Spring Equinox Nidra For Balance

This is a recording of a live Yoga Nidra session on Insight Timer on the 16th of March 2025. This long practice acknowledges and celebrates the Spring Equniox with themes connected to springtime and encouraging balance. The practice includes seed planting visualisations, a body scan visualising sunlight and moonlight illuminating the different sides of the body, alternate nostril breathing, exploration of the sensations of hot and cold, and springtime imagery.

Image by Pablo Stanley

Transcript

So making sure that you're comfortable now and we'll just begin by settling the body.

So once you find the position that you feel like you can rest in for the practice,

Just take your awareness down into your feet and feel all of the muscles in your feet releasing and relaxing.

Feel any tension leaving the feet as they prepare to relax.

Then move the awareness up to the ankles.

Feel the ankles relaxing.

Tension moving out of the ankles as the ankles prepare for their relaxation.

And then move the awareness up into the legs.

Feel the legs relaxing,

Becoming heavy against the surface beneath them.

Feel the calf muscles releasing and relaxing.

The muscles around the knees,

The muscles in the thighs all letting go,

Releasing.

Feel tension releasing from the back.

Feel the muscles in the lower back,

The middle back and the upper back all releasing,

Relaxing and letting go.

Feel the muscles around the neck and the shoulders releasing.

The upper arms,

The elbows,

The lower arms,

The wrists and the hands and the fingers all becoming more relaxed.

Feel the head becoming heavy.

Feel the brain relaxing inside the skull.

The face softening.

All of the facial features relaxing.

And as the breath flows in and out of the body,

Notice how with every breath the chest and the abdomen become more relaxed.

Feel every exhalation carrying away any tension that's being held around the chest,

Around the abdomen.

And let the breath flow out into every part of the body,

So that with every exhalation the whole of the body becomes more relaxed.

With every exhalation the whole of the body relaxes more deeply.

Now just let the awareness float out to any sounds that you can hear in your environment.

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

Just acknowledge all of the sounds that are there and know that none of the sounds are going to disturb you as you practice today.

That they can only help you to relax even more deeply.

Now see yourself in a place where you feel completely safe,

Completely well and completely supported.

So this could be a place that you know that you feel safe and secure whenever you're there.

Or you could imagine somewhere that meets all of the conditions that you would need to feel safe,

Well and secure.

And bring anything that you need into this environment to enhance your safety.

And allow yourself to be surrounded by anything that makes you feel safe and secure.

And as this feeling of safety arises all around you,

Invite the feeling into your body.

And notice where you feel that feeling of safety inside your body.

Notice how it arises for you.

Feel that feeling of safety inside your body as vividly as you can.

This is your feeling that you have created for yourself.

And you can always come back to it if you need to at any time during the practice.

Feeling of absolute safety,

Security and well-being.

And now see yourself in a beautiful garden in the springtime.

Surrounded by blossoming flowers.

The signs of new life all around you.

The springtime sun shines down upon you.

And you enjoy all of the colours,

All of the sounds and all of the signs of spring.

And in the corner of the garden there's an empty patch of soil.

And a pot of seeds next to it.

You take the seeds into your hands.

And holding the seeds in your hands,

Allow a vision to arise.

Whatever you want to bring into your life for the coming months.

Perhaps things that you want to achieve or experience.

Perhaps a way that you want to feel.

Whatever it is that you wish to bring into your life.

Allow a vision of that thing or those things to arise very naturally.

Take a moment to acknowledge it.

To bring your focus into those intentions.

And then plant the seeds into the soil.

And know that as you practice the earth will be taking care of it.

And now see yourself lying at the top of a hill beneath the sky.

On your right side it is daytime.

The sun shines brightly in the clear blue sky.

On your left side it's nighttime.

And the moon and the stars sparkle in the night sky.

Welcome the golden sunlight onto the right side of your body.

The silver moonlight onto the left side of your body.

And as we journey around the body,

Welcome the light as it bathes and illuminates each part.

We'll begin at the right hand.

Welcome the golden sunlight into the right hand thumb.

The right index finger.

The right middle finger.

The right ring finger.

The right little finger.

The palm of the hand.

The back of the right hand.

The right wrist.

The right forearm.

The right elbow.

The right upper arm.

The right shoulder.

Golden sunlight illuminating the right shoulder.

The right side of the chest.

The right side of the abdomen.

The right waist.

The right hip.

The right thigh.

The right knee.

The lower leg.

The right ankle.

The right ear.

The sole of the right foot.

The top of the right foot.

Each of the right toes.

1,

2,

3,

4,

5.

And the whole of the right foot.

Golden sunlight illuminating 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.

Feel the golden sunlight shining down on the whole of the right side of the body.

Now move to the left side and welcome the silver moonlight to the left hand thumb.

The left index finger.

The left middle finger.

The ring finger and the little finger.

The palm of the left hand.

The back of the left hand.

The left wrist.

The left forearm.

The left elbow.

The upper arm.

The left shoulder.

The left side of the chest.

The left waist.

The left hip.

The left thigh.

The left knee.

The lower leg.

The left ankle.

The left heel.

The sole of the left foot.

The top of the left foot.

Each of the left toes.

1,

2,

3,

4,

5.

Bring the awareness to the whole of the left foot.

Silver moonlight illuminating 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.

Welcome the silver moonlight onto the left side of the body.

And now bring the awareness to the whole of the body.

Welcome the golden sunlight onto the right side of the body.

The silver moonlight onto the left side of the body.

Welcoming the light of the sun and the moon together.

Now bring the awareness to the breath and follow the flow of the breath as it moves in and out of the nostrils.

Watch the breath gently flowing in and flowing out.

Notice the triangular shape made by the breath as it flows in through the nostrils up to the eyebrow center and as it flows back out again.

Now see the breath moving through alternate nostrils.

As you breathe in the breath enters through the left nostril and flows up to the eyebrow center and as you breathe out it flows out of the right nostril.

Breathe in through the right nostril up to the eyebrow center and breathe out through the left nostril.

So continue with this alternate nostril breathing.

Inhaling through the nostril to the eyebrow center and exhaling through the opposite nostril.

Changing the side that you're breathing through after each inhalation.

Now move the breath into the arms and the hands.

So inhale from the left hand up the left arm through the left nostril to the eyebrow center and exhale through the right nostril down the right arm to the right hand.

Inhale from the right hand up the right arm up to the eyebrow center and exhale through the left side down the left arm to the left hand.

So keep breathing through alternate hands and arms.

Breathing up to the eyebrow center and exhaling through the opposite side.

Now move the breath into the legs and the feet.

Inhale from the left foot up the left leg up the left side of the body and through the left nostril to the eyebrow center.

Exhale through the right nostril down the right side of the body and down the right leg to the right foot.

Continue breathing through alternate sides of the body.

Changing sides after the inhalation.

Breathing from the feet up the legs up the body to the eyebrow center and back down the opposite side.

And now start to breathe through both sides of the body together.

Starting at the feet inhale up the legs up the sides of the body and through the nostrils to the eyebrow center and exhale from the eyebrow center back out through the nostrils through the sides and down the legs to the feet.

Making a big triangle over the body with the breath.

And continue to breathe in up the legs up the sides to the eyebrow center and to breathe back out down the side down the legs to the feet.

And now move the breath into the arms and the hands and breathe in from the hands up the arms through the nostrils to the eyebrow center breathe out through the nostrils and down the arms to the hands.

And then move the awareness into the nose.

Inhale through the nostrils up to the eyebrow center and exhale back out again.

Breathing through both nostrils at the same time.

Watching the triangle made by the breath.

And now awaken the feeling of heat inside the body.

Invite the body to become very hot.

Picture yourself outside under the hot summer sun in the middle of summer.

Feel that feeling of heat throughout every cell of the body.

Feel it vividly the feeling of heat.

Feel it inside every single cell.

The feeling of heat throughout the body.

The blazing heat of summer time.

And now awaken the feeling of cold.

Feel the body becoming very cold.

Imagine that you're outside on a frosty winter's morning and feel that feeling of cold through every cell of the body.

Feel it vividly.

The cold of winter throughout the whole of the body.

And are you able to experience both of those together?

Can you feel the body hot as if under the hot summer sun and cold as if outside in the winter frost at the same time?

Are you able to feel heat and cold inside the body together?

Heat and cold in the body together.

Now move the awareness to the eyebrow center.

And observe the eyebrow center.

Notice what's happening there.

Let's watch any shapes,

Any colors or patterns or perhaps just darkness.

Just observe what's there.

I'm keeping the awareness at the eyebrow center.

I'm going to name some different things.

Just allow an impression of each one to arise as I name it.

There's no need to force anything to happen.

Just allow each one to come by itself however it comes.

And we'll start with a daffodil.

The sun rising on a spring morning.

A chick hatching from the egg.

Rain drizzling down a window.

A lamb.

A bunch of roses.

Pink clouds in the evening sky.

A bird building a nest.

Fresh water trickling from a spring.

Tiny shoots sprouting on the branches of a tree.

A bear awakening from hibernation.

The sun shining in a clear blue sky.

Now come back to the garden from the beginning of the practice.

Blossoming springtime garden.

And come back to the patch of soil where you planted your seeds.

And come back to the visions that you created for the months to come.

And as you welcome those visions,

Those intentions back into your awareness.

See the tiny green sprouts emerging from the soil.

Making their way up towards the light.

And now come back to the safe place that you created at the beginning of the practice.

Come back to that place where you feel completely safe.

And secure and well.

Welcome that feeling of safety into every part of your body.

Feel it vividly.

This is your feeling that you have created for yourself.

You can always come back to it at any time if you need to.

In your practice and also in your life.

Complete safety and security.

Absolute well-being.

Now very gently begin to turn your awareness back outwards.

Become aware of any sounds that you can hear in your environment.

And just let the awareness jump from sound to sound.

Without getting too involved in any one thing.

Just acknowledge all of the different sounds that are there.

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

Feel into all of the meeting points where your body connects with the surface beneath you.

And notice how as you breathe the breath flows into the hands and feet.

Begins to awaken the hands and the feet.

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

Taking your time,

There's not any rush.

When you feel ready,

Stretch the arms up.

Give yourself a long stretch to reawaken the body.

And then when you're sure that you're feeling wide awake again,

Slowly blink the eyes back open.

This practice of yoga nidra is now complete.