn't need to be there anymore.

And room by room you go through the cottage.

Cleaning each room and taking a moment to admire your work before moving on to the next one.

You finish spring cleaning the cottage and step out into the garden.

The sun has risen into the sky and green leaves and colourful spring flowers blossom in the garden.

You see some gardening tools beside the fence.

And you take them and make your way around the garden.

Tidying up the garden.

Removing any weeds.

Doing any work that needs to be done.

And as you finish tending to the spring garden you take a handful of colourful springtime flowers.

And take them into the house and you begin to decorate the house with flowers.

Take as many flowers and plants as you need to decorate the house with the springtime.

And as you finish adorning the house with flowers.

You step back out into the garden and sit down in the sunshine.

And enjoy the magic of the springtime that's happening in the new life all around you.

Bring the awareness back to the heart centre.

With the awareness at the heart centre recall your vision for the coming months from the beginning of the practice.

Invite it to arise by itself however it wants to come.

And take a moment to feel into your vision.

To appreciate and acknowledge it.

And now very slowly begin to turn the awareness back outwards.

Notice the sounds that you can hear in your environment around you.

Let the awareness jump from sound to sound without remaining too long at any one sound.

Just acknowledge the different sounds that are there.

And become aware of your body lying peacefully and still.

Feel into the feeling of your body resting into the surface beneath you.

Picture your peaceful resting body in your mind.

Can you remember the colours of the clothes that you're wearing?

The colour of your blanket or any other support around you?

Now begin to deepen the breathing as you slowly prepare to end the practice.

Start to make some small movements with the fingers and the toes.

With the wrists and the ankles.

And give yourself a stretch in any way that's comfortable for you.

Take your time,

There isn't any rush.

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

Slowly open your eyes.

Your practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

Thank you for listening.

Reviews

Lovely...great way to welcome Spring. Many thanks for a gentle Nidra.