Yoga Nidra: Capricorn
This long Yoga Nidra practice is inspired by the astrological sign of Capricorn. Capricorn is associated with hard work, endurance, business, leadership, and the achievement of goals. The practice includes and explores concepts and visualizations related to the sign of Capricorn and invites the opposite feelings of patience/impatience, success/failure, and isolation/connectedness. It's a practice for everyone but those with a significant Capricorn placement in their charts may find it especially useful Image by Shiho
Transcript
This yoga nidra practice is inspired by the astrological sign of Capricorn.
Capricorn is the cardinal earth sign,
Which is represented by the sea goat and which rules the 10th astrological house.
The sign is ruled by the planet Saturn.
Capricorn is the sign of hard work,
Determination,
Ambition,
Leadership and responsibility.
Capricorn dutifully and practically works long and hard to achieve its goals and is usually associated with business,
Structure and organization.
The sign and themes of Capricorn have influenced every part of this practice and it's suitable for everyone.
But if you have a significant Capricorn placement in your chart,
You may find this especially useful or insightful.
So first,
Just make sure that you're comfortable to begin your practice.
You might like to do this in Shavasana,
With your feet spread a little wider than hip distance apart,
The arms at the sides of the body and the palms facing upwards,
Perhaps with some support under your knees like a rolled up blanket,
Or with a cushion or block under your head.
Or if Shavasana isn't a comfortable position for you to rest in for a long time,
You might like to move into another position,
Perhaps taking the feet to the sides of the mat and dropping the knees together.
Or if it feels better for you,
Lying on your side or even sitting in a chair,
See if you can make yourself so comfortable that you might even be able to forget that your body is here at all as you enter into the relaxation.
And as you begin to settle,
Bring your awareness into your knees and just notice how your knees are feeling.
Become aware of any sensations in the knees and around the knees.
And feel your knees beginning to relax.
Feel the knees relaxing.
The muscles around the knees relaxing.
The kneecaps relaxing.
And now send your awareness into your bones,
Into your knee bones.
Extend the awareness into your shins and into your feet.
And into your feet.
To the bones in your feet and your toes.
Send your awareness back up your shins,
Back to your knees.
Into your thigh bones,
The femurs.
To the pelvis.
Into the pubic bone.
Now slowly send your awareness up your spine.
All the way from the base of the spine up to the back of the neck.
To the back of the head.
Become aware of your skull,
Your teeth,
Your jaw,
Your collarbones,
Your shoulders,
The bones of the upper arms,
The lower arms,
The hands and the fingers.
Move your awareness back up the arms,
Back to the collarbones.
And to the ribs.
Become aware of the ribs.
Notice the ribs gently moving with each inhalation and exhalation.
Shift your focus to the breath.
Observe the natural movement of the breath as you inhale and exhale.
And now begin to breathe to the count of four like this.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Continue to breathe to the count of four.
And now gently move your awareness away from the breath and settle on your shoulders.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And now gently move your awareness away from the breath and settle on your skin.
Become aware of the sensations against your skin,
Of your clothing against your skin,
The feeling of the air against your skin.
And become aware of the feeling of the air against your nose as you breathe in and out.
Feel the air gently brushing against the nostrils.
Now bring the awareness into your ears and become aware of any sounds you can hear.
There's no need to get too involved in what the sounds are or where they're coming from.
Just notice that they're there and know that the sounds are not going to disturb you,
But can only help you to relax even more deeply.
Now invite to arise a feeling of complete safety and well-being.
You might like to remember a time when you felt safe and well,
Or to imagine a situation where you would feel safe,
Well and completely secure.
Invite this feeling to arise and welcome it into your body.
Absorb yourself in this feeling of safety,
Security,
Well-being,
A deep inner knowing that all is well.
This is your inner resource.
You can return to it at any time during the practice if you need it.
If you have a sankalpa,
Now's the time to state your sankalpa.
The sankalpa is a deep prayer from the heart for something you wish to achieve in your life.
If you have one,
Invite it to arise for you now.
It may come as words,
As a short positive statement,
Or it may come as an image,
A feeling or a sense of knowing.
And if you don't have one,
Simply rest your awareness at your heart and observe whatever happens.
It's not essential to have a sankalpa.
But if you do have one,
Invite it to arise for you now and state it with determination.
Now we'll begin the rotation of consciousness around the body.
Bring the awareness to each body part as it's named,
And become aware of each place in as much detail as possible.
We'll begin at the thumb of the right hand,
And moving to the right index finger,
The right middle finger,
The right middle finger,
The ring finger,
And the 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 right shoulder,
The right shoulder,
The right side of the chest,
The right waist,
The right hip,
The right thigh,
The right knee,
The lower leg,
The ankle,
The right heel,
The sole of the right foot,
The top of the right foot,
And the right toes,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Moving to the thumb of the left hand,
The left index finger,
The left middle finger,
The ring finger,
The little finger,
The palm of the left hand,
The back of the left hand,
The left wrist,
The forearm,
The 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 heel,
The sole of the left foot,
The top of the left foot,
The left toes,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
The right toes,
The left toes,
The right heel,
The left heel,
The right buttock,
The left buttock,
The whole of the spine,
The right shoulder blade,
The left shoulder blade,
The back of the head,
The top of the head,
The forehead,
The right eyebrow,
The left eyebrow,
The space between the eyebrows,
The right eye,
The left eye,
The right ear,
The left ear,
The right cheek,
The left cheek,
The nose,
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 whole of the right leg,
The whole of the left leg,
The whole of the right arm,
The whole of the left arm,
The whole of the right side of the body,
The whole of the left side of the body.
The whole of the body together.
The whole of the body together.
Focus on the whole of the body together.
Invite the feeling of impatience to arise.
Observe how the body feels as you begin to experience impatience.
Welcome the feeling of impatience as it arises.
Feel it vividly however it comes.
Impatience.
The feeling of impatience.
And now invite the feeling of patience to arise.
And observe how the body feels as you begin to experience patience.
Welcome patience into the whole of your being.
Feel it vividly.
The feeling of patience.
And now invite both feelings to arise together.
Can you feel patience and impatience at the same time?
Welcome the feelings of patience and impatience together.
Patience and impatience together.
Now invite to arise the feeling of success.
Welcome the feeling of success.
Observe your body as this feeling of success arises.
Feel it vividly however it comes.
Success.
The feeling of success.
And now the feeling of failure.
Invite the feeling of failure to arise.
And feel it vividly.
Intensify the feeling of failure.
And now welcome the feelings of success and failure together.
Is it possible to feel success and failure at the same time?
Success and failure together.
Success and failure together.
The feeling of isolation.
Invite the feeling of isolation to arise.
What do you feel in your body as you become aware of the feeling of isolation?
Feel it vividly.
Intensify your awareness of the feeling of isolation.
Isolation.
And now the feeling of connectedness.
Welcome the feeling of connectedness however it arises.
Intensify it.
Feel it vividly.
The feeling of connectedness.
And connectedness.
And now welcome both of those feelings as they arise together.
Isolation and connectedness together.
How does it feel to experience isolation and connectedness at the same time?
Isolation and connectedness together.
Bring the awareness to the breath.
Observe the natural flow of the breath as it moves in and moves out of the body.
Begin to increase the count of inhalations and exhalations like this.
Inhale one.
Inhale one.
Inhale one,
Two.
Exhale two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three.
Exhale three,
Two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Now we'll move back down.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three.
Exhale three,
Two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two.
Exhale two,
One.
Inhale one,
Exhale one.
Moving up again,
Inhale one,
Exhale one.
Inhale one,
Two.
Exhale two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three.
Exhale three,
Two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Moving down again,
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three.
Exhale three,
Two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two.
Exhale two,
One.
Inhale one,
Exhale one.
Continue with this breathing pattern in your own time,
Increasing the count with each breath up to four,
And then decreasing back to one.
If you get lost or if you make a mistake,
Go back to number one and start again.
One more time.
FIRE ALARM.
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