Water Element Yoga Nidra

This is a recording of a Yoga Nidra that was created for a live session on Insight Timer in June 2023. Inspired by the element of water and the emotional connections made with the water element in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the practice includes a rotation of awareness around the body, breath awareness counting the breaths backwards from 54-0, exploration of the opposites of hot/cold, fear/courage, and insecurity/security and a visualisation of becoming a droplet of water and floating up into the sky and down towards the ocean.

Transcript

Welcome to your practice.

Make sure that you are in a comfortable position.

Take any cushions,

Blankets or props that you need to support yourself and make yourself as comfortable as you possibly can so that you will not be distracted by your body as you practice.

Ganesha is often practiced in Shavasana.

So if Shavasana is comfortable for you,

Make your way to lying on your back with your feet opened out to a little wider than hip distance apart and with your arms at your sides with the palms of the hands facing upwards.

You might like to support your knees with a rolled up blanket or place a cushion or block underneath your head for support.

And if Shavasana isn't a comfortable position for you to lie in for a long time,

Choose another position that you'll be able to lie in comfortably without distraction.

See if you can 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 comfortably settle,

Feel your body naturally relaxing into the surface beneath you.

Feel into all of the meeting points where your body connects with the surface beneath and feel your body becoming heavier at each of those places.

Slowly relaxing and letting go.

Now bring your awareness to the breath.

Feel the natural movement of your chest as the air enters and leaves the body.

Feel the chest gently rising and sinking with each breath.

And now picture the breath like a wave washing over the body.

As you breathe in,

The wave washes in from the feet up to the top of the head.

And as you breathe out,

The wave washes out from the top of the head back to the feet.

And with every exhalation,

Feel the wave washing away anything from your day that you no longer need.

Any thoughts,

Worries or problems that you don't need to bring with you into your relaxation,

Feel them carried away by the wave with every exhalation.

Feel the wave washing any physical tension away from the body.

Allow your body and mind to become peaceful and still with every exhalation.

Now bring the awareness to the skin and feel the sensation of the air against your skin and of your clothing or blanket against your skin.

Feel the sensation of the air on the insides of your nostrils as you breathe in and out.

And on the insides of your ears.

Can you feel the sensation of the air on the insides of your ears?

And with the awareness inside the ears,

Become aware of any sounds that you can hear.

Sounds from far away in the distance.

Sounds from closer to you.

Sounds from inside the room.

And the sounds from your own body.

The sound of your breath.

The sound of your heartbeat.

And know that the sounds are not going to disturb you,

But that they will only help you to relax even more deeply.

And just take this moment to acknowledge that this is your time for your deep relaxation.

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

You can continue to follow my voice for as long as that's useful for you.

And you're also free to drift away and ignore me.

And if you fall asleep,

That just means that your body needs to sleep and is taking advantage of this deep state of rest.

So knowing that you cannot get this wrong,

Permit yourself to relax a little more deeply and welcome all of the benefits of deep relaxation that your practice is bringing you.

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

Secure and well.

You might like to remember a time and a place where you felt very safe and secure.

Or you might like to imagine a situation that has everything you need to feel safe,

Well and secure.

See this place of safety arising vividly around you.

Welcome the feeling of safety into your body.

Feel the feeling of safety and security entering into every cell.

This deep feeling of safety and wellness is your inner resource and you can return to it at any time during the practice if you need to.

Safety Security Absolute wellbeing And if you have a sankalpa,

Now's the time to recall your sankalpa.

The sankalpa is a deep vow or prayer from the heart for something that you wish to attain in your life.

It's best not to force the sankalpa,

But to just let it arise naturally by itself.

It may come as a short positive statement,

Or as an image,

A feeling or a deep sense of knowing.

And if you don't have a sankalpa,

That's okay too.

Just rest the awareness at the heart centre and observe whatever's happening there.

Now we'll begin the rotation of consciousness around the body.

Bring the awareness to each body part as its named.

We'll begin inside the mouth,

At the tip of the tongue.

Rest the awareness at the tip of the tongue.

And the whole of the tongue.

And the whole of the tongue.

Bring the awareness to the whole of the tongue.

The roof of the mouth.

The bottom of the mouth.

The teeth.

The gums.

The lips.

And the chin.

Bring the awareness to the chin.

The jaw.

The right ear.

And the left ear.

The right cheek.

The left cheek.

The right nostril.

The left nostril.

The whole of the nose.

The right eye.

The right eyeball.

The right eyelid.

The right eyelashes.

The right eyebrow.

The whole of the right eye.

And the left eye.

The left eyeball.

The left eyelid.

The whole of the right eye.

The left eyelashes.

The left eyebrow.

The whole of the left eye.

Bring the awareness to the eyebrow centre.

The forehead.

The forehead.

The top of the head.

And if you like,

You might like to imagine a flow of pure healing water bathing the top of the head.

And flowing over the back of the head.

The back of the neck.

To the right shoulder.

Healing water flowing over the right shoulder.

The right upper arm.

The right elbow.

The right wrist.

The right hand.

And the right thumb.

Index finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

And little finger.

Healing water flowing over the right side of the chest.

The right waist.

The right hip.

The right thigh.

The right knee.

The lower leg.

The right ankle.

The right heel.

The sole of the right foot.

The right knee.

The top of the right foot.

And the right toes.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

The whole of the right side of the body.

Clear healing water flowing over the whole of the right side of the body.

And moving the awareness to the left side.

Pure healing water flowing over the left shoulder.

The left upper arm.

The left elbow.

The lower arm.

The left wrist.

The left hand.

The left thumb.

Index finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Little finger.

Healing water flowing over the left side of the chest.

The left waist.

The left hip.

The left thigh.

The knee.

The lower leg.

The ankle.

The heel.

The sole of the left foot.

The top of the left foot.

And the left toes.

And the left toes.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

And the whole of the left side of the body.

Clear healing water flowing over the whole of the left side of the body.

And the whole of the body together.

The whole of the body together.

The whole of the body together.

Bring the awareness to the breath.

Feel the natural movement of the chest as the air flows in and out of the body.

Feel the chest rising with each inhalation and sinking again with each exhalation.

Now begin to count the breaths backwards from 54 to 0.

Like this.

Breathing in 54.

Breathing out 54.

Breathing in 53.

Breathing out 53.

Breathing in 52.

Breathing in 52.

Breathing out 52.

And so on.

Keep the awareness completely on the breath and counting.

If you make a mistake or if you reach 0,

Go back to 54 and start again.

Complete awareness on the breath and counting.

Continue counting the breath.

Finish your counting and invite a feeling of heat to arise inside the body.

Welcome the feeling of heat.

Feel the body becoming very hot.

As if being out under the sun on a hot summer's day.

Feel the feeling of heat arising inside the body.

Intensify the feeling.

The feeling of heat.

The feeling of heat.

And now the feeling of cold.

Welcome the feeling of cold.

Feel the feeling of cold arising inside the body.

Feel the body becoming very cold.

As if being out in the snow on a cold winter's day.

The feeling of cold.

Intensify the feeling.

Intensify the feeling of cold.

And is it possible to feel both of those at the same time?

Are you able to feel heat and cold inside the body at the same time?

Can you feel the body very hot and very cold simultaneously?

Are you able to feel hot and cold together?

Hot and cold together.

Invite the feeling of fear to arise inside the body.

The feeling of fear.

What sensations do you feel inside the body with the feeling of fear?

Welcome the feeling.

The feeling of fear.

Intensify it.

The feeling of fear.

The feeling of fear.

And now the feeling of courage.

Invite the feeling of courage to arise.

What sensations do you feel inside the body with the feeling of courage?

Welcome the feeling.

The feeling of courage.

Intensify it.

The feeling of courage.

The feeling of courage.

And is it possible to feel both of those at the same time?

Are you able to feel fear and courage simultaneously?

Can you welcome the sensations that arise in your body with the feeling of fear and with the feeling of courage together?

Can you feel fear and courage together?

Fear and courage together.

And now the feeling of insecurity.

Invite the feeling of insecurity to arise.

If you like,

You might find it useful to recall something that makes you feel insecure.

Or you may prefer to allow the feeling to arise naturally by itself.

The feeling of insecurity.

What do you feel inside your body with the feeling of insecurity?

What do you feel inside your body with the feeling of insecurity?

Intensify the feeling.

Insecurity.

The feeling of insecurity.

And now the feeling of security.

Invite the feeling of security to arise.

If you like,

You could recall something that makes you feel safe and secure.

Perhaps a place or a situation.

Or you may prefer to allow the feeling to arise by itself.

The feeling of security.

Welcome the feeling.

Feel it vividly.

The feeling of security.

The feeling of security.

And are you able to experience both of those at the same time?

Are you able to feel insecurity and security together?

Can you feel the sensations that arise inside the body with the feeling of insecurity and with the feeling of security at the same time?

Can you feel insecurity and security together?

Insecurity and security together.

See yourself floating on the still surface of a peaceful lake.

The clear water safely holds you as you relax completely onto the water's surface.

Feel yourself merging with the water.

Becoming one with the lake.

And now feel yourself becoming very small.

Feel yourself becoming smaller and smaller until you become the size of a tiny droplet of water.

Feel yourself floating upon the surface of the lake with all of the other droplets of water.

And as the warm sunlight shines down upon you,

Feel yourself slowly floating upwards into the sky.

Feel yourself slowly floating higher and higher.

Floating higher and higher into the sky.

You float up above the lake.

Up into the sky.

Up towards a white cloud.

And as you reach the cloud,

Feel yourself merging with the cloud.

Becoming one with the cloud.

The cloud gently floats you along through the sky.

And you relax into the cloud,

Surrounded by hundreds of other raindrops.

And now feel yourself gently floating out of the cloud and down towards the air.

All the other raindrops float down around you.

Feel yourself gently floating downwards towards a small stream beneath you.

You softly land upon the stream and feel yourself merging with the stream as the water gently carries you along.

You flow between grass and trees.

You flow over rocks and stones.

And gradually the stream widens and you continue to float along with all of the other droplets of water around you.

The stream widens into a river and you continue to float.

The river continues to widen and the water carries you along with the ever-widening river.

Until you find the river opening out into the ocean and the water carries you out into the ocean.

You feel yourself merging with the expansive ocean.

Becoming one with the infinite ocean.

At one with the eternal ocean,

You are free.

Bring the awareness to the heart centre.

See a spiral staircase winding into the centre of the heart.

Slowly begin to descend the staircase and spiral down into the depths of your heart.

With each step you spiral more deeply into the heart centre.

And as you reach the bottom of the staircase you feel yourself sinking deeper and deeper into the heart.

You are free to rest in the quiet centre of the heart.

Rest with the wisdom of the heart,

Knowing that everything will be okay.

If you have a sankalpa,

Now's the time to recall your sankalpa.

Allow it to arise naturally,

However it comes.

And if you don't have one,

Keep the awareness at the heart centre and just observe.

Now invite to arise again your feeling of absolute safety and wellbeing.

Welcome the feeling of safety all around you.

Welcome it into your body.

Feel it arising in every single cell.

This is your feeling that you have cultivated by yourself.

And that you can return to at any time if you need it,

In your practice and in your life.

Complete safety,

Security and wellbeing.

The deep inner knowing that all is well.

And now slowly begin to turn the awareness back outwards.

Become aware of any sounds that are present in your environment.

Just let the awareness jump from sound to sound,

Without getting too involved in any one sound.

Simply acknowledge that they are there.

Become aware of the sensation of the air against your skin.

And the sensation of your clothing against your skin.

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

And in your mind,

Can you picture your body?

Can you recall the colours of the clothes you're wearing?

Can you picture the room you're in?

The colours of the walls?

The floor?

The ceiling?

The furniture?

Begin to deepen the breathing and start to make some small movements in preparation to end the practice.

Move the fingers and the toes.

The wrists and the ankles.

And give yourself a stretch in any way that feels good for you.

Take your time,

There's no rush.

When you're ready,

Slowly open your eyes and make your way back to sitting.

This practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

Thank you for listening.

Reviews

Oh Jessica, another perfect nidra meditation. Very powerful and calming. All my thanks 🙏🏻.

Such a wonderful yoga nidra, so relaxing, comforting and cleansing all at once! Thank you so much Jessica 💜